Frederich Barnas

Sir Frederich Barnas is the elderly tutor of Prince Conrad, the crown prince, in the Sürgün Günlükleri ("Exile Chronicles") campaign. He commands the prince's guard, the Gladio Heredite, and as the prince's counsellor he pressed for talks rather than force against a rebellion in Mavi Koru.^{1 2}

At Riverguard

At the fortress of Riverguard he sent for Kemp Corvus late at night, and when the fort's commander would not have his guest disturbed at that hour, invited him to breakfast the next morning by way of the dragonborn guard Alachar. He greeted the company warmly and asked that what was said stay secret. He praised the loyal name of House Corvus and wanted Kemp at his side.^{1 3 4}

He told them that he had once visited Archon and could never forget the school floating in the air, and that he had seen words like "Might or Right" on its tower. Katherine told him that all had been well at Archon when she left.⁵

The rebellion

By his account, unrest over taxes and the province's autonomy had been swelling in Mavi Koru for about a year, and the rebels wanted the Third Legion gone. He said they were backed by separatist elves and supplied by a route reaching to the sea, and he believed the taxes were a cover for more sinister interests, though some had joined in good faith. He suspected a rich local house living off its lands, which was seeking a marriage with the daughter of an elector count; this was the Porvis house of Baron Vermont Porvis. He gave the details cautiously, to avoid needless executions.^{6 7}

Later accounts bore out part of his suspicion without settling it. The imperial agent who met the company on the road said the house was tied to the rising, though he could not say how far or to what end, and had seen gold sent from its treasury into the countryside three times. The baroness afterwards said that her husband had begun a political opposition to lower the taxes, which had grown into an armed rebellion he now paid out of fear.^{8 9}

In private he told Kemp that the prince was clever and not given to violence, but young and ready to do anything to prove himself to his father, and that the Emperor had sent his old tutor along so that the prince would come home a good ruler. Bloodshed, he argued, would turn a rebellion into a chase, and the prince's first mission should set a good example. Other counsellors, Sir Ezor Godsend among them, favoured a harder answer.^{2 10}

He cut the prince's first offer of a hundred men down to a small, fast company of thirty, with a local guide and an aide. Their first task was to test his suspicion with a formal visit to the house, then to learn how the common people saw things; if someone came forward to speak for the rebels, he would conduct the talks himself. He charged Katherine with passing his messages to Kemp unchanged, and warned that if nothing was settled within about a month the prince would turn to harsher measures.^{11 12 13}

Sending out the company

On the morning of departure he asked Kemp whether to warn the Porvis house; since a column of thirty could not arrive unseen, a message went by bird asking, in the prince's name, for lodging and food for the soldiers, while the true purpose stayed hidden. He gave Kemp a road warrant for supplies, arranged regular contact through Katherine at midday and message birds, and said that his information came from imperial intelligence, whose agent would find the company on the road, though he himself did not know the agent's marks. He promised that imperial bank cheques would be honoured and small costs met, and had a purse for the mission brought out. Of a patrolman found dead with "freedom" written on his chest, he said the killing looked like the work of men, meant to frighten or born of anger in the ranks.^{14 15 16 17 18}

Once he had left Riverguard, regular contact with him became difficult. During the siege of Sarpyar word came that a relieving force was on its way, and its commander told the company that Frederich had been kept informed and thought their steps so far were right.^{19 20}

Against the spectacle

When a public duel with the rebel leader Rainer Karga was being prepared in Tal'gard, Frederich sent Katherine a magical message saying that such a show of violence was wrong, above all on that day, and asking them to stop and wait for him; someone would also come to speak for the rebels. He arrived tired and alone, carrying his own bag. He argued that once Rainer's legitimacy and resources were cut off his followers would largely abandon him, while dying before a crowd or defeating the Empire's champion would make him a hero.^{21 22 23}

He showed papers posting him officially elsewhere in the province and said court intrigue had sent him away. He gave no orders: the decision belonged to Kemp, whom the prince had charged with the mission. What he asked was that the future emperor's first lesson should not be to crush opponents by force. He advised hearing the rebels' envoy, left after the meal so as not to draw attention, and reminded Katherine that violence breeds violence and that the same talk of danger can be turned against wizards. The spy Foltest, for his part, claimed that his own master served the Emperor in the Marble Palace, while Frederich served only the prince.^{24 25 26 27}

The settlement and the battle of Düz Vadi

As the rebellion broke apart, Frederich took over the talks with the nobles in the prince's name without consulting the company: pardons in exchange for land, taxes and compensation, and trials for those who had drawn swords. The prince largely confirmed his terms. When the prince praised Kemp's plan and knighted him, Frederich did not return Kemp's glance.^{28 29 30}

On the march east, when the rebel captain Marcus Boldvar rode out to parley, Frederich wished to go, but the prince sent Kemp, saying a soldier would show their intent better. Frederich supported Marcus's request that those who had not fought be allowed to leave, and looked on Kemp with approval when he spoke for mercy, but the prince and the other counsellors refused.^{31 32 33}

When a disciplined hobgoblin host came out of the trees and the prince ordered the guard cavalry to charge, Frederich declared that the unit was still his to command, called on it to rally behind him one last time, drew his sword and rode in. He threw himself forward as if he wished to die; his horse was brought down by an arrow and he lay senseless among the enemy until Kemp fought his way to him and dragged him from the field. The battle, won by the prince's side, came to be called the battle of Düz Vadi.^{34 35 36}

Afterwards the prince said that his tutor would leave his service and return to his estate, his castle and his grandchildren. Frederich looked worn and defeated; he seemed a little glad that the prince no longer needed a tutor, but the sense of loss was stronger.³⁷