Kestrel Etrevion: Difference between revisions
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
m (elaborations) |
(pushed most of this to research pages, adding banner) |
||
| (4 intermediate revisions by 2 users not shown) | |||
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
{{ICE}} |
|||
'''Kestrel Etrevion''' was "Lord of the West Country", serving as the viceroy of a [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fief fiefdom] carved out along the shores of [[Darkstone Bay|Claedesbrim Bay]]. The borders of the fiefdom were the [[Coastal Cliffs]] in the west, extending east without ever going further north than [[The Graveyard]] which was built later. The "West Country" was usurped by his elder brother, [[Bandur Etrevion]], who was serving as regent in his absence. Kestrel had built a fleet of war ships he used to plunder the rest of the Bay region, and would have had to sail very far from home in order to avoid assaulting the territories of [[Lorgalis|Lorgalis the White]]. Though essentially acting as corsairs, they also tamed the seas, slaughtering the [[bellacorn]]. [[The Dark Path]] possibly had the support of Lorgalis or more likely the [[Black Hel|daughter]] of [[Kadaena]], though its independence as a sovereign entity would have been short lived in any event. There is reason to believe Bandur was nevertheless a [[Black Hel#Behind The Scenes|direct servant]] of the Empress Kadaena herself in spite of being long dead. |
|||
'''Kestrel Etrevion''' ruled a fiefdom carved out of the western rim of [[Darkstone Bay|Claedesbrim Bay]] during the early years of the [[Wars of Dominion]] in the [[Second Era]] of the [[Shadow World]] history. He rose up the ranks of the "warriors of the Unlife" quickly, secretly masterminded by his brother [[Bandur Etrevion]]. This was most likely in the service of [[Lorgalis]] in context but it is never stated. He was awarded the fiefdom after a particularly hard fought campaign that would have failed without the sorcerous intervention of his brother. In time he became restless and built a fleet of ships to conduct raids on other settlements. |
|||
Whether Kestrel was serving Lorgalis or someone else is not absolutely indisputable, as there are symbolic references to a black sea drake in areas associated with him. This would represent either the [[The Iron Wind#Six Orders|Cult of the Sea Drake]], which was an aspect of Lorgalis' forces of the [[Unlife]], or the [[Dragonlord]] Ulya Shek who would have been a rival conqueror in the [[Wars of Dominion]]. It is much more likely he was a viceroy of Lorgalis, retired from his warlord status after a failed invasion of [[Kharuugh|Saralis]], but successful enough to hold the windward edge of the Bay. These would have significantly different implications for the political context of what happened following his death. Lorgalis ends up [[Kharuugh|conquering]] the whole region in the same year that [[Uthex Kathiasas]] is killed in [[The Broken Lands]] regardless. |
|||
The lands became chaotic with sinister cults rising up in the power vacuum, until eventually Bandur usurped the throne and established a theocracy called [[The Dark Path]]. When Kestrel returned they had a heated argument, until there was an invasion on the northern border. When this was put down with a flight of demons, they continued arguing until Bandur ripped his brother's soul out in a fit of possession. |
|||
===Heirs=== |
|||
Kestrel was known to have sons who would have been his heirs, whom his brother gave the epitaph "princes all" who died attempting to reclaim their "ancestral land." Neither princes, nor with ancestral lands, this [[Bandur Etrevion#Behind The Scenes|mocking]] eulogy seems to imply they attempted to reacquire the fiefdom with force. (There is some reason to believe they were actually of [[Grey Mountains|Zori]] descent, which was by that time a wasteland ruled by [[The Iron Wind|The Unlife]].) It is [[Darkstone Castle (saved post)|impossible]] to know now for certain, but perhaps they were still loyally serving Lorgalis. The original [[The History of Darkstone Castle|Castle Claedesbrim]] which was within their territory was clearly sieged, but it was modified by [[Estrion]], such that none of the archaeological evidence can be trusted with absolute certainty. There was an underground stronghold along the Coastal Cliffs housing a cult of Klysus ([[Luukos]]) as well, apparently owned by at least one royal, which would have been purged with foul hordes and extreme violence in the rise of the [[The Dark Path|theocracy]]. Klysus was a patron of Lorgalis. |
|||
