Topic of the Month: The Truth behind the "Battle of the Three Lords"
[In exclusivity, a special report by Zoran
Dragovic. Ed.]
For six years I have been travelling the lands situated between the
Black Mountains and the mighty Yalu River. For six years, I was
asking myself the same question: why the forces opposed to the
Master and the Hulean Empire weren't able to unite to overthrow the
dark man of Greatrealm? Six years during which I have put my life
in great perils to accumulate clues, evidences and half answers.
Now that the history has accelerated in the Hulean region, and with
the sum of knowledge I have reaped on the matter, I have been able
to decipher the real plot behind what is now called "The Battle of
the Three Lords."
To understand more what is at stake behind this year's conflict in
Hule, one need to know the principal protagonists of the conflict.
What we have is three power-hungry beings, three characters who
have sacrificed the life and ideals of thousands of their followers
for an outcome that has yet to be understood. Those three beings,
the Master, Rehmin (formerly known as the dragon Remindan), and
Ustalam Banshybek all are seeking Immortality. Unfortunately, for
the region's population, their paths were sent to collide
violently.
The first one, the Master, is a well-known villain throughout the
Old World for his invasion of Sind and the attack against Darokin
in the course of the events now known as the Great War. If his
military actions are well known, his ultimate goals are less clear
for most scholars and philosophers. The evidence I have unearthed
are that this being of unknown nature (some sources indicates that
he might be a leech coming from a long-forgotten civilisation or
the reincarnation of the original Hosadus) is looking toward
Immortality along the Path of the Fiend under the tutelage of
Bozdogan. However, in more than 400 years of unchallenged reign,
the Master hasn't been able to fulfil the last condition imposed by
his quest for Immortality in Entropy [according to the Tsa'alian
Ubar Doragirk, the Chengouch Book of the Lost Souls. Zoran. ]:
he hasn't been able to permanently bring a entire culture to the
worship of entropy. Even if the Temple of Chaos is thriving in the
Hulean Empire, in his long reign over the empire the Master hasn't
been able to spread the worship of chaos in the surrounding
communities in such a way as to permanently change their customs.
In Sind, the old ways are still followed by most of the population
[yet, a Kyurduk hermit once told me that the new faith in Gareth
was, in fact, an attempt made by Bozdogan to obtain new followers
through deceit. However, I haven't been able to investigate on this
issue. If the old man was right, then, as the faith in Gareth will
grow out of the action of the Master in Sind and bring changes to
the Sindhi civilisation, the Master will be able to fulfil this
last requirement on the Path of the Fiend. Zoran. ]; in Olgar,
the Church of Traladara has been strong enough to regularly defeat
the Hulean armies; in Monzag, the Way of the Law, not the Temple of
Chaos, is replacing the druidic ways of the former Sendaryan
tribes; briefly, the Master has failed to bring profound religious
changes around him.
Rehmin, on the other hand has more fluid goals and objective. When
I met him, in AC 1012, I found a charming but severe strategist, a
cunning diplomat and an unforgiving leader. I haven't been able to
trace Rehmin's history before the moment he arrived in Kyurdukstan
as a Sindhi bandit willing to destroy Hule and the Master, but
converging reports and the fact that his army was constantly helped
by powerful dragons brought me to think that Rehmin is the human
form of the great dragon king Remindan, which was ousted from his
lands earlier in the century. Remindan was already on his path
toward Immortality as an Epic Hero [I figured this out from a
cross-analysis of accounts about the legendary origin of Rehmin
found in the Arbashad Na-Meyati (the Kyurduks' legendary tale of
Rehmin roughly translated as The Road to Unity), discussions with
the warrior-priests of Ksharya (Karaash) in Hayebil, and scrolls
found in the archives of the Great Guild of Grouzhina. Zoran.
]; though this is an unusual path for a red dragon, this path was
clearly fit for a dragon as Remindan, who always preferred the
strategy and resulting bloodbath of great wars and the diplomacy as
done by humankind to the boring politics of dragonkind. This is
supported by the fact that his red steel scimitar Schumiktar
has earned an important reputation as being the best blade west of
the Great Waste. Rehmin has also left his dauphin, Marik
Dostar, at the head of a unified Kyurdukstan allied with Grouzhina.
