Sonlen

Valkyrie	Ullar
Sonlen
Homeworld	Feylund
Species	Elf
Type	Unique Hero
Class	Archmage
Personality	Tricky
Size	Medium
Height	5
Set	Swarm of the Marro 3/16

Sonlen is one of Ullar’s most revered champions. The Archmage uses his fighting powers and magical skills, coupled with the fangs, claws, and magic of his dragon to win battle after battle. The mystical link between elf and dragon allows the duo to be an unrivaled fighting unit as the dragon flies down on foes while the Archmage attacks with his magical spells and deadly weapons.

Famous and greatly praised for his fighting abilities in the Wars of Nastralund, Sonlen and his dragon became a natural choice for helping to scout the uncharted swamps. The dragon’s swooping attacks leave many foes wounded on the ground. Few enemies know the creature is also capable of healing magic: Sonlen's dragon is able to help the wounded, even in the midst of battle.

Stats

• Life: 6
• Move: 5
• Range: 6
• Attack: 4
• Defense: 3
• Point Value: 160

Abilities

• Dragon Healing:
  Before moving, you may choose a wounded Hero figure within 4 clear sight spaces of Sonlen. Roll the 20-sided die. If you roll a 15 or higher, remove one Wound Marker from the chosen Hero's Army Card. Sonlen's Dragon can use its Dragon Healing on Sonlen.
• Dragon Swoop:
  After moving and before attacking, you may choose any figure within 4 clear sight spaces of Sonlen. Roll the 20-sided die. If you roll a 15 or higher, the chosen figure receives one wound.

Synergy

• May benefit from Acolarh's Leaf of the Home Tree Aura ability.
• May benefit from Acolarh's Ullar's Amulet movement bonus ability.
• May benefit from Kyntela Gwyn's Strength of the Oak Aura 1 defense bonus ability.
• If Otonashi starts her turn adjacent to him, she may add 4 to her move.

History

Thormun's sketch of Sonlen, Kyntela and Jorhdawn.

Rise of the Valkyrie

Sonlen may have been helping the Order of the Crimson Sigil defend princess Kyntela Gwyn and the Dire Stone she carried against the onslaught of Khosumet, the Wolves of Badru and the Anubian Wolves when he was summoned by Ullar to Valhalla. He would be present at the Great Castle of Ullar as Thormun, Concan and Kelda came to invite Ullar to join the Alliance against Utgar. After Syvarris told them of his battle with Krug, Kyntela spoke of how she, Sonlen, and Jorhdawn had made their way to Valhalla. Sonlen already had his young dragon at this time.

Afterwards, he would accompany Ullar's army to aid Jandar in Nastralund, where he became renowned for his fighting abilities. He would return with a portion of Jandar's army to reinforce Ullar's half-finished stronghold on the shore of the Bitter Sea as it came under attack from Utgar's Marro swarm. A blast of his magic turned a Marro Stinger to ash during this fight. He was considered an ideal candidate to represent Ullar on the mission with Sgt. Drake, Major Q10, Raelin, and Shiori into the uncharted Ticalla jungles to deal with Utgar's marro infestation.

Sonlen's Swarm of the Marro artwork.

Swarm of the Marro

He was sent on a mission to the Ticalla Jungle to investigate and extinguish the threat of the Marro Hive. He was accompanied by Sgt. Drake Alexander, Major Q10, Shiori, and Raelin, and naturally his little red dragon.

The group had a difficult journey through the Volcarren lava fields, in between dodging flaming debris from the volcanoes and dying of thirst. However, they at long last made it down through the land bridge into Ticalla.

While Major Q10 and Shiori went to scout ahead, Sgt. Drake, Raelin and Sonlen came across a murky portion of swamp in The Narrows where several Marro Stingers, Marro Drudge and Marrden Nagrubs lay in the water among the corpses of travelers they had killed. They were initially caught by surprise but managed to survive the attack and keep moving to meet up with Major Q10, who informed them that Shiori had been captured by the Marro.

They had a battle to free Shiori at Montiqua Ledge, continuing to cut through the increasingly dense Marro forces. After that, they decided to stay off any cleared paths, and remained inconspicuous until they finally arrived at Xualtiaca, home to one of the greater Marro Hives in Ticalla. There they fought with the marro hivelord Tor-Kul-Na and his minions, and the group sustained many injuries in the battle. Sgt. Drake likely had several ribs broken by a swipe from Tor-Kul-Na, Major Q10 had the internal wiring for one of his arms severed by Tor-Kul-Na's spear, and Raelin was gunned by Marro Drudge out of the sky, and was weakened but alive afterward.

Eventually, Tor-Kul-Na's steed would be stabbed through the chest by Drake, and Sonlen used his destructive magic to destroy the Marro Hive. In the aftermath, the wounded group found that they were being approached by Kyrie of the Moon Tribe, who had been circling them from high above for some time. With translation provided magically by Sonlen, they were able to understand that the kyrie wished to take them to meet their leader, Aquilla.

The group was welcomed to the city of the moon tribe, where they were given the chance to rest and clad in white and golden robes. When they had recovered they were given audience with Aquilla, who said she had foreseen Thorian's return to the city and asked the group to continue to help her in ridding Ticalla of its Marro threat.

Additional Info

Since elves are from Feylund, it is not known if there are also dragons on that world or if Sonlen acquired the dragon hatchling after coming to Valhalla.

Sonlen is one of Heroscape creator Craig Van Ness's five favorite units, and was named after Heroscape designer Chris Nelson.

In the unused first-draft script for the Heroscape Mini-Movie, it appears his name was potentially going to be Trellyn.

On August 12, 2022, a teaser was posted in the Avalon Hill Discord with the following concept art and tagline: "Wow, those baby dragons grow up really fast don't they...". Based on the artwork and comment it is strongly suggested this is depicting Sonlen in a future state, taking place during the Heroscape: Age of Annihilation plotline. Sonlen's 2.0 figure, featuring him riding on a grown up dragon, was later revealed as a stretch goal for the campaign.

FAQ's

Sonlen has not received any official rulings or clarifications.

Resources

For further reading and strategy tips, check out the Book of Sonlen at Heroscapers.com.