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Entromancer
Senior Scribe
USA
388 Posts |
 Posted - 14 Dec 2011 : 02:16:18
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*Possible spoilers for The Brotherhood of the Griffon*
Tchazzar is one of the antagonists that really stands out from the Realms novel I have read. On one hand I felt a small iota of pitty for him. On the other his insanity and the acts spurred on by it--cruelty toward his dalliances, marching children to war, Daelric the Handpuppet--killed any of that by Book 3.
I will admit that some of his insane troll logic made me laugh...
What was frightening was that the people of Chessenta--the majority it seems--wanted him to return. So prior to his disappearance was he just as cruel a ruler?
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"...the will is everything. The will to act."--Ra's Al Ghul
"Suffering builds character."--Talia Al Ghul |
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Dennis
Great Reader
9933 Posts |
Posted - 14 Dec 2011 : 07:31:05
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I vaguely recall Tyrant asked Richard something along that line. I suggest you check Richard's thread.
I only read Books 1 and 2, and perhaps will read the third in the yet unknown future. But my conjecture is yes. But for the Chessentans, it didn't matter, because they saw in Tchazzar a real champion that protected them from their many enemies, even protecting them from themselves. If you remember, Chessenta is hardly a unified country. |
Every beginning has an end. |
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MalariaMoon
Learned Scribe
324 Posts |
Posted - 14 Dec 2011 : 15:34:35
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Tchazzar's history as ruler/deity of Chessenta is quite convoluted to say the least. I've been running a pre-Spellplague, pre-Time of Troubles in Chessenta, and one of the characters is actually a priest of Tchazzar. Unfortunately, the campaign's been at a stall for six months or so, and my recollections of Tchazzar's history have grown hazy. My picture has been pieced together from various small snippets in various sources, and at times I've filled in the blanks with my own interpretations (and subsequently forgotten what was canon and what was homebrewed). I also haven't read Brotherhood of the Griffin, so I'm missing some vital lore.
Originally Tchazzar was a great wyrm red dragon with ambitions of Godhood. In order to gather a following, he took human form and became a legendary War Hero in Chessenta, briefly succeeding in uniting the city-states. His empire disintegrated after he disappeared battling the sahuagin of the Sea of Fallen Stars. In reality, he quietly 'retired' to his lair and watched as his name became legendary in Chessenta. A cult formed around this legend, and he became an important part of Chessentan mythology (although whether he attained any real divinity is debatable).
During the Time of Troubles, an three headed avatar of Tiamat was killed by Gilgeam in Unther. Her essence was splintered into three parts which were subsumed by the three mightiest dragons in the Old Empires. Tchazzar was one of these. He preceded to confront, slay, and devour the other two dragons harbouring Tiamat's essence and was subsequently transformed into another avatar of the goddess. The Gilgeam vs. Tchazzar/Tiamat rematch ended with the former permanently slain and the avatar formed from Tchazzar's body also destroyed.
The story didn't end there. Some years later, at the end of the Rage of Dragons, Tchazzar returned to the Realms, apparently resurrected as the Chosen of Tiamat. He took over Cimbar, and apparently was busily trying to reforge his empire when the Spellplague struck.
Presumably, what happened next is detailed in the Brotherhood of the Griffon trilogy :-)
As you can see, pretty damn complicated. He's managed to 'die' some way or the other about four or five times. No wonder we gets some worship. The best sources on him are "Powers & Pantheons" (1st ed.) and "Dragons of Faerun" (3rd ed.). |
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MalariaMoon
Learned Scribe
324 Posts |
Posted - 14 Dec 2011 : 15:48:12
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But with regards to your questions, I imagine he reigned in some of his more wicked tendencies in his first (human form) reign of Chessenta. Chessentans champion battle might and physical prowess - so I imagine an utterly badass, brutally harsh but fair and tactically brilliant hero would have been sufficient to gain enough popular support from the people. Furthermore, bringing about the endless wasteful warring between the city-states would have been seen as a great achievement to many.
His second (pre-Spellplague dragon form) reign benefited from several centuries of worship by his cult in Chessenta. Although the citizens of Cimbar briefly resisted him on his return, I'm sure they (and other city-states) quickly say the wisdom in capitulating to a semi-divine great red wyrm. Although Tchazzar's second rule was probably more openly evil than his first, for the average citizen it was probably not too terrible. Tchazzar's aims were expansion of his empire, and the larger agenda of Tiamat. To the man on the street, this probably didn't translate to much more than higher taxes and feigned obeisance to Tiamat, at least at first. The Spellplague ended any longer term ambitions Tchazzar might have had in that era. |
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Pre-Spellplague/Pre-disappearance Tchazzar
