Letter from Count Everest

Heroes of Travance,

On Duke Balliol
As you are aware the Duke is now our captive and will be held in tribunal for clarifications of his crimes. I had declared that the Duke be taken alive for two reason, the first being that the families of those who were killed deserve answers and clarity that can likely only come from the Duke. The second is that I believe in a probability that his spirit is strong and could attempt to resurrect far away from us if killed.

Have no delusion, Duke Baliol is unequivocally guilty of high treason. Mind control is not an acceptable defense for the families of the dead, though I suspect that mind control plays a smaller part in this civil war then assumed. I will allow a small handful of heroes to step forward and attempt to advocate not for his release, but for his story to be understood in its entirety before his ultimate punishment of obliteration is administered by my hand. This tribunal will be open for public viewing but none will be allowed to interject accept those who are pre-planned to do so. It will take place underground in caverns where we have moved Cell Zero. The mystical cell as well as the depth underground help to keep the Duke from escaping. Even though I am told by our wardens that his innate power seems to be permanently deteriorating, we are still actively suppressing his powers to prevent escape. To that end we are also researching ways to remove the Esper from his body and are making good progress to those ends.


On the War
Despite surrendering to us on the battlefield, the Duke refuses to write an official document denouncing the existence of the treasonous empire. He also refuses to sign a denouncement of himself being the ruler of the stolen territories. Because of this we are not able to convince the Dukes remaining armies to stand down, instead they seem incensed and emboldened by the Dukes imprisonment and have fortified their boarders with a great deal of extra forces we did not know existed. We are currently showing restraint and are hoping that we can finish this without further bloodshed by convincing the Duke to order the whole of his forces to surrender. Currently a warlord by the name of Alexander Garabrandt appears to be leading the actions of all enemy forces.


On Intelligence Gathered
When you all went to the Dukes encampment to defeat and capture him, several of you swiped armfuls of books and documents found in his war tents prior to escaping back to Travance. Many of you who are scholars have been pouring over this intelligence and I will share publicly the findings so far below.

Near the beginning of the war we discovered that Duke Balliol had ordered the destruction of the gates in all territories that he held under control. At first the assumption was that he was simply preventing spies from infiltrating his controlled territories to gather information on their movements. Soon later it was discovered that A gate was being built in Travances deep woods by New Gaaldron using pieces of destroyed gates for the purpose of creating a single gate strong enough to transport an invading army intent on crushing Travance. This attempt was thwarted but newly discovered intelligence indicates that this too was likely not the motivation behind the Dukes destructions of the gates.


- Gates of Passage Deep Lore

An ancient tome was uncovered written in an ancient gnomish language. This tome was on fire in a cast iron cauldron when the war tent was first seized, but the flames were extinguished and parts of the tome saved. The lore within the tome hints that the original gates of passage had the ability to reach extreme distances beyond the realm of thought and possibility. The gnomes recorded that some beings stepped through the portal from another place and whatever was said or discovered in that moment forced the gnomes to decide to weaken the reach of the gates. To do so they created more gates and the more gates they created all over the continent of palamydia the weaker they all got. They then dismantled and buried the main base of the original, deep in the bowels of a volcano named as Mount Dour-Morgath. They likewise scattered the remaining parts of it and their research notes in underground tombs and caverns, all close to their races research facility known as “Vaezleblin”.

Further intelligence indicated that the Duke in fact did not destroy the Gates in Althawine, but instead has been having their presence magically suppressed. This leads us to believe that the Duke was in some fashion pursuing to strengthen the power and reach of his Gate for reasons yet unknown.

Our task right now is to look further into this gnomish tome and the landmarks named within so that we could better understand these mysterious devices that have existed in the Kingdom and on this continent for as long as we can remember.


By my will proclaimed,
Count Sebastian Everest of Winterdark, Warden of Kormyre

The purpose of the tribunal is not to determine guilt or innocence. He has admitted to his crimes and has expressed no regret towards the death of the innocent in the war. Thousands of families require a measure of closure for assisting in their grief. There are two primary purposes to this hearing. First is to get as many answers out of him as is possible to act as a public record of his admittance prior to his death. The second is to act as witnesses to testify to the families of the deceased that justice for the death of their loved ones has been served.

No one will need to speak on his behalf, he is perfectly capable of speaking for himself. Some of you will be allowed to speak with him prior and convince him to do the right thing during the final moments of his life. Those who wish to do this may contact me personally for permission.

No one is required to be present unless they desire to be so. It will take place several hours prior to the feast itself and we will gather outside the town hall to travel to the catacombs.