Haladir Delen Galare

Haladir Delen

Sediryl's father, and the first Lord of Coursers.

Physical Description

An Eldritch of average height, with gray eyes (no tinge of blue) and long hair, worn loose. He's tall enough to get his chin on Sediryl's head, but Sediryl's not very tall. He's had a limp since before Sediryl was born.

His vocal register is a baritone, though not quite as deep as Hirianthial's, and has a clear timbre.

He prefers to wash with pine or fir waters, and eschews the jewels and fillets that are customary for men of wealth.

History

A Delen Galare, who was fascinated by the outworld, and read a great deal about it via the royal Wellfeed when he was young and living at the Delen Galare estates. Haladir was best friends with Kolvin, Jahir's father; they met at court. Kolvin was Thesali's sister, and he asked Haladir to marry her to protect her from her mother, Avarise, who was an even worse harpy than Thesali. This match was encouraged by the House, because keeping Nuera in dependable (Galare) hands was of paramount importance. Unfortunately, Thesali did not escape the pattern of her abusive upbringing and Haladir's marriage to her was an unhappy one from the start. He remained good friends with Kolvin until Kolvin's death, and busied himself as much as possible on the Nuera property with a breeding project, which encompassed twelve pastures, two barns, a stable, and a training ground. (This is a 'minor enterprise' compared to Houses dedicated to horse breeding, the way Jisiensire formerly was.)

His wife has intimated that he hasn't been sexually faithful to her.

A gentle father, and very loving, but resigned to sorrow. He taught Sediryl Universal as "their private language" in order to get around her mother's strictures against discussion of aliens. They spent a great deal of time together before she left the nursery, and he read and shared with her stories; both mythical and believable, though Sediryl mostly remembers the latter: "stories, where heroism involved a single man facing down a maddened boar, or a woman swimming into a lake to rescue her drowning daughter." Her father "taught her that heroism was common, and often hidden, in the everyday, and he had acted like the heroes of his stories."

Two years before Sediryl's return, he fell off a horse that rolled on him and crushed his pelvis. This injury nearly killed him.

Events After Sediryl's Return

This is where I put the Healer's Wedding/Fathers' Honor events.

Trivia

• gentles and rides ugly horses other people would use only for plows
• sings lullabies, tells stories
• calls Sediryl 'my dear', 'my girl,' 'my sweet,' and 'Sedi' and 'Daughter'.
• can weave stars out of grass

Quotes

• "My dear, few of us have the life we want. The question you have to answer is whether you can make a life you can live with."

• "Always check premises."