EMESA 1

mesa gives its name to the northernmost hundred of

E
Location: Hohnamshire, King-
Hohnam, itself the northern shire of the Kingdom of Re- dom of Rethem [E6]
them. Most of the hundred is uninhabited forest wilder-
Holder: Meketa Bron Zarnist,
ness fringing the Gulf of Pendos and beyond the control for the Order of the
of its holders. Warriors of Mameka
Temporal power over the cultivated portion of the hun- Liege: King of Rethem
dred resides with the Warriors of Mameka, at Bedenes.
Population: 209
However, the small town of Emesa is essential to the local economy. Its an-
nual Beast Fair sees whale oil from Alesen, and the fruits of the Peran for-
ests, exchanged for the finer products of southern civilisation. For the rest
of the year its small market is essential to the flow of trade across the hun- TAXES
dred on which the manors rely. Apart from the Beast Fair the south knows Property: 4% per year (residential)
little of Emesa, though it’s boast of being the ‘gateway to Peran’ attracts a 4%per year (business)
slow stream of adventurers and fools who believe the wilderness will make Hawking: 2% of goods’ value
them rich. More often it makes them dead. Bonding: 1% of good value per
month
HISTORY Poll Tax: 2d every 1 Agrazhar
The land between the rivers Perath and Denia was cloaked with prime-
val forest when Kemlar led the Kubora there. They found a virgin wilder-
ness where only the ‘Old Ones of the Forest’ roamed. Thus it remained, the
myths claim, for ‘the lifetimes of many grandfathers’, disturbed only by oc-
casional adventurous Khuzdul exploring the forest from Kiraz.
The rise of the Foulspawner and the destruction of Kiraz changed that.
When the hammers of the avenging Khuzdul shattered Lothrim’s army on
the anvil of Sirion gargun survivors fled north and west into Peran where
their depredations are still used to frighten Kuboran children. ‘Suffer not a
Foulspawn to live’ is one of the few rallying cries able to unify the squab-
bling tribes of Peran.
The swarming Gargun followed the spine of the western highlands into The Dark Man
This figure from Kuboran myth appears
the heart of the Kuboran range. For centuries bands of Gargu-Arak and
in many of their folk tales. Most often he
their Khanu masters dominated the Perath and Denia valleys. They slaugh- is identified with the ‘Eternal Champion’,
tered anyone and anything they encountered, hacked down tracts of forest another figure from their legends.
and bloated on the plentiful game. Only when the Kubora of the Northern
In other stories he is a child of Kemlar
Coastal Plain had recovered their numbers sufficiently could the extermina- born to a mortal woman. These excep-
tion of the gargun begin. tional individuals are said to appear
Led by a warrior hero that oral history remembers only as ‘Pennath the among the tribes at times of great need.
Chief’ the tribesmen pushed the gargun out of the valleys, into the foothills, There is no common agreement of which
and finally up into the Rayeshas. The ‘Chieftain’s Song’, a cycle of more of the heroes named in Kuboran oral his-
than a dozen peons to heroism, bravery and cold-blooded slaughter, has tory might be among these ‘get of Kem-
only recently been written down by a scribe who heard it from a Kuboran lar’. It is a point of contention among the
mercenary while visiting Tormau. It tells of Pennath and his mysterious tribes, all of whom claim at least one in
their lineage.
champion, ‘The Dark Man’, as they lead the tribes in a war of extermination
against the gargun incursion. The final stanza of the cycle tells how the
Dark Man, bearing his dying Chief from their final battle with the gargun en-
counters a tribe of outsiders newly arrived from the south. He confronts the WRITER
settlers and warns them that they may not venture north of the Denia and Alun Rees
that they are suffered to live only at the pleasure of the Kubora. Then he MAPS
leaves, carrying Pennath out of history, and into myth. Alun Rees
The new arrivals are likely to have been the Jenath. They cleared CONTRIBUTORS
more of the first growth forest and cultivated the rolling hills between the
Anders Bersten
Denia and Boka Bay, and further south as far as the Thard estuary. They
were a peaceful people, sustained by farming, fishing and hunting. Trade Neil Thompson
with their neighbours to the east brought them to the attention of the rapidly Andy Gibson
expanding Corani. Following the defeat of the Merdi buffer state in 377 it Playtesters at IviniaCon
was only a matter of time before the nascent Empire confronted the Jenath. & the Harnwriter Group
Remembering the Kuboran warning the Jenath preferred assimilation to

© 2015 Alun Rees, N. Robin Crossby & Columbia Games, Inc.

HârnWorld
 EMESA 2
migration north across the Denia. When Emperor Kobar
(394-437) ordered a census of his western holdings in
405, the scrolls listed only a handful of citizens claiming
Jenath descent. Their separate identity had been lost
within a generation of contact with the Corani.
Rise of Empire
Just as the Merdi had insulated the Jenath from the
Empire, so had the Jenath insulated the Kubora. To
them, though, the Corani were just another weak south-
ern tribe to be ignored as beneath their dignity.
Emperor Kobar was the first to speak of the ‘scarlet
robe of Corani civilisation that might be caste about the
shoulders of the barbarian Kubora’. His first step was the
highway linking Coranan with Merethos (Golotha). Then
the Hohnam Highway pushed west to Tormau where the
building of a substantial fort began.
Even before its completion in 405 the legions were
cutting tracks through the forest north of the Denia. The
first mention of ‘Emesa’ in the imperial archives dates
from 402 when a ‘small fort beside the river Emesa was
attacked and the garrison withdrawn to Tormau’.
This seems to have been a rare example of re-
sistance. The Kubora appear to have been more sur-
prised than threatened. Their patience was mistaken as
weakness by the Corani.
It was trappers and merchants who first settled be-
side the Emesa, making good use of the flow of the first
stable currency in the West of Harn. They traded goods
the Kubora wanted for the hard won fruits of the forest
frontier. They were soon living off the backs of the first
full cohort to march north from Tormau establishing a
more substantial fort named for the river. Emesa was
soon the base for forays launched to test the will of the
Kubora. The quarrelling tribes response was piecemeal
and the Empire concluded that the tribes would not stand
against its legions.
That appeared to be the case when a Corani legion
marched out of Emesa and into the forest in the Spring of
413. The village of Kus was placed under Imperial ‘pro-
tection’ within months. The prediction that the tribes
would submit by the end of 414 was, though, optimistic.
Instead, five decades of bloody revolt, focused on Caer
Kustan, began.
Frontier Outpost
Whenever legionaries marched into the forests from
Emesa or Kustan the Kubora would strike with bloody fe-
rocity. They launched a dozen rebellions until, by 460,
wits in the taverns of Coranan were caricaturing Kobar’s
‘red robe of civilisation’ as ‘not so much a robe, more a
ribbon; a bloody scarlet ribbon!’. It was this sobriquet
that came to represent hard duty on the Peran frontier as
well as the route from Emesa to Kustan and from there
east into the lands of the Urdu. Every campaign season
an ambitious general arrived at Emesa intent on making
his name by bringing the tribes to heel.
