Episode 1 - An eye for an eye
To Reiner von Neufwald, Baron of Sohrn
Dear Son,
You have probably already heard, for tidings like these fly faster than others.
The Emperor is dead. His army was apparently ambushed deep in Troll Country, and every last man under his command was slaughtered save a few outriders who escaped to warn the other generals. You know I never agreed with his campaign to protect the border settlements, their value was trivial at best, and now he and thousands of our countrymen have paid the ultimate price for his folly. Whatever warlord bested him has not been seen again. That such an army would be raised by the enemy for combat and then return again to the north is passing strange, but this is all the news I have on the matter.
While he will be grieving over his father’s death, I have no doubt that Prince Karl…Elector Karl, now I suppose…will be returning immediately from his stay with the Bretonnians in Parravon. He will have to pass through Buchendorf on his path towards Talabheim and the Electoral Assembly, and will have to stay for at least a night before he rushes off to the Assembly to make his claim for his father’s seat. I have turned my men around and we are returning to Buchendorf immediately. I need you to meet me there with your honor guard for there is much we need to prepare for his arrival.
Baron Algar von Bruner has assured me that his lord will be cooperative regarding our claims, and ensuring those responsible for your grandfather’s disgrace are repaid in kind.
Andreas von Neufwald, Graf of Ubersreik
P.S. Your brother should be arriving at Buchendorf as well, since Karl apparently brought him in his retinue to Parravon. Make sure he is kept out of harm’s way.
Dear Son,
You have probably already heard, for tidings like these fly faster than others.
The Emperor is dead. His army was apparently ambushed deep in Troll Country, and every last man under his command was slaughtered save a few outriders who escaped to warn the other generals. You know I never agreed with his campaign to protect the border settlements, their value was trivial at best, and now he and thousands of our countrymen have paid the ultimate price for his folly. Whatever warlord bested him has not been seen again. That such an army would be raised by the enemy for combat and then return again to the north is passing strange, but this is all the news I have on the matter.
While he will be grieving over his father’s death, I have no doubt that Prince Karl…Elector Karl, now I suppose…will be returning immediately from his stay with the Bretonnians in Parravon. He will have to pass through Buchendorf on his path towards Talabheim and the Electoral Assembly, and will have to stay for at least a night before he rushes off to the Assembly to make his claim for his father’s seat. I have turned my men around and we are returning to Buchendorf immediately. I need you to meet me there with your honor guard for there is much we need to prepare for his arrival.
Baron Algar von Bruner has assured me that his lord will be cooperative regarding our claims, and ensuring those responsible for your grandfather’s disgrace are repaid in kind.
Andreas von Neufwald, Graf of Ubersreik
P.S. Your brother should be arriving at Buchendorf as well, since Karl apparently brought him in his retinue to Parravon. Make sure he is kept out of harm’s way.
8 Sommerzeit, IC 2502
The inventories at Castle Geissbach were abysmal upon arrival. The stores from Buchendorf will suffice for now, but the market town on the Sohrn road must become more than a seasonal trade stop if the castle is to serve as the new seat of Ubersreik. Herr Burchardt tells me not to worry and assures me that the traders will follow the demand and the burghers will follow the traders. This Lothar Burchardt and the other individual's Lector Wilhelm referred to my service seem skilled, through quite eclectic. I wonder if he was simply as desperate as he appeared or if he has secretly put as much thought into this selection as he put into the ruse behind the last eight years of my life.
I was always perplexed by Wilhelm Ottokar's demands for my education. Father had explained to me that he intended I would serve the family as courtier at the Imperial Palace, but Wilhelm had filled my studies with legal philosophy and policy discourse. Even with his insistance on limiting my trips to see my family, I never suspected his underhanded motive. I suppose I should be thankful for his intervention, but I only feel orphaned and unfairly weighted with responsibilty that should never have been mine.
Now I will be forever suspected by those who know the truth. Even a peasent knows that corruption and treason run in the blood. I must accept these facts. I am now the third largest landholder in Reikland with an army left purged of its officers. I have three vassal barons who mistrust me, and together control loyal forces that easily outnumber my own. And I have the arrogant burghers of the Free City of Ubersreik, who have not respected my family since the imperial throne allowed them their misguided automony, to my grandfather's great displeasure and public shame.
