Fenn Jotar; Hero, Thief, King, Cursed.

[Raven_Bloodbane]

The Official Re-Publishing of my widely regarded and historically accurate thesis on Fenn Jotar for the Forums!

It's no surprise to many here when I say I don't like Fenn Jotar.

I'm not here to try and convince anyone of anything, but I'd like to explain how the character has come across to me, and how I can see the story develop in the future.  This is the Lore section, after all.  

Edit; updates to story cause changes in lore.  Will be marked as follows.
~~Parts which no longer occurred or have changed are crossed out~~
*New information added in is italicized*
Current version; Preludes 7 Hotfix 6

 

--Fenn Jotar's character based on lore and dialogue (from what I've gathered)--
    Growing up as the prince of these lands (Dendrit?  Midrathian?) while under Cassid occupation, Fenn Jotar at one point left his home and studied under the blacksmithing legend Kane, perhaps hoping to use his works to free his lands or perhaps simply as a method to forge connections.  Over his four-year apprenticeship, Kane forged the twin sun blades *Igne Mora and the other likely named Igne Sapphene*.  Perhaps sensing Jotar's recklessness, he never fully completed the blades, despite the prince's request to wield one for his homeland.  Eventually young Fenn's greed, ambition, or perhaps pride led him to stealing the ~~two unfinished blades~~*unfinished Igne Mora* and returning to his kingdom.  *Kane then cast the remaining blade into the fire and cursed the prince*
~~    At some point, he fused the two blades into one longsword called Igne Mora, though it's unknown if the theft of the blades or the desecration of the Sun's sacred image was what caused his curse.~~  Regardless, he was cursed to never feel the warmth of Mora, the bright orange sun.  Due to this, his great fortress-city, the Undercity of Dermak, was built underground to protect the remaining free people and fight back against the invaders.  Luckily, the mines had been shut down for many years so construction went unnoticed.  Eventually, Fenn Jotar succeeded in driving back the invaders and killing the enemy commander, freeing their lands.  It's unknown how long the city of Dermak was inhabited after the war, though Fenn Jotar himself could never leave it.  Even as a ghost, he is cursed to forever wander his subterranean home.  *The Undercity eventually became abandoned after several riots and mobs rebelled against Fenn's rule and the people moved back to the surface*
    The end of the Cassid invasion takes place nearly four hundred years before the Envoys (us) arrive.  That's a long time for a ghost to wander around and contemplate on what went wrong.  Who hasn't made a few dozen mistakes in their life.  However, Fenn Jotar's dialogue as I've heard it shows no hint of remorse about the theft of the blades, the betrayal of his master, or his desecration of a religious symbol.  Much of his dialogue, in fact, follows the tone of "oh woe is me i am cursed" but never acknowledging that he deserves punishment.  He arrogantly assumes that because he's the King, that he's exempt from such petty rules and regulations.

 

--Future story possibilities and redemption arc--
    From the start, I will say there are only two options I can see going forward if Fenn Jotar is going to have any meaningful contributions.  Redemption and Sacrifice.  Both of these options have various ways they could be displayed or planned, as I don't know the full story of the game and how much I may have missed or simply not heard.
    Redemption - I would absolutely love it if we could convince Fenn Jotar somehow, through a musical minigame (like Deora) or some other method, that he did wrong.  I'd love to see Fenn Jotar stand up from the fire, walk his burned and scarred body over to Tuvalkane's forge, and kneel down and beg forgiveness from Kane's Moonsteel Helm.  It could pair nicely into Tuvalkane's arc too, if it was revealed that Kane was actually watching over her from the Helm too, but I digress.  Fenn Jotar needs nothing less than to admit his mistakes and grovel.  Forgiveness is for the penitent, not the arrogant.
    Sacrifice - The other way Fenn could be used in the story (though I'm not a fan of it) is that at some point he could use the last vestiges of his power and soul to either block some world-destroying event, or destroy something important like a Skytower.  Technically he could find redemption through the final act of martyrdom, but I'm not a fan of it because it's more of a cop-out that he never admits his wrongdoings.  Also there'd have to be some reason he can still be found in dungeons.

 

--Conclusion--
I don't like Fenn Jotar, but that's just because of how he's been portrayed.  Maybe there's sides to the story we haven't heard, maybe there's some big dark secret being hidden.  The main point is that as it stands, his arc has not even begun and I really should hold off judgement until then, but based on what we know so far I believe he is not a sympathetic character and you should not feel bad for him.

*The argument that what he did is worth the cost due to how it drove back the invaders is moot, as the end never justifies the means beyond guilt.*

[ImBad]

That's interesting, I forgot about the two suns. I was just commenting on another thread about how fire is different colors. Campfires and torches depending on where you are and the enemy.  Some of the spirits in the swamp are also different colors. I wonder if there is a correlation to the suns

Edited November 15 by ImBad
There is also the exposed soul attack that is either blue, yellow or white

[Keysharpe]

I've seen the blue fire; I think it may have a strong relation to some kind of magic the Ode utilize. As for the exposed soul attacks, each one matches the color of courage, spirit, and grace. I'm not sure if this helps to power up those respective abilities or not, but it was an interesting find.