Garland IV Beth - 22nd Known King of Revellia

Sometimes called the Last King

King Garland IV Beth

Reign: 963 RA - 975 RA
Chief Justicar: Jonah Slabh
High Magi: Arthos Sorshan, Aaran Dylaen
Garland Beth assumed the crown upon the conclusion of a great conflict between East and West. Much of the first two years of his reign would be spent maintaining this peace, in preparation for a greater war to the north. It became clear early on, however, that Garland did not share his father's relish for righteous combat. He would do his duty to his people, and in the end he died nobly on the field of battle, yet more often he sought reconciliation with his adversaries, compromised when he might have dominated, and forgave too easily those who meant him harm.

NEW BLOOD IN THE OLD COUNCIL

Garland had served as Chief Justicar to his father, King Dorreon the Magnificent, for the final two years of his reign. Ascending the throne left this position open, and after confirming the rest of his father's council as his own, he immediately filled this position with Sir Jonah Slabh. Sir Jonah was the heir to Lord Coirren Slabh, and a fast friend of the new King since their infancy. Many objected to this appointment, including most of the King's council. Sir Jonah was a stout warrior, but had yet demonstrated little wisdom or foresight, nor were the Slabhs known for their skill with coin or piety or policy. The new King listened to all these objections and thanked his council for their words, but he would not be moved.
Sir Jonah was one of four friends that had grown up with the King. Among the others were Sir Laurel Odon, first to be knighted among their number, Brother Aaran Dylaen, a newly-made cleric who meant to serve as Host Master one day, and the king's own brother Prince Harek, a year younger but fiercely devoted. These five boys had trained in the yard together, heard histories together, and even fought together to put down some of the riots of the Year of the Silent War. They were brothers of blood, breeding, and purpose, and many feared this closeness might too greatly cloud the new King's judgment. He even briefly spoke of naming his brother Prince Harek as his Warchief, after already confirming Sir Talanar Han'dylth, but in this he was convinced to back down. Nevertheless, the King ordered Sir Talanar to take Prince Harek under his guidance, and named Brother Aaran Dylaen as first clerk to Host Master Fedrin. The Host Master purpled at this news, and it was rumored that threats were made in order to force his acquiescence.
For his remaining friend, Sir Laurel Odon, the King had another use in mind. For Centuries, the Chief Justicar had served as a Lord's highest lieutenant, marshaling a force of elite warriors called Breyvs. With the advent of knighthood becoming predominant, Breyvs had begun to lose their purpose. Most Breyvs were knights, yet upon achieving the position they often became idle, serving little more purpose than go-betweens or servants at the Chief Justicar's command. King Garland ordered his new Chief Justicar Sir Jonah to train his Breyvs into the elites they were intended to be, with Sir Laurel Odon at their head. Henceforth, they would serve as the personal force of the King and Chief Justicar, guarding them in battle or representing them in direct, vital diplomatic missions. Both Sir Jonah and Sir Laurel cheered the news.

SIR LAUREL AND CASTLE MALBRAND

The first such mission would be led by Sir Laurel. Though the West had submitted to Eastern rule and been thoroughly defeated, there was as yet no guarantee of their loyalty once the great war began. Sir Laurel was sent to treat with Lady Helena Maraigh, the King's aunt and the Lady of Castle Malbrand, to renew her oath to the king and pledge her armies to the cause. Saolmoth and Dubraigh had given their pledges at the site of King Dorreon's death, but their words had little value. Malbrand was a small fiefdom with few vassals, and it had an evil reputation, yet the King hoped bringing them to the cause would shame or fright Saolmoth and Dubraigh into honoring their pledges.
Lady Helena had shut her gates, and would only speak to Sir Laurel from the battlements, there to tell him his cause was lost. Sir Laurel had brought a small force with him and could not invest the castle, yet he would not be so easily dissuaded. They remained encamped for seven nights, and each morning he called again. At first he was ingratiating, then firm, and finally threatening. "I speak for your king," he reminded her, "and kings are not merciful to oath breakers." "I have watched kings die," she spat back, "I am willing to watch another." It was said the Lady spoke some other words that made Sir Laurel tremble, but if any such words were spoken they were never repeated.
On the eighth night, men from Malbrand snuck into the camps. It is said Lady Helena had nine sons, each a ghastling like herself, and that night they roamed amongst the tents like a foul humor, slitting throats and despoiling supplies. Sir Laurel woke in the night to find thirty-one of his men murdered, more than half his force. The four watchmen on duty that night were executed the following morning, leaving him with only two-and-twenty men remaining. Nearly all their food had been stolen or ruined.
A wiser man might have accepted defeat, but Sir Laurel was proud and defiant. He sent ten of his men to hunt for game in the Fiirwood, and spent the day fortifying what little remained. None of the ten men returned. Sir Laurel sent two men in search of them the next morning, and when they too vanished, he led his remaining ten men into the forest in search of those lost.
Seven of the missing men had been savaged, seemingly by wolves. Yet the men were all spread out, as though they had been individually hunted and killed. "Werewolves," one of the living men murmured. Sir Laurel laughed aloud that this, but all others were silent.
The rest of the missing men, both the remaining three hunters and the two sent in search of them, were found near nightfall, strung up in a bandits' camp. They were all dead, hanged, and their bodies torn apart worse than the victims of the wolves. There were seven bandits in total, huge and brutal and wild, but while they had no doubt snuck up on the hunters, this time Sir Laurel and his men had the advantage. Three more of his men died in the fight, but Sir Laurel prevailed. One bandit was kept alive and questioned, but would only laugh and insist that wolves had killed them all. "They was already dead" he claimed, "we was just enjoying what was left." He was hanged beside his comrades, and the soldiers buried the dead in the woods.
When they returned to Castle Malbrand, their encampment had been destroyed entirely. It was past sundown, and Lady Helena again appeared on the battlements. "I advise you to run home," she said, "but if you few men desire it, I can find shelter for you within my walls." It was said Sir Laurel threatened to repay her offer of bread with steel, but his remaining men begged to return home. Sir Laurel feared revolt, and so consented. They did not stop marching until they were inside Revelback's walls, where they collapsed and did not rise for five days.

