Belgaroth is a very powerful Chaos Lord who serves as the main villain and final enemy in the Fighting Fantasy gamebook Knights of Doom. He is a fallen Templar killed long ago who returns and threatens the kingdom once more, only to be opposed by a paladin. Belgaroth is notably one of the hardest Fighting Fantasy villains to beat.
Background[]
Over one century before Knights of Doom, Belgaroth was the younger brother of the wise and noble King Chivalras IX. He assisted him in ruling their country of Ruddlestone, located in the continent of the Old World, and was his second in command of the Templars of Telak, paladins devoted to the God of Courage and Warriors.
Yet, Belgaroth envied his brother's right to the throne. He criticized his rule more and more openly, isolating himself his stronghold of Caer Skaal. He eventually repudiated Telak and came to worship the Dark Gods and the Demon Princes of Titan, getting corrupted to a point never reached before and turning into a Chaos Lord.
Belgaroth secretly raised the order of the Knights of Doom and a chaotic army, to take over the kingdom and instate his tyrannical rule. Fortunately, the king was warned by his spies and was able to make his move before his fallen brother, sparking the dreadful Crusade against Chaos.
After months of a grueling war, Chivalras' armies besieged Caer Skaal and managed to destroy the Knights of Doom and their entire forces. Belgaroth himself was slain by Sir Rhyaddan, the legendary Templar who wielded the magic elven spear Aelfgar.
Belgaroth's heraldry (left) and the banners of Caer Skaal (right)
Death itself is not enough to lessen the fear caused by Belgaroth's reviled name, and none dares venturing near the ruins of Caer Skaal, considered as cursed. When the gamebook takes place, no Templar of Telak ignores the gloomy tale of the Crusade and its very battlefield remains untouched.
Powers and Abilities[]
Belgaroth is a highly skilled warrior, expert in swordfight, knightly jousts and battle magic, as well as strategy. He knows how to raise and command troops and builds deadly war-machines. He wields a blade ornate with the runes of Chaos and infused both his weapon and armour with chaotic energy. His blade strikes harder than normal and corrupts his foes further with each blow, while his armour reduces his wounds. As such, only the most skilled and lawful warriors stand a chance against him. He can also hurl dangerous bolts of dark energy at long range.
Though not as skilled as his wife Morgwyn, Belgaroth is very well versed in sorcery. Yet it must be noted that he is more akin to a dark priest than a sorcerer and that his vast power mostly stems from his control over Chaos. He can perform magic (mostly Spiritual Magic such as the fearsome Assassin's Dagger spell), grant special powers to his followers and infuse his and his generals' weaponry with chaotic energy similar to his own.
Moreover, he can spread chaotic forces to wither the land itself, and to channel his power into a rune of Chaos to corrupt people's hearts. Belgaroth can also influence the weather and cause thunderstorms, open gates between the different planes of existence, and summon demonic beings, evil spirits and undeads. His foul influence alone is enough to plague the country and to awake evil beings. All chaotic beings will naturally follow him.
Personality[]
Belgaroth was once a benevolent prince, who wanted the best for his kingdom. Alas, he was prideful, jealous and ambitious. His envy of his brother's throne first stemmed from the impression that he could do better, deeming him too lenient. Even then, he only swore by might, unable to differentiate kindness from weakness. His increasing resentment, bitterness and warmongering became too much and precipitated his downfall.
Belgaroth is now cruel, ruthless, relentless, bloodthirsty, hateful and power-hungry. He relinquished all loyalty and now wants to submit and tyrannize the entire kingdom for the sake of it. He appears regal and imposing, taunting his foes yet acknowledging their merits, but furiously crushing any opposition and flying into violent rages when not in control. Furthermore, he is a coward at heart who flees as soon as he gets bested.
Belgaroth's Generals[]
Belgaroth was always seconded by mighty evil beings. All who served him during the Crusade against Chaos were resurrected alongside him as living-deads, but there are also corrupt people who aligned themselves with him in the present.
The Chaos Champion[]
the Chaos Champion
The most powerful of the Knights of Doom, who serves as Belgaroth's champion and most likely his right-hand man. The Chaos Champion is a is a very powerful and dangerous warrior, with fighting skills rivalling with that of Belgaroth himself, and an expert rider. Fortunately, he lacks the enchanted weaponry of the other Knights of Doom and their evil lord, which would have made him even harder to defeat than the Dread Lord himself.
