Tower of Ascension

King Varbis the First was the founding monarch of the modern The Barony of Varbis and the first great ruler of the Line of Thorne. His reign is remembered as the age in which the Barony was consolidated, its enemies were broken, and Team Small rose from infamous adventurers into one of the most terrifying political weapons in the known world.

To loyalists, Varbis I was the strong king who brought order, wealth, and stability to a fractured land. To his enemies, he was a tyrant who learned how to aim Team Small at anyone standing between him and the throne.

King Varbis I is commonly depicted as a stern, commanding monarch seated upon a high throne, robed in fine silks and gold, and crowned beneath radiant architecture. Royal artwork often presents him as calm and severe even in the midst of battle, judgment, or divine confrontation.

In Barony propaganda, Varbis is usually shown as a wise and resolute sovereign, surrounded by golden light, loyal warriors, and the symbols of royal authority. Less flattering accounts describe the same imagery as deliberate mythmaking meant to soften the memory of a ruthless and ambitious ruler.

Varbis I was ambitious, calculating, and pragmatic. Early in his rise, he reportedly attempted to present himself as a benevolent and pious ruler, but quickly learned that Team Small had little patience for moral theater. Once he understood the sort of people he was dealing with, he became far more direct.

He possessed several traits that made him unusually successful at managing Team Small:

He paid well. He spoke to them plainly. He did not pretend to be more virtuous than he was. He understood that Team Small could be guided, but not truly controlled. He avoided unnecessary cruelty toward common folk.

Varbis was not loved by everyone, but he was respected, feared, and obeyed.

King Varbis I was the favored client and chief royal patron of Team Small. His relationship with the party became one of the defining political arrangements of his reign.

Team Small was chaotic, mercenary, violent, and difficult to control, but Varbis understood their priorities better than most rulers. They wanted payment, amusement, freedom, food, and the chance to avoid being lectured by idealists, mystics, planar agents, and moral philosophers. Varbis gave them what they wanted, and in return they gave him victories that few armies could have achieved.

From Team Small’s perspective, Varbis had three important virtues:

He paid them. He was honest enough about what he wanted. He did not seem especially cruel to ordinary people.

In return, Team Small became one of the most dangerous instruments of royal policy in the Barony’s history. Nobles, political rivals, celestials, fey, elves, monsters, and hostile powers all learned to fear the possibility that Varbis might simply hire Team Small to solve a problem.

One of the most infamous moments of Varbis I’s reign occurred when celestials of Lady Corinette entered his throne room to arrest or assassinate him. Their intervention became a defining event in the Barony’s long hostility toward Lady Corinette and her servants.

According to Barony tradition, Varbis remained seated upon his throne as the celestials confronted him. Rather than plead his case, he offered Team Small an enormous payment and gave them a simple command:

“You know what to do.”

The celestials were destroyed almost immediately.

This event is remembered very differently by different factions. Royal loyalists call it the defense of the crown against divine treachery. Followers of Lady Corinette may regard it as a massacre, a tragedy, or proof of Varbis’s corruption. Within the Barony, however, the incident became a foundational piece of royal memory and helped cement public distrust of Lady Corinette’s church.

In official Barony accounts, the attempted celestial intervention against King Varbis I is remembered as The Treachery of Lady Corinette. This phrase is commonly used in royal histories, patriotic festivals, and monuments dedicated to the founding of modern Ruinele.

The event is not remembered merely as an attack on one king, but as an attack on the right of the Barony to determine its own ruler. Whether the celestials intended lawful arrest, divine judgment, or assassination, the Barony’s official position is that Lady Corinette’s servants attempted to remove the king by force and were defeated by Team Small.

This legacy remains one of the reasons the Barony is broadly secular and suspicious of Lady Corinette’s faith.

Varbis I’s reign marked the consolidation of the Barony into a stronger and more centralized realm. He used royal authority, political calculation, and the overwhelming power of Team Small to remove rivals and secure the future of his dynasty.

The Barony that emerged from his reign was not gentle, but it was stable. Royal power grew, trade expanded, and the Line of Varbis became the central political institution of the realm.

The city of Ruinele was founded as the new royal capital of the Barony during or after the great victories associated with Varbis I and Team Small. Its monuments and royal architecture were designed to preserve the official memory of the king’s rise, Team Small’s victories, and the founding of the modern realm.

The Obelisk of Victory in Ruinele commemorates Team Small’s triumph over the avatar of Feng, the founding of the city, the battles against Lady Corinette’s angels, and the construction of the new capital.

King Varbis I also played a role in the strange rise of Greenwood. Team Small’s later association with Greenwood, including its transformation into a flying city, may have originated from one of the party’s bizarre demands or rewards.

Rather than attempting to restrain Team Small’s stranger ambitions, Varbis often indulged them. This approach helped keep the party rich, amused, and loyal enough to remain useful.

King Varbis I’s legacy remains central to the identity of the Barony. The royal family, the city of Ruinele, and many civic monuments continue to frame him as the founder of the modern realm.

His reign also created the political model later rulers inherited: a secular monarchy, suspicious of outside divine interference, willing to work with dangerous adventurers, and deeply protective of the Line of Varbis.

Modern rulers such as King Varbis III continue to rule in the long shadow of Varbis the First.