Finally, we have Shahzada Arslan. Who is, incidentally, my go-to Dungeons & Dragons character.
‘Shahzada’ is the Turkish word for ‘Prince’ – the Turkish spelling is properly ‘Şehzade.’ The spelling I used is based on the Persia form of the word (which has multiple ways to write in English) and seems like the most phonetic ways to spell the word for the benefit of my readers who aren’t especially familiar with Turkish language or history.
Which I’m thinking is most of them…
Ever since I started playing Crusader Kings a few years ago, I’ve gotten into reading about Turkish history during the Seljuk and Ottoman eras – to the point that one of the other Fantasy series I’m working on draws heavily on Seljuk history. In fact, that’s where ‘Khalaran’ originated, which I basically envision as the Byzantine Empire if it was Turkish to begin with – hence why ‘Khalaran’ looks like a Greek placename, and why the header image shows the Theodosian Walls.
I have done way too much work to make that make sense from a linguistic and historical context.
I’ve been going back and forth on whether or not I’m going to try to merge this world into that pre-existing other world. Right now, I’ve basically settled on ‘I don’t think it matters.’ For now, borrowing the pre-existing placenames is fine, because actually writing something every day is more important. I can always go back and sort out the details.
All of which is to say, the defining aspect of Arslan’s character history is that Khalaran follows the Ottoman practice of ‘free-for-all race for the throne between heirs; winner gets to kill all his brothers’ – which was eventually worked down to ‘winner gets to keep all his brothers locked up in a luxurious prison’ – and Arslan went into exile because he knew he’d win and didn’t want his brothers’ blood on his hands.
Shahzada Arslan – Uncrowned Lion
All his life, Arslan feared the news of his father’s death.
Not for this father’s sake, but for his brothers’ sake.
The Holy Emperor Mar Arethas has many children by his many wives and concubines, but only four sons. Arslan’s own mother was a minor concubine who died young and the Emperor’s favourite wife deigned to have pity on him and raise him with his brothers.
Arslan was the only one to truly understand the grim future that awaited them. Emperors of Khalaran don’t name their heirs. The ancient laws of Khalaran that when the sovereign dies, his sons contend for the throne and the winner is entitled to have his brothers executed to remove any future threats to his throne in the most decisive way possible.
Arslan dreaded that day all his life. Not because he feared death at the hands of his brothers, but because he knew he would kill them in the struggle.
When he was old enough to leave the harem, Arslan left the capital for the Empire’s frontier to fight in his father’s armies and found he had a knack for it. When the news of his father’s death reached him on the frontier, he was already far from the capital. It was simple to saddle a horse and ride until Khalaran was far behind.
The throne of Khalaran wasn’t worth the grief of the woman who was a mother to him. Even if ascending the throne were to be a simple thing, Arslan always knew he’d make a better soldier than a king.
Let his brothers fight and kill and die for the throne and drive daggers of sorrow into their mother’s heart as they did. Arslan is content to be a simple man with no ambitions beyond a sharp sword, a sturdy shield, a full belly – and perhaps a pretty wife one day.
Eventually, he came to Mariburg. It was hard enough to get past the guards at the city’s gates, because of all the long wars between Khalaran and Karolai, but once he convinced them he was only a traveller and not some scheming enemy spy, he was allowed into the city.
He had his sword and the skill to use it and the Adventurers’ Guild showed him none of the suspicion the city guards did and he found welcome among the adventurers.
In Khalaran ‘Shahzada’ – ‘King’s Son’ – came with the weight of a terrible destiny warring with his own brothers for a chance at the throne. In Mariburg, it carries no such weight and is no more than a strange, foreign name the locals’ tongues that barely wrap themselves around.
And that suits Arslan just fine.
The harem was a golden cage. The army put the duty to serve upon him. In the Adventurers’ Guild of Mariburg, he points his sword at the enemy and puts his shield between that enemy and his friends. He has a freedom now he never had before and is truly master of his own fate.
That is a better prize than any crown.
I’ll be sharing at least a few days of my October writing days with these characters for free here, on Patreon, and on my Substack — but the bulk of them will be exclusive to my paid Patreon subscribers, at least initially.
I am planning on making all of my Patreon-exclusive stuff available to the general public eventually, so stay tuned for news on that.
And please consider subscribing here, on my Substack, and on Patreon.
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