Belgie
Bailiff: Sir Torbris Vaén
Liege: Sir Shernâth Mirdârne, Constable of Jédes
Bélgìe is a small riverside village of eighteen households, all but five of which are serfs. The settlement lies on the main road from Jédes to Kolôrn.
Travellers rarely stop here, preferring to press on to the inns at Jédes or Yeáshim.
About a third of the pastureland is given over to cattle grazing; about a third of the cropland is planted with oats. In addition to working the land, five serf families fish the Kald in their coracles.
The manor also has a large pear orchard. The manor house is small but sturdy, surrounded by a five-foot-high wooden palisade. The riverbank on which the manor sits is beginning to erode.
Sir Torbris is seeking advice from the master miner at Ôrofal on how to prevent the palisade, and subsequently the manor house, from sliding into the river.
There is no mill in Bélgìe, so many villagers make the forty minute walk to Jédes on market days, leaving the village almost empty four mornings of each month.
Sir Torbris Vaén, Bailiff of Bélgìe
Sir Torbris Vaén is in his mid fifties and has been bailiff for seventeen years. He was a famous warrior and jouster in his youth.
His face, while never handsome, has paid the price for this honour: bald headed and thick necked, he sports a large, broken nose, cauliflower ears, and a gap-toothed smile.
Because of his appearance many people underestimate his intelligence. He is friendly and cheerful with a caustic wit.
Sir Torbris was Sir Shernâth’s first appointment, replacing Sir Marik Poúlty.
He takes his feudal duties seriously, once spending almost three months tracking down a journeyman who raped the daughter of one of his serfs.
Sir Torbris is a devout Laránian who firmly believes in his feudal rights and responsibilities. He knows that it is a man’s duty to protect women, regardless of status, and he despises any man who raises a hand against “the weaker sex”.
He is respected by most of the local peasants and by the constable.
Lady Tersia Vaén, Lady of the Manor Lady Tersia is six years younger than her husband and hails from Selkiles in Vémionshire, where her father is bailiff.
Her nephew, Eldaen Katair, is squire at Fenéven.
Lady Tersia has large, protruding teeth, and her naturally curly hair is always untidy. She and her husband bicker and squabble constantly and have done so their entire married life.
Their mutual affection is not always obvious.
Squire Ector Vaén
Ector is Sir Torbris’s cousin, the youngest son of his uncle, Jarrak, who is head of Clan Vaén.
Jarrak is twenty years younger than Sir Torbris’s mother and is actually younger than his nephew.
Young Ector has only just arrived in Bélgìe and is afraid of the fierce-looking, gruff, and blunt knight.
Bélgìe’s monthly market is held on the 7th. It is very poorly attended. A few of the itinerant masters attend, as does the salter Darya of Narbath from Cálsite.
However, most villagers regularly visit the market at nearby Jédes.
Like many local manors, the wooden posts supporting the balcony and the ceiling are covered in Járin knotwork designs, worn smooth over the centuries. The posts are older that the current great hall.
The tiny kitchen is a recent alteration.
The great hall is warmed by an ancient brass brazier, covered with runic symbols engraved around its edge. The brazier burns remarkably efficiently, seeming to produce more heat and less ash than would be expected.
Sir Torbris’s friend and neighbour Sir Garith Kaphin (p47) has suggested that the brazier be taken to Tashál for investigation by the Rowanti (Loremasters) of Sávè-K’nôr.
Sir Torbris doesn’t want it interfered with.
The manor servants all sleep in the great hall. The three cots on the balcony are used by the squire, the chamberlain, and the man-at-arms.
The square, stone building accessed from the great hall is known to all as “the new manor”, although it is now 80 years old.
This building is used exclusively by the nobles and the chamberlain.
The larger ground-floor room is used as a solar and sewing room by the noble ladies. It is also often used as a dining room by the family when there are no guests to entertain. The smaller room is used for storage.
The upper floor contains sleeping quarters for the nobles, together with Sir Torbris’s treasury.
Although he has little wealth, Sir Torbris has several mismatched silver goblets, all tournament prizes he has won.
