The Reminder-Wood
A history of Resinderholz from Vantenfalk to Arnmeyer
By Gavril Princep, Amalia Abstreiter and Hannes.
A note from the High Historian
Part of the role of the High Historian is to read through the works of the Civil Service and decide if there are parts within that work that require redacting. This is of particular importance when one is a Priest of Stallia, when the pages are filled with your home's successes and failures, and when it has been your role in your society to balance the scales when knowledge has created a dangerous and corruptive force threatening those you’ve sworn to protect.
And so after analysing what could or should be redacted, I kept coming back to what these pages have reminded me. Failures and successes are invaluable. And there will always be knowledge that you may seek out and find little use of to yourself, but that others would find invaluable.No one single soul can truly make a call on what is right and just and what is not. So let us truly learn from the souls in these pages, the homes carved out with steel and faith.
So let the acts of destruction of our heritage and past by Eugen Anmeyer, The Regretful Baron, be a reminder to ourselves for the future, so that never again will there be a scramble to understand one's pasts in the way we must do so now.
Houndspriest Wenche Vanatoure, originally of Vassertal, now of Resinderholz. High Historian
It is a rare and enthralling joy to be able to bring friends together and put quill to page regarding our home. Such is my business within The Concord that I seldom get a chance to delve into the research and reading that began my work in the Baronies. In this matter, I thank the current High Historian, Wenche for presenting this opportunity.
We have been charged with producing a text on the history of Resinderholz, no small feat, particularly with the time pressures presented to us. In order to complete this task, there are three authors present within these pages; Myself, Amalia Abstreiter of Eisen, and Hannes of Wolstad. All are sages and knowledgeable people of the highest quality who I respect greatly. They have my thanks for being willing to join me in this duty.
This report has been split into four parts, excluding this introduction and closing remarks. They are as follows:
- The Expeditions (30BE to 19AE), detailing the lands of Resinderholz before the arrival of my people, the establishment of the Barony and the first and second Barons.
- The Quartet Years (20AE to 149AE) details Resinderholz during the vast bulk of its existence while at the height of the Baronies, including the disempowerment of the Barons.
- The Years of War (150AE to 204AE) detailing the Baronies’ actions and life during the first contacts with the Zekartaal, ending in the Year Without Moon.
- The Plague (205AE to 221AE) detailing the arrival of Blasserstreit, the fall of Vassertal and Verlorenherz and the creation of The Concord.
Finally, I welcome those who are not of the Baronies who behold this document. Much of our history is obscured with fear, loss and malice. It was on the orders of Baron Arnmeyer that much of our history was destroyed shortly before the signing of The Concord. It is with this forewarning that I welcome you to a new history of the Baronies, not in replacement of the old, but in pursuit of a new future.
We will endure,
Symposiarch Gavril Princep, May, 224AE.
The Expeditions and the Crown
“There is no force in the world that can turn me from my path and where my feet tread shall be burned clear by faith and flame. Such is the will of my indomitable soul.” - Idris Vantenfalk, Priest of the Iron Flame
Before we discuss the expeditions into The Weald, the scene must be set. Prior to the arrival of these expeditions, The Weald was generally regarded as a place of little worth. To the people of Posta Lerona it was far enough away to be of little threat and there were plenty of smaller woods to the east along the eaves of the Steinvaults for harvesting timber. Trade was non-existent outside of small interactions with the Valleyfolk to the east and so there was little interest in attempting to cross The Weald to the ruins of Andash or to the Endemani in the north east.
What was known by the Esterrans of the region, knowledge they passed onto the Artebazzani that arrived, was that The Weald was not only cursed, but also inhabited. The ‘Throngs’ of the cursed forest (an Esterran term for collections of tribes within the Weald’s ever shifting political environment) were known to be dangerous to settlements established too close to the eaves. It was thought that within three days travel was too close to the hunting grounds of the Throngs. The victory records of the 11th Legion that helped established Posta Lerona noted that among the many titles of the Esterran warlord who ruled here, Atrugan of the Headwaters, was ‘Throngslayer’, implying success in wars against the tribes of The Weald.
