Theliel Lionhelm

Theliel Lionhelm is the fourth child of Tithan Lionhelm and Voladea Lionhelm née Terraward. He is one of the legitimized bastards of Tithan Lionhelm and the only one aware of who his biological mother is. At the beginning of Fatherland, Theliel serves as a member of the Regency's Treasure Council in the capital but he often visits his family in Strongshore. He's closest to his half-sister Tecla and cares little about the rest of his family or even his duties at the Regency. When he comes back to Strongshore after Thaesonwald's accident, he brings Sarkis of Silverholde with him, claiming it's for the man's safety.

Appearance and Personality
Theliel Lionhelm is described as the tallest man of his family, with light chestnut hair and hazel eyes. He's lean and a trained soldier, but being narrow-sighted makes him a poor archer. Although Tylennald is the son whose charisma reminds Voladea Lionhelm of her husband, Theliel is the one that the simple people of Summerport feel a connection too. Theliel is often seen talking to the common people and they generally welcome him wherever he goes. He's smooth with words, though characters like Grandmaster Rodbertus and Old Martita don't buy his theatrics.

Theliel appears as a caring brother when it comes to his sister Tecla, and visits Strongshore regularly just to hang out with her. Unironically, both are named after their paternal grandparents, Theliel Lionhelm, Lord of Strongshore, and his wife Tecla Dawnshield. Theliel also is particularly close to a man he met in the capital, Sarkis of Silverholde, and this friendship drives him further away from the Regency.

However, Theliel's peculiar morals and views on what is good for himself and for the family cloud his good-natured intentions in the same way his self-centered and selfish goals make him disregard his sisters' well-being and future.

Early life
Theliel was born from the affair Tithan had with a common woman named Emeline, who later experienced a form of mental instability that made her delusional and a danger to herself. Emeline is often referred to as "Emeline the Demented." It was Old Martita who helped Emeline give birth to Theliel in Summerport.

Theliel Lionhelm's childhood was a turbulent one. Through Tylennald's narration, Lovel Riverguard learns that Theliel was a child who wasn't big on physical training and preferred to spend time in his father's observatory, like his sister Tecla. However, Theliel was set on imitating his father's tasks and even his handwriting. Tylennald describes Theliel as a boy with a tendency to lie and make up excuses for all kinds of things, from kicking other boys off their horses to the number of eggs he ate at breakfast. Theliel was also not close to his father at all, defining Tithan mean and old, and looking up to Tylennald, wishing the latter was his father instead.

As a child, Theliel was very close to Tylennald's firstborn, Terrel, and they are still in contact given the fact that Terrel lent his ship to Theliel to escape the South.

Around the time Theliel turned nine, Tylennald claims that Theliel forged his father's last will in Tylennald's favor, but since his brother was a child, Tithan Lionhelm concluded that Tylennald manipulated the boy into doing it and excluded Tylennald from the important matters of Strongshore. The truth about Tithan's last will was never revealed in Fatherland.

Theliel suffers from a bad reputation in the South, some nobles going as far as saying that he smuggles women from the port of Edgemere to bed them in Strongshore.

The Return in Strongshore
When Thaesonwald, Theliel's eldest brother, falls off his horse and ends up paralyzed, Theliel rushes back to Strongshore. However, he brings his new friend Sarkis of Silverholde with him, claiming that the Regency raised false accusations against the man. Upon his return, Tecla senses that something about Theliel is different, and wonders if he, too, is more interested in the line of succession than anything else after Thaesonwald's accident.

Sarkis' presence gets Theliel into an argument with his father but what triggers Tithan's anger is the fact that Theliel abandoned the Regency's Treasure Council without telling anyone. Tithan hits Theliel then, and later on summons him for a public audience.

Tithan orders Theliel to return to Silverholde to regain the Treasure Council's trust and to continue serving as a member of the council. Theliel publicly calls out his lord father on his reasoning, making it clear to everyone that he knows who his mother was and that he doesn't understand why he's treated differently from his sister Tesfira, who is also Emeline's child.

Before returning to Silverholde, Theliel brings Sarkis to his aunt Martita, though he doesn't tell Sarkis who Old Martita is to him. He promises to come back as soon as he takes care of their unfinished business in the capital.

