Episode 1

First Kingdom of the Burgundians: Gebicca, Gundomar, Giselher & Gunther

Quest for Power is Back! New music, new narrative structure, new host; same backstabbing bloody nonsense.

In this premiere episode of Season 5, we are traversing through the very beginning of the First Kingdom of the Burgundians. Hear how myth turns into legend and how legend becomes history.

We also get a guest appearance by our first ruler, King Alaric I of the Visigoths.

Protagonists: Gebicca, Gundomar, Giselher, Gunther

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Links

Website: https://thequestforpower.com/

Twitter(X): https://x.com/Quest4PowerPod

Email: questforpowerpod@gmail.com

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#france #burgundy #gameofthrones #medieval #darkages #king #monarchs #kingdom #monarchy #biography #history #historylovers #historypodcast #middleages #christianity #lore #podcast #royalhistory #historical #rexypod #houseofthedragon

Transcript
Michael:

The Roman Empire is tearing itself apart.

Michael:

Nightmares from the east are heading west.

Michael:

In all this chaos rises a new burgundian kingdom.

Michael:

This is the quest for power.

Roberto:

Welcome to the quest for power, where we are raiding and reviewing all european monarchs from the collapse of the western Roman Empire to World War one.

Roberto:

I am Michael, and if you didn't notice, I have a new co host joining me today.

Roberto:

And that is Roberto from Tsar Power and history of.

Roberto:

I cannot say it blank, Georgia.

Michael:

The history of Sacramento, Georgia.

Michael:

Happy to be here, Michael.

Michael:

Hey, everyone.

Michael:

I hopped onto this podcast.

Michael:

You can say it's a bit of an invasion.

Roberto:

Yes.

Roberto:

Yes, it definitely has.

Roberto:

I can't.

Roberto:

Can't thank you, Roberto, enough for helping me continue this.

Roberto:

This podcast was literally on the brink of extinction, and I was gonna have to do something completely different.

Roberto:

So I am very excited to continue this ambitious project that I have set out.

Michael:

Well, if there's one thing, it's that I'm addicted to podcasting.

Michael:

So let's.

Roberto:

There you go.

Roberto:

Perfect.

Roberto:

Before we also forget, I really want to make sure I thank Scott for helping me start all this.

Roberto:

I asked him out of the clear blue, and it was very more than enough that he helped me start this ambitious project, especially when he heard probably what I said is like, that's a long time, so I get it.

Michael:

Scott, you're awesome.

Roberto:

He definitely is.

Roberto:

Alrighty.

Roberto:

So kind of little background things of how we're going to continue forward in writing this season and future seasons.

Roberto:

I have cut out quite a bit of the historical analysis, and I'm putting a much more intense focus on the story itself, which is a significant shift in the current structure.

Roberto:

The reason I'm doing this is one the stories, to me, are the heart of history.

Roberto:

That's kind of being taken away as we keep getting more and more down the line for more modern historians, I've noticed, and I want to bring it back into focus of what these people would have felt like in their time.

Roberto:

So magic is real, dragons are real, goblins, werewolves, witches, because that is what they believed.

Michael:

They are real.

Roberto:

Yeah, exactly.

Roberto:

In the most b's stories, there is a kernel of truth, and often you completely miss that truth if you don't hear the story and you just write it off.

Roberto:

So that's kind of the excuse that I give myself for and putting in fantastical elements in the story because I'm obsessed, obsessed with fantasy.

Roberto:

In case everyone hasn't noticed by now, I am, too.

Michael:

And I promise I'm gonna make Michael watch the extended lord of the Rings at one point in his life.

Roberto:

Yeah, I've stopped middle of the similarian right now because House of Dragon is on, and so Game of Thrones is everything right now.

Michael:

So here's the thing.

Michael:

I've seen Game of Thrones.

Michael:

I have not watched House of the.

Roberto:

Dragon so better than Game of Thrones, which is probably a hot take, but I have really enjoyed what they have done with this show.

Michael:

Here's the thing.

Michael:

You have to get me to watch House of the dragon because I refuse to until fire and blood part two is out.

Roberto:

You know, that's fair.

Roberto:

And like, we, I know we want to do for premium episodes to like, do the kings and queens of Westeros, but at a certain point we're going to hit the Blackfyre rebellion, which I think is part two.

Roberto:

So we would have to do it and then we'd have to stop in the middle.

Michael:

Can wait for George RR Martin to finish a book.

Roberto:

Yeah, exactly.

Michael:

That's a joke.

Michael:

It's been twelve years, actually 13 now.

Roberto:

Yeah.

Roberto:

I don't even know the Blackfyre rebellion, other than some king legitimized all his bastards right before he died, which.

Roberto:

That's a fantastic start to his story, honestly.

Michael:

Yes.

Michael:

Which is why I'm so excited for part two.

Roberto:

Alrighty.

Roberto:

So to help you kind of follow along with this new narrative, I'm going to try and write the script in terms of scenes.

Roberto:

These scenes, though, can span anywhere from a couple of minutes of dialogue between his historical characters.

Roberto:

Two years at a time, if that's what it takes to kind of describe what's going on.

Roberto:

And then once our protagonist is killed off, we stop the narrative and we go into the rating portion of the podcast.

Roberto:

Since we're still a rexy podcast, like we, it must be done.

Roberto:

We will rate the kings, queens and other power players when they're killed off.

Roberto:

As I have said, only if they have, like, enough information to give them a rating.

Roberto:

There are tons of kings and queens where they're one line in the Chronicle, and that is it.

Roberto:

Especially when we go to Ireland, Scotland, England.

Roberto:

All of those early petty kings can't.

Michael:

Wait for the Heptarchy.

Roberto:

Yes, if they have enough information, we'll give them a rating based on, of course, royal power.

Roberto:

We will never get rid of that infamy.

Roberto:

And then instead of religious passion, we now have oath of devotion because d and D bardic inspiration and legacy.

Roberto:

And like I said, more the truth.

Roberto:

It's about the 80 20 rule.

Roberto:

Certain episodes, 80% of the facts are true, 20% is false.

