Guy d'Aimonne

Brother Engrym Guy Aimonne

Historical Overview

Guy d'Aimonne was a chronicler, noble, and religious brother from the mid-Age of Rule. Only survivor of House Aimonne after the Fall of House Braelea, Guy was moved to Somae by his order, the Choir of the Blessed Steps, for his safety. There he transitioned from being a chronicler of his order's own day-to-day happenings, to a witness and recorder of the major historical and political events of his day.
As he participated in, witnessed, or heard about most happenings in the Vinelands and Eastmarches, as well as knowing personally many of the major rulers of the day, his works are an invaluable resource for historians and a window into the 400s of the Age of Rule.

House Aimonne

House Aimonne was the most loyal lieutenant, and closest cousin, of House Braelea since the days of legend. Though a minor house in the grand scheme, they enjoyed great privileges within the city of Surlee, but great responsibility as well. As the right hand of the Lord Braelea, they were tasked with regulating the markets outside the southern walls of the city and protecting the neighborhood today known as Oldtown, which then acted as a suburban market town.
Into this noble and privileged life was born Engrym Aimonne, sometime around 414 AR. The third son, little was expected of him when it came to martial prowess, intellect, or responsibility. Because of his low position in the family hierarchy, young Engrym had the time to discover his own interests. He poured himself into his studies under a local priestess of Vestria and worked on his swordsmanship and chivalry with his family's forces. With his lack of family responsibility or overbearing courtiers, Engrym was able to explore Surlee incognito, meeting people and seeing sights someone of his rank otherwise would not, developing his social skills and the intimate local knowledge that would characterize his later writings.

"I desire firstly to declare my background, so that my reader may know from whence I came, and what I brought with me. I was reared by loyal and ancient servants of the noble house of Braelea, outside the walls of Surlee at the keep of the Buttery. My vows separated me from my loyalty to them, but could not erase my feelings or thoughts, so reader take careful note." - Guy d'Aimonne, Chronicles of Guy d'Aimonne

The foundational event of his young life came in 433, as he walked along the northern portion of the Lovers' Steps. In those days, the northern half opened into Horseshoe Vale and was a popular destination for pilgrims, wishing to walk where Vestria walked. Engrym often walked and read there, avoiding the more secure and affluent southern steps. It was here that Engrym came across an old man, a brother of the Choir of the Blessed Steps tasked with maintaining the holy place, being accosted by youths from the valeside.

"My eyes glazed over, as it was a rather slow tome, and all of a sudden a red-orange light flashed around me. I was profoundly frightened, but seemed rooted to my bench despite my attempts to escape, as a great fire gnawed rapidly as the hedges all around me. As quickly as it began, it ended, with a powerful wind emanating from just behind me, dashing the fire away. I swear this, reader, in full humility." - Guy d'Aimonne, Chronicles of Guy d'Aimonne

Engrym came to the brother's aid, disarming the vagrants and sending those he did not cut down running. As he was a well-trained noble, who tried to live his family's ancestral obligations to protect the city and its people, he thought nothing of it and carried on his way. After coming to his favorite bench and sitting down to read, he received a vision of a great wind whistling through the flaming hedges. Returning to the old brother, who had now gone back to his duties, he asked how to gain entrance to the order.

Religious Brother

Following his vision, young Engrym Aimonne became Brother Guy d'Aimonne, abandoning his noble lineage for the more humble name of a religious brother. Guy's first role was that of a preacher, wandering the valesides to move the people of the Blossom Fields from their worship of the old natural gods, like Mistra, to Vestria.

Chronicler

Despite his preaching being as successful as could be expected, the order realized the benefit of having an educated aristocrat on hand. Guy was transferred to the order's valeside headquarters of Brothersbry, which was then a very small settlement in the hills north of Surlee Rock. Here he took up his new role as a chronicler, documenting the day-to-day events at Brothersbry.

"It was my duty for some time to wander the valesides and speak to those whose beliefs are somewhat out of date. Our place is to remind them that our faith is in Vestria, daughter of Mistra, and it is now the turn of those gods of Her line to rule, with full respect to those whose importance came before." - Guy d'Aimonne, surviving snippet from his early works

These early chronicles are now lost, but were used as a source in later writings, and are said to have had an unusual amount of insight for the time into the ongoing battle between the worship of the old natural gods and the newer ruling gods.

