Angar Arandir was the Lord Marshal of the royal army of Nortander during the Purity Wars in SpellForce 3. Because of Queen Ayelith's coma caused by the Mage Wars' battle, he was the governor of the entire Nortander kingdom during said time before being overthrown by the Purity of Light.
Background information[]
Ever since his childhood at house Arandir, a minor house subservient to the house of Utran, Angar Arandir's fate had already been decided by traditions and his parents: He was supposed to follow the military and politics to contribute to the kingdom of Nortander. Day and night, he was taught maths, politics and warfare tactics to make him a good commander and a possible future Lord Marshal.
Rise to power within the army[]
When Angar enlisted to the military during his youth, his career was steep. He quickly rose in ranks because his actions were always well-thought and saved many soldiers lives in many skirmishes. Besides the battlefield, his analysis of current politics was also very on point and he was able to anticipate a political oppositionist's movements sometimes before himself.
| “ | I did take every factor into consideration and decided accordingly. [...] It is the way a commander has to do things. [...] There might have been better ways to handle things, but I did not see it. I did what I could and even though it turned out to be a mistake, I have no regrets | ” |
— Arandir explaining his way of thinking
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Queen Ayelith noticed the young officers talents very early on and supported his growth. During the time of the Mage Wars, Angar Arandir had ultimately become her second in command and had obtained the title of the Lord Marshal, the military advisor of the queen herself.
Taking over the government[]
With Queen Ayelith lying in a coma and was guarded by the Queensguard, Angar Arandir had to take over the government.
During the mages' rebellion that had been caused by Isamo Tahar, Angar Arandir stood at the queen's side the whole time. He supported her wherever he could, both on the battlefield but also in the councils of the royal houses of Nortander.
At the end of the wars, many difficult decisions had to be done, but ultimately they all served the goal of saving as many lives as possible while still being able to win the conflict.
When Isamo Tahar decided to attack Greykeep with his dragon, the beast was slain on top of the Grey Tower by Queen Ayelith personally. Isamo Tahar and many of his trusted mages were crushed to death by the falling creature. However Queen Ayelith had overexerted herself and fell into a coma. From there on, Angar Arandir had to take over the government through his role of being the Lord Marshal.
| “ | Love and marriage are as much a duty as any other. You cannot be a good husband or wife if you do not commit entirely - and the same goes for parenthood. [...] I chose not to have a family because the entire realm was my wife and its people were my children. | ” |
— Arandir telling why he did not have a family
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The Bloodburn crisis[]
Some time passed under Angar Arandir's reign and the surviving mage rebels were almost taken care of entirely. Although he was not happy about it, the royal army and the Wolf Guard were not the only ones who were doing the persecution. Led by the sermons of Rondar Lacaine a new cult came into being: The Purity of Light.
| “ | After all your father did in the Mage Wars, the people were angry ... desperate, broken. The Purity channeleed and still channels these emotions. It may sound cynical to say that now, but if it had not been for the Purity of Light, something far worse might have happened. | ” |
— About Isamo Tahar's doings
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It was preaching that magic was a tool of the gods and that mortals should have never been able to use and to abuse it. Arandir tolerated them because they helped him, but he was cautious because the religious fanatics were usually well-armed and they would only listen to the Harbinger instead of being loyal to the kingdom of Nortander.
In the outskirts of Nortander's territory a new plague was developing only a few months after the Mage Wars had ended: The Bloodburn. The infected were suffering immeasurable pain and the disease proved to be lethal every time. However it was neither known where it did come from nor how to cure it. The Lord Marshal used all his power to stop the news from spreading within the kingdom to prevent a mass panic while also dispatching spymaster Sentenza Noria along with Corporal Tahar to investigate matters in Liannon.
At Liannon the human village had been surrounded by Morhir elves led by Scryer Eleon and Commander Gilyas. They had been dispatched there by the council of scryers. Because they had broken the White Mist Treaty according to Sentenza Noria, the royal army attacked them and drove them of the territory. Corporal Tahar contributed alot during the conflict but in the end Anselm - a soldier of the Wolf Guard - attempted to murder him but was killed in self-defense.
Corporal Tahar's trial[]
The Corporal was quickly found by other members of the Wolf Guard and taken to Greyfell to be judged on a trial. Angar Arandir was the court leader. He found him guilty of murder and sentenced him to death but although he showed no signs of hesitation, he later revealed that he believed in his innocence.
However he was forced to act that way because of the immense political pressure given off by Amaria Leonidar and her supporters. After Corporal Tahar had been taken into prison, he was visited by Rondar Lacaine and freed and left for Farlorn's Hope. Arandir quickly dispatched Sentenza Noria to get him back, because he was fearing the reactions of the other politicians.
The Purity Wars[]
Because of his connections though, Corporal Tahar was not only able to shake of his persecutors, he was also able to establish a military force within the ancient shaper city of Mulandir. He even was able to identify the source of the Bloodburn - the Song of Wight that was heard by some victims was the telepathic voice of Andra, a surviving shaper woman imprisoned in the Eye by Isamo Tahar. After having found out about that, the Corporal was betrayed the Purity of Light, as Rondar Lacaine intervened and took Andra's magic for his own.
With the archfire obtained, Lacaine was able to lead his religion to unknown heights. He established an own fighting force - the Lightbringers - while also taking control of the houses of Leonidar and Utran. And after having created the Iron Ones, he even was able to take the bastion of Greykeep. The royal army was massacred and forced to retreat and Angar Arandir personally led them on the escape only to meet with Yria, who let them join the Corporal's base.
| “ | We retreated. We went to Iskander because we had heard the rumors about your army. There, we met one of your scouts and then the elven woman, Yria of Finon Mir. | ” |
Breaking Myrah's rune enslavement[]
Lady Myrah Utran was enslaved through Rune Magic to take control of the house Utran.
