[Note that material in this document contradicts the account given in Gods of Hârn in a few details.]

Introduction

The Gest of Ambrathas is one of the oldest and most important of all Laranian documents. Not only is it the story of the first and foremost saint of the religion, but it
is also the basis for much of the future mythology, literature and theology of the Laranians.

The History of the Text

The text of the Gest has been considered sacred, and for that reason unchangeable, for many hundreds of years. It was almost surely considered so for some time
before it was officially declared such by a decree of the Tirnatha in 473 SA. Ironically, there is a strong possibility that one of those involved in making the decision in
fact edited the text slightly before it became the "official version". Just what changes may have been made, however, is unknown.

Despite the inviolate nature of the text (and the extreme care with which it was and is copied; see below) there are other stories which survive from roughly the same
period and which shed a different light on the same events. These have never, however, been committed to parchment, and are difficult to study for that reason.

The task of copying the text of the Gest from one manuscript to another is not one undertaken lightly - more so than with other holy texts. There are numerous
difficulties which make it necessary for the copyist to take especial care, and this is compounded by the stricture that any mistake in the work requires the "impure"
page to be destroyed and begun again.

The primary difficulty in the actual copying is the language used in the Gest. It is the earliest Church text, and as such its language is the furthest removed from any
known today, and even among the Church texts (which are all, by definition, written in the same conglomerate language) it is difficult. In addition there are a large
number of words taken from other languages - in particular the strange tongue of the Laranian calendar, which has been dated to the time of the Gest for that very
reason.

[I'm beginning to think that entire previous paragraph is a complete load of nonsense.]

Language of the Gest

The Gest is written in ancient Emelan, a primarily Jarind language which contains many Azeryan and Pharic words, and also borrowings from another, largely
unknown tongue.

Outline

Story as per Gods of Hârn. One of the knights is Marag-Duram, who betrays his companions and escapes (though wounded). He leads part or all of the army that
wipes out Alamire.

Ambrathas is married to some woman (in fact, the very beginning of the Gest is a description of the wedding), by whom he has a son. While Ambrathas is away at
Alamire and elsewhere serving Larani, Larani herself, in disguise, visits his wife and child and keeps them company. She gives three gifts to the son, which later allow
him to kill some demon, mean he is recognised by the monks who heal him (a talisman with the symbol on it which is also the symbol on the cloth given to the
monastery founder), and the last is not revealed fully.

At the beginning, there is some king who rules the land in which Ambrathas lives. He is the first character introduced, and the person in some sense presiding over
the wedding. Alamire falls within this territory, in a strange way (perhaps it cannot always be reached?); during the course of the tale, the king dies heirless.

The Gest can be considered as having five distinct sections. These are as follows:

The Taking of Alamire
     The wedding of Ambrathas and Gwydreil, Ambrathas meeting the Goddess, the capture of Ca Anak-Bash, the restoration of Alamire
The Rise of Alamire
     Visit of the three daughters, Three Knights of Tirith going out on adventure, Pynwis born, Kryste visits Gwydreil
The Betrayal of Marag-Duram
     Mabashar attacks Deolm, treachery of Marag-Duram, destruction of Deolm
The Redemption of Ambrathas
     Ambrathas does penance, Ambrathas fights Mabashar, Ambrathas is judged honourable, Pynwis destroys Mabashar and is taken to Biolweneg, Ambrathas
     meets his son
The Fall of Alamire
     The Goddess warns Ambrathas of the destruction of Alamire, Marag-Duram leads an army to destroy Alamire, Gwydreil is somehow reunited with
     Ambrathas

To aid in understanding just who is who and what is what, I have prepared a guide to the Gest; there is information contained there which is not here, so it's a good
idea to have a scan of it.

Wedding

The Gest begins with the wedding of Ambrathas and Gwydreil at Teanned.

The king wanders out in the countryside, and sees Ambrathas riding along with his retinue. They meet, and ride to Teanned. There they have a feast in the evening,
and discuss various matters (the wedding, the political situation, etc - stuff that will form the backdrop to the story). The next day the wedding takes place, and we
meet Gwydreil for the first time.