The goblets are all used during major feasts.
Some months after he had “dismissed” his former chamberlain, Sir Torbris discovered that two cups were missing; one was the first he’d ever won, which he’d gifted to the girl whose favour he’d worn, Tersia Katair.
He’d like to find the goblet – and his former chamberlain.
Sir Declaen Vaén, Knight of Bélgìe
Sir Declaen, 29, is very much his father’s first born. Burly, cheerful, and sarcastic, he shares Sir Torbris’s views about women and his love for jousting.
He always competes in the Kibân tourney. Sir Declaen carries out the feudal duties for his father; the two get on well, and the son usually defers to the father’s wisdom.
Declaen is three inches taller than Sir Torbris and less homely, though this is faint praise.
Unlike the clean-shaven Torbris, the junior Vaén has a moustache and goatee, but he has already inherited his father’s baldness.
Declaen spent six years wooing pale, frail, and nervous Emyla Mazerony.
They were finally married in the summer before last. Declaen is sensitive to his young wife’s feelings.
He knows that she worries about something, but she will not tell him what it is. Lady Emyla Vaén, Lady-in-Waiting Lady Emyla is the eldest daughter of the Lord of Mówich and has been married to Declaen for less than two years
. She is currently suffering from morning sickness. Emyla is a tall, slim woman with long light-brown hair that she usually wears unbound. She is pale, quiet, and usually sombre. Only Sir Declaen has ever managed to make her laugh.
A little over ten years ago, Emyla was raped by her elder brother. He blamed her for the crime, but was sent away to Tashál by his father.
Lady Emyla despises her brother and parents and has not visited her family since she married. Her husband, whom she loves dearly, remains unaware of these events or her feelings.
Sir Torbris employs a single light footman, Agryd of Porthys.
In his mid forties, Agryd is a giant of a man, with a huge beard and wild, unkempt hair. His appearance is usually enough to intimidate any vagabonds.
Chamberlain Over five years ago Sir Torbris discovered that his chamberlain, Forgyn of Hallat, was stealing.
The knight had the man stripped naked, hobbled, and birch-whipped through the village. Sir Torbris himself then pitched the thief into the Kald, warning him never to show his face in Asólade again. No one has seen him since.
Some weeks later, at the Jédes fair, Sir Torbris hired a new chamberlain, Hera of Eltobar.
In her early thirties, she is attractive, well-educated, eloquent, pleasant, and reserved.
She talks little of her past; all that is known about her is that she is a free woman and was educated in Mèlderýn.
Several young freemen have tried to pay court to her, and all have met with polite rebuffs. She has proved honest and efficient, which is enough for Sir Torbris.
Yeomen
Shortbow (Beadle) For a yeoman archer, Taram of Abrall is a terrible shot. He can see little beyond fifty yards and squints constantly.
Taram is, however, an efficient beadle, a skilful wrestler, and a formidable boxer.
Taram is a thickset man with dark hair and bushy eyebrows. He is married with two teenage sons.
There are members of his clan in Asólade, Skáist, Támorlan and Jédes.
Shortbow
Like Taram, Lamys of Lunn has kin in several villages across Asólade. Lamys’ kinfolk are hideworkers, hunters and yeomen.
Lamys stands a little over five-and-a-half feet tall and is a good marksman.
His wife, a few inches taller than he, has born him two boys, both already keen to become archers.
Guilds
Metalsmith ££££
Gefrin of Garyx is the guildmaster metalsmith of Asólade Hundred. He always travels to Jédes market to sell tools and pick up work from locals.
Gefrin officially inherited the franchise eight years ago, though he had been in effective control for the previous seven years due to his father’s ill health.
A handsome man in his early forties, Gefrin has buried two wives and is now looking for a third. He has been pursuing the manor chamberlain for a year, without success.
His eldest son, Jorj, is apprenticed at Asólade.
Woodcrafter ££££ As the neighbouring manors Skáist, Déshìnes, and Yeáshim lack a woodcrafter, Col of Serel is overworked. Among his many jobs, he is the cooper for the inn- keeper at Yeáshim.
