Dimian Ree

Dimian Ree was the 27 Baron of Morov in the Kingdom of Damara, and ruled in the mid-to-late 14 century DR. He was the de facto ruler of the kingdom's largest city and central trade hub, Heliogabalus.

Personality
Dimian was a cruel and ruthless individual, always in search of power and would stop at nothing to achieve it. In addition to his position as Baron of Morov and Mayor of Heligabalus, he claimed additional titles for himself including Presider of the Market, Overlord of the King's Road, and the Successor-in-line King of Damara. While his detractors saw him as little more than a stereotypical politician, they were also wary of underestimating him.

He claimed to worship Ilmater but this was only a façade to win the allegiance of the Damaran people.

Relationships
Dimian was descended from Feldrin Bloodfeathers, the founder of Damara, and was thus distantly related to the Bloodfeathers royal family. He was a cousin of Tarkos Ree, head of the Tightpurse thieves guild. He was close personal friends with his chief jailer, Yenthiele Sarmagon.

Politically, Dimian's best ally was Baroness Sylvia of Ostel. He was rivals with Gareth Dragonsbane, and thus did not get along with either Gareth's heroic companions or their organizations, including the spy network Spysong and the Twilight Riders. "Baron Ree, Heliogabalus is your city, to be sure. But your city lies within my kingdom. I do not ask for your permission to enter... I am not your guest when I come to Heliogabalus. That is your basic misunderstanding here. When your king comes to Heliogabalus, you are his guest.”"

- King Gareth Dragonsbane, the

History
Dimian Ree was installed as the Baron of Morov by Zhengyi the Witch-King in the, after the lich killed most of the ruling families of Damara following his victory at the Ford of Goliad. Dimian replaced the former rulers, House Banacath. Prior to this, the Damaran capital city of Heliogabalus belonged to no single barony or duchy, but Dimian's first decree was to claim it as part of Morov and move his barony's capital from Morovar. This was considered the first sign that he had designs of one day declaring himself King of Damara.

During the two years of Zhengyi's reign, Dimian squabbled with his neighbors and extracted tribute for the Witch-King from his subjects. He wielded relatively little direct control over the powerful merchants who truly controlled Heligabalus, and found it difficult to rally an army when he allied with the baronies of Ostel and Polten to protect his position by opposing Baron Gareth Dragonsbane of Bloodstone in the Bloodstone Wars of 1359 DR. He was further humbled when his forces were soundly defeated, and began to lose respect among his people when he subsequently refused to support the Bloodstone army against Zhengyi, arguing it was a suicidal effort. However, Baron Gareth Dragonsbane managed to truly defeat the Witch-King, gaining immense support and leading to an exodus of soldiers and their families out of Morov.

For the rest of 1359 DR, Dimian worked very hard to regain his support after his blunders, and soon was the principal claimant to the Damaran throne alongside Gareth Dragonsbane. However, he was quite unpopular in most provinces, notably Brandiar and Carmathan. His old allies in Ostel remained supportive of his claim, but he began to lose the support of Polten and even the merchants of Heligabalus were not thrilled with him. In order to gain more support, Dimian secretly approached both Queen Sambryl of Impiltur and the Grandfather of Assassins, although only the latter agreed to assist him. With diminishing support and no real army compared to his rival, Dimian began plotting to assassinate Gareth and his family. He also attempted to tighten his control over Heliogabalus through his spy network, including his cousin's Tightpurse gang, and tried to sway southern merchants into supporting him with promises of trade benefits.

Although he ultimately lost the kingship of Damara to Gareth by the end of 1359 DR, Dimian remained a powerful and defiant member of the Damaran ruling class through the 1360s DR. He maintained his alliances with both Baroness Sylvia of Ostel and Timoshenko of the Citadel of Assassins and was rumored to be carefully watching for an opportunity to supplant the king. In 1368 DR, he butted heads with King Gareth when Spysong captured a number of the assassins in Heliogabalus and began executing them, all without informing Dimian.

Appearances

 * Adventures
 * The Bloodstone Wars (not named)
 * Novels
 * Road of the Patriarch