Argrath the Legitimate: Argrath the Bastard.

From: Michael Cule <mikec_at_room3b.demon.co.uk>
Date: Wed, 15 Apr 1998 22:36:34 +0100


Jeff Richard makes some good points about Argrath:

>At the risk of being a contrarian,

Oh, go on. You will, you will, you will.....

>I'd like to quibble with the Starbrow
>"legitimists" and maybe engage in a bit of wholesome Telmori-bashing..
>A few opening observations:
>
>It seems obvious that Sartar introduced a kingship ritual that is quite
>different from the "elective" kingship rituals of Heort. Instead of
>kingship based on assembling a sanctified ring, Sartar's kingship magic
>is based on his bloodline - symbolized by the sacred flame of his
>immolation.

I think that any relative of the Changer could cause the flame to flicker a bit (Temertain did it after all). I don't totally rule out the possibility that Argrath fooled the flame somehow.

My picture of this is the King calling on the Hero to recognise him. The higher the flame the greater the honour and the better the omens.

I agree that Kallyr must have found the burden of the Prince's task enormous. We don't know if she could have done what Argrath did. She failed in the Lightbringer's Quest after all. (And a question: who was she trying to bring back?)

But then we don't know what exactly Argrath was up to, do we?
>
>Some might argue that Kallyr was more ideologically "legitimate" given
>her involvement in the 1613 rebellion and her senior status amongst the
>Sartarite warlords. On the other hand, others might observe that Kallyr
>was seen as an ambitious opportunist following the fiasco of the 1613
>rebellion. Many leaders from powerful tribes disliked and distrusted
>her intensely. So much for the greater legitimacy.

Ah, ha. So legitimacy comes from being powerful, eh? Not the message that Sartar brought.
>
>As for the Telmori, it seems that Argrath's political intuition was
>superior to Kallyr's. I personally suspect that Kallyr wooed the
>Telmori to her cause because the Telmori were the traditional bodyguards
>of the Sartar kings. Symbolically, Kallyr sought to show that she was
>the one true legitimate heir to the House of Sartar because she was
>supported by the Telmori. Argrath dispensed with that symbol since the
>Flame of Sartar was the all-important symbol.

Or because the Telmori can see what a big fraud Argrath is.

>Furthermore, everyone
>else HATED the Telmori. And with good reason. By attacking the
>Telmori, Argrath gained the enthusiastic support of those tribes who
>hated and feared the Wolfrunners. Once he became Prince, the support of
>those tribes was probably far more useful than the Telmori ever could
>have been.

So he broke the promise of the Kingdom's founder that the Telmori would have a place in it? Very legitimate.
>
>I suspect that Sartar in the years following Kallyr's Lighting of the
>Flame was filled with intrigue as rival warlords ran amok through the
>country-side, settling scores and unified only in their hatred of their
>former occupiers. As Kallyr struggled (possibly in vain) to assert her
>new-found authority as Prince, Argrath began laying the foundation for
>his much more dramatic rise to power by picking fights with the Telmori.

Now, I happen to believe that Argrath had very little status until after the death of Kallyr and that he was the one who arranged Harrek's attack on Boldhome. But believe what you like.

In my game the players have finally found Kallyr Starbrow in Geo's Hidden Inn. They are about to present their copy of KING OF SARTAR (fallen through from the Fourth Age) to her. And probably fuck the timeline up enormously.

>Hail Argrath!

Bah, humbug!

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