Erastes Tideborn

Queen of the Tides

No contemporary portraits survive of Erastes Tideborn, though an account by the Lokjevan skald Aef describes her as "a woman of stern and fierce beauty, her golden eyes burning as if they reflected the countless pyres of her conquered foes".

Her Life and Works

It is difficult to separate the centuries of mythologizing from the truth around Erastes Tideborn, for there are virtually no contemporary accounts of her life. Those that do mention her, such as the account of Aef the Wanderer, are frustratingly vague on the specific details. She is traditionally said to have been born in the Adric Isles in 604 AK, though most scholars agree that the attributed year is almost certainly erroneous as it implies that she would have been in her mid-80's when she began her campaign of conquest in the Bay of Ysern, and that she was leading armies at the age of more than a century. Accounts of her early life are conflicting; the most common story is that she was orphaned and raised by a community of Aldish fisherfolk in the Isles, though other tales speak of her as being the daughter of a family exiled from the Mageocracy of Azan, who fled to Lokjevo after their fall from the good graces of the island's ruler.

The Divine Bloodline

Erastes Tideborn is said to have been descended from one of the familial lines that gave rise to the Daughters of Null; there is some disagreement as to which of the Daughters she was descended from, though Damalith is the most frequently suggested. Some tales speak of her as being descended from all the Daughters, and that her birth was in fact the convergence of the nine mortal bloodlines propagated by the Daughters thousands of years before. In any case, she was said to be greatly blessed by the Daughters.

Rise to Power

The most clear account of Erastes Tideborn's rise to power is given in the "Accounts of the Wizards of Azan", written in the late 7th century by the skald Thorod Eyvaldsson, which mentions a band of warriors "who called themselves Fire's Children, and sailed under the flag of the crowned dolphin". They were led by a woman who they called the Queen of the Tides; Thorod describes how they united the Ald against the necromantic aristocracy of Azan who oppressed them, launching daring raids on the strongholds of the necromancers and cleansing the isles of the undead menace. In a particularly well-known part of Thorod's tales, the Queen of the Tides and her companions fight their way into the High Temple of the Bull of Flame, and strike down the lich-king of Azan, freeing the isles from his tyrannical rule of centuries.
Some scholars have raised the possibility that Erastes Tideborn may not have been the Queen of Tides referred to in Thorod's account; it is suggested that she may have been the daughter and successor of the "Scourge of Azan", which would potentially solve the issue of the uncertainty of her age.

The Conquest of Aldernord

Erastes landed in the Bay of Ysern in 688 AK, at the head of a fleet of ships with an army ten-thousand strong, landing near Kato Varos under the dark of the new moon. Her army took the defenders entirely by surprise, and she herself is said to have lead a raid upon the ancient fortress at the heart of the city, slaying the Regent and their court before they were able to put up any effective resistance against her.
Over the following two decades, Erastes annexed a large swathe of West Kataris, making alliances with various factions through strategic marriages between her offspring and local princes and warlords who were willing to bow to her rule. In 697 AK she led her new-founded nation to war against the Jarls of Balthas, over whom she won a decisive victory resulting in a treaty which would eventually result in the uniting of the two nations under one banner, a situation which would last for centuries until the outbreak of the Long War.

The Death of the Queen

Erastes died in 711 AK following an illness of several months duration, a gradual weakening of her body which is said to have done little to dampen her formidable intellect. In accordance with the customs of the Ald, her body was returned to the ocean in a ceremony conducted in the waters south of the Isles of the Wrecking Tide. She bequeathed the throne of Aldernord to her daughter Pyronike, sometimes known as the Tyrant Queen, who ruled for a decade before being deposed by her own grandaughter Heliodora in the The War of the Queen's Knife.

The Daughters of Erastes

Erastes Tideborn is recorded as having nine daughters, who became the first matriarchs of the High Houses:

1. Pyronike, second Queen of Aldernord, progenitor of House Erastes
2. Ambiphane, a noted magician, who married Eudorus Canthor, archmage of Kalamak, going on to found House Canthor
3. Anemanthe, the captain of Erastes Tideborn's personal bodyguard, who wed Ortbrand Norwisson, Prince of Ulfenbroeg, founding House Ysern
4. Koradoktis, said to be a skilled warrior and poet, who married the knight Rykwyn Zaal after he saved the life of Erastes Tideborn, founding House Zaal
5. Theomache, a noted warrior, who married Jarl Dag Sigmundsson of Sassenheim, founding House Sarren
6. Eudike the Huntress, who married Prince Lorenzo di Scorra di Staggia, founding House Riddacci
7. Kynica, said to be an exceptionally powerful magician, who wed Myskia of the Clan of Bheur, founding House Bheuren
8. Dikhthaopsa, said to be a diviner and prophet, who wed Jarl Arnulf Almersson of Withar, founding House Mettvergen
9. Leukomene the scribe, who married a soldier named Vitalio, founding House Votellian

The Untold History

There are a great number of mysteries and unanswered questions that surround the life of Erastes Tideborn, a few of which have been carefully guarded for centuries by various sects within Aldernord.

The Matter of Lineage

Species

Human

Ethnicity

Ald

Date of Birth

Winter Solstice, 604 AK (Attributed)

Life

604 711 107 years old

Circumstances of Death

Natural causes

Belief/Deity

Daughters of Null

Aligned Organization

Aldernord

Other Affiliations

• Daughters of Null