The Truth About “Duke Edgar Balliol”

Before I share what I know, I give the disclaimer that I speak with the blessing of Count Sebastian Everest, Warden of Kormyre.

It has been many a moon that we have worked to reach Hauxwell but our efforts have finally borne fruit. I owe that to all of you, my dearest heroes. I could not have gotten so far without everyone’s help. With the denizens of Hauxwell liberated, I was able to enter the dungeons of my family’s keep, The Kestrel’s Perch, with a small group after my family’s soldiers worked tirelessly to clear the rubble out of the collapsed tunnels.

We were able to locate my father, chained and battered, but still very much alive. My mother wasn’t with him. He told me that as soon as the siege began, the duke’s forces took my mother and several other political prisoners and fled. As to where, he couldn’t say. That’s a mystery unto itself that I intend to unravel. But I need to share something my lord father told me. Something that may shake the very foundation of this war as we know it.

I inquired about the letter my lady mother wrote—the one in which she mentioned a man who bore no resemblance to the Duke Edgar Balliol my father met so many years ago. The supposed duke he laid eyes within these past few months, my father told me, should have been an old man. I inquired if, perhaps, he was using magic to make himself younger or maybe if the duke had sired children. Duke Edgar Balliol never had children or kin. In fact, my father informed me that this “duke’s” face was completely wrong; it was as though this duke was “a completely different person.” The Duke Edgar Balliol we have been fighting is a fake. That’s not the part chilled me. What he said next filled my heart with dread.

Soon after my family refused to pledge fealty and was taken into the dungeons, a local blacksmith was brought into our keep. A blacksmith who took my father’s seat and acted as though he was the true Lord of Hauxwell—going so far as to take on my father’s name. All of Travance and Ravenhurst’s old allies who signed the duke’s treaty—all of the knights and lords and ladies who supposedly signed away their allegiance to the Kingdom of Kormyre with a flourish of their quill… What if I told all of you that there’s a chance they haven’t betrayed us? What if I told you that any knight or noble who didn’t bend the knee to this false duke was spirited away, clapped with chains, and left to languish in a dungeon—replaced by pretenders.
The deeper I dig into the reasons for this war, the more sinister falsehoods come to light. And I don’t believe that we’ve yet hit the bedrock. Exactly how many nobles have been replaced? Is this “false duke” being puppeted; could he be an innocent man? Who is he? What happened to Duke Edgar Balliol? Where has my mother gone and why has only she been taken? The questions and implications are overwhelming…

I freely share this information with you all, my fellow Travancians—my fellow heroes. Through our united efforts, I have hope that we will reach the truth. I implore you all and thrust my selfish request upon your shoulders: please, help me to uncover the truth about Duke Edgar Balliol.

Thank you.

-Sir Odette D. Lucatiel, Knight of Kormyre

Hjolda!

I shall bend my mind, efforts and words to this task

You know where I stand.

On my honor,

Ser Odette-

As I said this feast, I will aid in any way I can.

In service to Count Everest and the Kingdom of Kormyre,

Cara Easton
Court Sorcerer of Winterdark

Sir Odette,

It is no selfish request to ask for aid in uncovering the truth.

Was the blacksmith aware that he was a pretender?

Lady Heimdell,

That's one of the parts I'm unsure of. With my father freed and restoring order to my people, I can always write him a letter with a list of additional questions. Particularly, I'd like to know if this blacksmith was taken into custody or if he was only of the people who fled with the duke's forces. Any unasked questions, I'm willing to relay.

-Sir Odette D. Lucatiel

Gods be good.

This is welcome news, Good Knight. Surely it shall be easier to sway the people against a Pretender than royal blood.

It does bear concern, however, that this news did not break earlier. In previous settlements that we have liberated, was anything of the sort intimated with the local leadership? It seems appropriate that we should have further discourse and investigation with the governance of Kladstone, Kradaw, Robyrn, Tavrick, and Trunrick then.

This sort of tracks with the account of our resident former blackguard, but that's her story to share, not mine.

Seeing what I've seen, I feel as though it would be entirely within the warlock's wheel house to install an entire puppet leadership.

Between this, Ser Tristram's possible resurgence, and the possible implications of Coast Haven's invasion of the Demon Barrows, there are machinations in place that we are only just starting to see.

-Lucky

Commodore,

I had the same thought. If people are being quietly replaced, how were they able to keep it a secret? I fear supernatural intervention may be at play but... magic strong enough to warp the minds of citizens across Kormyre...? Is such a thing possible? Or could it be that these pretend nobles holed themselves up without showing their faces to the public?

-Sir Odette D. Lucatiel

Most of the people of the realm have never met or even seen their nobles except at a distance; Travance is rather exceptional in the tendency of its nobles to live and work amongst the commonfolk on a daily basis. Some fancy clothes and a handful of people in soldiers' uniforms standing around them saying "this is the Lord" will go a long way. Cara once wore my hat for 10 minutes and several people who knew us both well initially assumed she was me, and we do not even look much alike.

Let's not forget that our Count hid a dead king from the world for 3 years. If Enzarond bribed or mind-controlled a few "advisors" they would cover any noticed discrepancies up rapidly.

