Gregory Deucale

Most bretons would say that reaching the higher echelons of society is a goal worth dedicating your life for. It may be, unless you’re anything like Gregory Deucale – then it’s a futile endeavour. A minor noble and the current patriarch of his house, the ever-so-common desire to excel among higher born has long since faded away from him. On the other hand, he has constructed a web of both folklore and truths around his family and its history that very few can genuinely claim to know the man; the resultant reputation making him one of the respected – albeit controversial – nobles of the Wayrest.

As aforementioned, his story is constructed primarily on idle talk; there is no book that tells of him other than an imaginary log with bits aplenty that people who care like to pick and expand from. Of course, the date of his birth is recorded as the second decade of the fifth century, 2E, among several other lines of text describing his family and its genealogy, as befits any legitimate noble house. He is married, has six children, two sons and four daughters, and is among the wealthiest nobles of south-eastern High Rock. It is commonly accepted, be it true or not, that Lord Deucale’s influence extends beyond Wayrest so far as to the March of Kambria to the west and Evermore to the east; albeit at lower levels.

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Turning to spoken history, House Deucale could have easily fallen into anonymity if not for the turmoil that befell it in the past generation, making those attentive – and the very few who genuinely cared – remember its name. Initially, it was treated with remorse, but as word passed from ear to ear that changed drastically; the common folk’s tendency to adjust subjectively has brought the story to where it is today.

The current patriarch of the house is the second and last son of one Edward and his wife, Rosalyn Fanis – a woman whose social status has been contested even after her tragic decease. Born with some talent for sorcery which, unfortunately, was not nurtured properly by legitimate tutors, he was thought to have a bright future ahead of him despite his family’s low position in the hierarchy of nobles. The presence of an older brother always there to overshadow him and for the young lad to attempt to surpass was seen as an adequate motivational force, however, their rivalry had detrimental effects. Ironically, the happy, mildly-proud lad they describe him to be back then stands in high contrast to what he is seen as today: a glacial, imperious and cunning man unbiased by the feelings of those around him.



A local legend claims that the current Gregory Deucale is the result of some manner of possession or otherwise mind influencing magic; many such theories are fuelled by the hate the low class harbours towards the man. According to many, and to further the above antithesis, his passion for magic surpassed the pride he was taught to wear as a second skin; more than a few remember him doing menial tasks for travelling wizards just to catch a glimpse of the knowledge they held. There are some who even go as far as claiming that he had considered joining the Mages Guild’s chapter of Wayrest from an early age; alas, that never came to pass. Nowadays, the only thing associating him with that organization is a sour taste.



It is said that no language can express the power, beauty, heroism and majesty of a mother's love and the impact of losing something so valuable has on a child is mayhap too difficult to describe in words. Five years prior to the Reachmen Invasion of High Rock - 27th of Sun’s Dusk, 536, 2E - marks the date of an event the now aged lord would readily call his worst memory; if he ever chose to speak about it. The untimely decease of his mother left behind wounds so great that, many claim, the young breton gradually ceased being a boy much too soon, the traits many valued in him being slowly dusted away as the years went by, leaving behind “an empty shell” – as those who dislike him like to underline, oft with a sneer. Thus far, no one quite knows the exact circumstances of Rosalyn’s death and, just as it is with many other aspects of Lord Deucale’s life, it has been the subject of idle talk for years.

Viciously and with no regard for Gregory’s sentiment, rumour has it that both he and his brother considered their mother a disgrace to their noble heritage – supposedly being proven that she was, in fact, a low-born Edward Deucale had fallen for – and took it upon them to purge their father’s failure. What is perhaps more disturbing, and in testament of how some aristocrats think, is that some noble families the lord currently associates with consider such an action – be it truth or fable – legitimate and it is one of the reasons he is respected by them. To this day, Gregory Deucale has never confirmed the veracity of it; however, he has not denied it either. Nevertheless, one effect is certain and visible to this day: Gregory has forsaken studying magic extensively in favour of blades and silvered words.



Following the aforementioned, unfortunate event of his youth, the relationship with his brother took a distinctive, positive turn and that is everything any man could tell for a fact. Everything else has, just as before, been affected by the common man’s tendency to adjust, including the old brother’s disappearance some time during the Reachmen Invasion. Some say he died alone in the war. Some claim that the two brothers' rivalry took the best of them – with the younger one emerging victorious. Others say he fell in love with a woman of the Reach and turned his back on those he once swore to protect. The best of fables suggest him to have never left.

As for their father, the man criticized from the very first day the family stepped into the public’s attention, he lived to die of old age after slowly descending into madness. His ashes lay in an urn somewhere inside his family’s manor in Wayrest.

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A family devotee at first, an exceptional merchant, an astute politician, or a breton blessed by the God of Work and Commerce after the tragedies that befell his family, or a cold, ruthless, cunning old man who, by means of chance, deceit and fear, imposed himself in a position he did not deserve. An honest man judged wrongly by the society he lives in or a spider whose legs are spread across the web of lies and injustices sewn by him; pick your rumours and see where they get you. Chances are you’ll find an ounce of truth in each.





(Currently a work in progress. Both brief descriptions of some facts or rumours and stories will be written and linked here.)