Baron Peto Casse

Baron Peto Casse is a major character from the Ravenloft product line novel Baroness of Blood. By his bloodline of the Casse Family, he was the baron of the outlander land of Sundell. By conquest, he also became the ruler of Kislova. However, since the latter land became an island of terror, he has been fully incapacitated, and his wife, Baroness Ilsabet Obour, has ruled in his stead. In fact, his continued existence is part of Ilsabet's curse, in that he ensures she will never rule Kislova in her own name or under her own authority.

Biography

Before rule of Kislova

Baron Peto Casse is the son of the Widow Casse and a deceased father of unspecified name. He was an Impulsive youth and ruled as such, but ten years of hard experience tempered his brazenness and taught him to heed his father's advisors. Baron Peto played it safe by keeping Sundell neutral in the Kislovan Civil Wars until he received word from Kislovan rebels that Baron Janosk Obour was planning an invasion of Sundell. So forewarned, Baron Peto led the troops of Sundell to a decisive victory against an army of invaders already weakened and wearied from fighting Kislovan rebels. Peto then led his troops to invade Kislova, all the way to its capital of Nimbus Castle.

At Nimbus Castle, Peto met with the older Janosk. In defeat, Baron Janosk demonstrated a brave face. Janosk brokered a deal to accept execution in return for Baron Peto Casse swearing to spare his allies and his family. Although Peto would have spared him, Baron Janosk insisted upon being decapitated in order to preserve face for his family in the eyes of the people. Mihael Obour became his heir in power, but Ilsabet Obour became his heir in ruthlessness and intellect. Janosk entrusted his revenge upon Peto to Islabet. All of the Obours, save for Ilsabet Obour, swore oaths of loyalty to Peto, and Peto placed Mihael upon the throne to rule on Peto's behalf.

Love for Marishka Obour

Eventually, Peto courted Marishka Obour, eldest child of Janosk, and they were to be married. Ilsabet charged Marishka to never fall in love with Peto, their father's executioner.. Despite Ilsabet's admonishment, Peto and Marishka did fall in love with each other. Ilsabet went on a pilgrimage to see Sagesse of what was to become of her love with Peto, and Sagesse told her that she would not live long, but she could live as she pleased and do what she wanted during that time. On an outing with Marishka, Ilsabet poisoned Marishka's horse with a neurotoxin. The ensuing riding accident left Marishka critically injured and bed-ridden. Back in Nimbus Castle, Ilsabet slowly poisoned Marishka to death under the guise of nursing her and attending to her emotional needs. Although Ilsabet came to admire and bond with Marishka like never before, Ilsabet went through with the murder. On death's door, Marishka and Peto became married in order to make her last few moments as enjoyable as possible.

Following her death, Marishka was not cremated, at her request. She wished to be buried, so Peto ordered the construction of a marble tomb for her. Marishka Obour's Tomb came to be thought of as a haunted place, watched over by the ghost of a werewolf, bidden to watch over it until a great wrong had been righted.

Ilsabet's Machinations

To prepare for her vengeance, Ilsabet caused the deaths of many (incidentally or on purpose) people, mostly through (and some to further enhance) her developing knowledge of poisons. Her casualty list included (but was not limited to) both siblings and personal servants. Though she avoided punishment by temporal authorities, her actions did not go without repercussion. The deaths (or more accurately, the pain and fear) she caused alleviated the wasting sickness, making her healthier and more beautiful, albeit temporarily. However, she became haunted by the ghosts of those she murdered, particularly Marishka's ghost. She heeded not their warnings of the doom she was wreaking upon her family, her country, and even herself. As her kills reached higher proportions, an increasing veil of mist began enveloping Nimbus Castle and the surrounding land.

ilsabet's blooming attractiveness earned her the attention of Baron Peto in the months following Marishka's demise, and he gradually fell in love with her stronger spirit. Although against Ilsabet's initial wishes, she eventually came around to marrying him, if only to better wreak her vengeance and to gain control over both Sundell and Kislova. Some time later, Ilsabet gave birth to a single child, Lekai, though this may not have been the child of Peto. On the sly, Ilsabet held an adulterous relationship with Lord Jorani, her mentor, and attempted to use a herbal concoction to ensure she carried Lord Jorani's child. (In truth, the herbal concoction was ineffective.)

As time passed, Peto gradually become more suspicious of Ilsabet's sinister activities, and relations between the pair began to deteriorate.</ref> p. 226-230, 235-239, 248-251</ref> As Peto planned to take Lekai away back to Shadow Castle, he fell victim to a poison left by Ilsabet, rendering him helpless and paralyzed in a quicker time than she expected. Islabet feigned to lovingly stay by Peto's side and care for him, but was instead slowly killing him. Jorani at last reached the limit of his loyalty to Ilsabet and began administering slow restorative cures to Peto. However, he did this on the condition that Peto never hurt or accuse Ilsabet, only doing enough to ensure she never killed again.

Peto is murdered and Lekai disappears

When Shaul suspected Ilsabet's involvement and organized a rescue for Baron Peto, Ilsabet threatened the life of Lekai. If Peto was taken away, their son's life would be forfeit. Shaul gave in, but the Mists reached past Nimbus Castle for the first time, down into Pirie and beyond. In the billowing fog, Lord Jorani rode to the castle after an absence. Warmly received by Ilsabet, he asked her to dismiss the guards (save for a weakened Shaul, badly beaten by Nimbus Castle guards). As Shaul held Ilsabet at bay and Sagra held Lekai, Jorani administered a reviving stimulant to Peto, much to Ilsabet's surprise and chagrin. Peto again moved, and Jorani revealed to Ilsabet that, despite her plans, chances were greater for Lekai to be Peto's child rather than Jorani's.

Filled with hatred for the likely son of Peto, Ilsabet said nothing when the monstrous spider she had developed her web poison from approached Lekai. However, Peto also saw the spider and shouted. Shaul raced to save the child, but perished against the poisonous web of the spider, as did Jorani. Sagra escaped into the Mists with the child. Blocked from immediate pursuit by the ghost of Marishka, Ilsabet revived her (if she were to have it) lover Jorani as an alchemical vampire and used him to complete her vengeance against Peto. The baroness would rule under her own power

In the aftermath of the confrontation, Peto was dead, exsanguinated by the vampire Jorani. However, Ilsabet never found her child, only the corpse of Sagra, killed by a great fall from the rise over the Arvid River. When she returned, she found Peto was once again alive if paralyzed, as if he'd never been murdered. Dismissing the guests and medical experts tending to him, she decapitated him, but he was alive once again the next morning, as he will forever be. Deprived of her vengeance and her loved ones, Ilsabet blamed a curse levied on her by Sagesse the Seer in revenge for her murder.

Current Sketch

Baron Peto lies in a state of virtual immortality, brought back each morning if he is killed. Yet he is also permanently incapacitated, able to see and witness his environment, but not to move or meaningfully communicate in any way. His continued existence is part of Ilsabet's curse, for she will never have the political power to assume rule as more than a proxy for her husband.

Data from the Ravenloft Catalogue

		Baroness of Blood
		Baroness of Blood - Throughout