King Kashue Arnague I,[1] (カシュー・アルナーグI世, kashū arunāgu I yo) the Mercenary King of Flaim, gained his name by uniting the desert kingdoms with his sword. Now the king of the unified Kingdom of Flaim, he comes to King Fahn's aid in the war against Marmo.
Soon after the war ended, activity began to stir at Fire Dragon Mountain. Shooting Star has awakened! He sets out there with his men to attempt to stop the ancient dragon.
Parn has always had a fondness for the Mercenary King, but Kashue did not become a king for nothing. He refuses Parn's help at first because of his recklessness, but he realizes that without another path to take, Parn would follow him anyway (such as when he followed Kashue to Fire Dragon Mountain). And then, he learns of the rising darkness on Marmo, and King Kashue sees what must be done. He sends the call out to all kingdoms of Lodoss to rise up and face the rising forces of Marmo in one final battle, and the scope is enormous. Even the ancient dragons Narse and Mycen will clash.
In Flaim, the Tribe of Wind and Tribe of Fire have traditionally been at odds with each other, and Kashue is a member of the Tribe of Wind. In the second novel, Kashue, aided by Parn and Deedlit, helps quell the infighting between the two tribes. He even offers to marry Nardia, the current princess of the Tribe of Fire, to show unity between the two tribes, but she refuses his hand and instead dies by burning alive to uphold the honor of the Tribe of Fire.
Personality[]
At first, Kashue may seem like a stern man, and often comes off that way, but also has a kinder side to him. He is polite and kind when first meeting Parn and only becomes harsh with him when Parn puts himself in danger. He acts as a mentor to both Parn and Spark. He encourages Parn to see him as an equal and even address him informally, expressing a wish that he will also one day become a king so they can truly be equals. Upon finding out about Spark's choice to disobey his order to return to Flaim, he supports the decision and encourages him to figure out what being a true knight is about.
History[]
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 Tribe of Wind, and goes to the Tower of Dust Storms to destroy the sacred urn containing the guardian spirit Jinn. With his help, the Tribe of Wind 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 Fire still churned within.
War of Heroes[]
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 Emperor Beld in an act considered to be cowardly. After Beld defeated King Fahn in an honourable duel, Kashue stepped in to challenge Beld as well, but a stray arrow struck Beld in the arm, wounding and 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, Ifrit. 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 Jinn, breaking the old contract, and Jinn convinced Ifrit 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.
Fire Dragon Mountain[]
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 Groder who had teleported him to safety.
War of the Destroyer’s Resurrection[]
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 chief of the Tribe of Fire'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.
In the 1990 OVA[]
In the 1990 OVA anime, Kashue plays mentor to Parn, who admires and looks up to him. His role in the War of Heroes is different, as he does not kill Beld. Instead, Karla impales and kills Beld after he fairly wins against Fahn in single combat.
After the War of Heroes, Kashue leaves for Fire Dragon Mountain and is pursued by Parn, Deedlit, Shiris, and Orson. After Parn uses a catapult and injures Shooting Star, Kashue holds a war meeting with his assistant Shadam and Parn and his friends. He informs them that the priests of Myrii have accompanied them and are working on forging the Three Lances of Myrii that will help them defeat Shooting Star. Kashue, Parn, and the others go inside Fire Dragon Mountain to fight Shooting Star, and after Parn has a short duel with Ashram, Kashue, Parn, and Orson use the three lances of Myrii to defeat Shooting Star. However, Ashram and Pirotess seemingly die when Shooting Star's death causes the inside of Fire Dragon Mountain to start collapsing.
The group returns to Flaim. While Parn and co. prepare for their final outing to Marmo, Kashue, Shiris, and Orson go to the war front in Marmo and fight against the various monsters plaguing the island.
After the final battle on Marmo concludes, Kashue gives Parn a sword, replacing the Holy Sword he left behind while rescuing Deedlit, and declares that they will one day meet again.
Gallery[]
References[]
- ↑ Record of Lodoss War: The Fire Demon, p. 293