Dagult Ambermantle
Dagult Ambermantle is the former Open Lord of Revelmoore and a title claimant to the Throne of the Kingdom of Oceanus. A formidable spellcaster, remarkable orator, and a dangerous military commander, Dagult Ambermantle was blessed with many gifts and possesses the ambition to match.
A man of stark dualities, Dagult is both feared and respected, hated and cherished. While his name is cursed in Revelmoore for the damage he caused with his usage of the Stone of Golorr and the Vault of Dragons, historians recall that he was an immensely popular ruler before his ousting in 3517. This penchant for motivating the masses to his side has followed him to his homeland of Oceanus, where he has amassed a force to push his claim on the kingdom's throne.
Dagult Ambermantle was born in Pontus Tinigal, the capital of Oceanus on the 20th of Foeros, 3462 I.R. The son of an aristocratic merchant and latest in the longstanding Ambermantle noble line, Dagult experienced the upper echelons of society from an early age. He studied under his uncles and aunts, former adventurers who had braved the Undermountain and lived to tell the tale, who fostered the young man's gifts for sword and sorcery alike.
Chief among Dagult's education was the focus on the accolades of his family, including their role in the founding of Revelmoore and Oceanus alike, their service to and eventual rebellion against the Overking, and their role in shaping the face of the Gulf of Akados region. Dagult developed a fierce pride in his origins, bolstered by confidence in his natural talents and his penchant for winning over others.
After coming of age, Dagult enlisted in the navy of Oceanus, where he fought against the local sahuagin among other threats. Many assumed he would aim for the rank of Admiral after years of distinguished service, but following the death of his father, Dagult forfeited his military commission at the age of 26 and departed for the city of Revelmoore to pursue careers in adventuring and politics. His motives for this move are shrouded in mystery; many assume that he desired a less certain future, one with greater risk but far greater reward on the horizon.
House Ambermantle was led in Revelmoore by a cadet branch of Dagult's distant relatives, and had fallen far from its former glories. Dagult asserted control over the family estate and worked to return its former prestige. Like many skilled fighters and spellcasters, Dagult made excursions to the Undermountain, winning riches and fame with the local populace. He was the leader of a party that dispatched a monstrous purple worm, stopping the creature from emerging on the surface and wreaking havoc on the city and further elevating his image in the eyes of the public.
With coin and goodwill, Dagult ingratiated himself with his fellow nobility and restored his family's reputation, allowing him to secure a masked Lordship. He soon married Alethea Brandath, eldest daughter to the renowned but dwindling Brandath noble line. The two had one son, Renaer Ambermantle, in the year 3491. Five years later in 3496 I.R., at the age of 34, Dagult Ambermantle was elected to the seat of Open Lord by the Council of Masked Lords in recognition of his services to the city and his talent for governance and public affairs. His wife would succumb to a debilitating illness soon after, leaving young Renaer largely in the care of family servants.
The early years of Dagult's reign were marked with success and public adoration, but behind closed doors Dagult's ambitions sought plans for even greater influence over the realms. While Bard's Gate grew in power and threatened all of Akados with their expansionist policies, Dagult secretly met with his father-in-law and was introduced to the Stone of Golorr. This alien artifact granted any wielder whose mind could stand up to its corrupting influences the power to influence the memory of the entire living population of Lloegyr, fundamentally rewriting reality itself to hide that which was wished to be hidden.
Dagult began a grand scheme, siphoning tax funds and noble assets into the Vault of Dragons; a massive dwarven vault that could only be accessed through a hidden door in the Brandath family crypt. After these thefts, Dagult would utilize the Stone of Golorr's power to erase knowledge and evidence of his deeds. This scheme would carry on for over twenty years, as Dagult amassed wealth to fund his eventual bid for control over Oceanus.
His ultimate goal was simple; to unite Revelmoore and Oceanus as a singular power, and use their combined might to challenge and possibly even conquer Bard's Gate. "The Overking will be but a distant memory", he thought; the time of the united Akadian Empire had come.
Ambermantle's ambitions hit a snag, however, and he simultaneously underestimated the scrutiny of Revelmoore's bureaucrats and overestimated his concealing efforts with the Stone of Golorr. Two decades of stolen wealth could be dismissed from records, but the effect of this wealth vaccuum could not. With noble investments failing and public works going unfunded, rumors of corruption at the highest levels began to circulate. Following the chaos of the Eclipse of 3517, Dagult was ousted by a coalition of nobles led by Reverie Ilvastarr II, who correctly laid the blame for the missing wealth at his feet. Before he could be captured and tried, however, Dagult escaped with the help of his loyal agents and absconded to his home in Oceanus.
Dagult attempted for years to reclaim the Stone of Golorr and its eyes via his agents, but increased security and scrutiny foiled his efforts at every turn. The interference of the Xanathar Guild, the noble house Cassalanter, and the resurgent Veszaltyrr Oussndar, only made the efforts all the more impossible. All came to a head in the famous
Dragon Heist of 3521, where a group of adventurers navigated the treacherous waters of the race for Dagult's stolen gold and ensured it ended up in the less destructive hands of the thief lord of Fortune's Crossing, Zelem Corvo.
The loss of 20 years of work would be a grave blow to Dagult's ambitions, forever destroying his dream of uniting the crowns of Revelmoore and Oceanus. It would not be the final nail in the would-be Emperor's efforts to exert control over the Gulf of Akados, however. Wasting no time while in exile in Oceanus, Ambermantle took advantage of the unpopularity of reigning King Roderigo d'Velas and rallied popular support, while also acquiring (or possibly fabricating) proof that his lineage traced back to a shared heritage with the founding father of Oceanus, Maximilian d’Varago Pontos.
With a sizable majority of the people of Pontus Tinigal at his side, Dagult launched a bloody coup known as the Usurper's Gambit(event) against King Roderigo in the early days of the year 3522, beginning a struggle that became known as the Usurper's Gambit.
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