The Assassination of Cyrus Glenwill
Contents
Background
The Conspirators
Cyrus Immediately Prior to his Assassination
The Account and Commentary as Given by Gibonius
...but the royal fete, made worthy of the regnal presence most principally by the efforts and purses of Balathar, Dine and Cyrus, was effectual only in elevating the two latter lords in the eyes of the prince-king, and more importantly in the estimations of the royal peers and counselors. To Balathar came only the esteem of the second rank, and the eye of Sir Etharts, whose glance could make pale the faces of kings and shake the loftiest towers of empire, condescended to assign undue favor on the ambitions of the young thief-lord, and indulge his only daughter's fancy for a promising youth of the untamed East. But the measured esteem of the king of thieves was no substitute for the mild nod of the king of nations; the royal counselors endeavored upon their sovereign to raise the native Cyrus to the governorship and ennoble the foreign Dine, in his paladin's aspect, as a worthy and useful hero in a land of anarchic brigandry; and Balathar was obliged to support (or endure) the authority of a peer who had for the second time offended and frustrated his pride and purpose.Oral traditions, collected by the bard Svenius and the loremaster descendants of the river half-elves, record the suspicion of Virgil that in the form of a brash bard, the lord captain of the Knights of Ordos paid homage in magical disguise before the royal presence. If a bold, intimate and irreverent performance indicates the presence of a dark demi-god on every occasion, we must suspect that half the courts of Mandadoria are invaded with the impertinent if skilful jests of the quasi-divine; but his surviving fanatics were ever impatient to attest to the sublime nature of Virgil's every word and action; and the Neutralian scholast of St. Barst-on-the-Rocks is discerning or credulous enough to assert the presence of fact in Virgil's intuition. The Neutralian sage is prepared to go further however, and suggests to his reader that it was upon this occasion that Darwin Methane--the sword-wielding wizard of Elfhome--was at last subverted on the promise of power by the malefic guile of the dark captain of Ordos. In the same breathe, Biventis supposes the possibility that Darwin was not alone in this seduction, and that by some secret spell or art Nisiz Tan bent and aligned Balathar's soul, and thereby was the true instigator of the assassination of Cyrus. I however doubt this precarious suspicion. We have already seen evidence of Balathar's evolving mind on the matter of Cyrus' murder, and unless we are convinced that the gods and their agents are masters from cradle to grave of all our thoughts and actions, we must accept that we are in the normal course of events responsible for our own conduct. Nonetheless Biventis is astute to remember Balathar's discovery and access of the Ordosian sanctum and library after the fight against the trolls, as well as his deep study of and incredible mental enhancement by the disturbed arcanum of their holy book and letters. Are we not to suspect, asks Biventis, that by his study of such evil works Balathar's mind was not only uplifted, by also maligned and skewed towards evil, and bent so that he might better receive the spells of Nisiz Tan or the whispers of his dark god? I reflect that if this were so, then how was Darwin subverted and not Balathar? Darwin was of a race highly resistant to mental charms, and yet without a book he became an agent of Ordos, direct in his betrayal of his fellows. Balathar on the other hand did possess an evil libram, and studied it with incredible care to the extent that he could comprehend its coded script. Yet, without the resistance of a full elf, he never became a servant of the Knights of Ordos, nor did he ever show a sign of devotion to their abyssal deity. Rather, Balathar's purpose was strategic, his study a desire to master the language, beliefs and plans of his enemies, and to harness whatever power lurked hidden in the ciphered text which had so astoundingly boosted the powers of his mind. No, as future events would make clear, Balathar was never deprived of self-command. His actions were always the product of his own thoughts, and supported solely his own policies or that of his party. We cannot attribute the assassination of Cyrus to any but Balathar and his co-conspirators.
But the machinery of conspiracy is slow. After the prince-king, his army and his entourage, had departed west up the Northwaters, many weeks were to pass before Cyrus was to die a second time.
