Lord Galakrond (GAL-uh-krond | / ˈgɑ lə krɒnd /)
Prince of Badgers, Giver of Names, Demonic Conjurer, Wordlord of Meles, Void Prince, Lord Galakrond Meles (a.k.a. Gala, Lord Gala, GalaWight)
Lord Galakrond is the eldest son of Darth Nikolas and Realm of Music and the heir to House Meles.
Galakrond is generally liked by those who get to know him, but those who don't find him... strange. He has made no secret of being Voidtouched, and he makes no effort to hide the signs of that; at least, not anymore. He is often quiet, and when he isn't, his sense of humour sometimes takes more sensitive souls aback. And after becoming one of the most recent Night Monarchs, those who don't already know him tend to give him a wide berth.
But to his friends, Gala is kind, affectionate, and a light in the dark who can find a way to laugh in even the most difficult circumstances.
Physical Description
General Physical Condition
Galakrond is healthy for his age. He's what would be called "Twiggy" but with some, not a lot, of muscle. He's only fractured one bone due to really poor choices. He also needs glasses to properly see and to be able to drive properly.
Body Features
The Prince of Badgers is tall and lightly built. He has had an interest in weight training and on occasion used the 8 lbs weights that lie in his lair. Galakrond's skin, while pale, has some signs of gold tanning. His skin tans under exposure to the sun, assuming he ever sees it.
Identifying Characteristics
Galakrond is known for his luscious dirty blonde hair (and for how he flaunts it too.) He has a scar on his right forearm closest to the elbow where his companion, Tiny Tot, a tuxedo cat he summoned during his youth, scratched his arm. There is a faint and paper thin scratch along the inside of his forearm, also from Tiny Tot. He has several odd scars and scratches on his body.
Physical quirks
The Void Prince is right-handed, except that he favours his left hand when playing music. He walks at a faster pace than most other people his age due to his habit of getting from classroom to classroom faster than normal.
Special abilities
The Prince of Badgers is perhaps the most talented conjurer of his generation; maybe the most talented conjurer in centuries. He is also an exceptionally precocious literomancer, far more advanced than is typical for someone of his age. In addition to his horrifying Literomancy Gala is able to call upon the House Totem of The Badger for assistance.
When he's not practicing the art of Horrific Conjuration, he finds himself studying the Books of Death. So far he hasn't been able to crack their secrets but someday he wishes to use the power of the Books of Death to help bring back his fallen family, should that again be needed -- and he deeply fears that it will be.
Apparel & Accessories
Galakrond is accustomed to wearing comfort wear, which entails sweat pants and long-sleeved top wear usually of green and black. Black, however, is his wardrobe color of choice. When it comes time for battle, Galakrond dons his armored jacket and his helm.
Specialized Equipment
Lord Galakrond possesses a number of significant Literomancy books. He has the Solomon's Key for binding his conjurations to the material plane as well as a Sauropoda skeleton from the first Word War that he found (though he won't say where.) He also has several components for his conjurations, including, at one point, Prince Jean 's severed foot, lost in the First Word War.
While he does have the training with personal weaponry that one might expect from a Brocktree, when it's time to fight, he uses his conjurations and spells more than he does any melee object or even firearm.
When he was younger, Lord Gala had a staff made with a branch, wire, and skulls that he deemed his "warlock" staff. He called it that before he realized that he was a literomancer and Tome Knight .