After Corporal Tahar had woken up from his own state of unconciousness, Angar Arandir used his knowledge about the political affairs and military tactics to improvise a plan against the Purity. The first step that he chose to take was to break the control over the house of Utran.
According to Isgrimm, Lady Myrah Utran might have been mind-controlled through rune magic. The Corporal let Angar Arandir take control over his troops at the Iskander Wilds to distract the house of Utran's forces while he dived into the Utranian base to kill the Lightbringers that were controlling Myrah Utran.
Uniting the royal houses[]
After having freed the house of Utran, the Corporal marched towards the Eye to defeat the house of Leonidar as advised by Angar. Amaria Leonidar was there and she was a fervous servant of Rondar Lacaine because of her personal past. She was killed and the army of house Leonidar joined the Corporal's side.
The hardest step that there was to take was to unite Hallit and Wulfgar into the alliance. The two of them were holding a huge grudge towards each other because of some actions during the Mage Wars. With Angar Arandir's scheming and Lady Myrah Utran's help, the houses could still be united though and such formed a huge army that was sufficient to take on the Purity of Light.
| “ | I do not know what you expect me to say! The marriage was my decision, yet you act as if it had been forced. It was necessary to unite all of our houses against our common enemy | ” |
— Lady Myrah Utran about the marriage with Weyland Hallit
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Attack on the Purity[]
In an all-out assault the human army, the Firewielder orcs and the Morhir elves were led towards the Golden Road by Corporal Tahar and his companions. There they fought back the Purity, the Bane and the Deathmen alike and secured the only passage to Greyfell. They conducted a siege soon after and were able to get inside the Halls of Justice, where Corporal Tahar and Angar Arandir found and fought the Harbinger.
The prophet was killed but with his last breath, he successfully finalized his ritual of Opening the Gates. But instead of Aonir a demon from beyond Eo arrived. The Spectral Horror killed Angar Arandir with a single strike, entirely unable to defend himself and dying on the spot. Luckily though, his life's work was not in vain as the Corporal was still able to subdue the demon and save Nortander from its grip. After that Queen Ayelith woke up from her coma.
Angar's family[]
Although there is hardly anything said about Angar Arandir's family of house Arantir, thera are some small insights the Corporal was able to get when talking to him. He had restricted himself from having a wife and children because he believed that if being a Lord Marshal was enough of a burden for one person. However he still had some familial acquaintances.
High-Keeper Arenor[]
The current high-keeper of the Iron Falcons was called "sister" by Angar Arandir. Although it is not clearly stated whether they are siblings by blood or through political marriage. When the Purity of Light was threatening both the Iron Falcons and the entire kingdom of Nortander, she assigned her fighters to Angar Arandir's cause. She was also present during the final assault on Greykeep, where she witnessed the Spectral Horror killing Angar.
Lady Myrah Utran[]
Angar Arandir and the currentl leader of house Utran were not connected by blood but instead through friendship from a very early age. The young girl grew until she took over the governing affairs of the house of Utran and was supported by the future Lord Marshal during those times.
During the Purity Wars, Angar was extremely angered when he learned about the rune magic-induced mind control that the Lightbringers had caused onto her. Even after she was freed by Isgrimm destroying the rune, she was still harmed in her psyche and mind alike. Thus Angar was very disappointed when she offered herself for a political marriage with Weyland Hallit during the conclave of the royal houses of Nortander at the Eye.
Unnamed uncle[]
During his youth Angar's future had been planned by his parents and through his lineage alone without having any possibility for himself to speak on his cause. Although Angar still was loyal to house Arandir's cause, he had always been mesmerized by an unknown uncle's tales. He had been a sailor who had traveled all across Eo. The youth was always listening to his uncle on his visits and even kept him in high regards after he had died on a sailing accident.
| “ | One of my uncles had been a seaman. His branch of the family was by far the least powerful one, but whenever he came to visit, I did not leave his side for a minute. He sailed to Qalaia to meet with the Blood Oracle, to Empyria to the great colosseums ... and once, he had even sailed all around the lands of winter. You can imagine that for me as a body, his stories were alot more fascinating than my lessons in maths, history and politics. | ” |
— Angar Arandir telling about his uncle's tales
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Angar Arandir - A bard?[]
While in SpellForce 3 Angar Arandir had been presented as a strict and military leader within the royal army of Nortander, his first appearance differed considerably. According to Nightsong within the Free Game Mode of the first SpellForce series, he had been a bard who was famous for having narrated the epic tales about the Mage Wars.
But he was never supposed to have actually committed to them by leading soldiers in combat. He was also mentioned as a bard in the official stories released on the official SpellForce sites such as The Lance of Kings or Distant Thunder.
| “ | The Eternal Song ... it is a song about time ... and a prophecy as well. The bard Angar Arandir once created it. They say that one bard within each generation will add a line to the song | ” |
While it is possible that there is a second Angar of the house Arandir who lived at the exact same time, it is not very likely. A possible way of solving the case would be that Phenomic Game Studios had a different thought about the character as a bard whereas Grimlore Games decided to scrap the original concept to start over anew.
Abilities[]
See below which abilities can be used by Angar Arandir.
| Abilities in SpellForce 3 | |
|---|---|
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Brutality |
| Enhances melee combat and damaging effects. See for the main article at Brutality (SF3). | |
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Discipline |
| Increases survivability for the character and its allies. See for the main article at Discipline (SF3). | |
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Warfare |
| This ability tree is unique and only accessible for Angar. See for the main article at Warfare (SF3). | |
|
Show of Power (Affinity) |
| Angar's affinity ability that could be unlocked after having convinced him to talk about his past. | |