Eiyall Beth o Padwell
Queen Eiyaal Beth- Padwell
Queen to King Barthos the First, called the Beneficent.
Mother to Barammos, who was slain in the Stock Wars. Mother to Collium, who would be king. Mother to Bialle, who would be known as the Bloody Lady. Mother to Dorren, who was slain in Monos.
Queen Eiyall is sometimes mistaken to have been a princess of Clan Ethel. The Beths and Ethels had allied often in the past, and it was oft assumed that a woman so confident, compelling, and uncompromising could not have come into her royalty so late in life. And yet, though she was not a queen until her fifty-second year, she would prove every bit as born to rule as her husband, Barthos the Beneficent.
Eiyall was the second daughter of Gerrett Padwell, a middling but ambitious lord who had himself married an Ethel Princess. Queen Eiyall's detractors would say Lord Gerrett wed her to Lord Barthos just to be rid of her, yet any who knew Lord Gerrett must adjudge he knew what he was doing when he ingratiated himself to young Barthos, a lord who assumed power at twelve years and rapidly nurtured a reputation for competence and daring. Many assume this marriage was brokered by Barthos' uncle Walter, but it is entirely plausible the fiercely independent young Barthos negotiated much of it himself.
Lady Eiyall was wed to Barthos at thirteen years, when Barthos himself was fifteen. This was of course shortly before Prince Ruarc Ainros would raise the royal age of majority to eighteen years, which greatly influenced how Revellia viewed adulthood, especially in the East. Yet even then this was considered too young, and Ethel had acknowledged the eighteenth year for over a century, in accordance with the Host Keeping Faith. Yet Barthos, even as a boy, was determined, and Lord Gerrett clearly had plans. Given her fearsome reputation, it must be assumed that Lady Eiyall had no objections either.
Lady Eiyall would suffer five miscarriages over the course of her life, two of them severe, yet she was never rendered frail by them. Both her admirers and adversaries would claim she was made of stone. All four of her surviving children would grow into adulthood before the crown passed to Clan Beth, and all four would carve a significant place in history. Ironically, it would perhaps be their first child and son, Prince Barammos, who would be least remembered. He was a valiant warrior who led the troops Prince Ruarc used to arrest and later execute Gwynt the Ghastly, but would die in the Stock Wars only four years into the reign of Clan Beth. Today, he is remembered more as the father of the King Bennerog the Green Boar. As for Prince Collium, Princess Bialle, and Prince Dorren: though none could safely be called beloved, each managed to earn differing but powerful reputations even before assuming royalty.
As for Lady Eiyall, even in her youth she would prove her husband's match in most things. It is commonly repeated that, when their first steward was discovered to be shorting their grain storage, she would manage accounts herself for nearly two decades before a satisfactory replacement was found. Stories on what happened to this thieving steward vary greatly. His eventual replacement, Martten Lemmen (whose mother was also a Padwell) was so favored that many fools would gossip that he and Lady Eiyall were engaged in an affair under Lord Barthos' nose. Given Lord Barthos' treatment of his enemies, this seems highly unlikely. If any such affection existed between Eiyall and Martten Lemmen, it did not stop her from quickly and unceremoniously dismissing him when crops were shorted again, this time supposedly due to errors in the counts. Henceforth, all matters would be handled by spellers, under Lady Eiyall's direction. Some would grumble that women were growing too influential at Revelback, but those that complained to Lord Barthos would find no ally there, and those that impugned his manhood found worse. Lord Barthos reportedly bested seven men in hollymock on the matter of his manhood, and several of these men are said to have "accidentally" lost body parts during the battles.
Over the years, Lady Eiyall would come to involve herself more and more in the managing of the castle spellers. By the age of thirty, with her last childbirth and last miscarriage well behind her, she installed herself in Lord Barthos' cabinet, where she gained a fiercer reputation still. It is said two Mox Masters resigned their posts in objection to the power she was allowed to have at table, though who these men were is not recorded. Most discount this rumor, suggesting that Lonnach Sorshan had served as Mox Master since the exile of Walter Beth.
It has been suggested that Lady Eiyall played a role in compelling the infamous wizard Anjiil Shadowmaster to betray Clan Ainros and join Revelback. True or not, it cannot be denied that she would prove a friend to both Wizard and speller alike. When Gwynt the Ghastly ordered that all spellers be purged from the canton with fire and spear, Lady Eiyall assembled her personal guard and had her favored spellers escorted to the Stout Hostel and kept them there, guarded by both faith and sword. As for Shadowmaster, she would disappear sometime during the purge, but clearly was never burned. If she had been so executed, it would have been widely published, as many consider her betrayal the impetus for King Gwynt's vicious command.
