Post by Gamemaster on Jul 4, 2007 20:43:41 GMT -5
(See the Angenmar Paven thread that is linked to below for events that happened prior to Kortelan's journey to Tollania.)
Angenmar Paven
www.naegame.proboards83.com/index.cgi?board=northpeninsula&action=display&thread=1177333998&page=8
(The date is Oron 15, Salgan 1, Adonsik 41 Cledman VI.)
Five riders depart from Angenmar Paven heading southeast. They are Ulor Kortelan, Ersolan, Lorgan and two of Lorgan's cavalrymen.
They ride most of the day to reach their destination which is located between Angenmar Paven and the Kajak River, but closer to the river. In fact, Verronia is now closer than Angenmar Paven.
When at last they reach their destination, it is as though they have entered a small kingdom set apart from the rest of the world. It even has a name as Kortelan explains to his companions. The local people call it "Tollania," meaning the land of Tollan. (Tollan was Kortelan's great grandfather.)
The surrounding lands are all small plots worked by subsistence farmers or barely larger plots worked by bitter descendants of former noblemen. These are separated from each other by hedgerows, walls and fences. Tollania, by contrast, has vast tracts of open farm land and entire villages of peasant tenant-farmers living together.
The road leading to Tollania is small, full of pot holes and frequently damaged by washouts, but once the road reaches Tollania, it widens out and is smooth and well maintained by peasant labourers.
As soon as the first peasant catches sight of the riders, he recognizes Kortelan, shouts out a greeting and then runs off to spread the news.
After riding for a few talong, the riders come into view of a large manor house on a hill. It looks like the house of a nobleman. It was built centuries ago as the house of a nobleman, but is in other hands now.
"Is that your father's house?" Ersolan asks, pointing to the manor house on the hill.
"No," Kortelan says with a smile, "This is West Tollania. That's my Uncle Nartelan's house. My father owns the eastern part farther up."
"How much is there to this Tollania?" Lorgan asks.
Kortelan says, "I don't know exactly, but it was large in my great grandfather's time and my grandfather Tortelan bought even more during his lifetime. My father and my uncle also added to it. Nearby are some holdings of some cousins though there is some joking about whether that is really part of Tollania or not. Even if you don't count my cousins' land, it is well over a hundred square talong. Maybe two hundred. I'm not sure. (Thousands of acres. Possibly 10,000 acres.)
Kortelan continues, "Uncle Nart inherited the house, but my father got more land to make up for it. Then he built his own house."
As they approach another peasant village, Kortelan announces, "Now we're in East Tollania. Home."
Just after he says that, a small crowd of children comes running out of the village. They are careful not to get too close to the horses, but they run up to the riders shouting, "Welcome back, master Kortelan!"
Kortelan greets them and rides on. Soon, they come into sight of an even larger house. This one is more recently built. It is decades old instead of centuries old, but it is made of stone and is larger than Nartelan's manor house. It is built like a fortress. It even has an outer wall.
"That's almost as strongly fortified as the Starmet Uloresh (Ulor's Palace) at Bakoya Kajak!" Ersolan exclaims.
Lorgan says, "Were your family noblemen?"
"No," Kortelan says, "But we ended up owning a lot of their lands and even houses. There are two other noblemen's manor houses on my father's land. One you can see there," he points into the distance at a smaller, older building, "We use that for additional servants' quarters now. The other one burned down and is only a ruin now."
Ersolan asks, "Why did your father build a house like a fortress? It even has a tower and slits for archers."
Kortelan says, "We have enemies. The other manor house didn't just burn down. It was deliberately set on fire while we lived there. Two of our servants' children died in the fire. The people who did it were relatives of the nobleman who used to own it. Not that we ever did anything to them. We bought all this land. The noblemen were gone before we got here."
Angenmar Paven
www.naegame.proboards83.com/index.cgi?board=northpeninsula&action=display&thread=1177333998&page=8
(The date is Oron 15, Salgan 1, Adonsik 41 Cledman VI.)
Five riders depart from Angenmar Paven heading southeast. They are Ulor Kortelan, Ersolan, Lorgan and two of Lorgan's cavalrymen.
They ride most of the day to reach their destination which is located between Angenmar Paven and the Kajak River, but closer to the river. In fact, Verronia is now closer than Angenmar Paven.
When at last they reach their destination, it is as though they have entered a small kingdom set apart from the rest of the world. It even has a name as Kortelan explains to his companions. The local people call it "Tollania," meaning the land of Tollan. (Tollan was Kortelan's great grandfather.)
The surrounding lands are all small plots worked by subsistence farmers or barely larger plots worked by bitter descendants of former noblemen. These are separated from each other by hedgerows, walls and fences. Tollania, by contrast, has vast tracts of open farm land and entire villages of peasant tenant-farmers living together.
The road leading to Tollania is small, full of pot holes and frequently damaged by washouts, but once the road reaches Tollania, it widens out and is smooth and well maintained by peasant labourers.
As soon as the first peasant catches sight of the riders, he recognizes Kortelan, shouts out a greeting and then runs off to spread the news.
After riding for a few talong, the riders come into view of a large manor house on a hill. It looks like the house of a nobleman. It was built centuries ago as the house of a nobleman, but is in other hands now.
"Is that your father's house?" Ersolan asks, pointing to the manor house on the hill.
"No," Kortelan says with a smile, "This is West Tollania. That's my Uncle Nartelan's house. My father owns the eastern part farther up."
"How much is there to this Tollania?" Lorgan asks.
Kortelan says, "I don't know exactly, but it was large in my great grandfather's time and my grandfather Tortelan bought even more during his lifetime. My father and my uncle also added to it. Nearby are some holdings of some cousins though there is some joking about whether that is really part of Tollania or not. Even if you don't count my cousins' land, it is well over a hundred square talong. Maybe two hundred. I'm not sure. (Thousands of acres. Possibly 10,000 acres.)
Kortelan continues, "Uncle Nart inherited the house, but my father got more land to make up for it. Then he built his own house."
As they approach another peasant village, Kortelan announces, "Now we're in East Tollania. Home."
Just after he says that, a small crowd of children comes running out of the village. They are careful not to get too close to the horses, but they run up to the riders shouting, "Welcome back, master Kortelan!"
Kortelan greets them and rides on. Soon, they come into sight of an even larger house. This one is more recently built. It is decades old instead of centuries old, but it is made of stone and is larger than Nartelan's manor house. It is built like a fortress. It even has an outer wall.
"That's almost as strongly fortified as the Starmet Uloresh (Ulor's Palace) at Bakoya Kajak!" Ersolan exclaims.
Lorgan says, "Were your family noblemen?"
"No," Kortelan says, "But we ended up owning a lot of their lands and even houses. There are two other noblemen's manor houses on my father's land. One you can see there," he points into the distance at a smaller, older building, "We use that for additional servants' quarters now. The other one burned down and is only a ruin now."
Ersolan asks, "Why did your father build a house like a fortress? It even has a tower and slits for archers."
Kortelan says, "We have enemies. The other manor house didn't just burn down. It was deliberately set on fire while we lived there. Two of our servants' children died in the fire. The people who did it were relatives of the nobleman who used to own it. Not that we ever did anything to them. We bought all this land. The noblemen were gone before we got here."