Lurin
Paragon
I will preface this with a reminder, last September I made a pledge to do my best to recognize the good, and understand the bad of my interactions with those in Wayside, I continue to do my best to honor that oath, and if you are listening in on the dream realm in hopes that my anger Friday night will lead to continued vile you will be disappointed.
It has become clear to me that there are a large number of people that do not have a very complete view of the recent war with the Dark Dwarves, indeed a number of these necromancers were graced with tongues nearly as silver as mine can be at times. Understand I am giving an accounting of the war as truthfully as I can to the best of my understanding, I make no claim that I have seen everything, nor that my understanding is perfect and welcome respectful questions and corrections. I will start as near to the beginning of the tale as I can in hopes for a full view so that you may judge for yourself my actions, because integrity cannot exist in the shadows, and trust cannot be built without belief.
My keep was built on the backs of slaves, you may have heard this, I speak now of it openly. Slavery was, and still currently is, Legal within the lands of Briarpass, until such a time as a change is made by his Lordship, Baron Buchaneon, likely to be his Grace Duke Buchaneon once the current discussions with his Majesty come to an end, or until the King installs a new vassal over the territory. I bought men, women, and children, in families when possible, singularly when nessasary, I paid gold to their slave masters and put them to work within my walls. I did this because it was the law of the land, because I needed able bodied people to perform the work, and because only a slave's master can legally set them free. I have, and continue to pay every man, woman and child within my keep, those who were slaves, saw three of every four coins go towards their debt of purchase until such a time as the price was recouped to be spent on additional purchases. Many who became free this way have left to find their own way in the world, bolstered by savings of coin from their efforts and hopefully now living happy and productive lives. Others stayed to help continue the work, some stay still, although with the war it has been a struggle to keep everyone employed and some have left to seek better fortunes elsewhere.
Those who have paid attention know that on the day I arrested Buchaneon under the king's command, and the oversight of Sera Zanabanoth and Sera Fallingstar, also freed every remaining slave, in accordance with the Kings Law, in doing so I wiped their debt clean. Since that day I have purchased not a single person, although regrettibly I have also been unable to free another living spirit from the shackles of slavery either.
I give this background so that you might understand what the Dwarves saw when I first encountered them, a man that had moved into the region, and was constantly buying additional slaves to build his walls. My first encounters with them were during attempts to clean out the caverns by my Keep to help ensure the safety of the area. Breaking through lines of undead trolls, and other creatures, we slew a number of dark dwarves until stymied by wards. No less than 3 times did I lead groups into these caverns to destroy the undead and their masters within, stirring the ire of the leadership within the caves, although they did not exist to my knowledge.
On the fourth attack, we discovered far more about the threat, and the sheer expanse of their underground kingdom. I will not go into the blow by blow, but after a number of altercations and assaults I struck an uneasy truce with Goren, their leader. I agreed that I would not initiate further assualts against his people, as long as his people left my Keep, and the pass through the mountain we had recently reopened, alone and safe.
Why would I strike up a deal in this manner? Because I am a steward, a caretaker that watches over a small piece of land in a dangerous climate, my duty is to keep the people living within my walls safe to the best of my ability, and further assaults could only lead to harm. I am no noble, I have no standing army, if pressed I could field perhaps five dozen men, mercenaries I'd hire with gold, and some few of those living within the keep who might be able to assist. It was an uneasy truce, one I expect both sides knew to be temporary. It was at this time I acquired the scroll I used to summon the Overlord this last market day, about a year and a half ago. It was my plan to continue the truce, until I was able to cast this summoning and provide an overwhelming force to either force the dark dwarves to flee, or massacre their number to no longer be a threat.
Unfortunately, two things conspired to prevent my plan from coming to fruition, the first was that his Grace, Duke Jocelyn Raash, the King's Chosen defender of our new kingdom of Wayside, saw the clear and immenent threat from the dwarves and decided in his wisdom to take the action that I could not and strike first at the Dark Dwarven Kingdom. The first strike came by the knights, under his orders, from the lands that I steward, I was not informed of their intended action, nor would I have attempted to interfer in their lawful duties as knights had I been. This first strike, followed by an announcement in late July of last year was the start of the official war. This is the word of his Grace, under the authority of his Majesty, and as such is not open to contestation. It was at this time that his Grace named these foes necromancers and revoked their right to safety, and while some number of our community were lead by compassionate hearts to try to find other ways despite this order, it was at that time all of the Dark Dwarves where marked for death, or banishment from our lands, to be decided by whether or not they choose to flee.