The Chaos Champion is a talented and fearless general who never looks twice before dealing with troublemakers personally, as evidenced when he attacks the Templar when they come close to Caer Skaal. However, he never utters a single word and does not display much personality beside blind devotion and killing foes without hesitation.
The Knights of Doom[]
The other twelve Knights of Doom serve as Belgaroth's first and foremost generals. They are powerful Chaos Knights who were recruited, and possibly corrupted by the Dread Lord before the Crusade against Chaos, and returned as undeads. They never utter a word and blindly obey their lord, attacking anyone without question.
The Knights of Doom don armours and weapons infused with chaotic energy, which reduce their wounds and can increase the ones they inflict. They never leave Belgaroth's side and serve as his bodyguards, attacking altogether anyone who challenges their wretched master. Given their huge fighting skills, their power and sheer number, no one can defeat them all in a regular battle.
Morgwyn[]
Morgwyn's demented spectre.
Belgaroth's wife, who followed him in corruption, becoming an unkempt and raving mad. Known as Morgwyn of the Dark Tower, she is a powerful witch and a fanatical worshipper of the evil Goddess of Sorcery Shekka. She summoned evil spirits for her husband’s armies. During the siege of Caer Skaal, she called forth spectres to torment the besiegers every night and she fought alongside her husband until the very end.
She threw herself from the highest tower of the stronghold when she heard about her husband's demise, but she returned as a spectre when he and his Knights were resurrected. Morgwyn's spectre haunts Caer Skaal and attacks anyone heading towards the throne room.
Bryar[]
Bryar and his clerics summon the Darkthorn.
The Arch-Cleric of the once Holy Order of the Clerics of Lein, worshippers of the forest, who devoted their life in helping the poor and needy. For an unknown reason, the Clerics of Lein came to secretly worship Evil.
While maintaining a facade of benevolence, Bryar and his clerics are now unhinged fanatics who crave for Chaos and despise templars. They lead a secret plot to destroy the forest of Lein by offering it to their new idol, a vegetal demon called the Darkthorn. They aim to grow a “forest” of thorns that could drain the land's strength, enabling Belgaroth to spread his blight.
Murgrim the Cruel[]
One of Belgaroth's present-day vassals, Murgrim is the leader of a powerful tribe of chaotic beastmen settled in the Banarask Hills near Caer Skaal. When Belgaroth returned, he immediately pledged his allegiance to him. Murgrim is an ugly and overweight beastman with bluish grey furr, horns and hoves, who in spite of his size is a very skilled warrior who fights with a great axe. As his his nickname implies, Murgrim is cruel and highly sadistic, and spends his leisure time torturing his prisoners. He and his beastmen captured Celastrix, the divine bird that the player must rescue.
The Traitor[]
One of the lords of Ruddlestone, vassal of King Rannor, who secretly pledged allegiance to Belgaroth; the traitor was granted the ability to transform into a raven at will by Belgaroth and uses it to watch over the land and travel to Caer Skaal tell everything he learnt to the Dread Lord without raising suspicions. While posing as a noble ruler concerned by his people's safety, he is in fact a greedy and hateful man. He uses his raven transformation to watch the player all over the story and reports their progress to his master on a regular basis. Telling the traitor's name out loud in his presence while he is transformed breaks the spell and unveils his treachery.
Cadaver the Necromage[]
Cadaver and his Deathshead.
An ancient necromancer (referred to as a necromage) who singlehandedly turned the village of Myrton into a ghost town decades ago. The villagers managed to kill and to bury him, but not before his evil magic extinguished all life around. He is calm and falsely polite, but taunting, and while very powerful way too overconfident.
Belgaroth's blight spreading all over the kingdom rose Cadaver from the grave as an undead lich and he became one of the Dread Lord's assets. He uses his necromancy to raise countless undeads from the grave and he constantly sends them to attack the nearby village of Assart, empowering them with the sound of a cursed bell.
In Knights of Doom[]
Belgaroth's return[]
Few months prior, a huge vortex of evil energy appeared over the ruins of Caer Skaal, allowing Belgaroth and his Knights of Doom to escape the Underworld as living-deads. It was spotted by the court mages of Ruddlestone, but no one could know about the return of the Dread Lord, who was protected from detection by demonic entities. Considering all the people who started following him mere weeks after his return, it can be guessed that Belgaroth was brought back on purpose by his present-day followers, likely by the already corrupt Clerics of Lein.