© 2015 Alun Rees, N. Robin Crossby & Columbia Games, Inc.
The last Emperor to lead troops in the field, Mejenes
the Great (443-465), was such a general. He marched a
legion across Peran before paying the ultimate price. His
act of imperial hubris was met with ambush and slaughter
by the Urdu before the remnants of his force staggered
back to Kustan, harassed by the Kubora. A carved monu-
ment in the centre of Emesa’s marketplace records the
date of the arrival and departure, a week later, of the
bones carried from the imperial funeral pyre by the survi-
vors.
Never had such a force been humbled by a tribal en-
emy and the Empire’s grip on Peran was never the same
again. Small garrisons across Peran were withdrawn to
Kustan and the tribes left to pillage what Corani civilisa-
tion had hacked out of the forest. Increasingly Corani writ
ran only a bow shot from the walls of Caer Kustan, or the
blockhouses constructed along the Scarlet Ribbon.
Emesa was the base of more and more irregular supply
columns to the outpost, requiring more and more protec-
tion.
Though Mejenes’ son, the Emperor Sylud (465-485),
is usually blamed for the collapse of the Empire some
scholars have ascribed the collapse on the ‘Peran Stale-
mate’ that bled the Empire white. One diarist records a
frustrated Sylud shouting into the heavens; ‘Father, Fa-
ther, give me back my Legions’.
When the garrison at Kustan was annihilated
in 477 the Kubora surged south towards Emesa. The
only obstacle in their way was a blockhouse on the Scar-
let Ribbon. There some sick and injured members of the
2nd cohort of the 4th legion had camped on their way back
to Emesa. The officers commanding were later com-
mended by the Emperor for the successful defence they
mounted with this very limited force. Treating the set-
back as a sign that Kemlar was satisfied that sacred
Kustan had been purified in blood, the Kubora came no
further south.
Emesa was still considered indefensible; its garrison
was withdrawn and it was left to its fate in 478.
Fall of Empire
Though the imperial border was re-drawn along the
River Denia, Emesa was not abandoned. Most of the le-
gionaries that had retired and settled in the village de-
cided to stay and make a life for themselves and their
families. They taught their sons the rudiments of the le-
gions’ martial skills and spoke of being the final bulwark
against the Kubora. In fact, increasing trade and inter-
marriage with the Kubora softened both memories of the
Kustan massacre and imperial loyalties. The Emesans
traded their craft skills and crops with their tribal neigh-
bours in return for animal pelts and the fruits of the forest.
The imperial reigns of Saurach (485-491); Mindrithar
(491-512); Korad (512-528); and Shorka (528-555) passed
the Emesans by with little or no incident. They continued
to send some tribute south in return for being left alone.
HârnWorld

Often that tribute took the form of wild beasts for south-
ern sport; the Beast Fair is an echo of those times.
The slow decline of the Empire accelerated during
the 550’s as the provinces along the Thard were ravaged
by disease and famine. Emesa remained free of the Red
Death and even the Jihad ignited by the impaling of Bal-
sha had little direct impact on the settlement. In 566
traders brought news of the fall of the last Emperor and, a
few years later, the founding of the Theocracy of Tekhos.
The only difference it made in Emesa was that the name
on the documents accompanying their tribute had
changed.
All that remained of Emesa’s imperial past were the
earth parapets on which the legionary palisade sat, and a
series of low mounds marking the foundations of various
Corani structures.
Theocracy
Over the next 20 years Emesa was slowly drawn
back into the stream of southern events as refugees
brought frightful news of the Theocracy’s excesses. In
583 the arrival of Hugai Lynnaeous brought organisation
to the rebellious refugees and their hosts. Scion of a mi-
nor Corani clan driven to brigandage by theocratic perse-
cution, Hugai began to shape local discontent into organ-
ised resistance.
When, in 588, revolts and uprisings erupted across
the Theocracy, Hugai saw his chance. He marched south
to take Tormau with Emesan support and their Kuboran
allies watching his flanks. He proclaimed himself King;
his realm extended a little over 5 leagues from his keep.
During the Interregnum which followed the death of
Horahnam of Tekhos, Hugai played a careful political
hand. He balanced the need to build a powerbase around
Tormau with demands from the Golothan Theocracy for
loyalty. Meanwhile he cultivated the Emesans for the fa-
vour of their Kuboran friends and relatives. This policy
was continued by his son, Henail, who offered the local
Kuborans direct trade. He was well placed when the next
wave of turmoil arrived.
Kingdom & Hundred
In 621 a warrior called Arlun won the leadership of
the Obodu Kubora. Over the next eight years he
moulded the diverse Kuboran tribes into a potent weapon
of his will. That weapon swept south out of Peran in 629,
by-passing Emesa, on a broad front along the Hohnam
Highway towards Shostim. The first settlements the piti-
less Kubora reached were pillaged and burnt so that even
today the Highway touches not a single settlement along
its length. What was once a heavily settled network of
farms and villas is now the Hohnam Blight avoided by all
but the well-armed, desperate, or both.
So frightening were the tales carried south ahead of
Arlun that successive settlements were abandoned when
the Kuborans arrived and many garrisons surrendered
simply at the sight of the barbarians. So it was at Shostim
© 2015 Alun Rees, N. Robin Crossby & Columbia Games, Inc.
EMESA 3
which was quickly taken and then held against the com-
bined might of the local petty kingdoms. Clan Lynnaeous
was noticeable absent, sitting out the siege at Tormau
‘protecting Shostim’s western flank’.
Henail opened his own gates to Arlun after a sym-
bolic siege of 1 day, immediately swearing allegiance to
the barbarian chief. He went on to proclaim his clan’s
‘historic ties to the noble Kuboran people’ and offered his
sister’s hand to the new warlord. In return Arlun con-
firmed the rights and privileges of Clan Lynnaeous. Over
the next decade Henail was never far from Arlun’s coun-
cils and Tormau prospered. Emesa, taking for granted its
subordination to the lords of Tormau did likewise.
Clan Lynnaeous remained close to the ruling house
despite Arlun’s death; Henail was uncle to King Obras, af-
ter all. Even with that support the young monarch could
not maintain the loyalty of the more traditional Kubora
who departed north early in his reign. Without them his
authority was never widely recognised and he was
plagued by a series of revolts and rebellions. Finally even
clan Lynnaeous withdrew its support; he was killed near
Tormau in 672.
The Lynnaeous were not favoured by Obras’ son,
and successor, Nemiran. The new King named Emesa as
Hundred Moot for ‘those of our subjects in the far North’,
and sponsored the building of a large Moot Hall. There
was no mention of the historic claim of Clan Lynnaeous
to Emesa in the declaration. Despite numerous petitions
the new hundred’s fate remained unclear for decades.
Then events overtook it and the Warriors of Mameka
marched into the settlement in 690. They claimed title to
Emesa and all the surrounding lands, executed existing
village elders, and fortified their new fief.
