Thingor Gremane
Painting: JOOS VAN CLEVE /Portrait of a gentleman holding gloves
Thingor Gremane was the second son of Chieftain Baldfen Gremane of Clan Deeryant. He was born in the year 1535 in the ancestral keep of Glashelm on the banks of Loch Morgunt.
Not much is known about Thingor's early life, we know that by all accounts he was a very accomplished young man. He was reputed to be a good swordsman and a strong Rune Wielder. His elder brother Clarin Gremane was five years than him and had become Clan Deeryant's Chieftain when Thingor's father passed away after a short illness.
As a second son, Thingor was destined to be his brother's righthand man and involve himself with clan affairs. However, Thingor was a pious and studious man and wanted to become a Druid and serve his clan by joining The High Counsel. His family refused to let him join the religious order.
Instead, he married a far-removed cousin of his, Melisa Hearson when he was 21 and the couple had a total of 4 sons and two daughters. His two eldest sons, Vilar Gremane and Portsen Gremane later died in the war aged respectively 20 and 24. It is thought by many that the tragedies might explain the radical actions Thingor took after the war.
When The War of the Adders started, Thingor was only 30, when he finally became Thane, he was 40. He kept the Chair for another twenty -five years and died aged 65. At the time of his death, Alven was a very different country. Thingor had made the Thanes of Alven the strongest they had ever been and The Arkivon - newly created by Thingor - had the country's finances and army well in hand.
The clanlands were once again flourishing and the decimated population had started to recover. Thane Thingor was succeded by his third son, Carlson Gremane. Carlson was a good Thane and was able to build on his father's legacy for another 23 years.
Clan Deeryant was and is still one of the most powerful clans of Alven. Over the centuries, the Clanbearers have grown powerful and rich from the traffic of goods between the eastern and western clanlands. From their strategic position on the shores of Loch Morgunt, Deeryant controls a lot of the trade crossing the loch.
The Deeryants are also powerful Rune Wielders and have many times vied for the Thane's Chair. Many Thanes of Alven have come from that powerful clan. It is not surprising that when his older brother, Clarin Gremane, died of a hunting accident, Thingor thought to position himself as Thane. Thane Bolgar Grythain passed away after an uneventful 10 years on the Chair in the year 1574. Bolgar Grythain was from Clan Wylfedd, a Lowside clan found on the eastern shore of Loch Morgunt, at the time a close ally of Clan Deeryant.
It was expected that Thingor would be Bolgar's successor as he had the backup of both the Sutherlandsand Lowside clans as well as some of the northern ones, such as Clan Ravenscraig, but the Cauldfellclans did not see it like that.
At the time, the Salianors were Clan Seelfield's clanbearers and had managed to gain influence by producing many seers and druids among their ranks. The Chieftain was Nolan Salianor. Nolan was a charismatic chief, a great warrior according to the legend of his people. His physique was very impressive, he was touted to be nearly 2 meters high and be able to swing his enormous great axe with only one hand.
Nolan was persuaded that the Chair should go back to him and he was supported in his claim by all the Cauldfell clans and The Eastern Isles. The Eastern Isles clans were at the time not as powerful as they are now, but they already had a fierce reputation.
Nolan's claims were furthermore supported by the fact that his cousin Marten Salianor was the Holy Oak, the highest druid in the land. The Holy Oak was supposedly impartial and consulted the gods on behalf of the Thanes. However, when Nolan consulted the Gods to find out who they favoured in the Chair as the new Thane, he named his cousin Nolan as Bolgar's successor.
It is said that when Thingor learned about the Holy Oak's decision, he went into a blind rage. Being a religious man, he hated the fact that Marten had used his position to a political end. For Thingor, this was akin to blasphemy. From then on, it was not hard to convince the clans to rally around Thingor to fight the 'False' - as Marten was nicknamed by the Deeryant faction.
Affairs went from bad to worse, when Nolan and his supporters installed themselves into The Thane's Keep in Highfort within a week of being 'chosen' to sit in the Chair. Thingor waited till spring and after rallying a sizeable army of clansmen from the south and east and marched towards Highfort to remove the 'Ursurper' from power.
Both sides thought the conflict would only last a few months. The Battle of the Keep started a ten years war that would see most of Alven destroyed and many clansmen killed. After a few easy victories in the first year of the conflict, Thingor thought the war was over and that he would be the uncontested Thane of Alven by the summer of 1586, but then the Cauldfell clans brought their rune wielders out and the power rods were used in earnest.
Up to then, clan warfare had been sporadic and power rods were only used for a short amount of time during fighting. This time, Cauldfell and clan Seefield managed to rally more than ten rods and used them to devastating effect against Thingor's troops. In the hands of powerful wielders, the rods' power was unstoppable.