It is quite possible some kind of supernatural force is helping all this along, but I do not think half the kingdom is under thrall - yet. It is simply not necessary to expend that level of power just to replace a handful of people.

I have plans already in motion that happen to line up with this - I will not share them here out of safety, but will message you privately. All I can say is that we are already working on a lead.

Lord Weaveforger,

Might you consider sharing this lead with others? I should like to look into this as well.

Commodore Piper-

I lived and studied at the Mages Institute in Robryn for over 10 years and I never once saw Duke Balliol, yet he ruled our barony. The nobility there does not engage so freely with those not of noble birth. If we know anyone who has noble contacts there, we might be able to find out more, but those of us with common birth would not likely know an impostor when it was presented to us.

Lord Gideon-

These boards are protected by guards day and night, and I think it best not to hide information for fear of possible infiltration. The more people who know, the less likely that something is to be missed or that duplicate work is done in waste.

GJSchaller (GJSchaller) wrote: I have plans already in motion that happen to line up with this - I will not share them here out of safety, but will message you privately. All I can say is that we are already working on a lead.

I understand if you'd like to keep it private, but we have confirmed that this board is safe from prying eyes. If you feel it would be beneficial to share your plans with the masses, by all means I would implore you to do so. If not, I await your message. Somehow, I think I know what it is in regards to.

-Odette

Good Lady Albriar and Master Wizard,

I am well aware of the disconnect between those of red and blue blood; however, each leader keeps a court of some kind, no? They might have master builders, court mages, historians, and the like. Each one of those secondary peoples has family, friends, or at least other colleagues of some kind.

If a noble was replaced, I would believe it that the vast majority would not notice. But the noble's keepers? Surely, they would find something amiss. If the keepers, too, replaced, then their associates might notice, and so on and so forth. If the truth is dammed, it is obviously dammed well, but I am surprised that there is not another leak somewhere else.

Were the leaders we found in the liberated territories pretenders as well? Did they return the originals when we took the towns back? There must be something we have missed prior to now.

Commodore Piper-

Based on some conversations I have had with His Grace and the content of his announcement when he informed us of the kings passing, many of kormyre’s provinces may not have leaders as it stands? I believe many are missing or dead. I may have interpreted his words incorrectly, and if I did I apologize, but that is the impression I am under.

Something worth considering is that my mother and others from within Hauxwell's keep were moved without notice. They left my father behind, but they also left behind a shape shifting shadow monster. Perhaps the intention was to have the creature kill him before he could spread information?
-Odette

Master Wizard,

Then the blacksmith imposter noted by Knight Lucatiel is a singular case then? Curious, indeed. What makes Hauxwell so different?

I don’t believe it’s a singular occurrence, but it is very easy for a blacksmith or commoner to slip into the shadows unnoticed when a stronghold falls.

Or worse, no one notices a dead commoner in the casualties of war.

Ser Odette-

It does give me hope that your mother may still live. do we know who else was moved with her? Was it the entire court? Or only select few? Do you know what happened to the rest? I understand this is a difficult subject so I apologize for my intrusive questioning.

Difficult doesn't begin to cover it, but I will see this war ended no matter what it takes from me. Unfortunately, I don't have the answer to that question. I believe my father mentioned that it was other political prisoners but I can't remember for certain. That may mean other nobles. Regardless, I can add these questions to the growing list I will send to my father. Please keep the questions coming.

I also may need assistance in examining the dungeons for clues as to where they may have gone, if anyone is well versed in investigation.

-Odette

Ser Odette-

I will be glad to assist in investigating if you would like aid. I’m adept at seeing the unseen and hidden, and I might be able to help.

Piper you're not thinking.

Enzarond controlled a whole damn town, or do you forget the reports of Grimwyr?

I've seen him do it before, he can make even the closest of friends hate eachother with an unbridled disgust. Convincing a few people this blacksmith was Odette's father is nothing more than a parlor trick at this point.

In other news, we have been researching the ritual, from the book used by bastard himself, looking for a way to disrupt, reverse, or ward against it. I currently hold it if you want to help.

But I think the point is clear, we can trust no one north of their territory line.

Seth-

Rituals and ritual disruption are two of my specialities. If you would like my aid I would be glad to assist in any research you are doing.

Yeah, anyone is allowed, and your skills would be exactly a right fit for what we are trying to do

To not get too off topic anyone who wishes to help can find me.

Anyway, Odette, feel free to reach out with what you need.

Seth,

Clearly the method is not perfect. Otherwise there'd be complete control over each of the held territories and our propaganda would be pointless. I do not contest that Enzarond has great power in this field, I simply hold out hope that there are other gaps to exploit.

I'm not skilled in rituals or magicks, but I should like to take a look at the book if you would allow it.

Fair enough.

Maybe wherever he doesn't immediately reside, the ritual can be broken with words and shock. But if he is there......

This is conjecture.

Find me next feast.

Apologies for the late reply.

Lord Birnum Pyre is the former Lord of Kaladonia, so many of us know him personally. I've asked someone to quietly find him and check in on him, since it seems unlikely he would betray us. He also has a bond with Mirromere, which makes it even odder he would support the Duke.

Seth, I would like to assist with research around the ritual, if possible.

Ser Odette, if I can provide any assistance, I will, as always. Just let me know what you need.