It is common knowledge that an assortment of Esterrans, Drummondites and Artebazzani entered The Weald during the years of 30BE and 19AE. These expeditions were motivated for a variety of very human reasons; greed, faith, fear, and hope. Our records are incomplete, but the higher end of estimates place the total number of major expeditions (at least two hundred souls) near enough to twenty. Of these twenty expeditions, there are only three that are relevant to our research (that we understand to any great amount). They are detailed in the following tracts.
The Vantenfalk Expedition
Idris Vantenfalk, if records are to be believed, was a banished Noble of Drummond, an early convert to the faith of The Spheres. Records do not detail if his banishment was due to this conversion, only stating that “Master Vantenfalk fled his homeland on pain of death for his role in the betrayal of Thornhowl Citadel, so driven was he by his newfound faith. The Hunger was fed by his actions; such a thing could not be forgiven.”
A merchant’s ledger shows that Master Idris departed Posta Lerona with a retinue containing Noble allies, peasant retainers, numerous Priests and a contingent of armed warriors. In Posta Lerona he obtained supplies, lost some of his Priests to local ministering, and as is the nature with Posta Lerona, gained mercenaries.
We know that the Vantenfalk expedition passed through the lands that would become Resinderholz, and even made camp at the site of Wolstad during the winter of 30BE. The damaged diary of one of this Artebazzani mercenaries recorded the following tract:
“Master Vantenfalk has decreed that we shall stay here in the shade of this vast and dead oak. His visions come to him ever greater and ever stronger. Such magic is dangerous to be sure. But when we entered the clearing shrouded in snow and beheld the corpse tree he rushed to embrace it. A single blade rested against the trunk and he rested his forehead upon it for some time. I long to return to home but fear the way has closed behind us. There is no returning now.”
This diary of Leopulio Van’Toiga remained in Castle Oxstone, and so our ability to confirm its writings outside of secondary sources is difficult. But this characterisation of Idris Vantenfalk as a vision-blessed Priest driven to The Weald by The Spheres further blesses our presence here so many years later. The revelation that the Gravetree was also notable to the Tribes of Resinderholz is of little surprise, given its majesty.
We know that the Vantenfalk expedition travelled onwards, departing Resinderholz for Verlorenherz before falling from our archives. It is accepted that some of Vantenfalk’s expedition broke off during their travels in Resinderholz, perhaps staying at the future site of Wolstad following the winter of 30BE. Future expeditions noted that the ruins of a small settlement at the site were present, but there were no souls to be known.
While Vantenfalk is minor in the overall history of the Baronies, it does represent our earliest reference to the region and the first possible settlement by what could be called ‘Pre-baronies’.
The Haldorbrant Expedition
Ontorious Haldorbrant was an Artebazzani merchants son who had married an Esterran man, believed to be a Baillite and took his husbands name as his own, an uncommon practice at the time given the low status of the Bailites within the region, but the particular personal circumstances of this are lost to time.
What we do know is that Ontorious, his husband and perhaps as many as four hundred individuals departed Posta Lerona in 24BE with the intent of travelling north and settling the Greenweald, particularly following the routes of Idris Vantenfalk. Records indicate that this party was predominantly craftsfolk and individuals of some means but hardly petty nobility. Ontorious was notable in his exclusion of vast amounts of mercenary or military forces from the expedition, which his family had significant investment in. Rather his expedition was well furnished with carpenters, Bailite hunters and other skilled woodsfolk.
Following their departure, Ontorius’ expedition drops off of our records for two years. But a careful eye can see the arrival of traders in northern areas of New Cordisia in 22BE. These traders were remarked upon by a local Legionnaire commander as follows:
“Camp received a foursome of traders in the late afternoon. All were dishevelled and unkempt. Their oxen was the cleanest of them. They offered wooden wares for trade to replenish our supplies. We purchased replacement tent poles, spear shafts and arrows from the group who said they had come from a place named ‘Wolstad’ in the north and that they were a Spheric people. They would not trade their oxen despite our offering to pay twice its price. They departed before nightfall.”