Roberto:

It's up to you to decide which one and others.

Roberto:

It's going to be 20% true, 80% false.

Roberto:

I will give you the best information that I can get from the sources at the time.

Roberto:

But the sources at the time are awful and they have their own agendas that they're setting.

Michael:

Are you telling me that the chroniclers like to lie about stuff?

Roberto:

I know, I know.

Roberto:

Especially this one historian I constantly get in fights with.

Roberto:

You might know him as Greg.

Michael:

Wait, Gregory of tours?

Roberto:

Yes.

Michael:

That man can slander.

Roberto:

In this season, season five of the Burgundians.

Roberto:

I will get in a fight with Greg.

Roberto:

So you can look forward to that.

Michael:

I can't wait because I know nothing about other than that he's just a bit of a jerk, a bit of a bastard, just so to say.

Roberto:

I hate him so much.

Roberto:

I, but I love him because it gives us all of this rich information that we wouldn't have gotten otherwise.

Michael:

Oh, also, but people think I may be not a good audience member because I do history research.

Michael:

I do eastern european history.

Michael:

So, uh, you know, if it's past, like the Balkans and like the Czech Republic, I'm out.

Michael:

So it'll be fun.

Roberto:

That's good.

Roberto:

That, that's, that's not my forte.

Roberto:

So when we get over there, if we ever get over there, that we'll have to really, really be on my game then.

Roberto:

All right, before we begin, I have to catch up with some podcasts that have given their promos for us.

Roberto:

And the first one we're going to start with is autocrat.

Roberto:

They are a great podcast to pair with ours.

Roberto:

They go through the entirety of roman history all the way back from mythical creation like they do the greek myths as like the roman style and they end all the way at the fall of Constantinople.

Roberto:

So they are ambitious and a completionist after my own heart.

Michael:

I like that.

Michael:

I should listen to them.

Roberto:

You really should.

Roberto:

They're really fun.

Roberto:

And so without further ado.

Vince:

Hello.

Vince:

Hello and welcome to autocrats.

Vince:

I am Vince, one of the co hosts.

Vince:

And so what is autocrat?

Vince:

Well, we are a podcast that is going to be going through the entire journey of roman civilization essentially.

Michael:

That sounds nice.

Vince:

So roman civilization, what does that mean?

Vince:

Well, we are going to be going from greek mythology, the kingdom of Alba Longa.

Michael:

What is that?

Vince:

Alba longa?

Vince:

Yeah, it's basically the state that came before the roman kingdom.

Vince:

Oh, cool, cool, cool.

Michael:

And then the roman kingdom.

Vince:

Yes, the roman kingdom.

Vince:

The Republic.

Vince:

Then going through, you know, empire, what we call Byzantium.

Vince:

But shouldn't we'll get to that, listeners, all the way to Constantine Xi and beyond.

Vince:

So if that sounds like something you'd be interested in, feel free to come and join us.

Vince:

We can be found on places such as Spotify, YouTube, under the Handle autocrat podcast, on our website at www.

Vince:

Dot autocratpodcast, dot worldpress.com, or on TikTok, where we upload a few shorts.

Vince:

We hope to see you there.

Roberto:

Our very first king.

Roberto:

We're gonna jump right into it.

Roberto:

Of the first kingdom of the Burgundians is Gyuki.

Roberto:

I'm going to call him Gabaka, which is one of the number of spellings I.

Roberto:

This original spelling is G j u k I.

Roberto:

Yucky, yucky, yucky.

Roberto:

I'm going with Gebica because I like that so much better.

Michael:

Wasn't he yucky, though?

Roberto:

I don't know.

Roberto:

I thought, he's fine.

Michael:

Spoilers.

Roberto:

The problem with Gebica is he might not have existed.

Roberto:

I'm gonna say in the quest for power canon that he is our first king of the Burgundians, and therefore we don't have a beginning date to his reign.

Roberto:

There is no idea.

Roberto:

We do know that this king united several separate Burgundy tribes under one banner.

Roberto:

And I'm guessing it's through a combination of marriage and conquest as most.

Roberto:

What happens when you knight and tribe together.

Michael:

That makes sense to me.

Michael:

So that's.

Michael:

Yeah, he did something we don't know.

Roberto:

Yeah, exactly.

Roberto:

We're in that time of a black hole of information.

Roberto:

Speaking of that time, he currently rules a piece of land on the right bank of the Rhine river.

Roberto:

They weren't really clear on where the right bank is.

Roberto:

I'm gonna guess somewhere in Germany.

Roberto:

They're not quite in modern day burgundy yet, so.

Michael:

Okay, that's interesting.

Roberto:

During this time of rule in 395, King Alaric was raised on a shield in defiance of the Romans.

Roberto:

So we have that going on while this guy comes to rule.

Michael:

I heard he was pretty great.

Roberto:

Yeah, he was pretty solid.

Roberto:

He's definitely my favorite Visigoth so far.

Roberto:

Hands down.

Roberto:

Uric was fun, but Alaric, who just made life hell for the Romans, was a good time.

Roberto:

We know that Gebbica had sex at least three times with a woman in his life because he is said to have fathered three sons named Gundamar, Gehizer and Gunther.

Michael:

Gunther.

Roberto:

Gunter.

Roberto:

Thank you, Gunter.

Michael:

Gunter.

Roberto:

In 406, he decided that now would be a good time to invade the western empire.

Roberto:

Basically, the western empire is collapsing in on itself.

Roberto:

They're constantly in fighting, and I'm pretty confident this is with a bunch of other barbarians that they're coming across.

Roberto:

And then he, in 407, he caught the deadly case of no longer existing in late antiquity and died.

Roberto:

Oh, well.

Michael:

Do we rank him already?

Roberto:

We're gonna continue.

Roberto:

What we're gonna do is we're gonna do all of the kings together, because now you see why there's not much to go off of.

Michael:

So what we know so far is he somehow united the tribes.

Roberto:

Yep.

Michael:

He had sex at least three times.

Roberto:

Correct.

Michael:

He lived somewhere near the Rhine.

Michael:

Right bank of the Rhine.

Michael:

And he died.

