On the matter of the assassination incident, read below.
I am commonly mistaken for his grace Slumberwood's palest, but I was merely a house guard. I do not depose the Grand Duchess Cadieux' conclusions, but it should be known that I acted in accordance with what I knew that night. She includes Mister Lothar's testimony to the incident, but not my own, and for all that it is worth, this is how it followed:
During the night of the 'assassination attempt', Duke Slumberwood and I were sat high upstairs discussing his political campaign for the district election. His methods seemed genuine, and I believed that his attempts to persuade were diplomatic and would prove fruitful to him. Then the door knocked. As is my usual instinct, I brought myself to stand, but Duke Slumberwood assured me he could handle it, insisting that I remain to offer more insight into his campaign notes from my own diplomatic education. It was not long before Duke Slumberwood called for my aid, claiming he had been stabbed. Immediately, I rushed downstairs to the best of my ability, to find Lothar Lomsted beside his grace with what I perceived to be an expression of guilt, and of recognition he had been caught. I am not an investigator. I am not certain whether this was staged or not, whether it was planned or whether it was truly the machinations of an enemy political party. I was a guard doing my duty. To reduce further harm on my watch, I incapacitated Mister Lomsted in one blow to the head. I hadn't known the door was knocked down in my haste, but I concur with the Grand Duchess and Violet's that this fellow was not capable. I escorted his grace to Greygate, then returned with Sibyllad, a member of the guard, to arrest who I deemed to be the attacker at the time - Lothar Lomsted. I provided these details to the Grand Duchess, checked up on the condition of his grace, and then I departed.
This is my testimony, on my faith in the All-Mother, and that is all. As I said, I am no investigator, interpret my experience as you will but know that I was not parley to any sort of set-up.
Duke Slumberwood had contacted me regarding the threats Duke Keen had elicited, and spoke of fearing for his countrymen's lives. The Duke Keen had threatened man, woman, and child, and this is what Duke Slumberwood had brought to me; asking for my assistance in the defense of his people. Naturally, as one opposed to violence, I agreed on the condition that my help as a commander would only be enlisted if Duke Keen's threat came to pass. As far as I am aware, they did not. As far as I am aware, nothing of the sort occurred on his grace's lands which constituted the requirements I had laid out. And yet I was summoned for battle. I would like to lament that this is why I refuse to become a palest. Not because of a lack of skill or desire to protect, but that to be a palest seems to come with a blind responsibility to the person you protect. I do not know Duke Slumberwood, not beyond our short 'friendship'. But what I do know now is that he would push me into battle, against innocents and clergymen, without my express authority and without clear knowledge of what I would be participating in.
To note, my involvement in the offenses to his people involved pure theory and strategy consultation with Morgaine Slumberwood, for I acted as tactician. I was not told the targets, I was not told the intent, and I certainly was not told about what was to come. Again, I lament my refusal to become a palest. My trust in both of these incidents appears to be violated so easily. Taken and twisted into actions that I would not in my wildest dreams dare to commit on my own accord. But that does not mean I am not to blame. What has occurred due to my negligence and misplaced trust is yet another painful memory that I will have to live with, another memory that I will be seeking to atone for. My part may not have been grand, but I was a cog in the wheel of events that led to tragedy, and for now all I can offer is my most sincere apologies.
My reasoning for writing this response is to protect myself against the accusations of the Grand Duchess Cadieux toward myself which is as follows: 'his [Duke Slumberwood's] longtime assistant, complicit partner-in-crime, and traitor to the pacifistic ways of the Cielothar he claims to love and the Petalcourt he claims to be one with, mister Osira Braewanyir'.
I am not his longtime assistant, I was his house guard. I am not a traitor to my people as I have evidenced, and you have no right to call me one as you are not one of us. Yes, I do love my people, and the people of Petalcourt.
Regardless of my oppositions to the Grand Duchess' accusations on myself, I agree whole-heartedly with her on the matter of Duke Slumberwood. That the Duke's actions were severely out-of-line, incited the behavior to slaughter some of the Empire's holiest just for their (very legal) political inclinations, that enlisted the aid and trust of people who I am sure did not know the whole context in what they were doing - such as Duke Vyzal - who should not have been called as his pact like my own with Slumberwood hinged on defense, not offense.
I hereby declare that I made mistakes in trusting Duke Slumberwood, offering this man my trust and skillset was a mistake I will not repeat, because his own bloody desires are not my own and they sicken me. I hereby declare my resignation from the Slumberwood House Guard due to Slumberwood's violation of my trust and the abhorrent acts which he has set upon his own populace.
I encourage Duke Vyzal to dissolve his pact with Slumberwood lest this happen again, and I hereby denounce Duke Slumberwood for his atrocious actions for what it is worth as his former house guard, standing with House Kreiburg, House Van Haal, and House Cadieux.
I will be manipulated and used for these ends no longer. Thank you for reading, and thank you Grand Duchess Cadieux for putting into words what I could not.
Kind regards,
and my most sincere apologies,
Osira Braewanyir
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