This reference of Wolstad by name is of great import, the first time such a reference can be found. Judging by the state of these merchants and their reliance on a single oxen (Ontorious’ expedition departed with over thirty of the beasts) an assumption could be made that the settlement Ontorious’ had led had fallen on hard times, but not so hard that trade was not possible.
The only other reference to the Haldorbrant expedition can be found on the western outskirts of Wolstad itself and in its absence. Future expeditions reference no large group of people, or any group of people residing at the site of Wolstad, but they do reference large numbers of well made buildings at the site surrounding The Gravetree.
But on the western edge of Wolstad, beyond the Hark and Hew Tavern, there is a small clearing with an exceedingly old cairn. The cairn was long ago opened and looted. But text carved into the wooden roots that break within its sepulchral form was long thought to be Zekartaal, but with the possibility that it might be Bailite in origin, I brought in a translator from Strivington who successfully translated the text which is splayed out over numerous roots within the space. I have had it transcribed below.
| In the shadow of roots where dreams lay still,
I carve your name in silence, Ontorious, Beneath the weight of stars, my heart’s lost will, A warrior’s strength, but a heart so callous.
We forged a town, a life, a whispered vow, Yet I, the hero, held love’s warmth like glass, Too blind to see the cracks my heart allowed.
Your laughter, bright as dawn through ancient trees. I wore my armour, thought it kept me still, But you needed more than fleeting victories.
I stood, steadfast, while you sought the light. Your love was my shield, soft as starlit flights, Yet I, so distant, turned our days to blight.
With soil beneath my fingers, tears like rain. No blade nor bow can conquer this cruel dome— The fiercest fight, to face my deep disdain. |
Your dreams outshone my strength, your heart, a spark,
In shadows I roamed, while you whispered bright. How foolish was I, how blind to the dark, A warrior lost, while you brought the light.
In the silence where I failed to hold you near. I’ll carry your name, though it brings me no vows— A heavy heart bears the weight of regret’s spear.
You gave me your all, and I left you alone. Now I sing your name to the cold, bitter air, For love is the greatest strength I have known.
A name born of hope, from the heart of your dreams, Yet now, in this hollow, the sorrow just grows— My name on this land feels like cruel, broken seams.
Through the haunting whispers of our shared embrace. For here, in the silence, I cannot find peace— I’ll roam these woods, searching for your trace. |
While we cannot say for sure, it is my belief that the first settlement of Wolstad, so named for the Baillite husband of the settlements commander, failed somewhere between four and six years after it began. Judging by Wolstad’s lament above it was at least partially from the predations of beasts within the region.
Those that came after remarked on the good state of the abandoned settlement so it is unlikely that some horrific monster swarmed the town and dealt great malady to its people since it would surely have left some sign. Instead it is likely that it was some collection of misfortunes that resulted in the expedition's failure.
But at least it gave us the name of our capital, if that can be of any solace.
The Dornhauer Expedition
Once again we are blessed with a Drummondite noble blessed by the Spheres. Enchantress Alexis Dornhauer of House Saffamond had heard legend of the cursed forest of Esterra and appears to have departed Drummond with the explicit intention of claiming the forest for herself and her house. The largest expedition of the three that we remark here. Records from the local Artebazzani leadership in Posta Lerona that received the Drummondite flotilla remarked that Dornhauer arrived with over one hundred knights, two hundred common warriors, a retinue of fifteen magi and nearly a thousand commonfolk serviles.
Evidence to her intensity (despite much to her speed and dynamism, records indicate that Dornhauer was a Cervini) is that the expedition spent no more than two nights in Posta Lerona before departing. Although it is noted that the expedition did take on an additional near-five hundred souls during this time. Likely local mercenaries and common folk looking for new opportunities in the shelter of knightly protection.
Thankfully, the Enchantress’ steward, a man named Viktor Kraul, sent regular communication back to Posta Lerona to secure additional supplies and reinforcements from House Saffamond in Drummond. It appears that the House continued to support the expedition for some time, at least into 8AE, ten years after its departure.
Were it not for its eventual failure it would likely be appropriate to list the Dornhauer expedition as the establishment of Resinderholz, such was the extent of the settlement. Based on Kraul’s estimations at the highpoint of the expedition it had settled Wolstad (which they termed Highmeadow), Eisen (which they called Riverbend) and a third settlement known as The Conscecratia, which we have no record of.
