Cyre
Location:Nelafayn Hundred, Meselynshire, Kaldor
Government: Sir Rald Ertanar
Liege: Sir Ercamber Odasart, Lord of Hesby, Ambarnis Hundred, Meselyneshire.
Population: 103
Cyre is a quiet manor that lies one third of a league south of the Fur Road in the Nelafayn Hundred in northwest Kaldor. Located next to the Caliprast Stream approximately one and a half leagues west of Olokand, it is about two and a half leagues east of the frontier. Held by the Ertanars, a lesser branch of Clan Odasart, since 676 TR, Cyre accounts for about one third of the lands ruled by the wealthy lord of Hesby, Sir Ercamber Odasart.
Cyre is located in the northern central part of the Nelafayn Hundred of Meselynshire, on the south side of the Caliprast Stream, which flows down to Olokand. The manor lies not too far from the town but owes its first allegiance to Clan Odasart.
The fief itself has a total of 1450 gross acres, 75 wooded and 1375 cleared. The cleared land consists of 20 tenant households (600 acres) and the lord’s demesne (775 acres). Much of the thick soil has been continuously cultivated for nearly five hundred years, but thankfully it remains relatively rich and fertile (LQ 1.15). The land is about evenly split between crops and livestock rearing.
The cultivated acres contain flax, oats, vegetables, and barley, along with a successful orchard. Much of the flax is grown near the Caliprast, while the remaining crops are grown farther away from it. There are 300 sheep, 150 goats, 100 swine, and a small herd of two score hardy, long-haired, Orbaalese cattle.
During harvest, any excess livestock and surplus crops are transported first to the lord of Hesby. From there, any remainder is sent east to the market in Olokand. Several of the poorer families fish, and Sir Rald demands one fish in four for his own table.
Cyre does not have a mill of its own. The manor is subinfeudated to Hesby on the other side of the Caliprast. A term of this infeudation requires that most of the grain be milled at Hesby Manor. The people of Cyre therefore face about a one and a half league round trip to get their grain milled. Several of the villagers own illegal hand-mills and use them with the tacit support of Sir Rald.
Cyre’s religious atmosphere is typically Kaldoran. The nobles worship Larani, while the serfs worship Peoni. Wandering clerics of Ilvir once in a great while pass through Cyre, but they are not welcomed and never stay long. Open displays of worship of Agrik, Morgath, or Naveh are punishable by death (usually by burning or hanging).
Nele, the Peoni patron saint of infants and the second baptism, is especially revered in Cyre. Reslava Soris Haen, a mendicant priest from Montivel, near the Shorkyni-Triezi border, settled along the banks of the Caliprast Stream ninety years ago. There he began preaching about the infant saint and won over the villagers. When the first bridge was built over the stream in 641 TR, a shrine was added to honor her.
The feast day of Nele is the 25th of Navek. As the villagers hold Nele in high esteem, the sacrament of second baptism, Neleaech, and the naming of a newborn are important events.
During the ceremony, each female serf receives from Sir Rald two cups of red wine and eight loaves of bread. In Cyre, the Angyla Festival is held on the 3rd of Nolus. Even the manor’s Laranians are expected to attend. After Sir Rald and the other gentlefolk have been blessed, the villagers begin the holy celebration by lining up before the stream to be ceremonially washed by Ebasethe Urnin.
The manor house is built on a twenty-foot-high motte hill. This hill has held a manor house since 478 TR, when Cyre’s first lord built a wooden hall on the site. The current stone wall that surrounds the buildings is from 627 TR and shows signs of the foundations of the stone buildings that were destroyed in 673 when Cyre was attacked by brigands while its lord was returning from the Battle of the Ramala Gap. The hill itself is much older and was the location of a Nurelian-era hill fort.
Sir Rald’s large orchard is the envy of many of his neighbors. The trees and beehives in the orchard have produced a surplus for the past twenty-three years. The orchard’s apple trees are hardy and produce small green sour apples every fall. Much of what the orchard produces is eaten by the lord or sent to Hesby.
Size: 3
Konil is a decent, baby-faced man who has had a difficult life. When he was a child his right arm did not develop properly, and it has a withered, claw-like look to it. His wife has had a stroke and is paralyzed on her left side. His fourteen-year-old son now fulfills their labor obligations for them and works for the other clans for food. Konil is not trusted by the villagers, with the exception of his cousin Kaeth [14] and the lord. Many believe him to be an Agrikian due to his withered arm. While he once was a pacifist, unbeknownst to all he has been driven to quietly pray to the god out of spite.
Size: 1
Ebasethe Urnin, a devout Peonian, is the only permanent member of the clergy in Cyre. He is the younger brother of Norlen [9], the village Beadle, and the two brothers can’t stand each other. Urnin left Cyre when he was sixteen and traveled to Tashal, where he became an Esolani of Peoni and served for four years. After becoming an Ebasethe in 718 TR, Urnin asked and received the position back home in Cyre, which had been vacant for several years. He has had disturbing dreams of late and has not been sleeping well. Urnin is the only person besides the lord and lady who can write. The Ebasethe lives in a small chapel located next to the road. The chapel itself is a small wattle and daub house, identical to many others in the village. As most services are held on the common, at the stream, or in the Lyncyard, the chapel is only used during inclement weather.
