Sargon

Sargon
skill	10
stamina	15 (12 right after resurrecting)
Attacks	1
Weapon Used	Magic, Dagger or Sword
Habitat	Allansia
Number Encountered	1 (unique)
Type	Human (Priest)
Reaction	Hostile
Intelligence	High

Sargon, sometimes referred to as "Sargon the Dark", is the central antagonist in the Advanced Fighting Fantasy adventures presented in Dungeoneer, Blacksand! and Allansia.

History

First Life, Death and Resurrection

Sargon, the Primate of the Revived Church of Elim, was killed in Carsepolis as the result of mistakenly casting a Death Spell at someone carrying the Crystal of Power, presumably during the early part of the Siege of Carsepolis, the final campaign of the War of the Wizards, since he claims to have suffered this fate "three hundred years ago". His name is known to the people of Ekaad as that of the High Priest of the "Great Enemy". The Priest Zune said that Sargon's name was recorded in the Swamp Warriors' history, "bedecked with shame and loathing"..

Because of the manner of his death, Sargon's soul was condemned to wander the streets of Carsepolis until released - and these would later be converted into the sewers of Port Blacksand, rendering his imprisonment even more ghastly. However, a band of adventurers seeking to slay the wizard Xortan Throg came across him and struck a devil's deal.

Sargon greeted them in a most friendly fashion, carefully concealing his true alignment, posing as a ghost seeking their help to reach Afterlife. He gave them directions to the Fish Man-occupied temple of Hydana, wherein the Crystal of Power then resided, and instructed them to bring it to him. In exchange, he would tell them how to find Throg and use the Crystal of Power against him. Upon completing their half of the bargain, Sargon touched the Crystal and was immediately rendered corporeal again - but fulfilled his half of the bargain also, in a strangely honourable move for one of such ancient and Evil disposition.

The Rebirth of the Church of Elim and the Elimite War

Sargon wasted little time in rekindling the faith of his long-forgotten god. He chose Blacksand as the site of the reborn cult, recruiting followers rapidly as a result of the inherent corruption of the citizens. According to a letter written by him to the High Priest of the Blacksand cult, other temples in Salamonis. Fang, Halak and Rimon were flourishing.

Despite the loss of the Blacksand temple some time later, Sargon continued to grow in power, establishing a monastery in the Icefinger Mountains for his most valuable followers, and unleashed a plague upon the town of Kaad, which was investigated and halted by Yaztromo, although his being the perpetrator of the atrocity was not discovered immediately.

The next to be heard of Sargon was of his rallying a pair of infamous Orc clans (the Fingers of Doom and the Mountain Daredevils) to his side, to assist in the total destruction of Kaad by open warfare. By this time, however, Yaztromo had got wind of Sargon's plans, and had sent a band of adventurers to counter the threat. Whilst Sargon's army took the long road around the mountains, forests and swamps of northern Allansia, this group slipped straight through them to reach Kaad in time to prepare its defences.

Upon reaching Kaad, Sargon was forced to engage in open battle against more than just the Kaadians. The original inhabitants of the city, driven out by the Forces of Chaos centuries earlier, and the Goblin tribe of Tanglewood had also assembled to defend the city - although the latter had come solely because of a legal technicality: their king had been challenged and defeated by one of the adventurers, who used his new-found power to order them to march.

Sargon first engaged the army along with his commanders, then engaged the heroes and their allies in direct combat. Vulnerable only to magical weapons thanks to Elim's dark blessing, he laughed off anything they threw at him, until Zune, the Ekaadian High Priest, struck him with the Staff of Ashra.

The exact whereabouts of Sargon remain unclear, as no one can tell whether he was destroyed or was able to teleport in time. A distinct possibility, given that those hit by his Petrify Spells were not healed by his disappearance. If he survived, it is fair to assume that Titan will be hearing of him again soon.

Further Notes

• The official Fighting Fantasy site, Fightingfantasygamebooks.com, although acknowledging that the combined forces of Kaad and its surrounding villages defeated Sargon at Kaad, explicitly names the adventurers responsible for Sargon’s defeat as Jerek Stormgard, Axel Wolfric, Baradas Rangor, Gordo Brondwyn, Aspen Darkfire and Grimbold Tornhelm, characters previously introduced with full statistics in Dungeoneer. The site states that they are "infamous", suggesting untoward notoriety, which does not appear to be in keeping with what we know of these adventurers.
• Sargon may be named after the real-world leader Sargon the Great, the first king of the Akkadian Empire, who reigned in the 24th to 23rd centuries BCE.

See Also

References