Belgaroth spread his evil influence like a fatal disease, which threatens King Rannor's life and weakens the country, so that it could not be defended as well as before, and bidding Belgaroth enough time to raise another chaotic army. He then sent black-clad warriors bearing his heraldry to ransack the nearby towns on a regular basis.
Presentation of the game[]
As King Rannor and his advisors tell the Templars of Telak about Belgaroth's return, the meeting is interrupted by a ghostly knight sent to kill the king, who is destroyed by the playable character, Sir Evrain Peredur one of the most illustrious Templars. While the rest of the Holy Order is tasked to organize the Ruddlestonian army, the heroic Templar is sent to kill the Dread Lord before he can strike, in order to avoid a full-scale war.
The Templar must not lose their magic sword, lest they become unable to harm demons and spirits. They can also choose four among the Warrior Skills: Battle Tactics, Ride, Weapon, Target and Tracking, and the Priest Skills: Banish Spirit, Arcane Lore, Holy Strike and Commune, the first three of each being the most useful. There is a count of Time, that must never be wasted, and Honour, that must be raised to the highest possible number.
The gamebook itself is a very difficult one-true-path, in which missing even a single element can be disastrous, if not fatal. The Templar will have to talk to almost everyone (living and dead people alike); to visit many places and succeed in many sub-quests, while wasting as little time as possible. Moreover, they must gather knowledge and items, solve complicated riddles and win many very hard battles. The stronger they are the better.
The Quest in itself[]
The Templar has three distinct goals: to investigate on the many powerful monsters who appeared because of Belgaroth's influence; to gather clues about a traitor; to enlist the help of as many people as possible to fight Belgaroth's forces; and finally to learn the three parts of the "Tale of Sir Rhyaddan" to know where to find the magical, elven spear Aelfgar, the very weapon that felled Belgaroth and an ace against him.
Very early in the game, the Templar is targeted by the Assassin's Dagger: a powerful spell cast by the Dread Lord himself, which conjures a ghostly hand wielding a dagger that tracks down its target everywhere. If they can use the Banish Spirit, it gets rid of one of the game's major threats right from the beginning. Otherwise, the Dagger will attack them several times over the game. It has a level of power of 10 skill points, making it a powerful enemy, and cannot be destroyed in battle. Only the Holy Oil can dispel it and it must be disposed of it at any cost.
Upon reaching Cleeve Manor, Lord Taris Varen requests the Templar's help to slay a gigantic boar who is laying waste on his land. After it is done, they will be attacked by assassins. Also, but only if they have gathered clues about the mysterious activities of the Clerics of Lein, they can sneak into their temple. Bryar the Arch-Cleric summons the Darkthorn, who shrugs off anything thrown at it and can only be destroyed with a Witherwell potion. the Templar must then track down Bryar, and might fight one of his initiates while escaping the collapsing temple.
- Without a cleric talisman, Bryar conjures vines that impede the Templar and decrease their skill by 2 points. The Arch-Cleric is a dangerous enemy with 9 in skill (power) and 9 in stamina (life-points). When slain, he curses them to suffer a specific phobia.
Upon reaching the village of Assart, the villagers ask the Templar for help against the undeads of the necromage Cadaver. They must lead the villagers against the undead hordes, before venturing in the ghost-village of Myrton. If they destroy the cursed bell in the village's church, it weakens the undeads. In Cadaver's vault, the wretched Necromage sends his pet Deathshead, an undead flying skull with 9 in skill and 7 in stamina, after the Templar.
- Cadaver is a powerful enemy with 10 in skill and 12 in stamina. If the Templar suffer from arachnophobia, the lich's spider-like aspect weakens them by 1 skill point. If Cadaver strikes them twice in a row, they get harmed further by the maggots festering on the lich's rotten flesh.
The Templar can save the town of Carras, besieged by Belgaroth's troops, by destroying their deadly Juggernaut war machine, from the inside. They later meet their best friend and fellow Templar Sir Connor of Achenbury, mortally wounded by orcs, who dies warning them of that the beastman captured the divine bird Celastrix. Then, they meet forest elves and must convince the Forest Spirits of their worth, before fighting a very powerful Knight of the Flame with 12 in skill (the highest total) and 12 in stamina, whose blows cost 3 stamina points instead of the regular 2. In the temple, they will face several divine trials to finally obtain Aelfgar.