The killer beams of radiant light could kill a man at fifteen paces. Usually, the effort needed to wield the rod meant that the Rod Wielders could not use the rods for a long period of time. However, a new discovery was going to change the rules of engagement. Among the Druids was a gifted young woman: her name was Meliane Bryn - She was a distant cousin of Marten's and like many learned seers was obsessed with the power of the rods.
Meliane was also a powerful magic user. She was able to harmonise the two Power rods of Clan Seefield: Ornomi (Tree with Voices) and Luinil (Blue Star). By doing so, the magic that the wielders had to expend using the rods was much reduced, and the beams could kill at will for longer on the battlefield.
This discovery could have ended the war quickly, as the Druids and Cauldfell had easily the upper hand in the first battles of the war. However, Meliane was ill-treated by the Seefield Clanbearers, a prisoner in Finholm keep, and when she fell in love with Carlson Gremane, she changed sides.
Carlson had been taken prisoner during one of the Highfort battles and brought to the keep. Meliane fell in love with the young clansman, freed him and the two of them rejoined Thingor's forces in the south. Once the secret of the rods was shared on either side of the conflict, no clear winner emerged for another ten years.
The country was soon torn apart and became a war of attrition. Finally, Nolan died in mysterious circumstances (suspected poisoning). His only son, Grieg Solianor had died the previous year in The Battle of Bragall at the food of The Yella Fells. The mighty Cauldfell clans were only a shadow of themselves by that time, and it was easy for Thingor and his allies to work out a ceasefire with the depleted northern clans.
However, this would not be a normal ceasefire. At the end of the war, Thingor was in a position of strength and with no opposition, started to implement very profound changes in the way the country was governed. The Druids, because of their perfidy, were disbanded, and The Sanctuary, a little-known sect that worshipped the goddess Brigand was set up as the main religious organisation of the new Alven.
More importantly, the rods of power were to be kept within the Arkivon and only used to defend the borders of the Clanlands. No clans should keep functioning rods in their vaults but hand them over to be kept in the Rod Depository within the Hexagoyne Library.
Thingor's vision ushered a new political and economic stability in Alven that has lasted to this day. Within the new framework of these new powers, Alven has grown economically and culturally.
Thingor was a cultured man. His vision for a unified and strong Alven was influenced by a model of government he had experienced first-hand when he was a young man. One of his sisters, Merrien Gremane, married a Frencalian nobleman.
Thingor spent 5 years at the court of the Frencalian Kings. At the time, King Valor Delamer was on the Throne and ruled over 10 or so independent kingdoms in the south of the continent. Thingor would have been able to study the sophisticated wheels of the Frencalian government and notice how it provided wealth for the whole of the country and the King in particular.
The War of the Adders brought Alven to its knees. Thingor, seen as its saviour, was able to implement his sweeping changes without much opposition. One wonders how much change, Thingor would have been able to implement if the war had not swept away the old power bases such as the Druids.
As seen in Thingor's portrait that still hangs in the Thane's Keep, Thingor did not look like your traditional Alven warrior. Thingor was of average height and liked to dress in the newest fashion, and he favoured rich silks and velvet cloth from the south.
He always sported a soft feathered cap on top of his reddish brown hair, and his favourite weapon was a discreet rapier he wore on a daily basis. His features were pleasant but not particularly handsome. His grey eyes gave him a wistful and thoughtful expression.
Many people underestimated him in a battle to their peril. He was very swift and a powerful rune wielder to boot. In a fight, he rode in battle on a white destrier and carried: Narsilion (of the sun and moon), one of the three rods that belonged to Clan Deeryant. Nicknamed the Radiant on the battlefield, Thingor was deadly effective on the battlefield.
Attributed to Thingor as Highfort was finally retaken from the Ursuper's armies, now a traditional greeting on the road to Highfort.
Thingor was known to be a family man and the death of his two sons hurt him very badly. He was close to both of them and never truly recovered from their loss.
He was clean living and liked to spend his rare leisure time reading about astronomy and the arcane.
He also loved horses and took a particular interest in the destriers he rode to battle. His favourite was Blancmont, a prized Frencalian horse. Many paintings of Thingor portray him on the back of Blancmont, Narsilion in hand, ready for battle.
Thingor could not stand corruption and was, particularly, appalled by most Druids' lack of integrity and piousness. He was himself a very religious man and had a particular devotion to Brigand.
His religious leanings leads sometimes to something akin to superstition and Thingor could be swayed by one of his seers' visions when making important decisions. Happily, this tendency was tempered by a strong sense of pragmatism.
Personal History
Thingor Gremane was the second son of Chieftain Baldfen Gremane of Clan Deeryant. He was born in the year 1535 in the ancestral keep of Glashelm on the banks of Loch Morgunt.
