Josua

Note:  Spoilers ahead.

Josua 'Lackhand' Erkynlander

Son of High King Prester John of Osten Ard. Prince of Erkynland and Liege-Lord of Naglimund. Younger brother of the Prince Regent and later High King Elias. Uncle to Princess Miriamele.

Around 38 years old at the beginning of TDC. Called "Lackhand" for the loss of his right hand in a skirmish. Despite his brooding and quiet nature and his aversion to bloodshed, he is - even with only one hand - a capable swords-man, fighting with a slim, long sword named "Naidel".

In the war against the alliance between his brother High King Elias and Ineluki, the Storm King, Josua - reluctantly - becomes the leader of the forces of the proverbial Good.

Early life
Born in or around Founding-Year 1125, Prince Josua is officially the son of High King Prester John and his queen Ebekah – a.k.a. Efiathe, the Rose of Hernysadharc – who died birthing him. In truth, however, he is the child of an illicit affair between Queen Ebekah and Sir Camaris sá-Vinitta. He is one year younger than his supposed brother (by Prester John and Ebekah) Prince Elias of Erkynland, the later High King.

Apart from Camaris and Ebekah only the jester Towser – a close friend of King John – was aware of Josua’s true parentage. When Camaris disappeared shortly after the queen’s death and was soon believed to have drowned (himself) in the Bay of Firannos, Towser kept the secret to himself.

Josua grew up in the Hayholt and was considered close to his brother Elias. As a young man he studied in the Usirean Seminary in Nabban, where he learned about the distrust of the Usirean scholars towards one Father Pryrates, who meddled with subjects perceived as dangerous and heretic.

At some time in his twenties he was installed as the "Knight Protector" of his brother’s wife Hylissa by King John, and the two of them grew very close to the point of her calling him "her only friend". Eventually he fell in love with her (and believes that that was at least in part reciprocated). Despite Elias’ jealousy about his wife and his growing distrust in his younger brother, however, Josua and Hylissa never betrayed him.

A few years after Hylissa had given birth to her daughter Miriamele (Founding-Year 1142), Josua was ordered to take her to her husband who was in field with his army fighting a war for his father in the Thrithings. On their way, the party was ambushed by Thrithing raiders, who killed Hylissa. In the vain attempt to save her, Josua lost his right hand.  'Luckily', as his brother put it later, Josua was left-handed. Yet, the relationship between the two brothers, which had been strained for years already, now grew vexed with Elias blaming Josua for Hylissa’s death.

To separate the two brothers, King John installed Josua as Liege-Lord of Naglimund, while Elias resided in Meremund - thus putting the whole length of Erkynland between his sons.

Years later, when he was sent as an emissary to deal once more with the Thrithing-men, Josua met Vorzheva, daughter of Fikolmij – a man, who soon became March-Thane of all the High-Thrithings by help of King John to install some Erkynlandish control over the tribes-men. Vorzheva, who was supposed to marry a man known for his cruelty, followed Josua when he had left her father’s camp and begged him to take her with him. He fulfilled her wish, bringing her to his home. In the following years she became his official mistress and "first lady" of Naglimund, yet they did not marry, which gave Vorzheva the reputation of being a whore.

Autumn of Founding-Year (FY) 1163
When after years of sickness High King Prester John lies dying, he orders his two sons back to the Hayholt in Osten Ard’s capital Erchester. The kitchen boy Simon overhears a heated conversation between the brothers in which Josua tries to caution Elias against bringing his advisor, the priest Pryrates, to court with him from the prince’s home in Meremund. Elias, however, dismisses the warnings as "God-be-cursed complaining" and insinuates that his brother is trying to undermine him and take the throne for himself. Josua’s assertions that he has no interest to surplant his brother, remain ignored.

In the following weeks the well-known animosity between the two princes causes distrust at court and leads to several brawls between the followers of both parties. Even wise Doctor Morgenes is reluctant to heed Prince Josua’s request to provide a better pain-killer for the suffering king, because he fears it would be understood as him siding with Josua.