Size: 3
Telin “the Red” of Cyre has the misfortune to share his name with a notorious local bandit. Twice a traveler has held Telin at swordpoint when a villager has referred to him as “the Red”. The twenty-five-year old Telin of Cyre owes his nickname to his horrible eyesight and the fact that he insists on shaving his chin and lip every morning. His two ugly younger brothers have equally bad sight, and the three young men live in unmarried squalor. As a result, Telin’s face, which is a red ruin, is ripped open anew each day. It is not likely to stay healed anytime soon.
Size: 4
A young light foot yeoman, Mortin is a veteran of several skirmishes but no major battles. The eager twenty-year-old helps Norlen [9], the Beadle, police the manor but grows anxious every year when campaign season begins. Mortin is the cousin of Lumil of Relren [10] in Cyre and Terba and Kedris of Barlis at Iversen. These two brothers hold the metalsmith and weaponcrafter franchises at Iversen Chapterhouse. Mortin and his new wife, Nerlael, visit Iversen every other month. Mortin lives with his two incorrigible two-year-old twin daughters, who were born before the couple’s marriage. Like Cyre’s other yeomen, Mortin and his family live in a large wood cottage with a few feet of stone near the ground and a stone fireplace.
Size: 7
Nearly fifty, with gray hair and the gout, Corlyn is a widower. The Reeve is less than adequate but has a high opinion of his own worth. Although Corlyn thinks otherwise, Cyre would function just as well without him. In the past year it has become harder for him to remember recent events, and he will sometimes forget that his wife has been dead for ten years. The usually confused Reeve is also the head of the Tyain clan, the largest in the village. Corlyn’s son, Jerend, and daughter-in-law, along with their two children, all share a crowded cottage. They fulfill many of Corlyn’s labor duties. Corlyn’s elderly mother and sister also live with him. The two women are skilled weavers and run a small business making clothing.
Size: 4
Alarn looks strangely like Sir Rald’s father. Many in the village believe him to be the elder half-brother of the lord, but Sir Rald refuses to treat him any differently than the rest of the villagers. Alarn claims to be a devout Peonian but is really a man who bends as the wind blows. Alarn’s skinny wife Werile sleepwalks, a trait his young son and daughter have not inherited.
Size: 4
Norlen is the diligent village Beadle and a light foot yeoman. Five years ago, two years after Norlen was wed, his mother grew very ill. With a wife great with child and no one else to help, the Beadle had to care for his mother. As the woman grew more feeble, Norlen became more and more angry at his brother Urnin [4], who had left to join the Peonian church one year earlier. Urnin did not return until after the death of their mother, and the Beadle has not spoken to him since. Norlen will not allow his family to pray anywhere with the Ebasethe. Recently, the Beadle’s five-year-old son, Otrin, has been filching the manor’s stored seed from the nearby wooden-slat silo in order to feed the birds. Otrin’s younger brother, Elos, is a precocious two-year-old who likes running around the cottage.
Size: 5
Left Hand Lum, as everyone calls him, is a good husband and father to his family. He is strong as a bull and stubborn as an ox. Lum is the cousin of the yeoman Mortin [6] and the brother-in-law of Arin the Herder [13]. Lum loves animals to the point that he can’t watch one butchered. He can herd cattle, though, and helps Arin as best he can. Unfortunately, Lum is allergic to wool and starts sneezing whenever near a sheep.
Size: 4
Baen is the clanhead and uncle of both Drisson of Firlel [16] and Hesdin of Tyain [18]. The village orcharder, Baen spends his time in the lord’s orchard or tending his beehives while his two teenage sons tend the family acres. Baen is paranoid that other men find his lovely wife, Arwyn, attractive. Extremely jealous, he demands that she stay inside the cottage whenever he is working.
Size: 4
Jiryla’s husband Lewke died of a lung disease last winter, leaving her with three sickly young daughters and the only surviving bull in the village. Since then, Sir Rald has seized the bull for his own herd as payment for holding Jiryla’s acres in wardship. The widow has a long scar from a fishhook across her face; she now lives only for her children.
Size: 7
Arin is the Luras clanhead, village herdsman, and the first cousin of Kaen [21]. The herder suffered from a pox when he was young and is usually quiet. Arin and his wife Yrigeth have five children, three of whom they adopted when brigands killed Arin’s sister in 712 TR. Two of the teenage boys help with the herds. Arin’s eldest son, Ronas, is courting Daros’ [22] only daughter, Lelen. Yrigeth is now trying to find good husbands for her two daughters but is hobbled by the close relationships between clans Luras, Tyain, and Firlel. The manor’s smokehouse lies nearby.
Size: 5
Kaeth is a skilled farmer but is rude and hates women. He has been fined twice for beating his wife and daughter. His eldest son, Erlis, hates his father and plans on killing him next time he lays a hand on either woman. The thirteen-year-old has buried a rusted dagger near the Lyncyard and has told his younger brother of his plans.
Size: 5
Galis is a light foot yeoman. He has a tuft of honey colored hair on either side of his bald head. The bribable veteran is the only non-gentle worshiper of Larani in the fief. Galis claims that his father was knighted by King Torastra for his efforts in the Salt War. Unfortunately there were no witnesses to this event, and most believe Galis’ story is a result of his overactive imagination. Thankfully, the aging yeoman has been wise enough not to repeat this story in front of the lord.
