Morgarath

Baron Morgarath is the main antagonist in "The Ruins of Gorlan" and "The Burning Bridge". He also makes an appearance in the book "The Lost Stories" in "The Hibernian" story as the Baron of Gorlan Fief. He was slain by Horace Altman in The Burning Bridge with Horace's dagger. He is also in the Early Years book 1 and 2.

Unsatisfied with his position, he launched a rebellion against King Oswald, starting by attempting a coup against the weakening king and his son, arranging for Prince Duncan to be kidnapped, holding King Oswald captive, and forging documents naming himself heir of Araluen. The coup was foiled by a group of rangers, who rescued the two royals and helped expose his plans. However, Morgarath fled the country before he could be tried, taking up residence in the Mountains of Rain and Night with a force of loyal men and woman. While in the mountains, he came into contact with a race of fearsome half-bear, half-ape, humanoid creatures known as Wargals, who he quickly enslaved and bent to his will, and the Kalkara, who he seduced into his servoce. He began training the Wargals to use as an army, while the Kalkara were deployed as assassins. Finally, after several months of silence, Morgarath, using a combined army of humans and creatures he had found and recreated within the Mountains of Rain and Night, invaded and began overrunning the country. The largest and final battle of the short war took place at Hackham Heath. When it seemed as if Morgarath and his forces would win, King Duncan sent the Ranger Halt to lead a surprise cavalry strike on Morgarath's army as Wargals are terrified of horses. Halt succeeded, using the horses to scatter the Wargals, leaving the army in shambles. Morgarath was forced to retreat to the Mountains of Rain and Night. Fifteen years later, Morgarath launched another invasion on the kingdom, this time with an army of traitorous Araluens, mind-controlled Wargals and hired Skandian Mercenaries, leading his forces against the Araluen Army on the Plains of Uthal, which resulted in his death and the end of his threat to Araluen.

History
More about the Civil War in History of Araluen.

At some point in time, Morgarath rose to the position of Baron of Gorlan Fief, though how he attained this position is unknown. Unsatisfied, Morgarath eventually began to plot against King Oswald for the throne. As the king grew older and weaker, he appointed the barons of his realm, led by Morgarath, as his ruling council. Though initially, the council were simply appointed to take care of the day-to-day matters of ruling the Kingdom and to relieve him of the repetitive, annoying minutiae that came across his desk every day, they eventually encroached more and more into the important decisions, until Oswald was little more than a rubber stamp to their rulings.

Eventually, Morgarath rose to the title of Champion Knight of the Realm, which, combined with his status as the most senior Baron of the land earned him much respect from many members of the and King Oswald himself, the King gradually beginning to depend on him for advice and counsel. As the king aged and sickened, Morgarath assumed more and more power as King Oswald grew more accustomed to allowing Morgarath to rule in his stead. As Morgarath began setting his plans to take the throne in motion, he and his most influential followers and supporters among the Council of Barons convinced Oswald to send his son, Duncan, to a remote northeastern fief under the protests the young prince was two young and inexperienced to act as an advisor. Believing it best thing for the country, Oswald complied, while in fact, it was one of the worst things he could have done, as Duncan could have prevented the barons, Morgarath numbering among them, from having their way.

Knowing the Rangers, who were loyal only to the king would be a major stumbling point, Morgarath started to make plans to weaken the Ranger Corp, beginning by accusing the commandant, Nicholl, of treachery and disloyalty to the crown. Despite the ridicule of the situation, Morgarath, after producing “witnesses” who swore to Nicholl’s guilt, was able to banish the commandant from Araluen, prompting several others to resign in protest. Soon afterwards, Morgarath lobbied to have his own choice as Commandant installed, successfully appointing one of his toadies, a man named Stilson as the new Ranger leader. With Stilson in charge, the Rangers practically instantly fell under Morgarath’s control, becoming nothing more than a glorified social club for young nobles who bought, not earnt, the silver oakleaf as Morgarath drove out more and more of the Rangers and replaced them with his own cronies.

Morgarath eventually began hosting the Golden Spur Tournament on the first week of the Fourthmonth. Though victorious consecutively from 623 to 625 C.E, he was beaten by Arald of Redmont in 626 C.E., who knocked the baron out of his saddle at the third pass.