On St. Tunath’s Day (Decander 21st) finally King John dies. 40 days pass before his burial.

Beginning of FY 1164
On 1st Feyever in an exultant ceremony Prester John is buried in a cairn on the cliffs above Kynslagh-bay, next to the graves of the previous six High Kings of the Hayholt. Despite the King’s wish that his famous sword "Bright-Nail" should pass to his older son and successor, Elias did not accept it, but had Josua place it with their father in the cairn. This act is frowned upon by many nobles, because it is not known that this was in fact Elias’ decision and not Josua’s doing.

At the funeral feast the same day, Elias surrounds himself with his favorites and celebrates, while Josua and his "uncle" Duke Isgrimnur are placed on a lower table and do not partake in the festivities. The following day Elias is crowned High King of Osten Ard. In the weeks after, Josua leaves for Naglimund with his men, including his sworn knight Sir Deornoth and the harpist Sangfugol.

Autumn of FY 1164
Josua is a guest at the Hayholt for some time where for months into the new reign of his brother feasts and tournaments have been ongoing. In the unusual heat of the autumn Josua is asked for a training fight by Elias, while Pryrates and Isgrimnur watch them - the mutual hatred between the brothers obvious.

First half of FY 1165
At some time late into the month of Jonever, Josua disappears from the castle without first asking permit to leave from the king. This quickly leads to speculation on whether he is laying low somewhere to plot against his Sire or whether Elias harmed or even murdered his younger brother - rumors only fueled when in the following weeks it becomes known that Josua never showed up in Naglimund.

On the last day of Avrel, the scullion Simon by chance finds Josua in a dungeon used by the priest Pryrates. Together with Doctor Morgenes, he frees the prince. They learn that Josua and his men were ambushed by Pryrates and some soldiers, that Pryrates killed the prince’s men and that those past almost three months Josua was the priest’s captive. Josua is sure that his brother knew and approved of this at least to some extent and tells Morgenes that Pryrates wanted him for something that was going to take place this very night — the last night between Avrel and Maia, which is ominously called Stoning Night.

With help by Morgenes, Josua flees the Hayholt to make his way into safety at Naglimund, shortly before the Doctor is attacked by Pryrates in his home. After ensuring that Simon can flee, as well, Morgenes gives the boy instructions to join Josua. Then he is killed in the fight with Pryrates. Simon manages to find his way out of the Hayholt only to become witness to exactly what the priest had planned for Josua: On the Thisterborg Mountain, Pryrates and Elias offer Count Breyugar as a replacement for Josua in a blood sacrifice to receive the Storm King’s sword 'Sorrow'.

Early into the month Maia, Josua reaches Naglimund and starts to contact friends and gather allies who will aid him in his fight against Elias — one that is necessary not because he himself seeks power, but because Elias branded him a traitor and because the extent of Elias’ dangerous alliances with otherworldly forces slowly comes to light. Simon reaches Naglimund late the same month.

Aided by the scrollbearer Jarnauga and the troll Binabik (apprentice to the late scrollbearer Ookequk) as well as by the information provided by Morgenes through Simon, Josua holds a Raed - an assembly of his allies -, which includes Duke Isgrimnur, Prince Gwythinn of Hernystir, Baron Devasalles of Nabban, Anodis (the Bishop of Naglimund), Baron Ordmaer of Utersall, late King John’s close friend the jester Towser and - to everyone’s great surprise — his niece and Elias’ daughter Princess Miriamele, who fled the Hayholt as well. The verdict at this point being that they need to oppose Elias who has started to bring war and ruin to many parts of Osten Ard already.

