Uhl Belk is a character in The Druid of Shannara. Also known as the Stone King, he is a creature from the Age of Faerie who resides in the Old World city of Eldwist.
Biography[]
Early Life[]
In the Age of Faerie, creatures like Uhl Belk were common, and like all Faerie creatures Uhl Belk came into being by way of the Word, making the King of the Silver River his brother. All Faerie creatures draw their power from the elements and Uhl Belk in particular drew his power from stone.
As the Great Wars ravaged the world and the new Races began to overrun the world, Uhl Belk became scared and power-hungry, forgetting the trust given to him by the Word to care for and preserve the world. He instead decided to protect his own power by turning the entire world into stone, starting with Eldwist.
Quest for the Black Elfstone[]
After Eldwist was turned to stone Uhl Belk created an elemental, a son called the Maw Grint, to travel out of Eldwist and turn outlying lands to stone. Uhl Belk repeatedly modified the Maw Grint with magic to make it a more efficient at its task, but in doing so he turned the Maw Grint into a monster that threatened to kill him as well. Uhl Belk eventually stole the Black Elfstone from its hiding place in the Hall of Kings, so that he could use the Elfstone's magic to keep the Maw Grint in check. However, use of the stone to negate the Maw Grint's magic only meant that Uhl Belk himself started turning to stone, and he eventually ended up fusing himself to the ground inside a massive dome at Eldwist's center.
The King of the Silver River recognized the threat Uhl Belk posed and created a child of his own to send to Eldwist, an elemental named Quickening. She was tasked with restoring Eldwist and the land around it back to its normal state, but that task could only be accomplished if the Black Elfstone was taken away from Uhl Belk, as the Elfstone's magic would be able to negate her own with ease.
Quickening was told be her father to seek out Walker Boh, Morgan Leah, and Pe Ell to help her in her quest. Walker Boh in particular had reasons of his own to take the Black Elfstone out of Uhl Belk's hands, as it was the only magic available that would be able to restore Paranor to the Four Lands.
After discovering Uhl Belk's location and urging him unsuccessfully to give up the Black Elfstone, Quickening, Walker, and Morgan returned to the Stone King's dome and launched a surprise attack. When Morgan stabbed Uhl Belk in the arm with the broken Sword of Leah, the creature dropped the Black Elfstone and it was retrieved by Walker. The trio fled as the Maw Grint, sensing that Uhl Belk had lost the Black Elfstone, returned to confront its father.
At her death, Quickening's magic overcomes that of Uhl Belk, getting rid of the Maw Grint and restoring Eldwist and the lands around it to what they once were. However, the dome where Uhl Belk was trapped, fused to the stone floor of the dome, still remained. It is assumed that Uhl Belk is still alive inside the dome.