We are told that governor Cyrus politely embraced his new office, but the policies and actions of state were relegated to the second tier before the immediate concerns of present dangers and an unending curiosity and lust for adventure. The adventures of the Viscount of Encyclon began to further distract the rest and study of the victorious Gondolas, and the discovery of a magical gateway through Balathar's cuckoo clock led to Cyrus' final adventure with the united Gondolas, which took him to the fabled City of Doors. This peculiar interlude, so richly described by the court historian of Countess Eerie, need not be retold here in full, but it is appropriate to observe that it was in Sigil that Balathar purchased his now famous gold-tooth blade, which upon command could expand from the size of a dagger to that of a sword, and which would only too soon be commanded to proceed into the back of Cyrus. Absyrtus, the son of the indomnable and otherworldly king Aeetes, was offended and slain in Sigil, an effort terminated by Colonel Miktay's destructive pinwheel of magical chaos, but together effected by the combined energies of the Gondolas, who for the last time were fully united in combat against a common enemy. However, their victories in this mysterious city did little to reduce the number of their enemies, who followed the heroes through their magical portal and into the acropolis of the noble district of Mirsaki. Alarmed by the looming disaster of planar foes coming to ravage their homes, Colonel Miktay, perhaps motivated by the teachings of the Sigilian philosophers of destruction he had so recently encountered, elected to destroy both their homes and their enemies. A risk of pure chance resulted in nine consecutive meteor showers, thus destroying the estates of the senior gentry and nobility, yet saving (if also terrifying) the greater populace, or at least shielding them from new masters.
The Colonel's spectacular display, aside from cementing his position as a latter-day Gondola, succeeded in clearing the way for new constructions, in which Cyrus and his half-elven minister took particular interest. It was at this time, in these final months of repose, that the Gondolas laid the foundations for their famous castle, and adopted their various homes and keeps, both in and outside the city, the most famous of which being Virgil's Neutralian citadel, erected at Balathar's expense, and situated some five miles east of Mirsaki, amidst the famous apple orchards now so well known for their cider and arch-crusader.
Of this fortalice, the pious Biventis refutes the assertion that Balathar's intention was to subvert or buy Virgil to his cause and murderous enterprise. He condemns as libel even the hint that the clever half-elf might have intended to curry the favor of the judgmental crusader, or even to merely predispose him to silence and consent. Although I find no direct evidence for any such claims, and would find it happier to reflect that so much gold was paid for the sake of genuine piety and friendship, I cannot help but suspect the intentions of lord Darlantan. Already Cyrus' most influential minister, Balathar had involved himself in the affairs of government far more than any other Gondola. He had also, and perhaps more importantly, begun to carefully divide the Gondolas by party, and in such a way that was advantageous for himself. Cyrus, chief threat to his ambitions, was kept close, a regular and trusted confidante. Alcon, the young and powerful mage, was positioned as Balathar's official enemy, and the leader of his rival party within the Gondolas. Composed principally if loosely of the remaining elf warrior, the martial maiden Eerie, the wasteland Killithane druid, and arguably loosely supported by Colonel Miktay, the elf fighter mage Darwin Methane and Meegoth the elven ranger, Alcon's party was by far the more powerful in easily measurable terms. Alcon himself, who presumed he was the most powerful of all the Gondolas, commanded a certain respect, if for no other reason than the might of his spells. Yet despite such illustrious names, Balathar it seems assessed, accurately in retrospect, that the party of Alcon was hollow. Gravitating only to the rapidly growing vanity and raw power of the mage, their loyalty stemmed more from habit than parti pris, and save for Colonel Miktay, their policy was vapid, and expressed only by the blustering pompousness of their leader. Rather than antagonize Alcon and his faction, Balathar needed only sidestep, deflect and ignore their requests and propositions, and while Alcon might have reduced Balathar to cinders with a gesture and a few words, the half-elf thief did reduce the mighty wizard to the pathetic level of useless complaining, idle power, and veiled, mumbled, threats. The split amongst the Gondolas, subtly exploited by the craft of Balathar, diffused and obfuscated the dispute between the royal governor and his minister, and undoubtedly, if one were to have asked at the time, an honest observer would have thought Cyrus and Balathar friends and allies against the growing power of Alcon. Indeed, Alcon was not to forget this period. He was jealous of the political clout Balathar could wield, and thought it preposterous that the might of his magic was not enough to humble and make obedient the lord Darlantan. The perceived or real offenses against Alcon culminated with the assassination of Cyrus, which Alcon assumed was orchestrated by the hand of Balathar, and yet I find it more likely that Alcon led his party's secession from Balathar's Mirsaki not so much because Balathar murdered Alcon's ally, but rather because Alcon understood that in the absence of Cyrus, Balathar, and not Alcon, would rule in Dantareth.