The Tournament at Gorlan
Finally, with only 12 Rangers (including Crowley) left in the land, Morgarath began putting his plans to take the throne into action, gathering fellow power-hungry nobles under his banner and using his influence to convince many other members of the Council of Barons to his side, although many of the latter were clueless to his true motives. One of his first steps was to have Duncan captured by Sir Eammon of Wildriver, a well-known supporter of the Baron, and held in Castle Wildriver, where Eammon held sway and have one of his henchmen, a mercenary named Tiller, begin terrorizing northern villages and raiding across the border into Picta under the alias of Duncan in order to completely destroy the prince’s credibility with the Araluens’, nobles and commoners alike. As the chaos following the beginning of Tiller’s terrorizing ensued, Morgarath had one of his agents slip poison into King Oswald’s wine in a feigned assassination attempt in order to convince the king to move into the ‘safety’ of Castle Gorlan, insisting that he was not safe in Castle Araluen, where ‘Duncan’ would most likely have supporters and cronies amongst the staff. Afterwards, he finally replaced (or, in Farrel’s case, attempted to replace) the last 12 remaining members of the Corp with his own sycophants. As more news of “Duncan’s” crimes came down from the north, King Oswald grew more and more bewildered by what appeared to be the opposite of his son’s personality. Finally, the king summoned his “host” to his quarters and revealed his decision to leave Castle Gorlan and, with a troop of guards and ride north to confront his son, wishing to give him a fair chance to explain himself, carefully thanking Morgarath but remaining determined to be a true king and not a coward who hid while others suffered. Seeing that he could no longer continue with his deception, Morgarath told his king that his time as ruler had longer ended and told King Oswald that he was going to disinherit Duncan and name him his new heir, to the King’s outraged refusal. Morgarath then divulged the truth of situation and revealed to King Oswald that Duncan was in fact being held by one of his followers and how his life depended on King Oswald’s actions. King Oswald then became a hostage, rather than a guest, guarded by Morgarath’s loyal men and being unknowingly slowly poisoned by a kitchen maid named Nelly under the manipulation of Morgarath’s Kitchenmaster.

Later on, Morgarath is studying the page of an ancient book detailing Wargals when he is interrupted by Captain Teezal, who reports to have news from Dacton Fief. After recalling that the fief was one of the 12 fiefs who’s Rangers he had recently dismissed, Morgarath gives Teezal permission to enter. Teezal, after Morgarath sarcastically asked if he wanted him to guess the reason for his interruption, informs him that Leander, the former Ranger of Dacton Fief, had gone. After Morgarath observed that his leave was a good thing, recalling that he had been making trouble for his replacement and unsettling things in the village connected to Dacton Castle, it’s people being still loyal to Leander, as, with Leander gone, things were presumably things no longer unsettled, which Teezal acknowledges is correct. Morgarath asks Teezal why he saw fit to bring him such “breathtakingly unimportant” information, which prompts Teezal to explain that it was more the manner of his disappearance, which Morgarath replies by sarcastically questioning if a dragon or griffin swooped from the sky and took him. Teezal tells him that he had instead been recruited by Crowley and Halt and informs him of the rumours that Rangers Berrigan of Weslon and Egon of Seacliff had in turn, joined forces with the two, which Morgarath snaps back that they were not Rangers since he dismissed them, to which Teezal hastily apologies and adjusts his words to fit his master's view of the Ex-Rangers. However, he does not know of their plans, and Morgarath eventually decides that four or five Rangers would not endanger his plans, believing they would simply become what he always though Rangers basically were: outlaws and decides to do something about them after he had taken the throne. Teezal nervously tells his master that he simply thought he should know, but Morgarath absently tells him he was right to inform him. Just then, Teezal catches sight of the book Morgarath was studying and the creature it displays, which Morgarath identifies as a Wargal. The two then share a brief discussion of the history of Wargals, including how they came to reside in the Mountains of Rain and Night, which prompts Teezal to comment that he had heard tales of “some terrible beasts in those mountains”. Morgarath mentions that once their present situation was dealt with, he might take the time to seek the Wargals out and bend them to his will to form his own private army of inhuman soldiers, though he assures Teezal that he would make sure they never came after him. He then dismisses Teezal and returns to his studies.

As the Golden Spur Tournament arrives, with thirty-one Barons (including many of his own supporters) traveling to Gorlan Fief, Morgarath prepares to make his announcement of the king disowning Duncan at the tournament, in front of the assembled Council of Barons. Due to King Oswald’s continues refusal to disown Duncan, Morgarath abandons his attempt to force King Oswald to do his bidding and simply steals the Royal Seal to signify the declaration as “legitimate”.