During the wedding Gwaerythna interrupts the ceremonies, prophesying that the union would be split by a common ally (meaning Larani) who meant them no harm
and would give them everlasting fame, and that also the product of this union would do that which his father could not, but that he would turn aside from his father's
path of virtue.

Ambrathas Defends Larani

See GoH. In this version, however, the maiden binds Ambrathas's wounds with a white kerchief after the final battle; it is subsequently splotched with his red blood.

The Mission

Larani tells Ambrathas to do various things (see GoH). She also gives him a piece of cloth embroidered with a symbol (on a red and white checkered background?),
which she bids him give to the person who carries the head of a living man. Oh bugger, two pieces of cloth?

The Priests

Ambrathas lies long recovering from his wounds, and when he awakes, there are five priests there. They tell him he must lead an assault on the dark fortress below
(Ca Anak-Bash) and one of them blows a horn which summons the Knights of Tirith. They also name the warlord who holds the castle - Druagan, a barely human
creature with ram's horns and a pig's snout.

The term used to describe the priests in the Gest is not used elsewhere, but appears to be related to the word for wander. The word Matakea is used later of those
these five 'wanderers' teach at Alamire.

The five priests are named: Astariel (who has the horn), Bethaglion (who leads them), Mendala, Quwessa, and Virmael.

The Knights of Tirith Are Assembled

The Knights of Tirith arrive. Among them is Marag-Duram, who tells Ambrathas the story of how he came here, a servant of the Goddess.

The Assault on Ca Anak-Bash

Ambrathas leads the Knights of Tirith on an assault of Ca Anak-Bash; there is much fighting and heroism etc. Ambrathas issues a challenge to the warlord before the
fight, and slays him in single combat. Fitting parallel with later, when he falls to Mabashar.

Ambrathas Descends Beneath Ca Anak-Bash

In the midst of the fighting, Ambrathas is separated from his companions. He finds himself before a pair of great doors, where he fights and kills some horrible
creature. His attention is fixed on the doors, which are decorated with a sculptural relief; on one door is half of a male figure, on the other half of a female figure,
joining seamlessly in the middle, where the two doors meet. The wood is deeply scoured in irregular grooves.

Using his sword, Ambrathas tries to prise open the doors, but succeeds only in breaking the blade, and spreading blood over the wood (which runs garishly down
the runneled wood :). He tries again with the stump of his sword, but again fails. He then notices his companions fighting some distance away, and is moved to aid
them. However, he turns back to the door, and casting aside his sword, he removes his armour, feeling both hot and uncomfortable. After cleaning the blood from
the doors (and seeing strange lettering above the carved figures), he tries the doors a third time, and now they open.

Going through the doors, he descends and.... He enters a room (a temple/shrine?) and in the darkness he faces tests. Almost at the point of despairing, he sees the
white cloth that Larani had earlier used to bind his wounds, and his faith and hope is restored. Taking the cloth (which, I imagine, is stained in places red from
Ambrathas' wound) he lays it over a stone block/altar in the room. He has thus passed the final test, Alamire becomes a holy place, and Ambrathas is confirmed as
the devoted servant of the Goddess.

Birth of Pynwis

Larani Visits Gwydreil

Larani, disguised as the old woman and midwife Kryste, calls on Gwydreil at her home. She tells her that her husband has important work to do, that will keep him
from coming home for many years. When Gwydreil asks how she knows this, Kryste....

Larani Gives Pynwis Three Gifts

Kryste gives three gifts to Pynwis - a sword (decorated and marked), a talisman marked with a rune, and an armband with a decoration on it. She tells Pynwis not to
use the sword except to defend that which is dearest to him, or something.

Larani Tells Gwydreil of the Beginning

Larani, in the guise of Kryste, tells Gwydreil the stories of the beginning, when the Goddess wandered the lands in search of a home, finally coming to Athallata,
where she slept, and where Dolithor grew out of the hill. Stories about the geography around and about too, perhaps - like the forest.

