Sewarndt

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Greyhawk Character
Sewarndt
Sewarndt, from Living Greyhawk Adventure NYR1-02 You Ain't From Around Here
Nickname(s): The Black Prince
Title(s): Prince, later Emperor of the Nyrond Imperium
Homeland: Nyrond
Class(es): Mage (Level 9)
Gender: Male
Race: Human
Ethnicity: Oeridian
Alignment: Neutral (NE)
Born: 560 CY
Died: 595 CY

Prince Sewarndt was a prince of Nyrond, and son of former King Archbold III. He deposed his brother, Lynwerd, as king at the end of 594 CY to crown himself Emperor of the Nyrond Imperium before being killed in 595 CY.

Description[edit | edit source]

Sewarndt was a human mage, 5’ 11" and slim of build. He was pleasantly handsome, with green eyes, brown hair and a fetching smile. In spring 585 CY he was 25 years old.[1]

Personality[edit | edit source]

Sewarndt was a throwback to the most decadent of House Rax's heritage. He was a self-indulgent power seeker.[2]

Magic was a specific course of study for Sewarndt, because he could never hope to equal his father and elder brother as a warrior.[3]

He saw himself as able to become Overking of a Great Kingdom who could bring Nyrond and Almor back within its control and rise again to become the only truly great power of the Flanaess. Sewarndt kept this vision to himself.[4]

Though he was typically neutral, being corrupted by a lust for power made him tend toward neutral evil.[5] He had come to want more treasure, more magic, more power, more of everything.[6]

Abilities[edit | edit source]

Sewarndt was a 9th level mage (second edition) by spring of 585 CY, with abilities Dex 18, Con 15, Int 18, Cha 17, hp 30.[7]

Possessions[edit | edit source]

Sewarndt wore a ring of protection +3 and boots of speed. He had access to the king's magical treasure trove. He also always wore a ring of mind shielding and ring of invisibility.[8]

Activities[edit | edit source]

In spring 585 CY Sewarndt had delusions of an alliance with Duke Szeffrin that might allow them to march through Aerdi and overthrow the mad Overking Ivid V in Rauxes. He spread rumors of Lynwerd's disloyalty to the king into the minds of some courtiers and advisers in Rel Mord. He was planning to dispatch an emissary to Szeffrin.[9]

Relationships[edit | edit source]

He was the youngest son of the former King Archbold III of Nyrond, but he did not share a mother with his older brother, Nyrond’s current King Lynwerd I. Lynwerd's mother had died in about 578 CY[10].

Unusually he studied magic mainly because he never equal his father and elder brother as a warrior.[11]

In Spring 585 CY Lynwerd could see that Sewarndt was a bad individual, and he had to secure succession for himself for Nyrond's sake.[12] Archbold's protection of Sewarndt to a degree shielded his actions from scrutiny, as Archbold would probably have had anyone accusing his son of wickedness executed for treason (without solid evidence).[13]

His charisma gave him considerable influence. Sewarndt was very cunning and skillful at managing to convey to everyone after the event that he favored good judgments made by Archbold and did his best to argue against poor ones. He made every effort to tarnish his brother's reputation in the process.[14]

In spring 585 CY he was well received among the fawning courtiers of Duke Korenflass of Oldred, and increasingly so at the courts of some dissident local rulers.[15] He continued to accumulate friends and contacts among disgruntled minor nobility, working his way up the ranks.[16] At the time he also desired to ally with Duke Szeffrin.[17]

History[edit | edit source]

In the fall of 585 CY Archbold appeared to suffer a stroke. Clerics convened in Rel Mord and determined that he had been poisoned. Within hours of the discovery, Sewarndt and a group of junior military officers attempted a coup. Only the intervention of the capital's entire clergy of Heironeous prevented it and rescued the king. Lynwerd was on an inspection tour in Mithat, and was notified by magical means within an hour of the coup. He immediately lead an army to his father's side, by which time Sewarndt and some supporters had fled while others were captured or killed.[18][19]

Sewarndt's treachery shattered Archbold, and he abdicated in favor of Lynwerd in Fireseek 586 CY. Archbold became deeply depressed, not even speaking to his own family, and went into retreat in his estate outside Rel Mord. [20][21]

Lynwerd’s mother died in childbirth and Archbold quickly remarried, to Darielle of House Cranden. Quarlanth of Mowbrenn intimated that Sewarndt might be the true heir to the throne of the Great Kingdom due to his lineage through his mother. Quarlanth claimed the heir to the Malachite Throne has run through the mother’s side of House Cranden since Yalranda was named Overqueen in 75 CY.[citation needed]

Sewarndt was considered an outcast from Nyrond’s Royal Family. Duke Korenflass, a Nyrondal noble, needled him endlessly.[citation needed]

By 591 CY Sewarndt had not been seen in Nyrond since the coup in 585 CY, but he was believed to be alive and in hiding. It was also suspected he still had ambitions to take the throne.[22]

In 595 CY Sewarndt again seized control of Rel Mord and other key cities in a short and rapid coup, but was deposed.[23]

Rumors and legends[edit | edit source]

In spring 585 CY there were whispers that he had sent a magical messenger to Szeffrin, proposing an alliance, with visions of marching to Rauxes to become a new Overking.[24] Szeffrin, however, maintained an alliance with King Xavener, and publicly rebuffed any talk of an uprising against the Head of House Darmen.[citation needed]

In spring 591 CY reports surfaced suggesting Sewarndt had been seen in the Gnatmarsh perhaps in allegiance with the coven of witches said to dwell there.[25]

See Also[edit | edit source]

See also: Rulers of Nyrond

Gallery[edit | edit source]

References[edit | edit source]

Citations[edit | edit source]

Bibliography[edit | edit source]

Encyclopedia Greyhawkania Index

The Index is based on previous work of Jason Zavoda through '08, and his work as continued and updated by Eric Johnson, Richard DiIoia, Jason "PupickDad" Jacobson, a French fan group, and numerous other fans over the years. The wiki page for the EGI has a list of sources, full product names, abbreviations, and a link to the full, downloadable index.

Topic Type Description Product Page/Card/Image

Sewarndt (Prince) Non-player character [M9], Dragon magazine #306 95
Sewarndt (Prince) Non-player character [M9], Living Greyhawk Gazetteer 16, 78
Sewarndt (Prince) Non-player character [M9], Living Greyhawk Journal #2 29
Sewarndt (Prince) Non-player character [M9], The Adventure Begins 30
Sewarndt (Prince) Non-player character [M9], WGR4 The Marklands 68, 72, 89, 93, 94