On the day of the tournament, Morgarath invites three of the visiting thirty-one barons, Barons Peller, Cordell and Meagher, to his tent pavilion for a lunch of fine wine, roast pork, spectacular game pie and a wide assortment of vegetables in the hopes of using the aura of the lunch to converting the three barons, who, though favourable, were not wholly committed to his cause, as, though the three barons he was entertaining were not as strong as some in men-at-arms, wielded considerable influence among many members of the Council of Barons who were still uncommitted to either side in the silent but obvious power struggle that was raging among the kingdom’s nobles. As he offers Baron Peller more wine, he nurses, behind a winning smile, that the wine-loving Peller was unlikely to ever refuse the offer of more wine. Just then, Meagher enquires of the health of King Oswald, which Morgarath answers with an unhappy expression as he claims that King’s vast disappointment in his son’s current actions, combined with the “assassination” attempt was causing his health and spirits to deteriorate by the day. At this, Cordell remarks that they were lucky that the Baron of Gorlan Fief had caught wind of the assassination attempt in time to save Oswald, which Morgarath answers with a self-deprecated shrug, stating that he was simply doing his duty, just as any of them would have done. As the conversation turns directly to Duncan, Peller ponderously remarks that he had heard rumours that the king was considering disinheriting his son for his actions, prompting a raised eyebrow of apparent surprise from Morgarath – although it reality, the rumours, had in fact been spread by Morgarath himself – and a claim that such an action would be a very serious circumstance, as it would leave Araluen without a legitimate heir, although Peller, Meagher and Cordell all agree that is was no more than Duncan deserved for his actions. Knowing this was his change to assure himself of their loyalty, Morgarath points out that is such an event was to occur, Oswald would have to name a new successor, having no other children to claim the position, which Peller replies with the belief that he could think of none better than Morgarath for the position. Though feigning surprise, as Morgarath claims he had no business with the king and was content with his lot, a warm glow of satisfaction was growing in him chest as Cordell assures him that he and many others would gladly support him, the foremost knight in the realm, who many Barons idolized, although Morgarath continues to press with the “hope” that the situation would not come to it and claiming he was positive that the Council would be able to resolve their problem with Duncan. Just then, Captain Teezal arrives, to Morgarath’s anger, as he had left specific instructions not to be disturbed, though he is curious, knowing Teezal would not interrupt him unless it was urgent. Realizing that Teezal’s report gave him the opportunity to further ingratiate himself with his guests, Morgarath orders Teezal to wait outside before turning back to his guests with an expansive smile on his face, only to find, to his satisfaction, the three barons rising from their chairs, Cordell claiming they had taken enough of the baron’s valuable time, to Morgarath’s feigned disappointment, although secretly the real reason behind the lunch had been accomplished in his eyes. As he departs, Peller turns to Morgarath and informs the baron that he still believes Morgarath should, if the case comes, be the one to take control, which Morgarath replies with a serious expression of understanding, although he tells the baron that no decision should be made in haste, which Peller consents to. As Peller is consumed by the bustle of the tournament, Morgarath orders Teezal in and dismissively invites Teezal to help himself to some of the remaining wine. After a few seconds of silence, Morgarath asks Teezal for his reason for interrupting the lunch, which Teezal replies with a nervous apology, though Morgarath waves it aside, claiming the interruption had given him a chance to get rid of the “three self-important bores”. Teezal informs his master of Tiller’s current status as a prisoner of Baron Arald, to Morgarath’s rage as he ponders how the Baron of Redmont had got wind of his plans. Finally, deciding Tiller’s current status was a threat, Morgarath orders Teezal to assassinate Tiller.

As the jousting contest commences, Morgarath is recklessly challenged by Sir Wallace of Belconnen. Striding out of his pavilion, Morgarath contemptuously scans Wallace, observing the knights fresh face, unmarked by any battle scars, which he sneeringly thinks to himself would change soon. Finally, in a dismissive and bored voice, Morgarath asks Wallace what he wanted, which Wallace replies with the claim that it was his right to change the Baron, which Morgarath replies with silence, which he allows to stretch to a uncomfortable length before he sardonically asks if it was indeed, which takes Wallace aback. Finally, Morgarath mutters his acceptance before repeating it in a shout as Wallace asks him to repeat it, telling the young knight to meet him on the jousting field in thirty minutes.

