Dear Aurum Kormatin of the Dusk,
May the Lady of Light shine her warmth and aegis upon you and yours for all time.
I have news of my realm.
It pales in comparison to his other acts of treachery, but Lord Stanislaw was embezzling funds. Phidas alone knows how much he stole, and I don’t expect the Masked Lord will choose to tell me. My men found a secret panel in my uncle chamber’s, revealing a secret storage space, but it appears to have been hastily cleaned out. I think Uncle built his stash of funds slowly because he never wanted to destroy the realm given that he wanted to usurp it for himself.
Lord Stanislaw’s two most trusted men were the wizard Cadogan and Sir Heliodor. Either or both of them could have been involved in the murder of my father. Sir Heliodor’s body was found near the in my uncle’s chambers with a poisoned dagger in his back. Heliodor was in courtly clothes, not armor.
Cadogan quietly disappeared before the body was discovered. So is Cadogan’s horse. He managed to dose all our hounds with
Chaos Snuff, and he used a magical powder to mimic basic Plant theurgy to cover his tracks.
It also appears he ransacked his own laboratory. He had to left the bulkier items behind but he probably walked away with 50 gold coins worth of tools and reagents. Ironically, the security precautions and “separation of duties” my uncle implemented probably
It doesn’t take a Royal Investigator to put the pieces together.
It is possible, even likely, that both men were both involved in my father’s murder, and they had a fight the contents of the secret loot stash. Out of respect for the dead, the official story is that Sir Heliodor was a true loyal servant of House Palbuc, and that he tried to stop Cadogan and was murdered for it.
If you should run across Cadogan in your travels, please visit Palbuc vindication upon him. I do not expect to recover any of the realm of Palbuc’s stolen funds, and I do not expect Cadogan information that is worth his life.
Cadogan was a Swynfaredian wizard. He came to Fumaya about twenty-five years ago seeking better pay and better treatment than he would have received from the Pig Dragons. He was hired into the court by my grandfather. Cadogan is not much of an outdoorsman, so it seems unlikely that he would have fled through the Border Baronies meaning he is likely to return to Swynfaredia or if he is foolish, attempt to hide in King’s Lake.
I have passed this information on to the king and to the head of the Fumayan Wizard’s Guild. Feel free to pass his information on to any interested parties. I am not picky on who serves Cadogan his final reward, but I figure your odds of catching him are better than anyone else.
Once my new Master of Coin figures out how much we can afford to spend on this manhunt, I will spread wanted posters of him. It is unlikely we will be able to offer enough to entice an expert bounty hunter, but even green bounty hunters can make sure Cadogan finds no succor in Fumaya, and a man killed an amateur is just as dead as one killed by a true professional.
Also, whoever takes Cadogan can legally keep his possessions, not that legality would stop most bounty hunters from taking everything of value anyway.
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Cadogan was a skilled fighter in his youth, but is over fifty now and has not kept up with his exercises for some time. I doubt he would last long against any warrior in a fair fight.
He was one of the Duchy Palbuc’s foremost authorities on hearth wisdom (he mentored
me on the subject as a boy), especially reagent lore, but obviously he knows a thing or two about poisons. Cadogan is a moderately talented alchemist. But his true power is his skill as a classical hermetic wizard.
I do not know if he kept any of his magical talents quiet, but I can confirm a great many spells witnessed by me and my court personally.
I can confirm he knows all the common Abjuration spells below the Third Circle. I can confirm he knows all the common Divination spells below the Second Circle. He also knows Scry and Mental Augmentation in the Third Circle. He casts Mental Augmentation almost every day.
At the First Circle of Illusions, he has demonstrated Blur, Disguise Self, Fake Magic Image, and Silent Image. At the Second Circle he has demonstrated Illusory Script, Invisibility, and Noisy Image. At the Third Circle he has demonstrated Expanded Invisibility.
In the School of Necromancy he cast Cause Fear, Disrupt Undead, and Gentle Repose Lifesight in the First Circle. He can Vermin Purge in the Second Circle. This may be his second favorite spell, rumor in court is he had a traumatic experience with rats or mice as a child.
Cadogan is a very efficient potioneer and can make potions more efficiently than most wizards can make scrolls. My own vault has a large number of potions he brewed.
He regularly carried a Wand of Light made by the Palbuc court invoker. I confiscated Lord Stanislaw’s magical sword and ring when he was arrested, and it was well known that he carried these items, but if my uncle was secretly squirreling another magical item away, then Cadogan probably carries it now.
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Sketch of Cadogan and stats on his height, weight, date of birth, hair color, etc.
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A routine letter about the finances of the Duchy of Palbuc. Vern wrote in the top margin SAMPLE OF CADOGAN’S HANDWRITING
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The king was generous enough to help me obtain a new Master of Coin. Now I have to replace Cadogan as well. He was not my only court alchemist nor my only reagent horticulturist nor my only wizard, but he was certainly my
best alchemist and
best reagent horticulturist and
best wizard.
More important than my staffing issues. Is the issue of succession. While I’m obviously happy my uncle blocked a proposed betrothal to Lady Felijca Wiern, but with the benefit of hindsight he has been stonewalling all my potential brides because he obviously wanted me to
never have an heir.
There was no one I trusted more than my uncle. For all his flaws, Lord Stanislaw he was a very likeable man, and he had the whole court eating out of his hand except for Sir Edwald. Now the whole court is trying to prove that they, like Edwald, never liked or trusted Lord Stanislaw just like Sir Edwald. I am the fourth Duke of Palbuc that Sir Edwald has served, so he is used to the idea of Duke’s passing on and he wants to me to make a ducal heir
right now and much of the court is agreeing with him if only because Lord Stanislaw said it could wait.
I am not a weepy mess, but finding out my trusted family member and mentor murdered my father and plotted my murder is not easy to deal with. I am not in the right state of mind to think about courting anyone, and whispers of the Palbuc family curse are no doubt going to increase nine-fold given recent events so the other Houses would not be thrilled to marry into Palbuc problems.
In any event, I have more immediate concerns. If Swynfaredia takes my family lands it doesn’t matter if I have an heir or not, all I will have done is force the Pig Dragons to execute a baby after they kill me in battle.
Next in line after me Is my cousin Lord Gawel Palbuc II and he now has the stink of being “the Traitor Lord’s Son”. I do not know if you remember him, from your brief visit in court as Gawel is shwy. He is not even ten. I am absolutely certain he had nothing to do with his father’s schemes, and I am fairly certainly Stanislaw wanted the duchy for himself, his son was barely an afterthought. I do not want Gawel to be mistreated and it has been pointed out to me that if Gawel succeeded me, he would have great trouble commanding the loyalty of my courtiers and subjects.
Some have advised me to ask King Henryk to formally remove Gawel from the succession order, at which point the next in line would be Count Anatol Palbuc V whom you met, a good man with three heirs, all beloved by the people. I do not like this idea. Gawel does not deserve that level of dishonor and such an extreme act could push Gawel to emulate Felijca Wiern or even his father.
Others have advised me that I officially make my cousin ward and eventually make him my squire. This would be a show of good faith and signal to the court that I do not wish him to be treated poorly. This idea is better, but I still do not like it. It would be very awkward for the both of us to be in close proximity all day, every day and may breed resentment on both sides..
As an objective outsider with experience in unusual political and family dynamics, I would greatly value your counsel on this matter.
You and your companions are always welcome in the lands of Palbuc. I hope some day you can visit during happier times, and I would be honored to fight by your side in battle should the occasion arise.
Sincerely,
Vern Palbuc the First, Duke of Palbuc and Count of Luceria.
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