Araeris
The ARAERIS family controls a Free Lordship between the Eorldom of Swans and Eorldom of the Winds. The family was landless prior to invading and occupying the nearly deserted domain of the SOLYR line-whose paramount heirs were only children and evacuated to safety. LORD DEGHAERN took advantage of that to seize a d. Nearly seven thousand people now reside under the authority of LORD DEGHAERN in the former lands of the SOLYR along the BAY OF WINDS.
Present Family
LORD DEGHAERN still holds the reins of power in their conquered lands. His wife LADY SIRTHI, passed away in 51 ET of illness. He was a powerful warrior and cunning leader of men only a decade ago but now his name is far more commonly whispered as master of politics and ambition by those in the know. There is some consternation within and without the family regarding the succession of the title.
The eldest and heir, SER CYNHEARN, is a dashing and brilliant lancer and swordsman. A true veteran of the Southern tourney circuit, the knight-heir of ARAERIS spends his time in the arms of his foreign mistress amidst the finery and decadence of southern entitlement. His winnings fuel his lifestyle and CYNHEARN has eschewed his duties as the heir since he was young.
As such, it is rumored that LORD DEGHAERN will demand a Succession Council to ensure that his line is protected into the future. The 2nd son, SER CARDATH, is not nearly as gifted as CYNHEARN in that area despite being knighted alongside his peers. The rumors are quite firm that SER CARDATH is a more acceptable choice by most who live and work on their lands. While SER CYNHEARN traveled south each year and stayed longer each time, it was only a matter of time before the people would clamor for a solid, dependable younger man or woman that cared as greatly as the commoners about the land.
While there are several distaff branches prominent in northern Rhone bearing the ARAERIS title providing cousins and uncles as knights, it is the central hub of the family that is driven to succeed at the tasks that they set for themselves. In 57 ET, CARDATH took a wife, LUNELLA, from the broad family trees that dot the southern coastal portion. This was obviously done at the behest of the majority of the Eorls. LUNELLA has not yet had a successful ‘quickening’ and so she has begun to grow concerned and distant from her husband.
History
The ARAERIS lineage is one of the oldest Rhuani families in the Kingdom despite its origins in Aenar. They were heavily favored for their loyalty and rose to an Eorldom before it was taken from them. The family has risen to the heights of nobility--being granted the EORLDOM OF SWANS in its early days. Alas, but for two successive generations of unworthy heirs, they might still hold it. Instead, the cruelty and oppressive rule of those later generations sparked the 2nd AENARIAN WAR.
With the expansion of RHONE into Aenar, the ARAERIS were chosen in -as the new lords-paramount of the newly-established EORLDOM OF SWANS which was much larger than it is today. The ARAERIS bloodline faltered shortly after their triumph and its heirs were callous, unworthy nobles. The 3rd EORL OF SWANS came to the title after the death of his father, DANOVAR, and older sister at the Battle of Eastmantle in the Giantswar. By all accounts, Daloval was a sadistic and mean-spirited noble who managed to abuse and alienate his vassals and his subjects. The young Eorl and his cohort of like-minded knights and nobles lived a life of excess and wanton cruelty amidst the plight of his people. In less than a decade, many of the Aenari clan-heads were quietly contemplating his death. The dark times that settled over SWANS under Daloval’s reign led to a rise in vendetta between Aenari clans as strife caused violence to break out once again.
In -92, Eorl Daloval ignited the spark that led to the 2nd Aenarian War. By suborning the Aenari tradition of the Abduction Betrothal, he and his compatriots abducted Aenari woman and girls and took their pleasure from them. This came to a head when the Eorl kidnapped, abused and killed the daughter of a local Aenari lord and clan-head. The fury unleashed swept the entire Eorldom into chaotic, bloody conflict between local clans and the ruling Rhuani nobility. Once the fighting started, it spread like wildfire as hate begat hate. Aenari clans resumed old vendettas and the land spiraled into chaos and violence.
The ARAERIS line nearly sputtered out during this time as it was in great disfavor among the Throne and the South for the mess that needed untangling to end the war. When the dust settled, KING URYAS RHUANON removed the patent and authority of the ARAERIS line from the Eorldom of Swans. To drive his point home, their nobility was left intact but all lands were stricken from their rolls. From Eorls to unwelcome guests in the halls of those who still felt a friendship with them. In their place, he installed the gallant TALAER GALAENIS which has driven a grudge between these families for a century and a half.
In the ensuing years, the ARAERIS family suffered many ups and downs even falling apart as landless men and women sought employment and a sense of belonging wherever it beckoned. It was not until the QUEEN’S CRUSADE and the splintering of Rhone that opportunity reared its head amongst the more capable heirs of ARAERIS. It was DEGHAEN ARAERIS, a free lance and tourney champion, who changed the trajectory of his family in the fighting and confusion after the BLACKSWAN invaded South Aenar points further out.
SER DEGHAEN fought for both sides over the course of the conflict and profited greatly. He leveraged this largesse into employing his companions as a warband and descended on the lands between SWANS and WINDS. Forming a natural political border between the Eorldoms were several Free Lord families that had been greatly weakened in the fighting raging all over their lands. One of these families, the SOLYR, was reduced to two orphan children of the former Lord and Lady. It was these lands that DEGHAEN ARAERIS invaded and occupied with nary a pitchfork raised in opposition due to their relief at the end of hostilities.
In the aftermath of the WIDOWS BARGAIN, the SOLYR orphans were just one of many families that had fled the fighting on their doorstep and been left in the care of others when their parents perished in the conflict. A number of families consisted, in the final days, solely of orphan-heirs who had been evacuated from their lands with loyal retainers while their kin stayed behind and died in the fighting. The birthrights of these children were forgotten or blatantly ignored in the reshuffling of borders after the WIDOWS BARGAIN. The SOLYR children had neither patron nor favor enough that anyone rode to challenge the claim of DEGHAEN ARAERIS. So it was that, the ARAERIS family were once again landholding lords and ladies as they squatted within the bones of the ancestral SOLYR estate. Catching wind of the futility, those loyal retainers secured the orphans a place of safety in the newly-declared THORNLANDS. The Prince of Thorns took in several of these shattered family remnants and raised them in a manner suitable to their parents station. The SOLYR and other families of similar origin now give oath to the THORNLANDS although it has never been a secret that the two adult SOLYR siblings have given oath to reclaim their family lands.
By the time, the calendar passed, 2024ET, the land was marred, LORD DEGHAER made a special effort ARAERIS family were once again landholding lords and ladies as they squatted within the bones of the ancestral SOLYR estate. Catching wind of the futility, those loyal retainers secured the orphans a place of safety in the newly-declared THORNLANDS. The Prince of Thorns took in several of these shattered family remnants and raised them in a manner suitable to their parents station. The SOLYR and other families of similar origin now give oath to the THORNLANDS although it has never been a secret that the two adult SOLYR siblings have given oath to reclaim their family lands.
And so it was that, by the time the siblings were of sufficient age to raise a claim, the ARAERIS had spent over a decade on the lands and it bore their mark. Since that time, the ARAERIS family has been able to prosper and expand their holdings during the reconstruction post-war. LORD DEGHAERN continues to reign over the lands and, after the shame of those wandering decades, he and his children would shed their last drop of blood to hold onto it.
It Must Be
Founding Date
Time Immemorial
Type
Political, Family
Leader
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Family Leader
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Notable Members
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