As the duel commences, with Morgarath astride his dead-white stallion, Warlock, and Sir Wallace on his nervous chestnut. Morgarath watches impassively through the slits in his visor as his green-armoured opponent approached the far end of the list. One of Morgarath’s attendants brought over a lance and passed it up to him, which he hefts, testing its weight, as, unlike the other jousters, Morgarath had his jousting lances bound at intervals along the shaft with lead bands, to approximate the weight and balance of a heavier war lance. As the attendant asks nervously if it was as he wished it, only to be silenced by Morgarath. At the herald’s signal, the duel begins and the two knights urge their horses forwards in a charge. Warlock gathered speed steadily, reaching his top speed within fifteen meters and powering toward their opponents, as Morgarath leaned forward slightly in the saddle and began to lower his lance. As the two combatants crashed together with a thunder of wood on metal as Morgarath’s lance hit dead centre on Wallace’s shield while Wallace’s was slightly offline and hit with reduced impact. Both lances bend alarmingly, then shattered into splinters, hurling slivers of white wood high into the air around them as the two warriors were past each other, their horses now at full tilt, their momentum carrying them on, in spite of the savage impact as a gasp rises from the crowd. Morgarath, seething with rage that Wallace had been able to right himself, rides Warlock and twists him around to face their lane as his attendants passes him a new lance. Enraged at the sound of several in the crowd which usually favoured him cheering Wallace, Morgarath raises his lance to the forty-five-degree point and nods to the marshal below him, leading Warlock in a lumbering charge to meet Wallace once again and, with exquisite timing and precision, strikes him with a brutal, but perfectly legal and expertly executed, sending the young knight flying out of his saddle and crashing into the ground. Enraged that the crowd still found enough admiration to applaud, Morgarath drops lightly of Warlock and advances on a defenceless Wallace, drawing his two-handed longsword, blinded by a killing rage. As his marshal urgently asks him what he was doing, Morgarath claims that his opponent had not yet forfeited and the battle must therefore continue, to the marshal’s horror. But, as the Baron of Gorlan swings his huge sword back for a horizontal stroke, the blue-clad figure of Baron Arald shoulder-charges Morgarath before he could begin his forward stroke. Morgarath, his peripheral vision restricted inside the jousting helmet, never saw Arald coming and Arald’s shoulder drove into Morgarath’s ribs with a sickening impact. Even beneath the chain mail, Morgarath felt the force of Arald’s charge and losses his balance and crashed over into the dirt. As he tried to rise, he felt his sword pinned to the ground by Arald’s foot as Arald coldly tells his fellow baron it was over. By now, the three warriors were surrounded by marshals and Morgarath is questioned for his actions by an aghast Baron Naylor. Thinking quick, Morgarath claims to have heard to boy cry continue, which is replied by a chorus of understanding from the marshals. However, unseen by all, Arald mouths the word “liar”. In response, Morgarath leans forward, as if to embrace his fellow baron in gratitude, but, as his mouth came close to Arald’s ear, he promises to kill the baron. As the Grand Melee commences, Morgarath orders Teezal, who was leading the red team, to attack as many enemies participating as possible, having his henchmen target specific opponents who were either supporting Arald or bending to Arald’s camp in order to fully assert Morgarath’s command over some of his wavering supporters. However, the Grand Melee ends in defeat for Morgarath and with Teezal and his men taken prisoner by members of the Blue Melee Force, forcing Morgarath to pay a small fortune for him men’s release. Afterwards, Morgarath furiously berates Teezal for his failure, sarcastically wondering if he had forgot to inform his servant that the whole idea was for Teezal and his men to injure and incapacitate as many of Arald’s allies as possible in order to drive some of the nobles who were wavering over to his side by showing the wavering barons and knights who were previously favourable to his cause that Morgarath’s arm was long and merciless and admonishing Teezal for making him a laughing stock by being allowed to be ambushed by two men, despite Teezal’s weak protest that they were working for Arald, which Morgarath replies with the sarcastic wonder if Teezal believed they were working fir The Great Badger of Bumbleberry. Deciding to challenge Arald to a À résultat final – a duel that went on even after one jouster was unseated – and orders Teezal to send for his armourers. Morgarath challenges Arald and the two knights meet on the field. As Baron Naylor asks Morgarath if he was ready for combat, Morgarath, who, knowing his voice would be muffled by his helmet, signals his readiness by raising his lance vertically and then allow it to drop back into the socket on his right stirrup, which Arald mirrors. As the strident notes of the signal to begin faded, both warriors drove their spurs into their horses’ sides, sending them thundering forwards. As they met in the centre of the field, the Barons of Gorlan and Redmont both tried for nothing more than a centred hit on the other’s shield, but, as their lances came together, each was trapped by the concave shape of the shield and, simultaneously shattered. Inside his helmet, Morgarath cursed, realizing that he had not fought a knight with such accomplishment and skill as Arald in the past year and, for the first time, felt a flicker of concern that, despite the near-perfectly centred strike, Arald remained unmoved in his saddle. Tossing the shattered lance aside, Morgarath waits until his attendant had handed him another disguised killing lance and urges Warlock forwards and levels his lance to strike Arald in the helmet, which is only prevented by Arald’s lightning-fast reflexes and unbalances the black baron slightly, causing him to sway slightly in his saddle before reseating himself and galloping onwards to retrieve a new lance from his attendant. However, this lance is in fact an illegal oak shafted jousting lance with a killing iron shaft disguised as a normal lance covered in clay, which Morgarath plans to use to murder Arald. Once again, the horses are sent thundering towards each other, and Morgarath targets his lance to smash into Arald’s shield and as the tip hits Arald’s shield, the clay around the clay disintegrates and, using the oak shalf’s strength and his own weight, Morgarath uses the shield and lance to send Arald’s horse crashing over onto his side, trapping Arald’s right foreleg under his horse’s body. After rounding the far end of the tilt and settling Warlock into a trot. Swinging down from the saddle, Morgarath discards his shield and draws his longsword, remaining the crowd of the agreed conditions of the duel before pacing towards a struggling Arald and sending the sword plunging down, only to intercepted by Arald’s jousting shield. Tearing the arm straps as he jerks his sword back, Morgarath sends the shield spinning across the field and raises his sword with the intention of separating Arald’s head