Ellington Malthrek

Ellington Malthrek is the Duke of Malthrek and the Lord Protector of the Sacred Pools. He is the head of the Malthrek family and the ruler of the Malthrek duchy. As Duke, he was a senior figure in the Seneran Peerage and the Seneran House of Lords.

During the Vengeful affair, Ellington became one of the central compromised nobles in the Reformist occupation of Castle Malthrek. He was later found to have an aberrant parasite whose control could be suppressed but not destroyed by a Ring of Mind Shielding. His recovery gave the allied investigators a way to keep the Malthrek household from becoming the public center of a Peerage revolt against the Crown.

Overview

Ellington was Duke of Malthrek during the crisis that followed the failed wedding of Luke Malthrek and Pallia Travertine. Reformist agents inside Castle Malthrek believed or claimed that Luke, Mark Malthrek, and Antoinette Malthrek née Thralmal had died at the Travertines. In response, the castle entered mourning, non-critical work in the city was suspended, and Reformist ministers used the funeral preparations to spread their beliefs among visitors and commoners.

The false mourning concealed a wider political effort. Reformist agents planned to use the deaths as a pretext to stir the Peerage against the Crown, especially because Crown Prince Marlion Dragonheart was known to have opposed Reformist activity at the Travertines. Ellington’s rank made his apparent grief and public conduct useful to the conspiracy even before he was fully restored to himself.

Early Life

Ellington was not originally expected to inherit. During a later conversation in the castle garden, he recalled being the second child rather than the intended heir and spoke of an elder brother who had been loved, had become ill, had seemed to recover, and had likely died. Ellington associated that earlier family tragedy with lessons in filial piety and loyalty, and contrasted it with the later availability of revival magic.

Marriage

Ellington married Antoinette Malthrek née Thralmal, a Thralmal noblewoman whose access to the Thralmals later became one of the keys to the crisis. Their known children were Luke, Mark, John Malthrek, and Matthew Malthrek.

After Antoinette’s parasite was removed, she feared that she might have placed parasites into Ellington and into some of their sons during her missing decade. This fear was never treated as a simple confession of voluntary guilt. Rather, it became part of the larger question of how deeply the Reformists had used Antoinette, her Thralmal access, and her position within the Malthrek family.

Career

Ellington’s formal career was that of the reigning Duke of Malthrek and Lord Protector of the Sacred Pools. In the ordinary hierarchy of Seneran nobility, this placed him among the kingdom’s most significant peers. During the Vengeful affair, that same status made him dangerous while compromised: a manipulated Duke of Malthrek could rally lesser nobles, lend authority to Reformist agents, and legitimize an open revolt against the Crown.

Castle Malthrek Crisis

When allied investigators reached Castle Malthrek, Ellington was publicly grieving. Contemporary descriptions identify him as a tall brunette man with a thick well-kept beard and a curled mustache. He did not recognize the disguised investigators who approached him as clergy, but he accepted their presence and allowed them to accompany him during a walk in the garden.

In the garden, Ellington’s mind was described as abuzz. He repeatedly saw the Duchess’s face in those around him and pulled away when faced with the disguised Duchess or another woman connected to the recovery operation. The party attempted to place a Ring of Mind Shielding on him. The first attempt was clumsy enough that he noticed, but the ring was eventually slipped onto his finger during a romantically charged distraction created by Essence of the Nymph.

The ring did not kill or sever the parasite, but it suppressed the parasite’s control long enough to create a temporary window. Ellington recognized Antoinette, realized that she was alive, and asked after Luke and Mark. He was told that Luke was alive and that Mark was present in dog form.

Recovery and Cover

After the ring intervention, Antoinette or Emily Hazeldine explained that the Reformist Church had planted a parasite in Antoinette, that Ellington also had one, and that Antoinette had lost roughly ten years of memory after her own parasite was removed. Ellington struggled with the implication that his actions and Antoinette’s had been manipulated. Suppressed memories began returning in fragments, accompanied by pain and disorientation.

Emily used Calm EmotionsCalm EmotionsLevel 2 · Enchantment1 action · 60 ft. · 1 minuteV, SYou attempt to suppress strong emotions in a group of people. Each humanoid in a 20-foot-radius sphere centered on a point you choose within range must make a Charisma saving throw; a creature can choose to fail this saving throw if it wishes. If a creature fails its saving throw, choose one of the following two effects. You can suppress any effect causing a target to be charmed or frightened. When this spell ends, any suppressed effect resumes, provided that its duration has not expired in the meantime. Alternatively, you can make a target indifferent about creatures of your choice that it is hostile toward. This indifference ends if the target is attacked or harmed by a spell or if it witnesses any of its friends being harmed. When the spell ends, the creature becomes hostile again, unless the DM rules otherwise. while touching Ellington’s head, targeting the parasite’s emotional state rather than Ellington’s. This calmed the parasite enough for Ellington to speak more clearly. He agreed to help on the condition that the parasite be removed and that he be given the full plan. Until then, he would maintain the public facade around the rally and Peerage-facing events, using Antoinette’s return to his chambers as cover.

Ellington then led the party back into Castle Malthrek through a hidden route, probably involving a blocked or lead-lined sewer passage that explained why divination and ordinary searches had failed. The route exited through a concealed broom-closet trap door, allowing the group to continue its work inside the castle while preserving the appearance that the Duke remained under Reformist control.