The Warriors took a predictably organised approach
to their new lands: Emesa’s Moot Hall was converted to a
chapterhouse; the local settlements made more secure;
and the village of Bedenes chosen as a more defensible
home for the Order. Local peasants slaved for nine years
to build the Warrior’s keep, during which the hundred
twice came close to famine, as labour was diverted from
the harvest. The population of the hundred suffered a
great deal and few of the village populations have recov-
ered to what they were before the Warriors came.
CURRENT SITUATION
To this day the status of Emesa is unclear; the Her-
alds of the Sanguine Saltire are unwilling to confirm the
claim of the Warriors of Mameka. The weakness of Re-
them’s crown, and the influence of the Mamekans, sus-
taining that unsatisfactory situation.
While the crown names Bedenes as the Hundred
Moot, successive Akarata have continued to hold the
Moot in Emesa. They prefer not to entertain outsiders at
Caer Bedenes. It is to Emesa, therefore, that the Sheriff
of Hohnamshire travels twice a year to remind everyone
HârnWorld
 EMESA 4
that Emesa Hundred is still held from the Crown, even if
the writ of the Akarata clearly carries more weight.
Since 718, when the Warriors were confronted and
turned back by the Kubora, the atmosphere in the hun-
dred has been pregnant with possibilities. Prior to that
disaster Akarata Horab Gerund’s grip on power seemed
entirely secure. Now some contemplate a future that
does not include him. Some even dare to wonder if there
might be a future without the Warriors. They remember
Hugai Lynnaeous and his treaties with the Kubora and
wonder whether another Kuboran chief might emerge
from the forests and return Emesa Hundred to its people.
Perhaps, instead, the descendent of Hugai and Henail,
Denyl Lynnaeous, Earl of Tormau, will be their saviour.
Perhaps the gods have placed Emesans’ fate in their own
hands. Only time will tell.
The Kubora
Relationships with the Kubora had remained cordial
until the Warriors arrived. The Warriors consider them
less than human and good only for sport and slavery.
A decade ago the Uld and Asawne Kubora made a
coordinated attack on the hundred aimed at dislodging
the Warriors. It is remembered by the peasantry as the
‘Big Raid’; two warbands rampaging across the north and
east of the fief for 2 days. It sadly underestimated the re-
solve of the Mamekans who defeated the Kubora when-
ever they could catch them.
The Asawne held their ground in the face of reprisals
but the Uld were driven north into the Uldan Hills. The
casualties the order suffered in 718 have given both tribes
a respite over recent years. The Uld give the appearance
of remaining cowed but a trapper at last year’s Beast Fair
claimed to have met a southron in the company of some
Uld on the Scarlet Ribbon. The Uld said he combined the
forest skills of a Kuboran hunter with a keen eye for tac-
tics and an understanding of the Mamekans.
The western Asawne Kubora have become more au-
dacious, regularly raiding Dasath, Bomntay and Torkat
for goat meat to add to their winter stores. Some peas-
ants see a pattern in the raids but few have the courage to
share their concerns with their Mamekan overlords.
Among themselves they talk of better coordination in the
raids which draws a Mamekan garrison towards one in-
cursion while goats are taken by another.
The Asawne have also established seasonal camps
close to a recently re-discovered mine east of the Scarlet
Ribbon and have already disrupted the mining. They
showed a remarkable understanding of the mine’s opera-
tion when they sabotaged it after the miners and their
mercenary guards left for the winter. The investment in a
stamping mill at Dasath will be wasted unless the Guild
and its guards can keep the workings safe for the year
ahead. There is a suggestion that a standing guard
should remain there next winter to protect the mine; if
anyone is willing to take the job!
© 2015 Alun Rees, N. Robin Crossby & Columbia Games, Inc.
GOVERNMENT
Over the last 20 years the Warriors have consoli-
dated their holdings with support from their clerical spon-
sors. Three manors now serve as chapterhouses and
Caer Bedenes has been extended to encompass a grand
training house for priests of the Order of Mamaka.
The Warriors’ word is law across the hundred; every
settlement is held by an officer of the Order and all apply
a harsh, Agrikan, interpretation of the kingdom’s laws.
Meketa Bron Zarnist, the Constable of Caer Bedenes
holds Emesa for the Order. However, most decisions are
made by Telmen Meran Toka, who acts as bailiff.
The hundred is too underdeveloped to boast a strong
Mangai so the guilds take their lead from the ‘Akarata’s
Voice’, Granek. He recognises that Telmen Meran can be
influenced and is less inclined than most officers of the
order to crush the fragile economic potential of Emesa.
He has encouraged the bailiff to listen to Harvel of Yuro-
pild, Emesa’s chandler, on matters of trade, and to his
reeve, Kered in matters agricultural.
ECONOMICS
To an extent Emesa’s economy is the hundred’s
economy; Emesa’s monthly market is the only one held,
other than Anerath’s seasonal fish market, and all signifi-
cant trade goes through the small town. Emesa’s domi-
nance is built on the Beast Fair, which generates more in-
come than the rest of the year put together. There are,
though, signs that Emesa could become a more regular
trading partner to the southern settlements. Master
Harvel has convinced his fellow chandler, Layne of Urelt,
to bring a cart of goods from Tormau every month or so.
Harvel also takes orders, though they can take half a year
to fill if Layne has to send further south for them.
Over recent years the hundred has been more or less
self-sufficient in food and Emesa eats well enough. Oats
are the major crop; the heart of the peasant diet is por-
ridge supplemented by root vegetables and beans. Warm
breezes off the Haonic Ocean allow fruit to grow well in
the coastal manors and during the autumn apples and
pears flow through Emesa’s market, often into the vat of
Ginnis the brewer. His cider and perry supplement the
dark ale he brews from the barley grown locally and sup-
plemented by cooked oats for a smooth dark creamy
taste.
Animal husbandry is dominated by goats grazing the
rough local grassland. This is equally true across the rest
of the hundred though the woods around the forest man-
ors are full of swine interbreeding with Peran boars. This
creates a rich meat that preserves well.
Decent catches of fish from the estuaries and larger
rivers are dried and salted locally before coming to
Emesa for sale. Preserved fish allows many families to
survive the winter, or enjoy a treat on a feast day.
Hask and Alesen put several whale-boats onto the
water whenever a pod of migrating whales is spotted
HârnWorld

close to land. They employ the ancient tactic of confus-
ing the whales with noise while driving them into the
shallows where the entire village turns out to slaughter
them.
The Warriors name whales as ‘Lords’ fish’ so any
carcasses are the property of the order. The crews that
take the whales are, though, allowed a portion of the
meat, and tradition requires them to distribute half their
share among any villagers who aided the kill. Often the
‘fisher portion’ is trade at Emesa for things the village
could not otherwise afford or make. The ‘Akarata’s por-
tion’ is dried and added to the stores at Bedenes, and
each Chapterhouse, where it constitutes rather more of
the laumak diet than they would like.