Roberto:

He, uh, invaded Rome.

Michael:

He invaded Rome, then he died.

Roberto:

Correct.

Michael:

How did he die?

Michael:

Sickness or.

Roberto:

I don't know.

Roberto:

Come up with it.

Roberto:

What do you think?

Michael:

Oh, he drank from the wrong bottle of wine.

Roberto:

Perfect.

Michael:

It was actually the one that had gone sour.

Michael:

He hated it so much.

Michael:

Threw up to death.

Roberto:

Yeah.

Roberto:

Oh, that's.

Roberto:

That's not a good way to go.

Roberto:

Well, that's quest for power cannon now.

Roberto:

So we had a scold next.

Michael:

You know how to skull and crossbones on it for some reason, but, you know, whatever.

Roberto:

Yeah, yeah.

Roberto:

He.

Roberto:

He can't read.

Roberto:

It's fine.

Michael:

Yeah.

Michael:

Can't look at pictures either, apparently.

Roberto:

Yes.

Roberto:

So that is the life and reign of Gevica of House Burgundy, the first of his name, king of the Burgundians.

Roberto:

Like I said, normally, that would be the most anticlimactic episode.

Roberto:

And it's over, and it's like, why would you even bother?

Roberto:

We're gonna continue.

Michael:

Womp womp.

Roberto:

Once the mythical king Gebbaqa dies in 407, his three sons become the kings of the Burgundians.

Roberto:

This is based on a heroic tradition of several kings ruling together at the same time.

Roberto:

They each have their own armies, but it's like they rule as a confederation of kings.

Roberto:

It is not what Gregory of tours thinks it is.

Roberto:

He thinks that it is three separate kingdoms.

Roberto:

It's not that at all.

Roberto:

They do think.

Roberto:

Only the Franks do stupid stuff like that.

Roberto:

They rule it together, but as a confederation.

Michael:

Okay, so it's not like they're doing gavelkin, where it's like, you separate your territories amongst your kids.

Michael:

Correct.

Michael:

They get their.

Michael:

They get their armies, they get land, but they the angles altogether.

Roberto:

Correct.

Roberto:

Yeah.

Roberto:

So, like, they each have, like, their own, as we'll learn later on, they each have, like, their own power base from specific cities or towns that they're in.

Roberto:

And that's the most kingdom, like, separate kingdoms that they get.

Roberto:

And there is.

Roberto:

The older brother will get the more powerful city, because there's still kind of primogeniture in it.

Roberto:

But it's not like anything that is normal.

Roberto:

It's actually normal, I think, in the sagas.

Roberto:

I don't know for sure.

Roberto:

I don't know the sagas that well.

Roberto:

I need to, but it's called heroic tradition.

Roberto:

From what I could gather, the roost.

Michael:

Kind of do the same thing.

Roberto:

Actually, they do.

Michael:

They have those.

Michael:

They have a set of lands where here's the most important one, the eldest gets it, then here's the lesser cities and all that, but.

Michael:

Sorry, I should stop.

Roberto:

But it's just something similar.

Michael:

But they still fight for each other, so.

Roberto:

Correct.

Michael:

I'm so expecting the three brothers or the three burgundian tears to do that today.

Michael:

Just fight against each other to get land.

Roberto:

Yeah, yeah, we'll.

Roberto:

We'll have to see.

Michael:

Oh.

Roberto:

So while this is going on, my favorite visigothic king, Alaric, is being an absolute royal pain in the ass to the east and the west, roman empires.

Roberto:

And speaking of Romans, the three Burgundians kings allied themselves with the Suebi, the Vandals, and the Alans, forming what I will call the germanic alliance.

Michael:

The Alans.

Roberto:

The Alani, if you want to say it correct.

Michael:

Oh, no.

Michael:

I.

Michael:

I was thinking, there's a bunch of guys named Alan now.

Roberto:

That is what Totalis Rankium.

Michael:

I know.

Roberto:

He's like, yeah, there's Alan.

Michael:

But now.

Michael:

But now that I'm in this scene, I'm like, yeah, this is what I'm seeing now.

Michael:

I'm like, great.

Michael:

That's all I hear.

Michael:

It's like, oh, there's a bunch of guys named Alan in a tribe.

Roberto:

Yeah, sorry, the Alani.

Roberto:

I'll be better.

Michael:

No, no, it's funny.

Michael:

You just say Alan's.

Michael:

I'm sorry.

Roberto:

One of these kings in the alliance is our previous Vandal, king, Gundarek, who is the father of Geyser the cruel.

Roberto:

So our kingdoms are starting to form together already and interlock, which is the one main reason I did the podcast this way.

Roberto:

So I really find that fascinating.

Michael:

Yeah, everything's starting to mesh together, you see, like, oh, yeah, I've heard about the vandals.

Michael:

I've heard about these guys.

Michael:

Oh, everyone's coming together now.

Michael:

Oh, the storylines are converging.

Roberto:

Yeah.

Roberto:

And you start to get a more clear picture.

Roberto:

Every king you continue into, you're like, oh, so that's why they did that.

Roberto:

And then all that makes sense.

Roberto:

Nothing's in a vacuum, but it's hard to tell a story without some sort of vacuum and cutting stuff out.

Roberto:

The Germans were quite aware how vulnerable Rome frontier forces were, so they seized the opportunity.

Roberto:

They attacked defense, and they absolutely steamrolled their way through what were called borders of the Rhineland.

Roberto:

But let's face it, they were struggling at best to hold the line.

Michael:

You can't contain me.

Roberto:

Yeah, exactly.

Roberto:

The thing is, invading is one thing.

Roberto:

It is a whole other thing to hold conquered lands.

Roberto:

And in order to do this, the alliance had to now engage in this psychotic mess of the roman politics.

Roberto:

So they had to get themselves involved into this disaster.

Michael:

I wouldn't touch that with a ten foot pole during this.

Roberto:

No, no.

Roberto:

I would have been like, no, I'm good.

Roberto:

I'm.

Roberto:

No, I want to sit here.

Michael:

Just.

Michael:

Just give me the money.