A journeyman and two apprentices assist him. Col is married with a teenage daughter at home and two sons apprenticed in Tashál.
Reeve
Mylas of Haribert is middle-aged and nondescript. His clan is the largest in Asólade, and Mylas is related to four households in Bélgìe.
He is supported by his father, the clanhead, and so has little difficulty in keeping order. Two cousins hold office in neighbouring settlements; they are the herders of Déshìnes and Cálsite.
Herder Bermor of Tarsath is short and burly with long red hair and a bushy red beard. He sneezes uncontrollably when near goats, making difficult a small but significant part of his job.
Woodward Yenin of Tasmyr and his wife have seven children, all under 10 and all girls. Despite his position he sometimes struggles to feed his family. He is not above taking the occasional rabbit.
Several clan members are indeed light-fingered. An item “lost” in one village often turns up at the other side of the hundred, still in the clan’s hands but unlikely to be traced.
Clan Kostal are a commoner’s clan. Unlike most commoner’s clans, the Kostal commoner is rarely the clanhead. The current commoner is Tamys [p29].
Commoner of Tarwyn Arbrogar of Haribert staunchly upholds his rights as a commoner.
He is often away in the forest grazing his large herd of swine and several ponies. Arbrogar is an extremely wealthy serf.
Arbrogar is the head of Clan Haribert. There are members of his clan in almost every settlement in the hundred.
His youngest son, Mylas, is the reeve; his eldest son, Nyal, is a good pony rider who follows his father into the forest.
Priestess of Peóni Maris of Supyal is one of only two female priests in Asólade. The other, Bredyth, lives in Novélim.
The plump, jolly Maris is in her late thirties and is a skilled midwife.
Her small temple hosts a shrine to St. Glinde, patron saint of conception and midwives.
Maris does not always keep the secrecy of confession as closely as she should. She is a source of gossip for some of the local mothers, and many villagers are careful of what they will reveal to her.
Liege: Sir Shernâth Mirdârne, Constable of Jédes
Bélgìe is a small riverside village of eighteen households, all but five of which are serfs. The settlement lies on the main road from Jédes to Kolôrn.
Travellers rarely stop here, preferring to press on to the inns at Jédes or Yeáshim.
About a third of the pastureland is given over to cattle grazing; about a third of the cropland is planted with oats. In addition to working the land, five serf families fish the Kald in their coracles.
The manor also has a large pear orchard. The manor house is small but sturdy, surrounded by a five-foot-high wooden palisade. The riverbank on which the manor sits is beginning to erode.
Sir Torbris is seeking advice from the master miner at Ôrofal on how to prevent the palisade, and subsequently the manor house, from sliding into the river.
There is no mill in Bélgìe, so many villagers make the forty minute walk to Jédes on market days, leaving the village almost empty four mornings of each month.
Manor Residents
Sir Torbris Vaén, Bailiff of Bélgìe
Sir Torbris Vaén is in his mid fifties and has been bailiff for seventeen years. He was a famous warrior and jouster in his youth.
His face, while never handsome, has paid the price for this honour: bald headed and thick necked, he sports a large, broken nose, cauliflower ears, and a gap-toothed smile.
Because of his appearance many people underestimate his intelligence. He is friendly and cheerful with a caustic wit.
Sir Torbris was Sir Shernâth’s first appointment, replacing Sir Marik Poúlty.
He takes his feudal duties seriously, once spending almost three months tracking down a journeyman who raped the daughter of one of his serfs.
Sir Torbris is a devout Laránian who firmly believes in his feudal rights and responsibilities. He knows that it is a man’s duty to protect women, regardless of status, and he despises any man who raises a hand against “the weaker sex”.
He is respected by most of the local peasants and by the constable.
Lady Tersia Vaén, Lady of the Manor Lady Tersia is six years younger than her husband and hails from Selkiles in Vémionshire, where her father is bailiff.
Her nephew, Eldaen Katair, is squire at Fenéven.
Lady Tersia has large, protruding teeth, and her naturally curly hair is always untidy. She and her husband bicker and squabble constantly and have done so their entire married life.
Their mutual affection is not always obvious.