THE TAKING OF SAOLMOTH

We are weak," Sir Talanar finally said aloud. "We cannot threaten the West into standing with us against the North."
The solution came from Queen Flaithe. The Dowager Queen had spoken little since the death of her husband, King Dorreon the Magnificent, but she was still welcome on the King's council, having proven her worth countless times over the course of Garland's life. She had finally started to attend meetings again during Sir Laurel's absence, and now spoke up with the answer. "Saolmoth is the gate between East and West," she said. "We must make that gate ours again." It was time for another marriage.
Norshan Graunt was a traitor twice over as far as she was concerned, and was unlikely to listen to anything the Beths had to say. But he was an old man. His first son Ollak had died in the Silent War, and Ollak's son Norrek was recently wed with a two-year-old son. But Norshan's second son Wiilam was recently widowed. Wiilam's wife had given him three daughters, but no heirs of his own. If Revelback could provide a suitable new bride for Wiilam, he may be willing to see that Saolmoth served to keep the West peaceful as the King turned his eyes north.
"Well and good," Sir Talanar answered at once. "But Norrek is the heir, and has an heir of his own. Wiilam is nothing."
"Perhaps," the Queen conceded. "But if Norrek were away from Saolmoth, then when Lord Norshan dies, the Lord of Saolmoth will be a child. Surely the governance will be put in the hands of an able relative."
Lord Carramar Uirlis, Chief of Ships, provided the next question. "And how are we to draw Lord Norrek from Saolmoth?"
"His Grace is in need of great warriors to form his Breyvs. Perhaps Lord Norrek might prove equal to the task."
Sir Talanar objected to this secretive work, and others agreed, but the King would eventually be persuaded. Lord Arthos Sorshan, himself of advanced years but greatly respected, was selected to bring this news to Saolmoth. Norrek readily accepted the offer. He claimed to have fought bravely during the Silent War, and would be happy to "show these Easterners how a man fights." Wiilam was offered the hand of Polla Slabh, Sir Jonah' sister, a lovely girl from an old and fertile line, with ancient roots at the River Nightfall. The offer was accepted, and all achieved before the year's end.
In thanks for Lord Arthos' work, the King offered him a position on his council. "Sir Jonah and Sir Laurel will serve as my sword and shield, the right hand of my work," said the King, "but I will need subtler hands as well. I would have you as my left." For Lord Arthos, the position of Magus was created. Despite King Dorreon's ambitions, the royal spellers remained an aimless bunch, called for when needed and otherwise discarded. Lord Arthos would introduce discipline to their ranks and find appropriate uses for their clandestine talents.
Lord Arthos would succeed in many ways as Magus, but he is best remembered for his first failure. He had heard tales of magical birds in Vaina, far to the north, that were capable of carrying messages over vast distances. He sent his second son Pallas north in a trading galley in hopes of purchasing a breeding pair of such birds. Knowing it could be a year or longer before Pallas returned, however, Lord Arthos began to experiment with the training and breeding of ravens, generally agreed to be the sharpest of Milosian birds. This resulted in utter failure, and Lord Arthos acquired the reputation of a crackpot and a fool. Pallas would return empty-handed the following Autumn, suggesting that Vaina did indeed breed Rainbow Birds to carry messages, but that it was unlawful for a foreigner to purchase or own one, on penalty of death. At great personal risk, Pallas managed to smuggle a pair onto his ship and escape Vaina alive. He soon found, though, that outside of Vaina the birds refused to eat, and they soon died of starvation. As a (poor) substitute, he had purchased six messenger pigeons at Ethelbrand on his way home. Lord Arthos would eventually train these pigeons to carry messages between the towers of the Boarsden, but beyond this his efforts were an embarrassing waste.

