ong, long ago, the lands of the Men of Valor, which today are
divided into a dozen kingdoms, were ruled by the High Warrior Priest of
Shagras as the High King of the East. Rare was the King-Priest who held
office overlong, for in those days no Man of Valor would submit to the
rule of a weaker man, so that many warriors would challenge the
King-Priest in hope of finding weakness. But to a Red King of proven
valor, the sons of Shagras were loyal unto death. The favor of the Red Warrior was much sought by the lords of the east. Many would seek to distinguish themselves on the field of battle, or would quest after objects of mystical significance (which were more plentiful in those days), or would offer their warriors to accomplish the King-Priest's more outlandish schemes. But honor was not universal, even among those so close to the Lady of Valor.
In the reign of Ranald Ironrede, the warriors of Mahael Redblade scored an immense victory over the forces of Raimond Winterhawk, taking nearly all the lands of Winterhawk's domain, including the ruby mines of Har Qitaz, whose gems had brought Winterhawk high esteem among the lords of the east. Winterhawk was furious at the defeat and accused Redblade of treachery, which was false, but was a common accusation by the vanquished in those days. Winterhawk took his complaint to the Red Warrior, but he soon found that Ironrede's regard for him derived solely from the rubies of Har Qitaz. It was than that Winterhawk set into motion the events that would lead to the destruction of the Kingdom of the East.
At that time, Ranald Ironrede had four children, two daughters, Ellemir and Alyse, and two sons, Malcolm and Duncan. Ironrede hoped that one of his children would be the Red Warrior after himself. His daughter Alyse, the youngest of the children, showed her prowess as a warrior at an early age, and showed the potential to fulfill Ironrede's wish. The children behaved wildly at times, as was expected in those days of future warriors, and often left the caer of their father for long periods of time and without telling anyone where they went, which annoyed Ironrede to no end (as was intended), so that he would set some men of his to watch over them, but it was a difficult task and the children always evaded their watchers.
Once the children of Ironrede set out to climb Har Geser, the tallest mount within a week's travel of their father's caer, for they had heard the King Under Sky lived there (which he did not). They never arrived, for Raimond Winterhawk and his warriors waited for them in ambush. The children were outnumbered by seven to one, and were quickly captured. Winterhawk put out the eyes of Ellemir and cut off her hands, and sent her back to Ironrede with a message that he must dispossess Mahael Redblade of his lands and give them to Winterhawk, or a worse fate would befall the three remaining children. Ironrede had a vivid imagination for such things, but he was not a man to give in to a threat, regardless of the consequences. He gathered all the forces at his command and stormed Winterhawk's caer, and slaughtered Winterhawk and all his vassals and burned the buildings to the ground and sowed the land with salt, and it remains infertile to this day.
Ironrede found Malcolm's corpse impaled on a stake in the outer yard, but Duncan and Alyse were nowhere to be found, for they had escaped two days before the siege, for Winterhawk's resources were still depleted from the battles with Mahael Redblade. Duncan was pierced by an arrow while they crossed the Chasm of Baraba and fell to his death, but Alyse returned to tell Ironrede what had happened. Ironrede was never the same afterwards, and died a year later. Varana of Panther Mountain ruled as King-Priest for six years, until Alyse slew him to become the Red Queen.
Alyse's soul was twisted by the murder of her brothers and the maiming of her sister, so she guarded well her only son Conal. In time she was overcome by paranoia and contrived to collect many children of the strongest lords at her caer for fosterage, but it was clear to all that they were hostages. An uneasy calm prevailed until Conal finally evaded his guards one night and left his mother's caer. Alyse came to the obvious and incorrect conclusion, and slew all her hostages in her wrath. The lords of the east then rose against her, and the Kingdom of the East passed from the Land. Ever since, the Red Warrior has concealed his or her identity. Conal and his descendants ruled Ithyra as the Red Dukes, until their line was extirpated by Ghoras, but that is another story.
Return to Tzalmir home page.