Neale Allendale

Neale Allendale (b. Ner 43, 19080 IA) is the father of Mihall Allendale, and secretly the father of Ardon, and the current Lord of the House of Allendale, a noble house that stretches back generations.

Neale's own father was a heroic knight who died protecting a village of commoners from invasion by bandits while Neale was very young. It left Neale with a feeling of disgust for the peasantry in general, and the very idea that a nobleman would put his own safety in jeopardy for the likes of them has disgusted him since the day his father died. Over time he has grown to truly believe that the members of the aristocracy are simply better and more valuable than commoners.

This has lead to a great deal of resentment between he and his son, Mihall, who takes after his grandfather. Neale sets a great deal of stock in the reputation of himself and his family in the eyes of the other members of the nobility, and Mihall's idealism and blunt manners in calling out the perceived misdeeds or failings of the aristocracy are a huge embarrassment to him. But he does bail Mihall out of countless tight spots, and seems to have no problem throwing around huge sums of money to do so--though he is far less interested in rescuing Mihall's travelling companions or in protecting the innocent.

History
Before Mihall was born, Neale was one of the many suitors to Mihall's mother, Sirna lyn'Nyso, a Halerodian woman of legendary beauty. Though she would often demand impossible challenges for her suitors to face, Neale found a way to complete the one she gave him--to tame a dragon, which were long thought to be extinct. He found a dragon in human form and hired it for absurd amounts of money as a retainer. His new retainer in tow, Neale returned to Halerode and the dragon revealed its true form in the palace of the Sultana--a dragon that looked as though it were carved of gemstones, with eyes of golden fire. The dragon's road destroyed all the glass in the city. Everyone in the palace, including all the Sultana's guards fled in terror at the sight of the dragon, leaving just Sirna and the slaves chained in place.

Sirna agreed to marry Neale, with the warning that he would find it harder to tame her than the dragon. But Neale accepted this, so smitten with her that he said he had no need to tame her as long as he could bask her presence. Her lady-in-waiting Hakini val'Seu came with her.

Sirna and Neale had seven children together, though the first six died young. When Mihall, the youngest, was born, Sirna was wracked with despair and, saying she couldn't watch another child die, committed suicide. Hakini stayed on as a house maid for a few years, telling Mihall little bits and pieces of the story that Neale was too distraught to share.

Eventually Neale remarried to a woman named Vernia, his current spouse. His relationship with her does not seem anywhere near as warm as his relationship with Sirna was, and he still seems to genuinely miss his late wife. Hakini was fired when Vernia overheard her comparing her unfavorably to Sirna. Sirna's parents continued to send presents and letters to young Mihall, but Neale made sure to read any of these before Mihall did, and redact anything he didn't want Mihall to know. He kept Sirna's family away from Mihall for Mihall's entire life, even keeping Mihall hidden away when Sirna's father and brother came to the Allendale estate directly.

Now, Neale is in charge of the Allendale banking empire, and might be the richest man in the kingdom, with influence stretching even further, distributed amongst multiple nations.