“The goal of all life is to die- I will at least die for a cause! My heart and actions are utterly pure... Everything I do, I do for the Fatherland."
Gabryel von Gothwyn was the Duke of Rockham and the Grandmaster of the Knights of Gothwyn between 3E458 and 3E483. He was named Hand of the Kaiser to Kaiser Axel II von Callas. A devout follower of Jakuna, he believed in justice above all else.
In truth, he was actually a vampire, although he hated this curse. He wished only for true justice and peace, and wanted to prevent a civil war from occuring within the Great Kingdom of Terros. He wanted his country to stay together no matter what, and tried to collect the Time Gears in order to achieve this utopia. This made him the BBEG of the Shards of the Empire campaign. Despite his powers over time, he vowed that he wouldn't bring back his 'Dead Love', and that he only wanted to do it for his country.
By acquiring Time Gear Alpha, he gained the ability to replace himself upon death with an alternate timeline version of himself that was given the memories of the previous Prime Timeline Gabryel. The Krono Krew had to kill four versions of Gabryel before finally ending his threat.
There are 5 known versions of Gabryel from alternate timelines:
Original TL1 Gabryel (Killed in Varkaria)
TL2 Werewolf Gabryel (Killed in the Uhrwerk Bowels)
TL3 Gabryelle von Gothwyn (Killed in the Olzarburg Gardens)
TL4 Gabryel (Uncursed Timeline, Alive)
TL5 Gabryel (The Final Gabryel)
Biography
Early Life
Gabryel was born to Duke Goderich von Gothwyn, and had a younger sister named Sofia von Gothwyn. He was brought up in Rockham with the ideals of Jakuna and her justice, and knew that he would inherit both the Knights of Gothwyn and the duchy as a whole.
In 3E458, when he was 17, his father led the Knights of Gothwyn in a battle against an orcish army led by the orc-chieftain Zhandak. While the battle was a success, Goderich lost his life in the fight. Gabryel ascended much sooner than he expected, with the weight of his family now solely on him as his younger sister was not even 1 yet. While his mother and great uncle Roderick von Gothwyn were there to support him, he took on all the responsibilities alone.
In the winter of 3E465, Gabryel led the Knights of Gothwyn against a small cult rebellion in the city of Brill during a harsh winter. Most of his men froze in the mountain passes, and he nearly froze to death himself as the cultist rebels cornered them slowly. His men, supported by an army from Nooitmeer, managed to put down the rebellion and kill their leader, Ulfhildr. One of the vampiric cultists infected him with vampirism, but he didn’t let himself fall into the disease and kept it in control by refusing to drink blood. This event did radicalize him into maintaining the strength of his nation at any cost.
That year, Gothwyn married Eryka von Rosenburg for a noble alliance. The pair ended up falling in love anyway, and were expecting their first child in 3E467. Sofia and Eryka both knew of his curse, but supported him anyway. Unfortunately, both Eryka and his stillborn son Mathias II died in childbirth. He deeply mourned this loss, becoming visibly depressed. While cradling Eryka's corpse, he drank her blood and activated his vampirism for the first time. Gabryel then vowed to never marry again, and was content with his titles passing to his younger sister instead.
Rise to Power
Gabryel focused fully on raising the Knights of Gothwyn's power as well as aiming his sights on locating the Time Gears, artifacts that would let him bend the timeline itself to his will. He learned of them initially from his great uncle, Roderick, who he discovered was one of the guardians of the time gears. He murdered Father Roderick 3E477, claiming Time Gear Alpha from him. He recruited Vollrath van Etamann and Stella di Silvestri as his Preceptors in the Knights of Gothwyn.
Through Time Gear Alpha, Gabryel looked into many different timelines and other selves. He realized that he is cursed in almost all of them, and yet most versions of him share his ambitions. He discovers that the Gabryel of TL4 is the only one not cursed, remaining a blissfully unaware human alongside an Eryka and Mathias who did not die. Prime Gabryel was content in knowing that at least one version of him had a happy ending, and set his sights on fixing the world with that knowledge in mind.
In 3E479, he was named the Hand of the Kaiser by Kaiser Axel II von Callas, owing to his old age. He proved to not be corrupt at all, only having the country's best goals in his mind. His goals and ambitions led Duchess Innes Rennwald to also support him during this time. They planned a wedding between Princess Hedwiga Kopprska and Crown Prince Ellenhardt IV von Callas as a way to bridge the gap between East and West Terros and prevent civil war. Gabryel and Magister Alfarihm secretly planned to get rid of King Renaer Aldriglød, who he saw as the biggest obstacle to peace.
Shards of the Empire
Check the main campaign page for the detailed plot summary.
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Werewolf Gabryel von Gothwyn (TL2)
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Duchess Gabryelle von Gothwyn (TL3)
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Vampire Lord Gabryel von Gothwyn (TL5)
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"Is this it? Does your justice prevail? Is this the death that will stick? I've died many times already, I do not fear death. Even the afterlife was robbed from me when I got this unwanted curse. All I did, I did for love. Love for Eryka. Love for my son who never was. Love for my country. Love for my gods. Even now, my heart is unclouded. All those timelines, all those possibilities, If could do it all over again, I would change nothing. If this is the thread of fate, then so be it. Let me rest, then."
-Gabryel's final words.
Legacy
Sofia von Gothwyn ended up inheriting all of Gabryel's titles, and vowed to make up for her brothers actions by reforming the Knights of Gothwyn back towards their original goal of justice and peace. At least one part of Gabryel's plan for peace actually did end up working, as the Green Wedding went off without any problems and tied the Kingdom of Zietaria and the Queendom of Fioska together.
While the Krono Krew never got recognition for their role in saving the timeline from Gabryel from the greater public, most important people came to know of their deeds as the heroes who saved the world twice.
Timeline
3E441 - Gabryel von Gothwyn is born in Rockham.
3E458 - After his father's death, Gabryel takes on all his titles including the Duchy of Rockham.
3E465 - Gothwyn led a nearly-failed assault on the rebelling city of Brill. He contracted vampirism from a cultist during the fight, and hid its effects. He also married Eryka von Rosenburg.
3E467 - Eryka and his stillborn son Mathias II both die during childbirth, and Gabryel awakened his vampiric abilities.
3E477 - He kills his great uncle Father Roderick and claims Time Gear Alpha.
3E479 - Kaiser Axel II von Callas names Gabryel as his Hand of the Kaiser.
3E482 - Gabryel plans an expedition to the Ruins of Varkaria to find the next Time Gear, and ends up being killed by the Krono Krew twice during the first half of Shards of the Empire.
3E483 - Gabryelle and Gabryel are killed twice more during the Green Wedding at the end of SotE, as time itself rejects him.
Gallery
Gabryel during Chapter 1 of SotE (Credit: Aaron)
Gabryel during the rest of SotE (Credit: Vijay)
