PRINCE ARGONEL
Prince Argonel was one of the rulers of
Mareilon in the years of the
formation of the Kingdom of
Quendor. In 3 BE, the prince was at war
against the armies of
Galepath. Both sides begged the prince of the
city-state of Quendor, which had remained neutral, to come to their
aid. When the armies of Quendor, led by
Entharion the Wise, arrived,
both Galepath and Mareilon expected them to join their camp and help in
the fight against the other.
Soon it became clear that neither was the case; Entharion ordered the
bugle to sound, and his forces descended with an amazing fury upon the
unsuspecting coastal armies, hacking them to bits. The battle lasted
barely three hours, and the results were devastating. When the dust had
settled, the princes of Galepath and Mareilon, both of whom had been at
hand, were laying their arms at the feet of the victorious Entharion,
acclaiming his sovereignty.
Within three years, the Kingdom of
Quendor would be birthed. Although the citizens of Mareilon had
declared themselves one with the other provinces that had joined the
confederation, they still saw Prince Argonel as the "rightful ruler of
Mareilon." Argonel did not so easily bow to the whims of Entharion's
sovereignty. In public he wore a façade of comradeship and loyalty, but
in his heart he despised the forced union. While most of the population
of Mareilon, who had grown tired of the conflict, were in no position
to rise up against
Largoneth and Galepath, Argonel was able to rally
enough soldiers to his cause, that when his treason was discovered,
Entharion was not hesitant to quell the insurrection.
In the
last days of Mareilon’s glorious independence,
Mazimar Spildo of
Galepath took up arms with Entharion against the city and overthrew the
last remnants of its might. The king condemned Prince Argonel to die by
the executioner’s axe, but in an attempt (a pathetic attempt as
Argonel’s descendants would later recount), he allowed the prince’s
wife and son to go free. These two and their descendants were relegated
to generations of miserable existence as rope salesmen and mosquito net
makers. Barely making ends meet, these descents of Argonel would watch
and wait while those around them praised Entharion and spoke highly of
the great debt they owed him. They would pass on to each generation
tales of Entharion’s usurping of freedom and the cessation of
Mareilon’s glorious independence, for subjecting them in an unequal
alliance with the vile Galepath, and for making them pay undeserved
allegiance to some frail monarch on a throne over two hundred
bloits
away. One of these,
Zarfil, would play an important role some 400 years
later.
| SOURCE(S): A History of Quendor, Zylon the Aged, Zork Grand Inquisitor (official strategy guide) |