Lost Dispatches of Feraso #53 - To the Late Viscount's Daughter

11th Day of QuaDec in the Imperial Year of 1028

Feldkurton, Barony of Greyhawk, Viscounty of Verbobonc

To the Fair Lady Helena of Verbobonc

Again, my heartfelt condolences for the loss of your father.  It has been a trying time for all of us who were loyal to and loved him.  I can only hope Eger can continue his wise path of governance.

It was a pleasure to see you again, and I greatly appreciated your attendance in the Viscount's Court upon my impromptu installation as Baron of Greyhawk.   I had not been properly briefed on such an appointment prior to my recall to Verbobonc.

The world is full of a number of unfortunate things.  You, an accomplished scholar in your own right, was not offered the hereditary title due to your gender and marriage.  Had I not already secured my bride to sire a son and secure a continuance of power in my tiny dominion, I would have offered my own services, and hoped my recent pedigree would be sufficient to be an acceptable spouse to you and the deciding powers.  Perhaps we would both be at far more acceptable stations in our lives.

I apologize for my lack of conversation regarding certain topics of your interest.  Despite my pleadings, Andrei has left me. The Tower of Enerk in Hermetus proved just too tempting and he purchased it outright.  He spends his days carefully re-engineering the Clockwork Horrors that remained in the remote corners of the tower.  Despite being the midst of Spring, I am trapped in Feldkurton with the duties I personally accepted.  Perhaps a trip to Hermetus will be in order for next year.

Yours in Service,

Sir Elsderth Greyhawk, Baron of Greyhawk
Your Friend in Perpetuity

DM Notes:  Lady Helena was never going to be Viscountess.  Too smart for her suitors, too bold to be subservient, it would not her nor her father's generation to change to rules of the title of Viscount.  Alas, that belongs to her cousin, Eger.  Eger is Viscount merely by the patriarchy.  His better qualified cousins, Lady Graham and Lady Graysteel are a famed crusader and adventurer, respectively, but alas, they have no spouse.  Eger, being married, with a son, and an active and quite capable member of the Verbobonc Guard (the infantry company, not the famed Verbobonc Lancers), he would be the "safe" and preferred choice.  

I'm not quite sure of the fate of Lady Helena.  She may continue to fight for the welfare of the Viscounty, she may succumb to social convention.  She might find a mixture of both.  Such is the life of an NPC that did not exist prior to Elsderth's first encounter with the Viscount in this series. 

As this is a short letter, I might as well tackle another topic I've been working through since the original Order traverse the Weissmach:  Elsderth's relationship with Andrei.  

I'm not quite sure, but as I continued to write episodes, I saw opportunities to ensure the relationship between the pair could simply be a true platonic friendship that Elsderth couldn't get from the true warrior caste that dominated the Order.    

Or there could be a simple romantic relationship, possibly hidden by social conventions such as marriage and siring an heir, with all the adventuring and "holidays."  His pining for him in the confidence of Lady Helena might push that to one of the decisions, but in the end, I'll leave it up to the dear reader to decide on the impact and extent of their friendship.    

NEXT: #54 - Krasimir Tower