Kiern Vale Handbook
Chapter 4: Kern A-Thel – The lands of
house Kor-Om'thel
Prologue | Landscape and Important
Locations | Local Population | Recent History | Characters
Organizations | Background of Player Characters
|Expansions of Further
Information
|
Important Characters Kor'delin Kor-Omthel (38) The
daughter of Lord Marnellion. She is a tall and
somber woman, known for her strong and gangling body and her stormy
temperament. In her earlier years, she was trained in the use of weapons and
considered herself a daring adventurer; however, a lethal encounter near the
borders of the Mag-Eglor Forest, whose details were
never fully clarified, left her scarred in body, lame and and
prone to fits of rage. It
is unclear what brought Kor'delin to the forest edge without any guards or
escorts, and who the attacker was who crippled her and knocked her out, but
did not end her life. She lay unconscious for hours at the edge of the forest
until her then close friend (and rumored to be her intended spouse), Ra'elhir Kor-Om’thir, found her
and brought her back to the Granite Courtyard. In
the six years since those events, Kor'delin has been forced to forsake the
path of the warrior and has sought instead to become a Grey Scholar in the
order of Tirenphel, but with only partial success;
she has become a bitter, jealous, and angry woman. As a "Grey
Scholar," she now has some authority over the "high apprentices"
of the castle, who are forced to attend her teachings. She shows little
patience for any of them unfortunate enough to raise her ire, for any reason. Her
relationship with Ra'elhir has frayed and faded,
and it is said that she is now desperately enamoured
with a sophisticated and mysterious master artist who arrived from Orm’theril. He does not reciprocate her feelings, but
knows well how to exploit her vulnerability to his advantage. Occasionally,
she yearns for her old wanderings in the wilds and sometimes hires
adventurers to obtain items or materials she needs for her research.
Ar'lirion Kor-Omthel
(32) The
son of Lord Marnellion. He is a passionate young
man, possessing reasonable talent (although still in need of experience and
refinement) as a warrior and young commander. He is determined to elevate the
Granite Court and his father's house to heights which were never seen before.
He was a student and protege of the noble Ral’hir Kor-Om'thir, and ardently supported the planned marriage of Ral’hir and Ar’lirion eldest
sister Kor’delin. However,
as Ral’hir's standing in the court waned, gradually
becoming undesirable to the Lord, Ar'lirion also
began to cool towards his old mentor. In his place, the enthusiastic young
man began to admire the new commander, the impressive mistweaver
Falansar, and implored him to assist him on his
path to greatness. Captain Falansar (??) An
enigmatic Mistweaver, who is rumored to have previously served in a senior
rank in one of the knightly orders of the Kingdom of Radiant light in the Western
Continent. The knights of his order fought to their last drop of blood in a
desperate attempt to defend the capital city and the high king's court in the
war which ended with the utter destruction of the Mistweaver's homeland. Some
claim that Falansar was among the commanders of
Lady Varliril, or at least that they fought
shoulder to shoulder on several occasions. It
is told that the disaster and the manner in which Falansar
himself survived it, after most of his men were killed, shattered something
within him, transforming him from a noble knight to a cold and unfeeling
mercenary, who believes that "the Light is dead." Although his once
bright auburn hair has turned completely gray, he remains remarkably handsome.
His charisma and swordsmanship greatly impressed Lord Marnellion,
who later appointed him as the commander of the Kor-Omthel
guard, replacing the former commander, who was among his father's old
retainers.
A
refined Orm’therilan master jewel crafter and
artist, who has won the favor of the lord and his family. Am’norel is a young and brilliant man. His smooth face,
though somewhat elongated is strikingly handsome -; and his
thin lips issue a melodious and soft voice easily capable of captivating
those he turns his charms on. It is said that he had a promising future in
his homeland, but a conflict with an older, more powerful master of arts, and
perhaps a broken engagement promise, forced him to flee to what he considers
a dismal province. Despite
not having a formal title in the castle, Am’norel's
position in the court is very strong, as many people have learned the hard
way. His influence on the lord's daughter and son is very noticeable; many of
the ladies at court, including the lord's somber daughter, are enamored with
him. None of their infatuations are reciprocated, but he knows all too well
how to manipulate and leverage them to his advantage while remaining uncommitted. Am’norel sees himself as the sole cultured person in a
court of half-wild people, whose natural duty is to try to educate and refine
them. He is considered a devout believer in Tirnephel's
teachings, especially regarding the danger of Gabbutu
blood taintment, and reacts angrily and severely to
any criticism of these teachings in his presence. Ral'hir Kor Om'thir
(44) The
single heir of a local noble house from an ancient, pure En’mirian bloodline.
