Eorl Ecgbert of Sollust

Ecgbert was the Eorl of Sollust and, briefly, the King of the Kingdom of Galland. Ecgbert was the second son of King Gallus III of Galland, a deceased king of the Gallander dynasty. He was assassinated on the 18th of November, 378 AG, moments after his official coronation as King of Galland. At the time of his death, Ecgbert was 55 years old.

## Appearance and Personality

Ecgbert was a stubborn and weary man with blue eyes and a grey beard which he wore in a braid. He wore his grey, shoulder-length hair loose about his neck. He dressed in muted dark or earthy colours, often wearing a long coat made from the fur of a brown bear. He sometimes wore a gold ring set with a brilliant ruby, which was an heirloom inherited from his father, King Gallus III.

Ecgbert was known as a learned but dull man who was fiercely protective of his close family. He was well-liked by the common folk and was known for his charity, honesty, and mercy. He tended to be quiet with strangers. He was known to have a rich, warm singing voice, although he rarely sang publicly.

## History

### Early Life

Ecgbert was born on the 17th of June, 323 AG. He was born to King Gallus III and his second wife, Alice of Hessburg, and was the first child of this union. He was, by all accounts, a spirited and rambunctious child, known for brawling with the local lads and shirking his duties as a page. In his teenage years, he was suspected of having dalliances with several peasant girls in the Eorldom of Sollust, although there is no evidence to suggest that he conceived any bastard children.

### The Collapse of the Gallander Dynasty

In 340 AG, Gallus III died of pneumonia at the age of 83, and was succeeded by his first son, John. King John elevated Ecgbert to the position of Marshal of Galland. On the 18th of January, 343 AG, John died suddenly of smallpox at the age of 63, and was succeeded by his only child, Adalbert, then only 10 years old.

As a minor, Adalbert was incapable of directly ruling the Kingdom, and Ecgbert was appointed as his regent. The nobles of Galland repeatedly agitated at court for lowered taxes or increased local authority, but Ecgbert and his younger brother, William, were able to play the nobles against each other and maintain the status quo.

In the Winter of 344 AG, Bertram "the Wolf", Eorl of Grimsford, claimed that he had discovered documents demonstrating that King Gallus III, the father of King John and grandfather to King Adalbert, was in fact a bastard child, and that his own deceased father, Eorl Alfred of Grimsford, had in fact been the rightful heir to the throne of Galland. Based on these documents, Bertram claimed the the throne of Galland as his own. At the beginning of Spring, he marched upon Sollust, the Kingdom's capital, with a force of 3,000 men, primarily mercenaries. Ecgbert attempted to raise the levies of the realm, but the fractured relationships between the crown and the Eorls prevented him from raising a substantial force. He attempted to block Bertram's passage to Sollust at the bridge of the River Weale with a force of 1,000 men, primarily peasant levies, but was roundly beaten and forced to retreat. Before he could regather his forces, Bertram stormed the keep of Sollust and seized King Adalbert.

Bertram then declared himself to be the rightful King of Galland and offered peace to Ecgbert, threatening to have Adalbert beheaded if they declined. Begrudgingly, Ecgbert accepted Bertram's claim, ending the Gallander dynasty.

Bertram moved the capital of the realm from Sollust to his own keep at Grimsford and reneged on his promise to release Adalbert, instead imprisoning him in the dungeons of Grimsford as a hostage.

### Eorl of Sollust

With his armies shattered and his nephew imprisoned, Ecgbert was unable to resist Bertram the Wolf, and instead swore fealty to him to avoid further bloodshed. In return, Bertram split the Eorldom of Sollust into the Eorldoms of Sollust and Anglson, and granted the Eorldom of Sollust to Ecgbert, and the Eorldom of Anglson to his younger brother, William. Adalbert, now a landless aristocrat, and still imprisoned in the dungeons of Grimsford, perished only three months later, having just reached his 11th year.

Ecgbert set about building the wealth of Sollust by ordering the construction of a lighthouse on the coast and digging a series of canals to irrigate the farmland around the city. After these plans were complete, he built a new keep near the bridge over the River Weale and ordered that the older keep located near the city docks be torn down and replaced with warehouses and other industrial facilities. This spurred further growth in the city's wealth and population.

On the 28th of August 356 AG, Ecgbert married Lady Joan of Hereston, a cousin of Eorl Cuthbert of Hereston. Their first child, Alice, was born on the 29th of September, 360 AG. At the age of five, she was betrothed to Bertram's fourth son, Prince John, cementing cordial, if cool, relations between Ecgbert and the new King.

### Civil Unrest

In 378 AG, the Eorldom of Sollust suffered banditry and raids as part of the ongoing civil unrest in Galland. One of Ecgbert's vassals, Sir Alfred of Fowlmere, was murdered by unknown assassins, and Ecgbert charged a party of adventurers from Anglson with the investigation of the matter. They uncovered a conspiracy by the Black Hand, a criminal organisation rampant throughout the region, to steal weapons and armour from smithies in Sollust and provide them to orcs and goblinoids raiding the west of Galland.