Michael:

I'll leave.

Michael:

Oh, you have nothing?

Michael:

Damn.

Roberto:

Yeah, that was probably.

Roberto:

They were like, well, you don't got anything?

Roberto:

Damn it.

Michael:

Does the east have anything?

Roberto:

Yeah.

Roberto:

The three brothers put support behind a roman gallic aristocrat named Jovian or Jovinus in his bid as emperor.

Roberto:

This was over in Gaul.

Roberto:

He was a gallic aristocrat, so he.

Roberto:

I think this was also during Alaric's episode.

Roberto:

If not, it was Atolf's episode, when jovian kind of came into the picture.

Roberto:

Mm hmm.

Roberto:

In exchange for their support, Jovian granted the Burgundians the land around the modern day city.

Roberto:

Worms in Germany.

Roberto:

Is that how you say it?

Roberto:

It's spelled worms.

Roberto:

Oh, I see.

Roberto:

Okay.

Roberto:

Forms in Germany.

Michael:

Almost a bit of a language nerd.

Michael:

Guys, I'm sorry.

Roberto:

No, perfect.

Roberto:

That I have.

Roberto:

I stumble across so many different languages in this.

Roberto:

So.

Roberto:

No, that's great.

Roberto:

It is at this point in the confederation of the Burgundians, now known as the kingdom of Worms.

Roberto:

In 411, one of the kings, Gundamore, falls victim to this thing known as death.

Michael:

How did he die, Michael?

Roberto:

I'm going to say in the quest for power cannon that he was cut down in battle while fighting alongside the pretender Jovinus.

Roberto:

There is no evidence to back that up.

Roberto:

It is just covered in worms with the time.

Roberto:

Yes.

Roberto:

So that is the life and reign of Gundamar of House Burgundy, the first of his name, king of Worms.

Roberto:

Literally.

Roberto:

Now, two to go.

Michael:

Man, this is going by quick.

Roberto:

Yeah, it is.

Roberto:

The two remaining burgundian kingdoms continue the fight on the side of the pretender emperor Jovinus in southern Gaul.

Roberto:

However, in 413, Jovenus was defeated, and his head was sent to honoris to be displayed in Ravenna.

Michael:

Wow, that's.

Roberto:

Yeah.

Roberto:

Yeah.

Roberto:

I always wonder.

Roberto:

He was all the way in gall, right?

Roberto:

How do you keep the head, like, from rotting away in that trip from gall all the way to Ravenna?

Michael:

Probably ice from the mountains.

Roberto:

Oh, I guess I could see that.

Roberto:

Yeah, they go through the alps.

Roberto:

Okay.

Michael:

You know what they say, don't lose your head.

Michael:

Hey, where is it?

Roberto:

That reminds me of the don't lose your head song from six, the musical about King Henry's wives.

Michael:

I've never.

Roberto:

King Henry the 8th.

Roberto:

Oh, it is so good.

Roberto:

I love it so much.

Roberto:

I listen to it all the time.

Roberto:

You would think that being on the losing side of a war, especially with the Romans, is going to spell disaster for the Burgundians.

Roberto:

And normally you'd be correct.

Roberto:

They generally don't.

Roberto:

They're pretty unkind to people.

Roberto:

They would consider helping usurpers and things like that out.

Roberto:

But the Romans have enough internal problems right now that they can't afford to deal with the burgundian kingdom.

Michael:

Hey, that guy just won a battle.

Michael:

Let's make him emperor.

Roberto:

Exactly.

Roberto:

They're dealing with that issue right now.

Roberto:

So a treaty is being drawn up between the house of Burgundy and the western roman empire.

Roberto:

The Burgundians were allowed to exist.

Roberto:

Exist on the land given to them by Jovenus in return for essentially becoming the foedorati or a roman vassal state, is the way I would basically say what they are.

Michael:

Confederation thing.

Roberto:

Yeah.

Michael:

Okay.

Roberto:

And then around the year 430, terrifying news was coming from the east.

Roberto:

There was a force of unstoppable onslaught of death and destruction that was headed their way.

Roberto:

Refugees carried stories that were the stuff of nightmares.

Roberto:

Entire cities were ravaged, burned and wiped from existence.

Roberto:

Men were being slaughtered in the streets while these hunnic beasts forced themselves upon the women and the girls before they were chained and sold into slavery.

Michael:

Oh, no, that's terrifying.

Roberto:

Yeah.

Roberto:

This destructive force known as the Huns is actually what inspired the army of the dead in Game of Thrones.

Roberto:

I believe I talked about this in Attila the Huns episode, but Dothraki Horde?

Michael:

Yeah.

Roberto:

No, not the Dothraki horde.

Roberto:

That's the Mongols.

Roberto:

This is the army of the dead.

Roberto:

And Attila being the Night king.

Michael:

Oh, now I get it.

Michael:

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Roberto:

Think about it with.

Roberto:

So the reason that is so much is much like the wild folk in Game of Thrones, the Burgundians and all of those other germanic tribes are getting intense pressure from the Huns that are displacing just massive swaths of population.

Roberto:

And as a result, they have to either try and kill Romans and take their land or be wiped out by this oncoming Horde.

Michael:

Yeah, okay, I get that now.

Michael:

So a title of the Hun is causing some issues and making people move, and that's causing issues.

Michael:

The romance is like, who are these barbarians?

Michael:

We're fleeing from a bigger person that we're more scared of than you.

Michael:

So get out of the way.

Michael:

This is my house now.

Roberto:

Yeah, yeah, exactly.

Roberto:

And what really sucks for a lot of these germanic kingdoms is they're in no man's land.

Roberto:

They're between this unstoppable force that is coming at them and this unmovable object that is kind of starting to crack of the roman empire.

Roberto:

But that would just be a terrifying position to be in.

Michael:

Yeah, I can see.

Michael:

And I can see who are the hedge by bets on, like, oh, this guy's actually winning.

Michael:

And we've actually won a few battles and they have issues.

Michael:

Let's go to the Romans because at least we can get them to deal with us.

Roberto:

Yeah, exactly.

Michael:

They're not actively burning everything down other than themselves.

