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Witch King
| NPC | Enemy |
- SCN: 奥托·迪特马尔·古斯塔夫·冯·乌提卡
- TCN: 奧托·迪特馬爾·古斯塔夫·馮·烏提卡
- JP: オットー・ディートマー・グスタフ・フォン・ウルティカ
- KR: 오토 디터마이어 구스타프 폰 우르티카
- Mentions
- Zwillingstürme im Herbst
- Episode 15 (cameo)
- Leithanien: Ember
- Terra: A Journey (mentioned and portrait)
- Kaifei (designer)
- Ryuuzaki Ichi (in-game art)
- K.I.A. (physical body)
- "Exiled" by Lich Arts (soul in Kargereich)
The Witch King of Leithanien is an NPC in Arknights. He is the main antagonist of Zwillingstürme im Herbst after previously mentioned in various stories, most notably Lingering Echoes, which also makes him a major character in the Spire Mirages story arc.
Background[edit]
Born Otto Dietmar Gustav von Urtica in the Terran year 919, the future Witch King had a remarkable beginning and was destined to become a great monarch bearing the epithet Herkunftshorn[note 1]. His family, House Urtica, had been a family of Casters and Originium Arts researchers who had studied at the Ludwigs-Universität,[2] the top university in Leithanien. As a talented musician, he personally studied 634 scores of Leithanian music within three months at a very young age. But the young man was unsatisfied with Leithanien's rigid political system, fearing that the culture the Leithanians were so proud of would soon bring disaster to the empire, as the nearby nations of Victoria, Gaul, and Iberia strengthened their military might. The Witch King once asked his hired mentor many of his hard-hitting questions about the nature of Leithanien, and grew furious when he could not receive a satisfactory answer. Similar situations only added fuel to his obsession: To ascend the "staircase" ever further, forever seeking greater and loftier ambitions.[3] One of the only academics to satisfy his want for knowledge was Fremont the Lich King, who he befriended in his student years.
Upon reaching adulthood, the young Witch King became the Kurfürst of Kreis Einwald, the Kreis of the Urtica, but he would only be crowned the Kaiser of Leithanien at age fifty upon being elected by the Kurfürsten in the year 969. In the first decade of his reign, he was a genuine ruler, bringing prosperity to the country through his extensive knowledge, hence earning his epithet "Herkunftshorn." He initiated drastic political reforms by centralizing the monarch's power and diminishing the Kurfürsten's role in politics.[4] He pushed for equal treatment between aristocrats and the commonfolk, and abolished the cruel treatment of servants.[5][6] He turned the capital, Vedunien (present Zwillingstürme), into a gigantic Arts device by remolding the capital's belfry, hence strengthening its defense.[7]
The most remarkable achievement the Witch King had ever achieved was his dealing with the Siracusan separatist movement. At the beginning of his reign in the Terran year 969, the Siracusan rebellion brought havoc to the remaining nine Kreise, and Leithanien was on the verge of collapse because the separatism violated the magical Güldenesgesatz that bound the districts together. Nevertheless, the Witch King performed an impossible task: amending the original manuscript of the sacrosanct Güldenesgesatz by "rewriting" incredibly complex Arts while keeping the pact intact. He removed the name of Siracusa from the constitution and then rewrote its scores. After the amendment, he formally recognized Siracusa's independence, ending an era of chaos. He utilized the military and the Kurfürsten's power to quickly resolve the domestic unrest caused by Siracusa's rebellion, restoring order in record time.[8][9]
During his early years of reign, the Witch King was seen as a "savior" by most Leithanians, further contributing to the country's economy and education through his reforms in order to preserve Leithanien's cultural consistency. However, as he consecrated his power in the Imperial Court to the point of becoming the first Kaiser with actual political power beyond the Kurfürsten, the Witch King gained a fair share of detractors, leading to a constant feud between him and the Kurfürsten. On the other hand, his methods for suppressing dissidents were extremist if not cruel. As tensions began to escalate, the Witch King used the soldiers and gendarmes who had previously assisted in quelling Siracusa's uprising as his secret police, and a series of violent and bloody executions swept across Leithanien. His public image as a monarch began to distort, and he rarely made appearances outside his Spire. The aura of mysticism surrounding the Witch King's recent actions only made his followers worship him as some manner of god.[9]
As years passed, the Witch King's ambitions began to surpass the mortal realm as the ultimate goal of preserving the "eternity" of his Empire began to take form. He committed himself to studying all manner of esoteric texts, from the studies of scholars to the ravings of lunatics. From the words of Fremont, he learnt of an extradimensional world separate to Terra, which he coined Kargereich ("Desolate Realm"). Through the phylactery he had borrowed from Fremont, he was able to ascend to Kargereich, where he stored his soul for further studies.[4] For the remaining 130 years he spent within Kargereich, he not only learnt of the existence of the Collapsals that could corrupt the mortal world; He was able to uncover the secrets of Originium itself. By forcing Originium to reveal the truth, he bore witness to a vision in which Terra was annihilated by its Genesis. Seeing the upcoming Apocalypse, the Witch King vowed to preserve the world for eternity by personally killing the Creator.[10]
