Laurent of the Hedge

Historical Overview

Most noble houses of Anhara have a founding myth. For the particularly ancient and powerful houses, these myths often form a central tenet of their character and that of the region they control. The older and more notable the myth, especially if it includes valorous deeds, pious behavior, or even the coveted visitation of Vestria, the more legitimacy the house gains and the easier it holds the loyalty of its vassals.
House Braelea, as one of the most ancient major houses, has a particularly involved founding myth. In the ambiguous mists of the Legendary Cycles of Anhara, the founding of the non-Great Houses comes third, after the Nine Founders and the The Founders' Eyration. The latter of those two events saw the Nine Founders and Vestria wander across Anhara and divvy up the land between them, creating the modern regions of the nation. The founder of House Salis, Visalis Vintner, was given the Vinelands, and after establishing himself, sent Laurent of the Hedge to the Blossom Fields, the western portion of his territory.
Because of the age of the legend, its natural importance to the politics of the Blossom Fields, and its cultural value to the people of the region, it has undergone many changes, making it difficult to figure out which parts are legend and which are history.

Salis Court

It is believed Laurent was a native of the directly controlled Salis territory around Nocboro, now known as the Tillage. However, in some traditions he is believed to have been from the Blossom Fields, then joined the Salis court, and was finally sent back to the Fields. Regardless, all traditions agree the bulk of his early life took place in the Salis court, as the bard and friend of Lord Visalis Vintner, the founder of House Salis. Here he both functioned as a recorder of history through song, a very common tradition in Anhara, and as entertainment.

"Golden chalices in his treasure hoard,
and the pick of many a wife.
Let you make an example of his life,
so all this and more can be your reward."

-New Translation of the Early Vinelands Bardic Tradition,
"Laurent's Vit du Visalis"

Laurent's music was so pleasing to Visalius that he earned himself the lordship of the Blossom Fields, the westernmost region of the Vinelands. In all of Anhara's regions, the original lords divvied up their territory to close allies, creating major noble houses to rule them as vassals, around roughly the same time. In the Vinelands, Laurent found himself controlling one of the wealthiest. To fulfill the orders of his lord, however, he first had to travel east, explore his territory, and found a noble house.

Laurent and Mirielle

While Laurent appears as a character in tales from the Tillage, it is always as Laurent the Bard, providing comedy and exposition in stories based around the Salis court. This is never the case in the Blossom Fields, which treats him entirely as Laurent of the Hedge, still a roguish troubadour at heart, but filling the role of either the main character in his own tales or the lordly quest giver in other stories from the Fields.

"Blow, blow, blow wind blow,
through the flowers, row upon row,
carrying the spirits and filling the soul,
Vestria, bear your children home."

-New Translation of the Early Vinelands Bardic Tradition,
"Laurent's Lullaby to the Serpent"

The transition from bard to lord is seen in the story of Laurent and Mirielle, which tells an abridged version of Laurent's journey across the Blossom Fields to find Mirielle, his wife, and the adventures that ensue during it. The conclusion of the story sees Vestria appear, telling Laurent his prior adventures were a test from her, and blessing his union and house, forming the core of the House Braelea founding story.

Lord of the Blossom Fields

There is no way to figure out what exactly Laurent could have done during his time ruling the Blossom Fields, as Laurent the character has become a staple figure of the literature of the region. His actions in poems, songs, and stories more often reflect the issues of the author's time, as a form of social criticism, than anything that he could have done during his actual rule. In these later legends he serves as an example of a generically good ruler, upholding knightly virtue and occasionally taking justice into his own hands.

"Let your hands be led by your faith and your voices be raised in submission, and may your pursuance of you duties reflect well on your order and your houses, that you and your works may be worthy of the gaze of our Lady." - A more lordly Laurent, creating the Choir of the Blessed Steps

In the most ancient stories, however, scholars get a closer glimpse at what the priorities of lords were nearer to Laurent's actual rule. These tales are preoccupied with establishing the legitimacy of the original Braelea vassals, casting their own founders as friends and allies of Laurent, adventuring with him until eventually being rewarded with their own house. They also serve to give the Blossom Fields their own unique flavor, with many of the less political stories having to do with Laurent sneaking about, returning to his bardic roots, and elevating the image of the group of merry adventurers around a fire that so many have of the Fields.

Legacy

Literary

Laurent the Bard is a frequent side character in stories from the east of the Vinelands, playing a supporting role in the early Salis court, acting as a bridge between the traditions of the two halves of the region. In the Blossom Fields themselves, Laurent of the Hedge is the main character in their founding cycle, which consists of stories of his exploits on the way to Surlee, and the tale of Laurent and Mirielle itself.
Outside of the founding cycle, he acts as both a catch-all setting and character in many stories from the Fields. His court is placed in an ambiguous age, representing an idealized view of the past, yet dealing with issues contemporary to the writers. Laurent of the Hedge is not only a main character, going on adventures of his own or featuring in tales dealing with his rule, but a quest giver in the stories of other Blossom Fields figures, whether they would have been alive during his rule or not.

Musical

While Laurent is known in the stories of the Salis court as Laurent the Bard, his musical influence is more strongly felt in the Blossom Fields. While it is difficult to determine how much of his music was his own or inventions of later authors, what influence the people of the Blossom Fields think he had is just as important.
The Songbirds determined him to be one of the primary influences for the Bardic Tradition of the Vinelands, and teach his work at the Perch. Like the tradition he inspired, his work was both highly satirical and romantic. Most of it dealt with issues of chivalry, teaching morals and good behavior which has become the image of the Vinelands to others, even if some of the satirical portions are occasionally misinterpreted.
When it comes to the actual development of music, one popular story holds that Laurent and his court traveled to Septhearth to see an unusually large gourd grown by a local farmer, and while there he carved it into what became the Winde Lute. This variety of lute is the most popular in the Vinelands, and is short-necked, pear-shaped, and fretless.

Political

Like most things in the Blossom Fields, Laurent of the Hedge enters the realm of politics through Braelea Loyalism. As their founder, he is the main source of House Braelea's legitimacy, and the fact that he is synonymous with so many cultural aspects of the Blossom Fields makes it difficult for House Semillon to supplant him with their own imagery.
In the valesides, the more rural settlements in the Fields, his musical traditions live on in the Fence-Bards, who use his satire and stories set in his ambiguously placed court, to critique the Semillon regime. Following the Fall of House Salis, this became the case in the Tillage as well.

Aligned Organization

House Braelea

Other Affiliations

• House Salis

Related Myths

• Laurent and Mirielle

Founded Settlements

• Surlee

"Who crushes his foes,
and cares not for their woes,
drinks from their skulls,
and sleeps in their halls,
only the great Visalis,
the Founder most flawless,
wooer of women,
and lord of us all."
- Laurent the Bard, one of his flattering works that got him sent east