If the castle was actually unrelated to the Etrevion family, however unlikely from an internal consistency of narrative point of view (though [[Darkstone Castle#Behind The Scenes|most probable]] from the [[out of character]] view) given that it shared some of the same creatures as The Graveyard and others which were necessarily the work of a powerful necromancer, their epitaph could still be interpreted as having a purely religious meaning. They worshipped a death god and were killed in the purge of the cult, and so joined their ancestors in the ground. Obelisks were made historically as symbolic conduits for sending souls upward to the sun god, which in this context would be Klysus, as well as a magical warding to protect the dead. Bandur apparently constructed their obelisk out of [[Orhan marble]] (Liaboan marble) which repels low level undead, and would be implying the [[Flows of essence#River of Life|River of Life]] leading to Eissa ([[Lorminstra]]), sister of Reann ([[Ronan]]) the god of night who crusades against the [[Unlife]] (but who were ''not'' originally siblings of their [[Phoen|sun god]].) |
|||
It was thus mocking them all on multiple levels simultaneously. Their spirits are trapped in the section of the necropolis that [[Phantom Gatekeeper|symbolizes]] the other side of the [[Gates of Oblivion]], indicated by their disquieted state, which Bandur [[Phantom|represents]] as an everlasting prison of eternal hopelessness. (Indeed, Castle Claedesbrim provides the internal logic for how the [[phantom#Behind The Scenes|phantoms]] were made, with the wights and mummies being the nobility.) The daughters of Kestrel (or perhaps his wife) were clearly spared in the underground stronghold, and became the source of the much debased bloodline that used the graveyard over the millennia. These graves are located near [[Death dirge#Behind The Scenes|the bog]] where Kestrel was killed, which was made as a muck bed for [[Lesser ghoul#Behind The Scenes|trespassers]] cursed as ghouls, and symbolically can be considered the [[Gates of Oblivion|Spring of Youth]]. |
|||
===Demise=== |
|||
Kestrel was slain by his brother in a heated argument over these issues, supposedly with a [[Absolution Pure|Spell of Absolution Pure]], but possibly a darker absolution which would better account for the guilt and torment of Bandur. He was interred in a possibly fake funerary barge in a (capsized) warship shaped burial mound covered with toxic [[salorisa]] flowers, but he may actually be the warped skeleton used for the underground throne room of [[The Graveyard]]. It is consistent with a soul destroying curse called Kadaena's Kiss, possibly combined with an adjacent one on the list that liquifies the skeleton. This would be what Bandur actually meant by his brother waiting for him. However, he owed his soul to dark powers from his bondage to the [[Unlife]], who would be from [[The Dark Path#Behind The Scenes|the past]]. |
|||
Kestrel's epitaphs were subtly mocking as well, emphasizing his lesser rule, and playing off the word "[[Purgatory|deeds]]" to imply his older brother was the true sovereign. This is the sense of deeds being the bond with a liege lord for special rights of intercession. Bandur supposedly told his high priests that Kestrel was waiting for him, and that they should not follow if they value their souls. It is the "Under Barrow" where [http://www.brown.edu/Departments/Italian_Studies/LD/numbers/04/forni.html sins of incontinence] give way to "[[Purgatory#Archaeology|mad bestiality]]" and ultimately malice, where those who [http://danteworlds.laits.utexas.edu/circle9.html betrayed] brothers, countries, liege lords, and gods are condemned. |
|||
It was a [http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/offering.htm sacrificial procession] ultimately leading down to the [[Bandur Etrevion#Behind_The_Scenes|Ice Shrine]], which would only originally have been accessible from the surface of [[The Graveyard]] using the trilithon portal next to the burial mound. Instead of sacrifices for deeds to preserve life from intercession by [[Lorminstra|Death]], who would otherwise not grant it, these were sacrifices of life to sustain the ascension of the [[Ordainer|Death Watcher]] beyond the [[pales]]. It might be symbolic of "[[The Dark Path|the dark path]]" in [[Purgatory]]. The upper level of the necropolis, in contrast, is all deception. The fiefdom was probably not actually called "the West Country." Lorgalis was attempting to conquer their ancestral homeland in eastern [[Jaiman]], and the symbolic meaning of west in the Graveyard is death. It is best interpreted as a dark joke about Kestrel's failure as a ruler. His burial mound is oriented eastward as "defying Death", in accordance with the epitaphs Bandur gave to himself, as well as the false sarcophagus of Kadaena which guarded the [[Black Hel]]. |
|||
| ⚫ | |||
