Gatus Coterii

Overview:
The mastermind of the Massacre of Coterii and betrayer of the White council. This master manipulator used both political and arcane power to get and retain the Lordship of the Duchy of Coterii.

Early life and background
Gatus was born in Castle Coterii, the younger brother of Broten Coterii and son of Lord Wallace Coterii. At his birth is was expected that his brother and his children would be the line of leadership, so his father encouraged him to seek training for either the priesthood or arcane arts. His mother, Shyl Coterii, on the other hand, was always reminding him he could be more that that, that anything could happen to his brother before he had children, that he needed to be prepared. This encouragement, plus his abundant ambition framed many of the events of his life.

Education and training
Gatus Coterii's early education began in the home. This role was initially taken on by Shyl Coterii, but when he expressed interest in training in some arcane skills, she sought out the assistance of Freer Frizzenbee. Freer trained him for only a few years and the Gatus no longer wanted the services of the eccentric teacher. The parting was friendly enough. At this point, Gatus Coterii became largely self educated, amassing a small library on various rituals and how to adjust rituals. His greatest education accomplishment was the creation of his hall of mirrors, which was built during his reign and allowed him to see through the eyes of his chosen.

Adult life
As an adult Gatus watched the passing of his father Wallace Coterii and attended the coronation of his much loved older brother Broten Coterii. Encouraged by his mother he began to move in various circle to accumulate connections and power. This included the disgraced magic user Tolan Zarkov, the Crimson Veil and even the various heads of the great houses in Bru'Donu.

Through his trusted sources in Bru'donu he was able to convince them to amass a lycanthrope army and storm Castle Coterii. They believed they had the Duchy of Coterii in a position of weakness and were completely unaware of Gatus Coterii's deception.

In the winter of 4693 the Massacre of Coterii began and ended. The werewolf soldiers attacked Castle Coterii at the same time Gatus was informing the troops he gathered at Fort Morland that he had just become aware of the attack from Bru'Donu. He armed these soldiers with silvered weapons and they planned their counter assault.

His timing, as always, could not have been better. The whole of the royal family in the castle was killed, except for Julian Domgee, though that remained unknown at the time. The only regrettable loss was Shyl Coterii, but Gatus had calculated that might happen. His specially armed troop mowed down the invaders, making Gatus both the hero of the Massacre and also the new Lord.

In this lordship he used his connection to always appear to be helping the people, while at the same time making them appear to be in perpetual danger. He inspired orcs from the Emerald Ironwood Forest to attack the Emerald Keep, but always made sure the soldier there were forewarned. He allowed Tolan Zarkov to build a layer beneath Emerald Keep, which prisoners could be sent to for experimentation and so Tolan's creations could periodically attack, giving value to Gatus's military presence. He was loved because anyone who knew the truth about what was going on became a target of the Crimson Veil.

This all came to a head when Bram Rikfeld, Welby Talhill, Hyrcanus the Warlock, Nopp the Barbarian and Marach the Deva were tasked by Krusyeon with Coterii's destruction. Krusyeon was part of a powerful council, which had put together how Coterii had come to power and learned of the rightful heir. This with the additional information the group had already gathered in their defeat of Tolan Zarkov and the Crimson Veil, sprung them into action. In 4715 Gatus Coterii was killed and Julian Domgee took his place as the ruler of the Duchy of Coterii.

Legacy
For most of his life Gatus Domgee was a loved and trusted ruler. He seemed to know things before they happened and always worked for the protection of his land, in spite of what seemed to be the ever present evil. This all unfolded in the last year of his life, when it was revealed he was the cause of many of the attacks, when he attempted to close the church of Herew and it was learned he even stole the throne. There are those who refuse to believe Gatus Coterii would be capable of the evil and ignore any of the evidence presented. Others know and hate what he did.

Personality and traits
In his life Gatus Coterii was willing to go to any length to get and hold onto power. He did this through blatant manipulation and charm. It was know that he had some powerful rituals which cursed people, but this worked doubly against his enemies. First, they would need to deal with the curse and secondly, it often made them a pariah.

Significant relationships
Because of his frequent manipulations Gatus Coterii did not keep many close relationships. He was connected to Sylvia, the seer of Krusyeon's council, because he used his hall of mirrors on her early in his reign. He was connected to Coran Greymane, who for a time served as his court bard.