Saullon once stood in the gleaming light of the Twin Goddesses of Vebastonne. It was once a shimmering light of chivalry and honor. However now it is no such thing. The only other area to be more infamously dreaded in the continent of Nilush is the Deadlands itself. For where once was fertile fields is now a filthy quagmire full of snails, slugs, frogs, death, and disease. Where once was chivalry and faith, now lies a den of murderers and monsters of nightmare reality. Where its castle and villages stood in splendor, now it is a place of sunken villages and decrepit, rotting people that somehow survive in this horrid land.
Baudet the Great
To understand the fall of Saullon. One must go back in time to the founding of Vebastonne. When Courzieu was liberated in 400EC, the founding knights of the round table would be gifted the grail, equaling 9 in total counting Giles. One such knight was one Baudet de Saullon, the warlord and now Duke of Saullon. However his realm was overtaken by a vast horde of undead monstrosities. While marching out to rid his province of the undead, Giles would speak to him of the majesty of their new duty to the twins, and to: "Keep thou spirits high, for thou must be of good spirits to complete the twins most noble quest". Baudet would take these words to heart, however nothing could prepare him or any man for what they saw. The land itself was blacked and dead, most villages they ran into were empty save for the dead too mangled and torn apart to be of use reanimating. Men, women, and children all terribly slain for no reason at all. Baudet would become a grim individual during the campaign that would last 2 months, skipping out on many feasts the round table had and it caused Giles and the others much worry. However they finally reached the great castle, owned by a terrible evil necromancer named Stamon The Black, and though the siege was fierce and terrible, Baudet would charge into the fray by himself with such ferocity, that many said he was less a knight and more of a terrible dragon that day. He would drive his lance into the gate with such force it broke down, and he rode into the central keep of the great castle city, and would emerge from the castle covered in such gore that it obscured his heraldry. However he walked out the keep with the head of the necromancer, and all the undead would crumble to dust or return as mere corpses. Saullon was freed, but it is said Baudet never truly knew joy again. It was said that his grief was so great, that it would bring a curse upon the land, for while the lands would return to being fertile and green in time, there was always an air of despair and misery that stayed. The round table would at times try to lift the spirits of their dear friend, but to no avail, and the death of Giles 15 years after the freeing of Saullon only worsened his woe. He would die in the year 560EC, alone and sad in his bed. His death brought about much argument of who should be duke, but it was eventually sorted, however every duke after Baudet was said to eventually in the twilight years of their extended life, fall to misery and gloom.
Yvon the Mad
In the year 2100EC, the current duke of Saullon, Yvon de Saullon, was something of a rising star. The superstitious curse was said to have no effect anymore upon the lands of Saullon, as Yvon was one of good character and most noble virtue. The lands bloomed fairly and many thought that Yvon would be a a most noble knight of the round table. However Yvon hid many dark secrets about him, his most destructive being his jealousy. He thought that if he was so loved by the people, he should have been gifted the grail by Lilia and become a Lilian Knight. However his duties as duke meant he could not ride out to take the quest for the grail. This thought would trouble him as suddenly his land was best by a terrible plague known as the Black Pox. The Black Pox was a terrible disease similar to what would become the Weeping Plague, that would seemingly subject people to terrible pain. It is said that the body would only finally die when ones organs were reduced to black and red sludge inside their bodies, and the plague did spread with terrible swiftness. It came with great woe when Yvon did try to assist in the helping of the sick, he too became infected with the disease. he would be wracked with terrible pain as he sought the twins for strength, but in his despair alone in a small spot he always went to for thought, a different voice answered. He would find a lake, though this one was dark and gloomy. A strange woman, deathly pale in skin tone but terrifyingly beautiful would arise from the lake, and when she did step across the lake, red liquid would form. She laid a simple message: "Oh strongest of knights, thou hast been ignored throughout thou's life. Thy noble deeds have gone unrewarded. I seek to change such fate, for i bring thou a simple offer. Slay thou's lover while she sleeps, and pour it into this chalice." She would then sink back into the river and leave him to his thoughts. Though he loved his wife, Yvon's dark and terrible jealously was stronger, and so it was he sliced open his wife's throat in her sleep, and the dark lady would reappear again and enchant the chalice, which she had claimed was the true grail. She than bid Yvon to drink, and so he did, where upon drinking he transcended death, and became a vampire. The dark lady would reveal her name as Natalia de Bar, and she was indeed also a vampire and together they would marry shortly after the funeral of Yvons previous wife.
