| rdfs:comment | - Events to the west conspired to wreck Parnelion's ascension through the court ranks, however, as the Chey peoples fell under the sway of Darkness. United under the rule of a Variag-appointed puppet prince called Uma Kalcuna, the Chey crossed the river Numahar and quickly defeated their Ahar neighbors. The other Ahar tribes submitted to the invaders, offering hostages and tribute. By this time, Parnelion's rise had alarmed elements of the Sey court, who offered the young man as a hostage. The twelve year- old Parnelion accompanied a host of fellow captives and traveled
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| abstract | - Events to the west conspired to wreck Parnelion's ascension through the court ranks, however, as the Chey peoples fell under the sway of Darkness. United under the rule of a Variag-appointed puppet prince called Uma Kalcuna, the Chey crossed the river Numahar and quickly defeated their Ahar neighbors. The other Ahar tribes submitted to the invaders, offering hostages and tribute. By this time, Parnelion's rise had alarmed elements of the Sey court, who offered the young man as a hostage. The twelve year- old Parnelion accompanied a host of fellow captives and traveled To the strange Chey hold at Ulk Chey Sart. There, he remained for five years, learning Chey ways and delving into alchemy. It was the first of two invaluable lessons abroad. When the Chey lords perished in a Variag-inspired coup, the new lords sent Parnelion to the Variag capital of Sturlurtsa Khand. This sprawling cosmopolitan trade city surrounded a strategic oasis tucked in the southern foothills of the Ephel Duath (S. "Fence of Shadow") southeast of Mordor and was renowned for its rich but exceedingly brutal lifestyle. While residing there for four years, Parnelion witnessed a whole new world — a society grounded in the interrelations between jealous, ruthless rivals, peoples with norms rooted in swift retribution. The young man learned how to fight and weave shrouds of carefully worded promises and threats which confused the best of diplomats. Playing upon his keepers' needs and beliefs, Parnelion convinced the Variag Orod Gour Ito that he could aid the Variag interests among the Ahar upon his release. Gour agreed and sent Parnelion home in hope that the twenty-one year-old bard would sway his brethren to the Variag cause. It was a mistake that costed the Varisgs their holdings east of the Numahar and eventually resulted in Gour Ito's execution. Pamelion returned home to a changed land. His family slain following the Chey purges, his allies were few. With the Sey lords either death or in exile, the young man counted no mentors among his own people. So, he sought aid from the storytellers, the priestly loremasters of the Ahar, quickly distancing himself from the Variag and Chey cause. Gour and his Chey allies became incensed and ordered Pamelion's capture. This warrant only served to instill the bard with an aura of legitimacy. Ahar allegiance and pride focused on his narrow shoulders, Pamelion set about uniting his fellow bards and he developed a powerful and knowledgeable network that transcended the traditional tribal boundaries. Eleven years after returning home, at the age of thirty-two, Pamelion Sey came out of his refuge at the Red Holes and led his people in an uprising that swept the Chey out of Ahar territory. The Ahar tribes united as the Kargagis Ahar for the first time in fifteen hundred years and invaded Chey Sart with utter fury. Pamelion's warlord lieutenant, Alafar Mem, led his hard-riding army to victory, crushing a combined army of Chey horse and Variag infantry at the Grass Tombs. Thus, the Chey threat ended for a time, and Pamelion Sey presided over the renewal of the Ahar nations. During the next fifty-four years, the Bard enjoyed the unprecedented honor of being the master of all the Ahar Warrior-kings. In a land where bards never held office and were never permitted to rule directly (being strictly advisors), Parnelion served as absolute overlord.
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