Roberto:

Yeah, they.

Roberto:

They had their heyday and burning everything down.

Roberto:

They're.

Roberto:

They're done with that now.

Roberto:

Unfortunately for the Romans, they did not have a magical ice wall that kept out unnatural forces.

Roberto:

So in order to get the hell out of the way of this oncoming storm, the Burgundians attacked the roman province and Belisia Prima, which is the land around modern day trier in Germany.

Roberto:

So in 435, the Burgundians were defeated in battle by an actual competent roman general named Aetius.

Roberto:

Pretty rare.

Michael:

Was he made emperor, too?

Roberto:

No, and I believe it's because he is part germanic and therefore roman enough.

Roberto:

And he is.

Roberto:

I don't think he's quite the power behind the throne, but he's damn close.

Roberto:

I don't think it's quite yet that that's around.

Roberto:

He might have been, but still a call.

Roberto:

Still was okay for during, during Alaric's time, but he was killed during Alex reign.

Roberto:

We're way past Alaric now.

Roberto:

We're in atolf time.

Roberto:

I think it's 435.

Roberto:

I don't have my map up, but.

Michael:

So best boy Silico is dead.

Roberto:

Actually, during around this time in 435, we have Theodoric the first.

Roberto:

He.

Roberto:

I don't remember what we did with him.

Roberto:

I'm pretty confident he was just a standard king because I don't remember hating him and I don't remember loving him.

Michael:

I don't remember either.

Michael:

I just did all the episodes and it was just a lot all at once.

Michael:

And I'm like, oh, yeah, I retained, like, the cool bits, but now I remember what the rankings were.

Roberto:

Yeah, that was over a year ago for me, so I just barely.

Roberto:

He was.

Roberto:

He was fine.

Roberto:

Even though, again, this is not confirmed.

Roberto:

I'm going to go ahead and say the quest for power cannon records that the burgundian king Geisler was slain in battle.

Michael:

He got impaled by a spear and then got his head crushed by a horse.

Roberto:

I love it.

Roberto:

Perfect.

Michael:

I'm a very gruesome person.

Roberto:

I.

Roberto:

We're gonna do a lot of gruesome things in this podcast, so that's good.

Roberto:

History is unkind.

Roberto:

That is the life and reign of Geisler of House Burgundy, the first of his name, king of worms.

Roberto:

Alrighty, we have one king remaining game.

Roberto:

Gunter.

Michael:

Gunther.

Michael:

Gunter, Gunter.

Roberto:

Give you an idea of what the Romans are dealing with at this point in history.

Roberto:

The vandal king, Geysrich the cruel, one of my favorite kings we have ever done, is being an absolute menace in northern africa right now.

Roberto:

And Theodorek the first, hey, I have it on here on my notes, is constantly waging war on and again and off again with the Romans.

Michael:

So I'm just letting you know that I'm imagining this king as a penguin because of adventure time.

Michael:

So Gunter is just.

Michael:

The king of Worms is just a penguin from adventure time to me, I.

Roberto:

Guess he eats birds.

Roberto:

I mean, he's a bird, so he could eat worms, even though penguins I don't think do, but fish, because it's.

Michael:

Gonna be worm like wormints of the sea.

Michael:

Mm hmm.

Roberto:

Certain ones.

Roberto:

We know that Gunther had sex at least twice in his life with a woman since he father two sons that are named Gundiak and Kilbrick.

Roberto:

During some point in his life.

Roberto:

In 436, Gunther was made aware that he had some unwanted guests.

Roberto:

Roman general, atheists, was like, I'm back.

Roberto:

Except he had.

Roberto:

Except he had a bunch of hunnic mercenaries with them.

Roberto:

The roman force attacked Gunther's forces with cold vengeance and obliterated the burgundian kingdom.

Roberto:

Gunther and many Burgundians were slain in the vicious assault.

Roberto:

It was borderline genocide.

Roberto:

That is the end of the shortly lived kingdom of Worms and the tragic reign of Gunther of House Burgundy, the first of his name.

Roberto:

King of Worms.

Michael:

No, not the penguin I know.

Roberto:

So.

Michael:

But first of his name.

Michael:

So there could be other ones.

Roberto:

There could be.

Roberto:

Okay, so that's, uh, that's what we have.

Roberto:

I will say that we are not done with the Burgundians.

Roberto:

Two princes that we mentioned that he fathered somehow survived.

Michael:

Somehow, somehow.

Michael:

Somehow their mom took them into, like, a small cave and fed them to the wolves.

Michael:

Wait.

Roberto:

Yeah, there you go.

Roberto:

No, not.

Michael:

The wolves fed them.

Michael:

Yeah.

Roberto:

Yeah.

Roberto:

The wolves fed them and nursed them to health.

Roberto:

All right, are you ready to rank all four of these guys at once?

Roberto:

We're completely breaking with rexy tradition on your first episode.

Roberto:

So are you ready to rank an entire kingdom in day one?

Michael:

I'm ready.

Roberto:

Alrighty.

Michael:

Royal power.

Roberto:

How well did they acquire, wield, and maintain power?

Roberto:

How long do you think this first kingdom of the Burgundians lasted?

Michael:

At least, I'd say around 30 years.

Roberto:

Holy crap.

Roberto:

So we don't know exactly when Gabaka formed the kingdom, but he died around 407.

Roberto:

Gunther was slain in 437, so 30 plus years.

Michael:

Hey.

Roberto:

Love it for the good intention works.

Roberto:

It does.

Roberto:

Gebika united several smaller, separate kingdoms under one banner.

Roberto:

They seized the opportunity to establish themselves as a vassal kingdom within the empire, and they were able to kind of hold their own against Rome for a time.

Roberto:

Yes, Rome was tearing itself apart, but that's still pretty good.

Roberto:

Rome has still got a formidable army.

Roberto:

Like, we can't understate that enough.

Roberto:

Like, Rome is just their logistics are always superior, and logistics are what win wars.

Michael:

They're the.

Michael:

Still the big kid on the block.

Michael:

They may be having a bunch of issues, but, like, you mess with Rome, and especially as a smaller nation, so.