My council consists of Geissbach's old priest, a learned initiate of Verena from Altdorf who has proven to be a fantastic resource, an agent with contacts among Reikland's largest merchant guild, a member of the arcane Gold Order who seems to find the mere act of existing among my holdings an insufferable penance, and the Captain of my personal guard who is unable to say a greeting without reminding me that the stores do not contain enough halberds to meet the imperial levy tithe. I consider it an asset to be left with a council at all after the exposure at Buchendorf.
The modernization of Geissbach's decrepit walls has gone smoothly enough. Knowing little of this art myself, the dwarf, Gundrinsson, has shown my masons numerous improvements and I have given him charge of the project. While the walls might protect those wthin, I must also protect those who travel to and from the town, and have recruited many skilled hunters to track the movements of the beastmen that plague the roads throughout Ubersreik. I am fortunate that these men are being trained by an elf of Athel Loren, a strange and graceful being who prefers to spend his days in the Reikwald. What he is doing away from his people, I have yet to determine.
I have not only one elf gracing my court, but two! Shortly after our arrival at Geissbach, an elven warrior from Ulthuan requested my hospitality. He was brought to my court by a roadwarden, Birgitta, who claims that they were following the trail of the disgraced envoy that escaped from Wilhelm's men at Buchendorf. The trail had gone cold in Ubersreik, but I offered them any help within my power. The warrior, Herr Korhil, spends much of his time in the library and seems to have found much in common with Herr Wolfram Viernau. The roadwarden has resumed her duties, operating from Geissbach with my approval.
The recent turn in my life has taken has prompted me to start this journal. Writing things down helps in sorting them out.
-Baldric
The inventories at Castle Geissbach were abysmal upon arrival. The stores from Buchendorf will suffice for now, but the market town on the Sohrn road must become more than a seasonal trade stop if the castle is to serve as the new seat of Ubersreik. Herr Burchardt tells me not to worry and assures me that the traders will follow the demand and the burghers will follow the traders. This Lothar Burchardt and the other individual's Lector Wilhelm referred to my service seem skilled, through quite eclectic. I wonder if he was simply as desperate as he appeared or if he has secretly put as much thought into this selection as he put into the ruse behind the last eight years of my life.
I was always perplexed by Wilhelm Ottokar's demands for my education. Father had explained to me that he intended I would serve the family as courtier at the Imperial Palace, but Wilhelm had filled my studies with legal philosophy and policy discourse. Even with his insistance on limiting my trips to see my family, I never suspected his underhanded motive. I suppose I should be thankful for his intervention, but I only feel orphaned and unfairly weighted with responsibilty that should never have been mine.
Now I will be forever suspected by those who know the truth. Even a peasent knows that corruption and treason run in the blood. I must accept these facts. I am now the third largest landholder in Reikland with an army left purged of its officers. I have three vassal barons who mistrust me, and together control loyal forces that easily outnumber my own. And I have the arrogant burghers of the Free City of Ubersreik, who have not respected my family since the imperial throne allowed them their misguided automony, to my grandfather's great displeasure and public shame.
My council consists of Geissbach's old priest, a learned initiate of Verena from Altdorf who has proven to be a fantastic resource, an agent with contacts among Reikland's largest merchant guild, a member of the arcane Gold Order who seems to find the mere act of existing among my holdings an insufferable penance, and the Captain of my personal guard who is unable to say a greeting without reminding me that the stores do not contain enough halberds to meet the imperial levy tithe. I consider it an asset to be left with a council at all after the exposure at Buchendorf.
The modernization of Geissbach's decrepit walls has gone smoothly enough. Knowing little of this art myself, the dwarf, Gundrinsson, has shown my masons numerous improvements and I have given him charge of the project. While the walls might protect those wthin, I must also protect those who travel to and from the town, and have recruited many skilled hunters to track the movements of the beastmen that plague the roads throughout Ubersreik. I am fortunate that these men are being trained by an elf of Athel Loren, a strange and graceful being who prefers to spend his days in the Reikwald. What he is doing away from his people, I have yet to determine.
I have not only one elf gracing my court, but two! Shortly after our arrival at Geissbach, an elven warrior from Ulthuan requested my hospitality. He was brought to my court by a roadwarden, Birgitta, who claims that they were following the trail of the disgraced envoy that escaped from Wilhelm's men at Buchendorf. The trail had gone cold in Ubersreik, but I offered them any help within my power. The warrior, Herr Korhil, spends much of his time in the library and seems to have found much in common with Herr Wolfram Viernau. The roadwarden has resumed her duties, operating from Geissbach with my approval.
The recent turn in my life has taken has prompted me to start this journal. Writing things down helps in sorting them out.
-Baldric