from his body, only to be stopped by a tall, armour-clad warrior, who intercepts Morgarath’s sword with his own heavy-bladed cavalry sword. Screaming in rage, Morgarath steps back and shouts at the mysterious warrior, claiming he had no right to interfere with a duel of honour, only to be retorted by the warrior, who accuses Morgarath of using a illegal war lance. Enraged, Morgarath orders his two crossbow men to kill the warrior, only to be stopped as a group of Rangers make themselves known, terrifying the crossbowmen into dropping their crossbows, to Morgarath’s rage, who rants that the man had broken the rules of tournament and therefor must die, only to be stopped as the warrior reveals himself to be Duncan. Temporarily taken aback, Morgarath’s devious mind quickly finds a way to bend the situation to his advantage and the Baron accuses Duncan of raiding across the border into Picta and endangering the treaty with their northern neighbours and orders him to lay down his weapon and surrender, which Duncan refuses to do. Enraged beyond reason, the black-clad baron leaps toward the prince, swinging his vast sword in a horizontal stroke at rib height, only to be intercepted by Duncan’s war shield. As Duncan engages him in a duel, Morgarath soon finds himself fighting for his life as Duncan rained blow after blow on the tall Baron, one stroke blending into another in a continuous barrage, forcing him to use all his mighty strength to position it for each parry and he was left with no time to attempt a counterstroke and giving ground slowly, backing away from the relentless storm of blows, seeing Duncan’s sword as a glittering wheel of light, striking at him first from one direction, then another. His breath was coming in short gasps and fear struck deep in his heart as he realized that he was outmatched and, for the first time, he was facing a swordsman who was just as powerful as he was, but faster and more skilled. The two knights move back along the tournament ground, their swords clashing in a continuous ringing, shrieking din. Then, as Morgarath had backed almost all the way toward his own pavilion, Duncan caught him with his sword momentarily lowered and struck down at it, beating it from Morgarath’s grasp and sending it thudding to the turf. Unarmed, Morgarath holds up both his hands in a gesture of surrender and, as Duncan hesitates, heaves a sight of relief as several barons began moving towards the tournament field. Pitching his words to the onlookers, Morgarath continues to call the prince a traitor and demands his right to speak in front of the assembled barons, calling to his fellows to join them on the field. Seeing Teezal hovering nearby, Morgarath orders his henchman to get the forged proclamation naming him the new heir to the throne and assemble their men. As Duncan accused Morgarath of breaking the rules of his own tournament and attempting to murder Arald, Morgarath counter accuses the prince of attempting to murder his own father and committing raids and murders across the border, endangering the Araluen-Scotti Treaty and demanding he fact the death penalty as a result, with Duncan refuses, telling Morgarath that all the charges he was accused of were in fact committed by Morgarath’s minion, Tiller, while he was held prisoner in Castle Wildriver, which, as he points out, was under the command of Sir Eammon of Wildriver, a well-known supporter of Morgarath, which Morgarath defends by asking is Eammon was there to swear the charges were committed under his orders, and, at Duncan’s silence, continues, asking if, instead, they could produce the imposter he hired to impersonate the prince, which was impossible, since, as Duncan reveals, Tiller had been assassinated by Teezal. Attempting to counterattack, Duncan reminds everyone of how Morgarath had attempted to kill Arald with a illegal war lance, which Sir Rodney clarifies. Morgarath however, is able to retain his false innocence by claiming he had no knowledge of it and reminding all of the commonly known fact that he had all his lances weighed with lead, so they weighed the same as a war lance to prepare him for the event when a war lance was needed to be wielded. Just then, Teezal approaches with the false proclamation and, as Teezal hands him the proclamation, Morgarath orders Teezal to kill Oswald, although Teezal is unsuccessful. Morgarath then claims to have an unpleasant duty to perform, and, as Duncan attempts to deny Morgarath the right to speak, he is admonished by several of Morgarath's loyal baron followers, who's cries of anger, combined with the agreement of many uncommitted barons, silences the prince. Holding the parchment up high so as to allow the scroll to unfurl, Morgarath, all while feigning reluctance, announces that the scroll held a proclamation disinheriting Duncan and proclaiming Morgarath his new heir, which results in an explosion of different reactions as Morgarath's supporters cheer Morgarath's elevation to the rank of royal heir while those against the Baron of Gorlan Fief protests the proclamation as false. Handing the parchment to Baron Naylor (who was supporting him) he tells the crowd to let Naylor read and confirm his claim. As Baron Naylor proclaims the proclamation true, pandemonium breaks out as every person there begins shouting. Morgarath shoots a triumphant glare at his rival and, taking the scroll from Naylor, and brandishing it above his head, shouts to the crowd that the proclamation bore King Oswald’s seal, only for silence to fall as King Oswald, who had been freed by Pritchard, Halt and Crowley, shouts that though the parchment bore his seal, it bore not his signature. As the commotion following the king's arrive dies, Oswald tells the crowd that Morgarath had stolen his signature and attached it to a false document, only for Morgarath to shout back that the proclamation was true and that only was simply recanting now his son had returned with a "cock-and-bull" story of imposters and being held prisoner, which Oswald replies with the accusation of holding him prisoner. However, Morgarath declares he held the king in Gorlan for his own protection and reminding the king that he had been glad to accept his protection after his assassination, which Oswald doggedly replies he was mistaken. Letting sarcasm creep into his voice, Morgarath allows his voice to turn to the crowd and telling them that it seems their royal family was constantly changing their mind as the situation suited them, which raises several voices in agreement. Furious and fed up with the war of words, Duncan orders the Rangers to arrest the baron, but, just then, Morgarath calls the fifty warriors Teezal had summoned to battle. Knowing that the king could not allow a battle to erupt that could lead to the deaths of innocent people, Morgarath address the crowd, telling them that he will answer to there charges and bring up his own, but only before the full Council of Barons, despite Duncan's furious protests that the king had accused him, although Morgarath reminds him that Araluen's laws had made it so the days when kings could be a judge were long gone. Morgarath also declares that he would await the council's assembly in his own castle, not in the dungeons of Castle Araluen, where Oswald and Duncan could plot his accidental death, despite Oswald's furious protests, and returns to the castle with his warriors.