Size: 6
Drisson is a beaten man. Last year, his wife ran off with some traveling merchants, and he was fined by the lord after she was not found. Drisson blames his wife’s brother, Konil [3], for encouraging her flight from the village. With five children, all too young to work, and only 10 acres, Drisson’s future does not look bright. This family is poor, but Drisson tries to make up for it by fishing and acting as the village thatcher. On occasion, his uncle Baen [11] will give the children food to keep them from starving.
Size: 5
Wevran, his paranoid wife, who is the only daughter of the Cadbor clan, and their three teenage sons are always busy. Many times the five of them can be seen working in the fields until after sunset. They hire themselves out as laborers to the other village clans in order to survive.
Size: 5
As the woodward for a fief with almost no wooded acres, Hesdin has an easy job. So much so, that he has had the time to carry on an affair with Arwyn of Firlel [11], the orcharder’s wife. Hesdin’s wife suspects, but she has no proof that he is involved with Arwyn, who is also his uncle’s wife. The woodward lives with a widowed sister, his mother, and a newborn son.
Size: 6
Terryn is the clanhead and is the village teamster. He is lazy and has been fined for failing to keep his cottage in good repair. Yet Terryn is also trustworthy. He has volunteered to take the village’s goods to Hesby (chiefly grain to be milled), in order to escape his difficult wife. As the road to Hesby passes through Doerin, another of Clan Odasart’s manors, Terryn will on occasion also drop off goods there. The trip to Hesby and back is over one and a half leagues, and Terryn is often gone from Cyre. Sir Rald owns two large wagons, which are used heavily during harvest. Terryn usually drives one of these. The teamster is a talented musician with the flute, and the lord allows him to carry a staff on his trips. His wife Shesya constantly complains about her husband to any who will listen. The couple’s four children work in the fields and around the cottage. In mid-Kelen, when the Fur Road caravan reaches Olokand, Sir Rald will send Terryn along with his squire and the Beadle to the town to trade with the Orbaal merchants. Cyre’s lady has a fondness for amber, and Sir Rald has for the past three years had his squire buy a piece to give to her on Nele’s feast day.
Size: 4
Saris is a hard worker and a dependable man. He moved to Cyre two years ago with his homely wife and their two daughters. Originally, Saris was a free farmer in Myrenath, but he tired of the dangerous frontier and left after his son was killed in the forest. Saris tends the hedges and is paid well by the lord. He is deathly afraid of running water and avoids Caliprast Stream like the plague. His wife Meline acts as the village’s midwife.
Size: 6
Russet of beard and bushy of eyebrow, Kaen is a frail and gentle man universally liked by the villagers. Although he holds no office, Kaen’s opinion is usually asked by the lord. Forty-eight-year-old Kaen and his sickly wife Elina are becoming elderly and will ask the lord for chevage at the next hallmoot. Sir Rald has already quietly approved and knows that they wish to take a pilgrimage to Erone Nunnery. Elina is the village wisewoman, known for her grasp of local folklore. Kaen once was able to plow the straightest furlong in Cyre, a feat his eldest son, Ragan, can now claim. Kaen’s younger son is planning to ask the lord for gersum if his brother inherits. Kaen’s two sons are twenty and eighteen and have wives of their own. Kaen’s three daughters, Nerlael, Shesya, and Silia, have all been married off.
Size: 5
Despite his recently broken nose, Daros and his children are overflowing with joy. They received an extra five acres of land at the last hallmoot and now have food to spare. Daros and his wife Silia are devout Peonians and donate one fourth of their income to Ebasethe Urnin [4]. When Daros was wed, many joked that he seemed chained to his bed, so hotly did he lust for Silia. Now, after three children, and an accident that prevents Daros from fathering more, his gossipy wife prays daily to Tirrala, the Handmaiden of Renewal, that he will get his vigor back.
This building is a large, dilapidated wooden barn, used to store anything oversized or bulky in the fief. The double door is always locked with a heavy chain. When they are not in use, Sir Rald stores his two wagons here. During the harvest the barn holds grain waiting to be milled. As most of the wood planking is rotting, items of value are kept at the manor house. There is a lean-to against one side of the shed; it serves as the home of the herder’s four Kaldorin Sheepdogs.
This oddly shaped granite stone stands about two feet high and is about three feet in diameter. Carved on the side of it is the same word written in Khruni and Selenian. A sage from Tashal came in 692, studied the markings, and claimed that they spelled the word “Cyre” in both scripts. (The Khruni part has been known for many a year, as it is the script used by the Laranian and Peonian churches; the language they use is very similar to the Old Jarinese in which it is written.) On the hill nearby is Cyre’s graveyard, known as the Lyncyard. A few of the events of the Peonian Angyla Festival occur here, and the site is also used on other feast days.
The trail to Kessan Manor crosses the Caliprast Stream on a small, well-maintained wooden bridge. At the middle of the bridge, a shrine to Nele, the Peoni patron saint of infants, is carved into the side. The shrine consists of a carved wooden skull of an infant girl, which sits in a hallowed out niche in the northeast side wall. The villagers claim that the saint protects those who travel past the skull, especially children. Ebasethe Urnin visits it in the morning to pray for the safety of the day’s travelers and those who contribute alms.
These two animal pens, which are filled with blooming blue habsularas in spring, are used by the lord to graze his horses or to allow the herder to keep some animals close to the manor house. Habsularas grow sparsely all over the fief’s lands except for here where they cover the entire area. The fief’s pasture land is broken up by a mix of hedge rows and rail fences. These are located off the map to the southwest, northeast, and southeast.
