Gorōntoh Kōtele

Gorōntoh Kōtele /gɑ'rɔːntə kɔː'tɛlɛ/ (1803-1879) was a famous singer of lore, seer to Meerō Dolysoh and later a close confidant to Brone Forod. She was known as "Forod's slayer", as she was suspected of murdering many enemies of Forod. She also poisoned Olboloh Joleeloh, another singer of lore and seer, whose fame and influence she was jealous of.

Early life

Gorōntoh was born in Palased, into a relatively well-to-do family. Her parents owned several establishments, including one of the local smithies. Since the early age, Gorōntoh was interested in music and singing and quickly became known for her recitals of the Great Lore.

Gorōntoh began to perform in the region, although never ventured very far away and was mostly known in Palased, Qor and Seeved. At some point she met Olboloh Joleeloh, who already had legendary status, and began traveling with her. The two became a sensation and in 1833 FR arrived at Gaskal to much fanfare.

As a seer to the gole

Olboloh's family, originally from Koalderood, was involved in a generations-long rivalry with the Jumpelee clan, but this was not known to the east of Frooj. Deciding to use their influence to get back at the Jumpelees, Olboloh used the pair's fame and influence to pass on a prophecy to the gole that warned him of impending threat to the authority of Dolysoh and their religious claim to Gaajmas. Olboloh's plan worked and both her and Gorōntoh were made seers of the gole.

Meerō's campaign against the Hadeer was successful, and the Jumpelee clan was defeated. This also increased both women's standing in the eyes of the gole and their positions as seers was validated even further.

Olboloh, however, was always more famous and had much more authority out of the two, and the gole clearly preferred to deal with her, rather than with Gorōntoh. This made Gorōntoh jealous and she began to worry that she might get sidelined. She then poisoned Olboloh's wine, which Olboloh drank along with her son, and both of them died, ending the bloodline of Joleelohs.

Realizing, however, that she might not make it on her own and that she needs an ally, Gorōntoh told the gole that before her death Olboloh said that she was mistaken about Brone Forod and that he should stand by the gole. Meerō, shaken by the death of his trusted seer, desperately needed for someone to be his right hand, and Gorōntoh's message was exactly what he wanted to hear. Meerō went down to the palace dungeon and personally opened the door of Forod's cell. Porteek reports that Meerō was crying and asking Forod for forgiveness. Forod was then reinstated as Prime of the Royal Voice.

As Forod's aide

Gorōntoh's main career as a courtier begins when she helps reinstate Forod. She becomes his aide and helps him expand his power by systematically murdering rivals. Instead of using poison, she opts for an unlikely choice of a sword or an axe as the murder weapon. But her main innovation is organizing murders in a way that the body would be discovered only days or weeks later. This sometimes required her to murder several people of the person's household.

Gorōntoh's involvement in a lot of high profile murders was later deduced by Uroh Aabos Lorkyn who was secretly tasked with the investigation, but was ultimately unable to take action because of Forod's support of Kōtele.

Alleged victims

Uroh Reemoh Dedlos

Uroh Reemoh Dedlos was a pōntim who served in Meerō Dolysoh's court, serving as the principal of the Chamber of War in the Court of Ooron. Disappeared after a posh dinner organized at his mansion where he spoke of a trip to Lyst. Later investigation revealed that he never left his mansion, although his body was never discovered.