On the morning of the 12th of Äderlatz, in The Year of the Empire 1847, Baron Henlich von Maubein rode out of his keep with a small contingent of Men at Arms, Dragoons, and his advisor, the Diabolist Malitz Hennrichson. They travelled north, stopping at the village of Bertzen. The Baron made his way to the Laughing Ox Inn, as he often did when he visited the village. Instead of downing a pint or two of beer with the locals, the Baron had his men barricade the inn’s exists and, driven mad from decades of demonic rituals, he brutally slew everyone in the inn. Several patrons were decapitated. He gathered their heads in a silk sack and then returned to his horse. With his followers, he rode north, out of town.
When the villagers discovered the carnage in the Laughing Ox, they hurriedly sent word to the neighboring town of Vertzenburg. The garrison was alerted and a messenger was sent to Drakstein, to inform the emperor. The Imperator, enraged at the Baron’s horrific actions, ordered a contingent of 200 militia and Men at Arms be sent to capture von Maubein. Rightly fearing the Baron had fallen to Corruption, he also sent Witch Hunters and a priest of Neryths, the god of magic and secret knowledge. Outriders picked up his party’s trail and the force gave heated pursuit. Realizing Baron von Maubein was most likely headed for the town of Schlauburg, they marched hard for the town.
When the Imperial force reached Schlauberg, they found many of the residents either hanged or impaled in a ring around the town – men, women, children, all were subject to von Maubein’s mad cruelty. Upon entering the town, the Imperials were set upon by both Baron von Maubein’s forces and foreign mercenaries and a pack of Grendels, who had been summoned from the northern forests. Although the fighting was brutal, and the Imperials suffered many losses, they were better-equipped and better-trained. The Baron’s warriors were killed to a man, as were the Grendels, save for a few who escaped back to the forests.
The commander of the Imperials, Gunter Schlagraff, along with his knights, entered the Temple of Shalandar, suspecting von Maubein to be hidden within. Inside the temple, the found a trail of gore and blood leading to the basement. The priests of the temple had been nailed to the temple walls, their corpses desecrated with demonic symbols. Following the trail, they found the Baron and his advisor conducting a dark ritual of unknown purpose. The heads of the Bertzen inn-goers had been piled into a makeshift altar. Von Maubein was in the process of sacrificing the few townsfolk who remained alive when Imperial force attacked. The Witchhunters quickly subdued Malitz Hennrichson. The Baron, in a fit of insane rage, attacked Commander Schlagraff. The Commander and he fought viciously, until Schlagraff was able to land a blow that knocked von Maubein unconscious. The Baron and Malitz were taken to the Imperator’s castle.
At Drakstein Baron von Maubein was interrogated by the Imperial torturers and truthsayers, trying to find out how he became Corrupt and with whom else he was in league. Even through excruciating physical and magical torture, he could not answer any of their questions; his madness and demonic pacts rendered him incapable of coherence and me merely babbled incessantly. On the 29th of Äderlatz, Baron Henlich von Maubein was publicly beheaded and dismembered for treason, murder, and witchcraft, among other charges. Malitz Hennrichson was burned alive for witchcraft.
The pieces of Baron von Maubein’s body were buried in numerous unmarked locations in the graveyard at Schlauburg. All headstones in the graveyard were removed to make it more difficult to find the graves. The Imperator ordered the village and temple abandoned and forbade any trespass. He did the same with Maubein Keep and its adjoining village. Both sites now lie in ruin. Punishment for violating the decree is execution on sight. All three sites are said to haunted now, home to spectres, demons, Grendels, and other creatures of Corruption.