Cyre’s manor house sits on a large mound of earth and is surrounded by a seven-foot-tall stone wall. The complex includes a slate-covered hall and four wattle-and-daub, thatch-roofed outer buildings. These contain a stable, a barn, a guesthouse, and a woodcrafter’s workshop. At the west end of the hall and outside the guesthouse are covered areas to store wood. This timber is used in the fireplaces and occasionally by the woodcrafter. The floor of the upper story is built of wooden beams and planking. Many of the other floors are packed dirt. As Sir Rald has a bonded woodcrafter, much of the furniture is new and solidly made. The hall is made of stone from the quarry west of Abriel Abbey, while the wall surrounding it is constructed of brittle, light gray stone. Originally, a few stone buildings were connected to the wall; these were gutted when brigands set fire to the manor in 673 TR. The villagers reused many of the stones. The scorch-marked stones used in the houses of the three yeomen attest to this fact.
[1] Gate - The manor house gate is made of heavy oak and is studded with nails. It is the only entrance to the manor. The gate can be barred with a nearby pair of iron bars. There are post holes in the ground and metal brackets on the gate, so that the bars form a large X brace. During the day the gate is left open and watched by Sir Rald’s squire or the ostler.
[2] Hall - Cyre’s hall is a modest affair, but comfortable and warm in the winter. Sir Rald is unsatisfied with it and wishes to enlarge the hall by adding a guestroom onto the building. He has been trying to get freemaster mason Harayn of Ashata in Olokand to agree to his price. Yrigeth of Luras [13] and her two daughters attend to the domestic needs as their feudal service.
[3] Kitchen - The cook, Myna of Thyin, hails from Olokand; she is the half-sister of the shipwright there. The daughter of a Jarin refugee who fled the rebellion at the far end of the Fur Road, Myna is an excellent cook, but she is simple minded. She has worked at the manor for one year now, having been discovered by Lady Aharyn and brought into her service. Myna has never married in spite of several proposals from corpulent men. At night, she sleeps in the kitchen.
[4] Latrine - Unlike many latrines, this small shack is clean and relatively fair smelling. The woodcrafter’s daughter often mucks it out, since it stands next to the workshop.
[5] Workshop - This building contains a workshop owned by Sir Rald, who employs a bonded woodcrafter in his household. The master woodcrafter, Saery of Hrap, is a cranky old man who constantly complains about his daughter and the large wen on his cheek. He prefers payment in coin because he secretly shaves some off the sides. Saery’s daughter, Inesa, is betrothed to the journeyman woodcrafter and is pregnant. The journeyman, Boel of Murart, does most of the work for the manor now. Boel, the black sheep of his metalsmithing clan, is the nephew of Ulder of Lindel, the metalsmith at Loban Manor. Boel is devout and acts as a lay brother to the Peoni priest. Saery sleeps in the workshop while his daughter and journeyman bed down in the manor house’s hall.
[6] Barn - Here Sir Rald holds some of the rents that have been paid in kind. It is well stocked with foodstuffs, extra cloth, hides, and tools. Sir Rald keeps a cat here to cut down on the rats.
[7] Stables - The stables can hold up to four mounts. Here the bonded ostler, Gunart of Parmel, cares and tends to Sir Rald’s warhorse Wrath.
[8] Stable Barn - Gunart of Parmel, Cyre’s bonded ostler, lives here. Gunart suffered from a pox when young and was once found guilty of being a vagabond. As punishment, Gunart was burned with a hot iron through the lobe of his right ear. The sixty-five-year-old ostler has served the Ertanars for over thirty years, and Sir Rald has grown fond of the old man.
[9] Lord’s Room - This room is located off a small balcony where Lady Aharyn usually dines. The lady’s prized books are kept hidden under her bed. The bed itself is covered with finely stitched sheets, which are elegantly embroidered.
[10] Guesthouse - The guesthouse provides additional living quarters for the gentlefolk of the manor, as the main building lacks the space. When Sir Rald hosts a greater lord, he and the Lady Aharyn move in here. When a knight of roughly equal rank stays overnight, he is given this room, and its usual occupants move to the hall floor. Most nights, Sir Rald’s squire, Edan Quarne, sleeps here along with Pamel. In a few years, Yarea may share the room as well.
[11] Courtyard - The courtyard surrounds the hall. It is unpaved, and a short bushy oak tree grows on the east side. Carved into the tree are the initials “R E”. When the manor house well was dug in 681 TR, it was revealed that the motte is a funerary tumulus, containing dozens of graves. The bones of eight people were removed from the well and subsequently reburied in a mass grave in the Lyncyard.
Government: Sir Rald Ertanar
Liege: Sir Ercamber Odasart, Lord of Hesby, Ambarnis Hundred, Meselyneshire.
Population: 103
Cyre is a quiet manor that lies one third of a league south of the Fur Road in the Nelafayn Hundred in northwest Kaldor. Located next to the Caliprast Stream approximately one and a half leagues west of Olokand, it is about two and a half leagues east of the frontier. Held by the Ertanars, a lesser branch of Clan Odasart, since 676 TR, Cyre accounts for about one third of the lands ruled by the wealthy lord of Hesby, Sir Ercamber Odasart.