But despite all these underlying party politics, Cyrus' final peace in his second life was to be enjoyed after the repulse of King Aeetes and his retreat to the planes. In these final days of the governor, the Gondolas turned to their private projects. Balathar's project was murder. Amidst the ruins of the noble estates Matthew Miktay had left upon the acropolis, Balathar began the secretive construction of his private lair for both himself and his thieves. Dug and carved into the rock and earth, the roguish sanctum was almost entirely underground, and carefully placed on the west side of the city hill, so that, it is said, a long and secret tunnel might more easily connect the castle of Mirsaki to the stronghold of its true master. For this project, Balathar enlisted the skills of Thrius and his dwarves. Thrius was shamed enough by his complicity in the plot against the governor to admit his guilt in later years, after Balathar had himself fallen, through the songs of his skalds, but I am ignorant as to whether or not the construction of the thieving guild headquarters began with the assassination plot in mind or if instead the plot was conceived of later. What is known is that Thrius not only consented to but assisted in the assassination, even if the dwarf cleric himself personally declined to take the field against a friend. In his stead Thrius arranged for his followers to assist with the murder, and the clever Balathar hid their murderous intent by placing them so as to prevent Cyrus' escape. A disguise for these dwarves was unnecessary, for in the hour of his death, Cyrus had no reason to suspect the pick axes and work hammers of the dwarves who labored to fulfill his minister's architectural designs.
As to why Thrius elected to assist Balathar, little comes down to us. The historians of the baronial court are content to describe, with obsequious pens, how the will of lord Balathar had grown to dominate Thrius' mind. They admit the dwarf's genius and the depths of his wisdom, but accuse him of an effete softness of character which was most unbecoming for his race, but common with such a cerebral and contemplative intellect. Biventis, taking from the Virgilian oral histories, adopts a different Thrius, and sees in the dwarf a grander vision. Overawed by the fiery spells with which Thrius would later destroy armies, Virigl's fanatics respected Thrius nearly as much as their own demi-god. The scope of his mind, they said, could span centuries, and if he was involved with the fall of Cyrus, then surely it was for the greater Balance of Dantareth, and the secret history which the sword of Balathar would soon effect. Biventis suggests the possibility of Thrius the Kingmaker, whose oracular eye sees the weakness of Cyrus' demagogic and unassertive rule, beside the absolutism and vigorous command lord Balathar would exercise. Perhaps even, Biventis speculates, the pagan dwarf, despite his halo of preternatural wisdom, was still infected with the vulgar cupidity of his race, and wished revenge on Cyrus for the dispersing of a treasure a portion of which belonged to Thrius himself.
I can say with no certainty as to why Thrius became involved in the assassination. Certainly it was not his idea, and he merely became aparty to Balathar's plot. I do note however that the dwarven skalds admit to the Grand Master Forger's regret, and that regret is most often the sentiment of the accomplice, whereas a secret pride and indignance are those passions belonging to the master of a scheme. Perhaps Thrius would only lament that he did not share more evenly in the spoils of power Balathar would soon enjoy, and may have masked resentment with specious regret when he exposed through song the betrayal and murder of an erstwhile co-conspirator. Yet I am still left with speculation, and whatever his motives, I comment only that they were cruel and traitorous, that his personal absence was the policy of a moral coward, and that the truth of the matter must remain unknown until an historian dares approach the priestly throne of Thrius for a candid and likely incendiary interview. [for Thrius' own discussion of the assassination, see Complicity of Thrius in the Assassination of Cyrus]
Regardless of dwarven complicity, Balathar remains the primary author. In those final days, it chills the soul to relate how Balathar took Cyrus on a tour of the new constructions being raised on the shattered acropolis, a guileful trick designed to assuage the suspicions of the governor. Surely Cyrus must have taken the gesture as intended to help mend the breach between himself and his ambitious minister, and if not he kept his distrust secret. I speculate however that this tour engendered a spirit of budding trust in lord Cyrus, making him feel that the partnership of Balathar and Cyrus was coming into view, that the Gondolas might be united by their dual leadership, and that a bright future awaited the young princes of a new republic and principate. But this was all farce. The friendship and gestures of respect and trust were but illusions to instill false confidence, and the tour was but a tool to lure Cyrus to his death in Balathar's private dungeon.
