"Thou shalt stand like Ottokar until Myrmidia courts thy enemies."
- —Captain Moritz Valgeir's Dooming ceremony[8a]
Ottokar, according to the Cult of Myrmidia's holy book Bellona Myrmidia, was an Estalian noble that between 20 and 60 IC the goddess of strategy Myrmidia, as a mortal, fell in love with. This account claims that through her affection and favour Ottrokar came to rule Magritta. While Myrmidia was on campaign, Ottrokar ultimately revealed himself to be a cruel tyrant and, fearing retribution upon her return, arranged for her assassination.[1a]
Myrmidia was laid low by a poisoned dart, but Ottokar suffered for his wickedness. It was said that he was cursed by the gods Shallya, Verena, and Morr to be stripped of his health and his wits, and never to receive the mercy of death.[1a]
Secret History of the Order of the Blazing Sun[]
Many knightly orders have a mythology regarding their founding and the famous (or infamous) deeds that occurred throughout their history. Those orders' Knights of the Inner Circle regard it as their responsibility to become familiar with these tales, and also to keep them secret.[2a]
These histories are usually somewhat more fanciful than the official versions. For example, everyone with any interest in the Order of the Blazing Sun knows that a pivotal episode in its formation was an earthquake that caused a statue of Myrmidia to fall upon the Black Guard of Wazar the Cruel at the Battle of Magritta. The Blazing Sun's Knights of the Inner Circle, however, are taught that the order has an older heritage.[2a]
This story claims that the forebears of the knights fought as a bodyguard to Ottokar, a ruler in antiquity forgotten by all but Classics scholars and playwrights. He boasted he had met the goddess Myrmidia and she had fallen in love with him.[2a]
The Loves of Ottokar and Myrmidia[]
"One does what one must, for those one loves, regardless of the consequences."
- —The Loves of Ottokar and Myrmidia, act II, scene six[4a]
The agonies of obsession are displayed in The Loves of Ottokar and Myrmidia, a renowned tragic opera often shown in the theatres of the Old World. Its author, Jacopo Tarradasch, claimed to be divinely inspired the day he wrote it. Nowadays, Laszlo Lowenstein is among the best actors who makes Ottokar's dying declaration of love for the goddess Myrmidia,[3a] and even the famous Detlef Sierck has played him.[5a]
In the opera, the humbled Ottokar is portrayed as a haughty tyrant brought to the grave by an obsessive love, dragged into bloody deeds by the most noble of intentions, and only then conscious that the persecution of the gods will extend beyond his death and torment him for an eternity.[3a] So in the end it can be said that he yearned for Myrmidia as much as for Morr, the god of death.[6a]
In the opera Ottokar has a mature wife.[7a]
During a fight with the Vampire Sigmund Steyr, Felix Jager compared him to the Ottokar character of the tragic opera, suggesting that even in the opera the nobleman was condemned to become a Vampire. But this could also be just a subtle reference to the deathless existence that both will have to face.[4b]
Sources[]
- 1: Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 4th Edition: Up in Arms (RPG)
- 1a: pg. 63
- 2: Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 2nd Edition: Career Compendium (RPG)
- 2a: pg. 125
- 3: Drachenfels (Novel) by Jack Yeovil
- 3a: Prologue
- 4: The Serpent Queen (Novel) by Josh Reynolds
- 5: Beasts in Velvet (Novel) by Jack Yeovil
- 5a: Part 3, Ch. 2
- 6: Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 4th Edition: Altdorf, Crown of the Empire (RPG)
- 6a: pg. 117
- 7: Genevieve Undead (Novel) by Jack Yeovil
- 7a: Part 1, Ch. 14
- 8: Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 4th Edition: Middenheim, City of the White Wolf (RPG)
- 8a: pg. 52