Shortly, Rehmin has woven a legend around himself, his friends and
belongings. But, according to His priests in Hayebil, Karaash has
asked Rehmin to fulfil a last great quest in His name: to free the
humanoids of Hule from the Master's control. This information
puzzled me for about two years since I wasn't able to figure how a
lone man would be able to free the hordes of humanoids at the
service of the Master, humanoids not even willing to quit the
Master's service. The answer came when I learned about the
existence of the Throne of Hosadus, but first, let's resume our
description of the main actors in the battle.
Ustalam Banshybek is the less known character of the recent war for
the people of the Old World, in fact many have ignored his
existence until Sindhi merchants begun to spread the rumour about a
new nomadic invasion in Hule. Various sources provided me with the
evidence that this Douzbak hermit is no one else than the legendary
King Dorfin [for more about King Dorfin and Cymorrak, the two
previous incarnations of Ustalam, see the Kzenanet Dzavor
(Book of Ancient History) of the Sublime Octagon Order of Dvinzina,
a translated copy of which is in the hands of Lucien Chassebois in
Darokin City. Zoran. ] in his third reincarnation along the
Path of the Dynast. His first task in this new body was to save the
country he founded in his first life, Douzbakjian from the combined
threat of decadence and the invading humanoids. After having
installed at the throne a distant branch of the royal Douzbakjian
family, he took upon himself to build a new nomadic empire strong
enough to defeat Hule as asked by Vanya, his current sponsor to
Immortality. [Since candidates to Immortality are asked to
travel through time, it is difficult to define exactly when a quest
begins. So, it is possible that Dorfin was the second identity of
Cymorrak or the inverse, but it is unlikely that Ustalam Banshybek
is the first manifestation and will travel back to time to become
Dorfin and Cymorrak, although the worshippers of Khoronus that I've
interrogated on this matter provide me with competing versions.
Zoran. ] However, even though his first goal was the
destruction of Hule, the entire race for Jandak doesn't hold with
his interests, since he should have done more damage than the mere
progression in the Hulean lands to be sure that the Master's empire
would be destroyed. This leads us again to Jandak, the final
objective of the three forces.
I've learned that deep below Jandak is buried the Throne of
Hosadus, a powerful artifact that was given to the liberator of
Hule by Loki weeks before his death two thousands years ago.
According to the Djemettir Dan-Çölik Shudër
(Hulean Codex of Human-Humanoids Relations), this artifact was
meant as a powerful beacon for the humanoids and also as a keeper
of the alliance between the two groups. It is a powerful creation
of Entropy that helps explain why humanoids and humans have been
living together without much troubles in the area over the
centuries. Still, I haven't been able to experiment or even see the
throne myself, then it might just be another Hulean legend, but
many sources cite the existence of "an alliance passed between
Hosadus and the beastmen" [in Jorin su Tarniç na
Huyule (Tales about the Creation of Hule, Bulzanian Patriarchs'
Learning Book). Zoran. ] or "Hosadus sitting on his throne
welcoming hordes of creatures of Entropy offering their allegiance
at the feet of Bozdogan's son" [inscriptions at the base of
Hosadus' Mausoleum near Jandak. Zoran. ]. Yet I wasn't sure
about the existence of this artifact until I heard about the race
between Ustalam and Rehmin on their way to Jandak. Indeed, what
would mobilise two quasi-Immortals looking forward to the
destruction of Hule? Why Jandak and no other city? Why were they
taking the chance of having the Huleans fighting from their
rear?
The solution lies in the Throne of Hosadus. For the Master, it is a
central requirement for his power. If the artifact disappears,
social tensions between humanoids and humans are likely to
undermine his quest on the Path of the Fiend and the solidity of
the Hulean civilisation. For Rehmin, the destruction of a powerful
entropic artifact is a condition for acceding to Immortality. It is
likely that Karaash will be delighted to see the throne destroyed
since it forces His fellow humanoids to comply to rules dictated by
the magic of other Immortals. Finally, Ustalam-Dorfin-Cymorrak
would definitely put an end to the Hulean rule with a single
powerful blow if he were to destroy the artifact, thus fulfilling
for the third time his quest of destroying the Hulean Empire.
The only questions left are: Has the Throne of Hosadus been
destroyed by the contending Immortals? And, if yes is the answer,
who has done it?