It is important to note at this point that, during the reign of King Tarn I and the Forging of the Empire, the Four Quelan Blades were forged. These are rather mystical swords, the first three of which were forged for Tarn I himself, the fourth in secret but for his sake. The first was made for Tarn's use, the Sword of the King; the second, the Sword of the Prince, was commissioned by Tarn for his son to use in battle; the third, the Sword of Captain Black, was also commissioned by Tarn as a gift for his most loyal captain. There is more on this on the page dedicated to the Blades. The one which concerns the Barlons is the Sword of the King, commonly called only the Sword or the First Blade.
It is said that the Sword was enchanted with the ability to determine the best king for Quela at any given point--and that ability manifests itself in the blood of the Barlons. Thus, it is left to the reigning Lord Barlon to read the will of the Sword. No one quite understands how they know, but if there is doubt, Lord Barlon is duty-bound to challenge the king to a duel. Since a true King of Quela cannot be defeated whilst he wields the First Blade, and since Barlons are known for their prowess with weapons, this is a test of the Sword's will. If the Barlon wins, then the king was an imposter, obviously, and the tyrant is dead by result of the battle. If the king wins, then the Barlon had clearly allowed his thinking to be clouded by something other than selfless patriotism, and his death is required by honor. Clearly, the duel was destined to turn out as it does.
All this has proven itself through the deaths of many tyrants, both from the throne and the Barlon family. The Quelan people have come to depend on this rather barbaric system of checks and balance. Still, it's more efficient than having to go through all those Supreme Court cases and Presidential Vetoes and Congressional Overrides. A simple absolutist system is a lot more efficient than any sort of democracy, and in this case it has worked almost flawlessly.
It is this almost sacred duty that gives the Barlons their heraldry, along with the fear, respect and power they command throughout Quela. It also places them above the law. However, Barlons must abide by their own Code, which is perhaps more strict than the law of Quela. It is also traditional that the Barlon family and the royal family may never be related by any connection as close as or closer than second cousins, so as to avoid personal favoritism between them.
Unknown to most people, but yet recorded in the annals of the Barlons' own records, are a few rare instances when the Sword has been "indecisive". How this is to be interpreted is questionable in light of more recent occurrences. These are the rare times when both Barlon and King survive the duel.
The most recent application of this history is demonstrated by the story of King Brian and Lord William Barlon. William, uncertain of how he was supposed to interpret the Sword's will and clouded by personal motives, challenged Brian to that fatal duel. He lost, even though it was widely known that William had bested all the finest swordsmen of Sabron and Brian had never had any weapons training. However, there were no witnesses to the duel, so Brian spared William's life at the last moment and they both vowed to keep the incident and secret and claim the Sword had been indecisive.
It is yet to be seen exactly how true the legends are. Perhaps no one will ever know. It would seem, though, that the evidence is in favor of the Sword's true power.
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