While in the following weeks Elias’ troops come to besiege Naglimund, Jarnauga, Binabik and Father Strangyeard slowly discover the secrets of what Pryrates and Elias have been doing and unravel the mystery of the Three Great Swords, which are supposed to help defeat the Storm King once and for all. Around the same time that his niece Miriamele vanishes from Naglimund in an attempt to bring more allies to her uncle’s cause, Josua tasks Binabik and Simon with finding the sword "Thorn" of the once great knight Camaris, which is supposed to have been lost in an expedition to the mountain Urmsheim decades ago.

For quite a while, Naglimund manages to defend itself against the attacks of Elias, even through the treacherous murder of Duke Leobardis, who came to Naglimund’s aid, by hand of his very own son Benigaris. In an attempt to parley, Josua visits Elias in his tent on the battlefield. He offers himself up to Elias’ mercy, if his brother let go of the sword "Sorrow". The short conversations ends with Elias threatening Josua."Elias: 'I will ruin you so completely that God All-powerful will search a thousand years and never find even your soul!' (TDC, ch. 40, p. 584)"Suddenly it seems that Elias’ troops are withdrawing, but they are only replaced by another "army". After weeks of withstanding the attacks of human soldiers, Naglimund falls to the troops of the Storm King - Norns, Bukken, Hunën - and the Red Hand within mere hours. Men, women and children die by the hundreds that night, while Josua and a small party of others barely make it out alive. The city of Naglimund is completely destroyed by the Norns, while they take the partly ruined castle as a base for themselves.

Second half of FY 1165
Josua and his dwindling group of survivors flee through Aldheorte forest chased by Norns, are then joined by the witch-woman Geloë and with her help find their way into temporarily safe territory - as the Norns will not enter the lands of the Sithi inside the inner forest. Yet Geloë warns the Prince and his company that they can not stay there and must make their way to Sesuad'ra instead, to find better shelter there from the Storm King’s threat - even though that place will also only serve them for a time.

To journey there, the group has to cross the grasslands of the Thrithings where they are set upon and taken prisoner by the men of Clan Mehrdon (the Stallion Clan). Their leader is March-Thane Fikolmij, Vorzheva’s father, who still has a score to settle with Josua for helping his daughter flee her people as well as for King John’s interference in the Thrithing-men’s affairs. As Fikolmij is about to kill Josua, Geloë intervenes, revealing that Vorzheva is pregnant with Josua’s child and that therefore by the rules of the Thithings-clans they are betrothed — this gives Josua the right to fight for Vorzheva and his own life.

The very next day he has to duel Utvart — a giant of a man and the very one once promised the hand of Vorzheva - though Josua was weakened and starved and had been severely beaten up by Fikolmij. The fight hence being a very unequal one is won by Josua by a hair’s breadth, but he is wounded and takes days to recover. Once he mostly did, he rakes in the spoils of a wager he lured Fikolmij into — horses, food, clothing and other equipment.

Josua and Vorzheva then are married by Father Strangyeard in the eyes of their companions and the people of Clan Mehrdon, before the group has to flee once again because Fikolmij betrayed them to Earl Fengbald. While they make their way further north towards the Sesuad'ra, a group of Thrithings-men led by Hotvig distracts the Earl and the Erkynguard, then joins the Prince — deserting Fikolmij and his Clan.

After a brief visit to a small settlement by the name Gadrinsett, built by people from all over Osten Ard who fled from Elias’ rule, the Prince and his company finally reach the Sesuad’ra and set up base there, where they are quickly joined by more Thrithings-folk as well as the settlers of Gadrinsett - hence giving the place atop the mountain the name "New Gadrinsett".

Binabik and Sludig find their way there, too, soon, bringing Josua the sword "Thorn". Some weeks later, Simon, who had been separated from his aforementioned companions, manages to reach Sesuad’ra as well.

Quickly the settlement starts to prepare itself for battle and siege — as the Erkynguard led by Earl Fengbald approaches.

Second half of FY 1165
In the early days of Septander Simon is knighted by Prince Josua on Sesuad’ra for bringing the sword "Thorn". Some days later Count Eolair of Nad Mullach reaches the mountain bringing the information that Minneyar, the as of yet lost of the Three Swords, is in fact King Prester John’s "Bright-Nail" that was buried together with the dead monarch.

