King Kashue Arnegue III
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Gender: Male
Age: 52
Birth Year: NRC 478
Race: Human
Homeland: Alecrast
Class: Mercenary/Royalty
Born on the continent of Alecrast, he is not the man many nobles believe he is. Some say Kashue is the missing third prince of Kanon, but in truth, Kashue was born a commoner. In NRC 500, when he was twenty-two, Kashue was arrested and made a gladiator slave. Three years later, he won his freedom and became an adventurer, which brought him to Lodoss. He became a mercenary for the Wind Tribe, and goes to the Tower of Dust Storms to destroy the sacred urn containing the guardian spirit Djinn. With his help, the Wind Tribe becomes the dominant power in the region, and with them to support him, he founds the nation of Flaim.
After Flaim’s inauguration, he rebuilt the trust between the tribe and Valis and became King Fahn’s greatest ally. Flaim soon grew to become a powerful nation in its own right, though the inner turmoil between the tribes of Wind and Flame still churned within.
During the War of Heroes, Flaim joined with Valis against Marmo. Here, Kashue met Parn, who became his close friend, and he supported Parn in becoming a ’Free Knight’. During the final battle of the War of Heroes, Kashue was the one who brought down Beld in an act considered to be cowardly. After Beld defeated Fahn in an honorable duel, Kashue stepped in to challenge Beld as well, but a stray arrow struck Beld in the arm, distracting him. Kashue took advantage of this distraction and killed Beld. He would later have a famous rivalry with Ashram, who was Beld’s protégé, while Kashue had been Fahn’s protégé.
After Fahn’s death, Kashue took up many responsibilities in attempting to keep the peace in Lodoss, but two years later he would have his own civil war to deal with when the Fire tribe gained control of their guardian spirit, Efreet. They destroyed the city of Haven, and declared war against the nation of Flaim, and the Wind tribe. As the Flaim tribe gained ground, Kashue sought aide from Parn and Deedlit. Deedlit was able to forge a new covenant with Djinn, breaking the old contract, and Djinn convinced Efreet to abandon the covenant as well. The Wind and Fire tribes learned the truth of their division due to the manipulations of Kastuul five hundred years earlier, and the two tribes reunited, making the nation of Flaim whole.
However, in the years to come, many refuges would flood Flaim from Kanon and Alania, as they escaped from the Marmo empire. This lead to severe overpopulation, and in desperation, Kashue allowed them to settle in the fertile western region, though he knew that it was Shooting Star’s hunting ground. At the time though, Shooting Star was hibernating. Two years later, Shooting Star awoke from hibernation and began terrorizing these new settlements, and Kashue decided to do something about it. With Parn and Deedlit, along with the mercenaries Shiris and Orson, and the sorcerers Cecil and Slayn, and Slayn’s wife Leylia, Kashue went to war against Shooting Star, determined to slay the dragon. At the same time, Ashram was seeking the Scepter of Domination, one of the fabled Governor’s Treasures that was supposed to allow its wielder to rule all of Lodoss. After slaying the dragons Bramd and Abram, his hunt brought him to Shooting Star. Here, he briefly joined forces with Kashue to slay the dragon, but when that was complete, they dueled for control of the Scepter. Ashram won it, but Parn knocked it from his hand and into the lava pit. In defeat, Ashram threw himself to his apparent death, though it wouldn’t be until several years later that they knew he survived, saved by his sorcerer who had teleported him to safety.
With his nation at peace, and the dragon destroyed, Kashue went on to assist the other nations of Lodoss. He helped fund and supply the Kanon Free Army, he supported Valis in its continual war against the Marmo, and he would eventually kill the villainous Duke Raster of Alania and help the next heir to the Alanian throne take his place.
Around the same time as the civil war, Kashue ran into a boy who showed a lot of courage and character, Spark. Kashue had been riding a new horse, and lost control of his mount when it was spooked. As the horse ran into the desert, a boy stepped into its path and threw his arms out wide, fearless of being trampled. The horse stopped, and Kashue took notice of the boy’s courage and ferocity. Kashue later learned that Spark was in the Fire Tribe’s chief’s family, and in direct line for ruling the tribe.
Spark, however, was enchanted by the knighthood and tales of Parn, so he became a squire in the Flaim Knighthood. However, even though he showed promise, Kashue held back his progress, not allowing him to be fully promoted to a knight. With no heir of his own, Kashue would have to chose his successor, and that successor would likely be from either of the tribes. Spark already was in line to inherit the chiefdom of his tribe, but there was the possibility that he could become Kashue’s successor. For fear of his safety, Kashue kept Spark a squire so that he could not risk his life in battle. Yet, at the same time, he worried that he kept Spark from his potential.
In NRC 525, Akroyd Castle’s treasury was broken into by dark elves, and Spark had tried to stop them, but failed. The Soul Crystal Ball had been kept in Akroyd since it was stolen from Ashram ten years earlier. Kashue sent Spark and a hand-picked team to retrieve the ball, including Garrack, a noble of Spark’s tribe. This arrangement would be a new group of heroes to be renowned, as they would stop the resurrection of Kardis and save Lodoss, even all of Forcelia, against the threat of destruction.
While Spark was stopping Wagnard, Kashue was advancing against the Marmo and their allies, including Duke Raster, who had been the regent of Alania since the death of the last king and made alliances with Marmo. Kashue removed him from power, and installed a newly discovered heir to the throne of Alania, Ropus II. Kashue was not entirely fond of Ropus, but he was a far sight better than the traitor Raster, and would be indebted to Kashue.
After the departure of Ashram and the Marmo from Lodoss, Kashue’s forces swept over Marmo, and claimed the island as a duchy of Flaim. Spark would later be installed as the duke of Marmo.
Quotes
“The dead return to the soil of Lodoss. That is the fate of all knights.”
Kashue has appeared in most of the series, with the exception of the Deedlit’s Tale manga.
Status in Eiyuu Kishi Den RPGKashue is currently King of Flaim.