Emesa Hundred/1st Edition/10
Fiefholders[edit | edit source]
Hask[edit | edit source]
Cottar born Meketa Tolmey Wolkene is fiercely loyal to the man who promoted him, Akarata Horub. He doesn’t realise how important he may be in determining who succeeds him.
As with many men of humble origin he is inclined to see wealth as a replacement for birth, spending too much in an effort to demonstrate his right to the position he enjoys. Last year he employed a very fine, and expensive, weaponcrafter previously in service to another Meketa. He also maintains a bonded ostler, a clothier, and a huntsman. He has even employed a herald, Janrid, who has the thankless task of instructing the Meketa’s nephews and nieces in the ways of nobility. He is also drawing up lineages demonstrating that clan Wolkene came from ancient noble blood.
The Meketa’s sister came to Hask a two years ago with her motley gang of six children. She, and they, remain unredeemably common. They always look uncomfortable in their fine clothes and her common manners embarrass her brother so he keeps her out of sight when he entertains.
All these expenses would lead to debt if Tolmey didn’t demand additional income from Alesen and Dasath. He Telmen holding these two fiefs for the order don’t know that some of their offerings do not reach Bedenes. Meketa Tolmey is very demanding of his peasantry many of whom would prefer to live under the rule of a ‘proper gentleman’. Two of the manor’s free farming clans live in the hamlets of Barian and Aerth, along the coast from Hask. This gifts them a little independence in daily life
Alesen Manor[edit | edit source]
Telmen Glana Rekira is only 29 but has held Alesen for 8 years. He is very ambitious and hoped to be raised to Meketa of Torkat when its holder died on the Scarlet Ribbon in 718. He was assured by Meketa Tolmey that he could expect elevation so was disgusted when Meketa Halan’s candidate, Bradas Sekal, was chosen. His disappointment has led him to consider making overtures to Halan. Every winter there’s a chance that Bron Zarnist will be ‘carried by Agrik’s firey breath to Balgashang’ and Glana will not countenance a second disappointment!
His mother, the Lady Grulela, is sometimes honoured by a visit from the Akarata’s sisters who have no other gentlewoman of their generation with whom to cackle and plot. While the manor’s priest, Moren Lotur, puts up with the ‘old witch’, he disapproves of the Telmen’s young sister believing that she is an improper presence among a celibate order.
Glana works the manor hard. As well as the normal calendar of work he has set his peasantry to reclaim some fields on the far side of the Alerien. They have not been worked since before the Warriors arrived. The reeve, Berden, tells him that this extra acreage will soon be ready for the plough. Free farmers of clans Hannaeus and Forganae live at the hamlet of Sedur a short walk to the north east where they work their own fields but also harvest timber for their liege. The Telmen is considering asking them to bid for some of the extra acres.
Some of the niviks carrying goods between Golotha and Tormau extend their voyage to Alesen once or twice a season. The manor’s simple dock provides a safe and sheltered anchorage compared to Hask. As well as goods they sometimes bring passengers such as the apothecary Aradis of Bidrin. He spent a few weeks travelling around the hundred before settling in Alesen and is the only non-clerical apothecary in Emesa Hundred. He has a regular stall at Emesa market from which he sells his poultices and remedies. Another recent arrival is a clothier from Dasen intent on making his fortune from the coats of the goats that graze the dunes to the north. With Glana’s permission he has taught the local women how to comb out the goat hair and prepare it for spinning into fibre. It remains to be seen whether this enterprise will be a success.
Finally, Alesen is the only place in Emesa Hundred where prostitution is tolerated. Three women occupy a shack near the dock. They are ostracised by the rest of the community, but popular with the sailors who land at Alesen. Each market day they walk to Emesa where they discretely ply their trade in a tent rented from Ginnis the brewer.
| ᐊ | ᐃ | ᐅ |