Part V: Political Intrigues
Chapter 2: The Making of a King
Let’s let Baldur and Hacktor chat a bit, while I give you a bit of backstory.
Don’t worry, we’ll get back to the father-son conflicts soon enough, but I think you’ll want to hear this…
I’ll let you in on a little secret – I was the one who helped Baldur rise to power. Oh he doesn’t know it was me directly and that’s just fine because Baldur too was but a pawn in my game.
If you’ll recall, when I returned from Illusia in AO 225, I’d been gone for about a century – prior to my leaving the Drokka’s society had been prospering – expanding throughout the Rhokki’s, winning war after war against the Derkka, and growing fat and happy off their control to the East-West trade route. But something changed while I was gone — Gwar started fighting on the side of the Derkka on the battlefield against the Drokka.
With the God of War helping their enemies, Fortune turned a fickle face on the Drokka – for the next 60 years they lost countless wars, wasting vast sums of money in the process, and their population even started to decline.
Fearful that Gwar might even attack Rhokki Pass (not realizing the God of War was too afraid to actually do that because he didn’t want to face off against the real Rhokki), to protect the future of their clan, the Drokka established new kingdoms at Duzarez (the southern tip of The Rhokki’s) and even sent a group all the way to the Akka Mountains (in the far away lands of Northeastern TerrVerde).
In any event, Gwar’s trepidation to seal the deal and destroy the Drokka, coupled with the Drokka people’s decline while I was gone, provided an invitation for me to use the situation to my advantage when I returned.
The long story short is that I returned to my role as the ‘spirit’ behind The Well of Wyzdom – the sacred oracle that allegedly spoke to The Wyze Ones. Prior to my taking over this job, there wasn’t a real ‘Spirit of the Well” – (like so many false religions throughout the history of man) Wyze Ones of the past simply made up whatever they wanted the spirit to say in order to control the people. And it worked!
The Well of Wyzdom became a place of profound reverence in Drokka society. Its pronouncements were considered sacred and binding, giving the priestly family the power to shape the course of Drokka politics and culture in order to advance the secret goals of the elite families that ruled the empire from the shadows.
Imagine if you will then the shock that Mirkir the Wyze must have felt when a real spirit started talking to him! Oh I stroked his ego and told him that it was because of his true faith that he was able to hear The Spirit, but in reality Mirkir was just another pawn. Even still, when I make sure that his prophetic visions proved more successful than any of his predecessors, Mirkir gained great fame – and power – further reinforcing the Well’s perceived power and influence.
I had Mirkir ‘discover’ Baldur and help the latter become Kon-Herr during a power vacuum at the time (back in AO 230). Although he was the son of a war-hero general (Brega) who’d tried unsuccessfully to make a play for the throne himself, Baldur had no special qualities to speak of – however with the backing of the Drokka high priest, and no clear cut suitor for the throne to stop him, the 22 year old Baldur was installed as high king.
At first, rivals didn’t fear him — in fact they probably thought they could use the boy as a pawn to advance their own designs – but little did they know someone (aka ME) was already doing so. For the manipulation of Mirkir and Baldur was a masterstroke of subtlety and cunning. Through the guise of the Well’s spirit, I continued to whisper secrets and prophecies to Mirkir, guiding his actions and decisions. Mirkir, blinded by his belief in his own righteousness, never suspected he was being used. Similarly, Baldur’s ascension to the throne was orchestrated through carefully timed revelations through the High Priest.
Via Mirkir’s guidance, Baldur was able to communicate with the spirit of The Well of Wyzdom too…
That’s where I directed Baldur on a host of topics: helping him advance trade agreements, build a harem, marry a Derkka princess, etc. I even had him do the unthinkable – avoid war in favor of peace (something no prior Kon-Herr would ever have imagined). My goal with Baldur was simple – take down the Drokka from the inside out by decaying all that they held most sacred: their power, their wealth, and their pride.
As part of this latter strategy, I also had Baldur relax the guidelines related to The Siq Towers – transforming these once impenetrable military gates into giant trading outposts.
Although this might not sound crazy to you, it was outlandish to the Drokka. Why? Well, it’s important to understand that The Siq not only offered physical protection of the crucial western gates of Rhokki Pass against their hated Derk rivals, but it also symbolized the nationalistic pride of the Drokka people. For the king to decree that The Siq should be retrofitted to not only allow Derkka to pass through its gates, but also offer housing and offices to commerce representatives from all over TerrVerds to include Derks was unimaginable. To help their rivals and let the fox into the hen house? Insane. Yet Baldur did it. And it worked — King Baldur and all the elite families of the realm made vast sums of money off the deal.
Witnessing these affronts, Mirkir eventually grew to hate Baldur…
For Mirkir was a hard core nationalist (and I continued to stoke that fire within him). Not surprisingly Mirkir wanted to remove Baldur from power, but because I made Baldur successful at every turn, Baldur’s ‘magic touch’ soon won over even his harshest critics — leaving Mirkir powerless to oppose the king (as The Spirit, I counseled Mirkir to be patient and threw him a bone by promising to keep him alive until a new Drokka messiah figure emerged).
During Baldur’s reign the Drokka elites became richer than ever before as a result of becoming more corrupt than ever. Sheltered as he was behind the palace walls, the Kon-Herr was ignorant of the never-ending fracturing of his society being caused by the rich pilfering the poor – as the wealthy landholders expanded their domains by plundering adjoining lands by force or treachery. When complaints were brought to the king, Baldur was always ‘influenced’ to decree in favor of his cronies in order to ‘protect the fabric of society.’ And so the cycle continued.
Whilst a middle class of merchants and traders was allowed to flourish in and around the larger cities of the kingdom – with more than a few persons gaining wealth and prestige in the process, it was the rare exception like Monty Redstone who ever broke the glass ceiling of the classes to advance into the ranks of high society. Meanwhile, the common people suffered – especially those who lived in the smaller villages and towns where the mayors installed by the elites trampled justice without remorse, and extorted every last coin from the people via never-ending taxes, oppression, and just as often murder. Some of this ill-gotten wealth was passed along to Baldur and the other Kon-Herrs of the kingdom, but most of it was pilfered out as it rose through the pyramid of society.
Baldur oft suspected deceit on the part of his cronies and spent many a private moment fighting a vague feeling that there was unbridled evil in his midst, but at such moments the king was also confronted by the obvious lack of power he had to do anything about it and therefore he angrily brushed such thoughts away.
Meanwhile, war in the traditional sense became a forgotten past-time. The Drokka armies shrank, they lost their skills at battle, and the people (just trying to survive) lost their thirst for blood…
Finally, after more than half a century of this, I was ready to advance my plans further – enter Hacktor. Throw a birth mark on the elderly king’s first born kid, secretly bring it to the attention of the high priest, allow the heir to be raised by the cult leader, brainwash them both, and you have the makings of a revolt. Works every time. And now I was finally ready to unleash it!
As you can see, the introduction of Hacktor into the grand scheme was a calculated move. The birthmark, resembling the feared Krangor, was not merely a symbol but a catalyst for change itself. Once I got the boy under Mirkir’s watchful eye, Hacktor found became groomed for greatness. With General Haraclez training him in the ways of the warrior, and Mirkir filling his mind with the lore of the Drokka religion, Hacktor’s every move was monitored and manipulated. Thus it was that the stage was set for a dramatic upheaval – with Hacktor poised to lead his people in a revolt that would shake the very foundations of Drokka society.
And now I was finally ready to unleash him upon the world!
The Apocrypha of Azazel 