Part VI: The Great Escape
Chapter 7: The Beast
Timeline: Drokka History
And now let’s pause for a few more insights on Baldur.
Do you hate him yet? Was he a loving father? A beast? Or both? Just what happened to the man? Recall that after a power struggle among the wealthy families Baldur was installed as Kon-Herr despite being a mere twenty-two years old. It was assumed he’d be a king much like his father was in the past – i.e. one that would submit to the will of the elites. In the beginning this was the case.
A marriage was quickly arranged for the young noble and he was paired with the daughter of the Kon-Herr of the military capital at Kel-de-Kaba named Vilma. In spite of my help (or was it because of it?) Baldur’s early reign was tenuous at best – yet the elites were just happy enough that they didn’t see the need to replace him, especially because Baldur and Vilma were unable to produce a child and this was much to their liking. The elders of the Busz clan – Baldur’s clan – recommended he put his seemingly barren wife aside and remarry for the sake of his family’s future against the machinations of the scheming Rukstinz and their ilk, yet the young ruler refused – for he truly loved his wife. And so it seemed that Baldur’s dynasty would end with him – much to the glee of the other elites who had already begun to vie for the crown behind the scenes.
Despite a host of false flags thrown at him from the other clans, the king retained his grip on the throne [he had my secret support to thank for that. And so the Rukstinz, Gaatz, and Klyntz waited – eager for Baldur to die without an heir. Yet wonder of wonders, as Baldur was approaching his seventieth decade I blessed Vilma with a child – twins to be exact (Hacktor and Hecla) – much to the chagrin of Baldur’s rivals. Unfortunately for the king I also allowed Mirkir’s curse to come to fruition — causing Vilma to die in childbirth because of Baldur’s insult of The Wyze One.
This was the beginning of Baldur’s ‘turning.’
Prior to the death of his beloved wife, Baldur, the man, had been relatively tame (which is to say he had a host of daily vices and was as corrupt as most men of power), but he’d always resisted taking that ‘next step’ into Evilhood. [For example, Baldur had never participated in human sacrifice or the blood drinking rituals favored by the Ruks and Gaatz – nor had they ever invited him too]
Even after I took Vilma from him, still Baldur tried to resist my calls to the Dark Side – choosing to spend all his time with his young children and showering them with love instead of throwing himself into the pits of debauchery that would have been easily accessible to him. Hacktor and Hecla’s early childhood had thus been a time of great peace for the elderly Baldur and he was content in spite of the loss of Vilma.
Even after Baldur remarried (when the twins were 5) and had more children, still he remained relatively tame – yes I (toiling as The Spirit of The Well) was later able to convince him to start building a harem (what seventy-plus year-old man wouldn’t want that?), but even then Baldur kept himself on the straight and narrow. Thankfully I reached Baldur’s tipping point when I had Mirkir take Hacktor away — this was the straw that broke Baldur’s back (or at least his happiness). It was shortly after Hacktor left that the 78 year old Baldur first showed up in his just-on-the-verge-of-flowering daughter’s bedroom late one night – changing her world forever.
Baldur’s abuse of Hecla began when the girl was only 8 years old and continued for years. Although he hated himself for it, the king was unable to stop. Had Psychology existed back then, and had a Drokka shrink attended to Baldur, he would have concluded that the king’s action were evidence of the broken man he had become and a misogynistic yet wayward attempt to get back at Mirkir (the man Baldur still blamed for the loss of Vilma and now for the loss of his first born son). Hecla fell into Baldur’s hands simply because she was there, because she was available to him, and because he loved her deeply (why is it you humans always hurt the ones you love the most?).
Thus Baldur abused Hecla –and it destroyed him. He became a man of broken character, embittered at life, and uncommonly unhappy.
I loved watching Baldur’s fall – not only was it great entertainment, but it made it far easier for me to sway Baldur to do my bidding. With their king an emotional wreck, his advisers and wealthy families recognized the opportunity to steal from Baldur’s coffers and venture into massive land grabs throughout the kingdom. (Monty Redstone made his fortunes during this time, Thork and the Gaatz took over nearly every guild, and the Klyntz, Bomas, and Kyndyz all prospered, while the Rukstinz fortunes grew so massive they controlled perhaps 80% of all the capital in the kingdom).
It wasn’t until Gawain came along that Baldur stopped ‘seeing’ Hecla. During the years that the Derkka princess captured Baldur’s eye, the king left Hecla alone. Yet as soon as Gawain was gone, Baldur (now 84) went right back to his daughter’s bed — taking out his anger on the once-innocent girl.
So, was Baldur evil? In a word ‘yes.’
The Apocrypha of Azazel 