A bonded chandler at Hask renders any blubber to
high quality oil much prized in wealthier homes and by
Agrikan priests across the realm for its steady, clean,
flame. Much of the oil travels south after the Beast Fair,
most as part of the Order’s tribute to the Church. The
Aplankh blesses a small barrel of ‘Northern Oil’ for each
of the Agrikan clerical orders but gains much revenue by
selling the bulk in Golotha.
Life is hardest for the peasantry of the ‘forest man-
ors’ of Bontay, Scutal and Torkat. They have yet to re-
cover from the Big Raid and the peasantry are required to
work hard to expand the acres of cultivation into the for-
est as well as raising sufficient crops to pay their lord’s
dues to the Order. Lastly, they must feed themselves.
They provide little to Emesa’s market, save for building
timber, but most of that goes straight to Bedenes as trib-
ute and sold to the settlements that need while enriching
Bedenes’ coffers.
RELIGION
When the Corani Empire reached Emesa Agrikanism
was close to the official religion of the legions. However,
the strong and expansive Empire was confident enough
to recognise other faiths. Knorran scholars from Meld-
eryn and mainland Lythia were signs of a cultured house-
hold and boasted of by the ruling classes. Halea arrived
in the wake of the Mangai and was embraced by the
pragmatic Corani. Even Laranians found some converts
among the martially inclined reformers around the Em-
perors. Perhaps most successful, though, were the Peoni-
ans. They offered succour to the common people and es-
tate holders encouraged them to maintain a compliant
agricultural class.
Always cunning missionaries, the Peonians built on
the beliefs they found waiting for them. In Emesa the folk
beliefs of the Jenath and their Kuboran neighbours were
used to Peonian advantage. They ensured Heneryne was
respected and portrayed Kemlar as Peoni’s wise advisor
and forest warden. Even Crador found a home in Peo-
nian missionary theology as a bastard son of Agrik.
The Balshan Jihad fragmented and crushed the rul-
ing class and the established Agrikan Church. Peonians,
© 2015 Alun Rees, N. Robin Crossby & Columbia Games, Inc.
EMESA 5
though, were confident that one day a Spring of religious
tolerance would retrun. Sadly the Morgathian Theoc-
racy’s Winter was long and dark. Peonian priests were
hunted and the borders sealed against them. Most vil-
lages never saw an ordained priest again. Old people
passed on what they remembered of the faith to succes-
sive generations but worship slipped far from orthodoxy.
Arlun reinforced this trend; he was no friend of peasants
or their gods. His ‘restoration of religious tolerance’
bought landholder support by recognising a ‘new Agri-
kanism’. His descendants, and those that took the Crown
from them, were harsher. Arlun may have ignored Peoni,
his successors proscribed her.
The religious climate in Emesa, and across the hun-
dred is predictably intolerant. Some dispensations are al-
lowed during the annual Beast Fair so that Haleans are
grudgingly accepted, so long as they keep their beliefs to
themselves. No such dispensation is ever offered to wor-
shippers of Peoni or Larani. While Peonian priests are
tolerated by the Earl of Tormau that arrangement is de-
pendent on each swearing not to proselytise in the lands
of the his neighbours. Emesan religious practice has de-
generated into a heretical melding of Kuboran belief and
half-remembered tales of Peonian saints and heroes.
Most commoners brought up in Emesa think their
ancestors angered Peoni and that is why she abandoned
them. They believe that Peoni’s sister, Heneryne wearing
her Harpy aspect, led the Mamekans to Emesa as a pun-
ishment. Children are weaned on bedtime stories in
which Agrikan rule is a test for which they will be re-
warded by admission to Peoni’s garden of Valon. Other
common tales are of the Harpy that watches for the time
when Emesans can command her respect. Then she will
lead them into battle to overthrow their oppressors. Some
of those children have grown to be hot-headed firebrands
quoting a confused version of the words spoken by Kem-
lar to the Kubora as if they were Peoni’s to the people of
Emesa Hundred: Battle for the land and against the brothers
left behind by the demon Harpy. In clean strife let the heart be
joyous and the sinews and hands grow harder.
The wantonness associated with one of Heneryne’s
other aspects manifests during the Beast Fair when com-
moners consider any ties of the marriage bed to be dis-
solved. Men and women, husbands and wives ‘embrace
the Harpy’, and congress with neighbours and strangers
is encouraged. Perhaps this has its root in the isolation of
the Emesans after the withdrawal of the legion and the
need to introduce fresh, often Kuboran, blood into the
community. What is certain is that any missionary ‘Bull-
man’ visiting Emesa would be horrified by what passes
for Peonianism among the commoners. The slim chance
of their survival so deep in rethem leave local religious
practice a mystery to the Peonian church.
HârnWorld
 EMESA 6
1 TELMEN MERAN TOKA, BAILIFF
Household: 9
Telmen Meran provides for the orphaned children of his
younger sister. He hopes that both boys, aged 13 and 6,
will become Warriors, or priests, of Mamaka. Meran
came to Emesa with the order when he was 10 and
knows no other life, or any other way to bring up chil-
dren. He treats the elder boy, Eben, as he was treated
and encourages his own squire, Dendin, to help the boy
understand the Mamekan rule. Dendin abuses the re-
sponsibility by getting the naïve Eben into trouble and di-
verting beatings he deserves to the younger boy. The
manor household is even less well equipped to cope with
the younger boy, Graner.
Meran inherited a priest, Rept Protharo, when he
was made bailiff in 710; but he has not been the saem si-
once a nasty fall in 716. He spends his time in the corner
of the Hall muttering to himself in a pool of his own urine.
The Chapter relies on priest from Bedenes for services.
The manor’s bonded weaponcrafter is a mature
bachelor and the manor’s cook is a vicious slave who bul-
lies her son, the gardener. The only other member of the
sparse household is a slave, Certhede the alewife. She
was head of a large clan when the Warriors arrived so
they made an example of her husband. The rest of her
male relatives died building Caer Bedenes and, without
male relatives to support them, she and the clan women
became the order’s property. The others were dispersed
to manors where they were needed and Certhede was left
with only her daughter. She grew up and had a daughter
herself; Certhede doesn’t know who the father was. The
previous bailiff sold her in 698. Certhede’s grand-daugh-
ter grew to maturity and was also sold, 4 years ago, after
her own daughter was born. It is to young Kapella and
her great-grandmother that Graner gravitates, treating the
four year-old as his younger sister.
The management of the fief is delegated to Atar Dyr-
iansin. During the Festival of the Pillars in 701 Meran
and Atar were pitted against one another in the Inagro-
het. Meran resisted Atar’s efforts break him and won the
right to punish the would-be priest’s failure in the Inagro-
pria. Atar disgraced himself under the beating Meran
gave him and was declared laumchari; a failed acolyte re-
quired to serve the Mamekans on pain of death. Meran
brought him to Emesa so he could be reminded of his fail-
ure, as Mamaka would wish.
Haragki Ornal Ekenas and T’kelen Saerd of Wor-
ganae complete the household. They patrol the fief but
are reinforced with Warriors from across the hundred
during the Beast Fair.
