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`Apr. 23, 2025` · [[Horseapple]] · #Fragment #Characters #Bannerlord
![[arenicos_coin.webp|right|200]]This coin is the only canonical depiction of Arenicos Pethros. It came with the mystery box sent by TaleWorlds to popular Mount & Blade content creators on YouTube. This picture comes from creator Resonant, and combines two of the sharpest frames from his close-up of the coin. [^1] This coin reveals to us one thing about Arenicos, he may have preferred to use spear and/or javelins over sword, or axe, on horseback. Javelins are possible, because while the above pose could have been done for the sake of clarity as in the silhouette, the pose is also synonymous with tossing projectiles like javelins.
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![[statue-webp-arenicos-maybe.webp|left|200]] I have seen this statue attributed to the likeness of Arenicos, and while for the project I have run with this idea, there is no connection in-game or in the game files. For example, this asset is called `empire_statue_bust_a` so there’s no clear connection between this and Emperor Arenicos. Furthermore, it is probable Drosios Neretzes served as emperor longer than Arenicos did and thus his visage may still don most statues, canonically Neretzes died in `1077` and Arenicos, presumably, became emperor that same year. In `1084`, the start of *Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord*, Arenicos is already dead. And so at most Arenicos could only have served for seven years.
> [!note]- Author tangent:
> Funnily enough, despite how clear it is now, I couldn’t tell for the life of me, what the hell the coin said. The letters looked either Greek or Latin so I tried translating the text but to no avail. In fact, some of the letters do not appear in either language, so I was incredibly confused. Then, no kidding, it was when I was showering that it clicked. The first part says Pethros, and the second, while difficult to read, has eight letters, the same as Arenicos. And so *‘x Pethros x Arenicos x’* then came into view, finally. I think it took me two-weeks to realize what it said lmao.
> [!custom-callout]- All mentions
> *Pulled from* [[3-companion_strings-(Bannerlord)]] — “The emperor Arenicos was very open to my ideas, and gave me leave to accompany his armies. But since this civil war began, commanders have become very wary - fearing that I may be a spy for one side or the other. I have had to spend my time in the library and not in the field, which is very discouraging to me.” — “I blame Arenicos and his so-called reforms. It saved him silver, but now our armies are just blown-up lords' retinues - toadies, farmers who have no business on the battlefield, a few good men but not enough. There's no pride and no discipline. No wonder that we're squabbling among ourselves these days, being mocked by the barbarians we used to rule.”
>
> *Pulled from* [[3-heroes-(Bannerlord)]] — “Penton Neretzes was the son of the old emperor, Drosios Neretzes, killed at the Battle of Pendraic. Emperors' sons usually inherited the diadem, but that was custom, not law, and the Senate chose the general Arenicos instead. Most emperors would then have discretely eliminated such a potential challenger, but Arenicos took a calculated risk in the interest of imperial unity, and kept Penton alive. The Neretzes family traditionally were part of the oligarchic faction of the Empire and Penton now backs Lucon in the civil war.” — “The southern third of the Empire is ruled by Rhagaea, widow of the murdered emperor. For her, politics is personal: all men want their families to inherit what they have, and if you loved Arenicos then you will support the rights of his heirs. Arenicos was indeed loved, and also there are some Calradians who believe that the endless squabbling and civil wars can only be overcome by a king, or, if necessary, by a queen.” — “Ira is the daughter of Rhagaea, one of the three claimants to the imperial throne, and the slain emperor Arenicos. At one point, her father appeared to be grooming her as his heir. But though she took well to military campaigns, she also displayed a wild side unbecoming of imperial dignity, carousing in taverns with other young aristocrats and even appearing in the arenas as a gladiator. She is Rhagaea's heir-apparent, but her mother makes no secret of wishing to find her a responsible consort to ensure the continuity of the dynasty.” — <-- Vetranis, older patriarch was a child of a traitor, was rehabilitated by Arenicos-->
>
> *Pulled from* [[3-lords-(Bannerlord)]] — <--ANCESTORS - characters who are dead when the game begins --> <-- Arenicos -->
> - (*Note*: Arenicos, I think, was supposed to be added to the in-game encyclopedia but was likely forgotten about)
>
> *Pulled from* [[3-module_strings-(storymode)-(Bannerlord)]] — “The Calradian Empire is in decline. Even before the murder of the Emperor Arenicos, the once united realm was torn by political rivalries. Today, those factions are in open war. Yet Calradians endure. They are technologically more advanced than their neighbors and their mastery of engineering is not just evident in their aqueducts, beautiful architecture and massive city walls. It also makes them experts in siege warfare.”
>
> *Pulled from* [[3-spclans-(Bannerlord)]] — “The Last Legion was created after the Emperor Arenicos abolished the last of the Empire's standing armies in the wake of the battle of Pendraic, relying instead on the archons' private retinues which were significantly cheaper and better at controlling territory. The Legion is made up of men who detested this change: they loved the old army, its standards and its unit histories and its camp life, and they blame the new system for destroying the empire. But an army does not hold together unless it is paid regularly, and they take contracts from imperial and foreign lords alike.”