Mental characteristics
Personal history
Early Life
House Meles, when Gala was born, was a house with a long and proud history as literomancers, but little personal assets. The family had been required to sell most of them off one-by-one over the centuries as Literomancy declined. Being the eldest of seven children, he saw those meagre assets dwindle further and further as he was growing up, too. Galakrond made dark deals early in his life, having a knack for Literomancy, specifically Conjuration. He found making his own friends was nicer than dealing with the shady bits of the place he grew up in. He never really understood the knack for conjuration he had, but his father scrounged up enough coin to buy some literomantic books to supplement the remains of the moth-eaten collection from the House Meles library. It was then that he started to study, and learned how to hone in on his conjuration. At first it was small animals, but they were twisted. They looked fine (mostly,) but he knew some Demonic and Eldritch influence of his literomancy, which focused on the Horror Genre, affected his summoned creatures. After a while he managed to control these influences, but not without first receiving numerous scars and scratches from his conjured animals. But he doesn't like to dwell upon the past because he wants to look to the future, even if it doesn't always happen the way he'd like it to. He found his talent for conjuration had grown and he was able to summon more than just small critters, but demons, at the age of 12? 13? He can't remember. The only thing he couldn't get right was the binding, but that was all fixed at the age of 16. It was a day he never thought would happen. The day he learned of his bi-house lineage. The day he discovered Sable Aradia to be his mother. It was also the day he was gifted with several more Conjuration books, specifically one that could bind the demons he had been summoning.You like it? I understand from your dads that you have... a bit of a talent for Conjuration.Lord Galakrond was invited to travel to the Warren to study in person with the Mother of Bunnies. The Prince of Badgers took her up on her invitation, but never arrived.
THIS SECTION HAS BEEN REDACTED BY THE MELES PROTECTORATE FOR SECURITY REASONS BY ORDER OF THE BROCKTREES.
CONTENT WARNING: kidnapping, unlawful confinement
Galakrond was captured and taken to an organization known as The Company (see the Patient Zero plotline.) His parents had no idea this had happened until recently -- Realm of Music and Darth Nikolas believed he was at the Warren. Sable Aradia, for her part, believed he had changed his mind and remained at Windy Willows with his fathers. There, Gala was forced into servitude to create a superweapon. Eventually he was released, but with no memory of the event.
Gala seems... distant. Is something bothering him?The Badger Prince disappeared off the radar for about a month. If you ask him, he'll go really quiet and not say anything, only giving partial nodding and without a doubt, trying to change the subject to something else -- anything else. Since he woke up in a summoning circle and a destroyed room, Lord Galakrond thought he had performed a summoning that had gone horribly wrong. With some limited flashes of memory and a vague feeling of unease, he continued his journey to the Warren and took up the study of magic that he had intended, but he never said a word about the incident to anyone.
The First Word War
Lord Galakrond survived the First Word War in 2020 and the fall of his House, although not before watching his father, King of the Badgers get turned into a being known as Lich Nikolas. This didn't help his mental fortitude any, watching the person he loved get turned into a Lich while he flew away to House Chiroptera -- another House that fell while he was there. Eventually he ended up with House Mollusca and by some miracle came up unscathed -- at least, physically.
Show spoiler
It's unclear why Lord Galakrond didn't flee to House Lapin, where he would have been taken in by his mother, with whom he'd begun to develop a rather close relationship after he began studying literomancy and conjuration with her. However, since The Cavern is near to The Warren, maybe it was just a matter of being cut off and not able to reach her.
The Second Word War
When the Second Word War broke out, Lord Galakrond immediately volunteered for the Brocktrees, the House Meles elite guard, haunted by the thought that his father might once again be taken by the Horde. By virtue of his rank, he immediately assumed command. This turned out to be his undoing. When House Meles fell to the Undead Horde on November 15, 2021, Brocktree Stormy Geek saved the King Badger's life by throwing themself in front of the swarming Undead -- and Gala's hesitation cost him his life as well.I'm going to eat your brains, Bucktooth!
Just because I taught you everything you know, doesn't mean I taught you everything I know.As Lord GalaWight, the Demonic Conjurer, Lord Galakrond was a menace to the living, a conjurer and literomancer of frightening power. He was permitted to keep his intellect by the Night Monarch in order to utilize those skills; a risky move, but one that AuthorGoddess felt confident in because the young prince blamed his parents for his demise. After the Battle of the Warren , House Lapin claimed The Iron Tome and all Undead Tome Knights were restored to life. Gala suffered nightmares, flashbacks, and other symptoms of PTSD. He was also hounded by reporters seeking to get more dirt on the family scandal, and testing whether he might want to make a claim to The Carrot Throne .
