Khestor Thidirlun
Khestor Thidirlun was a Dwarven theorist, philosopher, and Dwarf-At-Arms who famously ruled over the Outpost of Zietal Mar. Also known by his title of Marshal or Governor Khestor penned several politically driven works, established the Outpost's molir, and was pivotal in the events surrounding the mythical All-Gem.
Early Life[edit | edit source]
Born into a moderately wealthy family in the Western Mountains of Bormar, Khestor's youth was strictly controlled by his parents with private tutors and personal combat training, which occupied most of his time. As a result, he would rarely be seen drinking in the lower town or socialising with friends, choosing instead to focus on his future career. Some credit Khestor's apparent lack of empathy and supposed coldness to this upbringing.
Once he joined his holding's local molir, Khestor spent many a year training hard and working his way up the ranks, to a point at which he would spend less time on the front line and more time discussing tactics and mixing with the upper ranks. Not only did this time away from the front line allow Khestor to discuss and develop his ideas, but allowed him to see how nobles acted leading Khestor to develop his own philosophical ideas. Over time, he seemed to favor more hardline, direct forms of power with quick and efficient decision-making at its core and often scoffed at the fledgling ideas of democracy, whose acolytes he called revolutionists seeking to bring more power to an 'uneducated' population.
In Zietal Mar[edit | edit source]
Khestor's time in Zietal Mar was quite eventful. When he first landed in the Outpost, it lacked law enforcement, defences, order and discipline. He sought then to remedy this issue through his work, bit by bit.
The Molir & Marshalhood[edit | edit source]
One of Khestor's first tasks was to establish Zietal Mar's molir. With his expertise and experience in such matters, it seemed most sensible for him to lead this effort and, with permission from the Overseer Kadol Ubbul, he formally established the institution and became its Marshal.
The molir in Zietal Mar is somewhat different from the traditional militia of Outposts in that it is (or should be) politically separate from the Lord/Lady/Leader, instead managed by the Marshal and directed by its core duties which are as follows, in order of importance:
- Safeguard the Outpost's general populace from harm.
- Destroy any threats to the Outpost, both internal and external.
- Maintain order in the Outpost, usually in its role as law enforcement.
- Support relevant parties in ensuring the Outpost's wealth is kept safe, such as a Quartermaster.
- Enact the relevant orders of the Outpost's Leader to allow them to fulfil their policies and wishes.
As Marshal, Khestor's focus was largely on the security of the Outpost. Zietal Mar began its first stage of real military development. Khestor rallied the good Dwarves of the Outpost to gather supplies for the main town walls, designed by Tobias Aetos. Khestor then constructed the walls himself with help from the molir's soldiers such as Kogan Gemesh. Towers were erected to help defend the Outpost, there was even briefly a trebuchet in the Outpost and the Upper Holding's infrastructure had improved drastically in order to facilitate the long-awaited construction of Fort Thidir, shamelessly named after Khestor Thidirlun himself.
The Molir even grew in size, enough to have a Captain, Gramsik Lerch, and a headquarters in the Lower Holding, as Khestor reached a deal with Priest Sigmarr to convert the Church to a training and barracks base, as well as a holding cell for criminals.
In his time, the molir defended the Outpost against Stone Troll attacks, investigated and warned about the Miners Spider Lair, successfully and successively fended off the Grol mercenaries who inhabited the Northern portion of the island.
Governorship[edit | edit source]
By establishing the molir and contributing heavily to the Outpost's safety Marshal Khestor became an active and well-respected member of the Outpost. Soon, his popularity would lead to bigger things.
The sudden resignation of the Zietal Mar's first Overseer Kadol Ubbul left Zietal Mar without a leader. In the wake of this event, Outpost librarian Ogrona Frontik assumed the role of Overseer until a new election could be organised using the fact that she was the runner-up in the previous election. This debacle displeased some. The Public Servant, a local newspaper, proclaimed similar sentiment and asked Khestor to step up to the position of Overseer. With public sentiment seemingly in his favour, Khestor put himself forward at the next election despite his still existing prejudice around the idea of democracy. By promising an era of "Strength, Stability and Security" and portraying Ogrona as a good Dwarf but a weak leader, Khestor won the election by a landslide.
His tenure began with many changes. First, he abolished the Outpost's legislative Lower Chamber and replaced it with Consuls (Ogrona Frontik, Ilzar Goldspit, Gramsik Lerch), consolidating his power. He then renamed the title of Overseer to Governor, all but ending Zietal Mar's original form of government which pleased Khestor and his preferences for "traditional" manners of governing.
Soon after, a top-of-the-line Bormarian ship arrived to the Zietal Mar archipelago: The Cuckoo. The ship had been captured by Grol mercenaries, but Khestor, his molir, and several volunteers liberated the vessel and began using it for various purposes.
As time progressed, Khestor became more and more intrigued by the Zietal Mar's lost pages, which he had collected a great number of from the hideout of a mysterious Outpost criminal known only as The Reaper.
There was some controversy during Khestor's tenure, though few were aware of the scale of the issues. Early on in Grabhol Faulkrunn's arrival to the Outpost, he proposed to Khestor that he provide a criminal underworld which he claimed would boost the wealth and power of both individuals. Grabhol promised to inform Khestor of any possible future crimes and threats, and would work to help gather Zietal Mar's lost pages, which became very relevant when Ogrona Frontik refused to work with Khestor to solve the mystery. Khestor saw this as a way not only to keep the Outpost safe, as he would know who, when, and where crimes would occur, but he could also use this underworld for his own good.
Soon after agreeing to this, Khestor was coerced into murdering Yorbear Greenfoot to cover up various crimes, and he subsequently attempted to distance himself from Grabhol, but knew he was wrapped around his thumb, leading to multiple confrontations, and friction between the two grew. Eventually, when Grabhol died and his diaries were revealed, Khestor managed to leverage his relations with Priest Sigmarr and other well-respected individuals to ensure his reputation was not damaged, and the accusations were commonly accepted as false.
His government soon came back on track and continued to deliver for the Outpost, especially since the arrival of the newfound Consul of Public Affairs Gib Andosk who would become a close companion to Khestor.
The All-Gem[edit | edit source]
Once the majority of Zietal Mar's lost pages were collected, it was easy to theorise on what truly took place in Zietal Mar many years ago. Particularly disturbing was the traitorous actions of Zietal Mar's sponsor, First Lord Voman Stoutheart, who had been the one paying the Grol mercenaries to find the All-Gem all along. Khestor gave his collection to Zeb Burnsthewick to have the information collated in a single document, as well as sharing the information with Gib Andosk, whom Khestor subsequently gave the title Gem-Seeker after tasking him with finding the fabled All-Gem.
Eventually, Gib was successful in discovering the All-Gem. Oddly enough, seemingly more so by luck than with the information collected from the lost pages. Consequently, Khestor declared First Lord Voman an enemy of the Outpost, the All-Gem was discovered and retrieved, and the Dwarves of Zietal Mar fled the isles. Before doing so Khestor and Gib claimed to have destroyed the All-Gem to prevent it from falling into First Lord Voman's hands, but this was a lie, and the gem was secreted aboard the Cuckoo as the Dwarves fled the island once and for all.
Later Life[edit | edit source]
Upon being released from his Cell in Bormar following The Fate of Zietal Mar, Khestor took his titles and riches and retired with his close friend Gib Andosk in the small hamlet that was once the city of Gemfeld, writing stories, publishing philosophy, and enjoying a more relaxed lifestyle.