Clan Lemmen
Clan Capall
Clan Aerrin
he only daughter of
King Barthos Beth, first
Revellian king of that line.
Though a charming and graceful child, Bialle would grow up to be called the Bloody Lady. Thrice wed, thrice widowed, she would bear a daughter from each marriage, and a son from the second. The daughters would all be wed to respectable if not impressive men, and the son
Beran would be knighted and fight against
Yvruel during the
Stock Wars, eventually dying in the Fourth Battle of
Southael in 939 RA.
It is unclear just when Princess Bialle began to vanish beneath the Bloody Lady. She was seen as respectful and even demure at the hand of her first husband,
Lord Marras Lemmen of
Ethelbrand. When
Lord Marras died fighting
Rathi rebels in the
Rathlands of southern
Ethel, Princess Bialle returned to
Revelback with a daughter in her arms to find nothing but pity for her misfortune. After a full year of mourning, it was by her own urging that
King Barthos (then still a lord) arranged a marriage with her second husband,
Lord Othar Aerrin.
Lord Othar had a prickly reputation, yet he was the lord of
Sure Town near
Saolmoth, and
Revelback's ties with that city needed strengthening. If the man was willing to take a widow, and Princess Bialle herself desired it, the King had little cause to object.
Princess Bialle would remain with
Lord Othar for seven years, bearing him a son and daughter named
Beran and
Vera. It is not widely known how her first daughter
Beseda was treated, but the Princess is reported to have once asked her father to find a place for the girl at court in
Revelback. Before any such place could be found, however,
Lord Othar died of a burst heart while at table, and Princess Bialle once again returned to
Revelback.
The Princess had not yet soured on marriage, though many men now eyed her warily. With two dead husbands, a reputation was bound to settle on her, yet she was still beautiful. The twin of
Prince Collium, it was said he gained all the brains and she all the beauty, though in truth Bialle was as clever as anyone. She was even a
speller, though not an accomplished one, and clearly had ambitions for her own family line, or she would not have pursued a third marriage. Deeming
Ethel and
Sure Town too far, Princess Bialle instead set her sights to home, and a young heir named
Ruhan Capall. The Princess was ten years the elder of young
Ruhan Capall, who had only inherited his title a fortnight before Bialle's return to the capital. Her intentions were clear, even to the young lord, yet the Princess remained as beautiful and charming as ever, and it was not long before the two were wed. Bialle's final child, said to have been "made with great enthusiasm" with
Lord Ruhan, was named
Helessa.
This marriage with
Lord Ruhan would last nine years, most of them regarded as harmonious. Yet this would suddenly change when
Lord Ruhan was found abed with
Lady Beseda, Princess Bialle's daughter from her first marriage, who had only just entered majority.
Lady Beseda supposedly suffered no punishment, though she was soon married off to Lord Urrik
Luutar, a noticeably low match for a princess' daughter. As for
Lord Ruhan, he was brought before
King Barthos and offered a choice: he must lose the tongue with which he seduced
Lady Beseda, or he would be gelded.
Lord Ruhan made many excuses, calling
Beseda the seducer and even going so far as to suggest Bialle had ensorcelled him in some way. These would prove unwise allegations to lay before the woman's father. In the end,
King Barthos removed
Ruhan's tongue for the crime of slander, and gelded him for assaulting his granddaughter's dignity.
Sir Beran Aerrin, already knighted at sixteen and fighting in
Yvruel, abandoned his post and rode south upon hearing this news, intent on killing
Lord Ruhan in a
Monosi duel. Before he could arrive, however,
Lord Ruhan died of complications from the gelding. The young lord was long buried by the time
Sir Beran arrived, spat upon his grave, then hopped back on his horse and returned to the battlefront. Soon after,
Lady Vera was betrothed to a second son of
Clan Barkside at
Barkside Town. She would be removed to
Barkside Town before the wedding, and Princess Bialle reportedly never saw her again.
Some women, though by no means all, sympathized with the many misfortunes that had befallen Princess Bialle. Yet there was no question that a ghastly reputation had settled upon her. Rumors of the Bloody Lady were told openly now, and more than one man dared defy her with the title. The punishments these men endured from the King were minor, but they were enough to deepen the people's distrust.
Not long after this,
King Barthos passed, and the crown moved to his first son
Bennerog the Green Boar.
Bennerog spent his entire rule on campaign, leaving the governance of
Revellia to his
Chief Justicar Lonnach Sorshan.
Sorshan was rumored to have secured
Sir Beran his knighthood by Princess Bialle's compulsion, and now it was whispered she sought honors for her other children through him.
Lonnach was a famously obedient man, now caught between the machinations of the
Queen Mother Eiyall and the King's brother,
Prince Collium, who used him to fight little wars in the counsel room on how the canton ought to be governed. Honors and holdings were indeed granted to the husbands of
Lady Beseda and
Lady Vera, though both contributed to the wars against
Urudun to the north. The Princess also moved openly to attain a high standing husband for her youngest daughter,
Helessa.
