Gorath

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Gorath, a half-moredhel and former head of the Clan Ardanien who is known as Thorgath when traveling incognito, is one of the six player characters in Betrayal at Krondor. He is a party member in Chapters 1-4, 6, 8, and 9.

Appearance

Gorath looks as menacing as Owyn Beleforte looks innocent. There is a haunting quality in his eyes that seems wolfish, as if he is a creature on the run. A long scar, nearly hidden by his hairline, traces the left side of his face from temple to cheek. Gorath wears a beard that is not possible for those of pure eledhel and moredhel descent. He does, however, have the lobeless pointed ears typical of his kind.

History

The son of a moredhel father and a human mother, Gorath is an eligible claimant to the moredhel throne in Sar-Sargoth.

At twelve years old, Gorath took leadership of the remains of his father's tribe, the Ardanien clan, who had made their home in the Green Heart forest. Upon adulthood, he wed a witch named Cullich, building a home and digging their well with the help of a good friend. The Ardanien became a mighty force under his leadership. With his impressive military acumen and backed by his clan's renewed strength, Gorath directed one of the only moredhel defensives to successfully beat back the Tsurani during the Riftwar, even as thousands of their kin fled the Green Heart for the supposed safety of the Northlands. Only starvation and superior Tsurani numbers finally drove Gorath and the Ardanien across the Great Northern Mountains to join their moredhel cousins in the Northlands.

Despite arriving with no desire to meddle in Northlands politics, Gorath grew restive as Field General Delekhan used the memory of Murmandamus to rally the moredhel against the Kingdom of the Isles. Watching friends die in the field general's service, Gorath came to believe that it was time for the moredhel to leave conquest behind and look to their own. His vocal criticism of Delekhan's leadership to the Great Rising led to his imprisonment in Sar-Sargoth. Liallan arranged his escape and he fled southward with magical aid from Cullich, even as her longing for a glorious future and contempt for his "cowardly" beliefs brought their love to an end.

Memories later read by Gamina included fire-lit hills, the sounds of voices and galloping, and images of Delkhan howling wolf-life before the moon, swinging his bloody sword against other moredhel and screaming words of wrath and damnation.

Escaping to the Kingdom of the Isles, Gorath was rescued from pursuit by Delekhan's minions by Seigneur Locklear, who was taken aback to realize he had saved the life of a moredhel. Gorath surrendered and asked to be taken to Prince Arutha to convey a warning about Delekhan's evil intentions toward the Kingdom.

Starting Stats

Among the party members who start out in Chapter 1, Gorath has the highest starting Health, Stamina, and Health/Stamina total. He has the highest starting Strength of any player character, as well as the highest starting Accy: Crossbow, Assessment, Armorcraft, and Weaponcraft Skills, and his starting Scouting Skill is tied for highest with Pug. However, he starts with the lowest Barding and Haggling Skills of any player character. Gorath always journeys alongside Owyn Beleforte, who sets out with Chapter 1's highest starting Barding and Haggling Skills,^[1] but would benefit from practicing his Lockpick Skill in anticipation of parting ways with Locklear and James.

Chapter 1

As the game starts, Gorath watches an uneasy Owyn Beleforte, who had joined their camp on the roadside south of Yabon, tending to Locklear's wounds. Sensing the presence of an assassin, Gorath leaps forward despite his chains and kills a moredhel attempting to attack, recognizing him as a relative and a sign of the deepening rifts Delekhan has caused in moredhel family ties.

Afterwards, Gorath declines Owyn's offer to bury the assassin, stating that it is "not our way." The likelihood of encountering further assassins after Gorath's blood influences Locklear's decision to remove his shackles to keep him alive until they reach Prince Arutha in Krondor. For additional security, the party takes on false names and Gorath, aided by the ignorance of provincial Kingdom folk, is introduced to those they meet as an elf.

After a treacherous journey and a secretive arrival through Krondor's sewer system, Gorath is brought to the Palace under Locklear's supervision. Locklear presents him to the court as proof of the dire news from the Northlands, shocking the assembled nobles. Exploiting the tense moment, an assassin attempts to kill Arutha, who is saved by Pug.

Chapter 2

At the council table, Gorath faces scrutiny from Kingdom officials as Arutha ponders the party's story. To settle Arutha's concerns about assuming the situation from vague, speculative hearsay, Gorath submits to mental probing from Pug's daughter, Gamina, but she finds his moredhel thoughts very chaotic, catching only glimpses of his youth and images of Delekhan. Makala, a Tsurani Great One present to discuss trade between the Kingdom and Kelewan, confirms magically that Gorath's intentions are true. Impatient with the talk of trade agreements, Gorath warns that the moredhel are watching their borders, Nighthawks are spying on their imperial cousins, and that Arutha must prepare his troops to meet Delekhan's invasion before winter.

His dicatorial tone angers Arutha, who retorts that only Locklear's word protects the "dissident moredhel" from execution and that more concrete evidence is needed. Gorath cites the humiliation of breaking his oath and surrendering to an enemy as evidence enough, explaining to Makala his hatred for Delekhan. As additional proof, Gorath offers to intercept one of Delekhan's messengers at Romney to find evidence of the warleader's intent and let Arutha know where the forthcoming attack would take place. Arutha permits the journey, though still distrusting him enough to deny him Kingdom supplies and funds.