The Witch King's ascent to Kargereich and his knowledge of the truth of Originium turned him into a different person completely; a vicious, draconian tyrant who sought to fulfill his goal through any means, at any cost. He confined himself within his Spire, and many who feared him began to describe him as a monster with ugly, twisted horns. For the remaining fifty years of his reign, his tyranny was marked by violence and atrocity, and the Kurfürsten regarded him as insane.[11] His tyranny was recorded in numerous stories, even the death of an entire town in the pursuit of an Arts experiment was commonplace.[12] He openly murdered his political opponents in various brutal ways, petrifying and carving them into statues of spiral horns that he erected in the streets as a public warning.[13] During this period, the treatment of Infected and Sarkaz drastically worsened as the Kurfürsten desperately sought more subjects to be given as tribute to the Witch King's Arts.[14] Nevertheless, his charisma had attracted a number of maniacal loyalists, many of which were benefactors of his early reign. These followers saw him as the greatest Kaiser that has ever reigned, and they were willing to carry out his tyrannical orders without question.
The Witch King's tyranny extended beyond Leithanien's borders as he sought to expand Leithanien's influence. He harassed the Columbian Union by aiding Bolívar's puppet regime in an attempt to target the Bolívarian warlords who decided to break away from Leithanien's control, resulting in Columbia's failed invasion and its stalemate with Bolívar.[15][16] In the year 1030, the expansionist tendencies of Corsica I threatened to turn Leithanien into its vassal. Not only did the Witch King respond by petrifying Gaulish envoys,[11] he personally expelled the Gallic fleet by creating Catastrophes to strike the Gaulish warships.[9][17][18] Unfortunately, Leithanien's pyrrhic victory came with a heavy cost, as much of its land became polluted by his Catastrophes, and the Witch King continued his tyranny regardless of the peoples' lament. By the 1040s, the Witch King's behavior became ever more perverse as he locked himself inside his Spire year-round, ceasing nearly all contact with the outside world. The nation's political power returned to the Kurfürsten, allowing them and other local nobles to handle affairs once more. Leithanien's cultural control began to loosen in his absence, culminating in the reemergence of many artistic movements that were considered inappropriate and meaningless during the early days of the Witch King's reign.[9][19]
The increasing dissatisfaction with the Witch King's tyranny following the Battle of the Four Emperors led to the Septemberaufstand of the Kurfürsten in the year 1077 and the rise of the Twin Empresses who slew him, cut off his horns, and demonstrated his corpse publicly.[20] But despite the end of his reign, his shadow still lingered upon Leithanien. His soul had long since ascended to Kargereich, and his loyalists firmly believed in the perseverance of his reign despite his death in the physical world. Such belief led to the rise of his cult of personality known as the "Witch King's Remnants," who sought to undermine the Empresses' legitimacy and revive the Witch King. These Remnants seek to bring back the tyrant by studying his forbidden Arts and acquiring his distant relatives in order to continue his bloodline that had been purged by the Twin Empresses.[21] Most commoners of Leithanien are fearful of calling his name, hence referring to him as "His Majesty" to avoid the taboo.[22] Artworks and stage plays that record his downfall have become common in the Empresses' reign, yet many of them serve as propaganda that serve to fully demonize the Witch King, and the Empresses forbid any neutral academic discussion regarding his reign. Many of the old, ugly practices of the Kurfürsten that were once outlawed by the Witch King were restored after his death, bringing instability to the empire.
Story[edit]
Episode 15[edit]
During Theresis's confrontation with Priestess, the Witch King senses something from his Pavillon within the Kargereich.[23]
Zwillingstürme im Herbst[edit]
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Notable Arts[edit]
Widely heralded as the greatest Caster to ever live, the Witch King held mastery over numerous complex Arts, achieving a level of terrifying prowess that has not been replicated since. During the Battle of the Four Emperors, he manipulated Originium and called forth Catastrophes that effortlessly wiped out the Gaulish legions.[17] A remnant of this feat still lingers over Leithanien in the form of a Catastrophe cloud atop Kreis Strumland, bringing harm to its populace and environment.[24] It was rumored that he had reached the pinnacle of theoretical interpretation, capable of dissecting and explaining any Arts-related phenomena. However, the results of his research were never officially published and remain unreliable.[25] As he had uncovered the secret of Originium, many of his horrific Arts experiments involved the infectious crystal. One such documented experiment involves remotely controlling the Originium shards within Infected individuals, turning them into Arts Units by accelerating their Oripathy.[26] He additionally created an Arts-based substance called "Black Fire", oft regarded as his "wrath" by his Remnants, that was said to be capable of devouring anything.[17] The Witch King's Arts are still pursued by his Remnants despite authorities banning any efforts to decipher the Mad King's twisted experiments.