Yvon would scheme on how to gain the kingship of Vebastonne. He and his wife came up with a grand scheme, of abducting the High Prophetess of the land, one Clarivre de Chambonnay, and used sorcery to put her in a hidden dudgeon with a terrible beast known as a Jabberwock named Golreir to guard it. At this current time, the king had recently passed away due to dying during an incursion of a now dead ogre war-tribe, so Yvon had the real magical sword Aetherius hidden with Clarivre, and used illusion magic to show a regular sword as the legendary sword from the stone. He then would declare himself the rightful ruler of Vebastonne. Many would suspect something, some of the peasantry calling him Yvon the Mad, but many nobles withheld judgment till they joined the tournament he was holding. Many Lilian Knights knew of the trickery, but politically were unable to move against him due to him claiming to also be a Lilain Knight. Many would search for the High Prophetess but were unable to find her. During this time, the tournament would go on, and the illusionary magic was so well hidden and executed that many believed Yvon to truly be chosen by the Twins. Yvon was also using this tournament to gain allies from knights who have felt to be mistreated and or were black hearted themselves who would swear undying oaths of loyalty to Yvon, thus forming the first dreaded Black Knights. While Yvon was convincing everyone of his lies, an unlikely knight named Galtier de Vallee was questing in Saullon when he came across the mighty jabberwock, and slew it in a fierce duel. After slaying this beast, he would discover Clarivre and free her from her magical coma and was informed of what is happening. Clarivre would in her mind consult the Twin Goddessess and all saw in Galtier a towering example of chivalry even at his young age, and so he was gifted both the grail, and the sword Aetherius, making him the new king. Following this, Galtier would show himself to the assembled courtiers and nobles at the tournament with Clarivre and a host of knights behind him. He would decry Yvon as a mad tyrant and a lair, and would show his sword to the assemblage. Many nobles flocked to King Galtier and if that wasn't enough, everyone saw both Lilia and Morgina appear at each side of Galtier, showing their favor lied with Galtier and not Yvon. This would result in a bloody siege of the great castle that lasted for 2 years, as though many abandoned Yvon, he had also been able to acquire many black knights and mercenaries, and even had set up a complex teleportation circle to resupply on food. During the siege, it was said Natalia and Yvon held constant feasts, feasting with gluttony unbefitting of the typical lord and lady, and gutter tonged bards played songs while death lie outside their secured palace. Yvon would give maddened orders to his men as during the siege, the Red Pox hit the city with a swiftness unseen. After 3 more months, suddenly the inside of the castle went silent, as the plague-weary royal warriors would open the gate. Inside they would find the entire city lie dead, for the plague had utterly killed every single soul. Inside the palace they would find the bodies of Yvon and Natalia and all of their courtiers lying dead, with some saying their wickedness was so potent it slew them all where they stood. So it was after this that King Galtier would decree with the blessing of Clarivre that the lands of Saullon would be wholly abandoned, a quarantine line to be placed on its borders, and that the light of Lilia and Morgina shined no more on Saullon.
A Dread Legacy Without an End
Though the tale of the fall ends with Yvon the Mad, the story some fear is not wholly over. It is said that the bodies of Yvon and Natalia were taken away by black knights and entombed in great tombs to honor them. that was hidden away. In time, they would both sink into the swamp, and is now thought to be undiscoverable. While this is a comforting thought, many fear that a dark force is now increasing the amounts of undead in the land, and some fear of a dread night where Yvon and Natalia will return on a quest for fiery vengeance. There is also talks of a terrible Black Knight of unmatched martial skill, known as Calidan The Dread Knight of Saullon, claiming to be the true ruler of all Vebastonne, with a contingent of Black Knights following his every order. These two are only a small fraction of the many horrifying things to be found in this Duchy of the Damned, and woe be onto any who find themselves inside it.