He rules over a relatively isolated estate surrounded by a large village. His
estate is nestled above a mountain lake in the heights beyond the mountains
south of the Imperial Road, roughly midway between the Dush’magor
and the Mag Eglor Forest. Ral'hir
was once a promising young guard officer and a former trusted confidant of
the lord Ar'thirion. The old lord favorably viewed the
close friendship between Ral’hir and his own
granddaughter Cor’delin, hinting that an engagement
between them would receive his blessing. However,
things utterly changed following the change in power, especially following the
failed adventure of Cor’delin that left her broken
and shattered in body and soul. Even though Ral'hir
was the one who found her unconscious and saved her life by carrying her back
to the Granite Court – she seems to have blamed him ever since for something,
the exact nature of which has never been known. Gradually,
Ral'hir became unwelcome at the lord’s castle,
spending his time at his family's remote estate above the frozen lake. Since
then, he suffered several more blows, including the disappearance of his
elder brother and shortly after, the death of his father. Another blow struck
him with the mysterious death of the man he adorded
– the former guard commander of the the Lord’s
guard. He was found dead in strange circumstances in an isolated place –
seemingly ending his own life years after his dismissal and replacement by
the Mistweaver Falansar; however, darker suspicions
were raised about his fate.
Ral'hir has developed a somewhat gloomy and cynical
temper. Above all, he loaths – some say excessively
–the new guard commander of the lord’s guard, and perhaps Mistweavers in
general. However, it is said that Ral'hir's talent
with the sword and navigating the wilds never left him entirely. He has never
married after the rift between him and Lady Cor’delin,
but it is rumored that he is raising his lost brother's orphaned son,
designating him to be his heir. Captain Mor’dril Var-Lirsorel (65) An
officer in the service of House Kor-Omthel, who
distinguished himself in his youth in the battle of Lin Morlith.
Nowadays, he controls a small stronghold in a remote and difficult-to-access
area, on a ridge south of Ral’hir Kor-Om'thir’s lands. Mordrill is known to be a bitter, cruel, unrestrained
person, rumored to harbor ill-favored men and even monsters in his stronghold
and the cellars beneath it. He has few subjects living outside his estate,
and the few villagers who still dwell in its shadow fear him greatly. It
is said that Mordrill's lands, remote and uninhabited
as they may be, control the path to an ancient mine, and even more
importantly – routes used by smugglers of valuable goods. It is rumored that Mor’dril levies an unofficial "protection tax"
from any smuggler who traverses these routes. The relations between Mordrill and his neighbor Ral’hir
are complex, and despite ancient enmities between them, and even skirmishes
that occurred between the houses in the distant past, Mor’dril
son now serves as a sort of accountant in the Kor-Om'thir
estate. Despite
his smuggling connections and rumored association with brigands and even
monsters, Mordrill has numerous channels of
influence in the Granite Courts and in the Lord's Castle. There are rumors
that he managed to socialize with several of the new Mistweaver guards surrounding
the new guard commander, or at least that he learned to do unofficial business
with them.
En'rost and Om'lar Mal'nir (54 and 51) Two
brothers, very alike in their large and robust figures, with dark
reddish-brown hair and thick, well-groomed moustache. En’rost
serves as the chief jailor of the Lord, and Om’lar serves
as a guard officer – one of the last of Ar'thirion's
men still in service. Their Grandfather was of humble origins, but rose to
greatness in the En’mirian Army. He served under the lady “Ice shard”
herself, and it is rumored that he fell with her in her final battle. En'rost and Om'lar are among the
last of the "old-school" officers in the Granite Courts – gruff men
with somewhat foul mouths, but honorable and not at all approving of recent
developments in the region, especially the hurried arrests or deportations of
many who have served House Om'tir with honor for
many years. |
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