Larani wanders around the land, looking for something (a home?)
Goes through the forest
Comes to the hill
Sleeps there (and dreams?)
Dolithor grows up around her

Enter Roghlynn

A man arrives at Alamire, bearing the living head of a man on a spike. He (being Roghlynn) tells their story to Ambrathas, about revenge, penance, etc, and
Ambrathas gives the cloth and some land on which they found a Peonian monastery (Biolweneg); later, they recognise the same symbol on the talisman given to
Ambrathas' son by Larani, and save him.

That cloth bit seems far too contrived. Better perhaps if Larani doesn't give that cloth to Ambrathas, and Roghlynn recognises the symbol on Pynwis's talisman from
some much earlier time.

Three Daughters Arrive

Three daughters of three kings arrive at Alamire. What are they doing there? Part of it (on a meta-level) is to show that there is recognition of Alamire as a new
centre of power, belief, etc.

Gwaerythna might at this point make some prophecy, presumably about some outcome of the adventures, most likely refering in some way to the fate of Honour and
the evil of the lady he accompanies. Alternatively she might make some prophecy later, after the delivery of Honour's head, about events which are not covered in
the Gest.

Three Knights Accompany the Daughters Home

Ambrathas sends a Knight of Tirith to accompany each of the daughters home. Perhaps all the knights duel for the honour? Their "working titles" are Faith, Trust,
and Honour.

The Adventure of Trust

During the journey, the knight and the lady he accompanies meet a man who wishes to join them for a while. They agree to this, and they journey on until they come
to a river, over which is a stone bridge. The man, Alharissa, warns the others that "this bridge is old, the waters older", and advises that they cross by boat. The
knight resolves to walk across the bridge, and show it is safe. He sets foot upon it, and stands there still for a while, then steps off. He says that the bridge is unsafe -
it might collapse if they walk on it. When asked why he had waited so long, he says that at first he thought he heard a voice, but could not make out the words. Then
he realised it was the sound of the water beneath him.

The three get into the boat that is conveniently nearby. In the centre of the river, Trust beseeches his companion to accompany and protect the daughter in a true and
good fashion. Before the companion can reply, another boat passes in front of their own vessel, heading directly upstream. Aboard it is a figure draped with dark
furs. After watching it go silently by, the lady and the man realise that the knight is gone from the boat. The lady then sees him, in ghostly image, patrolling up and
down the bridge, surrounded by mist (as is the whole river, in fact). The man calls out that he will indeed keep the lady safe, though it cost him his life. At this Trust
turns slightly and gives a brief wave, then returns to his unseeing march up and down the bridge.

The man then accompanies the lady to her home, during which journey he behaves in a suitably Laranian fashion, protecting the daughter. Then later, in the story of
the third knight, this knight and the man meet up, and the latter tells his story - including his conversion after some event to Larani, and the fact that he is journeying to
Alamire, to be a knight there.

The Adventure of Honour

This guy gets done, somehow. He dies for his honour, before he knows the lady he accompanies is safe. Yet, in fact, the lady is safe - it is her father who has
wrought a trap for the knight. So, perhaps this lady does not look favourably on Alamire, etc, for some reason.

The Adventure of Faith

On his way back to Alamire, having successfully completed his mission, he meets up with Trust's companion, and together they return.

Alharissa is made a Knight of Tirith

Trust's companion becomes a Knight of Tirith, to replace Trust. Is someone else made a knight in order to replace Honour? How do they learn about Honour? Of
course, the lady sends a servant with his head back to Alamire, and some message about a breach of faith/hospitality (ie, Honour had not properly fulfilled his
obligations in protecting the lady).

The Betrayal of Marag-Duram

While at Deolm, Marag-Duram is entrusted with a message to take to Ambrathas at Alamire. This is to the effect that word has been received that the dark armies
are amassing, and battle is approaching. Heanraes requests Ambrathas' aid. Marag-Duram does not take the message, and instead perhaps even opens the gates to
the invaders. His betrayal is discovered by Berelael, another of the Knights of Tirith, and the two fight. Marag-Duram is badly wounded - his left eye is put out, and
the index finger of first his left, then his right, hand is cut off. However, Marag-Duram manages to run Berelael through the heart, and escapes.

