Governor Lucas

Lucas (also called Nukaş) is the governor of Sınır Sapı in the campaign Zincirsiz ("Unchained"). The innkeeper Kokarca Loui described him as young and from an old family of tradesmen, caught between the quarantine orders that came from above and the townsfolk, soldiers and other officials below.¹²

The family

His son Tim, who came to the inn with guards, said that the family was not of formal nobility but had raised bureaucrats for generations in White City. On another occasion the family was described as old tradesmen, appointed by the Empire for their weight in the region's trade, and Tim told how, as the town grew along its roads and needed an administrator, they were appointed with the assent of the local nobles. Both accounts stand as told. Each imperial province has a viceroy and a military governor, authoritative administrators who do not own the land as nobles do and are counted the emperor's shadows in their regions; which office, if either, Lucas holds is not known.³⁴⁵

When Jonathan River asked whether the governor's house was counted noble, a nobility acquired later was granted in the talk. The house is named Volkan, and its seal is an ornate initial V.⁶⁷

The family lives in a modest castle set against a corner of the town wall, with two towers, guards and household staff. Inside are carpets, candlesticks, a family portrait and landscapes, a dining hall with a table for about twelve, a high open terrace that looks out over most of the town, Tim's study with few books, and a private room by the hearth where the governor receives guests. Jonathan and Olaf, whose names had been written down beforehand, were let in to an evening dinner where Tim was their host. The family also keeps a small tomb within the town.⁸⁹¹⁰¹¹

The private meeting

Tim said that leave to see the town's records of names and homes would depend on his father. Jonathan later drew a red-eyed figure in darkness on a scroll and had Tim carry it to his father; the governor, to Tim's surprise, agreed to see Jonathan alone. He is white-bearded and curly-haired, with a tired voice, and said he had found no one to talk to and had never come face to face with the being.^12131415

He told what Lady Teresa had said of an object, a gift of the forest spirits that brought flowers, fruit, clean water and plenty and made the settlement grow; he knew neither its nature nor where it lay. During the quarantine the fruit rotted in the fields. In his first fear he had wanted to give the object up, but Teresa warned that this would bring slow decline, death and departure, and he gave her time.¹⁶¹⁷

Spoiler: The sickness storyGösterAçık ettiği: Zincirsiz #13 · Ne okuduğunuzu söyleyin

The governor admitted that he and a few people he trusted had made up the story of the sickness. By presenting the being's messages from before its coming as an illness, he had hoped to bring soldiers and witch hunters to the region; the elf commander Ignorr and the witch hunter Otto did not know. This did not undo the disappearances and violence that had truly happened.¹⁸

Jonathan thought that the added soldiers and watching eyes might have slowed the being, and urged him to weigh a bargain by which the common folk might leave and live. The governor said he loved the town and had been afraid since Teresa vanished, and made no choice between leaving, bargaining and fighting; Jonathan offered to seek Teresa or the object and to fight if need be, the decision staying with the governor.¹⁹²⁰²¹

To act with official authority, Jonathan offered to serve the house as temporary consultant mage. The governor said he would talk it over with his son and send word to the inn within a few hours. About three hours later the one who came sealed the document Jonathan had drawn up and signed, telling him that he now worked for them. Jonathan then worked the house's V onto his robe and his companions' gear, and word that they worked for the house spread quickly.⁶²²⁷²³

Departure

At the leaders' dinner after the danger had passed, it was announced that the governor had written that he was not fit to manage the crisis and had set out on a long journey without anyone seeing him go.²⁴

Spoiler: A private talkGösterAçık ettiği: Zincirsiz #18 · Ne okuduğunuzu söyleyin

Speaking with Jonathan alone afterwards, Tim changed into the governor's face, showing that he too bore that likeness. Asked whether he and his father were one person, he answered by telling his past: his true father had died the day after the night he spent with Tim's mother, who then imitated him by magic. Tim's father of blood is thus apart from the governor whose role he played.²⁵²⁶