King Harlaus is the monarch of the Kingdom of Swadia. He starts as the lord of Praven with 1200 renown. He has no family other than his cousin's daughter, Lady Isolla of Suno. Even though he is old, he is a powerful warrior and at a high level.
Harlaus wears Plate Armor and a Knightly Heater Shield, thus making him one of the strongest NPCs in the game.
Even though the npc lords' behaviours are randomized, Harlaus often dislikes awarding fiefs to anyone but himself, though this can change as the player's Renown increases.
Stats and equipment
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Early Versions
King Harlaus as he appears in Culnmarr Keep in a very early version of Mount&Blade.
King Harlaus was the first monarch added to the game.
In version 0.202 of Mount&Blade the necromancer Akhad Thell attempted to resurrect and deify the dead King Harlaus, so as to bring forth a new era of eternal peace and prosperity, with the god-king Harlaus at the helm. When the player meets Harlaus, the King is still in his Undead form. Although one of Harlaus' undead knights originally invited the player to join his side, the conversation with Harlaus himself reveals that it was the player character that killed him in the first place, but this took place prior to the events of the game proper. After the conversation Harlaus becomes hostile, and the player must put him down. With his final dying breath Harlaus curses the player character, swearing to one day return again.
It is unlikely that the developers, who have stated their intention to remove the pre-release story mythos from the traditional series, will ever reconcile the character of this Harlaus with that of the one in the main series.
Conversation with Harlaus after he has been resurrected went as such:
- "You! I had not recognized you before... I remember now. You are that traitor who killed me in my sleep... You wretched demon! You disloyal dog! You dare to murder your king! I am your lord! Your master!"
- "You are wrong undead king. I swore loyality to another lord."
- "You've gone completely nuts haven't you?"
- "But you have failed... You can not kill a god you stupid mortal! I have returned to cast my holy anger on you and your kind. I will cleanse this world of your treason even if I have to cut down every living man woman and child."
- "King Harlaus! Look at me! You are not a god, you are just some stubborn undead king and truth be told, I am fed up with you. So pack your worm infested bones, I am going to send you back to your darkness."
- "Argh... This can't be.... Not again..."
- "Stop complaining for once and die will you!"
- "This is not over! I will come back.... Yes, some necromancer somewhere sometime will resurrect me again... Do you hear me... I am going to reign again!"
- "Not this time undead king. I will cut you to a thousand pieces and burn each one of them down. There will be nothing left from you to resurrect."
- "Damn you! Damn you! .... My curse on you warrior! Ancient ones... Dark ones... Hear my death wish... Feel my hatred... I, King Harlaus, ................ curse ...... this mortal... ..... Aarghhhhhh.... .................."
- "Uhm... I hope no dark god heard that one."
- "Mystical place... Lunar eclipse... Curse of the undead king..."
- "What can I say?... Guess I will just have to wait and see..."
Notes
- King Harlaus is one of the most powerful noble lords in the game as he has plate armor and a heater shield.
- His only family member mentioned is his kingdom's claimant Lady Isolla of Suno (his cousin's daughter, or cousin once removed).
- He is infamously known for hosting feasts during war, although it makes sense, since feast are used to improve vassal relations with their liege, that does not stop the fans for joking about this tendency.
- Originally, there was a bug in Floris mod, when, after raiding a Swadian village, all of the player's loot would turn out to be butter. The bug became a running joke with the community, tying into King Harlaus' constant feasting, and him looking obese while wearing his plate armor. This earned him nicknames such as 'the fat king' and 'the Butterlord' (a reference to Bannerlord). This was also further developed into the idea that Swadian cuisine is heavily based on butter, and that butter is the kingdom's main produce and export, among other things. TaleWorlds seems to have taken note of this, making an Achievement for Bannerlord in reference.
Gallery
