<div class="floatleft">(http://elliquiy.com/elluiki/images/d/da/Elrond.jpg)</div>Kalien is the founder and director of the Heartlands Outfitters. The infamous Zhentil Keep-raised Half-elf guilder was a former adviser to the Lords of that infamous city.  Kalien came to know Darien Avan when the Duke was an assistant to Cormyr's ambassador to Zhentil Keep.<br/><br/>He was born somewhere in the Moonsea area – he never says exactly where. He tends to discourage anyone from prying into his past too closely – forcefully and permanently. Most folks know he’d tired of life in the Moonsea lands, but they aren’t certain if he left of his own volition or someone else’s.<br/><br/>Kalien came to the Blackmoore Baronies over 5 years ago with a small force of mercenaries and several ships loaded with trade goods. Immediately popular for bringing needed trade to the economically depressed region and for defying the pirates and other brigands who ran the countryside, Duke Darien Avan adopted Kalien as one of his lieutenants.<br/><br/>As Kalien (who had by now adopted the title “Guilder”) fought the bandits and curbed the corruption of the City of Daunton's seedy underworld, the Baronies have become a traders’ haven.  Daunton will soon rival Ilien as a mercantile city. Most of the profit flows to Kalien’s pockets, and he uses it to ensure his people’s loyalty – and to take good care of himself, too (as evidenced by the precise coif of his dark hair and his selection of expensive circlets). As cunning as a serpent, the half-elf has a snake-like face to match. One can’t trust this blue-eyed merchant, and he can tell an enemy when he sees one.<br/><br/>Kalien's Palace-like residence is renowned for its splendid celebrations, its glittering balls, and its fabulous feasts. Kalien always has time at these affairs for diplomacy, as that’s what pulls in the money – what’s a small investment for so huge a return?  The guilder works hard to put others in his debt and constantly hatches new schemes to wring the most benefits from any situation. He likes playing two sides against each other, preferably in such a way that neither can spot his influence. He’s always in the market for information and his spies cover the land to bring him the most up-to-date details they can find.