Thostar, the Mad King

Index

Thostar I, also known as Thostar the Mad, was king of Kajtar during the Fourth Era of the Tharai, from Adohan, fourth mansal of Vair 6411 to his death on Hairhan, third mansal, Minardi 6469. He was the son of Morka IV and Salthak I, born on Hairhan, second mansal, Reni, 6107, 10 aner after the assault to Khelthena’s castle.

Family

Thostar and Khelmet were blood siblings, the Mad King being the youngest of the two of them. Thostar was part of the Khelthenean royal family, but never was in a romantic relationship with any other member of the nobility. He had a daughter with a citizen of Khelthena that who he never met. His parents were Salthak I and Morka IV.

Biography

Early aner

Born only ten aner later than Khelthena’s assault, Thostar grew up in a somber environment. His parents had to give up their first born, Khelmet, and the dagger Thekar to a stranger during an assault organized to steal the dagger of the gods. Morka IV fell into an extreme depression that led her to absolute madness, and Salthak I, who until his marriage to Morka wasn’t at all related to nobility, took advantage of the situation, abusing his powers without any control from his partner.

Thostar was raised with his mother and many different characters that walked in and out from the castle, getting his mind confused since his birth. From a very young age, he was aware of the bad relationship between his parents, thus loved to spend time outside. As a child and during the early teenage aner, he loved to spend time in the village, meeting the inhabitants of the capital of the country he would once rule. He was a happy kid that enjoyed spending time around adults. Especially, he loved Hoke, the blacksmith, who always had time and presents for him.

When he was already old enough to start growing a beard, he asked the gods and all the mystic forces to bring him a mentor who would teach him how to fight. Sishkar, an old member of the mounted legion, and fighter among the Emperor Roshek III’s ranks, recently had lost hearing from his right ear, and was sent home with honors to live the rest of his life peacefully. He didn’t want to spend the rest of his dahans waiting for death, so as soon as he came back to Khelthena, knowing all of his friends had left the village or died, he started looking for something to do. The city guards let him know about the young prince wanting to learn how to fight, so they only needed to meet in order to start the training. They happened to meet at The Thirsty Trigg’s Tavern, as a coincidence, introduced by Hoke.

Sishkar was the father Thostar never had. He taught him how to fight, how to behave, and principles that his biological father didn’t have, such as honesty. Soon enough, Salthak was envious of their relationship, and looked for a way to banish the hero from Kajtar. He ordered his murder, but the incompetent assassins didn’t manage to steal his life. Sishkar had to leave without having the opportunity to explain anything, and, although he had intentions to come back, he left a huge void in Thostar’s life.

Madness after Sishkar’s disparition

Thostar was lied to in many different ways to avoid the question of where Sishkar was. Salthak believed he was murdered, but said he had to leave without giving any further explanation, claiming that he didn’t had to. The heir was then left alone and went through the process of grief, leading him to fall completely into his inherited madness. He started to have frequent hallucinations and to believe the nonsense tales his mother used to tell him.

One of these stories claimed that the throne of Kajtar could move on to the next heir if they showed their value by killing a wild trigg. That was not true, as the only way was by blood succession. The head of one of these animals was hung in the very same place Thekar used to be before it had to be given away with the first born child, and it was the origin of many illusions. Thostar had a very vivid hallucination in which he had fought the beast and failed, and although he woke up from the dream he felt it as if it were true. His last resource would be the death of the king, as the queen was completely unable to rule anymore.

Murder and coronation

King Salthak I had many enemies among the citizens of Khelthena, and most of them wanted to see him die. None of them was brave enough to try, but they were ready to help whomever wanted to kill the king.

Refen, a Denra priest, was very close to the family and hated Salthak I as much as anybody else. In one of Thostar’s visits to the temple, he gave him a bottle of poison and asked the prince to keep it for him. Although the hate towards Salthak I was well known everywhere around Khelthena, nobody ever talked about it, so Refen didn’t mention a single word to Thostar. He gave him the push he needed to take his father’s life.

One moonless night he waited in Salthak’s room, but wasn’t stealthy enough for the king not to notice his presence once he got in bed. Swiftly, he jumped over the body of his parent and pushed the open bottle inside his throat, maintaining it inside by pounding his claws on Salthak’s face. If the king hadn’t swallowed the poison, he would have died anyway.

