Obould Many-Arrows

King Obould Many-Arrows is a fictional character from the Forgotten Realms series based on the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. He was created by the author R. A. Salvatore and is featured in The Hunter's Blades Trilogy and Transitions.

Description

Obould Many-Arrows is the king of the Broken Arrow tribe. Obould is a large orc who is intelligent even by human standards. He wears a ridged suit of plate armor that is adorned with numerous spikes. In battle he uses a great sword enchanted to burst into flame at the wielder's will. His crown has four large rubies set into it each of which can generate a large fireball. His main shaman and advisor, Arganth, also made him a helmet shaped like a skull with a protective lens of the rare and supremely strong glassteel.

Considering that the blessings bestowed upon him have apparently calmed him somewhat, he has become able to see things in a far broader perspective than any orc before him. This has already led to some speculations as to a pending change in orcish society under his leadership.

One may say that he could be called something of a dreamer. For example, during many discussions with his lieutenants, advisers, and shamans about war and slaughter, he is often thinking about building his civilization and bringing peace to the forefront of orc society.

The Hunter's Blades Trilogy

Some time previous to his current conquest of the lands around Mithral Hall he managed to capture and for some time hold Citadel Felbar, which he had renamed the Citadel of Many Arrows. He lost this city due to infighting and the cunning of the original dwarven inhabitants who came to reclaim their city.

During his assault on the dwarven kingdom of Mithral Hall, he underwent a religious ceremony where he was blessed by the orc god Gruumsh, which gave him greater strength, speed, and intelligence (the strength of a bull and the speed of a wildcat), and made his name synonymous with that of the Orc god, Gruumsh One-Eye. In a display of power Obould manages to lift and throw to the ground a powerful giantess named Gerti. He is commonly referred to by other orcs as Obould-Who-Is-Gruumsh.

Obould also had a son named Urlgen Threefist, who was Obould's top commander. Urlgen was slain in combat by the Moon elf Innovindil in the novel The Two Swords.

In the book The Two Swords, Obould battles Drizzt Do'Urden in a vicious duel, and as of the book The Orc King, it is established that neither had won the duel although Obould seemed to have the advantage. The fight between Clan Battlehammer and The Kingdom of Many-Arrows is set at a stand still, despite some fighting perpetrated without the prior knowledge of Obould himself. This development finally sates the hunger for the continuation of the series, as The Orc King has been in stores since September 25, 2007.

The Sellswords Trilogy and Transitions

As of Road of the Patriarch it seems that Obould has withdrawn from Mithral Hall and has begun to secure what land he has already taken, calling it the Kingdom of Many-Arrows.

In the prologue The Orc King, a hundred years have passed and the kingdom which Obould created, The Kingdom of Many Arrows, has survived the years, establishing trade agreements and treaties with the surrounding cities of the "goodly races". At the current time a descendant of Obould, Obould VI, is in control, but is being contested fiercely by shamans of Gruumsh who believe in the old ways of being self-dependent and not being peaceful with the good races. They want to bring the time of Obould to an end and wage war once again against the dwarves of Mithril Hall. Meanwhile, the orc kingdom is also threatened by a group of men, elves, and dwarves on a merciless quest to destroy the orc kingdom and bring things back to how they were in the days of old. The reader may be surprised to find that Drizzt is siding with the orcs. This, however, only constitutes the prologue. In the first several chapters, the story is brought back to the situation as it was left off in the end of The Two Swords.

The situation as it is in The Orc King also furthers the growing desire for peace within Obould; this, of course, is only strengthened by the story of the prologue (which takes place over a century past The Hunter's Blades Trilogy), which obviously shows Obould's vision of the future as an inevitability.

Gauntlgrym

Obould is said to have died of old age in "Gauntlgrym" by R.A. Salvatore.

Other media

Obould is encountered (with the option of being killed) by the player during the events of Neverwinter Nights. Neverwinter Nights, however, is not considered canonical.

Reception

Publishers Weekly singled out Obould the orc king for praise, calling him "cruel" but noting that he "actually speaks of economics".^[1]

References