Who is Jonathan Travance?
Jonathan Travance was the original baron and founder of Travance. He grew up to be a well-known bounty hunter from Vorllorne who won his noble title and lands through finding and rescuing the kidnapped princess of Kormyre. Soon after the first year of the barony’s settlement, Jonathan was bitten by a shadow creature and was poisoned with a strange undead illness. For months Jonathan suffered from this illness before finally he went missing without word, and so it had remained for over a decade.
Just half a year ago, Jonathan Travance was found in a dreamlike stasis. His body was stored in a magical time vault crafted by his advisor Klarington Everest. The vault was created to massively slow down time within, so that a cure could be discovered before the disease would claim his life. The people of the barony also discovered that Jonathan wielded a great and dangerous power that very few had known about up until now. He was born with full access to the power of his mind, so great that it is murmured he might even have the ability to alter reality. This power, however, takes a great toll on the body and could very well destroy him outright.
Through a display of Jonathan’s power, the town’s members of Travance entered a fabrication of the past, being pulled into Jonathan’s mind and memories, and in doing so they learned that the cure for his illness lies somewhere in finding and destroying the shadow creature that poisoned him in the first place. Jonathan continues to rest in the time vault, waiting eagerly for the people of Travance to hunt down and kill this creature.
Who is Klarington Everest?
Klarington Everest is the son of Gabriel Everest, son of Karldstadt Everest, son of Gallion Everest. The Everest family has been close and loyal retainers to the King of Kormyre for generations. Klarington was a skilled diplomat and a powerful sorcerer, with a mysterious past. When the King granted Jonathan Travance, rule over the newest barony in 1197, he sent Klarington Everest to accompany him and act as his advisor, to be the eyes and ears of His Majesty in this new land.
Shortly after Jonathan Travance’s disappearance, Klarington returned to the kingdom to be by the King’s side once again. Many years later, he was sent back to Travance and given the title of Baron with instructions to bring stability to the region. These years where debatably the most difficult of Travance’s times, as the barony was forced to tolerate dark clergy and other dark forces out of simple necessity of survival. Klarington’s rule ended when his throat was slit in his sleep at the order of one of his own lords, Orias Wormwood of Drega’Mire. His estranged, son Sebastian Everest, surfaced to claim the barony approximately three years later. Sebastian Everest is now the Count of Winterdark.
Klarington’s past is filled with mystery and oddities. His son Sebastian was born to a denizen of the plane of fire, which in itself brings up many ponderous questions. At some point in his career, the exact timing unknown, he was the master of the order of the ivory tower, a secret society of white sorcerers. For the longest time it was publicly recorded that he was a master of artifact creation, but later it was discovered that this fact was a lie, intending to mask that he was actually a master of time and space. Perhaps that fact lends strength to the rumors that he somehow had been cheating death for hundreds of years. It is whispered, that despite being known as a force for good, Klarington lived a life of deception; and the darkest recesses of his past were stunning to hear about.
Who are the Mardux Brothers?
Royce and Reginald Mardux are twin brothers, who’s family holds a very controversial claim; that they are of the true royal bloodline of the Kings of Kormyre, and that hundreds of years ago during the reign of King Mardux Nostrove, the true royal bloodline was secretly replaced. It is treason to claim this outright, and so they speak on the topic softly.
These brothers were involved with the kidnapping of the princess before the founding of Travance and they consorted to hatch some plan devised of the demon Xualla. Jonathan Travance somehow ruined that plan, and Reginald was killed by Travance during the rescue of the Princess.
Several months ago Royce Mardux appeared to the Barony, his true motives unclear. After discovering through Jonathan’s dream, that his brother still existed as undead, and that the town needed to kill him to save Jonathan Travance, Royce disappeared without word and hasn’t been heard or seen since.
Reginald was the undead shadow creature that bit Jonathan Travance over a decade ago, and some believe that it has grown and moved on to become known as “The Shadow King”; the powerful and mysterious leader of the global cult of assassins known as the Knight Blades. To this point, despite a treasure trove of secretive Knight Blade documents being recovered, all attempts to locate this Shadow King have been met with failure and frustration.
What looms on the Horizon?
The Demon Prince Xualla has been plotting something big, perhaps even a full-scale invasion of the prime material plane. So many signs point to this grim path… Jonathan Travance seems to be tied in some way to this course of events, yet at the moment, the severity of his part appears unclear.
All throughout the land, prophesies whisper on the wind and creep into the scene of everyday lives. The weavers of fate work diligently in their lair, but just how is this story destined to unfold? How much influence can a few hundred determined mortals hold to sway this course to their own will? Only time will tell…