Tourneys of Tales 2022
During the April 2022 Tourney of Tales, Lord Galakrond and his friend Princess Sunny came out to the public as Voidtouched -- people who had been changed by extended contact with an otherworldly plane called The Void. They formed a group called Voiders Anonymous. In particular, the Prince of Badgers has the most familiarity with the layers of the Void known as The Netherlayers, which is where his Conjurations come from (although all, he would be quick to tell you, are NOT demons!) As part of that process, Galakrond started allowing the Void Polypore "mushroom" colony on his skin to visibly grow, meaning that in badger and half-badger form, he is covered in black mushroom-like growths with bioluminescent stems. While these fungus are also present in his human form, he tends to hide and protect them under layers of concealing clothing. The assassination attempts on the Mother of Bunnies did nothing to help the Giver of Names' PTSD. Further, dreams shared by many Tome Knights indicated that his Undead alter-ego, Lord GalaWight, was a possible candidate for Night Monarch -- and a few unsettling events suggested that some form of dissociative disorder may have taken hold.THIS SECTION HAS BEEN REDACTED BY THE MELES PROTECTORATE FOR SECURITY REASONS BY ORDER OF THE BROCKTREES.
CONTENT WARNINGS: loss of autonomy, assassination
The Company made Galakrond into a sort of Manchurian Candidate using nanobots reverse engineered from Dinotech. Entirely without his knowledge or consent, he was the one who poisoned his mother's chili in the second assassination attempt. Princess Sunny discovered this using The Void Mirror at the end of the April 2022 Tourney, but promptly forgot in the massive migraine that followed the use of the Mirror. She remembered again and showed this to Queen Sable in the Void Mirror at the end of the July 2022 Tourney.
Although the Bunny Queen sat on this information longer than she probably should have, she eventually shared it with the Owsla and the other House Leaders. Owsla Commander Kitoypoy told Galakrond, and the Badger Prince promptly left The Warren, where he'd been staying for the summer.
The desperation Gala felt in his need to deal with these nanobots controlling him is believed to be what drove him to steal The Iron Tome
The Third Word War
The Void Prince stole The Iron Tome from the Warren on Halloween 2022. No one knows the reasons, but the Bunny Queen seemed to think if was "an act of desperation," though she has not been more specific publicly, and neither the Brocktrees nor the Owsla have shared any information that might explain this. Security footage from Windy Willows showed Galakrond and ECC Books in his Undead guise as ICC DeadPeople engaged in a struggle over the Tome. At the turning of midnight in that timezone, both were enveloped in some kind of necromantic explosion from the Iron Tome, and the Realm now had two Night Monarchs to contend with instead of one. "Lord GalaWight" began collecting his family members into the Undead, starting with House Meles. By the middle of the war, three of his siblings were in his side of the Horde, and one was serving ICC (Senna Nightshade.) The Night Monarchs had an internal power struggle, even as they successfully spread their influence over the Realm. GalaWight achieved an extraordinary victory at The Battle of Kin Beach. Only a spectacular accident saved the Woodland Family Alliance from his wrath. GalaWight dueled the Mother of Bunnies sometime during Battle of Mount Mitchell and was resurrected by her "Kind Bear" powers.THIS SECTION HAS BEEN REDACTED BY THE MELES PROTECTORATE FOR SECURITY REASONS BY ORDER OF THE BROCKTREES.
Just spoilery spoiler stuff, no content warnings.
Since the war, Galakrond has been quiet and keeping a low profile. He was constantly at his mother's side during her convalescence from critical Magic Drain following the conflict, and attended the family's Tomesmas celebrations, but said little.
The Royal Police considered charging Lord Galakrond with Grand Larceny and Assault on Prinx Tempest Kwake for his theft of the Iron Tome, but the charges were dropped without being filed.It is clear that the Company's nanobots were somehow disabled or removed during the duel, but this appears to have been accomplished by one of The Missing. The Mother of Bunnies would dearly like to know who was responsible, since she feels she owes them a debt she will never be able to repay.
Gender Identity
Lord Galakrond defines himself as a Cisgendered male.
Sexuality
Galakrond is bisexual, often finding his eye being caught by both male and female alike.