Squire Ector Vaén
Ector is Sir Torbris’s cousin, the youngest son of his uncle, Jarrak, who is head of Clan Vaén.
Jarrak is twenty years younger than Sir Torbris’s mother and is actually younger than his nephew.
Young Ector has only just arrived in Bélgìe and is afraid of the fierce-looking, gruff, and blunt knight.
Market
Bélgìe’s monthly market is held on the 7th. It is very poorly attended. A few of the itinerant masters attend, as does the salter Darya of Narbath from Cálsite.
However, most villagers regularly visit the market at nearby Jédes.
Bélgìe Manor
Like most manors in Asólade, Bélgìe is a mix of old and new. The wattle-and-daub great hall is over 150 years old and is a much-repaired building.Like many local manors, the wooden posts supporting the balcony and the ceiling are covered in Járin knotwork designs, worn smooth over the centuries. The posts are older that the current great hall.
The tiny kitchen is a recent alteration.
The great hall is warmed by an ancient brass brazier, covered with runic symbols engraved around its edge. The brazier burns remarkably efficiently, seeming to produce more heat and less ash than would be expected.
Sir Torbris’s friend and neighbour Sir Garith Kaphin (p47) has suggested that the brazier be taken to Tashál for investigation by the Rowanti (Loremasters) of Sávè-K’nôr.
Sir Torbris doesn’t want it interfered with.
The manor servants all sleep in the great hall. The three cots on the balcony are used by the squire, the chamberlain, and the man-at-arms.
The square, stone building accessed from the great hall is known to all as “the new manor”, although it is now 80 years old.
This building is used exclusively by the nobles and the chamberlain.
The larger ground-floor room is used as a solar and sewing room by the noble ladies. It is also often used as a dining room by the family when there are no guests to entertain. The smaller room is used for storage.
The upper floor contains sleeping quarters for the nobles, together with Sir Torbris’s treasury.
Although he has little wealth, Sir Torbris has several mismatched silver goblets, all tournament prizes he has won.
The goblets are all used during major feasts.
Some months after he had “dismissed” his former chamberlain, Sir Torbris discovered that two cups were missing; one was the first he’d ever won, which he’d gifted to the girl whose favour he’d worn, Tersia Katair.
He’d like to find the goblet – and his former chamberlain.
Sir Declaen Vaén, Knight of Bélgìe
Sir Declaen, 29, is very much his father’s first born. Burly, cheerful, and sarcastic, he shares Sir Torbris’s views about women and his love for jousting.
He always competes in the Kibân tourney. Sir Declaen carries out the feudal duties for his father; the two get on well, and the son usually defers to the father’s wisdom.
Declaen is three inches taller than Sir Torbris and less homely, though this is faint praise.
Unlike the clean-shaven Torbris, the junior Vaén has a moustache and goatee, but he has already inherited his father’s baldness.
Declaen spent six years wooing pale, frail, and nervous Emyla Mazerony.
They were finally married in the summer before last. Declaen is sensitive to his young wife’s feelings.
He knows that she worries about something, but she will not tell him what it is. Lady Emyla Vaén, Lady-in-Waiting Lady Emyla is the eldest daughter of the Lord of Mówich and has been married to Declaen for less than two years
. She is currently suffering from morning sickness. Emyla is a tall, slim woman with long light-brown hair that she usually wears unbound. She is pale, quiet, and usually sombre. Only Sir Declaen has ever managed to make her laugh.
A little over ten years ago, Emyla was raped by her elder brother. He blamed her for the crime, but was sent away to Tashál by his father.
Lady Emyla despises her brother and parents and has not visited her family since she married. Her husband, whom she loves dearly, remains unaware of these events or her feelings.
Military
Sir Torbris employs a single light footman, Agryd of Porthys.
In his mid forties, Agryd is a giant of a man, with a huge beard and wild, unkempt hair. His appearance is usually enough to intimidate any vagabonds.
Chamberlain Over five years ago Sir Torbris discovered that his chamberlain, Forgyn of Hallat, was stealing.
