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Description
Of all the six conspirators that helped Darius the Great assassinate the imposter King Bardiya, Intaphrenes is one of the more obscure. His life before the assassination is more or less unknown, and he only falls into infamy in the immediate aftermath. Apparently, Intaphrenes sought an audience with the new king Darius, as the six conspirators all had an agreement that they each had free access to the king's chambers anytime, unless the king was… um… "preoccupied" with a woman. As it turns out, Darius was in fact preoccupied, because hey he just thwarted a totally real and not made up by him conspiracy by the previous king who was definitely a body double imposter. Time to celebrate. Intaphrenes, upon having his access denied by the guards, felt Darius had turned around and snubbed him, and like any logical person would do, beat the snot out of the guards blocking his path. The guards promptly tattled to Darius, and Darius responded with the equally reasonable and logical course of action: rounding up Intaphrenes and all of his family members to have his entire lineage put to the sword.

Reportedly, Intaphrenes's wife came weeping to Darius pleading for the lives of her family. The king was not without mercy, and allowed her to pick just one family member to spare. She promptly picked her brother, saying that she could always remarry and have more children, but couldn't replace a blood brother. Damn bitch, that's cold. Darius apparently thought this was such a wise response that he alloted her the life of both her brother and her eldest son, what a deal! Intaphrenes and the rest of his kin, however, were still put to the sword. Sucks to suck, dude.

Design notes, despite their misgivings, Intaphrenes is nonetheless depicted as Darius's bowbearer in the Behistun Inscription, and that was my main reference for this drawing. If I remember correctly, his leather armor was inspired either by a Sassanid era tunic or a piece from further east in India. Anachronistic, yes, but it's a simple enough design that I think it's appropriate enough to use in most time periods. In my D&D game, I made Intaphrenes a soldier in Cambyses's army during the occupation of Egypt, though I could find no source placing his service there. The list of contacts Darius gave to my party included Intaphrenes, but made it clear that Intaphrenes does not like to associate himself with a man like Darius. He respected Darius as a distant cousin of the king, but he was a soldier loyal to Cambyses first and foremost. He took the most convincing to join the rebellion against his king, finally broken by the revelation that Cambyses murdered his brother and was taking orders from the main villains. Cambyses was playing with fire, and Intaphrenes had to choose between his king and his Empire, because it was becoming clear that these were not mutually inclusive goals.

Description
Of all the six conspirators that helped Darius the Great assassinate the imposter King Bardiya, Intaphrenes is one of the more obscure. His life before the assassination is more or less unknown, and he only falls into infamy in the immediate aftermath. Apparently, Intaphrenes sought an audience with the new king Darius, as the six conspirators all had an agreement that they each had free access to the king's chambers anytime, unless the king was… um… "preoccupied" with a woman. As it turns out, Darius was in fact preoccupied, because hey he just thwarted a totally real and not made up by him conspiracy by the previous king who was definitely a body double imposter. Time to celebrate. Intaphrenes, upon having his access denied by the guards, felt Darius had turned around and snubbed him, and like any logical person would do, beat the snot out of the guards blocking his path. The guards promptly tattled to Darius, and Darius responded with the equally reasonable and logical course of action: rounding up Intaphrenes and all of his family members to have his entire lineage put to the sword.

Reportedly, Intaphrenes's wife came weeping to Darius pleading for the lives of her family. The king was not without mercy, and allowed her to pick just one family member to spare. She promptly picked her brother, saying that she could always remarry and have more children, but couldn't replace a blood brother. Damn bitch, that's cold. Darius apparently thought this was such a wise response that he alloted her the life of both her brother and her eldest son, what a deal! Intaphrenes and the rest of his kin, however, were still put to the sword. Sucks to suck, dude.

Design notes, despite their misgivings, Intaphrenes is nonetheless depicted as Darius's bowbearer in the Behistun Inscription, and that was my main reference for this drawing. If I remember correctly, his leather armor was inspired either by a Sassanid era tunic or a piece from further east in India. Anachronistic, yes, but it's a simple enough design that I think it's appropriate enough to use in most time periods. In my D&D game, I made Intaphrenes a soldier in Cambyses's army during the occupation of Egypt, though I could find no source placing his service there. The list of contacts Darius gave to my party included Intaphrenes, but made it clear that Intaphrenes does not like to associate himself with a man like Darius. He respected Darius as a distant cousin of the king, but he was a soldier loyal to Cambyses first and foremost. He took the most convincing to join the rebellion against his king, finally broken by the revelation that Cambyses murdered his brother and was taking orders from the main villains. Cambyses was playing with fire, and Intaphrenes had to choose between his king and his Empire, because it was becoming clear that these were not mutually inclusive goals.