The Wilderose Massacre
On his way to the capital, Theliel travels with Arther Angefort, Secretary of the Regency. Angefort reveals that he was the one to introduce Theliel's mother, Emeline, to the Lionhelms since Lady Voladea needed a new lady-in-waiting. Theliel asks Angefort if he knows what caused Emeline to go mad but the secretary doesn't know and advises Theliel to research the Regency's Observatory Vault. Theliel doesn't show further interest.

As they ride through Wilderose, Theliel, Angefort and the elite soldiers of the Lionhelms find Patten's fresh corpse, and Angefort orders two soldiers to collect the remains and find the man's family in the South. The rest of the party spends the night at the Rosenfield castle, where invisible beings and undead bodies attack the southern knights and soldiers over dinner.

During that assault, Theliel is the only one to see a little girl sharing the Rosenfield physical features asking for help. Theliel follows her on the battlements, where he finds the withering corpse of Reanna Rosenfield. Theliel passes out, and wakes up when he, Angefort and a few survivors arrive at the southern gates of Silverholde.

The Regency Treasure Council
Back at the Regency, Theliel feels out of place more than ever as Arther Angefort calls for a meeting with all the head members of the Regency and Grandmaster Rodbertus dismisses Theliel because of his recent leave. Theliel returns to his chambers and proceeds to carry on with his tasks, only to falsify the tax report from Rainier's End.

Theliel confirms his distaste for the Regency during Tecla's ball. He tells his sister that he's relieved to know that she might join the Regency as well, otherwise it would drive him crazy. Theliel shares the events of Wilderose with Tecla as they ride to Silverholde, and Theliel once more displays how detached he feels when it comes to their family upon learning from Grandmaster Rodbertus that his father is injured and that Thaesonwald passed away.

Theliel and Tecla hang out a couple of times during their stay in the capital and one night at the Shattered Ambry, Theliel speaks with the tavern owner, Rollant, about goods that belong to Sarkis. Theliel convinces Rollant into not receiving his payment until the goods arrived in the South under Sarkis' name, boasting about the Lionhelm fleet and the sturdiness of their ships. It's later revealed that Theliel half-lied to Rollant, and that Terrel's ship, Lion's Glory, is a simple merchant ship. Theliel never mentions paying Rollant after the goods do arrive in the South.

Tithan Lionhelm's Death
Theliel parts ways with Tecla as soon as they arrive in Summerport. He tells her he has something to take care of before he joins her by their father's side, and he rushes to the Seven Galleys, hoping to find Sarkis at work. He instead finds a shaken Sarkis at Old Martita's. Theliel reveals that Martita was his aunt, but once again prioritizes his goals over finding out what happened to Martita and burning her remains. After learning of his father's death, he drags Sarkis to the owl post to send Tecla a message so that she can join them and leave the Silver Lands once and for all. Tecla never receives his message, however, and Theliel leaves in the middle of the night.

The Zalejos Depths
On Lion's Glory, Theliel meets Captain Wulfscoe, the Black Eagle, a man able to communicate with a crowned eagle named Veadecta. As they sail for the Red Continent, Sarkis confronts Theliel with the truth, since he learned from Opherus Goldsnout that the Regency's Surveillance was never after him. Theliel manages to turn the argument in his favor, telling Sarkis that him possessing fake seals and robes of the Regency would have gotten him into trouble at some point or another. Theliel explains the silvers filling the hold of the ship were meant for them both to start anew in the Red Continent. Wulfscoe scolds him for his actions and for the chain reaction Theliel induced when he stole from the Regency, but Theliel retorts that the money never belonged to the Treasure Council since his father Tithan financially supported the institution.

By the end of Fatherland, Captain Wulfscoe redirects the ship to the islands of the Zalejos Depths. Theliel learns that his father's death caused the major cities of the Red Continent to interrupt the trade routes in place and so Lion's Glory cannot dock. Theliel and Sarkis arrived in the Enclave of Zalés and Wulfscoe warns them that they're not welcome.

Theliel is to become a main POV in Faywaltz, so he's probably absent in Rosencircle.

Lance fighting
Theliel is one of the best and fastest riders of the Silver Lands and his weapon of choice is the lance, though he didn't get to use it in Fatherland, preferring to use cunning when he needs to obtain something.

Mediumship
Theliel was the only person able to see the little girl and Reanna at the Rosenfield castle, which could make him a medium, unless he was under someone else's manipulation. His heritage doesn't hint at the possibility of him being able to channel powers.