Roberto:

Yeah.

Michael:

Yeah.

Michael:

Oh, yeah.

Michael:

They're struggling.

Michael:

I can do some.

Michael:

I can put in some pot shots, but if they pay attention to me, I'm fucking screwed.

Roberto:

Yeah.

Michael:

Chris Ford.

Roberto:

There you go.

Roberto:

You can say all the ones you want.

Michael:

Yeah.

Michael:

So I can see there's, like, some good having lasted that long.

Michael:

But they did get crushed at the end.

Roberto:

I was gonna say the bad.

Roberto:

They were pushed around like everyone else by the Huns, so they had no agency there, and they got absolutely annihilated.

Roberto:

Obliterated.

Roberto:

There's nothing left by the Romans.

Michael:

Yeah, it's.

Michael:

It's nothing good.

Michael:

And we don't really have much information for, like, what they did, because all I kept hearing is like, yeah, they built something up, and then they got.

Michael:

They got destroyed.

Michael:

They got destroyed.

Michael:

They got destroyed.

Michael:

I'm like, oh, not a fun time.

Roberto:

Yeah, yeah.

Roberto:

No, it was not the strongest of starts for the kingdom.

Michael:

Mm hmm.

Michael:

But, yeah, so I get it.

Michael:

So I think I'm gonna give him, like, a three.

Roberto:

Three.

Michael:

Because it's like you said, the kingdom was destroyed after this, right?

Michael:

No, two princes.

Michael:

Yeah, yeah.

Roberto:

This is called.

Roberto:

Yeah, but this kingdom is called the first kingdom of the Burgundians.

Roberto:

This season is the burgundian kingdoms.

Michael:

Oh, plural, plural, plural, plural.

Michael:

Okay, so I get that now.

Roberto:

So because the kingdom is gone, it's.

Roberto:

Yes, there's nothing left.

Michael:

So I'm giving them a point for building up the kingdom from, like, a bunch of small tribes, getting them together.

Roberto:

Yeah.

Michael:

You know, another point for doing the Federati thing with the Romans, because that's a smart play to survive and get.

Michael:

And it opens up trade with the Romans and then, you know, an extra point just because it's the first kingdom of the federal.

Michael:

And, um.

Michael:

But they got their asses wiped by the.

Michael:

By the Romans and the Huns.

Michael:

So then I get too much more for me.

Roberto:

Yeah, the bad's really bad, and the good is.

Roberto:

It's solid.

Roberto:

Oh, so you said three?

Michael:

Yeah.

Michael:

I can feel like you're getting even lower.

Roberto:

I'm gonna be harsh.

Roberto:

I'm going one.

Michael:

Okay, that's fine.

Michael:

You know, that's a four for royal power.

Michael:

Infamy.

Roberto:

What are they infamous for?

Roberto:

It doesn't have to be true or not.

Roberto:

I haven't come across anything that I would deem infamous.

Roberto:

Did you see anything?

Michael:

I don't know.

Michael:

Zero.

Roberto:

Zero?

Michael:

That's a zero for infamy.

Michael:

Oath of devotion.

Roberto:

How devoted were they to their faith?

Roberto:

They were just trying to survive while the world around them is going to hell.

Roberto:

There's no time for devotion to the church.

Roberto:

I will say there is a solid chance that they are nicene christians.

Roberto:

We don't know for sure, but there's a solid chance.

Michael:

I mean, but we don't know.

Roberto:

So they also could be aryan christians.

Michael:

Oh, heretics.

Michael:

Oh, no.

Roberto:

They could be either or.

Roberto:

And there's, we don't know.

Michael:

Zero for me.

Roberto:

Yeah, zero.

Michael:

Oathbreaker bardic inspiration.

Roberto:

So should myths, legends be made about their life and death?

Roberto:

Inspiration for, like, entertainment?

Roberto:

These kings, to me, are textbook lore founder kings that you could see in a novel that, like, the first kingdom that was destroyed, you can kind of see that, like, in the lore of, like, a video game or a fantasy novel.

Roberto:

The other thing is, all of these kings are in the norse sagas, poems, or completely other germanic myths and legends that they don't exactly match their historical character at all.

Roberto:

I couldn't.

Roberto:

If I could, I would have synthesized them together with the historical to make tell a complete story.

Roberto:

But it's just far off.

Roberto:

Like, I can't even do that.

Roberto:

So they're kind of already larger than life at a pretty early time in history.

Roberto:

An example of, like, what I'm talking about.

Roberto:

Is our last king, Gunther, Gunter.

Michael:

Gunter.

Roberto:

Met his death at Attila the Hun's court, which is completely different than Atis wiping about.

Michael:

Yeah, that makes it sound so much cooler that he was, like, captured by Attila.

Michael:

However, I don't, basically, the way, it's like how you said at the beginning, I see this as a blurb in a video game, a side note in, like, a history book or even a footnote.

Michael:

This is something that, okay, this is how it got started, and it disappeared.

Michael:

This isn't something that I would see that this is worthy to be written more about than just a, this happened.

Michael:

This is, you know, it happened.

Michael:

Another gun.

Michael:

It didn't last long enough for me to want to make something special out of it other than just a it happened, it's gone.

Michael:

Oh, what were we talking about?

Michael:

Kind of thing.

Roberto:

The thing for me is that they're in the norse sagas, which means something.

Roberto:

They were important enough to get into that.

Roberto:

So that's kind of.

Michael:

I'll give them a single point for that.

Roberto:

I will give them a point for being a footnote in history because there's something there.

Roberto:

And I will give them.

Roberto:

I will give them four points, one for each king in the.

Roberto:

That they each made it in the norse sagas.

Roberto:

So for a total of five points.

Michael:

See, I'm being way more conservative bardic inspiration than royal power, and you're the opposite there.

Roberto:

That's funny.

Michael:

I mean, I'm more about, like, the story, and I'm like, if I can't, like, write a story about this, then for me, it's not worthwhile because I like writing stories as well, and I didn't see myself enraptured by their tale.

Roberto:

Yeah, it could.