Two mansal later, nobody in the castle had announced the death of the king yet. Thostar aimed to organize his coronation but the few workers that were still in the castle during the reign of Salthak I were prostitutes or incompetent people chosen to obey more than to work. Morka IV was reluctant to accept the death of the king, so during the Aldrahan of the third mansal, Thostar had to crown himself. Without any organization or any decision made about how the coronation should go, he went to the middle of the village, claimed that he had killed the king in benefit of all of Kajtar, and put the crown on his head. Villagers agreed that it was for the best, and threw a coronation party (as none of them were really aware of how monarchy and its manners and traditions worked) at The Thirsty Trigg’s Tavern. That’s when Thostar would conceive his daughter, that he would never get to meet.

Reign

Although Salthak I’s death was celebrated by Kajtar, especially Khelthena, his son wasn’t really prepared for the throne. Madness had taken over him and three out of five dahan in a mansal, he suffered from severe hallucinatinos. He tried to gather as much information as possible in order to rebuild the kingdom that Salthak I had destroyed, but Salthak somehow had managed to push the good inhabitants out of the country a long time ago.

Between the phantoms he saw and how hard it was to find good people to help him out, Kajtar was a very vulnerable country at the time. Thostar’s good intentions of contrasting information were not enough for Kajtar to grow strong in little time, and border countries started to be aware of the situation. The new king had to refer to the only two tharais that he knew more than the rest: Hoke the blacksmith and Refen the priest. None of these two were either prepared for any job related to monarchy, but Thostar trusted them enough for them to tell him whatever they knew.

Refen explained how the country was ruled since he had the use of reason, and so did Hoke. There wasn’t much they could tell, the priest willing to talk more as he was older. They told him all about the assault and the disparition of his brother and Thekar, and finally, Hoke said that Salthak I had ordered the death of his friend Sishkar. The king was traumatized and needed a couple dahans to recover. From that moment, madness took completely over him.

War against Aidaran

On Hairhan of the third mansal of Renkan aner 6468, Thostar, prisoner of his craziness, declared war to Aidaran, the country that assaulted Kajtar seeking for the dagger of the gods.

The army was not ready, and Aidaran’s ranks were incomparable to Kajtar’s. Aidaran soon besieged Kajtar’s borders, then the capital Khelthena, then Khelthena’s castle. For Aidaran, it was an easy conquest. Thostar kept seeking help, trying to get the Emperor’s attention, but the sovereign ignored him, knowing all about the situation. He was waiting for Thostar, his family and heirloom to disappear (as it is no empire’s jurisdiction to choose a king or queen of Kajtar, due to their possession of Thekar), in order to take Kajtar back and crown an honest, competent king.

Thostar was left alone with his madness, almost trapped by Aidaran. He didn’t stand a chance against the enemy’s forces, so he ran away to the forest, seeking for something more powerful than a rabid army. He sought for Hakko, Neilin’s Ancient Rak, with the tale in his mind that he had a powerful potion that would make it side with him.

Hakko was sleeping through its eternal life in a deep forest of Hobroithar, only to be disturbed by king Thostar the Mad, who somehow managed to find the beast. It took Thostar two mansal to get nearby, and another two to actually find the rak. He threw what he believed was a magical potion (which was in reality an empty flask), and stabbed Hakko’s face with his claws, convinced that the potion had made the effect and that he only needed to wake the beast up. The Ancient Rak woke up from its lethargy, and without hesitating, it ate the king.

Death

King Thostar I, the Mad, was claimed dead after his disparition, Fourht Era, Hairhan of the eighth mansal of Kanthel, 6469. The real date of his death was the same in which Hakko woke up: Hairhan, third mansal, Minardi 6469.

Repercussion

Hakko set a perpetual night, first in Hobroithar and its surroundings, then in all of the Norwald. The beast, even if it didn’t mean to do so, destroyed everything in its path, and the perpetual darkness led to many deaths of beings that need light in order to live. The Ancient Rak roamed around Kajtar, which was still under the siege of Aidaran. The Arkoth empire, believing Hakko was the last weapon that Aidaran wielded, was pushed to seek for help, begging a well-known beast-taker hero to deal with the rak. Khelmet, then the wielder of the dagger of the gods, had to deal with the situation, riding the beast and opening a portal to the Netherwald in order to trap it forever and end the nighttime chaos. He gave his life for this purpose.

The Emperor Roshek III went back to Kajtar to defeat Aidaran’s army, which was weakened by the darkness that Hakko created. The ranks, made essentially of loredain, were extremely fragile. Once the war was over, Roshek III put Khelmet’s adopted sister, Hepa, on Kajtar’s throne, and his adoptive father, Re-Vek, who was already very old, to praise the hero’s family, expecting her to rule with the honesty of her brother. That family was keeping Thekar for a long time, and they kept being the protectors of the dagger after Khelmet’s passing. The emperor made sure she would be taught how to properly rule, and helped Kajtar to recover from the terrible reigns of the past times.