News of Cyrus' appointment and elevation to the baronial crown, a gesture of confidence from king Quiglemaine, as well as word that the letter-patent for Cyrus' entry into the high nobility was being escorted by a royal battalion and retired general, must have alarmed Balathar, and quickened the execution of his designs. Balalthar, or one of his agents, had already assassinated Belarus, the former employer and lord of the Gondolas, and Dantareth. But the last baron of House Corguth had been reduced to a cypher, a master only of his own castle (if that), where Cyrus could only wax in power. An interim governor, even one appointed by the king, upon suffering a quite and polite disappearance, might only excite mild concern and approbation from the capital, and the assassin himself may aspire to gubernatorial succession. On the other hand, a vanished baron guarded with troops from the royal demesne might not so easily be dismissed. His public elevation as baron might have risen Cyrus to such power and fame that from the shadow of which Balathar might have never have escaped. Perhaps, for Balathar, the promise of the baronial crown was the last insult, and the final prize the undeserving Cyrus would receive.
From Thrius' skalds we are informed of the details of the plot, and of the skill and craft of its architect. Once again lord Cyrus was invited to tour the works of the Gondolan citadel, and the polite minister escorted his governor this time to his own private sanctum upon the hill. The sharing of such an intimate enterprise, the revelation of thief's den to the lord of the land, must have seemed a genuine token of esteem and reconciliation for Cyrus. The two walked as partners up the hill, and it must have seemed to the Gondolas that these two of their number had at last made peace, would soon heal the fractures amongst their party, and together would lead the Gondolas forward to a glorious future. But soon the hill was crested, and the pair became lost in the ruins to the eyes of others; the last sight the people had of their lord was of Cyrus and Balathar as friends.
A capable warrior is not easily led into such obvious traps, and Cyrus must have hesitated or at least recognized the danger before entering the narrow and confusing tunnels of Balathar's subterranean domain. But Cyrus trusted his friend.
Thrius, who it seems was too cowardly or too ashamed to join personally in the murder, had given Balathar leave to command and position his dwarves, who appeared to labor on the new halls of the of the half-elven thief lord. With pride and confidence we are told Balathar exposed his secret guildhouse to the eyes of Cyrus, and probably shared with the governor, in those final minutes, the bold and grand designs he affected to wish to achieve together with Cyrus. Yet in reality the young lord heard only of the vain and boastful plans Balathar intended to accomplish by the murder of his interlocutor.
Each step took them ever deeper, and Thrius' dwarves and now Balathar's thieves, who pretended to play at cards, dice or thievish plots, began to delicately close the circle of Cyrus' doom. Too deep into the dungeon for Cyrus to now notice, the great outer door was closed, a barrier which might not have hindered Cyrus' strength but would obstruct his voice. And should Cyrus somehow escape Balathar's treasonous blade, fight through all his minions, and breach the weighty and massy door, Balathar had assigned his twenty crack gray elf archers to wait with ready arrows to finish the escaping hero. Nothing could be left to chance. Cyrus could not be allowed to escape alive.
The magical cuckoo clock, a gateway to other worlds, was the supposed object Cyrus' subterranean tour. Perhaps the young governor was distracted in expectation of this wondrous time piece, his eyes too eager for a sight he would never see again. Instead of friendship and a clock, Cyrus was surprised by a traitor and a blade. Balathar's golden longtooth pierced through Cyrus' armor and back, and upon command it expanded from a dagger and into a sword that protruded from his chest. Cyrus' heart nearly pierced and his breast transfixed, Balathar had nearly slain his quarry with a single blow.
In a moment Cyrus knew the depths of Balathar's trickery and betrayal, and recognized the near hopelessness of his position. But he was not yet felled. Escaping from Balathar's poinard, Cyrus, with desperate violence, slashed and hewed with his own sword at his assassin, and so enhanced was his magical strength, that the encouragement of Balathar soon turned to fear, as he was hacked and cut by Cyrus' vengeful blows. But Balathar was not alone. The dwarves and thieves fell on the governor with reckless abandon, knowing that should Cyrus escape it would mean the gallows for them all. Their numbers were enough to press Cyrus back, so that even he could not throw them all aside. Petty magical attacks and thrown daggers from concealed assassins sapped Cyrus' remaining strength, and although many of these lesser assailants were quickly reduced to a trail of dismembered and bleeding bodies, the imperiled governor soon realized he could not slay them all, and that Balathar could not be struck down while he was protected by numerous followers and the narrow tunnels of the dungeon.