Education
Galakrond has the basic high school education that a student and "Smol Bean" should know, with extensive practice in literomancy on the side. He has some musical knowledge and he can often be caught absentmindedly tapping on his leg, or any nearby solid surface to a catchy rhythm, showing his talents as a drummer.
Employment
Until recently, Galakrond had only worked one job, and that was child care at the ages 14-15. He is currently providing care aid assistance to his uncle, which he is being paid for.
Accomplishments & Achievements
The Prince of Badgers is legendary for his prolific literomancy, especially considering his youth. He achieved a total of more than 50,000 words in both Word Wars.
Failures & Embarrassments
Gala has tripped on numerous words, stumbled down stairs, stumbled going up stairs, lost several drumsticks tips while playing, stubbed his finger, toes, and possibly everything else in between. He's accidently wacked himself several times without paying attention. One time he was walking through a room and without paying attention stumbled on a Literomantic Clothes Washer (I know right?! I mean how could you even do that?)
Lord Galakrond is also haunted by the death of Stormy Geek, which he blames himself for. He is also riddled with guilt for what happened to his family as a result of his choice to steal the Iron Tome. For the time his mother was convalescent with Magic Drain, he made himself her personal nurse and care aide. Since then, he has been doing what he can to rebuild his relationship with his family and especially his siblings, and is maybe trying a bit too hard.
Mental Trauma
Let's change the subject, shall we?
Personality Characteristics
Motivation
Galakrond is motivated by the urge to keep his family together, and fascination, perhaps even obsession, over his failure to do so.
Likes & Dislikes
Likes:
Metal music
Horror genre of writing
Cheesy B movies (for the laughs and cringe factor)
Reptiles
Dogs
Cats
TTRPGs
Video Games
Dislikes: Hip hop and country music.
Dislikes: Hip hop and country music.
Virtues & Personality perks
Galakrond is known for his ability to provide emotional support and is sometimes considered an empath. He is often called "a good listener" and "calm to be around" by his friends.
He has a darker sense of humor than others may like, often being called on it with strange looks. But to his mind, "it was funny, darnit."
Vices & Personality flaws
The Prince of Badgers, as one might expect, suffers from PTSD. He finds trusting others is extremely difficult.
Although it might not seem like it, Galakrond struggles with social anxiety. He is an introvert at heart, but will occasionally play as a extrovert.
He also struggles with who he actually is due to learning chameleon habits of blending into social groups.
Hygiene
Galakrond's hygiene is actually pretty good. He showers regularly in the week, and brushes his hair and teeth at least once or twice a day. His rooms at Windy Willows are even mostly tidy, especially around his books, and his fathers do not believe in exempting their children from chores, whether they are powerful royals now or not.
Social
Family Ties
This article is a work in progress, and may be subject to changes.
This article is part of a series related to streaming the Game of Tomes. For more information, see Streaming Game of Tomes.
Alignment
Chaotic Good
Current Status
Trying to cope with having been undead
Current Location
Species
Conditions
Previously Held Ranks & Titles
Date of Birth
July 19
Year of Birth
2004
20 Years old
Birthplace
Family
Children
Current Residence
Windy Willows
Pronouns
He/him
Gender
male
Eyes
dark green, squinty
Hair
long, dirty blonde, wavy
Skin Tone/Pigmentation
Pale white with some hints of a tan
Height
6 ft or 182.8 cm
Weight
170-180 lbs
Quotes & Catchphrases
NERDBURGERS UNITE!!
Let me crack my back like a goat chewing an aluminum can.
I was raised by lunatics; of course I understood that reference.
Gnarly.
Belief/Deity
Unknown
Aligned Organization
Other Affiliations
Ruled Locations
Character Prototype
Haunted One, Dark Mage
Lord Galakrond fleeing the Undead Horde after his father's transformation in the First Fall of House Meles by Lord Galakrond
Lord GalaWight facing off against the Mother of Bunnies at the Battle of the Warren by Missi & Sable Aradia
Lord GalaWight facing off against the Mother of Bunnies at the Battle of the Warren by Missi & Sable Aradia
Lord GalaWight facing off against the Mother of Bunnies at the Battle of the Warren by Missi & Sable Aradia
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