Emesa Hundred/1st Edition/11

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EMESA HUNDRED 11
 


Dasath Manor[edit | edit source]

This fief is held by Telmen Kobin Otorna, one of the Warriors’ old guard devoted to Tolmey Wolkene. He would work the peasantry to death if it meant the Order’s strength could be rebuilt for another attempt on Kustan. He would probably refuse to believe that any of the revenue he sends to Kask ends up in Tolmey’s privy purse rather than Bedenes.

The Telmen provides for Kirdane, his much younger step-brother, his young wife, and their baby son. Kobin never liked his step-mother and takes pleasure in refusing to mount Kirdane as a knight. The younger man shares his frustrations with the manor’s bonded weaponcrafter who resents having to undertake the village’s blacksmithing. He may take the risk of announcing that he is seeking a new master at the next Festival of the Pillars. This would be a risk as it might shame his current master and no Warrior responds well to public shame.

The village salter produces fine soft and hard cheeses from the manor’s cows; the largest heard in the hundred. Each Autumn he exchanges his cheese for sausages produced by his guild brother in Penor, which benefits them both. He also sets up a small stall beside the Scarlet Ribbon when the caravan to Kustan goes north each year.

Telmen Kobin is no farmer but Granek told him how much he resented paying so much for imported woollen cloth for the order. As a result Kobin has ignored the advice of his conservative herdsman, Halairne, and invested in a small flock of sheep. He expects the manor to make a fortune when they are sheared but behind his back his herdsman just wearily shakes his head.

A more significant development is the stamping mill built by the Miners’ Guild but part paid for by the order. It is intended to be the first step in turning Dasath into a centre for mineral extraction. Rumours of successful mining around Menekai has encouraged Granek to speculate a little of the order’s reserves. Unfortunately just as the mill was finished the Kubora attacked and damaged the mine which was intended to feed it. Granek was quick to inform Kobin, and his liege lord, Tolmey, of what it will cost the order if this enterprise fails. Kobin has rashly told Tolmey that if he can take half the Chapter to the mine he will be able to ensure the Kubora don’t try any of their tricks again.

Every year Kobin allows the village ale-wife and her clan to move to the hamlet of Quasstin, on the trail to the Scarlet Ribbon. During the rest of the year Quesstin is a quiet backwater where the clan of the same name farm their fee acres, fish the river Alarien, and visit with their neighbours at Sedur. However in Larane it becomes a brewers workshop as she produces ale to sell to the traders heading north for the Kuboran Moot. Later in Larane she relocates to Emesa for the Beast Fair where she enjoys a bitter professional rival with Master Ginnis.

Penor Chapterhouse[edit | edit source]

Meketa Alshain Risalsin seeks the favour of his clan by housing a number of its more needy members. He feeds and clothes nine relatives from a babe in arms to his elder brother, and his son, who serve as his steward and master of the hunt respectively. This is not something he would have dared to do in the days of Akarata Horab’s strength, but now he feels that what the old man does not know won’t hurt him. He is, though, careful to ensure that the women of the household are not present when he entertains Bron Zarnist or Tolmey Wolkene.

His weaponcrafter is among the most talented in the hundred, the local Guildmaster, and the most respected ‘commoner’ in the hundred. Alshain’s pride is displayed by being well outfitted by old Kapelene, his clothier.

Unusually he maintains two priests at Penor: one is the chaplin he is entitled to as a Meketa but the other is a skilled artificer. The Meketa has provided him with a workshop to ensure the Chapter’s alchemical weapons can be independently maintained. This is also something the Akarata would have previously frowned upon.

Alshain has cunningly billeted his Mason on Telmen Breen Tharo of Scutal. This reduces the cost to his purse while ensuring access to a mason when he needs one. His other Telmen, young Aron, presents the Meketa with a difficult problem. His is the most powerful Agrikan clan in the realm and he remains misguided in his loyalty to Halan Uelasen.

The manor Hideworker adds value to the pelts sent from Scutal and the Salter butchers the boar taken in the hunt ensures the manor has a variety of meat for its kitchens. The Meketa particularly values his skill with offal.

The Meketa’s self-serving generosity isn’t cheap which makes him a small, but regular, borrower from the usurer Gerd of Hawen in Shostim. Gerd is generous with credit to a client he is assured is a ‘coming man’.

Medava Manor[edit | edit source]

Telmen Aron Bisidril is one of the younger manor lords who was promoted for his bravery as a member of the Akarata’s Guard in 718; though his family connection to the Agrikan primate may also have played a part.

He sent for his attractive sister, Querene, as soon as he was granted the fief and she acts as his steward. She had hoped to become the ward of her mother’s great uncle Klyrdes, the Agrikan Primate but was convinced that a few years managing a manor would improve her chances of snaring a rich husband. However, pretty women of marriageable age are rare in clan Bisidril. Klyrdes has sent an artist to capture her likeness but he has also captured her heart and she may soon be ruined.

Medava’s forester and woodward, and their families, live in a small hamlet in the forest and argue over how to manage it best. The forester has enjoyed the upper hand since Aron arrived. The young Telmen understands the