Turning from vengeance to escape, Cyrus amazed his foes by exerting his magical strength against the ceiling. With mighty blows he reduced the wooden support beams to splinters, and a cascade of falling earth crashed down upon his assailants with a thunderous roar. Beholding this unanticipated method of escape, Balathar felt the terror of the possibility of the exposure of his villainous conspiracy. Commanding and threatening his minions to slay the baron-elect before he might escape through twenty feet of earth, Balathar rushed forward with his golden sword, cutting at the lower extremities of lord Cyrus as the governor grasped and clawed at the weakening ceiling of earth. Yet despite his frantic slashes and blows, his prey was quickly escaping the reach of his sword. Several tons of earth and stone fell as Cyrus punched his way to the surface, and without the tremendous strength possessed by their heroic quarry, neither Balathar or any of his accomplices could follow the ascent of Cyrus as the great shower of detritus full upon them in heaps. At Balathar's command, daggers and arrows were loosed by those of the assassins that had them, but amidst the falling debris, they could not find the weak links of Cyrus' plate armor, and Balathar watched nearly helplessly as Cyrus neared escape.
In these final moments, an historian is compelled to wonder at what might have been. Had he been successful, the escape of Cyrus might have spelled the end of Balathar. Disgusted by such a brazen and open treason, it is most likely that, had Cyrus escaped and informed the Gondolas of the betrayal, Balathar's loose confederation of allies would have collapsed, and he most likely would have been killed, whether by a quick reprisal or a slow trial. Alternately, Balathar might have escaped Mirsaki with his remaining followers, and although the justice of Virgil, the rancor of Cyrus or the petty vindictiveness of Alcon might have chased him, Balathar would have lived an exiled villain from both his party and his home. Surely, Cyrus must have glimpsed such possibilities as he dug and pummeled his way through the living earth, and we are left to speculate as to what he might have done, as to what vengeance he would have wrought, had he escaped.
The panic of the assassins rose with Cyrus' ascent, and as the governor neared the surface, their frantic attacks found their marks. Further cuts and stabs on his legs and torso only added to the initial and terrible wound dealt by Balathar, which bled gruesomely and rained upon the dwarves and rogues below. Balathar must have known the governor was as near to death as he was to his escape, and called furiously for a mortal quietus for his friend.
Balathar’s victory, which may also be designated as his salvation, ascendance, vengeance or moral fall, came with Cyrus' doom. A gnome magician amongst Balathar's new followers, whose name is lost to history, hurled a magical missile into Cyrus' back, and so numerous were the governor's wounds, that this attack was enough to end his life. His last measure of strength expended, the governor and baron-elect of Dantareth fell in a great crash, and so died Cyrus Glenwill for the second time.
Balathar was quick to seal his victory. The body was burned, and Cyrus' magical items were hidden so as not to arouse suspicion. Being underground, the battle was unknown to the populace, and the wounds of Balathar and his minions were healed by the complicit magic of Thrius and company. In order to hide his evil we assume Balathar must have attempted to resume the normal routine of his day.
But the designs of Balathar and the sudden absence of Cyrus did not pass unnoticed. The suggestion by Balathar that Cyrus, through the cuckoo clock, was merely exploring the planes and would return in due course, at first assuaged the concerns of the Gondolas, but as the days passed, and as Balathar began to take further control of baronial affairs, the suspicions grew. The battalion of troops meant for Cyrus' command, who arrived shortly after his death, found themselves under the orders of lord Darlantan, and the inaction of Virgil, who remained at his fortress, and the silence of Thrius, who was markedly unconcerned about the missing governor, taken together, alarmed the party of Alcon. Alcon, seeming to have uncannily calculated the true fate of Cyrus, convinced his party of his suspicions, and although nothing could be proved, they already too palpably felt the power of Dantareth turn towards the hands of Balathar Darlantan, and for them this was proof enough. At first, an attempt by Alcon was made to rally Virgil and Colonel Miktay to his cause, and to accuse Balathar directly and openly of the murder of Cyrus, but whether due to respect for the Balance of his religion or for the policy of his friend, the Neutralian citadel was deaf to the concerns of the wizard of the Gondolas, and Miktay was indifferent to the absence of a governor because in his dark philosophy the only meaningful truth is the destruction of the world.
