Anybody able to sort out the following conundrum relating to the longsword Albruin and the warrior mercenary Malakar?
In Champions of Valor, it is noted that Malakar holds the sword in the spring of the Year of the Broken Helm (1302 DR) - this date coincides with the outline of events in the original source (FR4 The Magister). The problem comes when we try to reconcile it with the description of the weapon in The Ruins of Zhentil Keep. There we learn that the reason Malakar has Albruin is because it was given to him by the banelich Stallac Benadi in his feud with the burnbones Chrinson of the Blazing Sun.
The problem with Malakar's age by the 1360s can be fixed I guess with any form of life-extending magic. More problematic is that Chrinson would not be in a feud with Stallac in 1302 DR - Chrinson is described as merely an acolyte of Bane when the Time of Troubles ended, so he is unlikely to have been alive at the start of the century.
Whilst I hate to ignore lore and have often contorted myself to make things 'fit', whoever did the re-done write up of Albruin in "Champions of Valor", screwed it up. Clearly they couldn't help themselves as they felt compelled to add to Ed's lore on Albruin (lore that was intentionally elastic to accommodate timelines) by adding dates and quite unecessary and questionable further background lore (a half Dambrathan traveling to Glister - well, I suppose anything is possible) to the sword's description. Ignore it. I will.
-- George Krashos
"Because only we, contrary to the barbarians, never count the enemy in battle." -- Aeschylus
Albruin and the mercenary Malakar
Posted - 25 Jan 2015 : 21:17:17
