Written 2 years before the current campaign.
The following is put into writing by Aiwin Khirwall, Professor of Ages, Eons, Epochs and Eras at the University of Valcase in Brilhold. The scribe Mlartar took the professor's dictation.
Much has been made of the Red Lord since the siege of Parlas two years ago. Who was he? Why did he undertake the course of actions that he did? Who stopped him?
Alas, concrete knowledge is at a premium where this figure is concerned. Most of what we know can be found only in extrapolating details from anecdotes and suppositions. Due to some of the doomsday theorizing about the Red Lord, I have decided to take it upon myself to investigate further.
His Ascent to Power:
There is no written record of the Red Lord before his march to what was then dubbed "The Sanguine Crown" and bloody sack of the city. In fact, on a short list of warlords in the area, primed to take over the Skar from Nodrik Bloodless, the Red Lord was nowhere to be found.
Only through months of loathsome traveling through Polinskar did I find that anyone had been able to trace his path before then, and only then, 6 months before the march. The only information I was able to find about him during this period? That he was wandering through the wastes, gathering followers.
Another verifiable piece of history is that the time from the Red Lord's rise to power to his death and subsequent cede of control of the Skar lasted a complete five years. Three years longer than any other warlord had been able to hold total control of the Skar.
Disbelief:
There are some who ascribe this rapid ascent and stranglehold on the Skar to more "supernatural means." One of which is a certain Angrove Quinn, professor of linguistics at the College of Luthin in Metavia. I have no desire to besmirch Professor Quinn's reputation, but if we are to consider ourselves true historians, do we not owe it to ourselves to consider the source?
Firstly, it needs be said that Professor Quinn was for a time incarcerated in one of the Red Lord's prisons, before being rescued by unnamed benefactors.
Secondly, Angrove's source is a book he claims his benefactors found in the library of Verix in the Skar as it was being burned down by the Strongblood clan (Verix itself is now a smoldering ruin).
Thirdly, this is a book that can only be read by Angrove (who it must be noted is blind) as it is a "lost and long forgotten" variety of Draconic.
And last dear historians, is the fact that the supposed evidence the book offers is a reference to a "Dracca" called The Red Lord who is said to have existed sometime before the Second Founding who's remains supposedly are under modern day Lionsfurd, that perished in a battle.
It is Angrove Quinn's claim the modern Red Lord was a descendant of the original, and therefore of the race of these ultra dragons.
A Brief Refutation:
The "dracca" that Angrove found in that book was likely misread. If I had to guess, what was found was the remnants of a dwarven morality play, warning those who misbehave that these mythic "dracca" would get them. "Dracca" seems more like a miss-translation of Dhrahkoir. Ancient dwarven for vampire.
The Red Lord's Aims:
Angrove would have us believe that the Red Lord meant to take over Parlas as a means to reclaim his father's remains for some reason of "cataclysmic importance." The supposed evidence? Clearly winning the siege of Parlas, but then calling a ceasefire to discuss terms (which it must be said only gave the Red Lord a small part of the country).
Now, I am not one to call the Red Lord benevolent, his history in his own country speaks for itself. But, is it not true he united the Skar (other than those, like the late Henrich Nashil who opposed his brutal methods)? Is it possible the verdant farmlands of Parlas were too tempting for the lord of a resource starved sliver of Polinskar?
I make no apologies for his actions, he was unrelentingly bloody during his reign, but is that not true of all Polinskarin barbarian warlords?
Another truth is that he was facing battle on all sides. Harfal's keep had mustered the troops. Soldas was waiting for the OK from Dormar to enter (though as history would have it, they ended up fighting each other instead), and the terrorist Dei Viscenti had managed to raise armies of several Reach mercenary companies and was knocking on the doorstep of Lionsfurd.
Was it not possible that the Red Lord realized he was fighting a losing battle and a small victory was better than none?
Final Thoughts:
My guess is that the Red Lord was the forgotten son of some hidden tribe who somehow managed to stumble into power. There is no evidence other than tall tales and conjecture by a few of his draconic nature. I will further address the claims that the Red Lord started to "shape shift" in the moments before he was assassinated in Parlas' parliament.
Next, I will present an oral history of the Seige of Parlas and the unlikely events that followed.
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