Thus rebuffed, Alcon made to directly accuse Balathar of his invisible crime. This was not because, as some have supposed, he was desirous of justice for Cyrus' death, but rather because the removal of Cyrus was a threat to his own power. The pretence of civility between the parties had evaporated, a legal captain of their domains and their party had been extirpated, and in a single move Balathar had consolidated real power behind himself, and reduced Alcon from an aspiring power-broker to a mere engine of destruction at the service of an upstart and second-tier member of the party. The accusation at the new halls of Castle Mirsaki might have been an amusing charade for an unbiased onlooker. Alcon's party assembled before Balathar, and although he had claimed no new titles or offices, and sat on no throne, it was clear they spoke now to the font of power in the barony. Balathar condescended to hear their accusations and complaints, which he rebuffed with a masterful display of affected innocence and false hurt, protesting that he would ever do anything to harm the legal governor, a fellow Gondola, and a friend. The certainty of Alcon in pointing all guilt at Balathar drew only the cross response of Balathar that they had no evidence, and that there were more pressing matters than the brief, if unaccounted absence, of one of their most seasoned warriors. Knowing he was too uncharismatic and too bereft of political power to convince the people of Balathar's crime, Alcon found himself with only the weapons of vitriol and thinly veiled threats. According to Robert Brere, it was even suggested by the mage that Balathar himself might "disappear," as did Cyrus, and that Balathar was nothing without the party of Alcon, which he correctly identified as having the majority of battle prowess within the group. Alcon then finished by all but admitting he intended to split the Gondolas and lead his party from Mirsaki. Balathar apparently did not calculate the degree to which Alcon had been incensed, and did not believe he would lead his followers amongst the Gondolas in a revolt.
I agree with the venerable Biventis that the secession of the Gondolas was the greatest threat to Balathar's political power that he ever faced, and as it came at the very beginning of his seizure of the barony, it was all the more dangerous to both his ambitions and his person. Perhaps with more consultation with his insulted ego than with the wisdom of cooler policy, Alcon's outrage managed to galvanize the majority of Gondolas into leaving Mirsaki in protest of Balathar's accused evil and ambitions. By doing so, Alcon seems to have calculated that Balathar would be compelled to abandon his quest for ascendancy, and being left alone by all the other Gondolas, would be forced to leave Mirsaki, and on Alcon's terms beg forgiveness from the mage who held all real power within the group. Failing this, Alcon expected to at least achieve leadership of the majority of the Gondolas in a region separate from Mirsaki, perhaps in Degrada, where he designed to ally more closely with the Ceruleans, and reduce Balathar to an isolated and petty despot who would be no longer welcomed within the body of the party. For Alcon, he would fail to achieve either goal. The secession of Alcon, the mad elven warrior, Meegoth, Eerie and the druid of the Killithane was secret and sudden, for Alcon feared an attempt by Balathar to stop them physically, or at least reduce their number by guile, for already Darwin Methane and Colonel Miktay had declined to accompany Alcon's secession (the half-elven chroniclers say Matthew Miktay did accompany them). By the time Balathar discovered their absence, the party of Alcon was already well-beyond the city bounds, having crossed the North Waters, turning through the fields now to the east of modern Three Waters.
For Balathar this was both secession and sedition, and one which he could not suffer to pass. His coven of thieves were summoned, and a strict and secret order was given to assassinate the offenders with all haste, or at least to murder their ringleader who was principally responsible for the betrayal. Past historians have supposed that, by not going himself, Balathar intended to deny responsibility for the crime, and argue away their deaths by claiming it was merely the work of common brigands.