After the Count left to return to Hernystir, the people of the Sesuad'ra finally find themselves attacked by Earl Fengbald, the Erkynguard and Thrithings-mercenaries. Helped by a group of trolls from Yiqanuc in the company of Binabik’s fiancé Sisqinanamook and with some trap set up by Josua and the major of Gadrinsett, the prince’s troops manage to withstand the attacks and eventually beat Fengbald though with great losses - including that of Sir Deornoth who died killing Lezhdraka, the leader of the Thrithing-mercenaries, in the Battle of the Lake of Glass.

Josua mourns his friend severely and takes long days to recover.

...

FY 1166
…follows

Following the end of the trilogy, he is assumed dead and decides to keep it this way with only a few people (like Tiamak, Binabik, Simon, Miriamele and Isgrimnur) knowing the truth. He has his wife and children smuggled out of their imprisonment in Nabban by Lord Straewe and they disappear from public knowledge.

He then joins the League of the Scroll, buys the inn Pelippa’s Bowl in Kwanitupul together with Vorzheva under an alias name, and sets out to find his father, Camaris, who went missing again after the events in Green Angel Tower.

Josua: "I am dead. I wish to stay that way." (TGAT2, ch. 34, p. 775.)

The Last King of Osten Ard (so far)
For about ten years Josua remains an active member of the League of the Scroll, inviting his companions to gather in Kwanitupul. He ask Lady Faiera of Perdruin to join the group — very much to the dismay of his wife who fears the other woman to be a rival for her husband’s affection.

He also becomes the godfather of Miriamele’s and Simon’s only child, Prince John Josua, who is named in his sake and takes a lot after his great-uncle by being studious and inquisitive. By time, however, John Josua slowly starts to interest himself into dangerous subjects like divination and Sithi Mirrors.

Knowing that Lady Faiera studied into these directions as well, Josua travels to Ansis Pelippé to seek her knowledge, yet what was intented as a meeting of colleagues turns into disaster, when Faiera hopes to win Josua’s affection by showing him the Sithi mirror she owns. Instead of being interested and excited, Josua reprimands her on how dangerous the artifact is and even refuses to even looks at it. Distraught by the idea of having driven them apart, Faiera confesses her love to Josua — which he gently but plainly explains her he does not reciprocate."'I want to remain your colleague and dear friend, Faeira. Do not make me choose between our friendship and the marriage I have pledged.' (EoG, ch. 41)" He then leaves Faiera’s house to continue his journey to Erchester to see John Josua, but never makes it there. After that begins what his friends call "his great silence" and for more than twenty years it remains unknown what happened to Josua. Then Brother Etan, who was sent by Tiamak onto a last attempt to find Josua, manages to discover Faiera, who had been missing for all those years as well. She tells Etan that in her desperation and drunken state she used the Sithi Mirror because she wanted to see Josua once more, but that she does not well remember what happened after that. By her account there was some entity that spoke to her from the mirror and that then she "fell into it". Later she burned down her home and lost her memory for years.

She explains to Etan that she does not know what happened to Josua, yet that she does not think he could be found."'I know nothing of what happened to Josua, except that the last moments he was with me will haunt me until I die, and maybe longer. I doubt you will find him. Either he is dead or he does not wish to be found.' (EoG, ch. 41)"

Other Details
 

Appearance
A rather tall man of slender built in his late 30ties (at the start of TDC), with close-cropped/short brown hair, a high forehead, hawklike nose and pale, grey eyes. Usually wearing greyish colors. He dislikes dressing in the luxurious splendor of his royal standing and barely ever wears his prince’s crown, which is a silver circlet (like a diadem). Where his right hand used to be he wears a leather-capped cylinder.