As the council gathers, Castle Gorlan is surrounded by a small army of warriors provided by the Barons (although quite a few of Morgarath's Baron supporters refused to provide troops to the force, instead withdrawing with their men to their own castles). Knowing the warriors camped outside would soon be large enough to lay siege to Gorlan, Morgarath and his followers (who's numbers were estimated to be around one hundred and fifty at least) escaped the isolated castle via a secret passage located within the castle kitchens and fled into the Mountains of Rain and Night, where Morgarath knew his enemies would not follow. As they fled, the rebels were ambushed by Pritchard, and, despite the Rangers power and skill with the bow, was eventually brought down outside the rebels' escape tunnel. The rebels eventually set up headquarters on a windswept plateau beyond the mountains.

After months of searching, Morgarath was finally able find the Wargals and lure the chieftain of a clan of the creatures to his cave with gifts of fresh meat—treasured by the Wargals for its scarcity in these cold, dripping mountains, and, after weeks of mental communications, began to win its confidence and began to establish a pattern of dominance over the primitive creature’s mind. It had been a slow process, which Morgarath had begun by emptying his mind of all conscious thought, allowing it to be open to receive messages from outside. That in itself had taken days to achieve. Then, on one memorable occasion, he had seen an image growing in his mind—even though his eyes were shut. It was hazy and unfocused at first, and when he tried to concentrate on it, it receded, causing the Baron to realized that he mustn’t try to focus with his conscious mind. And when he cleared his mind of conscious thought, the image returned—clearer and sharper this time. It was then he realized, with a start, that the image was himself though the Wargal's eyes. Morgarath began projecting images into the chieftain's head. First, he began to try to form an image of his own—difficult to do when he had to keep his conscious mind at bay. He envisaged himself sitting on a high throne, and the Head Wargal was bowing down before him, placing its head under his hand in submission. Then he switched tack, now imagining Duncan, terrible in his red surcoat and glittering mail, cutting and hacking at a group of Wargals, killing and maiming them. Finally, after days of projecting the images, the Wargal began seeing what he was projecting, and was disturbed and frightened by it as he saw his people die at the hands of a demonic being. Sensing this, Morgarath now began adding a new piece to the image, imagining himself, black-clad figure, with long white-blond hair, striding in front of the Wargals to protect them and to face Duncan and swinging His long, two-handed sword in a gleaming arc to block Duncan’s blade as the red-garbed warrior tried to kill another helpless Wargal. The sword flashed quickly up and down, severing Duncan’s head from his shoulders and sending it spinning among the rocks. The headless torso remained standing for a moment, then slowly toppled over. At this, in his mind, he projects an image of the surviving Wargals swarming around the black-clad figure, bowing before him in gratitude and submission. Morgarath held the image in his mind for several minutes until he felt a rough touch on his hand and he opened his eyes slowly to find the Wargal chieftain kneeling before him, holding Morgarath's right hand in both its savagely clawed upper paws and placed it on its own head, bowing before the Baron. Eventually, Morgarath extended his mental control to the clan the chieftain lead, and from them, the multiple other clans that haunted the mountain deeps, finally gaining control over enough of the monsters to reforge his army.