If the Templar took more than six days, they will be overwhelmed and killed by the forces raised and led by Belgaroth and his Knights of Doom, on their way to invade Ruddlestone. If not, and they gathered enough soldiers near Banarask Hills, their troops will fight Belgaroth's hordes of beastmen.
Murgrim, torturing prisoners.
It must be noted that the soldiers granted by Lord Taris Varen betray the Templar to fight alongside the enemy, and that they might face the very powerful Beastman Champion, who has 12 in skill and 14 in stamina and whose blows cost 3 stamina points.
Then they will have to flee when the beastmen's reinforcements enter the fray. The next task is to sneak into the beastmen village to fight and kill their awful leader, Murgrim the Cruel.
- Murgrim is a powerful foe with 10 in skill and 11 in stamina, but there are no special rules to complicate the fight.
With Murgrim slain, the Templar frees the divine bird Celastrix and enlist his help, before heading to Caer Skaal at last.
Caer Skaal[]
Before reaching Caer Skaal, the Templar is attacked on the battlefield of the Crusade against Chaos by none other than the formidable Chaos Champion.
- The Chaos Champion is fought on horseback in a knightly joust. the Templar needs the Special Skills Ride and Weapon (with a spear), for each missing Skill hinders them by 1 skill point. The Chaos Champion has 12 in skill and 12 in stamina. If he strikes them twice, he unhorses them and they lose 4 stamina points and 2 skill points for the battle, causing a dire disadvantage. However, if they have a spear and if they are the first to strike twice, it is the Chaos Champion who gets unhorsed, granting a bonus of 2 skill points that makes the battle easier.
Upon defeating the champion, the Templar finally reach Caer Skaal, which is being rebuilt by Belgaroth's followers. Entering the evil hideout by the front door is very dangerous.
When inside, there are many dangerous monsters and many guards that must by no mean be alerted. They must discover the Five Words of Power, an incantation devised to destroy Chaos by Savant (Belgaroth's court mage before his downfall), and get in contact with the ghost of Sir Connor to learn the final clue about "The Raven", the mysterious traitor. Then the last line of defence between the Templar of Telak and the Knights of Doom is the spectre of Morgwyn.
- If the Templar lacks a magic weapon, the game is lost. Should they use the Banish Spirit, the witch counters it and retaliates with a bolt of dark energy costing 4 stamina points. Morgwyn is a dangerous foe with 9 in skill and 9 in stamina. If she wins the first turn, she hurls a dark bolt (minus 4 in stamina), if she wins the second, she conjures evil spirits (minus 6 in stamina), and after that she fights with her ghostly touch. (If she strikes the Templar with it, she causes a loss of 1 skill point five in six times.)
At last, the Templar is close to Belgaroth's throne room. By far the hardest part of the game is now about to unfold.
The final battle[]
- Before even entering the Dread Lord's inner sanctum, the tree sap from the Forest of Lein is mandatory to destroy the enchanted wooden doors of the throne room, or else the noise made when trying to pry them open will alert the guards, who will kill the Templar on sight.
- In the throne room, the Templar finally faces Belgaroth and his Knights of Doom, with the Dread Lord talking to a raven (the traitor transformed). If they know the Five Words of Power (and survive the deadly forces they unleash) they stand a chance against the Knights. Otherwise, they get quickly slaughtered.
- The Words of Power will kill six to eleven (maybe twelve with the Holy Strike) Knights of Doom. Each surviving Knight must be destroyed in battle. They are all powerful and very dangerous foes with 10 in skill and 12 in stamina, who lose only 1 stamina point when struck and whose blows can cost 3 stamina points! The more Knights are slain by the Words of Power the better, since the Templar needs as many stamina points as possible for the incoming showdown against Belgaroth.
- Belgaroth uses the power of Chaos to corrupt the Templar, forcing them to win a difficult test of honour to overcome it. The higher their honour score, the less dangerous it is. A failure corrupts them and transforms them into one of Belgaroth's Chaos Knights, leading to a gloomy game over.