Balathar's rogues flew threw the night, eager to prove themselves to their new and ascendant lord. The party was discovered at camp, the assassins were silent and unseen in their approach, but this was not enough to defeat Gondolas in the field. The elven ranger detected his would-be murderer in the grass, slaying him. Alcon narrowly evaded the knife meant to cut his threat in the night, and three or four rogues were cut to pieces by the swords of his allies or incinerated by the spells of Alcon before a single Gondola had been killed. The rest of the rogues escaped and fled, but the wounds they had inflicted were real, and even grievous, and although not truly threatened, the followers of Alcon, already hesitatant to abandon their fellow Gondolas in Mirsaki, declined the woes of a civil war amongst the party, which might have torn Dantareth asunder. They made their thoughts known to Alcon, reminded the wizard that there was no firm evidence that Balathar was complicit in Cyrus' death, and averred that they now had no desire to adventure in distant lands without the company of the whole of their party, which Alcon was attempting to sever in two. Compelled by his peers to resign the further prosecution of his secession, with the height of reluctance Alcon led their return to Mirsaki.
The rebel found himself asking forgiveness from the half-elf who had but two days before ordered his death. The lord of Mirsaki said he forgave and forgot, and peace was made between the parties, with the unstated stipulation that Balathar was, at least for the now, the master of the Gondolan army and their city.
Over the following months, Balathar was quick to consolidate his position. The dwarves who had assisted in the assassination, when wounded, were slain in the battlefield by Balathar himself, lest the secret of Cyrus' fate be revealed, and thus a repentant Thrius was sternly reminded of the price for betrayal by the example of his murdered followers. As for Alcon, the Gondolan army's march towards Urstwater saw an increase in his magical powers as well as a renewed interest within his narrow heart in challenging Balathar and his position. Returning from the Hells a hero, leading even Virgil and the broken viscount through the portal to our own world, Balathar's craft and policy seemed at last humbled by the raw magical might of Alcon the mighty. But the hubris of the mage was ended by the caprice of a former friend, and Colonel Miktay destroyed the wounded wizard with a powerful gyre of pure chaos, which surprised Alcon the moment he returned in triumph to the prime material plane.
The assassination of Cyrus is one of the most pivotal events in the history of modern Dantareth, and its impact is difficult to exaggerate. And although Cyrus would be resurrected at the behest of the Church, and even fight side-by-side with Balathar once more, the effects of the assassination had run their course, and could not be undone.
In close of this chapter, I observe the irony that in his very first mission with the Gondolas, Balathar had adventured with Virgil to raise Cyrus by the hand of St. Bartholomew. Balathar may have been better served by leaving the body to rot, but a certain logic may argue that Cyrus' life had always been Balathar's to take.
-from the Third Volume of the History of Dantarth by Gibonius, Monk of the Order of the Lake
Tertiary Sources
Gibonius
Amanthane Gibon, a monk of the Order of the Lake, and Degrada native. As a boy, he was wrapped up in the Cerulian domination of that town in the early 880s. While still a youth, he eventually became an orderly of Major General Magistotem, and had participated in the War of Three Barons (the Dantarethian invasion of Aber-Zlin) and in the War of Siblings. Re-discovered by the serendipity of Alexander Bolo, he was awarded a profitable sinecure by the arch-crusader, and was subsequently commissioned to write a history of Dantareth. Published in five volumes in the early 10th century, his History of Dantareth is considered a masterwork of Common Pompiersian detailing the wars of Dantareth since its founding as a barony until modern times.
Primary Sources: Accounts of the Accused
According to Virgil
I do remember a time when Balathar Darlantan approached me and walked around the subject of Cyrus and his fate. I believe he wanted to co-op me in his plans for his removal, I declined quickly, it isn't my place to decide such things. Balathar also reminded me that he constructed me out of his coin purse my Neutralian Citadel, again I denied him and suggested he might want to take it back if it was his want. I knew of what was to befall our warrior, Cyrus, I did nothing to stop Balathar or warn Cyrus. Too many times in the Gondolas and I's adventures did the look for direction or planning did eyes fall on me. Many times our tied votes for a decision fell to my stubborn silence and unbending dogma to let these squabbling mercenaries have it out without my imput. If Balathar was to remove his competitor with guile and violence and bring the Gondolas to a central leader than that was the key to advancement in the region. If Cyrus, unwilling or unable, to do the same ... than his fate is sealed. Some may say I've betrayed Cyrus for not giving him warning of the plan to remove him. For we did sit many times by the fire, on watch, discussing the broad sword and how neglected it was in favor of the long sword. Sadly, it's not our way, to halt advancment. Balathar brought a measure of stability and I will never know if Cyrus could have done the same.
