Castellan Gior Adalma - Deceased

Castellan Gior Adalma's reign over Denævar was relatively brief, lasting from 489 to 501 AU. The previous Castellan, Mira Graff, was not well loved, ruling with a heavy hand and seemingly gleeful ruthlessness. When she was brought down by an unexplained sickness, which many in high society believe was actually a poisoning, the people of the city rejoiced. The selection of Adalma by the council was initially viewed with skepticism. Up to that point, Adalma had led a life predominantly out of the spotlight. What people knew of him was that he was a wine connoisseur, and that he liked to gamble at card games. Also, he had a lovely niece that he doted on. Within a year of taking the throne, however, he had instituted new programs to expand employment through large city projects, and started fighting against city corruption. He held large fetes to raise money to care for the aged and infirm. And while he still enjoyed his wine and his card games, he was as transparent as he could be about who was providing the wine and games so that the people could see they curried no favor with him.
Several attempts were made on Gior Adalma's life. Once, an assassin was able to enter his bed chambers. The next morning, the palace guards found him dead outside the bed chamber doors, with almost every bone in his body broken. Another attempted assassin tried to poison his wine. Several other people who were gaming with him that night succumbed to the poison overnight, but the next morning, Adalma rose from his slumber complaining of a slight headache and an acid stomach. And there was the incident where his carriage was run off the road and over a cliff, exploding in a fireball on the way down to the rocks below. Authorities found the bodies of the footmen and the coach driver, as well as the horses, but did not find the Catellan's body. The next day, he was found in a tavern in the lower quarters of the city, exchanging ribald stories with the patrons there. He claimed he had no recollection of even getting into the carriage, much less having it driven off the road while he was in it. To this day, these near miraculous escapes from death are talked about, and with each telling, the tales get more and more outlandish.

In 500 AU, though, his reign began to unravel. Rumors of his own corruption started to spread, and a trial was held (though it was never made clear how those who prosecuted him had legal authority to do so). He was found guilty of corruption and sentenced to death. His beheading happened very shortly after the sentence was proclaimed. Given how he had so frequently escaped death previously, it was understandable that the people of the city held out hope for a while that he would simply turn up again. But their hope faded after the a new Castellan was appointed by the Great Council.

Stories about how he came to his tragic end continue to circulate amongst the conspiracy theory-loving crowd. As the story currently goes, in his drive to do well by the people of the city, Adalma unfortunately earned the enmity of the Great Houses. Though he was warned several times, he continued instituting new programs and projects. The Great Houses were initially willing to allow the projects to proceed since they were able to profit from the labor. But as the Castellan continued to drive corruption out of the government, they were finding it more and more difficult to skim a sufficient amount of the profits into their accounts. Desperate to rid themselves of the seemingly incorruptible Castellan, they devised a plan to bring him down through rumor and planted evidence. Additionally, the story goes, Adalma's niece was held captive to force the Castellan to acquiesce to the demands of the Great Houses and the subsequent trial. Those who tell the stories point to the fact that the niece was never heard from again to justify their claims. Some continue to believe that he was never actually executed, that what people saw was an illusion or a clever fake, and that he lived out the rest of his life in a prison somewhere, or in exile.