2 REEVE (Kered of Lartin)
Size: 6 Quality: 
The Lartins gained preferment when the Warriors ar-
rived. Prior to that they had been a relatively minor clan.
Kered is now old and rheumatic so his son, Natam, fulfils
most of his duties and expects to be Reeve after him.
© 2015 Alun Rees, N. Robin Crossby & Columbia Games, Inc.
3 WOODWARD (Jaben of Yerth)
Size: 6 Quality: 
The woodmill is busy and much of the labour
needed to operate it comes from the local cottar clans.
Jaben does his best for his liege because he believes that
what is good for the Telmen is good for Emesa, and
therefore good for clan Yerth. His headstrong son, Orlyn,
and believes that Peoni expects more of the people of
Emesa than service. So far he has not acted on these be-
liefs.
4 COTTAR and SLAVE HOUSEHOLDS
Size: 47
These households, and those that live near the hamlets of
the free farmers, provide most of the labour that keeps
Emesa fed. They are a hard and resilient group who rely
on one another more than outsiders. There is little differ-
ence between the status of slave and cottar in Emesa
Hundred; most of the slaves are cottars who accepted
servitude rather than see their families starve during the
hard years. Last year, at the Beast Fair, one of the cottars
heard that the highest Mamekan priest in the land, the
Primate no less, was a member of his clan! He had mis-
heard ‘Bisidril’ as ‘Bisidris’ and was thoroughly flogged
for his presumption. It turned Hasain of Bisdris from a
hard worker into an angry man whose treatment has
come to symbolise the injustice with which the peasantry
are treated. He is desperate to find a way to get back at
the order.
5
MILLER (Kernt of Bremet)
Size: 2 Quality:  Prices: High
Widower Kernt is assisted by his son Shunin but
most of the hard work is done by able bodied cottars.
Their younger children, in particular, are useful in the
dangerous work of keeping the mill mechanism clear of
rough chaff which can otherwise halt the mill stones.
Kernt’s workers are kept in order by the mill’s taskmaster,
Barosta of Zaras [a]. Even at 55 Barosta is a big bear of a
man that no one crosses.
6 USURER (Adris of Redin)
Size: 8 Quality:  Prices: Average
Adris is son-in-law to the usurer Hoardal of Keleto, in
Hyen, and the only usurer in Emesa Hundred; it is too un-
der developed to need any more. He lacks the capital to
offer more than short term loans during the Beast Fair but
the interest (just about) sustains his family. Master
Hoardal is strangely deaf to appeals for the additional
funds needed to expand the franchise onto a more secure
footing.
7 POTTER (Trerik of Ruvies)
Size: 5 Quality:  Prices: Low
Trerik is one of only 3 potters in Emesa Hundred. They
split the trade amicably among themselves but Trerik’s is
the largest franchise. He employs his old master, Petry,
who still has skill in his hands even though almost blind
while his bitter brother Kyse [b] digs clay for the pottery.
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 EMESA 8
8 CHANDLER (Harvel of Yuropild)
Size: 3 Quality:  Prices: High
Master Harvel has opened up trade with his brother chan-
dler in Tormau and is clearly a ‘man on the rise’. His at-
tractive young wife, though, is a spendthrift spending his
money as fast as he can earn it.
9 BREWER (Jinni of Diblin)
Size: 4 Quality:  Prices: Low
Ginnis brews a rich dark, and affordable, ale as well as
premium perry and cider for more affluent tables. She is
considering the purchase of land being cleared on the
west bank of Emesa Stream where she would plant or-
chards of her own. Until then he relies on the rich har-
vest of the coastal manors.
10 WOODCRAFTER (Enald of Wormel)
Size: 5 Quality:  Prices: Average
Enald and his wife rely on their son, Tharthil for most of
the work these days. They were old when he was born as
a ‘late gift from Heneryne’. Enald increasingly spends his
time carving offcuts into toys for the town’s children.
11 SCRIBE (Ulwin of Kandria)
Size: 1 Quality:  Prices: Average
As one of the few literate men in Emesa Ulwin is kept
busy writing letters and contracts for tradesmen and
guildsmen. The injury to the Chapter’s priest means he
even undertakes certain tasks for Telmen Meran.
Though he is easy to talk to he is reticent about making
strong friendships preferring to keep a distance from oth-
ers. This is part of his training as one of the Akhularai,
the ‘Silent Ones’ trained by the Order of Mamaka the
Master of Steel to seek out heresy and disloyalty. The
Warriors do not know of his presence and the Akarata
would be unhappy to hear that the church would seek
heresy so close to the heart of his order.
12 LABOURER (Bronar of Edremet)
Size: 3
Bronar is an attractive widow and mother of two young
children who supplements what she can earn from her la-
bour in the fields by welcoming anyone with a penny to
spend into her bed. While the wives of the Emesa look
down on her a local male wit claims she ‘just can’t let go
of the Harpy!’.
13 THE HORNBLOWER (Buthrand of Zaras)
Size: 4
In ancient times the legionary garrison set the watch with
the blowing of a horn. When the Empire withdrew the re-
tired legionaries who stayed behind were entrusted with
the horn. Every evening at dusk it was sounded at the
cardinal compass points around the monument to the
survivors of the last expedition of Emperor Mejenes [b].
When the Warriors arrived the Hornblower was exe-
cuted and the horn confiscated. A series of inexplicable
accidents befell members of the order and there were
whispers of a ghostly legionary stalking the shadows.
© 2015 Alun Rees, N. Robin Crossby & Columbia Games, Inc.
When several men went down with a debilitating disease
the Akarata thought it best to appease the legionary spir-
its who had, after all, honoured the Order of Khamar. He
appointed an injured laumak as Hornblower, reinstated
the practice, and the watch has continued to be set every
night since.
Buthrand became Hornblower after losing his foot
on the Scarlet Ribbon. As well as setting the watch he
acts as Emesa’s Beadle carrying out the punishments de-
creed by the bailiff. He is an inveterate, and long-winded,
gossip and raconteur always keen to tell anyone who will
listen the history of his post. Strangely he is respected by
the locals as even when he is required to punish them
there is no malice in the man who endeavours to be even
handed. He is sometimes asked for advice or to inter-
cede with the Telmen on behalf of the commoners.
14 MARKET HALL
The monthly market is centred on the open sided market
hall built on the foundations of a lost legionary structure.
The Common around it is alive with people and tents
during the Beast Fair when the population explodes to in-
clude commoners from across the hundred, traders re-
turning from Kustan, craftsmen travelling from the Festi-
val of the Pillars at Bedenes, priests of the Demon Pa-
meshlu seeking beasts for their arenas and mercantylers
and entertainers from far and wide and. Though many
Warriors also attend they are ordered to resist acts of
outright brutality; many succeed, others … weaken.
15 TEMPORARY BARRACKS
During the Beast Fair visiting officers of the Warriors,
along with the priests of the order of Mamaka, are ac-
commodated at the manor. Displaced laumak, and the
additional Warriors sent to Emesa to police the increased
population are billeted here. The stone foundations are
used to create temporary, tented, barracks where once le-
gionary buildings stood.
