Captivity of King Seb

Seb, King of Hu was taken captive by the Duke of Eft on the 2nd day of the 9th month of FD 5 (2/9/FD 5, the 23rd year of the reign of King Seb).

Background

Sailing back to Hu after signing the Treaty of Natrix on 15/8/FD 5, the king was caught in a flash storm off the east coast of Long and blown off course. The ship ended up wrecking on the reefs and shoals surrounding the island of Eft.

King Seb survived and washed up on the shore together with 12 of his men. The party attempted to evade notice by the duke's guards and skirted the coast in search of a fishing village which could supply them with the means to begin their journey home. However, on the second day after their landfall the king and his men are spotted by Eft villagers who alert the duke's guards. The King of Hu was then dragged before the Duke of Eft who charged the king with murdering his brother Ambystoma (whom the king had killed in one-on-one combat during the Battle of Thamnophis).

Ransom

The Duke asked for 30 thousand gold-weight in ransom in exchange for the king's release. When word reached the court of Hu the Crown Prince and Princess showed little concern for their father's predicament and refused to pay the ransom (equal in value to 2-3 times the full annual production of the Kingdom of Hu). However, the Commander General and the Queen of Hu were harder hit emotionally by news of the king's captivity and proved more eager to secure the king's return as quickly as possible.

Place of Captivity

King Seb was held in Castle Molge, a small fortress southeast of Castle Eft. The king's conditions fell somewhere between house arrest and actual imprisonment.

The Duke's Proclamation/Message:

Tell unto the Court of Hu, thus says the Duke of Eft: on this twenty-eighth day of the third month of the fifth year of the era of Filial Devotion.

See also Timeline of the latest military campaign