Wulfgar (Forgotten Realms)

''This article is about the Forgotten Realms character. Wulfgar is also the name of a minor character in the Anglo-Saxon epic poem Beowulf.''

Wulfgar, son of Beornegar, is the barbarian hero of Icewind Dale in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting, and one of the Companions of the Hall along with Drizzt Do'Urden, Catti-brie, Regis the halfling, and Bruenor Battlehammer. He is the creation of R.A. Salvatore.

Appearance
Wulfgar is roughly seven feet tall, blond-haired and blue-eyed (common for the barbarian tribes he hails from), and developed his awesomely muscled physique when he was in servitude to the dwarf Bruenor Battlehammer for five years--working alongside dwarves, who are renowned for being tireless. Wulfgar is broad-shouldered and thick-chested with a wiry waist, and his arms have been described as thicker than a fat dwarf's thighs. Despite his bulk, he's moderately graceful. He's also relatively young and has a boyish face, and eventually grew a beard. Wulfgar once lifted a three-hundred-pound man with one arm, and then threw him.

Early years
When he was just a boy, Wulfgar was the flag bearer for Heafstaag, king of the Elk Tribe. In the Barbarian Ten-Towns battle, Bruenor Battlehammer, a dwarf, knocked out Wulfgar with a blow to the head. After the battle, when the people of Ten-towns were slitting throats of the barbarians not quite dead, Bruenor spared Wulfgar. Instead of death, Breunor sentenced Wulfgar to five years and a day of service to Bruenor. Wulfgar took to the forge and, over time, changed his opinion of Bruenor from a slaver to a father. Bruenor crafted Aegis-fang with Wulfgar in mind. When Wulfgar's sentence was almost up, Bruenor bade Drizzt Do'Urden, a drow, to teach Wulfgar how to fight.

When Akar Kessel came to conquer Ten-Towns, Wulfgar resumed his father Beornegar's quest to kill the white dragon Icingdeath (Ingeloakastimizilian). With the help of Drizzt, Wulfgar challenged and killed Icingdeath, earning the title Dragonsbane. With this deed to his credit, he was able to challenge King Heafstaag to combat for leadership of the tribes. Wulfgar defeated Heafstaag, gaining rulership of the Tribe of the Elk, and led the tribes to the aid of the people of Ten-Towns.

Recent Events
More recently, Wulfgar was captured by a yochlol when he and his companions were trying to save Drizzt from capture by the drow. Wulfgar caused a ceiling to cave in on himself, and the handmaiden, in order to keep it from killing Catti-brie. However, the yochlol dragged Wulfgar to the Abyss and its master Lloth, who later gave Wulfgar to the demon Errtu, so that the demon would watch over the drow city Menzoberranzan during the Time of Troubles. When Errtu was summoned by a bumbling apprentice, he escaped and brought Wulfgar with him. Drizzt and company defeated Errtu and sent him back to the Abyss, but during his time as Errtu's prisoner Wulfgar's mind was almost broken. He later wound up attacking Catte-brie during a hallucination, an occurrence which caused him much mental anguish. In an effort to stop the harm he was doing, Wulfgar broke off from the Companions of the Hall, and wandered the North for a time, eventually finding himself at a tavern called The Cutlass, owned by Arumn Gardpeckk.

Wulfgar eventually became the bouncer of Arumn's bar, a frequent lover of the barmaid Delly Curtie, who soon after became enamored of him, although Wulfgar was quickly descending into the world of the bottle. Josie Puddles, Arumn's cowardly friend, stole Wulfgar's hammer, fearing that when Arumn decided to fire the huge barbarian, Wulfgar would use the hammer to tear down the bar. Wulfgar was then accused of the attempted murder of Captain Deudemont of the Sea Sprite, with whom he had sailed several years earlier. He was then taken to the Prisoners Carnival, a vicious show run by the Magistrate Jarkheld, where felons (even ones innocent of the crimes accused of) were tortured in various fashions until they admitted to the crimes accused of, so that they might be killed swiftly (which some still weren't.) Wulfgar and his friend, Morik the Rogue, a well known thief and discriminate fighter on Luskans streets and also Wulfgar's drinking buddy for several months, who had been accused of the same crime, were pardoned by Captain Deudermont, and took to the road after being banished from the city and refusing to once again sail with the Captain. Wulfgar then for a short time tried to, without alcohol, shut out the memories of his time with Errtu, and the horrible tortures he had suffered with him. After an incident in the small "kingdom" of Auckney, involving the young king's wife and a lie concocted to save her illegitimate child, Wulfgar and Morik left with a young child, and Wulfgar was finally able to banish his demons without alcohol, after being showed an act of massive courage by the king's wife when she had nothing to gain from the act. He and Morik then headed back to Luskan for a short time to set some things straight, mostly at The Cutlass. After apologizing to Arumn for his destructive behavior, and to Delly for not returning her feelings, Wulfgar and Morik parted ways and he left Luskan with Delly and their unnamed child at his side.