16 HAMLET OF INDON (Saery of Indon)
Size: 32
Old Saery was one of the few free farmers to survive the
arrival of the Warriors. Though increasingly frail and reli-
ant on his sons and the cottars he exploits he remains a
cunning old fox. He has navigated his way to a position
of trust by passing hints of any disloyalty to Atar Dyri-
ansin, the manor steward. He did just the same for Atar’s
predecessor, though in those days when justice seemed
swifter. His rewards were usually swifter too; he benefit-
ted when the disloyal were forced off their land. Atar is
always grateful and confides that he prefers not to punish
those Saery informs on until ‘we can find the roots of this
disloyalty’. To keep the old man sweet Atar has recently
confirmed a grant of 15 acres on the Dasath raod to
Saery’s eldest grandson.
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EMESA HUNDRED

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HârnWorld
 EMESA 10
FIEFHOLDERS Alesen Manor
Telmen Glana Rekira is only 29 but has held Alesen
Bron Zarnist Telmen Meran Toka for 8 years. He is very ambitious and hoped to be raised
Meketa of Emesa Bailiff of Emesa
to Meketa of Torkat when its holder died on the Scarlet
Ribbon in 718. He was assured by Meketa Tolmey that
he could expect elevation so was disgusted when Meketa
Glana Rekira Halan’s candidate, Bradas Sekal, was chosen. His disap-
Telmen of Alesen pointment has led him to consider making overtures to
Tolmey Wolkene
Halan. Every winter there’s a chance that Bron Zarnist
Meketa of Hask
Kobin Otorna will be ‘carried by Agrik’s firey breath to Balgashang’ and
Akarata Glana will not countenance a second disappointment!
Telmen of Dasath
Horab
His mother, the Lady Grulela, is sometimes hon-
Gerund oured by a visit from the Akarata’s sisters who have no
Aron Bisidril
of Bedenes other gentlewoman of their generation with whom to
Telmen of Medava
Alshain Risalsin cackle and plot. While the manor’s priest, Moren Lotur,
Meketa of Penor puts up with the ‘old witch’, he disapproves of the Tel-
Breen Tharo
men’s young sister believing that she is an improper pres-
Telmen of Scutal ence among a celibate order.
Glana works the manor hard. As well as the normal
Bradas Sekal Pendrik Rold calendar of work he has set his peasantry to reclaim some
Meketa of Torkat Telmen of Byced fields on the far side of the Alerien. They have not been
worked since before the Warriors arrived. The reeve,
Berden, tells him that this extra acreage will soon be
Hask ready for the plough. Free farmers of clans Hannaeus
Cottar born Meketa Tolmey Wolkene is fiercely loyal and Forganae live at the hamlet of Sedur a short walk to
to the man who promoted him, Akarata Horub. He the north east where they work their own fields but also
doesn’t realise how important he may be in determining harvest timber for their liege. The Telmen is considering
who succeeds him. asking them to bid for some of the extra acres.
As with many men of humble origin he is inclined to Some of the niviks carrying goods between Golotha
see wealth as a replacement for birth, spending too much and Tormau extend their voyage to Alesen once or twice
in an effort to demonstrate his right to the position he en- a season. The manor’s simple dock provides a safe and
joys. Last year he employed a very fine, and expensive, sheltered anchorage compared to Hask. As well as
weaponcrafter previously in service to another Meketa. goods they sometimes bring passengers such as the
He also maintains a bonded ostler, a clothier, and a apothecary Aradis of Bidrin. He spent a few weeks trav-
huntsman. He has even employed a herald, Janrid, who elling around the hundred before settling in Alesen and is
has the thankless task of instructing the Meketa’s neph- the only non-clerical apothecary in Emesa Hundred. He
ews and nieces in the ways of nobility. He is also draw- has a regular stall at Emesa market from which he sells
ing up lineages demonstrating that clan Wolkene came his poultices and remedies.
from ancient noble blood. Another recent arrival is a clothier from Dasen intent
The Meketa’s sister came to Hask a two years ago on making his fortune from the coats of the goats that
with her motley gang of six children. She, and they, re- graze the dunes to the north. With Glana’s permission he
main unredeemably common. They always look uncom- has taught the local women how to comb out the goat
fortable in their fine clothes and her common manners hair and prepare it for spinning into fibre. It remains to
embarrass her brother so he keeps her out of sight when be seen whether this enterprise will be a success.
he entertains. Finally, Alesen is the only place in Emesa Hundred
All these expenses would lead to debt if Tolmey where prostitution is tolerated. Three women occupy a
didn’t demand additional income from Alesen and Da- shack near the dock. They are ostracised by the rest of
sath. He Telmen holding these two fiefs for the order the community, but popular with the sailors who land at
don’t know that some of their offerings do not reach Alesen. Each market day they walk to Emesa where they
Bedenes. Meketa Tolmey is very demanding of his peas- discretely ply their trade in a tent rented from Ginnis the
antry many of whom would prefer to live under the rule brewer.
of a ‘proper gentleman’.
Two of the manor’s free farming clans live in the
hamlets of Barian and Aerth, along the coast from Hask.
This gifts them a little independence in daily life

© 2015 Alun Rees, N. Robin Crossby & Columbia Games, Inc.

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Dasath Manor
This fief is held by Telmen Kobin Otorna, one of the
Warriors’ old guard devoted to Tolmey Wolkene. He
would work the peasantry to death if it meant the Order’s
strength could be rebuilt for another attempt on Kustan.
He would probably refuse to believe that any of the reve-
nue he sends to Kask ends up in Tolmey’s privy purse ra-
ther than Bedenes.
The Telmen provides for Kirdane, his much younger
step-brother, his young wife, and their baby son. Kobin
never liked his step-mother and takes pleasure in refusing
to mount Kirdane as a knight. The younger man shares
his frustrations with the manor’s bonded weaponcrafter
who resents having to undertake the village’s blacksmith-
ing. He may take the risk of announcing that he is seek-
ing a new master at the next Festival of the Pillars. This
would be a risk as it might shame his current master and
no Warrior responds well to public shame.
The village salter produces fine soft and hard
cheeses from the manor’s cows; the largest heard in the
hundred. Each Autumn he exchanges his cheese for sau-
sages produced by his guild brother in Penor, which ben-
efits them both. He also sets up a small stall beside the
Scarlet Ribbon when the caravan to Kustan goes north
each year.
Telmen Kobin is no farmer but Granek told him how
much he resented paying so much for imported woollen
cloth for the order. As a result Kobin has ignored the ad-
vice of his conservative herdsman, Halairne, and invested
in a small flock of sheep. He expects the manor to make
a fortune when they are sheared but behind his back his
herdsman just wearily shakes his head.
A more significant development is the stamping mill
built by the Miners’ Guild but part paid for by the order.