At an unknown point in time afterwards, he found the three Kalkara, seducing them with vast amounts of silver, which they held a endless fascination for, in return for their services as assassins. He also began rebuilding his army of humans by recruiting willing human followers from the merciless bands of thieves, murderers, traitors, bandits and criminals that haunted the mountains' deeps to add to his forces.

The Battle of Hackham Heath
With the Wargals under his control and the Kalkara in his service, Morgarath began preparing to invade Araluen and take the throne, this time by simple force. However, it soon became clear that ruthless, pitiless and determined as his Wargals were, they held a fear of horses so deeply ingrained into the race that, upon contact with a horse, they would revert back to their natural nature, forcing Morgarath to hinder his plans for invasion as he attempted to train the fear out of his beastial soldiers by having his captains ride though the Wargals as they trains to cause the Wargals to grow accustomed to the sight of horses. To keep his activities secret, Morgarath had his human troops build and occupy rows of fortifications through Three Step Pass, which provided the only pass between the two lands, although rumours of the semi-humaniod beings recruition still made their way down from the pass. Meanwhile, in Araluen, King Oswald, who had never really recovered from his abusive imprisonment in Castle Forlan, passed away during a bitterly cold spell, leaving Duncan the new king. Wishing to deny the rogue baron any potential headquarters in Araluen, Duncan, with the help of a team of Celtic Miners, ordered for Castle Gorlan's destruction and had Gorlan Fief divided between two neighbouring Fiefs. Duncan also placed a company of infantry posted on the Plains of Uthal, which lay before Three Step Pass. Despite this, Three Step remained firmly under his control and Morgarath, on several occasions, used the pass to slip down into Araluen to make contact with many of the "fence-sitters", which included many of his former supporters. While some, like Cordell and Meagher, turned the former baron away becauseof his role in their humiliation, others, such as Peller, received him most cordially when he called on them. In order to conserve his human followers, Morgarath began replacing his human guards with Wargals.

