Gimbal

Sire Gimbal of West Fleria — the Warbird, also "Sire Gimbal the Wolf" — is Magelord. He is the Book 3 antagonist. Ten years earlier he conquered Brestal Vale from Sevendor, burning villages and handing the eastern half to his pimple-faced bastard son Sir Ganulan. Technically Baron of all Fleria by birthright, he had ceded East Fleria to his hated brother Vulric when their father split the realm, and rules West Fleria as if he were himself a baron, paying only token tribute.

When Minalan takes Sevendor and reclaims Brestal by a superior legal claim — Gimbal never filed a proper Writ of Conquest or paid tribute for it — the Warbird sends the emissary Sir Bromul with threats, then raises a force of one hundred fifty knights, backed by Censorate magi, and besieges Sevendor. The Bovali magelord defeats him utterly at the climactic battle, with the help of Baron Arathanial of Sendaria and the archer Sarakeem.

Gimbal is stripped of his domain and sent into exile at the court of his hated brother Vulric in East Fleria, his wife and household reduced to depending on Vulric's charity — a humiliation he neither forgets nor forgives.

Gimbal is now a useful "pell" for Minalan's warmagi to practice against. After his defeat, Minalan magnanimously secured him a paid royal post on the far side of the kingdom to keep him distant. Minalan is still administering the mess the Warbird left behind, including scutage disputes with the Woolbrothers of Fistan Abbey. Pentandra warns that Gimbal's hatred will outlast his gratitude.

Referenced in the background as the cautionary tale that made other Bontal lords wary of opposing Minalan. Sire Trefalan of Sashtalia, who had been Gimbal's ally, has stayed quiet "since the Warbird fell."

The Warbird makes a substantial return. Now Lord Gimbal, he has been posted by King Rard to the Coastlord estate of Oirghort in rebel Alshar, serving as the king's unofficial representative collecting royal payments from rebel-held territory. The locals actually respect him: his Castali exile and precarious position make him appear usefully impartial.

Tyndal and Rondal surprise him at dinner and coerce him into hiding Ruderal's mother safely in a small abbey-estate hall, hinting that Ruderal may be a noble bastard — possibly Rard's own. Gimbal accepts silver, threats, and Atopol's dagger-to-the-table intimidation, and swears secrecy.

Referenced in the background. Baron Vulric of Fleria is treated as having "more sense than the Warbird" in court gossip, and Gimbal's old war features prominently in victory speeches about Sevendor's rise.

A fond, nostalgic reference only. Minalan compares the scale and stakes of his Vanador campaign favorably to his "simpler" war against the Warbird.

Background reference; the Warbird era is quaint by the standards of Nemovort-led Westlands campaigns.

A passing mention — the Warbird's departure from the region has left Fleria no longer threatening Sevendor's eastern border, a small grace against the vast threats of Anghysbel.

Minalan cites his "experience with Sire Gimbal" when discussing magelord-neighbor tensions with King Rard. The Warbird is now a political metaphor rather than a person in play.