But it did fail in the end.
It appears that The Dornhauer expedition met the Weald not with ambitious appeal or morose doomsaying but with flame and iron. The clearing around the Gravetree was reportedly grown by as much as three paces a day during the height of its establishment and there were as many as nine attempts to settle additional groups across what was theorised to be known as ‘Duchy Starbough’.
In all honesty, Kraul’s writings are extensive and would require nearly a year's worth of study to fully understand (many thanks to Master Cleo Van Greola for allowing me to study them as long as I did). But we do know that these Drummondites spread farther than any had before them.
Of note towards its collapse are two great misfortunes.
The first was some curse referred to by Kraul as ‘The Darkening of the Path’. During the latter parts of the expedition's successes, around the year of 5AE, it began to be problematic to communicate between the various settlements. There were no communications between Highmeadow and Riverbend for a year and a day between 5AE and 6AE, The Conscecratia entirely disappeared for three months. But in all these cases the settlements were found to be entirely functional and unmolested (such as could be remarked) and were expecting the same difficulty in the other direction. Over time it appeared that these ‘Darkenings’ increased in frequency in duration with no cause ever being prescribed. This has the unfortunate effect of making it exceedingly difficult to determine the end of the expedition as we only have Kraul’s writings from Highmeadow to base our work off of.
The other misfortune was dubbed by Kraul as ‘The Scourge on Wings’.
Early reports from Highmeadow’s settlement repeatedly refer to problems with large swarms of bats. Sometimes in the surrounding areas, sometimes infesting whole buildings and driving their inhabitants out. Kraul gives reference to ‘Bat Hunts’ where knights clad in full harness would enter these houses with daggers and shields in an attempt to drive the vermin out, only to find that some of the creatures had wrapped themselves about the corpse of one of the houses inhabitants and were working their way through the corpse (Kraul’s words, not my own, there is no greater distinction available).
Matters worsened during the year 5AE when a sickness swept the settlement. Called the ‘Cold Bite’, this vermin-carried infection (Kraul notes that it was carried by rats and hares as well as bats) brought on shivering, fever and catatonia before death. While survivable by healthy adults given ample food and water, it was far more deadly for babes and children. Kraul indicates that Enchanter Dornhauer’s daughter (Allisen) and son (William) both perished from the illness and her husband, the Knight Commander Ser William Valliant shortly after.
In the following years Kraul recounts continued attacks by bats, vermin and also human foes. Kraul’s writing describes ‘wildfolk of the woods striking and burning with reckless abandon. Their corpses are things I cannot bear to write of but remain in my mind’. Over these years Kraul’s writings become less and less frequent before
Cutoff from its allies across the seas and within the Weald, Duchy Starbough was torn apart piece by piece but its corpse left behind many of the wide swathes of what we would call Resinderholz. Wolstad, Eisen and the beginnings of the Baron’s Road to name a few.
If I may be so bold, it is my firm belief that the images found by Concordian heroes in The Graven Glade refer to Enchantress Alexis and the collapse of Duchy Starbough. If I am correct, it would not be false to lay its torture and destruction at he clawed feat of Vanguul the Feaster.
The First Baroness and the Second Baron
With our stage set, we must now discuss the first Baroness and the second Baron. More than any others they were constrained by the circumstances that came before them but also rose above them to lay the groundwork for these future entries. It is also worth noting that from this point onwards it is far easier for us to understand the circumstances these people experience. It is likely that, were you able to, a modern Concordian returned to this time would have little trouble navigating the townships of Wolstad or Eisen or understanding the peoples present.
The Candleblade and the First Baroness
Much to my disappointment and likely to the enjoyment of some long ago sage, we do not know the name of the First Baroness of Resinderholz. There appears to have been a considerable effort to strike her name from the records be it then or now. With this in mind, I will refer to her by her sobriquet; The Candleblade.