The possibly false [http://www.crystalinks.com/egyptbarge.html funerary barge] of Kestrel Etrevion, symbolically related to the [[Orhan marble|sacrifice]] of the serpent and sun god Klysus (i.e. his sons), implying his soul continued to exist after death but not where it was intended. (If Kestrel represents Osiris and his sons Horus, Klysus is Apep/Ammit/Ra, his [[avatar]] being almost identical to [[Muylari|the demon]] of [[Shadow Valley]]. "yet to find peace beyond the grave" reverses the fates of Osiris and Set. It refers further to the point that beyond the [[Gates of Oblivion]] all memory and identity [[demonic|wash away]], where eternal peace follows from [[Purgatory#Purgatory|dissolving]] into nothingness. Kestrel may have never gone "beyond the grave.") The burial mound is turned over, failing to sail toward the sun, and away from a [http://danteworlds.laits.utexas.edu/circle5.html#harrow demonically] ruined [http://www.ancient-egypt.org/history/old-kingdom/6th-dynasty/pepi-ii/pyramid-complex-of-pepi-ii/funerary-complex-of-pepi-ii.html funerary gate]. This is actually a trilithon portal, a [[Lords of Essaence|Lord of Essaence]] style gateway, which was how granite was imported from the [[High Plateau]]. The bog was where Kestrel would have been killed, with the dirges [http://danteworlds.laits.utexas.edu/circle5.html#wrath symbolizing] the inward wrath of sullenness. |
|||
===Burial Mound=== |
|||
Kestrel Etrevion is seemingly in a Viking style boat burial inside a huge warship shaped passage mound. [[The Graveyard]] is "backwards" on many points, and the sarcophagus of his brother Bandur is a fake tomb, so there are high odds this is not Kestrel. Kestrel may be the throne of human bones under the burial mound. Kestrel's sons were killed in what was likely a battle to take the throne back from Bandur. |
|||
<pre{{log2}}> |
<pre{{log2}}> |
||
[Graveyard, Burial Mound] |
[Graveyard, Burial Mound] |
||
| Line 37: | Line 23: | ||
>l corpse |
>l corpse |
||
The corpse wears a |
The corpse wears a deathmask of beaten silver and gold, the facial features grim, determined and cruel, beneath a jewel-encrusted coronet. Swathed in a plain burial shroud with arms crossed over his chest, the warrior-king still inspires awe and dread. |
||
</pre> |
</pre> |
||
These epitaphs are subtle mockery. In the adjacent room at the "prow" of the warship, his heroic deeds are illustrated as having been orchestrated by Bandur. |
|||
<pre{{log2|margin-right=350px}}> |
|||
[Graveyard, Burial Mound] |
|||
The room is triangular, the "prow" of the shiplike structure. On the dirt walls are faded remains of strange murals. The line drawings all have an oppressive and ominous sameness about them, even though they depict different scenes. You approach one wall to get a closer look, stooping down as the elevation of the roof drops sharply. |
|||
Obvious exits: southwest, northwest |
|||
>look mural |
|||
The [[House of Kestrel]] in the [[Turamzzyrian Empire]] in the [[The Official History of Elanthia|modern history]], ironically, is the family that rules the [[Hall of Mages]]. The [[Royal Magister]] has always been Kestrel. |
|||
The disquieting murals depict a series of episodes in the life of a great warrior. Painted in earthtones and mineral colors of ochre, yellow, umbre, turquoise, green and charcoal, the panels sketch epic sea and land battles, all featuring a powerful, striking figure leading the frays. Hovering by his side, in each scene, is a shadowy dark figure, who appears to be floating just above the ground or water, the better to observe and influence the course of the pitched battles. |
|||
There appears to be something written on it. |
|||
>read mural |
|||
In the Common language, it reads: |
|||
The Deeds of Kestrel Etrevion, Lord of the West Country. |
|||
</pre> |
|||
| ⚫ | |||
==References== |
|||
"[[The Legend of the Necropolis of Etrevion]]" is probably the first story that was specific to GemStone III. [[The Graveyard]] is one of the very oldest areas. [[Research:The Graveyard]] argues that the story of Kestrel and Bandur are likely based on Osiris and Set, and that the Graveyard may be based on a motif of fallen or dead gods of the underworld. The [[House of Kestrel]] in the [[Turamzzyrian Empire]] in the [[The Official History of Elanthia|modern history]], ironically, is the family that rules the [[Hall of Mages]]. The [[Royal Magister]] has always been a Kestrel. There is no relation between them and Kestrel Etrevion. The Etrevion story is archaic history. |
|||
*[[The Legend of the Necropolis of Etrevion]] |
|||
*[[The Dark Path (essay)]] |
|||
[[Category:ICE Age]] |
[[Category:ICE Age]] |
||
Latest revision as of 22:04, 19 May 2020
Warning: This page concerns archaic world setting information from the I.C.E. Age of GemStone III. It is not canon in contemporary GemStone IV, nor is it canonical for Shadow World as the details may be specific to GemStone III. It is only historical context for certain very old parts of the game and these things should not be mixed.