ECONOMICS
Cyre is located in the northern central part of the Nelafayn Hundred of Meselynshire, on the south side of the Caliprast Stream, which flows down to Olokand. The manor lies not too far from the town but owes its first allegiance to Clan Odasart.
The fief itself has a total of 1450 gross acres, 75 wooded and 1375 cleared. The cleared land consists of 20 tenant households (600 acres) and the lord’s demesne (775 acres). Much of the thick soil has been continuously cultivated for nearly five hundred years, but thankfully it remains relatively rich and fertile (LQ 1.15). The land is about evenly split between crops and livestock rearing.
The cultivated acres contain flax, oats, vegetables, and barley, along with a successful orchard. Much of the flax is grown near the Caliprast, while the remaining crops are grown farther away from it. There are 300 sheep, 150 goats, 100 swine, and a small herd of two score hardy, long-haired, Orbaalese cattle.
During harvest, any excess livestock and surplus crops are transported first to the lord of Hesby. From there, any remainder is sent east to the market in Olokand. Several of the poorer families fish, and Sir Rald demands one fish in four for his own table.
Cyre does not have a mill of its own. The manor is subinfeudated to Hesby on the other side of the Caliprast. A term of this infeudation requires that most of the grain be milled at Hesby Manor. The people of Cyre therefore face about a one and a half league round trip to get their grain milled. Several of the villagers own illegal hand-mills and use them with the tacit support of Sir Rald.
RELIGION
Cyre’s religious atmosphere is typically Kaldoran. The nobles worship Larani, while the serfs worship Peoni. Wandering clerics of Ilvir once in a great while pass through Cyre, but they are not welcomed and never stay long. Open displays of worship of Agrik, Morgath, or Naveh are punishable by death (usually by burning or hanging).
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During the month of Morgat, the villagers of Cyre hang stones from their windows. These stones all have a hole through their center and are suspended by rope from the top of the window. The villagers claim that the stones ward their homes from evil. This practice has been in use for at least seven generations.
Nele, the Peoni patron saint of infants and the second baptism, is especially revered in Cyre. Reslava Soris Haen, a mendicant priest from Montivel, near the Shorkyni-Triezi border, settled along the banks of the Caliprast Stream ninety years ago. There he began preaching about the infant saint and won over the villagers. When the first bridge was built over the stream in 641 TR, a shrine was added to honor her.
The feast day of Nele is the 25th of Navek. As the villagers hold Nele in high esteem, the sacrament of second baptism, Neleaech, and the naming of a newborn are important events.
During the ceremony, each female serf receives from Sir Rald two cups of red wine and eight loaves of bread. In Cyre, the Angyla Festival is held on the 3rd of Nolus. Even the manor’s Laranians are expected to attend. After Sir Rald and the other gentlefolk have been blessed, the villagers begin the holy celebration by lining up before the stream to be ceremonially washed by Ebasethe Urnin.
1 MANOR HOUSE
The manor house is built on a twenty-foot-high motte hill. This hill has held a manor house since 478 TR, when Cyre’s first lord built a wooden hall on the site. The current stone wall that surrounds the buildings is from 627 TR and shows signs of the foundations of the stone buildings that were destroyed in 673 when Cyre was attacked by brigands while its lord was returning from the Battle of the Ramala Gap. The hill itself is much older and was the location of a Nurelian-era hill fort.
2 ORCHARD
Sir Rald’s large orchard is the envy of many of his neighbors. The trees and beehives in the orchard have produced a surplus for the past twenty-three years. The orchard’s apple trees are hardy and produce small green sour apples every fall. Much of what the orchard produces is eaten by the lord or sent to Hesby.
3 COTTAR (Konil of Tyart)
Size: 3
Konil is a decent, baby-faced man who has had a difficult life. When he was a child his right arm did not develop properly, and it has a withered, claw-like look to it. His wife has had a stroke and is paralyzed on her left side. His fourteen-year-old son now fulfills their labor obligations for them and works for the other clans for food. Konil is not trusted by the villagers, with the exception of his cousin Kaeth [14] and the lord. Many believe him to be an Agrikian due to his withered arm. While he once was a pacifist, unbeknownst to all he has been driven to quietly pray to the god out of spite.
4 GLEBE (Urnin of Melris)
Size: 1
Ebasethe Urnin, a devout Peonian, is the only permanent member of the clergy in Cyre. He is the younger brother of Norlen [9], the village Beadle, and the two brothers can’t stand each other. Urnin left Cyre when he was sixteen and traveled to Tashal, where he became an Esolani of Peoni and served for four years. After becoming an Ebasethe in 718 TR, Urnin asked and received the position back home in Cyre, which had been vacant for several years. He has had disturbing dreams of late and has not been sleeping well. Urnin is the only person besides the lord and lady who can write. The Ebasethe lives in a small chapel located next to the road. The chapel itself is a small wattle and daub house, identical to many others in the village. As most services are held on the common, at the stream, or in the Lyncyard, the chapel is only used during inclement weather.
5 HALF-VILLEIN (Telin of Cadbor)
Size: 3
Telin “the Red” of Cyre has the misfortune to share his name with a notorious local bandit. Twice a traveler has held Telin at swordpoint when a villager has referred to him as “the Red”. The twenty-five-year old Telin of Cyre owes his nickname to his horrible eyesight and the fact that he insists on shaving his chin and lip every morning. His two ugly younger brothers have equally bad sight, and the three young men live in unmarried squalor. As a result, Telin’s face, which is a red ruin, is ripped open anew each day. It is not likely to stay healed anytime soon.