Fall of House Aimonne

It was in Brothersbry that Guy first heard the news, in 450 AR, of the fall of his house. It was here that his Chronicles kicked into gear, expanding their scope from the happenings of his order to the wider political situation in the Vinelands. The tone of the narrative shifts, and while Guy makes an effort throughout to warn the reader of his inherent bias, his own feelings come through strongly, and the matter takes on a more personal feel.

"The banner of my family came tumbling down last week, says messengers who have begun trickling south. I am to be the last of our line, as my kin were butchered by those who's oaths our lords once held, the detestable purveyors of sellswords, lowly hawkers of coin, those ill-bred Semillons." - Guy d'Aimonne, Chronicles of Guy d'Aimonne

While the extinction of his line was a devastating affair, Guy was also forced from his home as the order felt they had no choice but to move him south. This would turn out to be prescient, as mere days after his move, neighboring Surlee Rock was besieged and the area around Brothersby played host to the Free Company, the army of House Semillon.
Brother Guy instead took up residence at the seat of his cousins, House Thewisy, at Somae, where he would soon be joined by the family of his former lord, Raymon II Braelea.

"Word has come from Surlee Rock that House Braelea has fallen. I suspect I am the last Aimonne, and the order will send me into the Eastmarches for my own safety" - Guy d'Aimonne, Chronicles of Guy d'Aimonne

Being set up Somae, Guy had access to the Braelea court in exile, the Thewisys, and the, even then, considerable libraries of the Crimson Quill. With these readily at hand, the Chronicles became a much wider work, incorporating sources, both personal and literary, now available to the author. Guy himself began to feel he had a responsibility to document the world around him, and while he continued to comment on religious matters, he saw himself more as a witness to history.

The Hedge Wars & Beyond

With Guy's expanded scope and sources, the later books of his Chronicles grew with the scale of the conflict in the Blossom Fields. As the Braelean Hedge Wars escalated, his writings followed suit. It is believed that Guy personally knew Rys Thewisy, the other most prominent chronicler in eastern Anhara at the time, who accompanied Etien IV Braelea on his campaigns and wrote Blood Red Blossoms. While he became a source, Guy focused on the wider conflict rather than the day-to-day campaigns of Sir Rys.

"Lord Pelain had no interest in the vacillation of his advisors, and wanted to take the field immediately. I cautioned patience, as they did, but my heart broke for young Etien. " - Guy d'Aimonne, Chronicles of Guy d'Aimonne

While the Hedge Wars came to an end with the Fall of House Cyrton in 475 AR, Brother Guy lived for another 32 years and wrote throughout. His later writings pivoted to the Thewisy court, which was coming into its own as a major soft power at this time, but his interest in his homeland continued. While Guy continued to note the sentiments of the people of the Fields, though he was of course biased towards Braelea Loyalism, he also recorded the early actions of the new Semillon government.

"While I will never trade in the mottled green robes of the Choir, to receive the deep red of the Crimson Quill was an honor. I can only imagine how my young self would have felt to know an organization we so admired would bestow an honorary membership for our hard work." - Guy d'Aimonne, Chronicles of Guy d'Aimonne

Brother Guy not only kept up with the changes made by the Semillons within the Blossom Fields, but reflected overall on their house. It is here he predicted the Fall of House Salis, though whether this was from genuine insight or simply anti-Semillon sentiment is up to the feelings of the reader. His later works shy away from discussing his own life or daily activities, but through the references to the political doings of the Thewisy court, Guy reveals much of his daily activity brushed up against the political notables of the city.

Date of Birth

414 AR

Date of Death

507 AR

Circumstances of Death

Peacefully at the age of 93

Birthplace

Surlee

Place of Death

Somae

Family

House Aimonne

Aligned Organization

Choir of the Blessed Steps

Other Affiliations

• House Aimonne
• House Thewisy

"I humbly present the beginning of Book II of my Chronicles. As I am here to divulge the doings of lords and knights, the events great and slaughters vast of the tumultuous events that have afflicted our beloved Blossom Fields, I ask, if a humble brother like myself am lucky enough to have them, the readers of the days yet to come to reflect on what has gone on here, and seek to understand the events of the day outside of the meager means one such as myself has to relay them." - Guy d'Aimonne, Chronicles of Guy d'Aimonne