Not much is known about Thingor's early life, we know that by all accounts he was a very accomplished young man. He was reputed to be a good swordsman and a strong Rune Wielder. His elder brother Clarin Gremane was five years than him and had become Clan Deeryant's Chieftain when Thingor's father passed away after a short illness.
As a second son, Thingor was destined to be his brother's righthand man and involve himself with clan affairs. However, Thingor was a pious and studious man and wanted to become a Druid and serve his clan by joining The High Counsel. His family refused to let him join the religious order.
Instead, he married a far-removed cousin of his, Melisa Hearson when he was 21 and the couple had a total of 4 sons and two daughters. His two eldest sons, Vilar Gremane and Portsen Gremane later died in the war aged respectively 20 and 24. It is thought by many that the tragedies might explain the radical actions Thingor took after the war.
When The War of the Adders started, Thingor was only 30, when he finally became Thane, he was 40. He kept the Chair for another twenty -five years and died aged 65. At the time of his death, Alven was a very different country. Thingor had made the Thanes of Alven the strongest they had ever been and The Arkivon - newly created by Thingor - had the country's finances and army well in hand.
The clanlands were once again flourishing and the decimated population had started to recover. Thane Thingor was succeded by his third son, Carlson Gremane. Carlson was a good Thane and was able to build on his father's legacy for another 23 years.
The War of the Adders
Clan Deeryant was and is still one of the most powerful clans of Alven. Over the centuries, the Clanbearers have grown powerful and rich from the traffic of goods between the eastern and western clanlands. From their strategic position on the shores of Loch Morgunt, Deeryant controls a lot of the trade crossing the loch.
The Deeryants are also powerful Rune Wielders and have many times vied for the Thane's Chair. Many Thanes of Alven have come from that powerful clan. It is not surprising that when his older brother, Clarin Gremane, died of a hunting accident, Thingor thought to position himself as Thane. Thane Bolgar Grythain passed away after an uneventful 10 years on the Chair in the year 1574. Bolgar Grythain was from Clan Wylfedd, a Lowside clan found on the eastern shore of Loch Morgunt, at the time a close ally of Clan Deeryant.
It was expected that Thingor would be Bolgar's successor as he had the backup of both the Sutherlandsand Lowside clans as well as some of the northern ones, such as Clan Ravenscraig, but the Cauldfellclans did not see it like that.
At the time, the Salianors were Clan Seelfield's clanbearers and had managed to gain influence by producing many seers and druids among their ranks. The Chieftain was Nolan Salianor. Nolan was a charismatic chief, a great warrior according to the legend of his people. His physique was very impressive, he was touted to be nearly 2 meters high and be able to swing his enormous great axe with only one hand.
Nolan was persuaded that the Chair should go back to him and he was supported in his claim by all the Cauldfell clans and The Eastern Isles. The Eastern Isles clans were at the time not as powerful as they are now, but they already had a fierce reputation.
Nolan's claims were furthermore supported by the fact that his cousin Marten Salianor was the Holy Oak, the highest druid in the land. The Holy Oak was supposedly impartial and consulted the gods on behalf of the Thanes. However, when Nolan consulted the Gods to find out who they favoured in the Chair as the new Thane, he named his cousin Nolan as Bolgar's successor.
It is said that when Thingor learned about the Holy Oak's decision, he went into a blind rage. Being a religious man, he hated the fact that Marten had used his position to a political end. For Thingor, this was akin to blasphemy. From then on, it was not hard to convince the clans to rally around Thingor to fight the 'False' - as Marten was nicknamed by the Deeryant faction.
Affairs went from bad to worse, when Nolan and his supporters installed themselves into The Thane's Keep in Highfort within a week of being 'chosen' to sit in the Chair. Thingor waited till spring and after rallying a sizeable army of clansmen from the south and east and marched towards Highfort to remove the 'Ursurper' from power.
Both sides thought the conflict would only last a few months. The Battle of the Keep started a ten years war that would see most of Alven destroyed and many clansmen killed. After a few easy victories in the first year of the conflict, Thingor thought the war was over and that he would be the uncontested Thane of Alven by the summer of 1586, but then the Cauldfell clans brought their rune wielders out and the power rods were used in earnest.
Up to then, clan warfare had been sporadic and power rods were only used for a short amount of time during fighting. This time, Cauldfell and clan Seefield managed to rally more than ten rods and used them to devastating effect against Thingor's troops. In the hands of powerful wielders, the rods' power was unstoppable.
The killer beams of radiant light could kill a man at fifteen paces. Usually, the effort needed to wield the rod meant that the Rod Wielders could not use the rods for a long period of time. However, a new discovery was going to change the rules of engagement. Among the Druids was a gifted young woman: her name was Meliane Bryn - She was a distant cousin of Marten's and like many learned seers was obsessed with the power of the rods.