Chapter 3

While investigating the murder of the King's Men who had been sent to manage the guild troubles in Romney, James confronts Gorath about a tavern boy's testimony that six months before Gorath's surrender at the Inclindel Pass, a moredhel of the same name was in Romney and paid a sizeable amount of money, perhaps enough to arrange the killings, to three black-clad men wearing silver Nighthawk rings. Gorath retorts that his name is passingly common in the Northlands, and Kingdom folk have mistaken him for an elf often enough to make it unlikely that they would be able to tell his face from any other's. Besides, if he had wished Arutha harm, he would have found a plan less convoluted. Armed with two clues found at the scene, a Brass Spyglass and a Silver Spider, the party sets out to solve the mystery.

After discovering the Nighthawks' plans, James dispatches Gorath and Owyn to bring a vital message to Prince Arutha. While traveling southward from Cavall Run, the two are captured by Narab and conveyed to Sar-Sargoth.

Chapter 4

Gorath, along with Owyn, is held in the Sar-Sargoth Dungeons under guard and drugged to ensure compliance. Incensed at the news of Gorath's capture, Delekhan condemns Narab to death, orders the Terror Stones prepared to receive Gorath and Owyn's names, and submits the two to questioning, striking Gorath and leaving them to await their doom. Unexpectedly, the departure of their guards and a mysterious magical spell which opens their cells allows Gorath, assisted by Owyn, to stagger forth, locate their belongings, and find a way out of the dungeons. Gorath speculates that Narab arranged their escape to cover his own flight from Delekhan's sentence of death, and that their guards were dispatched to find him.

If they try to descend back into the dungeons after exiting into Sar-Sargoth, Gorath is incredulous but willing to follow Owyn's lead.

A meeting with Liallan outside Sar-Sargoth provides Gorath with vital tactical information on the movements of Narab's clan, Moraeulf, the Six, and the location of Nalar's Rib. While Gorath's life is irrelevant to her plans, she notifies her spies to assist him as an investment in the future of the Northlands. Gorath, refusing to believe that Liallan is truly invested in Delekhan's cause, offers to kill him if she can arrange an opportunity, but she insists that the moredhel must see all of Delekhan's works utterly crushed before they will be swayed toward the better governance which she plans to provide knowing that Gorath will not take the responsibility of the throne. The two discuss Delekhan's objective, agreeing that it makes no sense for him to seek the return of Murmandamus, and Liallan advises Gorath to seek freedom through the Inclindel.

Gorath is well known in the Northlands, and is greeted by those they encounter with more or less wariness depending on their affiliations. One lacivious woman in Caern appears quite familiar with him, though he meets her with visible discomfort. To get through Harlech safely, he is forced to call upon Cullich, bringing back bittersweet memories of their home together and the differing values that drove them apart. In memory of the love they once shared, Cullich provides tactical advice and a spell to disguise Owyn as a moredhel while traveling in the Harlech area.

In Armengar, Gorath can rebuke Irmelyn for his loose tongue and arrange to free Obkhar, a good friend and fellow thorn in Delekhan's side, from his imprisonment in the Naphtha Mines. If the party makes the attempt, Gorath pretends to sell a protesting Owyn as a slave to Venutrier of Lan in order to get both of them into the mines and extract Obkhar through the underground river through which Gorath knows others have escaped. After providing themselves and Obkhar with Vapor Masks to get through the mine's suffocating fumes, they plunge into the icy river and Gorath is forced to rescucitate Owyn when they reach land, smiling at the boy's enraged threat to make him fall in love with a warthog if he ever puts them in such danger again.

After escaping through the Inclindel, Gorath delivers the party's message at Arutha's encampment outside the Dimwood. Initially still suspicious of Gorath, Arutha relents upon Owyn's mention of James's old code words about "a party at Mother's." He dispatches Gorath and Owyn to Krondor to secure Pug's assistance.

Chapter 6

Krondor: The Betrayal

Gorath is a 259-year-old^[2] moredhel chieftain and veteran of the Great Uprising.

At twelve years old, he was the son of the Hawk Clan's chieftain, and accompanied his clan to hear the Speaker under a tentative pact of peace. The pact was broken, and Ashuntah, whose brother Jodwah was chieftain of the Eagle Clan, betrayed and murdered Gorath's father. With his mother's encouragement, Gorath took his father's place as chieftain of the Hawk Clan.

At thirty-seven,^[3] he hunted down Ashuntah and avenged his father. He then flung Ashuntah's head at Jodwah's feet, beat Jodwah in fair combat, and merged the Eagle and Hawk clans into the Ardanien Clan. Delekhan, Jodwah's son, was born Gorath's blood enemy.

In need of allies, Gorath wed the daughter of Minor Characters (Betrayal at Krondor)#B#, who had no sons, and added his warriors to the Ardanien. Gorath and his wife had at least one child together before she was killed by a human arrow. He then married Cullich and had another son; one of his wives had also given him a daughter by the time the moredhel were caught up in the thrill of Murmandamus's plans for the Northlands.

During the Great Uprising, Gorath and the Ardanien participated in the siege of Armengar and fought King Redtree's glamredhel in the Edda forest. Although Gorath brought most of his clan safely through the assault on Armengar, his blood relative Melos and a third of the Ardanien died during Murmandamus's assault on Highcastle.

Trivia

• The readiness of Kingdom folk to mistake Gorath for an eledhel, despite the beard making his human heritage evident, may speak to the incidence of familial relationships between the eledhel and Kingdom humans.
• Gorath's clan is listed on the Terror Stones as the "Greenheart Clan."

References