>
> *Pulled from* [[3-std_sandbox-(Bannerlord)]] — “Emp'ror Arenicos feeling fine. Went to bed with a cup of wine. In the morning he was dead. Now his wife rules in his stead!”
>
> *Pulled from* [[3-std_story_mode-(Bannerlord)]] — “The city was in a state of panic after hearing rumors of what happened. Arenicos kept things from descending into chaos. When it came time for the Senate to choose the next Emperor, there was no question that it should be him. I loved him before as a man, but that day learned to love him as something more: what a gift he was to the people of Calradia!” — “The barbarians just kept coming and coming. I fought my way out with some loyal men, and made my way back to the capital. But I found that Arenicos had got there before me, and had himself declared Emperor. He always was a cunning operator.” — “Of course. I did not witness the battle, but my husband Arenicos spoke frequently of it.” — “I stayed with Neretzes until we were forced back to our camp by the Sturgian infantry, and then fought on the battlements. Eventually we could hold them no longer. I did not see what happened to Neretzes or to our banner. Arenicos got us out of there, and got us home. I did not respect Arenicos before, but that day I saw he was worthy to be Emperor.”
>
> *Pulled from* [[3-std_taleworlds_campaignsystem-(Bannerlord)]] — “Arenicos' Mules” & “Arenicos' Horses”
> - (*Note*: the above titles are two traits that can be unlocked in Bannerlord’s leveling system. These names imply Arenicos was legendary for his supply trains following his armies. Consisting of both high-quality mules or high-quality horses. This tell his a little bit more about his leadership skills)
>
> *Pulled from* [[3-std-wanderer-strings-xml-(Bannerlord)]] — “After Arenicos's so-called reforms, they try to maintain an army on the cheap, letting the rich run the show out of their own pocket. No wonder the whole thing's collapsed into a bunch of squabbling factions and we're mocked by the barbarians we used to rule.” — “I was part of the old Emperor Arenicos's Vaegir Guard. But the people turned on us after his death, and attacked us. Maybe you've heard the story before. There's a whole lot of us, spat out into the world by the ungrateful Calradians.” — “I'll tell you - what most people believe is a pack of lies. I was in the Vaegir guard in the time of Arenicos. We took our discipline seriously; we were proud of it. Then the riots happened. What I saw in {IMPERIALCAPITAL}. Even now it makes me feel ashamed.”
>
> *Pulled from* [[3-Travels-in-Calradia-(DLC)]] — “I did do one somewhat unusual thing about a year ago. This was the beginning of my stay in Vostrum, before the Emperor Arenicos died. On the recommendation of a fellow scribe, I wrote an informant's report for the Bureau of Barbarian Affairs.” —“She said she was glad that my report was a bit muddled. This meant I was truthful, and she might commission more reports from me in the future. But two months after that Arenicos died, and the Calradian-Empire fragmented, and I assumed that my hopes of a side career in intelligence work had been shattered along with it.”
> - (*Note*: it is never explicitly stated when the Empire shattered and when Arenicos died of poisoning. However, from these statements, and the assigned season at heading of each chapter; as well as the start of Bannerlord itself, we can develop an educated guess. At the time when Asaios first starts documenting his journey around Calradia, he is in either Late Winter; in February, or Early Spring; in March. Therefore, when Asaios says: *“I did do one somewhat unusual thing about a year ago.”* we can assume he means the previous March or February. Additionally, Asaios goes on to say: *“(…) two months after that Arenicos died, and the Calradian-Empire fragmented”* which places the death of Arenicos and the start of the Civil War in either April or May during Spring. According to [^3] [^2] one year in Bannerlord is 84 days, each season is 21 days long, and so 1 month is 7 days. And also, Bannerlord begins in the year of 1084 during early Summer on the 1st day. And so theoretically — at the very most recent possible date — Arenicos is poisoned, and the Civil War erupts, in 1082 of either April or May during Spring, exactly two-years and one-to-two months *before* the start of *Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord*. Asaios takes his journey around Calradia and finishes in Late Autumn/Fall of 1083, and the player begins their journey in Early Summer 1084. This means that Arenicos died and the Empire fell into Civil War 175 in-game days ago, at the very lowest estimate! Or 539 in-game days ago at the very highest end, during 1078, shortly after Neretzes death at the Battle of Pendraic in 1077! Personally however, considering the even-ness of the Civil War in at the start of the game, the shorter the time-frame between Arenicos’ death and the start of game, the more believable it is that Rhagaea, Lucon, and Garios are still fighting and none have been able to break the tie they seem to hold on one another)
>
> *Pulled from* [[3-wanderer_strings-(Bannerlord)]] — “I am fighting because the Emperor Arenicos named me, the mother of his children, as his heir, so that his daughter can become Empress in turn. The principle of inheritance - the people understand this, not the arcane rules of the Senate.” — “We will never have peace until there is an Emperor whom the soldiers love. What do they want? A leader who trains them hard, fights them hard, and rewards them generously. I intend to do that. The Heavens know I loved Arenicos. I shed his blood for them. But his dream of peace with our neighbors was moonshine. You can have war on the frontiers or war at home. I prefer war on the frontiers. Let the men earn glory, gold and slaves.”