Kestrel Etrevion ruled a fiefdom carved out of the western rim of Claedesbrim Bay during the early years of the Wars of Dominion in the Second Era of the Shadow World history. He rose up the ranks of the "warriors of the Unlife" quickly, secretly masterminded by his brother Bandur Etrevion. This was most likely in the service of Lorgalis in context but it is never stated. He was awarded the fiefdom after a particularly hard fought campaign that would have failed without the sorcerous intervention of his brother. In time he became restless and built a fleet of ships to conduct raids on other settlements.
The lands became chaotic with sinister cults rising up in the power vacuum, until eventually Bandur usurped the throne and established a theocracy called The Dark Path. When Kestrel returned they had a heated argument, until there was an invasion on the northern border. When this was put down with a flight of demons, they continued arguing until Bandur ripped his brother's soul out in a fit of possession.
Burial Mound
Kestrel Etrevion is seemingly in a Viking style boat burial inside a huge warship shaped passage mound. The Graveyard is "backwards" on many points, and the sarcophagus of his brother Bandur is a fake tomb, so there are high odds this is not Kestrel. Kestrel may be the throne of human bones under the burial mound. Kestrel's sons were killed in what was likely a battle to take the throne back from Bandur.
[Graveyard, Burial Mound] This is the burial chamber of a great warrior-king. There are empty chests made of precious woods, now mildewed and rotten with fittings of beaten gold and silver. Rusted weapons are scattered about. A wooden coffin, carved in the shape of a proud warship with a dragon prow, lies at the far side of the circular room. Obvious exits: west, southeast. >l coffin The coffin was pried open long ago and damaged in the process. The hinges are now so deformed that it cannot be shut. The wooden casket is carved with broad, primitive strokes and covered with faded traces of paint and gilt. A silver plaque is affixed to the casket. >read plaque It reads: Our Lord and Liege, Ruler of the West Country--Never at peace while he lived, and yet to find peace beyond the grave. >l in coff In the wooden coffin you see a kingly corpse. >l corpse The corpse wears a deathmask of beaten silver and gold, the facial features grim, determined and cruel, beneath a jewel-encrusted coronet. Swathed in a plain burial shroud with arms crossed over his chest, the warrior-king still inspires awe and dread.
These epitaphs are subtle mockery. In the adjacent room at the "prow" of the warship, his heroic deeds are illustrated as having been orchestrated by Bandur.
[Graveyard, Burial Mound] The room is triangular, the "prow" of the shiplike structure. On the dirt walls are faded remains of strange murals. The line drawings all have an oppressive and ominous sameness about them, even though they depict different scenes. You approach one wall to get a closer look, stooping down as the elevation of the roof drops sharply. Obvious exits: southwest, northwest >look mural The disquieting murals depict a series of episodes in the life of a great warrior. Painted in earthtones and mineral colors of ochre, yellow, umbre, turquoise, green and charcoal, the panels sketch epic sea and land battles, all featuring a powerful, striking figure leading the frays. Hovering by his side, in each scene, is a shadowy dark figure, who appears to be floating just above the ground or water, the better to observe and influence the course of the pitched battles. There appears to be something written on it. >read mural In the Common language, it reads: The Deeds of Kestrel Etrevion, Lord of the West Country.
Behind the Scenes
"The Legend of the Necropolis of Etrevion" is probably the first story that was specific to GemStone III. The Graveyard is one of the very oldest areas. Research:The Graveyard argues that the story of Kestrel and Bandur are likely based on Osiris and Set, and that the Graveyard may be based on a motif of fallen or dead gods of the underworld. The House of Kestrel in the Turamzzyrian Empire in the modern history, ironically, is the family that rules the Hall of Mages. The Royal Magister has always been a Kestrel. There is no relation between them and Kestrel Etrevion. The Etrevion story is archaic history.