The second event that conspired to foil my plan was Goren's misunderstanding of my lawful duties as a steward of the lands I watch over. It was his understanding that in order to violate our agreement not to initiate assualt upon one another, he would have had to attack my personage, or my lands directly. However just an assault upon on of the King's servants is that same as assault upon the King himself, so to is it true that the assault upon a man's lawful king, or his servants is the same as an assault upon the man himself. In my duties I am bound to the service of those in rightful authority, I could not, and would not stand idly by as the Dark Dwarves sought to bypass my lands and assualt the greater regions of Wayside. To do so would have been an unforgivable act, and it was Goren's folly to misunderstand the ties that bind us all together.
Those that know me often whisper, or speak plainly that my actions will always be in the best interest of what is often phrased as 'Me and mine'. I will not refute this because it is not untrue, that is exactly where my duties lay. I have served, and will continue to serve in my my role to the best of my ability, trusting to my betters to call upon me should the greater good need to be served, as has happened in this war. That is the way of society, that is how we can function, and should I ever claim that my motivations are to help those outside of my care more than those that rest within it, I would expect to be seen as at best a liar, and at worst a treasonist man of the most deplorable character.
I would have it be understood that the care I have for those under my protection extends in ways many people do not understand. Just as Goren did not understand the intricate ties of our society, so to does it seem many others do not see the intricate webbing that connects us. An assault on one of our Lady knights, who are charged in part with protecting my people, is the same as an assault upon those under my care. An assault upon those who serve them is the same as an assault upon their personage. Which means an assault upon any member of this community is ultimately an assault upon those I protect, for we are all bound together by our King.
Now that one war is over, happily with casualties far less than I would have expected in large thanks to our knights and his Grace's vision, prompt attention, and the bravery to do what needed to be done, it seems another is forming. I have been hearing about the beings known as corrupt for some time, I have always brushed it off as another land's problems, as each land tends to have issues others do not. This can no longer be considered the case, as it is my understanding that a large number of corrupt appeared in the Elven kingdom nearly two year ago, and as of a few days past, the Kingdom has largely fallen to their assault. I will offer what aid I can in this, and ask that all of you support the King and his servants, from Dukes to the lowliest squires so that we might see this threat ended.
In service to the ties that bind us all,
-Enan Bluewater.
It has become clear to me that there are a large number of people that do not have a very complete view of the recent war with the Dark Dwarves, indeed a number of these necromancers were graced with tongues nearly as silver as mine can be at times. Understand I am giving an accounting of the war as truthfully as I can to the best of my understanding, I make no claim that I have seen everything, nor that my understanding is perfect and welcome respectful questions and corrections. I will start as near to the beginning of the tale as I can in hopes for a full view so that you may judge for yourself my actions, because integrity cannot exist in the shadows, and trust cannot be built without belief.
My keep was built on the backs of slaves, you may have heard this, I speak now of it openly. Slavery was, and still currently is, Legal within the lands of Briarpass, until such a time as a change is made by his Lordship, Baron Buchaneon, likely to be his Grace Duke Buchaneon once the current discussions with his Majesty come to an end, or until the King installs a new vassal over the territory. I bought men, women, and children, in families when possible, singularly when nessasary, I paid gold to their slave masters and put them to work within my walls. I did this because it was the law of the land, because I needed able bodied people to perform the work, and because only a slave's master can legally set them free. I have, and continue to pay every man, woman and child within my keep, those who were slaves, saw three of every four coins go towards their debt of purchase until such a time as the price was recouped to be spent on additional purchases. Many who became free this way have left to find their own way in the world, bolstered by savings of coin from their efforts and hopefully now living happy and productive lives. Others stayed to help continue the work, some stay still, although with the war it has been a struggle to keep everyone employed and some have left to seek better fortunes elsewhere.
Those who have paid attention know that on the day I arrested Buchaneon under the king's command, and the oversight of Sera Zanabanoth and Sera Fallingstar, also freed every remaining slave, in accordance with the Kings Law, in doing so I wiped their debt clean. Since that day I have purchased not a single person, although regrettibly I have also been unable to free another living spirit from the shackles of slavery either.
