Mr. Balliol's Will

So many people in the 1700s with a large amount of money wrote wills to ensure that their descendants got the proper amounts of money. William Balliol is unique in that while he did pass on a lot of money, what he mostly did was generate a future furor about the existence of magic, and that completely by accident.

The Money is Immaterial

While Mr. Balliol did leave a lot of money to his assorted heirs, the main thing that people were there for was his property. He owned a large estate in Vielene/Valgrozna and had hinted previously at a grand prize to be available to the lucky person to inherit the property. Most people assumed there was a treasure of some kind hidden in the admittedly grand estate.

The prize was ultimately actually kind of dumb. He created a rather tacky looking painting that depicted his favorite family members. The reward was knowing that he had loved some of them more than others. Mr. Balliol was kind of an idiot.

What he did put in the will that boggled most people was an acknowledgement of his cousin who taught him magic. He included specific references to concepts and principles and things that he was tutored in.

Magic was always fringe. Most of all, it was mythologized and unacknowledged. William Balliol put it on the map and made it obvious, as a man of means who was notably not overly eccentric or strange or crazy.

The heirs tried to cover it up, but the lawyer thought it was funny and also thought he could extort them for money. He overplayed his hand.

Initially his heirs were scandalized and a bit disgraced, until someone pointed out that Mr. Balliol had no reason to lie, and the story was likely the truth.