The knight had the man stripped naked, hobbled, and birch-whipped through the village. Sir Torbris himself then pitched the thief into the Kald, warning him never to show his face in Asólade again. No one has seen him since.
Some weeks later, at the Jédes fair, Sir Torbris hired a new chamberlain, Hera of Eltobar.
In her early thirties, she is attractive, well-educated, eloquent, pleasant, and reserved.
She talks little of her past; all that is known about her is that she is a free woman and was educated in Mèlderýn.
Several young freemen have tried to pay court to her, and all have met with polite rebuffs. She has proved honest and efficient, which is enough for Sir Torbris.
Village Residents
Yeomen
Shortbow (Beadle) For a yeoman archer, Taram of Abrall is a terrible shot. He can see little beyond fifty yards and squints constantly.
Taram is, however, an efficient beadle, a skilful wrestler, and a formidable boxer.
Taram is a thickset man with dark hair and bushy eyebrows. He is married with two teenage sons.
There are members of his clan in Asólade, Skáist, Támorlan and Jédes.
Shortbow
Like Taram, Lamys of Lunn has kin in several villages across Asólade. Lamys’ kinfolk are hideworkers, hunters and yeomen.
Lamys stands a little over five-and-a-half feet tall and is a good marksman.
His wife, a few inches taller than he, has born him two boys, both already keen to become archers.
Guilds
Metalsmith ££££
Gefrin of Garyx is the guildmaster metalsmith of Asólade Hundred. He always travels to Jédes market to sell tools and pick up work from locals.
Gefrin officially inherited the franchise eight years ago, though he had been in effective control for the previous seven years due to his father’s ill health.
A handsome man in his early forties, Gefrin has buried two wives and is now looking for a third. He has been pursuing the manor chamberlain for a year, without success.
His eldest son, Jorj, is apprenticed at Asólade.
Woodcrafter ££££ As the neighbouring manors Skáist, Déshìnes, and Yeáshim lack a woodcrafter, Col of Serel is overworked. Among his many jobs, he is the cooper for the inn- keeper at Yeáshim.
A journeyman and two apprentices assist him. Col is married with a teenage daughter at home and two sons apprenticed in Tashál.
Officers
Reeve
Mylas of Haribert is middle-aged and nondescript. His clan is the largest in Asólade, and Mylas is related to four households in Bélgìe.
He is supported by his father, the clanhead, and so has little difficulty in keeping order. Two cousins hold office in neighbouring settlements; they are the herders of Déshìnes and Cálsite.
Herder Bermor of Tarsath is short and burly with long red hair and a bushy red beard. He sneezes uncontrollably when near goats, making difficult a small but significant part of his job.
Woodward Yenin of Tasmyr and his wife have seven children, all under 10 and all girls. Despite his position he sometimes struggles to feed his family. He is not above taking the occasional rabbit.
Others
Villein Tarrath is head of Clan Kostal, which is second only to Clan Haribert in size. The Kostal have a reputation as thieves and troublemakers.Several clan members are indeed light-fingered. An item “lost” in one village often turns up at the other side of the hundred, still in the clan’s hands but unlikely to be traced.
Clan Kostal are a commoner’s clan. Unlike most commoner’s clans, the Kostal commoner is rarely the clanhead. The current commoner is Tamys [p29].
Commoner of Tarwyn Arbrogar of Haribert staunchly upholds his rights as a commoner.
He is often away in the forest grazing his large herd of swine and several ponies. Arbrogar is an extremely wealthy serf.
Arbrogar is the head of Clan Haribert. There are members of his clan in almost every settlement in the hundred.
His youngest son, Mylas, is the reeve; his eldest son, Nyal, is a good pony rider who follows his father into the forest.
Priestess of Peóni Maris of Supyal is one of only two female priests in Asólade. The other, Bredyth, lives in Novélim.
The plump, jolly Maris is in her late thirties and is a skilled midwife.
Her small temple hosts a shrine to St. Glinde, patron saint of conception and midwives.
Maris does not always keep the secrecy of confession as closely as she should. She is a source of gossip for some of the local mothers, and many villagers are careful of what they will reveal to her.
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