PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION

Almost skeletally thin as a result of the cancer that is eating away at his body, Eljawor is a shade of his former self. In his prime he was a large man in every sense of the word: broad-shouldered, muscular, loud-voiced. It's been surprising how quickly the weight has wasted away from his frame, leaving the bones in sharp relief. His eye colour may have faded with age but his sight is as keen as ever and his mind has in no way deteriorated. His hair is thinning and now completely white but he still retains his forceful personality.

Ronelle, f, 67, Holder

Unnamed brother, m, age unknown

Woron, his wife Eljia and their family were among the first settlers to move to the Southern Continent with Toric, when F'nor took the would-be Candidates back in time to await the hatching of Prideth's first clutch. Though that attempt met with mixed success, Toric and some of the settlers stayed behind when the dragonriders returned to the Ninth Pass. By the time the Pass began, Toric had a flourishing small settlement - Southern Hold - and had sent explorers further into the interior, mapping out what would eventually be the realms of his empire.

Not all these people were content to be Toric's vassals, though. Woron and Eljia pushed far across the Cibola Plains before eventually finding the perfect place to declare their own: a spot tucked between rivers, offering the opportunity to trade, to farm, to rule their own Hold with minimal intervention from overlords elsewhere. With the help of their three adult children, Sweetwater Hold prospered. When first Eljia died, then Woron, the Hold was left in the hands of Eljawor, their oldest son and the one they had chosen to keep the place in order.

Eljawor had learned well from his parents. Ambitious and strong-willed, he knew the importance of building up a powerful Hold. No challenges to his leadership were tolerated; he used low cunning, high strategy and a blend of threats and cozening to achieve his desires. 'Divide and conquer' was his watchword. If he had heard of Niccolo Machiavelli, he would have approved of the man immediately. As it was, his tactics were Machiavellian indeed.

Over the turns Eljawor fathered children, watched his nieces and nephews grow, practised favouritism to keep his rivals under control and forged allegiances at a whim which he later overturned as it suited him. He thought he had gained in Adia a wife young enough to give him more sons and docile enough to keep under control; he was to find out in time that he was wrong. By then, unfortunately, the tumour that had grown in his stomach had seeded itself throughout his body. Eljawor was dying. He kicked the Healer who told him the bad news out of the Hold, but not until the man had outlined exactly how he was going to die: slowly, painfully, relying in the end on fellis to get through the days until his inevitable demise. Eljawor swore then that he would avoid the addictive drug for as long as possible. Even though the pain is sometimes intense he will use lesser analgesics, only calling for fellis when he can take no more. His mobility is greatly reduced, though on good days he can shuffle around without help. On bad days, he cannot move from his bedchamber.

As his horizons shrink Eljawor retains the greatest right of all, the choice to declare his successor. Leading the field are his eldest child Anor and his nephews Kinir and Nator. Eljawor will do whatever he can to ensure that power stays within his own hands for as long as possible. Death may be inevitable but Eljawor is determined to make life difficult for as many of his family as possible until he finally succumbs to his illness.