Rumors of the South

The players are preparing an expedition to the nation south of Seaward - the Grand Duchy of Banath. Here is what they know:

 Lord Osmend of Whitehill; the grandson of a Knight of the Starry Banner and son of a Knight of the White Sun (a lawful good order) was seen as a paragon of virtue until he met the Lady Jacinth, a noblewoman from a distant land of Outremer. Within weeks of meeting her Whitehill proposed and soon thereafter he changed drastically. Within months of their wedding he had alienated his key advisors and eventually dueled with and killed his own younger brother, the paladin Asric called the Bold.
  The Lord Duke of Banath banished him but such was his personality that many of his men followed him, and many of the worst sorts flocked to his banner as he moved towards Treachers' Road. But while the Duke's Men were watching his soldiers Whitehill himself led a group of his toughest, most loyal men.
  Accompanied by the Lady Jacinth, members of the Slime Cult, and even a Prime Assassin, he assaulted the conclave where the Lord Duke's heir was meeting with the Lord Count of High Morath to negotiate a marriage. The only heir to Banath and the Lord Count of High Morath were killed. The High Mage of High Morath, the Magister of Banath, the Archbishop of Banalan, the Bishop of Maralan, the Constable of High Morath, and the Lord General of Banath joined their lords in death. Whitehill lost his best captains, his personal mage, and the cream of his soldiers, but he and his wicked wife were able to join his remaining forces in the Eastern Wilds north of the Treachers' Road.

  According to rumor he has taken the bodies of the Lord Count and the Banath heir with him to prevent Raise Dead.
 -Banath now has no heir, no Magister, and a young, inexperienced Archbishop. The two most-senior nobles below the Lord Duke are equal in claim to the throne and each has 3 sons and no daughters. The Lord Duke is old, ill, and in despair at the loss of his beloved son. Banath did not pursue Whitehill because they are braced for a three way civil war for the throne.
 -The Lady Count of High Morath is a girl of 19 with no High Mage, a new, inexperienced Bishop, and an army whose generals were just murdered along with her father. All six of the Great Houses have sons and all are angling to find a way to force her to marry their son to gain the throne.
 -At the same time, many people in High Morath blame Banath (Whitehill was a Banath nobleman) for the death of their ruler so skirmishes are popping up all along the border, threatening a war between the two nations.