6 YEOMAN (Mortin of Barlis)
Size: 4
A young light foot yeoman, Mortin is a veteran of several skirmishes but no major battles. The eager twenty-year-old helps Norlen [9], the Beadle, police the manor but grows anxious every year when campaign season begins. Mortin is the cousin of Lumil of Relren [10] in Cyre and Terba and Kedris of Barlis at Iversen. These two brothers hold the metalsmith and weaponcrafter franchises at Iversen Chapterhouse. Mortin and his new wife, Nerlael, visit Iversen every other month. Mortin lives with his two incorrigible two-year-old twin daughters, who were born before the couple’s marriage. Like Cyre’s other yeomen, Mortin and his family live in a large wood cottage with a few feet of stone near the ground and a stone fireplace.
7 REEVE (Corlyn of Tyain)
Size: 7
Nearly fifty, with gray hair and the gout, Corlyn is a widower. The Reeve is less than adequate but has a high opinion of his own worth. Although Corlyn thinks otherwise, Cyre would function just as well without him. In the past year it has become harder for him to remember recent events, and he will sometimes forget that his wife has been dead for ten years. The usually confused Reeve is also the head of the Tyain clan, the largest in the village. Corlyn’s son, Jerend, and daughter-in-law, along with their two children, all share a crowded cottage. They fulfill many of Corlyn’s labor duties. Corlyn’s elderly mother and sister also live with him. The two women are skilled weavers and run a small business making clothing.
8 HALF-VILLEIN (Alarn of Luras)
Size: 4
Alarn looks strangely like Sir Rald’s father. Many in the village believe him to be the elder half-brother of the lord, but Sir Rald refuses to treat him any differently than the rest of the villagers. Alarn claims to be a devout Peonian but is really a man who bends as the wind blows. Alarn’s skinny wife Werile sleepwalks, a trait his young son and daughter have not inherited.
9 YEOMAN (Norlen of Melris)
Size: 4
Norlen is the diligent village Beadle and a light foot yeoman. Five years ago, two years after Norlen was wed, his mother grew very ill. With a wife great with child and no one else to help, the Beadle had to care for his mother. As the woman grew more feeble, Norlen became more and more angry at his brother Urnin [4], who had left to join the Peonian church one year earlier. Urnin did not return until after the death of their mother, and the Beadle has not spoken to him since. Norlen will not allow his family to pray anywhere with the Ebasethe. Recently, the Beadle’s five-year-old son, Otrin, has been filching the manor’s stored seed from the nearby wooden-slat silo in order to feed the birds. Otrin’s younger brother, Elos, is a precocious two-year-old who likes running around the cottage.
10 HALF-VILLEIN (Lumil of Relren)
Size: 5
Left Hand Lum, as everyone calls him, is a good husband and father to his family. He is strong as a bull and stubborn as an ox. Lum is the cousin of the yeoman Mortin [6] and the brother-in-law of Arin the Herder [13]. Lum loves animals to the point that he can’t watch one butchered. He can herd cattle, though, and helps Arin as best he can. Unfortunately, Lum is allergic to wool and starts sneezing whenever near a sheep.
11 VILLEIN (Baen of Firlel)
Size: 4
Baen is the clanhead and uncle of both Drisson of Firlel [16] and Hesdin of Tyain [18]. The village orcharder, Baen spends his time in the lord’s orchard or tending his beehives while his two teenage sons tend the family acres. Baen is paranoid that other men find his lovely wife, Arwyn, attractive. Extremely jealous, he demands that she stay inside the cottage whenever he is working.
12 HALF-VILLEIN (Jiryla of Barl)
Size: 4
Jiryla’s husband Lewke died of a lung disease last winter, leaving her with three sickly young daughters and the only surviving bull in the village. Since then, Sir Rald has seized the bull for his own herd as payment for holding Jiryla’s acres in wardship. The widow has a long scar from a fishhook across her face; she now lives only for her children.
13 HERDER (Arin of Luras)
Size: 7
Arin is the Luras clanhead, village herdsman, and the first cousin of Kaen [21]. The herder suffered from a pox when he was young and is usually quiet. Arin and his wife Yrigeth have five children, three of whom they adopted when brigands killed Arin’s sister in 712 TR. Two of the teenage boys help with the herds. Arin’s eldest son, Ronas, is courting Daros’ [22] only daughter, Lelen. Yrigeth is now trying to find good husbands for her two daughters but is hobbled by the close relationships between clans Luras, Tyain, and Firlel. The manor’s smokehouse lies nearby.
14 VILLEIN (Kaeth of Tyain)
Size: 5
Kaeth is a skilled farmer but is rude and hates women. He has been fined twice for beating his wife and daughter. His eldest son, Erlis, hates his father and plans on killing him next time he lays a hand on either woman. The thirteen-year-old has buried a rusted dagger near the Lyncyard and has told his younger brother of his plans.
15 YEOMAN (Galis of Jaldum)
Size: 5
Galis is a light foot yeoman. He has a tuft of honey colored hair on either side of his bald head. The bribable veteran is the only non-gentle worshiper of Larani in the fief. Galis claims that his father was knighted by King Torastra for his efforts in the Salt War. Unfortunately there were no witnesses to this event, and most believe Galis’ story is a result of his overactive imagination. Thankfully, the aging yeoman has been wise enough not to repeat this story in front of the lord.