After he is freed from his imprisonment by Simon and Doctor Morgenes, he keeps the band of the chain, which had fixed him to the wall of the dungeon, around his left wrist as a reminder of what his brother did and tried to do to him — even though it soon starts to rust. Ultimately, it happens to save his life when he manages to get his hand in between a strike of the sword "Sorrow" and his neck at the end of TGAT."Josua: 'Leave me the shackle to remember my brother by. Leave me his band. (...) We have a sort of tally system, you see.' (TDC, ch. 12, p.156.)"He does not have a sigil or banner of his own but uses the "Gray Swan" of Naglimund. His personal colors of noble insignia are gray and red.

Josua’s appearance is often and by several characters compared to that of saints, marble statues or ancient philosophers.

Character
Josua is a quiet, rather unsociable man, who enjoys solitude and studying. He tends to brooding, self-doubt and melancholy. Those not very close to him see him as a man with a fickle character bordering madness. His very own supposed father High King Prester John thinks Josua weak and a cynic that is cold to his inferiors.

Even those close to him, like Isgrimnur and Sangfugol, see him as a man that is often enough hard to understand and that limits himself by worrying too much and by an urge to do the right thing however impractical or dangerous. The only ones to scold him on his self-doubts to his face, though, are Vorzheva and Sir Deornoth."Deornoth: 'It is you who are the victim of your own cruelest treatment! (...) You are a better enemy to yourself than Elias can ever be. Your blame, your guilt, your failed duty! If Usires Aedon were to return to Nabban today, (...) you would find a way to blame it on yourself!' (SOF, ch. 17, p. 447)"Eolair, the Count of Nad Mullach, appreciates Josua as a man, who would listen to an idea for the idea itself. Whenever Eloair found himself wanting to bring a request before High King Prester John, he would usually take a detour to Naglimund because he found that it was easier to archive his goal if he had the support of Josua - who would back an idea he liked even if it was not one that promised to bring him any personal gain.

Despite his brother’s claims and fears that Josua wants to take the throne from him, Josua has not the slightest of aspirations to rule and only reluctantly leads the fight against Elias and the Storm King as this task falls upon him as Prince of Erkynland and son of Prester John.

One thing that is commonly noted by those who knew Camaris or heard many stories about him, is how in his overall behaviour Josua resembles Camaris much more than his supposed father Prester John. Where Elias and John were very much alike, Josua seems to be the proverbial apple that fell far from the trunk — which makes sense once it is revealed that Josua is in fact Camaris’ son, not John’s."Binabik: 'One thing Morgenes was telling (...) was that Sir Camaris was much like our Prince Josua: a man of strange, melancholy moods.' (SOF, ch. 25, p. 671)"Though having only one hand, Josua is an able swords-man, capable to hold his ground even against the skilled and vicious fighters of the Norns and the giant Utvart. He rides into battle with his troops several times – to join Duke Leobardis in front of the gates of Naglimund, against the attackers of Sesuad'ra and against the army of Benigaris and Varellan in the campaign for Nabban.

Further notes
When he fights Utvart, the Thrithings-man Vorzheva was promised to by her father, Josua wins not only her and his life but also the horse Vinyafod, which becomes his faithful companion for many years.

Vorzheva bears him two children, the twins Derra and Deornoth, the latter named after his late friend Sir Deornoth.

Quotes
"I have never been the right man - not for my tutors, not for my brother, not for my father ... and not for you (Vorzheva). I sometimes wonder if I was born out of time. When I see the world as it has been presented to me, I feel only a deep loneliness." (TDC, ch. 43, p. 626)

"Elias! You have brought death and worse to our father’s kingdom! You have raised an ancient evil, and shattered the High King’s Ward! You have unhoused me, and destroyed much that I loved. Now you are king no longer! I will take the crown from you! I will take it, I swear!" (TDC, ch. 43, p. 640)

"I always fret." (TGAT, ch. 43. p. 1793)

"We must leave them (the next generation) a better world than this one if we can. We have made a terrible muck of the one we were given." (TGAT, ch. 43.)