Baron Xzavien Kreswell of Easthaven.
Xzavien Kreswell is the Baron of Easthaven, First man of Queen Venieth of Arabel, and Commisioner of the Sheriffs. He obtained his office on a wave of controversy.
Kreswell began life as a simple mage and mercenary for hire in the neighbouring realm of Sembia before moving to Arabel to study magic under the newly refurbished Mages Guild. Advancing quickly in his mastery of the Weave, Kreswell grew bored of the Guild and left to pursue an adventuring career further afield.
After some time abroad, Kreswell returned to Arabel amidst a panic. The King of Eastway, Mergyth Cassiel, had been assassinated. Sensing opportunity, Kreswell worked his way into the fractured court of Eastway – becoming the Voice of the Kingdom. Time passed, and Kreswell had opened up several merchant enterprises, and it wasn’t long before Easthaven found itself some stability.
Soon claims to the throne began to ring around the village of Easthaven. Kreswell, recognising the financial clout of another Sembian, took it on himself to back Berlescosa Veneith’s claim to the throne, on the understanding that she make him Mayor of Easthaven. The bid was successful, and Kreswell was appointed the Mayor of Easthaven, and given lodgings and finance to pursue his endeavours further.
Trouble once again came to the Hullack Kingdom. A new power was rising in the darkness, a cult of slime headed by the former Sheriff turned rogue bandit Trennet Crey. A spate of murders and thefts spread across the land in the name of a vile and evil God, and all those who stood up to them soon found themselves dead. Throughout this time of fear and discomfort an uneasy stalemate existed between Kreswell and the Cult, until one day the Cult led a brutal raid on the Easthaven inn, capturing the then Mayor. Little is known of what transpired between Crey and Kreswell during his incarceration, but after much panic Kreswell was released for a vast sum of gold paid out by his bodyguard, the barbarian Mangus Gunnar.
Soon War was upon the region. The Devil Dragon had returned with its vast Army of Grodd, augmented with the assistance of the Cult. The folk of Arabel had a weapon however, the Staff of Ilmater, an ancient relic that could slay the vile Devil Dragon. The time came swiftly to use it. The Grodd marched on Castle Crag, last bastion of the Purple Dragon Knights. Kreswell was taken into the City’s circle of leaders, and soon found himself in the chaotic theatre of war of the Battle of Crag. As the Cormyrians got battered by waves upon waves of Grodd soldiers, Kreswell was handed the Staff of Ilmater to keep it safe. In a moment that stuck in the minds of everyone at that battle, Kreswell cried out “Fight to the last!” and fled the battle on a gnomish contraption he had kept hidden.
Crag fell to the Grodd, and Kreswell became a hunted man. For a week he lay in hiding, the Red Hart, the Mages Guild and many angered adventurers hunted high and low for him and the Staff. But Kreswell had a plan formulated already. A small unit of loyal men, lead by Mangus Gunnar, raided the fabled Eastway Cemetery, a vile and haunted place. After much fighting with undead, Grodd and worse the men of Easthaven returned from the Cemetery having lifted the curse that plagued it, and some say they came away with more than that. During this, Kreswell had been holed up in Castle Crag, bluffing Crey with promises of the Staff of Ilmater in order to distract the Cult from Mangus Gunnar’s mission. Fleeing Crag, Kreswell came out of hiding a hero, acquiring the Staff of Ilmater and a means for driving off the Devil Dragon for his Queen.
There were a few who did not see Kreswell a hero. With all the aces in his hand, the Mayor began canvassing the City for support for Veneith. He had previously acquired the help of Lord Huntsilver of Flynn, and soon a call of no confidence was placed on Queen Lahl, in favour of Veneith. All offered their voices except the noble knights of the Red Hart. The Red Hart still considered Kreswell a traitor, and hated the Hullack Kingdom.
Within a week they had mustered their forces and amassed an army to take Easthaven by force and retrieve the fabled Staff of Ilmater. The battle was bloody, but the adventurers loyal to Easthaven held off hundreds of Red Hart soldiers. Just when the battle was looking grim, the Devil Dragon tore from the northern sky, and breathed it’s vile flame upon the Red Hart and Easthaven soldier alike. The folly of the Red Harts was complete, and the Devil Dragon raced towards an unprotected Arabel.
Kreswell lead the remaining Easthaven defenders west to Arabel, and after a long and bloody fight, carved through the Grodd soldiers that poured from the sewers and made it to the Gilded District. It was there Lahl was witnessed in doomed mortal combat with the Devil Dragon, her broken body rescued only by retreating Red Hart Knights, who saved her life. With a clamour Veneith and Huntsilver burst into the district, and Staff of Ilmater aloft, vanquishing the monstrous undead dragon. With the throne of Arabel empty, the city folk called for Veneith and Huntsilver to take their place as rulers of the city. Kreswell, his machinations finally bearing fruit, was granted nobility, and became the Baron of Easthaven. But a new power remained in East Arabel, a power that would test the new Baron’s mettle afresh.
Osborne Greencastle, later revealed to be the exiled and wanted Lord Hundarr Janthrin of Cormyr, had taken residency of Eastern Arabel by force. For three weeks Greencastle spread his influence upon the eastern district of Arabel. The streets which once served as the gateway to the trading roads Arabel so relied upon glimmered with an unhealthy green glow. Greencastle was a known servant of what was referred to as the Abomination and his followers, willingly or otherwise, were corrupted by this vile being of rot and decay. Greencastle jockeyed for position, attempting to rally support from all and sundry. The Mages Guild, the Red Hart even the Grodd forces to the North were called upon as allies. Only the occupants of Crag answered promisingly, though their services would be costly. Envoys of Greencastle visited the Lord of Crag to discuss terms and handed over the first of a substantial sum to buy their assistance.
Greencastle, however, was near broke. He had spent his fortune in the months previous to acquire the Sceptre of Decay, an ancient artefact that while powerful he found with disappointment – not quite the relic he had hoped. Greencastle’s most loyal men devised a plan to steal more finances, and so plotted a raid on the Arabel City Bank. Little is known of what transpired within the bank, however it is known that a force led by Kreswell was found within the vault as the last line of defence when Greencastle’s men cut a bloody path to Arabel’s riches. How Kreswell knew of Greencastle’s intentions is not clear, however the Bank heist proved unsuccessful as the Kreswell lead team left the Bank with prisoners in tow. Greencastle, now backed into a corner, made declarations that an announcement was imminent.
Three days later Greencastle had the eyes of Arabel upon him as he made one final move for triumph. An army of Gnolls poured in from the East, met by a wall of defenders – Mangus Gunnar again chief among a force led by Sheriff Giovani Diangelo. While the battle was bloody and long as the Gnoll forces died out and the defenders fell back into the East there stood Kreswell, emerging from the Greencastle Merchant House with a task force, boasting that the tyrant was dead.
Kreswell was a celebrated hero. He had conquered the Devil Dragon, saved Arabel and now killed the evil Greencastle. Made Baron of Easthaven for his efforts and put in charge of the now renowned Hullack Sheriffs Kreswell cemented himself as a powerhouse of Arabel politics.
Kreswell presided over the East with content for several months until misfortune again hit the Kingdom, the conquering Queen Veneith was stricken in a hunting trip and left incapacitated.
A new chapter begins – Arise, King Kreswell.