THE BIRTH OF THE GREEN PRINCE

It was around this time the King and Queen's third child was born, their first and only son. The King and Queen were fond of one another, but it was noted by many that they rarely kept company outside of state events. Queen Zun'jel was from Liddinawth, the mysterious land in the Golden Sea where women were supposedly the equals of men, yet she was never invited to the King's Council as Queen Flaithe had been, nor had she ever expressed any such desire. Still, their love was such that it bore them a daughter in 956 RA, named Kirin after one of the ancient Ainros queens, and another in 961, named Hwinell after the Queen's mother. The birth of their son in 964 would be a cause for celebration in both East and West.
The Liddinawths were oft compared to the legendary Viisianars, who had once ruled nearly all of Kynaj before the Mornal Invasion. Earthen-skinned and supernally beautiful, they were also known to have hair of extraordinary hues, including the ruby-red that had made the Ainros famous. Unknown or vanishingly rare amongst them, though, was green hair. When the little prince was born in the Spring of 963 with a thin green wisps upon his head, Revellians were instantly reminded of Tranton Gall, the legendary king of the Lost Age. The boy's mother had the ruby hair that the Liddinawths had so often gifted to the Ainros; indeed, it was supposed that the King and Queen's marriage had been effected specifically to legitimize Beth rule by linking them to the Liddinawths and the Ainros. Their first daughter had the hair as well, yet no one in the Queen's close family could boast of fir-green hair. Many peasants and more than a few lords on either side of the Nightfall saw this as a sign. King Tranton had united the disparate clans under his rule and reforged Revellia. This new child would reunite the East and West to free them from Monosi tyranny. Everyone, even the Queen, urged King Garland to name the boy Tranton the Second. He ignored them all. Instead, the boy was named Dorreon the Second, and was known as the Green Prince.
As hoped, Revellia began to settle after the Prince's birth. The King made no secret of his joy when Lord Norshan Graunt finally died the following year at the age of six-and-sixty. As the Dowager Queen had predicted, Lord Norrek remained with the Breyvs and put his brother Wiilam in charge of Saolmoth. Norrek would die in the Autumn of that year helping to put down another Rathi uprising in the Ethel Rathlands. Saolmoth was now the rightful holding of Norrek's only son, named Norshan, and would be managed by Wiilam for the next fourteen years.
Princess Kirin, now ten, had been betrothed to a Luutar of Dubraigh for two years. It was a low match for the first daughter of a King, but all agreed that allies in Dubraigh were needed. The Princess had been greatly influenced by her aunt, Princess Liani, who was a fighter and speller and magician before being sent to Ethelbrand to marry Prince Nillis Ethel. Kirin had demanded to be trained at arms as her aunt at been, but Liani was a fourth child and Kirin a firstborn, and this was deemed unseemly. Princess Kirin would continue her rebellious streak for the rest of her time at Revelback. She even suborned her brother Prince Dorreon, when he began training in the yards, to stay up at night teaching her what he had learned. She was seventeen when this was discovered, the Prince merely nine, and she was deemed a bad influence on the Green Prince. Princess Kirin was sent to Dubraigh a year early to be wed to Aarnok Luutar, in the hopes of further uniting East and West.
Sadly, this marriage would have the opposite effect. At the time of the betrothal, Dowager Queen Flaithe had spoken against wedding the Princess to a Luutar. She was from Dubraigh herself, and new of the deep rivalry between the Clans Luutar and Eskmai. Granting one of them such favor over the other might intensify their conflict. Prince Harek laughed this off, saying they could do with more internal strife in the West. The Dowager Queen's suggestions of wedding a Baene or a Vaugh were flatly denied as far too low for the King's first daughter. So it was decided that little Kirin be wed to a Luutar. Queen Flaithe let the matter drop, but did not fail to voice her apprehensions whenever the subject rose again.