Meliane was also a powerful magic user. She was able to harmonise the two Power rods of Clan Seefield: Ornomi (Tree with Voices) and Luinil (Blue Star). By doing so, the magic that the wielders had to expend using the rods was much reduced, and the beams could kill at will for longer on the battlefield.
This discovery could have ended the war quickly, as the Druids and Cauldfell had easily the upper hand in the first battles of the war. However, Meliane was ill-treated by the Seefield Clanbearers, a prisoner in Finholm keep, and when she fell in love with Carlson Gremane, she changed sides.
Carlson had been taken prisoner during one of the Highfort battles and brought to the keep. Meliane fell in love with the young clansman, freed him and the two of them rejoined Thingor's forces in the south. Once the secret of the rods was shared on either side of the conflict, no clear winner emerged for another ten years.
The country was soon torn apart and became a war of attrition. Finally, Nolan died in mysterious circumstances (suspected poisoning). His only son, Grieg Solianor had died the previous year in The Battle of Bragall at the food of The Yella Fells. The mighty Cauldfell clans were only a shadow of themselves by that time, and it was easy for Thingor and his allies to work out a ceasefire with the depleted northern clans.
Accomplishments and Achievements
However, this would not be a normal ceasefire. At the end of the war, Thingor was in a position of strength and with no opposition, started to implement very profound changes in the way the country was governed. The Druids, because of their perfidy, were disbanded, and The Sanctuary, a little-known sect that worshipped the goddess Brigand was set up as the main religious organisation of the new Alven.
More importantly, the rods of power were to be kept within the Arkivon and only used to defend the borders of the Clanlands. No clans should keep functioning rods in their vaults but hand them over to be kept in the Rod Depository within the Hexagoyne Library.
Thingor's vision ushered a new political and economic stability in Alven that has lasted to this day. Within the new framework of these new powers, Alven has grown economically and culturally.
Morality and Philosophy
Thingor was a cultured man. His vision for a unified and strong Alven was influenced by a model of government he had experienced first-hand when he was a young man. One of his sisters, Merrien Gremane, married a Frencalian nobleman.
Thingor spent 5 years at the court of the Frencalian Kings. At the time, King Valor Delamer was on the Throne and ruled over 10 or so independent kingdoms in the south of the continent. Thingor would have been able to study the sophisticated wheels of the Frencalian government and notice how it provided wealth for the whole of the country and the King in particular.
The War of the Adders brought Alven to its knees. Thingor, seen as its saviour, was able to implement his sweeping changes without much opposition. One wonders how much change, Thingor would have been able to implement if the war had not swept away the old power bases such as the Druids.
General Physical Description and Apparel
As seen in Thingor's portrait that still hangs in the Thane's Keep, Thingor did not look like your traditional Alven warrior. Thingor was of average height and liked to dress in the newest fashion, and he favoured rich silks and velvet cloth from the south.
He always sported a soft feathered cap on top of his reddish brown hair, and his favourite weapon was a discreet rapier he wore on a daily basis. His features were pleasant but not particularly handsome. His grey eyes gave him a wistful and thoughtful expression.
Many people underestimated him in a battle to their peril. He was very swift and a powerful rune wielder to boot. In a fight, he rode in battle on a white destrier and carried: Narsilion (of the sun and moon), one of the three rods that belonged to Clan Deeryant. Nicknamed the Radiant on the battlefield, Thingor was deadly effective on the battlefield.
Famous Quote
'Tomorrow we will dine in Highfort and the Goddess will be happy.'
Attributed to Thingor as Highfort was finally retaken from the Ursuper's armies, now a traditional greeting on the road to Highfort.
Virtues
Thingor was known to be a family man and the death of his two sons hurt him very badly. He was close to both of them and never truly recovered from their loss.
He was clean living and liked to spend his rare leisure time reading about astronomy and the arcane.
He also loved horses and took a particular interest in the destriers he rode to battle. His favourite was Blancmont, a prized Frencalian horse. Many paintings of Thingor portray him on the back of Blancmont, Narsilion in hand, ready for battle.
Flaws
Thingor could not stand corruption and was, particularly, appalled by most Druids' lack of integrity and piousness. He was himself a very religious man and had a particular devotion to Brigand.
His religious leanings leads sometimes to something akin to superstition and Thingor could be swayed by one of his seers' visions when making important decisions. Happily, this tendency was tempered by a strong sense of pragmatism.
Children
An important person indeed. I imagine he's also controversial in the right circles. I like the picture.
Yes, as most of historical figures, loads to discuss :D Thanks for reading once more.