Sarès the curse-bringer

Sarès the curse-bringer, otherwise known as Sarès the 1st, Wargar'oth Sarès, Laët's scourge, the Doomed King, the Cold Iron or the Scourge of Ostreggar is the former King of the Ostreggari Kingdom, the hierarch of the Profane Banner, the eldest of the seven Iron Gods and the last rightful heir of the house of Ost. He was the acting king of Ostreggar during the shattering of the Astraari Oath, and the sole monarch left to contain the legions of Bahn the Great, at the borders of the Riverlands. A harsh but righteous king, Sarès took it upon himself to fight the Khalaani plague to the bitter end in spite of the olden allies of Ostreggar turning their back on him and on their sworn duty. Backed solely by his loyal troops and the conjuration of the seventy renegade knights of Avalon, he waged a merciless war of fifteen war against the Khal people, which, however heroic, proved unsuccessful in repeling their relentless assault.

Desperate, embittered by the long years of warring, Sarès eventually turned towards impious magic promised by the court-jester Amelin to break the will of the Khalaani legions. While he eventually crushed the assaults of the Khal, Sarès and his knights were afflicted by Thurid's corruption in the process, and lost the very humanity they onced cherished. Now a kingdom lost to darkness, Ostreggar became a menacing shadow looming over the Riverlands, with Sarès promising he would see Lineroth and Naïas burn for their betrayal. When the Khal came back to invade the Riverlands some many years later, Sarès left the road to Lineroth wide open...

A complexe figure of astraari history, Sarès is seen as the harbinger of misfortune in the Riverlands, but also as the tragic consequence of the shattering of the Astraari Oath. Generally seen as a figure of evil, he has been described as "Laët's scourge over impious men". Some many years after the Darkening of Ostreggar and what would come to be called the Foul Betrayal, a terrible plague brought by Thëggs raiders broke out in Lineroth, causing the kingdom to collapse in chaos and overwhelming despair.

Whatever happenned to Sarès and his loyal knights after the Darkening of Ostreggar remains a mystery, but many seem to believe he still roams the foul land of what was once his kingdom. Others think that he was defeated by the reformed order of paladins, and his soul emprisonned in his blade.

Some scholars have imagined that he may be one of seven Iron Gods, but very little is known about this piece of folklore...