16 HALF-VILLEIN (Drisson of Firlel)
Size: 6
Drisson is a beaten man. Last year, his wife ran off with some traveling merchants, and he was fined by the lord after she was not found. Drisson blames his wife’s brother, Konil [3], for encouraging her flight from the village. With five children, all too young to work, and only 10 acres, Drisson’s future does not look bright. This family is poor, but Drisson tries to make up for it by fishing and acting as the village thatcher. On occasion, his uncle Baen [11] will give the children food to keep them from starving.
17 COTTAR (Wevran of Ardel)
Size: 5
Wevran, his paranoid wife, who is the only daughter of the Cadbor clan, and their three teenage sons are always busy. Many times the five of them can be seen working in the fields until after sunset. They hire themselves out as laborers to the other village clans in order to survive.
18 WOODWARD (Hesdin of Tyain)
Size: 5
As the woodward for a fief with almost no wooded acres, Hesdin has an easy job. So much so, that he has had the time to carry on an affair with Arwyn of Firlel [11], the orcharder’s wife. Hesdin’s wife suspects, but she has no proof that he is involved with Arwyn, who is also his uncle’s wife. The woodward lives with a widowed sister, his mother, and a newborn son.
19 VILLEIN (Terryn of Relren)
Size: 6
Terryn is the clanhead and is the village teamster. He is lazy and has been fined for failing to keep his cottage in good repair. Yet Terryn is also trustworthy. He has volunteered to take the village’s goods to Hesby (chiefly grain to be milled), in order to escape his difficult wife. As the road to Hesby passes through Doerin, another of Clan Odasart’s manors, Terryn will on occasion also drop off goods there. The trip to Hesby and back is over one and a half leagues, and Terryn is often gone from Cyre. Sir Rald owns two large wagons, which are used heavily during harvest. Terryn usually drives one of these. The teamster is a talented musician with the flute, and the lord allows him to carry a staff on his trips. His wife Shesya constantly complains about her husband to any who will listen. The couple’s four children work in the fields and around the cottage. In mid-Kelen, when the Fur Road caravan reaches Olokand, Sir Rald will send Terryn along with his squire and the Beadle to the town to trade with the Orbaal merchants. Cyre’s lady has a fondness for amber, and Sir Rald has for the past three years had his squire buy a piece to give to her on Nele’s feast day.
20 HALF-VILLEIN (Saris of Gaelin)
Size: 4
Saris is a hard worker and a dependable man. He moved to Cyre two years ago with his homely wife and their two daughters. Originally, Saris was a free farmer in Myrenath, but he tired of the dangerous frontier and left after his son was killed in the forest. Saris tends the hedges and is paid well by the lord. He is deathly afraid of running water and avoids Caliprast Stream like the plague. His wife Meline acts as the village’s midwife.
21 VILLEIN (Kaen of Luras)
Size: 6
Russet of beard and bushy of eyebrow, Kaen is a frail and gentle man universally liked by the villagers. Although he holds no office, Kaen’s opinion is usually asked by the lord. Forty-eight-year-old Kaen and his sickly wife Elina are becoming elderly and will ask the lord for chevage at the next hallmoot. Sir Rald has already quietly approved and knows that they wish to take a pilgrimage to Erone Nunnery. Elina is the village wisewoman, known for her grasp of local folklore. Kaen once was able to plow the straightest furlong in Cyre, a feat his eldest son, Ragan, can now claim. Kaen’s younger son is planning to ask the lord for gersum if his brother inherits. Kaen’s two sons are twenty and eighteen and have wives of their own. Kaen’s three daughters, Nerlael, Shesya, and Silia, have all been married off.
22 VILLEIN (Daros of Cadbor)
Size: 5
Despite his recently broken nose, Daros and his children are overflowing with joy. They received an extra five acres of land at the last hallmoot and now have food to spare. Daros and his wife Silia are devout Peonians and donate one fourth of their income to Ebasethe Urnin [4]. When Daros was wed, many joked that he seemed chained to his bed, so hotly did he lust for Silia. Now, after three children, and an accident that prevents Daros from fathering more, his gossipy wife prays daily to Tirrala, the Handmaiden of Renewal, that he will get his vigor back.
23 BARN
This building is a large, dilapidated wooden barn, used to store anything oversized or bulky in the fief. The double door is always locked with a heavy chain. When they are not in use, Sir Rald stores his two wagons here. During the harvest the barn holds grain waiting to be milled. As most of the wood planking is rotting, items of value are kept at the manor house. There is a lean-to against one side of the shed; it serves as the home of the herder’s four Kaldorin Sheepdogs.
24 THE SITTING STONE & LYNCYARD
This oddly shaped granite stone stands about two feet high and is about three feet in diameter. Carved on the side of it is the same word written in Khruni and Selenian. A sage from Tashal came in 692, studied the markings, and claimed that they spelled the word “Cyre” in both scripts. (The Khruni part has been known for many a year, as it is the script used by the Laranian and Peonian churches; the language they use is very similar to the Old Jarinese in which it is written.) On the hill nearby is Cyre’s graveyard, known as the Lyncyard. A few of the events of the Peonian Angyla Festival occur here, and the site is also used on other feast days.