Wulfgar and Delly then traveled to Waterdeep, where Wulfgar took up with Captain Deudermont and the crew of the Sea Sprite in search of the pirate to whom Josie Puddles had sold his warhammer. After giving up his sea based search he travelled into the northlands in search of the pirate Sheila Kree. He eventually met up with his old friends, whom he had abandoned months earlier. With their help (and to a smaller degree Morik's, who had been sleeping with the female wizard of Sheila Kree's crew) he recovered his hammer, after facing an entire clan of ogres. Catti-Brie then sunk Shelia Kree and her crew as they tried to flee to the sea.

When Thibbledorf Pwent and the Gutbuster Brigade arrived, bearing news that Gandalug Battlehammer had died, Wulfgar and his family travelled with his old companions, and the entire clan of Icewind-Dale Battlehammer dwarves, to Mithril Hall so that Bruenor could resume his reign. On their trek through the Spine of the World, the caravan came upon the ruin of the small human settlement Clicking Heels, which had been sacked by a multitude of Orcs and Frost Giants. Later they picked up the only two survivors of an expedition from Citadel Felbarr, which had been similarly destroyed. Bruenor then determined that himself, Drizzt, Wulfgar, Catti-Brie, Regis, and a small detachment of dwarves, would see if other villages in the region had also been sacked. Wulfgar assured Delly that he would rejoin her at Mithril Hall after a short time.

During their trek, the group entered the small town of Shallows, a small (approximately 120 people and a local wizard) prosperous community. It was during this time, that while out on patrol, one of Shallows militia teams encountered a large force of Orcs and was slaughtered, with only one survivor managing to escape and hide. The lone survivor then sped back to Shallows and told of the Orc force. When the attack began on the town, Wulfgar was charged with holding an entire section of the towns defensive wall, with Regis, Bruenor and his dwarves, the towns militia holding the rest(Drizzt had been unable to get inside the walls before the assault began), while Withegroo the wizard and the towns archers(Catti-Brie among them) firng over the walls from the top of his tower in the center of the town. He performed admirably, holding the wall against the massive force of 1000 Orcs. Repelling grapplers and sweeping aside those few who crested the wall, Wulfgar was unmovable, even after countless hours when exhaustion began to set in. Unfortunately many townspeople still fell during the first assault, due to the 10 Frost Giants who tirelessly hurled boulders against their defenses. When the first assault ended, it left a third of shallows defenders dead, and many more orcs. Unfortunately, after the last push by Bruenor and his dwarves to clear out the Orcs from in front of Shallows main gates, he fell unconscious, having sustained many blows that would have felled a lesser Dwarf. During this time, Regis left to try and make his way to one of the Dwarven outposts. When the attack began again, the defenders once again managed to hold their fortifications aginst the invasion. Unfortunately, Bruenor's second in command, Dagnabbit, fell before it even started, when a giant thrown boulder struck Withegroo's tower where he stood shouting commands to his forces, killing him and three other Dwarves. After the second assault was fended off, the towns walls lay in rubble and many more defenders had fallen, Wulfgar, Catti-Brie, Withegroo and their depleted forces emerged from the rubble and managed to stave off the last attack. After Withegroo cast his last fireball ever and killed many more orcs, Wulfgar stood unmovable against the sea of Orcs that swept against them, and continued to swing his hammer until the press lessened, leaving him and the defenders confused as to why it had stopped. A large wooden idol of Gruumsh One-Eye was then rolled in to the Orc encampment by a caravan of odd Orcs and pack animals. When the idol began to open the orcs crowded around, and were slaughtered by the emerging Gutbusters.. The orcs and pack animals then threw off their druid enchanted cloaks, revealing themselves as Regis, the Bouldershoulder brothers and a small force of Dwarves.

In The Two Swords, Delly fell under the powerful will of the sentient sword, Khazid' hea, and was slain by orcs. Townspeople took Colson, without telling Wulfgar. Wulfgar, grieving, is determined to find his adopted daughter.

Aegis-fang
Aegis-fang (derived from the mythical shield Aegis) is the weapon of Wulfgar. It was forged for him by his adoptive father Bruenor Battlehammer while he was in servitude of the dwarf king. It was Bruenor's finest creation. Its head is made from pure Mithril with a diamond coating magically adhered during the forging and an adamantite shaft. Its head is engraved with magical inscriptions which are covered by the symbols of Dumathoin, "keeper of secrets under the mountain", the dwarven god of knowledge, and Clangeddin, the dwarven god of battle.

It is a large and heavy, perfectly balanced Dwarven war hammer. Any person not standing over 6'5" and with considerable strength will have a hard time wielding it properly. It is magically attuned to Wulfgar and will reappear in his hand upon command.

Wulfgar has been trained extensively with this weapon. He has used it in two battles against dragons, Icingdeath and Shimmergloom, both times ending in victory. He also used it in a battle beside Drizzt Do'Urden and Bruenor Battlehammer against the balor, Errtu, again ending in victory for the companions.

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