Emesa Hundred/1st Edition/6
1 |
TELMEN MERAN TOKA, BAILIFF |
Household: 9 |
Telmen Meran provides for the orphaned children of his younger sister. He hopes that both boys, aged 13 and 6, will become Warriors, or priests, of Mamaka. Meran came to Emesa with the order when he was 10 and knows no other life, or any other way to bring up children. He treats the elder boy, Eben, as he was treated and encourages his own squire, Dendin, to help the boy understand the Mamekan rule. Dendin abuses the responsibility by getting the naïve Eben into trouble and diverting beatings he deserves to the younger boy. The manor household is even less well equipped to cope with the younger boy, Graner. Meran inherited a priest, Rept Protharo, when he was made bailiff in 710; but he has not been the saem sionce a nasty fall in 716. He spends his time in the corner of the Hall muttering to himself in a pool of his own urine. The Chapter relies on priest from Bedenes for services. The manor’s bonded weaponcrafter is a mature bachelor and the manor’s cook is a vicious slave who bullies her son, the gardener. The only other member of the sparse household is a slave, Certhede the alewife. She was head of a large clan when the Warriors arrived so they made an example of her husband. The rest of her male relatives died building Caer Bedenes and, without male relatives to support them, she and the clan women became the order’s property. The others were dispersed to manors where they were needed and Certhede was left with only her daughter. She grew up and had a daughter herself; Certhede doesn’t know who the father was. The previous bailiff sold her in 698. Certhede’s grand-daughter grew to maturity and was also sold, 4 years ago, after her own daughter was born. It is to young Kapella and her great-grandmother that Graner gravitates, treating the four year-old as his younger sister. The management of the fief is delegated to Atar Dyriansin. During the Festival of the Pillars in 701 Meran and Atar were pitted against one another in the Inagrohet. Meran resisted Atar’s efforts break him and won the right to punish the would-be priest’s failure in the Inagropria. Atar disgraced himself under the beating Meran gave him and was declared laumchari; a failed acolyte required to serve the Mamekans on pain of death. Meran brought him to Emesa so he could be reminded of his failure, as Mamaka would wish. Haragki Ornal Ekenas and T’kelen Saerd of Worganae complete the household. They patrol the fief but are reinforced with Warriors from across the hundred during the Beast Fair. |
2 |
REEVE (Kered of Lartin) |
Size: 6Quality: ★★★ |
The Lartins gained preferment when the Warriors arrived. Prior to that they had been a relatively minor clan. Kered is now old and rheumatic so his son, Natam, fulfils most of his duties and expects to be Reeve after him. |
3 |
WOODWARD (Jaben of Yerth) |
Size: 6Quality: ★★★★ |
The woodmill is busy and much of the labour needed to operate it comes from the local cottar clans. Jaben does his best for his liege because he believes that what is good for the Telmen is good for Emesa, and therefore good for clan Yerth. His headstrong son, Orlyn, and believes that Peoni expects more of the people of Emesa than service. So far he has not acted on these beliefs. |
4 |
COTTAR and SLAVE HOUSEHOLDS |
Size: 47 |
These households, and those that live near the hamlets of the free farmers, provide most of the labour that keeps Emesa fed. They are a hard and resilient group who rely on one another more than outsiders. There is little difference between the status of slave and cottar in Emesa Hundred; most of the slaves are cottars who accepted servitude rather than see their families starve during the hard years. Last year, at the Beast Fair, one of the cottars heard that the highest Mamekan priest in the land, the Primate no less, was a member of his clan! He had misheard ‘Bisidril’ as ‘Bisidris’ and was thoroughly flogged for his presumption. It turned Hasain of Bisdris from a hard worker into an angry man whose treatment has come to symbolise the injustice with which the peasantry are treated. He is desperate to find a way to get back at the order. |
5 |
MILLER (Kernt of Bremet) |
Size: 2Quality: ★★★Prices: High |
Widower Kernt is assisted by his son Shunin but most of the hard work is done by able bodied cottars. Their younger children, in particular, are useful in the dangerous work of keeping the mill mechanism clear of rough chaff which can otherwise halt the mill stones. Kernt’s workers are kept in order by the mill’s taskmaster, Barosta of Zaras [a]. Even at 55 Barosta is a big bear of a man that no one crosses. |
6 |
USURER (Adris of Redin) |
Size: 8Quality: ★★★★Prices: Average |
Adris is son-in-law to the usurer Hoardal of Keleto, in Hyen, and the only usurer in Emesa Hundred; it is too under developed to need any more. He lacks the capital to offer more than short term loans during the Beast Fair but the interest (just about) sustains his family. Master Hoardal is strangely deaf to appeals for the additional funds needed to expand the franchise onto a more secure footing. |
7 |
POTTER (Trerik of Ruvies) |
Size: 5Quality: ★★★Prices: Low |
Trerik is one of only 3 potters in Emesa Hundred. They split the trade amicably among themselves but Trerik’s is the largest franchise. He employs his old master, Petry, who still has skill in his hands even though almost blind while his bitter brother Kyse [b] digs clay for the pottery. |
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