Voice of Mundane[edit]
The "Voice of Mundane" ("Voice of Terra" in older English localization) is a kind of musical Arts in the form of melodies. Originally an abandoned score written by the Witch King in the past, it became a vessel that could retain his surviving consciousness after death, marking it as one of the possible ways for his Remnants to "resurrect" him. The Voice possessed various tones representing the different eras and emotions of his life, and its effect on the listener varied based on the tone.[14] It could only work on those within the Witch King's bloodline, posing a substantial threat to the Twin Empresses' rule as the resurrected figure could become their de facto leader under the Witch King's name.[27] If reawakened and completed, the "Voice" could potentially recreate his power by possessing its victim and turning them into a reincarnation of the disembodied tyrant.
Following his execution, the Remnants kidnapped surviving descendants of the Witch King's distant relatives and subjected them to experimentation. Led by Gerhard Hoffmann in an attempt to "resurrect" the Witch King through forced implantation of the "Voice" inside their mind, almost all of the test subjects would perish under the Voice's crushing influence, leaving Kreide and Ebenholz the only survivors. Kreide was implanted with an imperfect tone that leaked out constantly whereas Ebenholz contained a weak yet perfect tone. After the experiment was stopped by the Empresses' forces, the two were under constant watch by authorities to avoid the reawakening of their Voices. Eventually, Kreide perished under the force of the Voice.[28]
The "Voice," in reality, served no practical purpose in his grand revival. The Lich Fremont describes the "Voice" akin to a burp after a meal. After Kreide's death, the remaining "Voice" was extracted from Ebenholz's mind and handed back to the Empresses.[29]
Der Herkunftshorn[edit]
Der Herkunftshorn, also known as the Spire of Genesis and better known as the Witch King's Spire, served as his residence during his reign. Like many Leithanian Spires, Der Herkunftshorn was more than just a building, serving as an Arts Unit for the Witch King to numerous ends. One such end was the nullification of all Arts not his own within the vicinity, presenting an imposing barrier for the Septemberaufstand, with the potential to stop the uprising in its entirety.[17] However, Cora, then a humble servant of the Witch King's Spire, bravely modified the instruments of the Spire to create an opportunity for the Twin Empresses, turning the tide of the revolution and allowing the Kurfürsten's and Empresses' forces to breach the tower and kill the tyrant.[5] Thus, "the toppling of his Spire" has become a popular Leithanian term that describes the execution of the Witch King during the revolution.
After the revolution, the Empresses dismantled the Spire, crushed all its bricks, and replaced it with the Empresses' Twin Spires, a political symbol that served to erase the Witch King's tyranny.[30] Meanwhile, the Remnants firmly believe that his Spire has never left the mortal world and that it is the crucial key to revive him and "invite him back". By using the "Voice of Mundane" as their medium, they sought to summon the Spire unto Terra, as witnessed during the chaos of the Ludwigs-Universität incident. The Spire was soon crushed by Empress Hildegard, who claimed it to be a replica.[17]
The genuine Der Herkunftshorn was within Kargereich following the ascent of the Witch King's soul, and the Spire became synonymous with Kargereich, serving as the gateway to the chaotic realm. During the chaos of Stimmverlust, his Spire was seen within the dimensional crack above the Twin Spires. Believing that the Witch King's Spire was summoning them, all the Remnants present committed suicide to have themselves ascended to Kargereich.[31]
Following the banishment of the Witch King's soul, the Spire itself crumbled, creating cracks for the lurking Collapsals. Empress Hildegard voluntarily remained within Kargereich, manifesting a new Spire with her Arts that replaced Der Herkunftshorn as mankind's barricade in order to protect Leithanien and, by extension, all of Terra.[32]
Trivia[edit]
- The Chinese transliteration of his epithet, Herkunftshorn, sounds more identical to the House of Hohenzollern, the sole ruling family of the German Empire.
- Though the Arknights 1 2 3! comic strip featuring Ebenholz is not canon to the game's storyline, it is implied that the Witch King hates rock music, which is plausible since he himself is specifically a classical musician.
Notes[edit]
References[edit]
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