Helessa would grow up to be tall and beautiful, with hair so red it reminded some of the ancient line of
Ainros. Yet for all her beauty, she was the third daughter from a third marriage to a woman with a dangerous reputation.
Helessa would acquire many admirers and champions, but none of sufficient standing made overtures.
Helessa had even been caught up in a conspiracy.
Prince Dorren, Bialle's younger brother, had tried to seize control and crown himself whilst
Collium and
Eiyall bickered and
Lonnach did nothing. He offered
Helessa's hand to the Lord of
Aintorq on the
Green Isle in exchange for soldiers. There were rumors that Bialle herself delivered these terms, and she was indeed thought to be missing from
Revelback for a time, but ultimately nothing was proven. In the end, the Lord of
Aintorq refused.
Bennerog died on his campaign before
Dorren could act, and
Prince Collium crowned himself and imprisoned
Dorren.
Prince Collium had not expressed any acrimony with his twin openly, yet shortly after his coronation Bialle took the sixteen-year-old
Helessa to
Ethelbrand, where she still held a manse from her marriage with
Lord Marras Lemmen. Violence would flare up several times between
Ethel and
Revellia during
Collium's reign, yet Bialle and
Helessa remained there safely for much of this time.
Helessa grew into a beautiful woman, and entertained offers from
Ethelite merchants of incredible wealth. Merchants were steadily becoming a powerful political force in
Ethel, yet they were not lords, and Bialle flatly refused all offers.
King Collium died in his sleep in the Winter of 940 RA, and many said he had been poisoned by his
Chief Justicar,
Golbran Oishlog.
Golbran was the first son of the Lord of
Aintorq, who had refused to wed
Lady Helessa, and many suspected him of evil. He was a short, hunch-backed man of hideous aspect, missing one eye, and his own father had disinherited him in favor of a second son. Despite having lived in
Ethelbrand for nearly six years, Bialle returned with her daughter
Helessa to accuse
Golbran of poisoning the King.
Collium's first son, the new King
Dorreon (named for
Collium's brother,
Prince Dorren) heard all cases, but decided
Golbran was innocent and even retained him as
Chief Justicar. Moreover, it was decided that
Golbran would marry
Lady Helessa, to repair any strife between
Beth and
Aintorq. Bialle, who had always been called smooth and graceful and venomously calm, raged and screamed at this dishonor, to sell her most beautiful daughter to a man many called "the Goblin." Yet despite his appearance, the man was
Chief Justicar, second most powerful person in
Revellia, and Bialle eventually relented.
Helessa's views were not recorded, yet she appeared on the day, and the two were wed by both a
hostess of the faith and a
bard, for the
Oishlogs were still
Deinain worshippers.
In 945 RA, less than a year after the
Stock Wars had ended, Princess Bialle returned to her holdings in
Ethel. She was rumored to entertain paramours there, but as ever nothing was proven. Her son,
Sir Beran, had died in the wars. Her first daughter,
Beseda, had died birthing her third child and first daughter.
Vera still lived, but the two never spoke after her marriage. And though she consented to
Helessa's marriage with
Golbran, all noted that she grew colder to her daughter afterward. She seemed almost a ghost of a time before
Dorreon rose to power, and it seemed fitting that she should vanish into
Ethel. As ever, the
Hosts had other plans for her.
The Tragedy of High Helessa fell in the Spring of 948 RA, and Princess Bialle again returned to demand the death of
Golbran Oishlog. She need hardly have bothered. Indeed, the man's execution had been delayed only to allow her coming. He had been whipped and tortured already, but at Bialle's request the King had him whipped again, both his hands broken, and his tongue removed. It was said
Oishlog took most of this well, but broke only at losing his tongue, weeping and begging to keep it. Bialle was said to smile at his tears.
Oishlog was beheaded, and it is largely believed the head was given to Princess Bialle. The rumors of what she might have done with the head are so wild and varied, the truth will never be known.
The Princess remained at court for two more years, almost following her brother
Prince Dorren north into
Monos in 949 RA, but demurring at the last minute. Bialle would have other sudden changes of heart during her stay, considering joining a hostel or visiting her only surviving daughter at
Barkside Town, but in the end she gathered what wealth she had and returned to her manse in
Ethelbrand. It was said the Princess' spelling improved vastly during this two year period, thanks in great part to
Queen Flaithe,
King Dorreon's brilliant and eccentric wife.
These last two years of Bialle's life in
Ethelbrand were quiet. She had finally started to show her age, yet she was still recounted a rare and charming beauty.
Ethelite magicians wrote spells of her, and powerful merchants half her age asked for her hand, much as they had her daughter. For all this, Bialle is said to have spent these final years alone, retaining a speller or two to learn more of the wider world.
Princess Bialle died of
Grey Gut in the Summer of 952 RA, which she was thought to have acquired during her many travels across the
Rathlands between
Ethelbrand and
Revelback. Her properties passed into the hands of a cousin by law in
Clan Lemmen. She is still an occasional subject of spell or story, and it is said some of the likenesses of the
Sunset Siren painted there are still modeled after her.