25 CALIPRAST BRIDGE
The trail to Kessan Manor crosses the Caliprast Stream on a small, well-maintained wooden bridge. At the middle of the bridge, a shrine to Nele, the Peoni patron saint of infants, is carved into the side. The shrine consists of a carved wooden skull of an infant girl, which sits in a hallowed out niche in the northeast side wall. The villagers claim that the saint protects those who travel past the skull, especially children. Ebasethe Urnin visits it in the morning to pray for the safety of the day’s travelers and those who contribute alms.
26 CLOSE PASTURE
These two animal pens, which are filled with blooming blue habsularas in spring, are used by the lord to graze his horses or to allow the herder to keep some animals close to the manor house. Habsularas grow sparsely all over the fief’s lands except for here where they cover the entire area. The fief’s pasture land is broken up by a mix of hedge rows and rail fences. These are located off the map to the southwest, northeast, and southeast.
THE MANOR HOUSE
Cyre’s manor house sits on a large mound of earth and is surrounded by a seven-foot-tall stone wall. The complex includes a slate-covered hall and four wattle-and-daub, thatch-roofed outer buildings. These contain a stable, a barn, a guesthouse, and a woodcrafter’s workshop. At the west end of the hall and outside the guesthouse are covered areas to store wood. This timber is used in the fireplaces and occasionally by the woodcrafter. The floor of the upper story is built of wooden beams and planking. Many of the other floors are packed dirt. As Sir Rald has a bonded woodcrafter, much of the furniture is new and solidly made. The hall is made of stone from the quarry west of Abriel Abbey, while the wall surrounding it is constructed of brittle, light gray stone. Originally, a few stone buildings were connected to the wall; these were gutted when brigands set fire to the manor in 673 TR. The villagers reused many of the stones. The scorch-marked stones used in the houses of the three yeomen attest to this fact.
[1] Gate - The manor house gate is made of heavy oak and is studded with nails. It is the only entrance to the manor. The gate can be barred with a nearby pair of iron bars. There are post holes in the ground and metal brackets on the gate, so that the bars form a large X brace. During the day the gate is left open and watched by Sir Rald’s squire or the ostler.
[2] Hall - Cyre’s hall is a modest affair, but comfortable and warm in the winter. Sir Rald is unsatisfied with it and wishes to enlarge the hall by adding a guestroom onto the building. He has been trying to get freemaster mason Harayn of Ashata in Olokand to agree to his price. Yrigeth of Luras [13] and her two daughters attend to the domestic needs as their feudal service.
[3] Kitchen - The cook, Myna of Thyin, hails from Olokand; she is the half-sister of the shipwright there. The daughter of a Jarin refugee who fled the rebellion at the far end of the Fur Road, Myna is an excellent cook, but she is simple minded. She has worked at the manor for one year now, having been discovered by Lady Aharyn and brought into her service. Myna has never married in spite of several proposals from corpulent men. At night, she sleeps in the kitchen.
[4] Latrine - Unlike many latrines, this small shack is clean and relatively fair smelling. The woodcrafter’s daughter often mucks it out, since it stands next to the workshop.
[5] Workshop - This building contains a workshop owned by Sir Rald, who employs a bonded woodcrafter in his household. The master woodcrafter, Saery of Hrap, is a cranky old man who constantly complains about his daughter and the large wen on his cheek. He prefers payment in coin because he secretly shaves some off the sides. Saery’s daughter, Inesa, is betrothed to the journeyman woodcrafter and is pregnant. The journeyman, Boel of Murart, does most of the work for the manor now. Boel, the black sheep of his metalsmithing clan, is the nephew of Ulder of Lindel, the metalsmith at Loban Manor. Boel is devout and acts as a lay brother to the Peoni priest. Saery sleeps in the workshop while his daughter and journeyman bed down in the manor house’s hall.
[6] Barn - Here Sir Rald holds some of the rents that have been paid in kind. It is well stocked with foodstuffs, extra cloth, hides, and tools. Sir Rald keeps a cat here to cut down on the rats.
[7] Stables - The stables can hold up to four mounts. Here the bonded ostler, Gunart of Parmel, cares and tends to Sir Rald’s warhorse Wrath.
[8] Stable Barn - Gunart of Parmel, Cyre’s bonded ostler, lives here. Gunart suffered from a pox when young and was once found guilty of being a vagabond. As punishment, Gunart was burned with a hot iron through the lobe of his right ear. The sixty-five-year-old ostler has served the Ertanars for over thirty years, and Sir Rald has grown fond of the old man.
[9] Lord’s Room - This room is located off a small balcony where Lady Aharyn usually dines. The lady’s prized books are kept hidden under her bed. The bed itself is covered with finely stitched sheets, which are elegantly embroidered.
[10] Guesthouse - The guesthouse provides additional living quarters for the gentlefolk of the manor, as the main building lacks the space. When Sir Rald hosts a greater lord, he and the Lady Aharyn move in here. When a knight of roughly equal rank stays overnight, he is given this room, and its usual occupants move to the hall floor. Most nights, Sir Rald’s squire, Edan Quarne, sleeps here along with Pamel. In a few years, Yarea may share the room as well.
[11] Courtyard - The courtyard surrounds the hall. It is unpaved, and a short bushy oak tree grows on the east side. Carved into the tree are the initials “R E”. When the manor house well was dug in 681 TR, it was revealed that the motte is a funerary tumulus, containing dozens of graves. The bones of eight people were removed from the well and subsequently reburied in a mass grave in the Lyncyard.
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