The Death of Heanraes

The Agrikan force attacks the kingdom and assails Deolm; King Heanraes is killed by the mighty demon Mabashar. Deolm is sacked and cast into ruins. Are
Gwydreil and Pynwis in Deolm at the time?

Gwydreil and Pynwis are Accused

Some of the followers of the slain Heanraes, among them Runther, accuse Gwydreil of complicity in what they regard as Ambrathas' treachery. Pynwis, they say, did
not aid in the fighting, though he bears a great weapon (Huingol, which Runther identified earlier). They scoff at Pynwis' objection based on what he was told by
Kryste about using the sword. They are condemned to continue to live in the (now ruined) Deolm.

Ambrathas Travels to Teanned as a Penitent

Ambrathas removes his fine garments, puts on the clothes of a penitent, and travels on foot to Teanned. On the way, he passes Deolm, where is seen by Gwydreil
and Pynwis. At the gates of the ruined city, he makes some ceremonial mark of his respect - like a small cairn, or a wreath of flowers.

Ambrathas Fights Mabashar

Ambrathas, against his will, dons his arms and armour and goes outside the walls of Teanned to face Mabashar. The contest is not utterly one-sided in appearance,
though it is made clear that Ambrathas is doomed to lose, because he should not be fighting while doing penance.

Ambrathas is only saved from death by the intervention of the forces at Teanned, which rush out from the town, firing arrows, when Ambrathas falls. Mabashar
retreats, returning to his home.

Pynwis Destroys Mabashar

Pynwis follows Mabashar almost to its homeland, and in a ravine between the mountains, he challenges the demon. The two do battle, and after a great while,
Pynwis, fearfully wounded, slays Mabashar. With the sword Huingol, he chops off the monster's head, before collapsing unconscious.

Pynwis Is Found by the Monks of Biolweneg

The monks of Biolweneg (or perhaps Roghlynn himself?) find Pynwis's body, and take him up to their home. Surely not by chance, but rather they somehow knew
he was in need - how? Perhaps through Larani, disguised, and told of later by Roghlynn explaining events to either Pynwis or Ambrathas when he visits.

In any case, Pynwis is healed by the monks. For Roghlynn recognises the talisman the wounded man bears (how? what is its significance?) and does special service
to him. In return (though not as an exchange) Pynwis dedicates himself to Peoni.

Ambrathas Visits Pynwis

Ambrathas goes to see Pynwis at Biolweneg; he gives his thanks to his son, and his approval at the course he has undertaken (that is, becoming a monk of Peoni).

The Fall of Alamire

Marag-Duram returns, leading a great army from Balgashang, which marches on Alamire and destroys it. Prior to its arrival Ambrathas sends all but the Knights of
Tirith away from Alamire. A returning knight had been given a message from the father of the daughter who had visited Alamire that (when a certain thing happens?
or just when he returns?) the priest with the horn must blow it once more, sounding the abandonment of Alamire. It also summons some more knights?

The Funeral Procession

The final scene of the Gest is the funeral procession of/for Ambrathas, led by Pynwis and Gwydreil. From where to where?

Themes

The gaining and losing of honour.

Redemption (Marag-Duram and Savwyl showing the two sides)

The conflict between family and religion

Now, if Dolithor = Alamire at some level, then presumably events around Dolithor = events around Alamire. Which means the possibility of parallel structure among
gods/Larani to match (with of course differences) what goes on in the mortal plane. Then Larani would never appear on the mortal plane except in disguise, and
never on the immortal plane except openly, and only at the site of Dolithor/Alamire/Athallata can she reveal herself fully to a mortal who is on the mortal plane.

Maybe her dreams at the beginning (but which are told to Gwydreil in the middle of the work) are the reflection, or part of it, so that it's already "foretold", as it
were. That would be interesting...
 
 

Author : Jamie Norrish