It is intended to be the first step in turning Dasath into a
centre for mineral extraction. Rumours of successful
mining around Menekai has encouraged Granek to specu-
late a little of the order’s reserves. Unfortunately just as
the mill was finished the Kubora attacked and damaged
the mine which was intended to feed it. Granek was
quick to inform Kobin, and his liege lord, Tolmey, of what
it will cost the order if this enterprise fails. Kobin has
rashly told Tolmey that if he can take half the Chapter to
the mine he will be able to ensure the Kubora don’t try
any of their tricks again.
Every year Kobin allows the village ale-wife and her
clan to move to the hamlet of Quasstin, on the trail to the
Scarlet Ribbon. During the rest of the year Quesstin is a
quiet backwater where the clan of the same name farm
their fee acres, fish the river Alarien, and visit with their
neighbours at Sedur. However in Larane it becomes a
brewers workshop as she produces ale to sell to the trad-
ers heading north for the Kuboran Moot. Later in Larane
she relocates to Emesa for the Beast Fair where she en-
joys a bitter professional rival with Master Ginnis.
© 2015 Alun Rees, N. Robin Crossby & Columbia Games, Inc.
EMESA 11
Penor Chapterhouse
Meketa Alshain Risalsin seeks the favour of his clan
by housing a number of its more needy members. He
feeds and clothes nine relatives from a babe in arms to
his elder brother, and his son, who serve as his steward
and master of the hunt respectively. This is not some-
thing he would have dared to do in the days of Akarata
Horab’s strength, but now he feels that what the old man
does not know won’t hurt him. He is, though, careful to
ensure that the women of the household are not present
when he entertains Bron Zarnist or Tolmey Wolkene.
His weaponcrafter is among the most talented in the
hundred, the local Guildmaster, and the most respected
‘commoner’ in the hundred. Alshain’s pride is displayed
by being well outfitted by old Kapelene, his clothier.
Unusually he maintains two priests at Penor: one is
the chaplin he is entitled to as a Meketa but the other is a
skilled artificer. The Meketa has provided him with a
workshop to ensure the Chapter’s alchemical weapons
can be independently maintained. This is also something
the Akarata would have previously frowned upon.
Alshain has cunningly billeted his Mason on Telmen
Breen Tharo of Scutal. This reduces the cost to his purse
while ensuring access to a mason when he needs one.
His other Telmen, young Aron, presents the Meketa with
a difficult problem. His is the most powerful Agrikan clan
in the realm and he remains misguided in his loyalty to
Halan Uelasen.
The manor Hideworker adds value to the pelts sent
from Scutal and the Salter butchers the boar taken in the
hunt ensures the manor has a variety of meat for its kitch-
ens. The Meketa particularly values his skill with offal.
The Meketa’s self-serving generosity isn’t cheap
which makes him a small, but regular, borrower from the
usurer Gerd of Hawen in Shostim. Gerd is generous with
credit to a client he is assured is a ‘coming man’.
Medava Manor
Telmen Aron Bisidril is one of the younger manor
lords who was promoted for his bravery as a member of
the Akarata’s Guard in 718; though his family connection
to the Agrikan primate may also have played a part.
He sent for his attractive sister, Querene, as soon as
he was granted the fief and she acts as his steward. She
had hoped to become the ward of her mother’s great un-
cle Klyrdes, the Agrikan Primate but was convinced that
a few years managing a manor would improve her
chances of snaring a rich husband. However, pretty
women of marriageable age are rare in clan Bisidril.
Klyrdes has sent an artist to capture her likeness but he
has also captured her heart and she may soon be ruined.
Medava’s forester and woodward, and their families,
live in a small hamlet in the forest and argue over how to
manage it best. The forester has enjoyed the upper hand
since Aron arrived. The young Telmen understands the
HârnWorld
 EMESA 12
advantage of maintaining the fine hunting that Meketa Al-
shain and Meketa Halan appreciate.
The manor’s bonded weaponcrafter, Treik, has enor-
mous potential but this means Aron may lose him to a
wealthier lord. That would satisfy Alshain who is con-
cerned that such a junior Telmen feels it is proper to
maintain such a talented craftsman. He cannot risk hum-
bling Aron publicly by demanding that the crafter move
on, or entice Treik away at the next Festival of the Pillars.
He is wondering how he could have the man killed with-
out any risk of being implicated.
Telmen Aron doesn’t believe he will be lord of
Medava for long. He has already put off costly improve-
ments and in a few more years the manor house and barn
will need expensive repairs. The Lady Querene should
advise him of this but is distracted.
Scutal Manor
Telmen Breen Tharo has held the manor for 20
years, but at 63 will never progress further. Like most of
the older officers he struggles to see past Akarata Horab’s
vision of taking Kustan for the faith. A broken leg kept
him at home during the 718 expedition, something that
grates on this vinegary old warrior. He is certain that if
he and those old friends who have already ‘passed to Bal-
gashang’ had been there things would have been very dif-
ferent. When he visits his old commander, Bron Zarnist,
at Bedenes they shake their heads and agree that the or-
der is not what it was. When they were in their prime
they took what they wanted and had the will to keep it.
He also complains to Meketa Bron about Alshain Risalsin
who is ‘not a patch on old Sedriz’, who led the Penor
chapter before him. Bron tells him that Meketa Alshain
may seem a brash youngster but says many of the right
things in private.
Telmen Breen runs an ascetic household and his
squire Laen is being well trained to be an obedient tool of
his god. That involves regular thrashings to ensure he
understands the order’s rule. The Chapter’s priest,
Dunin, approves of this severe regime and also chastises
young Laen to ensure the boy understands the love of
Mamaka. Laen is gradually losing what youthful person-
ality he had as he is shaped by Mamekan rite and rule
into an unfeeling, and therefore effective, Warrior.
Breen believes a skilfully run fief honours Mamaka
and the manor is blessed with a knowledgeable reeve,
and talented herder and woodward. Despite his strict ad-
herence to the Mamekan rule Breen has developed more
respect for the crafts of these farmers than any other fief
holder. As a result his is the most successful ‘forest
manor’. He also ensures the woods are laid with man-
traps and pits; he considers hunting a soft alternative to
martial drills with sword, spear and shield. He is con-
vinced the traps keep the Kuborra away from his lands.
To Breen all this is simply fulfilling his obligations and
preparing his place among the Forges of the Mameka
where he intends to serve for eternity.
© 2015 Alun Rees, N. Robin Crossby & Columbia Games, Inc.
His niece, Rorese keeps house for him. Once pretty
she has grown into a bitter old maid fixated on the lost
bloom of her youth.
Breen’s man-at-arms, Lura, enjoys the power he is
granted over the peasantry. He casually misuses the lo-
cal women, and most have suffered from his attentions
since his arrival a year ago. He went too far over the win-
ter and a woman died. The reeve complained to Breen
who privately reprimanded Lura and threatened to send
him back to Penor for punishment. However he will not
take the part of the peasantry against a Laumak in public.
His stubbornness may cost him the loyalty and commit-
ment he needs to keep the fief productive. The peasants
are already noticeably surlier, but the old man hasn’t no-
ticed.
Torkat Chapterhouse
Meketa Bradas Sekal has led the Chapter since 718.
