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Skellige and Cintra shall stand ever together! |  | |
| - Eist, Template:Gwent standalone Audio version: | |||
Eist Tuirseach (d. 1263) was a Jarl of Skellige during the reign of his brother, King Bran, and Crach an Craite's uncle. He became the King of Cintra via his impromptu marriage to Queen Calanthe and, sometime later, he also gained the crown of Skellige. He ruled with his wife until 1263 when he was killed at the Battle of Marnadal during the Nilfgaardian invasion of Cintra.
He was described as being a sinewy warrior with a dark face, an aquiline nose, and white teeth. He was also, at least according to Queen Calanthe, noble, knightly, and classy.
Biography
Early life
Eist was born into Clan Tuirseach on the Skellige Isles and grew up with his brother, Bran, and at least one sister who later ended up giving birth to Crach an Craite.[1]
He was an excellent warrior and while his brother was crowned, Eist occupied the position of Jarl of Skellige, the main commander of the military forces.[2] He helped advise his brother, along with the druid Mousesack, and became a mentor figure for young Crach.
It's not quite clear how Eist met Queen Calanthe, but it must have happened after the death of her husband, King Roegner of Ebbing. They soon developed feelings for one another but Calanthe repeatedly refused the Jarl's proposals.[1]
Princess Pavetta's coming of age
In 1252, Eist, Crach, Mousesack, the famous skald Draig Bon-Dhu, and thirty seamen traveled to Cintra as legation from the Isles, with the significant four of them allowed to enter the royal castle where the fest was held. The chief goal of the Islanders was to ensure Crach's wedding with Queen Calanthe's daughter and heiress, Pavetta, to strengthen the alliance between Skellige and Cintra. Many others suitors however participated in the banquet: Prince Windhalm of Attre and his guard (Rainfarn), Drogodar, who sat next to Queen Calanthe with his lute, Baron Eylembert of Tigg, Geralt of Rivia (under the alias of Ravix of Fourhorn), and many other vassals from Cintra and its surroundings.
During the feast, he couldn't help but notice Calanthe was conversing a lot with Geralt (not realizing they were discussing business) and started to look annoyed, which didn't go unnoticed by the queen. A short time later, the feast was interrupted by a knight who introduced himself as "Duny, Urcheon of Erlenwald" and claimed Pavetta was his reward through the Law of Surprise for saving King Roegner's life many years ago. After it was revealed that he had a hedgehog-like head, Calanthe asked her daughter if she wanted to leave with such a monster, thinking she'd say no, but the princess answered yes. This outraged many guests and a fight broke out. Crach and Rainfarn grabbed their knives and tried to stub the monster, with the latter managing to hurt him. Eist, acknowledging that Duny was right, grabbed a chair and started striking the guards of the castle and Geralt, a witcher who was originally hired by Calanthe to kill the monster, took to protecting Duny as well. All the commotion upset Pavetta and The Force burst from her, sending furniture and suitors flying. In the middle of it all, Calanthe's throne, with the queen still sitting on it, went flying and smashed against the opposite wall, knocking the queen unconscious. Eist cried out to her and jumped on top of the queen to protect her from harm. At one point during all the commotion Eist, who'd once more professed his love for Calanthe, proposed to her. However, before she could respond, Geralt and Mousesack were able to bring Pavetta back to her senses and the queen demanded to talk to everyone involved.
After talking with her daughter and Duny, Calanthe realized her daughter was in love with the knight and she agreed to let them get married and, by doing so, unknowingly broke Duny's curse. However, she informed Duny he wouldn't become king of Cintra just yet and informed Eist that she accepted his proposal and soon there were two weddings.[1]
Reign over Cintra and Skellige
Sometime later, Bran abdicated his throne to his brother and Eist became the Isles' king, although only in title as the actual power was held by Crach an Craite, who had ascended to the position of Jarl of Skellige after Eist's coronation. As the king of both Cintra and the Skellige Isles, Eist represented a personal union of both countries.[2]
Despite ruling over a vast realm, Eist had little interest in governing so his wife handled it instead. As such, while he reigned for 13 years, he never truly participated in political intrigues and laws. However, his marriage with Calanthe was regarded as happy but, due to their advanced age, they had no children together.[3]
Death and legacy
Eist and Calanthe stood in charge of their military forces when the Nilfgaardian Army marched through Marnadal Stairs and towards Cintra. The Battle of Marnadal lasted a full day and night until an arrow struck through one of King Eist's eyes, instantly killing him. Calanthe then gathered her remaining troops and retreated to Cintra where she was defeated in what became known as the Slaughter of Cintra.[3]
Eist's body was later retrieved from the fields of Marnadal by his Skellige countrymen and brought back to the Isles. He was buried in a traditional stone tomb next to an empty, symbolic coffin for his wife as the queen's body was never found. Bran was then re-crowned as king[4] and the Islanders swore bloody vengeance on the Nilfgaardians, becoming their implacable foes.[5]
Notes
- In The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Eist was originally supposed to feature on a card in the Skellige deck.[6]
- Unlike the books, in The Hexer TV series, Eist died soon after his marriage to Calanthe, before the Nilfgaard invasion.
Gallery
References
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