Artur Jakartai

Greyhawk Character
Artur Jakarti
Artur Jakarti, as depicted in the Dungeon #113 (2004). Art by Jake Parker.
Homeland	Furyondy
Gender	Male
Race	Human
Age	b. c. 556 CY
Class	Fighter 11 (CoG:FFF) or Paladin 17 (LGG) or Fighter 11/ Knight of Holy Shielding 3 (DNG#113
Alignment	Lawful good

Artur Jakarti is the count of the County of Crystalreach in Furyondy, and a former Knight of Holy Shielding. He resides at Grabford, capital of the County.

Description

Artur is a huge man, standing seven feet tall and weighing 355 lbs (in 582 CY--see CoG:FFF.73). Excepting his size, Artur is rather nondescript in appearance, with lightly-tanned skin, and brown hair and eyes. He is very wise, but not particularly intelligent. Though his attempts to express himself are often clumsy, Artur is an exceedingly decent fellow--loyal, courageous, modest, and honorable. A devotee of Hieroneous, Artur prefers the company of commoners and warriors to that of his fellow nobles. He is fond of dwarves and good ale.

Relationships

Artur harbored a deep love for his superior Knight of Holy Shielding, Lady [[Valderesse Sharn, until her death in the Great Northern Crusade of 586-588 CY. He is extremely loyal to his liege, King Belvor III of Furyondy. He still feels resent for many of the Shield Land nobles who were in power when that nation was invaded.

Artur is served by Curtlem the Calloused, a skilled dwarven engineer at Greatwall, which was the capital of Crystalreach during Iuz's occupation. Artur's is represented at Belvor's Noble Council by Jalquayne, a priest of Heironeous.

Most of the other great nobles of Furyondy find Artur's social awkardness endearing, save for Countess Kyaren Rhavelle of the Gold County, who thinks him vulgar.

History

Artur was born circa 556 CY (CoG:FFF.73), probably in the Shield Lands. At some point, he joined the Knights of Holy Shielding. When he was twenty-one years old, Artur met Valderesse Sharn, at his coming-of-age celebration. He was instantly smitten with Valderesse, one year his senior, and the pair would almost have certainly been married if not for the events of 579 CY. That year, the Shield Lands were invaded by the Horned Society and the Bandit realms of Wormhall and Warfields jointly invaded the Shield Lands. By 581 CY, only the city of Critwall remained under Shield Lander control. Hundreds of Knights of Holy Shielding were sent beyond Critwall, to plead their nation's case and gather support from various other nations throughout the Flanaess. By 582 CY, Valderesse, Artur, and four other Shield Knights had relocated to Greyhawk to do the same. By that time, Artur was known to have slain red dragons, fire giants, and a lich--the later single-handedly (CoG:FFF.73).

During the Greyhawk Wars (582-584 CY), the demigod Iuz seized control of the Horned Society and Bandit Kingdoms, and therefore the Shield Lands as well. After the signing of the Pact of Greyhawk that ended the wars, support for the reclamation of the Shield Lands became even more difficult to find, as many felt those lands forever lost. The result was that the Shield Knights under Valderesse's command were forced to spend the next two years working as mercenaries throughout the Flanaess. In Planting of 586 CY, Canon Hazen of Veluna and King Belvor III of Furyondy called the Great Northern Crusade, an effort to reclaim lands lost to Iuz. Valderesse, Artur, and the rest of her command rallied to the side of Lady Katerina Walworth's, Knight Commander of the Shield Lands and Lady High Marshall of the Great Northern Crusade. Artur and his companions saw action at the Battle of Grabford in 588. However, at the Battle of Crockport which followed, Valderesse fell to a priest of the Old One (DNG#113.94). Arthur entered a battle-frenzy as a result, which led to madness for a time. Artur was eventually brought back to Littleberg, where he received magical treatment for his affliction, said to have been caused by the same priest who killed Valderesse. Artur finished out the rest of the campaign in Furyondy.

Valderesse's death led to Artur's departure from the Knights of Holy Shielding. He had burned many bridges with the Order and the Shield Land's Council of Lords during his madness, and in his grief, blamed former Knight Commander Earl Holmer and the Council for their handling of the invasion of the Shield Lands, which ultimately meant they were also to blame for the death of his beloved. Upon the end of the Crusade, Artur was appointed Count of Crystalreach by King Belvor II, to replace Count Paulus Halpern, who was thought to have been slain during Iuz's invasion.

Gallery

Bibliography

• Holian, Gary, Erik Mona, Sean K Reynolds, and Frederick Weining. Living Greyhawk Gazetteer. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 2000.

• LaRue, Rick. "Valor is Our Blood!" Dungeon #113. Bellevue, WA: Paizo Publishing, 2004.

• Niles, Douglas, and Carl Sargent. The City of Greyhawk. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1989.

• Sargent, Carl. From the Ashes. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1992.
• -----. The Marklands. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1993.