He drives himself and his peasants hard, and pays more
than is required to the Order. He also supports his
mother and brother who share the manor house. He feels
obliged to continue the work, begun under his predeces-
sor, to improve the wooden structure but the mason and
his work are expensive. A recent traveller claimed exper-
tise in mining and offered to look for stone in the forest;
there are rumours of an out-cropping of sound building
stone to the northeast.
He is the only Meketa who has to support a Chapter-
house with only one manor and though a brave and tal-
ented warrior he does not enjoy managing the fief. His
mother acts as his steward but she treats the locals with
disdain; making the struggle to become economic harder.
Bradas has had to borrow from a fellow Meketa, Al-
shain Risalsin, to meet his obligations. Meketa Alshain
makes Bradas welcome at Penor and it was there, after
being plied with some strong wine, that he admitted an-
other reason for his penury. He secretly takes money
from the manor’s privy purse to pay for an illegitimate
daughter and her mother in Golotha. The order may
have spawned numerous bastards across the hundred
and beyond but Bradas takes his vows seriously. He
could not bear to have his indiscretion revealed but
equally could not ignore the child he fathered. Alshain
was full of concern and offered to have the money paid
through the man who looks after his affairs. Since then
Gerd of Hawen has ensured the mother and child are well
cared for. Alshain has even had them moved to a better
house within the city, though Bradas doesn’t know that.
Alshain wants to know where they are if he ever had need
of them.
Bradas lost a talented weaponcrafter last year. De-
spite his claim to have dismissed the craftsman everyone
in the Order knows he left for higher rewards under Me-
keta Tolmey Wolkene of Hask. Bradas’ humiliation is
tempered by the relief at the reduction in expense.
HârnWorld

Bradas keeps an ostler and a wagoner who almost
pays for himself through work for Byced and Scutal. The
village has a water-mill but the mill-pond is clogged with
weed and stinks in high Summer. The miller has com-
plained to Bradas who will not allow him sufficient labour
to clear it. The lumbermill is the manor’s only real asset:
Byced provides a steady flow and lumber and the timber-
wright is efficient and effective.
Bradas’ lack of interest and his mother’s highhanded-
ness leaves most of the practical decision making in the
hands of the manor’s reeve. He maintains as diverse a
range of crops as possible and the village usually avoids
starvation. If Bradas took more interest, or trusted him
more, then the manor might thrive.
Bradas is at his happiest when leading the Chapter
into the forest in search of Kuborans, something he does
on the slightest pretext. Each spring and summer he
takes the chapter a little further into the Uld range. He
justifies these expeditions by bringing back any captives
as slaves to support the manor’s work.
In truth they require guards and are poor workers.
More often than not he sells them on at a loss compared
to the effort it takes to capture them. His men have al-
ways valued his leadership but the distractions of the fief,
his money worries, and a growing tendency to retreat
into a bottle are sapping their respect for him. If they
perform badly at the Festival of the Pillars this Summer
his embarrassment will be complete and his position as
Meketa may be open to challenge. Meketa Halan
Uelesen, who recommended him for this post and values
his loyalty, is an increasingly regular visitor; he cannot af-
ford to have someone he promoted fail.
Byced Manor
The wooden manorhouse with its observation tower
is surrounded by a ditch, bank and palisade. It is not de-
signed to hold for long, but does offer some protection for
the population in the case of a Kuboran raid.
Telmen Pendrick Rold is another beneficiary of the
deaths on the Scarlet Ribbon. He served under Meketa
Bradas in Golotha, and followed him north when he was
granted the chapter. Pendrick brought his orphaned
nephew, 5 year-old Gereras, and a maid, Sapella, to raise
him. The rest of the household comprises his squire, Rol-
dova, a junior priest, Biris, and a single laumak, to sup-
port him.
Pendrick is ambitious and drives the peasantry hard.
Currently they are working to clear more forest beyond
the isolated hamlet of Clan Zarsi so that it will grow and,
one day, become a self-sufficient manor. The lumber
they cut is dragged to Torkat for cutting into boards or
posts as part of the village’s payment to their liege. Any-
thing they need is supposed to be sold back to them but
the woodward makes sure he declares enough wood as
‘unsound’, to meet the needs of the village.
© 2015 Alun Rees, N. Robin Crossby & Columbia Games, Inc.
EMESA 13
The Telmen treats Sapella badly in public to disguise
the fact that they are lovers and his ‘nephew’ is their son.
He fears that the priest suspects the true nature of their
relationship and might offer that tasty titbit to an officer
coveting the fief. The priest is currently oblivious to the
sin going on under the manor roof. He is an arrogant
young man who cannot believe that a man of his quality
is stuck in this god-forsaken backwater.
To bolster his prestige Pendrick recruited a journey-
man weaponcrafter at last year’s Festival of the Pillars.
The village has an ox-mill; a potter; a domestic
metalcrafter; and a salter.
‘The Legion’
A handful or two of the most zealous Peonians of
Emesa would go beyond the strong words about ‘the
Harpy leading the people to freedom’. They remember
the tales their grandfathers told of their grandfathers; tales
of ‘The Legion’; tales of drill and skill at arms.
The Theocracy never knew or cared what these half-
barbarian frontier folk did and it was only with the arrival
of the Warriors that the Legion was rooted out and
crushed. Elders who had, traditionally, led each hamlet’s
‘cohort’ were tortured and burned alive before their fami-
lies and friends. Weapons that had been hoarded and re-
paired, and shields that had been patched and refurbished
by each successive generation, were impounded. Any-
one found with a weapon, let alone practicing with it, was
subject to summary execution. The organisation that had
protected the Emesans for nearly 300 years died in 690;
or did it?
Last Spring the son of Torkat’s woodward was clear-
ing tree stumps half way to Byced. Stuffed into a long
forgotten hollow beneath one of the stumps were 7 short
swords carefully packed in oiled cloth. With them were
several pages of parchment. The ink had faded to a
barely legible dull red but would, anyway, have been be-
yond the illiterate youth. It was the illustrations that ig-
nited his imagination: legionary sword drills.
The boy’s name was Korin of Thald and he didn’t
just see pictures, he saw divine instruction. Local legends
say that Peoni’s warriors always wore red, and here were
warriors drawn in red practicing with the swords she had
sent him. No longer was he confined to the life his father
had led; now he was to be Peoni’s strong right arm. He
was to find six others, train them as she instructed, and
take the fight to the oppressors.
He continues to weigh the qualities of the youths he
meets when he accompanies his father to Emesa market.
However, he has not been impressed by anyone yet. He
is beginning to wonder whether Peoni’s gifts were all in-
tended for local people. Perhaps he needs to seek outsid-
ers to help him in his cause. If he cannot find locals he
has resolved to approach strangers to Emesa at the next
beast fair. Surely Peoni’s sister-harpy, Heneryne, will
guide him to the magnificent warriors he needs.
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 EMESA 14

© 2015 Alun Rees, N. Robin Crossby & Columbia Games, Inc.

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