>
> *Pulled from* [[3-world_lore_strings-(Bannerlord)]] — “Arenicos is a man of genius with one great flaw: he believes everyone understands him when he speaks. He thinks that when he talks for three hours before the Senate, the Senators have followed every word and grasp the urgency of what he says, not that they applaud because he is Emperor.” — “I am the daughter of the Emperor Arenicos. If I were his son, all the Senate would be tripping over their beards and walking sticks to swear allegiance to me. One day I will stand before them as empress, and they will give me their oaths.” — “Arenicos was a good emperor, all told. But if he indeed named Rhagaea his heir, and that is not just a lie, it shows that even the best of men may be seized by madness. The daughter of the former Padishah? How do we know she won't just serve us to her people on a plate.” — “I don't know if Arenicos really named Rhagaea as Empress, or if that's one of her lies, and I don't care. What I do know is this: I don't want this empire run by a Padishah's daughter. It needs a soldier-emperor. It needs me.”
>
> *Pulled from* [[Blog_42_Empire_Pt.1]] — “Twenty years ago, a general named Arenicos donned the purple mantle worn by the emperors, and placed the laurel-crown-that-was-not-a-crown on his brow. His military record, his diligence in rooting out corrupt and inefficient magistrates, and the confidence he could inspire with a single speech made him a popular ruler. He also had the gift of being everything to everyone. He rose to prominence as a man of the people and the army, but he also worked closely with landlords and led them to believe he might restore power of the Senate. He praised the Calradian republican ideals as the pinnacles of human achievement, yet married the daughter of a petty king from the lands east of the empire to shore up an important trade route, formed an elite bodyguard of foreign mercenaries loyal only to him, and turned a blind eye when cults began to worship him as a sacred monarch. He spoke of a revived Calradia but kept his council on the details.”
> - (*Note*: Arenicos could not have become emperor 20 years ago, as Emperor Drosios died during the Battle of Pendraic in 1077, 7 years before the start of Bannerlord in 1084.)
>
> “There was one shadow hanging over the reign of Arenicos - his reluctance to choose an heir. It was though he was casting around for someone who grasped his vision, but never found one. Traditionally, emperors looked in three places for their successors: their family, the elders of the Senate, and the upper ranks of the army. His one child, Ira, was a daughter. There had been ruling empresses of Calradia in the past, but Ira had a wild and irreverent streak. Her right to rule was championed by her mother, Rhagaea, Arenicos's foreign-born wife. ‘It is good for the children of emperor's to succeed their fathers,’ her partisans said.” — “Time was running out. Arenicos was getting older. He needed to make some sort of decision, and soon. And then, returning to his palace in the southern town of Lycaron after his latest victorious campaign on the borders, he asked for some time alone in his chamber to nurse a splitting headache; when his guard checked in on him a few hours later, he was lying dead in a pool of blood.”
>
> *Pulled from* [[Blog_43_Empire_Pt.2]] — “And of course we have a faction based on the Varangians, the fearsome Nord guardsmen of the Emperor, who in the tumult after Arenicos' death have formed a mercenary outfit.”
> - (*Note*: the Vaegir Guard are not a mercenary outfit seen in-game, the Skolderbroda may be what TaleWorlds is referring to, but it is said that the ‘Shield-Brothers’ specifically arrived in Calradia to assist Raganvad, son of a Nordic Princess)
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Project Character mesh:
<BodyProperties version="4" age="44.13" weight="0.3719" build="0.6188" key="000DE80800FC365B6C841D42135B6824ECBD8548CD718458CDE6EF55834ECD5403C967350C4DD5890000000000000000000000000000000000000000018830C2" />
```
>   <br> ![[encyclopedia_calradica.gif|center|300]]<br>
>*“A massive `Mount & Blade` wikipedia.”*<br>About [Encyclopædia Calradica](About-the-Encyclopædia.md)<br>About the [Project](Project-(Pillar).md)<br>About the [Author](Horseapple.md) <br>  
[^1]: https://youtu.be/4XkJa1yRKRw?si=Dm-w_eBgdzc5JKyo&t=321
[^3]: https://expertbeacon.com/how-long-is-a-year-in-bannerlord/
[^2]: https://forums.taleworlds.com/index.php?threads/year-length-slider-on-game-start.409741/