Ethelrede

"Remind me again why we're on this quest?"

— Ethelrede

Ethelrede is a male human fighter best known for his exploration of The Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth.

Appearance and personality

Ethelrede is a male human. He is exceptionally tall for his species, standing at 6'5" and weighing 221 lbs. He has excellent physical strength and stamina, and is especially nimble. He wears chain mail armor, carries a magical shield, and wields a magical handaxe. He also carries five javelins of lightning.

He travels well equipped to hunt vampires, bringing such things as garlic, a wooden stake and a large mallet. He carries a large backpack and torches, and is well equipped as an adventurer.

Ethelrede is chaotic neutral in alignment.

History

Ethelrede once ventured into the Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth. He also once had a disastrous encounter with a darkmantle, although whether this happened on the same adventure is unknown.

Publication history

AD&D 1st edition

Ethelrede was a random pre-generated character on an NPC list appearing in I1 Dwellers of the Forbidden City (1981), p.28. While that adventure does not include a darkmantle, it does have a lurker above, a very similar creature which occurs quite early in the adventure. The D&D 3.0 Monster Manual would later describe the darkmantle as "recently evolved from a similar but far less capable subterranean predator".

D&D 5th edition

Ethelrede was later quoted in the D&D 5e Monster Manual (5e) (2014), p.46.

Creative origins

Ethelred, sometimes written "Ethelrede" or "Æthelred", is an Old English name perhaps best known as the name of Ethelred the Unready, king of England.