Ah, the House of Gehel—another tragic victim of the Outbreak and the Interregnum. It's a shame they couldn't rise from the ashes along with the dynasty they so faithfully served.— Ihleich Sôlwech, Commander of the Hartilian Guard
The House of Gehel was a noble family in the
Empire of Pallernen that had for centuries held
Gehel Keep, a small fortification on the banks of the
Pallern. Their fortunes increased with the dawn of the
Kingdom of the Hartilians under Queen
Tiyla the Blessed as one of their own members,
Elîvihel Gehel, had become the monarch's king-consort. Apêrah Gehel, sister to the king-consort, used their newfound influence and prestige to restore her house, sowing the seeds for the establishment of
Gehellûn, a town that grew around their ancient keep. The house fell in the midst of the
Interregnum, unable to withstand the
Ocher Outbreak and their own infighting that followed.
Origins
Little is known of the foundation of the House of Gehel as few of their historical records have survived the long centuries and whatever oral knowledge they once possessed has long been lost. It is speculated, however, that the family could have established itself roughly in the middle of the 9th century along with the construction of Gehel Keep. The purpose of such a fortification could have been to safeguard a bridge which historians suspect could have crossed the river at the time, allowing the first of the Gehels to extract money and goods from all those who sought to cross it. The collapse or destruction of this bridge would have brought about the sharp decline of their fortunes, which would plague them for generations until Apêrah Gehel’s efforts managed to halt their continual deterioration.
Restoration
God truly smiles upon us, it seems! With our newfound connections and prominence, the restoration of our old keep is surely inevitable.— Lady Apêrah to King-Consort Elîvihel of the Hartilians
The oldest member of the household that is known to the world was
Valder Gehel, a cruel and vile man who had exceedingly high expectations for his children, Elîvihel and Apêrah, but lacked any real competencies of his own. Under his control, their ancestral keep had withered and decayed, its walls crawling with vines and the stones crumbling underneath. Valder's only hope was to marry his children off to well-off families, hoping that through their aid he could get the funds he needed to restore the keep.
Gehel Keep by Midjourney
Hopeless Romantic
Elîvihel, his firstborn child, rejected the notion of political arranged marriages, often butting heads with his father in heated arguments. Eventually the young man had ventured out into the world, leaving behind his sickly father to pursue romance in the way he wanted. Valder had cursed and raged, calling his son an idiot to his wife and daughter, yet in a shocking twist of fortunes, Elîvihel had found himself in the arms of a newly elected queen, Tiyla Pentiwichen, and all was about to change for the better.
Unexpected Successor
Valder Gehel never had the opportunity to hear of Elîvihel’s fortunes, however, as the man died not long after his son had left. Once Elîvihel returned home and heard what had occurred, he surprised his family not only with news of his marriage, but with his rejection of his inheritance, claiming that the duties of a king-consort were already a burden enough for him. Gehel Keep and the lands surrounding it had instead passed on to his sister, Apêrah, who turned her new connection to the royal court to their advantage and married a wealthy entrepreneur who was glad to see their holdings restored. Most of Apêrah’s descendants would go on to faithfully serve the House of Pentiwichen as loyal subjects, often feeling as if their bond through Elîvihel’s marriage tied them to their fate.
Dynastic Downfall
Over the course of the century that followed Apêrah's reign, the Gehels enjoyed an abundance of prosperity and comfort. They looked after the blossoming town of Gehellûn that developed beyond the walls of their keep and followed their monarchs as loyal soldiers and commanders. Such loyalty to the empire had come at great costs from time to time, but such the Gehels considered it their duty and responsibility to serve as faithfully as they could, even after Lord
Âldal Gehel perished along with Emperor
Âldal I and his son
Âldal the Broken, during the
Battle of the Perilous Pass.
Outbreak and Interregnum
The struggles of the early 13th century were nothing, however, compared to the horrors that came with the
Ocher Outbreak, a plague that had rapidly swept through the realm, claiming the life of Emperor
Ianichel II. With his heir, Crown Prince
Âldal the Lost, missing and his brother's attempt to usurp control, the realm was plunged into chaos. The legitimate claimant to the throne had failed to appear, and the empire collapsed as various counts and dukes asserted control over their domains and launched opportunistic wars again their fellow countrymen.
To make the situation worse for the Lords of Gehel Keep, the house was led at the time by
Ihleich, a legitimised bastard of Lady
Îta Gehel. His claim to the old keep had been disputed by
Mehhil the Black Sheep, a descendant of Ôlperich, Apêrah's youngest son. As the world around them delved further into the chaos of the Interregnum, the Black Sheep's surviving daughter,
Tiela of the Dusk, pressed her claim on the lands, rallying a considerable force of supporters and mercenaries to depose the bastard. Tiela's mother had been the illegitimate lord's true-blooded half-sister,
Frederikke Gehel, and with both her and the Black Sheep's claims, many argued that Gehel Keep was her legitimate birthright. For over a decade, the two clashed against one another, spilling the blood of their own kin. Ihleich had eventually found himself subdued, but Tiela's own injuries had left her too crippled to continue the legacy of her house, leading to the extinction of the House of Gehel once she passed away in 1299
AA.
Great article about the House. It still makes me sad how they ended up, but I love their story.
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