Roberto:

It could be.

Roberto:

I'm obsessed with the footnotes of history, hence why I started this podcast doing a lot of kingdoms that are the footnotes of history.

Roberto:

That's exciting to me.

Roberto:

Like, I, last night, spent way too long looking into the kingdoms before Aegon the conqueror's reign.

Michael:

So that is a six for bardic inspiration legacy.

Roberto:

Did they bring their dynasty from the ashes or burn it to the ashes?

Roberto:

They did both.

Roberto:

They.

Roberto:

They united the realm, and it was absolutely obliterated.

Roberto:

Um, the one good thing is on his, on Gunther's specific line is two of his sons, the princes, live through the complete destruction.

Roberto:

Otherwise horrible.

Roberto:

Like God awful.

Michael:

Yeah, that.

Michael:

It's, it's okay.

Michael:

I get.

Michael:

It's like, oh, yeah, they brought it up, but then they also crashed and burned.

Michael:

It's like a one hit wonder for a musical artiste.

Michael:

It's great.

Michael:

This song is amazing.

Michael:

And then you hear nothing else from them forever.

Michael:

So, you know, it's like, it was nice for the time, but it just crashed and burned.

Michael:

And then you forget about them until you hear the song years later and you're like, oh, yeah, I knew about that song.

Michael:

Or, hey, I heard about them that one time, but, you know, they're not that important or that good to actually keep producing things.

Michael:

So I'm gonna give them a zero.

Michael:

Wow.

Michael:

Because they.

Michael:

Because for me, it's the whole.

Michael:

They rose up from the ashes, but they crashed and burned it.

Michael:

And, you know, in one generation, here's the thing.

Roberto:

We have modern day burgundy from these people, and it wouldn't have happened without these.

Roberto:

This king uniting the tribes.

Michael:

We have the first kingdom of Burgundy.

Michael:

That's the issue.

Michael:

So someone else made a second kingdom.

Michael:

So.

Michael:

And if that one stays for a while, I'll give them that legacy point.

Michael:

However, I'm gonna go out for blood today and be like, no, they.

Michael:

If it crashed and burned and they couldn't hold on to it, and they have to wait for second kingdom of Burgundy to come up from the ashes.

Michael:

And I will give that one point because they brought it back.

Roberto:

I am going to give a one for the simple fact that the line continues.

Roberto:

By the hair of their chinny chin chin, two princes survive.

Michael:

Alrighty, so that's a total of one for legacy.

Michael:

And are you ready for the total score, Michael?

Roberto:

Oh, boy.

Roberto:

This is a rough first go.

Roberto:

Let's hear it.

Michael:

It's a total of eleven.

Roberto:

Oof.

Roberto:

That's going to be hard to beat.

Roberto:

In terms of bad, their bardic inspiration.

Michael:

Was their best score with a six.

Roberto:

Yeah, you're.

Roberto:

You're welcome.

Roberto:

First kingdom of Burgundians.

Michael:

Well, Michael, I think it's time for the all important question.

Roberto:

So, are these kings good enough, exceptional enough, starting kingdoms enough to be crowned as legendary kings?

Roberto:

Are they just good enough to retire as lesser nobles?

Roberto:

Or were they so incompetent and we hate them that they need to be burned at the stake?

Michael:

Well, Michael, I think I know how I'm leaning.

Roberto:

Oh, Mandy, burn the witches at the stake.

Roberto:

To me, burning at the stake is the level of I hate you.

Roberto:

Um, I mean, yes.

Roberto:

I don't hate these guys.

Roberto:

They did the best they could.

Michael:

Like the coin flip already.

Roberto:

Do you have a D 20?

Michael:

Um, I have so many D 20s.

Roberto:

Perfect.

Michael:

Okay, so the question for you is, I have a witcher coin that is two sided, so I have even better the shining coin which has an axe on the back that I have.

Michael:

Then I have a d.

Michael:

A red D 20.

Michael:

I have a necronomicon D 20.

Michael:

Have a witcher D 20.

Michael:

I have a glow in the dark D 20.

Michael:

I have a red and black D 20.

Michael:

I think I have, like, the red.

Roberto:

And black D 20.

Michael:

It's a metal one, too.

Michael:

Okay, so odds or evens?

Michael:

Or do you want to do ten to 20?

Michael:

1110.

Roberto:

Yeah, one to:

Roberto:

I mean,:

Michael:

All righty.

Michael:

I called low end curse, my dear.

Michael:

Good rolls.

Roberto:

What?

Michael:

They get 13?

Roberto:

That's enough.

Roberto:

I am gonna say lesser king because they.

Roberto:

They did enough that I don't hate them.

Michael:

I would have marked this as a.

Roberto:

This.

Roberto:

That is so funny.

Roberto:

It's our first episode that it's that way.

Roberto:

To me, this.

Roberto:

The burning at the stake is you have to have some level of incompetence.

Michael:

I mean, they lost their kingdom.

Roberto:

I don't think that was incompetent, though.

Roberto:

That was just running into Aetius, who is a.

Roberto:

Not a footnote in history.

Roberto:

Ats could be an entire podcast on himself.

Roberto:

Like, he is an absolute wild character.

Michael:

I mean, but, like, we went through four people in less than an hour.

Michael:

However, the dice have spoken.

Michael:

They are lesser nobles.

Michael:

Congrats.

Roberto:

They can go retire, make it from land, go retire on estate, live out their lives.

Michael:

You can pick up your kids from the wolves I sent them to.

Roberto:

So, Roberto, what have you been listening, consuming what recommendations you got?

Roberto:

Has been something interesting happening in a d and Da 20 campaign or not a d and d 20 in a d and D campaign that you have going on.

Michael:

Oh, I'm in five D and D campaigns.

Roberto:

Let's go with it.

Michael:

So I'm currently playing one based off the darkest Dungeon series, which is, like, an online game that's auditor.

Michael:

And my character is a Hexblade warlock, rogue assassin that's also a dampier.

Michael:

So he could walk on walls and, like, upside down, and he doesn't need to breathe or anything.

Michael:

He's a bit broken.

Michael:

But I do min Max.

