It would be five and a half months after the Bozageest’s epic 3rd Annual Oktoberfest when Lord Aurelius, known to his friends and closest henchmen as “Tubby”, became a father. His wife Lucinda gave birth to identical triplet daughters in the spacious and sprawling castle in the heart of his capital, Xubrelle. While it wasn’t clear that the Duke wanted a son, over the years he learned to lean into the role of “Father of Ladies” as he and Lucinda had four more daughters born to them in the space of seven years. The adage was adopted in Condamner of “Seven in Seven” to indicate good luck and prosperity as the people of the duchy viewed their paladin leader as not only their ruler but also their mentor and caretaker.

As unlikely as this seemed to be, Condamner went from a dark and desperate land ruled by a vicious undead fiend to being a beacon of light and prosperity under the leadership of Duke Aurelius. As the leader of Renatus’ military he managed to bring together innumerable different types of combatants to form a cohesive and devastating force to be reckoned with. Drawing inspiration from Renatus’ closest ally, Slothjemia, Lord Aurelius used his powerful military might to intimidate as much as fight. If a show of force could do the trick, then all the better. A level-headed approach to a problem made him the perfect balance to the quick-tempered response of his close friend and lord, Archduke Alexander the Unifier.

An interesting fact not dwelt upon by many in Renatus is that Condamner never did actually fall under the rulership of the Archduke of Renatus. Lord Aurelius never seemed to get around to officially declaring his fealty as a Duke, although he was technically a vassal of Lord Alexander by virtue of his barony estate in the Duchy of Oublier. Nobody bothered to press the matter, and so the informal arrangement just happily continued along through the years.

While not strictly a part of Renatus the realm of Condamner was nonetheless a vital piece of the Archduchy. Condamner had no significant military of its own as martial prowess was not a part of who the people are or were. But they were sticklers for following rules, and they shaped by example the formal police forces of the entire Archduchy. Their specialty became detective work, a valuable skill in a land filled with mysteries. The other thing that Condamner became famous for was its cuisine. Quarterly cooking contests became a mainstay in Condamner as well as drawing contestants from across Renatus in a continuing bid to improve the culinary skills of the chefs and cooks of the land. Nobody could claim that Condamner didn’t have great food ever again.

While his role as the ruler of Condamner and father of seven lovely daughters might seem to be his crowning achievements, Lord Aurelius had one other role that earned him wider recognition than any of these. As the role of Renatus expanded on the Council of Schönbrunn so did the influence of Lord Aurelius. In the years that followed Aurelius and the Herzgraf of Slothjemia, Lord Archibald Speedblade, became close friends and confidants. As the Herzgraf grew older and more inclined to allow others to rise and take over his duties, it was Aurelius that began to gradually take over the role of wizened paladin not merely in the Council but across all of Partum. The overarching problem that Lord Aurelius had to deal with was the Fourth Imperium and the foul schemes that they kept unleashing onto the rest of the continent. For this there seemed to be no easy fix.