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The Ruins of Gorlan
In The Ruins of Gorlan Morgarath sends the Kalkara to kill two important lords, Northolt and Lorriac, who would play key roles if war was to break out between his Wargal army and Araleun. To hide the two Kalkaras' infiltration of the kingdom, he sends a small force of Wargals to overrun the centuries stationed at Three Step Pass. He also uses the confusion to make contact with Oberjarl Ragnak in order to enlist the Skandians for the incoming war, promising them a share of the wealth they would gain from it. He then sends the Kalkara after Halt in revenge for the Ranger's part in his downfall during the first war; despite their best attempts, the Ranger mortally wounds one, Sir Rodney and Baron Arald finish it off. Will then kills the last one with a flaming arrow after, Arald and Rodney wound the beast and Arald is then injured, and Rodney paralyzed by it.

The Burning Bridge
Morgarath takes more aggressive action and makes his move, attacking Araluen. Morgarath sends his Wargals out to Celtica and has the local miners enslaved. He then uses these slaves to build a bridge across the Fissure which separates Celtica and the Mountains of Rain and Night, enabling him to march his army across it and attack King Duncan's army from the rear in the upcoming battle.

Will, Gilan and Horace, who are sent on a diplomatic mission to Celtica, discover his plans when Cassandra finds them and tells them of it. Gilan takes the news back to the Araluen army. Morgarath then marches on King Duncan's army with his Wargals and the mercenary Skandians who he hired to fight for him.

When Will and Cassandra are captured by the Skandians, Morgarath recognizes Will as a Ranger due to his bronze oakleaf and is furious, as a Ranger played a major part in his downfall previously.

In the main battle Halt leads a surprise attack on the Skandian troops who were sent to ambush the Araluen army from behind, dealing a severe blow to his plan. Once the Wargal army from Celtica is repelled, cavalry is sent into the Wargal lines, devastating them and sending them retreating toward Three Step Pass. Morgarath then raises a white flag, but challenges Halt to a duel in a last attempt at revenge. The Ranger is ready to accept it, particularly when Morgarath reveals he has Will captured. Suddenly, Horace charges out and throws a gauntlet into the former Baron's face, as slapping someone worth a glove is issuing a challenge to him. Morgarath, seeing he is only a boy, accepts and the two fight.

Horace uses unorthodox tactics and the Double Knife Defence which Gilan taught him in Celtica and after getting hit multiple times by Morgarath's horse, manages to kill Morgarath, making him a hero.

Death of a Hero
Morgarath is only mentioned during the battle and doesn't actually appear.

The Hibernian
Morgarath appears as he was before the First Araluen Civil War. He meets with Crowley and Halt after the two bring in a group of his knights who were harassing a tavern owner and one of his serving girls.

Morgarath promised to punish them then tries to persuade Halt to join him. Halt declines, aware that Morgarath is not a person to be trusted. This angers Morgarath but Halt and Crowley quickly depart from Castle Gorlan. Towards the end Crowley is attacked by five of Morgarath's soldiers and is about to be killed but Halt quickly appears on the scene and helps his new friend to fight them off. The two then agree to find King Duncan and revive the Ranger Corps to bring down Morgarath.

Appearance
He is said to have a high, nasal voice. Morgarath has "dead" black eyes and 'unnatural peripheral vision' and his face is mostly hidden in his huge hooded cloak. He is nearly two hundred centimeters tall (6'6"), thin, with a pale complexion. He has "blond white" hair which was formerly a dark shade(citation needed). In contrast to his deathly pale appearance, he wears all black. He stoops, giving the impression of a vulture and rides a bone-white horse that assists him in his duel with Horace in The Burning Bridge.

Morgarath carries a long broadsword and shield into combat. He prefers to fight on horseback.

Personality
Morgarath is an ambitious man, letting nothing stand in the way of him getting what he wants. He is also pitiless and cruel as shown when he is willing to fight Horace to the death in the Burning Bridge despite Horace being only a boy and also shown when he cares nothing for the people he has enslaved such as the Celtic miners and his Wargal army. Years of feeding of his anger and bitterness eventually drove him mad, although this did not interfere with his cunning and intelligence.

In The Lost Stories, even more is revealed of his personality. His ruthlessness is displayed when he tries to have Halt and Crowley killed but he is also shown to be clever and knows a potentially dangerous enemy, as shown when he tries to convince Halt to join him.

Trivia

 * Rumors around Araluen say that Horace chopped his head off with a flaming sword.
 * Like most of the major villains in the series, Morgarath is only a main antagonist for two whole books (the others are Sir Keren, Tennyson and Dimon).
 * It is unknown if Morgarath's ambitions ended with Araluen or if he planned to conquer Celtica and Picta.