Michael:

But I love it because I role play my min maxing.

Roberto:

Oh, great.

Michael:

Yeah.

Michael:

So I.

Michael:

I don't go for just, like.

Michael:

I like the power builds, but I also do the role playing with it.

Roberto:

Yeah, that makes sense.

Michael:

So we're currently investigating a whole series of fish people invading a current coastline.

Michael:

And what I did was the whole party is like, we should probably hide.

Michael:

And I'm like, I want to hide.

Michael:

I'm going to sneak with my elven cloak which is like the Lord of the rings one.

Michael:

We're like, it shades in and then they saw us because we took too long talking to each other about what to do.

Michael:

And my teammates were like, don't run there.

Michael:

And I'm like, I want to run there.

Michael:

So I ran really fast because I'm a rogue and I'm dampier of extra speed so I can run 105ft in a single turn.

Michael:

And did that.

Michael:

Got up to them and combat started and of course it was an ambush, but we managed.

Michael:

I ran out of spell slots in like no time because I'm a warlock and we're like, we met with one of the, like the last main NPC's to help, help us and we stopped.

Michael:

But yeah, I'm a bit of a.

Michael:

I'll just run in and do things because I'm like, I can hide.

Michael:

It's fine.

Michael:

I was like, oh, wait, no, I can't.

Michael:

But like, oh, no, I took damage.

Michael:

Bare my teeth, biting someone, drained their blood.

Michael:

Heal myself.

Michael:

It's fine.

Roberto:

There you go.

Roberto:

Love it.

Roberto:

Alrighty.

Michael:

How about you?

Roberto:

Pretty fun.

Roberto:

I am just gonna go ahead and say I've been consuming House of Dragon.

Roberto:

I love House of Dragon.

Roberto:

They have absolutely nailed it.

Roberto:

They just had a dragon fight that was superb.

Roberto:

The dialogue is on top.

Roberto:

It is just premium old Game of Thrones room dialogue, like, with Tyrion and like, the Tywin conversations, like stuff like that.

Roberto:

It was just.

Roberto:

Every line written was just so well done and it's just.

Roberto:

It's been really fun.

Roberto:

They've been doing an incredible job with taking a history book and turning it into a show.

Michael:

So I will say I will watch House of the Dragons.

Michael:

What's the finished sopranos in true blood and band of brothers.

Roberto:

There you go.

Michael:

I will let you guys know.

Michael:

It has been three years since I've seen both sopranos and true blood, so I need to rewatch everything.

Michael:

You know, if I were to watch House of the dragon, I need to rewatch Game of Thrones before that.

Roberto:

No, it's a prequel.

Roberto:

You don't need to watch that.

Michael:

No, no, no.

Michael:

I need to see how bad it got just to enjoy the goodness of House of the dragon.

Roberto:

Okay, that's fair.

Roberto:

Just watch season eight and then watch.

Michael:

No, no.

Michael:

The thing is, I watched the first four seasons and then I skipped to season six.

Michael:

I kept watching from there.

Roberto:

I mean, season five wasn't terrible, but it wasn't great either.

Roberto:

Basically, whenever they got away from the books, it was like, well, well, I.

Michael:

Started watching with the Battle of the Bastards.

Roberto:

So that was, uh oh, that was a great episode.

Michael:

I want I came into my parents watching.

Michael:

I'm like, oh, what's this?

Michael:

Like, Jon Snow's back?

Michael:

And I'm like, well, I guess I have to rewatch.

Roberto:

So that is awesome.

Roberto:

That brings us to the end of Gebica, Gundamar, gizzle hire and Gunter.

Michael:

Gunter, Gunter.

Roberto:

Let us know what you thought of them.

Roberto:

Do you agree with me letting them live as lesser nobles, or are you more like Roberto and you want them to be burned at the stake just because life is hard sometimes?

Michael:

I mean, yes, they should should have done better.

Michael:

Pick your allies better, man.

Roberto:

You can catch us on messenger, on Facebook and Instagram at Questforpower or email us@questforpowerpodmail.com dot this podcast is researched and scripted by me, Michael, and edited by Roberto.

Roberto:

If you would like to support the show for the absolute low price of free, just give us a five star review on podchaser.com, questforpower or wherever you pod.

Roberto:

It takes a lot of resources to research and produce these episodes, but we love doing it.

Roberto:

If you would like to support the show, you can do so by becoming a member of our royal court@thequestforpower.com.

Roberto:

to come chat with us on Discord and gain exclusive to extra episodes like our first member's episodes, which will be the curse of power.

Roberto:

We will rate and review the kings and queens of Egypt.

Roberto:

If that's not your thing, no big deal.

Roberto:

Giving us a five star review on your podcatcher of choice or just telling someone about this podcast goes a long way way.

Roberto:

We appreciate your support.

Roberto:

If that sounds like too much work, I get it.

Roberto:

It is work.

Roberto:

Just logging in and doing that just tell someone about the podcast goes a long way.

Roberto:

We will read every five star review that is on pod Chaser.

Roberto:

It is the best way for me to kind of see the reviews so I will be able to stay better on top of it.

Roberto:

And I'm going to start all the way back at one because I don't remember where I last landed.

Roberto:

So I'm going to say thank you to jdeheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheh.

Roberto:

to us all the way in March of:

Roberto:

He said an excellent podcast.

Roberto:

Love the changes to the scaling system.

Roberto:

Only thing I would like to see is the older episode of kings to be re ranked so we can do that as a premium episode.

Roberto:

We don't have time to do it in the regular show.

Roberto:

But as a premium episode, we could probably speed through kingdoms and kind of rank them based on the new standing and see what Roberto thinks of these kings.

Roberto:

Let us know if you want to see that happen.

Roberto:

Otherwise, I've got plenty other plans for it.

Roberto:

Next episode, we are going to discover how the princes, gundiac and kilperic handle the complete annihilation of their kingdom and the death of their father.

Roberto:

And with that, the kings are dead.

Michael:

Long live the kingdom.

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Quest for Power
Unhinged History: Rating and Reviewing European Monarchs

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Michael Lau