- Belgaroth hurls a bolt of dark energy that cannot be avoided and costs 5 stamina points. Using the Holy Strike means losing only 2 in stamina, but a Black Crystal Orb, it amplifies the Dread Lord's dark power and the Templar gets blasted to ashes. If they still have a healing potion, it is best to drink it now.
- Finally, they can fight the Dread Lord, who true to his title is a formidable foe. Belgaroth has 12 in skill and 17 in stamina; he loses only 1 stamina point when wounded and his blows cost 3 stamina point and 1 honour point, no less! Losing all honour points turns them into a Chaos Knight and sealing their fate. They need high skill, stamina and honour scores to stand a chance, but this is easier said than done. Fortunately, the battle stops when Belgaroth's stamina drops to 7 or less. Unfortunately, this is far from over yet!
- If the Assassin's Dagger was not destroyed, it will strike the Templar from behind during the battle and put a gruesome end to their quest.
- If the Assassin's Dagger was never vanished, it will fatally stab the Templar from behind during their duel.
- As the Templar is gaining the upper-hand, the raven flies away to warn Belgaroth's guards. Not having heard about him nor knowing his name means they get overwhelmed and Belgaroth himself lands the finishing blow.
- Saying the traitor's name breaks his transformation and unmasks him: none other than Lord Taris Varen. (Varen = Raven, he sent assassins after the Templar and his troops joined the enemy's side.) Reduced to an awfully deformed half-raven half-human mutant, he attacks the Templar out of rage. Such a state greatly weakens him, leaving him with only 7 in skill and 8 in stamina, but the fight allows Belgaroth to flee.
Belgaroth riding the Night-Mare.
- After killing the traitor, the Templar chases Belgaroth on the battlements of Caer Skaal. The Dread Lord summons his Night-Mare (a demonic, winged steed) and sends to battle them. This powerful demon has 10 in skill and 11 in stamina, but fortunately there is no additional rule and the battle stops when its stamina drops to 6 or less.
- Belgaroth calls his Night-Mare back to him and flies away towards his armies, leaving the Templar to deal with his guards rushing in. If they cannot summon the Celastrix, they get overwhelmed and Ruddlestone is invaded.
- Upon summoning the Celastrix, they must ride the divine bird to catch up with the Dread Lord and settle their score once and for all. Due to the thunderstorm that Belgaroth caused, they must win a test of skill or be thrown from their mount, plummeting towards a gory end.
- Belgaroth has no other choice than engage an aerial duel and hurls a dark energy bolt. Without Aelfgar, the Templar gets struck and fall to their death.
- With Aelfgar, they must test their skill to throw it and successfully strike Belgaroth. Otherwise, the Dread Lord's dark bolt strikes them and sends them plummeting to their death.
At long last, the Templar of Telak slays Belgaroth once and for all, opening a vortex vacuuming him, his fortress and his forces back to the Realms of the Damned where they belong, cleansing Ruddlestone of his chaotic blight. They receive the blessing of the ghost of Chivalras IX, marking the gratifying end of one of the hardest adventures of the Fighting Fantasy series.
Trivia[]
- Belgaroth is mistakenly referred to as a wizard in the back cover of the gamebook, despite being a Chaos Lord, just like those of the Warhammer franchise.
- Belgaroth and Razaak are very similar Fighting Fantasy final enemies: both are undoubtedly the hardest ever seen, both need an insane amount of knowledge and special items or spells to be faced safely (with an item that can spell the hero's doom), and both are formidable foes with special rules that makes them close to invincible. Belgaroth is less hard in one-on-one battle though. But in turn, the Templar must win many very, very tough battles and needs the aforementioned knowledge and items before and after fighting him.
- Belgaroth is also similar to two other Fighting Fantasy villains: Voivod the Waster and Mortis of Balthor, who are also powerful Dark Knights and Evils from the past, who need a magical spear to be defeated. The similarities with Voivod are stronger, as both are demonic Chaos Lords who control a formidable team of Dark Knights, and whose return triggers the appearance of many monsters.
- Oddly enough, Belgaroth shares his name with a planet of the Star Wars extended universe.
- Belgaroth's page on Titannica, the Fighting Fantasy Wiki: http://fightingfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/Belgaroth.
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 Villains
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Dark Gods Demon Princes of Titan Allansia Khul Old World Others | ||