On the Works of Telabar the Liar

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(Important Figures)

M

any consider the works of Telabar the Liar worthless after the discovery of his biased opinion and many tales inserted in the place of historical fact, however, despite their many inaccuracies, they are still valid sources to take from.

Consider the case of King Brogg The Clever, for years it had been believed that Brogg lost a hand fighting in The Second Diamond War, but Telabar's first hand account, discovered long after Brogg's death described him as having both hands in an (No pun intended) off-hand statement while describing how worthless he was in his old age.

While it is true that Telabar did tell many lies in his accounts, these accounts were, as is oft forgotten, first-hand accounts, and the large amount of those in the scholarly community that dismiss his works simply on a matter of principle should be ashamed, as a scholar's one and only job is to present the truth, no matter how unethical.

(A few pages later)

Telabar the Liar was born in Reln, though he would later claim to have been born in the home of a druid, despite heavy evidence showing otherwise. Telabar was born a street urchin by the name of Lucas Inchwood, presumably to one Arrenna Tabithar and her husband Harold Inchwood, an architect favored by the nobility of Reln. He would later claim descent from the royal family, which was undoubtedly false, but considering the fact that Reln was founded near solely of cadet branches of the royal family, it may not have been so false as it seemed.

Telabar first began his life as an artist, a wholly unsuccessful one, considering his poor motor skills and worse perspective, he would draw multiple self portraits during this phase of his life.

"Self portrait in Home", Pencil on papyrus. [+]

After spending a time as a painter, Telabar then began his infamous writings, in which he inserted himself into historical events, falsified events, and defamed kings. These writings were quickly discovered by one of the royal family, who imprisoned him for a time, burning most of his earliest writings, which are now believed to have been much tamer than his later work.

It was around this time that Telabar dropped his birth name, instead favoring the one of his own creation.

After a decade imprisoned, where he compiled his "Prison Journals", he was released due to his father's intervention. Telabar returned to his writing, creating very scathing accounts of the royal family, and wars that he had not even bore witness to. As a result, he spent many years in and out of prison, until finally he died at the age of thirty six of unknown causes, his writings were later taken by a friend who published them, writing copies out by hand and distributing them in secret. He made hundreds, and Telabar's accounts became a standard in any library.

History of War and the Follies of Man- Slings and Stones to Arrows and Bows - Chapter One of A Collection of Unfinished Works
Charles D'Hartbourg
Estate of Charles D'Hartbourg, Tower of Truths

Emperor Haldisfar of ancient Reln

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(Important Figures)

A

ncient Reln was a very different place than the chivalrous and beautiful Reln we know now, a man was valued for his mettle in combat instead of for the person who he was, emotions were suppressed, and men raised to positions of power based solely upon their skill in combat.

Haldisfar was an excellent warrior.

Haldisfar was a brilliant strategist.

And Haldisfar was completely mad.

Haldisfar was born into the lowest caste of Relnish society, as a thrall, but not a housework thrall or a slave for unsavory pleasures, but as a member of the famous Relnish Chained Ones, heavily armored soldiers who wielded heavy flails attached to their bound wrists. Especially strong Chained Ones were given more links to their chain, allowing them to serve as exceptional mid range combatants.

The leader of these chained ones was the Stone Troll Tar Un Dun Ban, who was large enough and strong enough to wield a flail about the size of his abdomen. Tar Un proved himself strong enough to break down castle drawbridges by himself.

Haldisfar sunk a fleet.

After quite a bit of time in the Chained Ones, Haldisfar had quite a long chain, so long that he was able to wrap enemies swords within it and then bludgeon them to death with the metal ball. When a fleet from an enemy kingdom attacked, he chained himself to a few other Chained Ones, before breaking their shackles, allowing him to wield their chains as if they were his own. Haldisfar then proceeded to throw the chains one flail at a time into the enemy ships, sinking the enemy fleet all by himself.

Well, it is doubtful that this actually happened, judging by the large gap between our time and his, and the fact that the enemy fleet has never been identified as coming from one single kingdom. And, well, the feat is practically impossible for human hands.

Whatever the case, Haldisfar proved himself on several occasions, entering the emperor's court as a bodyguard.

Due to the fact that succession was only nominally from father to son in those days, often the only way of securing a place on the royal throne was to kill the emperor. Which Haldisfar did, proclaiming himself as emperor, jumping from the lowest portion of the social ladder to the highest in one fell swoop. This led to a short civil war, which Haldisfar and the Chained Ones easily crushed.

Haldisfar ruled for a decade, during which he had multiple battles fought simply for his own enjoyment. He was no less insane to those who knew him, his wife describing him as;
"A blood warrior, a battle hungry grasper, mad beyond his wits and gaudy in his royal robes." ^[1]

One famous anecdote had Haldisfar informed of his son's death, but instead of allowing the servant to say the words, he had to act them out for Haldisfar's amusement. This led to Haldisfar assuming the servant was planning to assassinate him, so he had the man executed as was common in those days, thrown into an arena with Trolls and animals.

As a result of his madness, rebellions sprouted from across Haldisfar's empire, leading to the fracturing of old Reln, and the beginning of the Era of Warlords.

^[1]Though the Lady consort was not the picture of sanity either, often dressing in odd clothes and taking her servant girls to bed instead of her husband

History of War and the Follies of Man- Slings and Stones to Arrows and Bows - Chapter One of A Collection of Unfinished Works
Charles D'Hartbourg
Estate of Charles D'Hartbourg, Tower of Truths