MBotF suggests that the "High King" doesn't necessarily refer to Kallor. From Memories of Ice:
"'The position of High King is vacant within the Crippled God's House of Chains.'
Kallor shrugged. 'None the less requiring that I stain my knees before the Chained One.'
'No such gestures are demanded of the High King. [...] Survival depends on those who come to the titles it contains. Some of those the Chained One can influence — though never directly — whilst others, such as that of King of High House Chains, must be freely assumed.'
'If so,' Kallor rumbled after a long moment, 'why are you not the King?'
Gethol bowed his head. 'You honour me, sir,' he said drily. 'I am, however, content to be Herald-'"
Notice the "King of High House Chains" gets called the "High King"---the Deck of Dragons has multiple High Houses, each with a King, who then assumes the title of High King?
Also, the High King in FoD rules over "the High Kingdom"; Kallor's Empire is never called that.
And the Azathanai cannot travel into the High Kingdom without bargaining with someone to be allowed in. The implication is that the High King, like the K'Chain Che'malle, has some means of warding off the Elder Gods/Azathanai. (Granted, it could be some other power preventing them from entering the High Kingdom, but there's no evidence for that.) While Kallor could conceivably have got ahold of K'Chain Che'Malle technology, if he had that power he would have prevented hostile Azathanai like Draconus, etc. from entering his territory; yet they did.
If not Kallor, who or what, then?
Presumably not KCM since it's a "he"---though we don't know much about K'Chain Nah'ruk.
It would be interesting if the first High King were leader of a group related to the Thel Akai, since
. T
he ancient Toblakai are sea-faring people, hence the significance of "building a ship"; and the Thel Akai have either disavowed or been disavowed by the Azathanai. The evidence against this is Sechul and Errastas's exchange, "'Then do we travel to the Jheck? The Dog-Runners? Surely not the Thel Akai!'
'None of those, for the borders they share with the Azathanai. No, we must cross the sea'." But that's referring to the nearby lands occupied by the Thel Akai, not necessarily relatives of the Thel Akai across the sea.
If humans don't exist, what other options are there? Relatives of the Jheck and Dog-Runners? Tiste? Demons? Another species that could be described as having a "High King" who Errastas believes to be "beloved by his people" yet the inner "truths" of whose realm remain "hidden" to the Azathanai because they're prevented from entering without "bargain[ing]"?
This post has been edited by Azath Vitr (D'ivers: 08 February 2016 - 02:40 AM