THE STORM QUEEN'S LAST STAND

Tragically, the Dowager Queen's wisdom was lost not long after this, and well before Princess Kirin was sent to Dubraigh. Saolmoth was under the stewardship of Wiilam Graunt at this time, who was well-disposed to the capital. Other Saolmothi families objected to this favor, however, and saw opportunity in defying Wiilam. The Graunts were facing open rebellion, chiefly from Clans Bradt, Toll, and Haust. It was feared the Graunts might lose Saolmoth. Some among the council were tempted to celebrate the fall of the clan that had so opposed the Beths, and had brought on the death of King Dorreon the Magnificent. Queen Flaithe was quick to remind them, though, that losing the Graunts meant losing Saolmoth itself. Further, it had been Sir Ulwin of Clan Haust who had actually slain King Dorreon. It was decided to wait and see if Wiilam would request the King's aid. When that request arrived, four days of heated debates ended with the decision to avoid involvement. The Dowager Queen strode furiously from the chamber.
Flaithe the Storm Queen was in her sixtieth year, and though in extraordinary health for her age, she was already beyond the expected life of any person. Nevertheless, she donned her old armor from her youth, when she fought in the Stock Wars, and raised a force of free soldiers and ambitious second sons to ride out to Saolmoth and meet the rebels.
Saolmoth was roiling in violence when they arrived, and the Queen ordered all into the streets, to cry no name but their own as they fought for their neighbors. Instead, they cried defiance in Flaithe's name, flowing into the city like a purgative into poisoned veins. Again the royal forces prevailed, though at great cost. The Dowager Queen was found with an open wound in her left hip. It was unclear if she had died of the wound or from shock, but either way, she had fallen defeating Clan Haust, securing Saolmoth for the East. Wiilam Graunt sent word that he would return the Queen's body himself, once Saolmoth was secured, which he did.

THE FUNERAL

In life, King Dorreon the Magnificent had been as a god to the East, and his death reduced even stern old men to tears. Yet the death of Flaithe the Storm Queen shattered the whole of Revellia. Revelback was flooded with mourners, and it was eventually decided to hold her funeral out upon the Ithir Plains, to make room for all. The Sirtals of Dubraigh came, along with all the chief clans of the West. The Glasts came, for they had heard much of her while Sir William Glast had served as Chief Justicar. They even brought Ridar Satten, the Prince of Urudun. King Garland's sisters Helen and Liani returned, though sadly Mairad was unable to leave Grinding in Yvruel. Lady Liani brought most of the Ethel royal family with her, along with several Ethelite nobles and merchants who knew of Flaithe from Lady Bialle Beth. Even members of Clan Bastian from Bastis attended, though their connection was less clear. Clan Bastian was looked down upon in Revellia due to the memory of Corrik the Coward, who fled Aerwoth and abandoned the land to the conquest of Greeyan the Cold King. The Bastians of Bastis swore they were an ancient line, with no connection to the Bastions of Revellia, yet the contempt remained. Still, they too came to pay their respects to the Storm Queen.
Keeping peace in Revelback was impossible, and an enormous shantytown was congealing against the walls of the Red Circle. Sir Laurel was charged to patrol the shantytown, with Sir Jonah in charge of maintaining order in the city itself. None can impeach their bravery or honor, but no man was equal to such a task. Many more died from tavern brawls and knavery in the days mourning the old Queen's death, and many of those who came to pay their respects would never leave.
Yet this did bring much coin into the city, and the merchants of Revelback were said to have made valuable connections with the Ethelites before their departure. Most importantly, the realm seemed unified in way that marriages and threats could not achieve. Being so far south, Revellia was the least informed regarding the Mortal Kingdoms and their plans to the far north, and they were now years late in preparing for their attack.

THE BREAKING OF THE WEST

The West had served as a great impediment to Revellia's preparation for the great war to come. It seemed fitting to some, then, that they should be the first to truly suffer for it. It was high summer in 974 RA when the capital received word that the ports of Dubraigh had been attacked by Monosi ships. After a day's counsel, the King sent orders to Aerwoth to send half its ships around the Cape of Monsters and the Bura Cape, to aid in repairs and guard Dubraigh from further attack. No sooner had these orders been sent, however, than more word was received. A civil war had erupted in Dubraigh, between the Clans Luutar and Eskmai, seemingly touched off by the Monosi attack. "It seems the Storm Queen was right," Lord Carramar noted, bitterly. He had ever been Flaithe's foe since she first suggested the matter with Lord Norrek Graunt, and had spoken in favor of Princess Kirin's marriage to Lord Aarnok Luutar.
The King led his forces to Dubraigh himself. To manage the capital, he left his Chief Justicar Sir Jonah Slabh and his new Magus, Brother Aaran Dylaen, Lord Arthos Sorshan having died of a chill the previous Winter. Sir Jonah demanded the honor of guarding his king, as did Prince Harek, but Garland would not hear it. King Garland loved his brother Harek dearly, but he had lost his left leg in the Graunt Rebellion. He was the King's Warchief, but his value in combat was limited. As for Sir Jonah, the King insisted his strength would be needed in the East. And so three of the King's dearest friends remained to safeguard Revelback, as Garland IV and Sir Laurel Odon rode past the Nightfall.