Thus it might be said that Eiyall's mercy led to Barthos' victory, as his command over the spelt word would prove instrumental in the alliances that allowed him to march his forces to Aerwoth, arrest the King of Revellia, and try him for crimes against the crown itself.
Eiyall would rule as queen with Barthos the Beneficent for eight years, five of which were occupied by the beginnings of the Stock Wars. It was during this time that her firstborn son Prince Barammos died at the Pass of Peril. King Barthos would die at one-and-sixty, leaving Dowager Queen Eiyall nearly powerless.
For three years, Barammos' son Bennerog was an absentee king, before the Stock Wars delivered him to the same fate as his father. During those three years, Revelback and Revellia were officially under the rule of Mox Master Lonnach Sorshan. In reality, the King's Cabinet was fighting a civil war, between Queen Eiyall and her own son, Prince Collium. The two disagreed on virtually everything, and though the Queen's influence over Lonnach Sorshan's opinions was usually greater, Prince Collium commanded more forces. Eiyall sought to expand Revellia's role in the Stock Wars, both to ensure the new King's safety and as a rare opportunity to increase their influence in the Peninsula, where Revellia was often ignored as barbarous and irrelevant. Prince Collium, meanwhile, sought to limit their military engagement in every way. The two oft shouted themselves hoarse at one another, whilst Lonnach Sorshan buried his head in his hands. Eiyall longed to replace Sorshan with a stronger man who supported her views, but Prince Collium was currently heir to the throne, and removing Sorshan would be all the excuse he needed to seize power.
Toward the end of Bennerog's absent reign, a coup was being planned. At its head was Prince Dorren, Eiyall's youngest son, who felt a strong leader was missing in Revellia. To this day, Queen Eiyall's involvement in this plan is debated by those who consider their history. Whoever was involved, it would ultimately come to nought, as King Bennerog's death was reported before Prince Dorren could act. Collium seized control uncrowned. Eiyall's objections were ignored, and Dorren was placed in the dungeons, where he would remain for the entirety of Collium's six-year reign. Though he would later be crowned in an elaborate and almost pandering ceremony, Collium's early actions would lend him a dark reputation that would follow him throughout his rule.
As for Queen Eiyall, her second son's ascension marked the end of her rule. She retained her position overseeing the royal spellers, but was never again allowed in the King's cabinet. She would later be removed from even this position in 936 RA, at the age of five-and-sixty. Some claim she was using the spellers to conspire against her own son, hoping to install Prince Dorren to the throne, or perhaps Collium's own son, Dorreon. It is entirely possible, however, that she was simply no longer capable of the office.
Eiyall would linger on for ten more years, largely absent from public life. It is said she became increasingly pious in her final decade, and supposedly spelt out several treatises on the Host of Hosts. She would live to see the death of her son Collium and the ascension of Dorreon the Magnificent, who released Prince Dorren from the dungeons very early in his reign. Some have said the Queen smiled at Collium's death, but this is likely a rumor spread by her detractors. These same detractors have claimed that she urged Queen Flaithe to seize power whilst King Dorreon was away during the Great Parley of 944 RA. Very little is said of the relationship between Eiyall and Queen Flaithe, and if indeed the Queen felt a woman might have sufficient influence to rule in Revellia, one might well wonder why she had never tried to seize the throne for herself.
Dowager Queen Eiyall Beth, from Clan Padwell, died of her years in 946 RA at five-and-seventy. She had been a significant governing force since the age of thirteen, and ruled at her husband's side in a manner for which Queen Flaithe would later be celebrated, though she never bore a blade as the Storm Queen had. She fought her own son for control of the realm, and may well have helped to foment a coup. She saved a group of spellers from the harsh hand of Gwynt the Ghastly and likely contributed directly to the cruel king's fall and the ascension of Clan Beth to kingship. She no doubt played a role in Clan Padwell's ascension to the chiefdom of Aerwoth. Yet today she is remembered, if at all, as nothing more than the wife of Barthos the Beneficient and mother to King Collium.
Social
Family Ties
Conditions
Ethnicity
Life
4871
4946
75 years old
Birthplace
Kelisfield
Family
Children
Eyes
Brown
Hair
Dark gilt
Skin Tone/Pigmentation
Ghast (peach)
Aligned Organization