Raglin

Rule of County Ralganos was in a succession crisis. The line of Raglin I was thought extinct, and numerous other dynasties were jockeying to claim the inheritance. A woman calling herself Raglin appeared, alone and already clad in the exquisite armor of a lord, before the burgomaster of a small town therein. She stunned him by producing documents dating back hundreds of years which proved she was the rightful heir of the whole county — found, she said, through simple good luck, a strong hunch, and persistent searching. Her documents were assessed by the wisest sages, and authenticated. Named Raglin II, she spoke little of her life before she discovered her inheritance, despite being in her middle age. The matter was legally settled, but many nonetheless loudly questioned her legitimacy and continued to probe her purported history for inconsistencies. Others studied it out of academic curiosity. Either way, Raglin II’s ascent sparked a new wave of research into the historical Raglin I who lived in the Age of Hellfire long ago. In time, a few seekers of truth found strange and compelling overlaps between the two Raglins. Enough evidence built up for a wild theory to circulate: that Raglin II and her eponymous ancestor were, somehow, one and the same. The Raglin I of old walked with the Arbiter herself in the years immediately after the founding of the Sacred Order. She was a key reason why the newborn Order and the Banner Lords, who at the time were merely the clans of Kaerok, became steadfast allies and strong cultural partners. Many voices at the time criticized the Arbiter’s decision to create a trans-national, multi-species organization with the authority to cross borders and wage war in the name of fighting Darkness. What guarantee of their own sovereignty could they expect? Who decided what threats the Order fought, and how, when those decisions could affect whole populations and the fate of nations? A liaison between the religious and the secular was needed, and Raglin I played that critical role. Raglin I was a kind and beloved ruler of the land that is now County Ralganos. She was quick to embrace the Sacred Order’s mission to spread the faith and protect the meek. Filled with compassion and empathy for the suffering of all living things, she learned novel, advanced healing magics newly developed by the Order’s priests. When the Sacred Order called for crusades, Raglin I went personally into battle at the head of her own armies, rescuing the wounded from the thick of the fighting and smiting the wicked. With her help the Order won many successful campaigns in and around Kaerok. She was keenly sensitive to the suffering of the common people that high-minded crusades and violence could wreak, and so she worked with community leaders to evacuate vulnerable populations and choose battlegrounds that would be less disruptive to locals’ lives. Meanwhile, any crusader who behaved like a common mercenary, demanding coin or lodging or wenches, faced swift chastisement from her. Raglin I’s example inspired others, and helped the bond of trust between Kaerok and the Order grow. But at the height of Raglin I’s influence, she disappeared dramatically during a battle with the Undead. Eyewitnesses say she had been cut off, surrounded, and wounded unto death, but was rescued by the Arbiter, who appeared in a magnificent flash that temporarily drove back the skeletal horde. This miracle raised the flagging spirits of the living, who rallied and vanquished the army of the dead. The Arbiter is later said to have reappeared in the fastness of her Eternal Citadel, but Raglin I did not accompany her. Yet, the Arbiter assured her followers, Raglin I lived on, in a way that could not be explained in Telerian terms. When the time was right and the grand plan called for it, she would return. She became a martyr, honored by the Sacred Order and the Banner Lords alike. Raglin I’s children stoically bore her loss and did not question the divine. Her dynasty continued without her. The Raglin II of the modern day is the same age as Raglin I was when she was taken by the Arbiter. Her armor’s hues and heraldry are a perfect match. Those who serve her gossip that the countess goes silent when her past is discussed, and has been conducting an exhaustive study of the last several centuries of Telerian history. Strange omens have been reported in the sky, comets and novae, signs associated with the Lightbringers of old that Raglin I once consorted with. Is she just a distant relative, as she claims? Is she a reincarnation? Or is she in fact Raglin I, washed up on the shores of time by the Arbiter’s inscrutable will, pretending to be her own descendant?