THE LAST KING

The King had brought forces with him from Berleigh and Swining, but Saolmoth was still recovering and could offer little. Castle Malbrand was still shut tight, and he did not have the time to take it. Even so, Garland managed to assemble an enormous force in little time, and they smashed into Dubraigh like a great fist.
It was Saolmoth again in all but name. The fighting was in the streets, and not all the fighters wore the colors of their clans. The Easterners had only a vague idea of who was on which side, but knights and peasants alike were dying in the city, and action was needed. The King wisely stayed outside the city walls with his Breyvs, until he heard the castle itself was besieged. Fearing for his sister Kirin, he sent his Breyvs in, led by Sir Laurel. Only two knights and a company of twelve bowmen were left to defend him. A half-hour later, Sir Laurel was carried outside the city walls by two Breyvs, grievously wounded in both the leg and the shoulder, pallid with bloodloss. At the sight of him, it is said the King went ghast as death, drew his sword, and sounded a charge into the city. Only the two knights he had left for himself were there to follow him.
Most accounts agree that the King would be found later, much as his mother had been, at an intersection in the city, wounded in the neck, with two arrows in his chest, his left leg half-severed, with no witness to what or who had been his end. There is, however, a tale that has grown over the years, and though its truth can never be known, it is worth the telling.
The feud between Clans Luutar and Eskmai has lived since the Conquest of Garland the First, who brought Clan Luutar to Dubraigh from their original home on the Green Isle. Famously, and bizarrely, both the Luutars and later the Eskmais would be given charge of the city, and both would later rebel against the King that had given them their power. Aormek Luutar's Rebellion has oft been laid at the feet of his second wife, who supposedly whispered venom in her ear and riled up the Deinain worshippers against their increasingly Hostly rulers. For the Eskmai's rebellion, no adequate explanation has ever been offered.
It would seem poetic then, that the last King Garland, oft called the Last King, should find himself facing the young Lord Dolan Eskmai in the streets of Dubraigh. The tale says Eskmai had five warriors with him, facing Garland and his two knights. Many of these tellings claim Sir Laurel was one of those knights, but of course he had already been incapacitated at this point. Some stories place Sir Talanar Han'dylth here, though he had died of his years not long after Queen Flaithe. In truth, we do not know which two knights the King trusted to stand with him, but in the telling they gave their lives for their King, and in the end the Last Garland stood against another Eskmai. Lord Dolan rained curses on the Eastern Kings, on the Garlands, for infesting their city with the Luutars, and peppered those curses with blows from his charmed blade, Shadow Kyte. The King was slain that day, and it is unknown if this fight even occurred, but it is known that Lord Dolan would die of his wounds six days later.
The Luutars would eventually prevail, having won the support of Clan Sirtal, though at terrible cost. Sir Laurel demanded to be kept by the King's side the entire way back to Revelback, and was said to weep over his corpse every night. Prince Harek supposedly fell ill upon hearing the news of his brother's death, and Sir Jonah locked himself away for five days, leaving governance of the realm to Brother Aaran Dylaen.
The people of Revelback mourned their king, yet in this tragedy was a great seed of hope. Though still a child, the mantle of rule had now fallen upon the Green Prince, Dorreon the Second, and the people were eager to see what fortune might blossom.

"Recently, a missive was unearthed that states, correctly or not, that Sir Laurel 'prayed with the poor King every night on the sad journey home.' Much has been made of that word, 'with,' as it would imply the King was in fact still alive as he was carried back from Dubraigh. If such is the case, where, when, and how did he die? And why is this story untold?" - Kyu Yev Quarry

Social

Family Ties

Conditions

• Mortal

Ethnicity

Leante

Life

4936 4975 39 years old

Circumstances of Death

Slain putting down civil war in Dubraigh.

Family

Clan Beth

Parents

Dorreon Beth - 21st Known King of Revellia

Flaithe Beth o Faolan

Children

• Hwinell Glast o Beth
• Dorreon II Beth - 23rd Known Ruler of Revellia
• Kirin Luutar o Beth

Eyes

Blue

Hair

Brown

Skin Tone/Pigmentation

Ghast (tan)

Other Affiliations

• Revellia Canton