House Ebeðar
"House Ebethar?" Buck said in response to question from one of the gathered crowd, "Oh, of course I knows about them! They're an old, old House 'ere in Keledon, going way on back to the days of Sothar kesGalen and beyond that, to th' Clan Years. And, I mean, they're all dark, those Ebethars, with black hair and dark eyes, and true that they're kinda short too. But their name literally means The Ravens, and if ya kint speak the tongue, look. Uboð means raven, and ebeð means ravens, and ebeðar means the ravens, or if ya kint speak with a good accent, ya say Ebethar. Anyway...
Culture
"So House Ebethar holds to th' oldest ways of the land, like them folks up in The Haft and thereabouts. And since Sothar was king, they bin rulin' the Reach o' Abethred--that's the Dalelands--in the name o' the king or queen. And rightly they's a pious House, but Gods they're a grim and creepy lot if ya wants my opinion, and ya does, or else ya wouldn't be 'ere fillin' me flagon and askin' me 'bout everything. Creepy, yeah, but devoted t' what they do and the old spirits, and their duty."
"So a long time aog they was a warrior clan and never did they like anything more than fightin' and scrappin' and makin' war on...well, whoever. And 'causa this they came t' think that a real sign of honour was havin' a corpse pecked up by ravens, because that meant ya died on the battlefield and got yaself all pecked up before someone came along an' collected ya. So now, all these years later they still hold ta that creepy weirdness, and when one a' their own dies they lay 'im out on a stone slab out back until the ravens come and peck 'im up. And that's 'ow they let the spirits know this chap was a brave and courageous fella."
"So yeah, they're a weird enough lot, but the people o' the Dalelands seem 'appy enough so who's gonna say anything?"
History
Early History
"So like I was sayin' the Raven-folk got their start way back in Sothar's day with their ancestor
Abathan of Abred. An' he was was the leader of the Kes-ebeð (and that means Raven-Sons for the unschooled among ya, which I think is alla ya) a clan of warriors hailing from the wooded hills of th' Reach o' Abrethar.
"So in 934 Sothar Mistwalker, he challenges Halm the Six-Fisted t' see whose gonna rule the Southlands. And Sothar he gets his boys t'gether, and so does Halm, and their armies meet up in th' Battle of Abred, near the town of that name, which is where the Raven Sons are livin'. So Abathan leads 'is forces forth in support of Sothar, having little love and less trust for Halm. Sothar, however, gets himself defeated and flees south, with the Druids givin' him some help n' shelter. And Halm, being all incensed over this, decides the Ravens are gonna pay for it all, so he starts with the burnin' and the lootin' and the slashin' all across the region, roundin' them up and killin' 'em all off."
"But Abathan, y'see, he was a wily fella, and he gets 'imself away along with 'is son Narlin, and they run oft into th' Ravenswood. And bein' that they know the woods, and it's just huge, they're able to hide out for a long time while they start gatherin' up supplies and provender and men and all they're gonna need to have their revenge."
"Now a year or two goes by and Sothar's been forgin' his own people--who also're gettin' the shaft from Halm--into a real force, ya know? And he sends 'is messenger to Abathan and they agree t' stand together again and get them some right proper vengeance. An within'a couplea years they gets it, and Halm is dead, with some people sayin' the Raven-Sons ate him. What? No, I don't think so, but ya never kin tell."
"So then by 946 Sothar made hisself into a king, and he's rulin' over most of the land, and he decides that it's time for everyone to get clamer and get about makin' the realm into a right proper realm. An so he takes those clans that had 'is back, and they get t' be the nobles of the new land. And so the Raven-Sons get turned into House Ebethar, and now they're respectable because that's how it goes and because th' king says so. And Abathan gets hisself a nice title, the Earl o' Abred, and gets to rule over alla Abethred in the king's name, and gets to settle into the same business warriors everywhere do when battles are done--gettin' fat and fatherin' children. And Narlin gets to be the Lord o' the Reach after him."
"And everything is nice and raveny until 1139. Ya see, the king by then was Alfor, first of his name, and he was..." --Buck stopped for a moment, counting off kings on his fingers--"fifth king o' Keledon. Well, 'e dies and hadn't been sensible enough to declare an heir, so of course everyone wants ta fight over it. And by this time it's the seventh Earl of Abred, Kamdir, sittin' there in the Reach. And he's the one who helps the king's cousin Aelfeth get hisself onto the throne, and we call him Aelfeth, third o' 'is name. So Kamdir gets hisself and his house promoted, and he even sits on the king's council. And as the years pass they get stronger an tougher, an closer with the Druids o' the Ravenswood and everywhere aroundabouts there. And when Seiðr II starts warmin' the throne with his arse he gits Geoff Ebaðar to serve as the Lord Warden. This is 1512 or so, I thinks."
"So then we get to Gendar, fourth of his name, sitting on the throne here in Hawksholme, and one day he calls the Archdruid o' The Whitestag t' come to court. Well, the ol' Druid, he's busy doin' Druid things and ain't comin', and bein' that he's am Archdruid he doesn't hop for anyone anyway. And the Ebeðar, they ain't gonna try and make 'im, so things get tense between them an' the king. And over time, see, this just gets ugly and looks like it's gonna end up with the king gettin' hisself killed. So Leofric Ebeðar, being th' big raven at the time, gets the Druid and the king t'gether under his roof and sorts it all out. And the king, see, he's right 'appy about this, and so he makes Leofric into the first prince of the Dalelands, and now those Ravens, they're a big deal not just in the Reach, but everywhere.
And now today we gots Edrick Ebethar as the Prince of Abethred."
In Glory We Rise and Fall
Founding Date
947
Alternative Names
Ravens
Leader
Leader Title
Family Leader
Founders
Head of State
Head of Government
Government System
Monarchy, Absolute
Power Structure
Feudal state
Economic System
Palace economy
Gazetteer
- Ashdell, Daghenge, and the Flintring - these three stone megalithic sites are found in the Dalelands. Daghenge is found directly in the lands of House Ebethar and is a sacred site they administer themselves, while the other two are under the control of banner houses.
Official State Religion
Parent Organization
Location
Comments