I give this background so that you might understand what the Dwarves saw when I first encountered them, a man that had moved into the region, and was constantly buying additional slaves to build his walls. My first encounters with them were during attempts to clean out the caverns by my Keep to help ensure the safety of the area. Breaking through lines of undead trolls, and other creatures, we slew a number of dark dwarves until stymied by wards. No less than 3 times did I lead groups into these caverns to destroy the undead and their masters within, stirring the ire of the leadership within the caves, although they did not exist to my knowledge.
On the fourth attack, we discovered far more about the threat, and the sheer expanse of their underground kingdom. I will not go into the blow by blow, but after a number of altercations and assaults I struck an uneasy truce with Goren, their leader. I agreed that I would not initiate further assualts against his people, as long as his people left my Keep, and the pass through the mountain we had recently reopened, alone and safe.
Why would I strike up a deal in this manner? Because I am a steward, a caretaker that watches over a small piece of land in a dangerous climate, my duty is to keep the people living within my walls safe to the best of my ability, and further assaults could only lead to harm. I am no noble, I have no standing army, if pressed I could field perhaps five dozen men, mercenaries I'd hire with gold, and some few of those living within the keep who might be able to assist. It was an uneasy truce, one I expect both sides knew to be temporary. It was at this time I acquired the scroll I used to summon the Overlord this last market day, about a year and a half ago. It was my plan to continue the truce, until I was able to cast this summoning and provide an overwhelming force to either force the dark dwarves to flee, or massacre their number to no longer be a threat.
Unfortunately, two things conspired to prevent my plan from coming to fruition, the first was that his Grace, Duke Jocelyn Raash, the King's Chosen defender of our new kingdom of Wayside, saw the clear and immenent threat from the dwarves and decided in his wisdom to take the action that I could not and strike first at the Dark Dwarven Kingdom. The first strike came by the knights, under his orders, from the lands that I steward, I was not informed of their intended action, nor would I have attempted to interfer in their lawful duties as knights had I been. This first strike, followed by an announcement in late July of last year was the start of the official war. This is the word of his Grace, under the authority of his Majesty, and as such is not open to contestation. It was at this time that his Grace named these foes necromancers and revoked their right to safety, and while some number of our community were lead by compassionate hearts to try to find other ways despite this order, it was at that time all of the Dark Dwarves where marked for death, or banishment from our lands, to be decided by whether or not they choose to flee.
The second event that conspired to foil my plan was Goren's misunderstanding of my lawful duties as a steward of the lands I watch over. It was his understanding that in order to violate our agreement not to initiate assualt upon one another, he would have had to attack my personage, or my lands directly. However just an assault upon on of the King's servants is that same as assault upon the King himself, so to is it true that the assault upon a man's lawful king, or his servants is the same as an assault upon the man himself. In my duties I am bound to the service of those in rightful authority, I could not, and would not stand idly by as the Dark Dwarves sought to bypass my lands and assualt the greater regions of Wayside. To do so would have been an unforgivable act, and it was Goren's folly to misunderstand the ties that bind us all together.
Those that know me often whisper, or speak plainly that my actions will always be in the best interest of what is often phrased as 'Me and mine'. I will not refute this because it is not untrue, that is exactly where my duties lay. I have served, and will continue to serve in my my role to the best of my ability, trusting to my betters to call upon me should the greater good need to be served, as has happened in this war. That is the way of society, that is how we can function, and should I ever claim that my motivations are to help those outside of my care more than those that rest within it, I would expect to be seen as at best a liar, and at worst a treasonist man of the most deplorable character.
I would have it be understood that the care I have for those under my protection extends in ways many people do not understand. Just as Goren did not understand the intricate ties of our society, so to does it seem many others do not see the intricate webbing that connects us. An assault on one of our Lady knights, who are charged in part with protecting my people, is the same as an assault upon those under my care. An assault upon those who serve them is the same as an assault upon their personage. Which means an assault upon any member of this community is ultimately an assault upon those I protect, for we are all bound together by our King.
Now that one war is over, happily with casualties far less than I would have expected in large thanks to our knights and his Grace's vision, prompt attention, and the bravery to do what needed to be done, it seems another is forming. I have been hearing about the beings known as corrupt for some time, I have always brushed it off as another land's problems, as each land tends to have issues others do not. This can no longer be considered the case, as it is my understanding that a large number of corrupt appeared in the Elven kingdom nearly two year ago, and as of a few days past, the Kingdom has largely fallen to their assault. I will offer what aid I can in this, and ask that all of you support the King and his servants, from Dukes to the lowliest squires so that we might see this threat ended.
In service to the ties that bind us all,
-Enan Bluewater.