On the 8th of October, 378 AG, Ecgbert's daughter Alice was murdered, seemingly at the hands of her husband, Prince John "the Drunkard", following a feast at the court of Sollust. Ecgbert demanded that John be executed for the crime, but Eorl William managed to persuade him to allow the matter to be investigated by the party of adventurers from Anglson. After a day of investigation, the adventurers concluded that Alice had been murdered by a doppelgänger from the Black Hand who had attempted to frame John for the crime. Unfortunately, the doppelgänger escaped before it could be apprehended. Despite John's innocence, Alice's murder led to a fracturing of relations between Ecgbert and Bertram.

Bandits from the Black Hand, taking the guise of soldiers of the Reich, raided several villages in the Eorldom of Sollust to sow discord between Galland and the Reich. Fortunately, their ploy was uncovered and foiled by adventurers from Anglson. At the same time, soldiers from Halecroft began to probe the borders of the Kingdom.

A nameless spy employed by Bertram provided him with intelligence indicating that the leader of the Black Hand in Galland was an individual known as the Blood Knight, who appeared to be a lord located in the Eorldom of Anglson. In response, Bertram mustered an army to march upon the lands of the Blood Knight, joining levies with two mercenary companies, the Sons of Rorik and the Second Sons.

### Civil War

Bertram placed his army under the command of Prince Bertram the Younger and ordered him to march south to Anglson to capture or kill the Blood Knight. When the army attempted to cross the bridge at Sollust, Eorl Ecgbert blocked the crossing with his own army and refused to allow the King's forces to pass, leading to the Second Battle of Sollust and the Second Gallander Civil War.

Aided by Lord Tadhg of Boughshire and his companions, Ecgbert's army overcame the King's men and routed them from the field. One of Tadhg's companions, Einarr the Brave, was able to convince the routed Second Sons mercenary company to regroup and join the Ecgbert's cause. Ecgbert ordered his men to march north to Hereston to prevent the King from obtaining the loyalty of Eorl John of Hereston. Meanwhile, Tadhg and his companions made their way first to Hessburg and then to Caerfydd, obtaining the loyalty of Eorl Ælfwith and Eorl Gruffyd. The armies of these Eorls combined with the Second Sons and marched to Hereston, where Tadhg convinced Eorl John to join the Gallander cause. The combined forces of Ecgbert, Ælfwith, Gruffyd, and John routed the King's men and killed his heir, Bertram the Younger. Unfortunately, John of Hereston was also slain in the fighting.

The King's men retreated to the city of Grimsford with the Gallanders in close pursuit. The army of the Gallanders overcame the defences of Grimsford, driving the King's men back to the keep. A sudden and ferocious assault led by Lord Tadhg of Boughshire captured the keep on the 11th of November, 378 AG. During the chaos, King Bertram and his sons Alfred and Alan were slain.

As the closest surviving heir of King Gallus III of Galland, Ecgbert took the throne of Galland. On the 18th of November 378 AG, Ecgbert was coronated as King of Galland at the Great Hall of Grimsford. Moments after his coronation, he was slain by a crossbow bolt. The changeling assassin was captured, but managed to complete suicide before he could be interrogated.

Ecgbert was succeeded as King of Galland by his younger brother, Eorl William of Anglson.

## Family

Ecgbert was the second son of the deceased King Gallus III of Galland. His mother was Queen Alice, Gallus III's second wife. He had three siblings:

* His half-brother Prince John of Galland, born on the 26th of January, 279 AG, ascended to the throne as King John of Galland on 13th of May, 340 AG, died 18th of January, 343 AG;
* His half-sister Princess Matilda, born on the 25th of March, 282, died of Great Pox on the 18th of April, 330 AG;
* His brother Prince William, born on the 20th of May, 329 AG, now Eorl of Anglson.

Ecgbert had four children, all with his wife, Lady Joan of Sollust:

* Princess Alice, born on the 29th of September, 360 AG, married to Prince John "the Drunkard", assassinated by the Black Hand on the 8th of October, 378 AG;
* Lady Sarah, born on the 9th of March, 363 AG;
* Lady Matilda, born on the 17th of June, 369 AG;
* Lady Anne, born on the 3rd of November, 370 AG.

## Heraldry, Titles, and Vassals

Ecgbert was Eorl of Sollust for most of his life. He previously held the titles Prince of Galland (323 - 343 AG) and Crown Prince of Galland (343 - 344 AG). From 11th to 18th November, 378 AG, he was the uncoronated King of Galland.

Ecgbert had 120 vassal knights.

Ecgbert's arms, pictured, were *sable, three eagles rising in full, per pale or*.