Takala
Takala was a Nightmen arena fighter and the acknowledged favorite champion of the Nightmen Arena. He was regarded as one of the best fighters among the Nightmen, and his name carried additional cultural weight: among Nightmen warriors, the name Takala was very popular, derived from a legendary giant figure in Nightmen legend.
Overview
Takala was larger and more ferocious than most human opponents. He wore leather armor over his shoulders adorned with brass beads, while his legs, arms, and head remained bare. Veins protruded visibly from his biceps, and his overall bearing was described as muscular and ferocious. He carried a long sword capable of conducting electricity, a feature of Nightmen Technology that proved decisive in his bouts. His blood was black in color, distinguishing him physiologically from human fighters.
The Name Takala
In Nightmen legend, Takala was a giant born too small who fell in love with the High Maiden and thereby caused wars between giants and men. The name became widely popular among Nightmen warriors as a result of this legendary association.
Role in The Blood of Giants
The Fight Against Babington
In The Blood of Giants, Takala fought Sergeant Darminder Babington in the Nightmen Arena. Before the bout, Takala drank a battle potion. During the fight, his sword sparked with electricity. He swung a hard blow at Babington that left his own torso exposed, and his blade was kicked to the dirt; he growled at Babington during the exchange. Despite this moment of vulnerability, Takala ultimately struck Babington in the neck with his electrified sword, killing him. Following the bout, Oyette considered that Takala deserved adequate preparation time before facing a new opponent, and James Gentry was scheduled to fight him in three days.
The Fight Against James Gentry
When Takala faced James Gentry in the arena, he again wielded an electrified sword and used his superior size to put James on the defensive, employing the same cornering tactics he had used against Babington. He was considered far stronger than a human opponent. However, Takala overcommitted to an attack, allowing James to kick dirt into his eyes. Takala stumbled toward the wall but recovered quickly. James then stabbed him in the side with his own electrified sword. The electrical impulses from the blade sparked on Takala and set his tunic on fire. Takala fell to the ground with blood pooling around him. His blood was black in color, not red like that of humans, a detail noted explicitly in the text: "Blood pooled around him, a black color, not the red of humans."
Characteristics
- Combat style: Relied on size, ferocity, and cornering tactics to overwhelm opponents; used an electrified long sword.
- Pre-fight ritual: Drank a battle potion before combat.
- Physical distinction: Black blood, visibly protruding veins, bare-limbed fighting attire with leather shoulder armor and brass beads.
- Weakness: Prone to overcommitting on attacks, leaving openings for a skilled opponent.
In A History of Rislandia
According to A History of Rislandia, Takala is treated not only as a historical arena champion but as a figure of foundational mythological significance to the Nightmen. The sourcebook places him at the center of the Legend of Takala and the High Maiden, which it identifies as the primary origin story explaining how the Nightmen came to exist as a people — that is, as descendants of both giants and humans. This framing elevates Takala beyond a mere warrior: within Nightmen oral tradition, he is the progenitor-figure whose actions set in motion the intermingling of the two lineages.
The sourcebook confirms the novel's account that Takala served as arena champion of the Nightmen Arena, that he killed Sergeant Darminder Babington in the arena, and that he was subsequently killed by James Gentry by means of an electrified sword. It adds no new detail to the sequence of the fights themselves beyond these points.
Takala in Nightmen Oral Tradition
According to A History of Rislandia, the legend of Takala and the High Maiden is preserved in Nightmen oral tradition and functions as the explanatory myth for Nightmen origins. The sourcebook describes this legend as accounting for the descent of the Nightmen from both giants and humans, with Takala and the High Maiden as the central figures whose relationship — and the wars it provoked between giants and men — gave rise to the Nightmen as a distinct people. The novel-based account on this page records the legend as involving a giant born too small who fell in love with the High Maiden and thereby caused wars between giants and men; A History of Rislandia is consistent with this in broad outline but frames it explicitly as an origins myth explaining Nightmen descent from both lineages, a dimension not foregrounded on the novel-based account on this page.