The scribe finished the last words. "In Memory". The letters were then signed and sealed, dispatched to all of Ravier's former subjects in his now-former position as the Duke of the Western Moors. He had been thinking for a long time since his lands were lost, and dwelt much on the cause of it. And it always came back to one singular word which caused him to feel like spitting venom.
Perdan.
Their ruthless pursuit of power had lead to the sacrifice of his lands as a shield. Atop his castle, his lands burned as the combined forces of Fallangard and Westmoor tried to resist the siege, but they could not. Then began assassination attempts against the royalty of Sirion and Eponllyn, and with that Ravier could hold back no more. He decreed such acts to be dishonorable, and commanded them to stop immediately. If there was to be any fighting, it would be in honorable combat upon the walls or the duelling grounds.
Even after he issued that edict, it was ignored by the King of Perdan's brother as he struck at the King of Eponllyn and was caught. And it was then that his mind was made up. Up until this point he was praying he was wrong, that he was misguided. But it was not so. Thankfully, he had already tested the waters and written to King Garin, expressing his sorrow at the state of affairs in the Southern Alliance and wishing to be free, no longer a puppet. The Queen of Nivemus also wrote him, expressing her own sorrow in not visiting the Ducal Castle before the siege began in order to take in Westmoorian culture.
It seemed that these so-called "enemies" could be reasonable, logical and above all else, honorable. They would take in the fallen Duke, make him one of their own and with open arms. And it was so on this night that the letter of his departure and defection was sent, a missive which took aim at Perdan and encouraged any of his former subjects to take up arms against them, to seek vengeance. He certainly was going to do so.
Before he set out on his travels to Hagley, Ravier stopped at the mausoleum holding the honored dead of his order, those who had died in the defense of what they believed in. He sighed, pulling a black cloak around himself and lowering the hood, bowing his head. "You will not have died in vain, my friends. Though I may be aging and one day I may join this crypt, I will not do so before I manage to exact vengeance."
Ravier left, pulling the hood up and taking a retinue of his closest followers out of the city and into the lands. They began the journey to Hagley - by the time that his former comrades would have read his letter, he would be long gone. Though, it would turn out, his journey would not be so simple after all.
