Ringo Abatin

Ringo Abatin, known as "The Player Pendragon" was the Pendragon of Slayer Dragons early in the Fifth Age. His time as Pendragon caused quite a bit of controversy as he had at least one affair with a married woman and was known for dalliances with several trainees. He did clean up his ways later in life and became a model Pendragon for the last few years.

Modern historians argue whether he should be best known for the affair or being the first Pendragon to be successfully assassinated while carrying the sword.

Early Life

Ringo was born in Shenzen where his family operated a hot springs resort. Not much is known about his childhood other than that he was an unremarkable student and spent most of his free time socializing. He left home at the age of 16 for unknown reasons. A persistent rumor most historians regard as "plausible" is that he impregnated a girl in his town and fled to avoid being forced to marry her. Contemporary sources indicate this is probably true, but his real reason for leaving was much more mundane: he had no interest in running a small-town resort and left to seek fame and adventure.

Trainee

Ringo began training in Arindell at what was later discovered to be the age of 17, though he lied and initially claimed to be 21, later "admitting" he was eighteen. At the time the law allowed for him to begin The Trials as young as 16, but he would have required special dispensation from the Pendragon to do so. It was also later revealed that he lied about completing primary education, which would have made him ineligible.

His training record is a very mixed bag. He demonstrated ability with magic (a highly-sought-after trait in Fifth Age Slayer Dragons) as well as being a highly competent martial combatant. However he gained a reputation early on as a womanizer, constantly harassing the female trainees with some quite troubling behavior. Many contemporary trainees spoke of his sexual antics after his death. While none would go so far as to describe his actions as criminal, many stated he used coercive tactics to bed them. One woman said that for a "date" he took her down into the catacombs beneath Arindell, where he implied he would leave her alone in the dark if she did not agree to have sex with him. She admitted she had planned to sleep with him anyway that night and so agreed, but wondered if he ever did that to any less willing girls.

He did complete The Trials by the age of 22 though many believed he was not fit to become a Slayer Dragon. However, he submitted to the final Trial, judgement by Echbalder, and passed. He took up the power and became a full-fledged Slayer Dragon.

Slayer Dragon

First Scandal

Less than a year after receiving his power, it came out that Ringo had not completed compulsory education or received dispensation from the Pendragon. This had never happened in the long history of the Order. The scandal ultimately went nowhere. Since giving up his Slayer Dragon power would kill him, Ringo could not be stripped of it. And the rules of the order did not ultimately say you needed a high school education to be a Slayer Dragon, only that you couldn't begin training without one. No decision was ever reached as there was nothing to decide.

Over the next several years Ringo distinguished himself as a very fine Slayer Dragon and won many victories.

Second Scandal

After Ringo became famous as a Slayer Dragon, a woman came forward from Shenzen claiming Ringo fathered a child with her when she was fifteen and demanding he acknowledge their daughter. Rumors had been circulated for some time that he fled Shenzen to avoid a shotgun marriage. Many former trainees claimed Ringo had confessed this was true to them. The story didn't always match up but the general details were that he stuck around until she started to show, then disappeared in the middle of the night.

Ringo never admitted publicly to having knowingly impregnated a young woman. In his version of events he deflowered the daughter of his small town's mayor who insisted he marry the girl to protect her honor, and that's why he left. This story fell apart when journalists discovered the man who'd been mayor of his town around the time was unmarried and had no children.

Ringo claimed not to know the woman who came forward but agreed to meet with her child. She initially failed to produce the child, then claimed she drowned some years ago. At some point she learned that while Slayer Dragons had clout and political power, they did not have any money. She quietly disappeared after this.

Several more women came forward, some able to produce children and some not. While Ringo was a reasonably good-looking man, he also had particularly generic features and it wasn't difficult to find a child who looked like him. Because so many women came forward, Ringo claimed they were all merely copying the original scammer.

Ascension to Pendragon

At the age of 35, Ringo became Pendragon of Slayer Dragons. Given his sordid history many felt this was a poor choice. But every other Slayer Dragon at the time was over the age of 55, and the previous Pendragon openly admitted he had no better options. It was thought that Pendragons should be long-lived and a younger choice was better. By the time Ringo took up the sword, he had been considered a model Slayer Dragon for some five years.

Third Scandal

Four years after becoming Pendragon, Ringo was exposed as having had a particularly lascivious affair with a woman named Macie Londis, the 29-year-old wife of the 33-year-old Troy Londis, then head of the Stormwind Antiquarian Society. The reports indicated Ringo slept with Macie during the Antiquarian's spring gala, held at the Londis home, in her marital bed. Though adultery was not actually illegal, the especially sordid nature of the incident cause a massive uproar. The details of the scandal would also be well-preserved in perpetuity, as the Antiquarians were responsible for chronicling the Slayer Dragons and writing the Honorariums.

Assassination and Death

A little over a year after the affair, Pendragon Abatin was killed. The details of the assassination are vague. Ringo was found in an alley with four stab wounds in his stomach from an enchanted blade. He was brought to the nearest healer but his wounds were found to be mortal, and he passed the Pendragon power to another Slayer Dragon before his death.

Many were quick to pin the blame on Troy Londis, but this brought to light further controversies which led to him stepping down from his position with the Society. He claimed until his death that Ringo and Macie had an affair. During the investigation into Ringo's death, evidence surfaced that it was not an affair at all but a trial run for a potential ménage a trois. The scandal eventually caused Macie and Troy to engage in a bitter divorce during which she repeatedly claimed the rumor was not only true but all her husband's idea. The high-profile trial made news across Aren.

Ringo's murder was never solved or conclusively linked to the previous scandal. The fact that an enchanted dagger was used is the best evidence against Troy Londis being involved, as he would not have had access to such a weapon.