Re: Arkat the Knight

From: Nick Brooke <Nick_Brooke_at_csi.com>
Date: Thu, 24 Dec 1998 00:33:01 -0000



Peter writes:

> Arkat was a _Seshnegi_ Knight and not a Knight of the New Idealist Church
> nor a Knight of whatever Fronelan orders existed in his time. Have a look
> at the Old Seshnegi Chivalric Church on Nick's Webpage to give some idea
> as to the variation in Hrestoli ideas.

In fairness, Hrestoli today are likely to differ from one another more after the passage of several Ages of history, the odd Ban and Prophetic Revelation, etc. When I wrote up Old Seshnelan Chivalry, I meant it to appear plausible to an Old Seshnegi Knight that Arkat had followed his tradition towards the elite status of Knighthood -- just as a modern Loskalmi Idealist could read it as a familiar upward progress through the castes. The account in "Cults of Terror" could be read either way. New Hrestoli Idealism (the Loskalmi state church seen in Tales #13) is a rather modern variant, if you go by my write-up.

In the First Age, Loskalm and Seshnela were closer than they are in the Third -- the Hrestoli Church was founded in Loskalm ("Akem"), and successfully exported itself back to Seshneg (albeit as "True Hrestol Way" anti-Seshna fanaticism). I don't feel that a late First Age Loskalmi would feel the same dislike for contemporary Seshnegi we see in the Third Age, when the New Hrestoli Idealists are pitting their faith against the conservative Rokari.

If Fronelans have anything in particular against Arkat, it could be either his renunciation of Malkionism, Hrestolism, Brithini-ism, etc. in favour of squalid paganism and trollery (a snub to their proud and superior culture), or else his abandonment of the ideals (and Light) that their local hero Talor continued to uphold.

I don't get the impression that Talor and Arkat finished up as the best of friends...

> Most Pelorian Illuminates would see Arkat as Judas Iscariot, one whose
> actions was necessary for the greater good rather than a Darth Vader.

So who was it that betrayed and killed the Evil Emperor, eh?

Cheers, Nick


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