The Candleblade becomes apparent in the settlement of Eisen in 12AE. Records have a small collection of people inhabiting the buildings during this time, likely survivors of the various failed expeditions or their descendants. The Candleblade won a local tourney to celebrate midwinter's eve (a Drummondite tradition) and was gifted a longsword with a stylised hilt and crossguard like that of a candle, giving her the title. The tourney appears to have been a grand melee in the Drummondite style, giving the image of a heroic young woman capable of besting hard worn warriors of the Weald.
Our next records of The Candleblade come some years later, in 14AE and were found to come from the perspective of settlements in Verlorenherz which were significantly more advanced and stable at the time. I have managed to repeat this report verbatim as I copied it from a library in Wolstad:
From the diary of one, Luther Wendillmire, penned in late 14AE.
There is war in the south! Oh misfortune my name is Luther! Credil returns to me this morning telling me that the latest caravan to Posta Lerona has been turned back at Wolstad by a besieging army! A woman-warlord calling herself The Candleblade has called out the Knight of Gravetree to single combat and apparently the man is refusing! Her troops are allowing no peoples in or out of the city until the Knight answers for his crimes. Without the chance to stop for supplies Credil returned to me here.
Now I understand better than most that Ser Zuuecker is hardly an amenable man but surely this is folly! Wolstad is blessed land and the man has known no defeat! Not from beast or blade! This silly woman should make like the rest of us and open her coinpurse.
Records indicate the siege of Wolstad by The Candleblades army (likely raised from Eisen) lasted little more than a month. The ‘Knight of Gravetree’ was reportedly slain in single combat by the Candleblade, his axe added to the Gravetree.
From this point, our records of The Candleblade are more numerous and based in Wolstad itself. Writings of the time indicate that she was a young woman (‘Before her thirtieth year’ as clear as that is) and a fiery Einherjar (‘Her ramshorn were as hard as her blade and the talk of the town’). There is no indication that The Candleblade took a husband or had any other kind of family. What is known is that she undertook four additional campaigns between the capture of Wolstad in 14AE and late 18AE.
The first was a southwestern push, which struck out to the base of the La Calidez mountains. The specifics are thin to be found but it is said “The Candleblade and her warriors slew many great beasts and defeated the self-styled warrior king ‘Black Ivan’”.
The second was to the south in response to the levying of a powerful curse against Wolstad itself. This was the first great campaign that included heavily armed ‘Hunting Priests’ and their loyal hounds. Records of the campaign indicate that at the base of the mountains ‘The Candleblade found two things; the Beast of White Hart and The Spheres. When the Beast of White Hart was slain the Candleblade was blessed in its blood by Hauvig of Stross. From then on she vowed to dedicate her life and her lands to the Spheres.’ This confirms that prior to the second campaign The Candleblade had been a heathen despite worship of the Spheres being common in the region at the time.
The third campaign defeated a rebellion in Eisen, resulting in a bloody battle ‘amidst the graves of the Drummondites’. Accounts of the campaign state that a group of priests challenged The Candleblade’s recent conversion and accused her of ‘Sagery’. In response it is claimed that The Candleblade gave a great feast and rite to The Peak in Wolstad before marching on Eisen and nearly burning it to the ground.
The final campaign, and the one that would claim her life, was the largest in scale. The Candleblade and a trusted advisor by the name Valint Brockenmann responded to what The Candleblade perceived as encroachment on their territory by the forces of ‘The Northern Baroness’. A large army departed Wolstad under the command of Brockenmann while a second under The Candleblade’s command moved from Eisen. It is said that while Brockenmann encountered minimal resistance moving north into Verlorenherz, The Candleblade was forestalled at every stage by both misfortune and battle. Her forces were defeated by the son of ‘The Northern Baronness’ (since confirmed to be Klaus Hartsin, son of Baronness Narina Hartsin of Verlorenherz) at a battle near the township of Valk. An account from the time reads thusly:
“As the day drew dark and ending, The Candleblade was struck down by one of the Baroness’ dark Sages, those forestfolk who walked between wilds and woe. Her bladed spear split the Candleblade’s head from her shoulders and the Weald wept.”
Following their defeat at Valk, much of The Candleblade’s army dispersed and Brockenmann (once he became aware) retreated to Wolstad with his forces.
In six years this unknown woman rose from skilled warrior in a border town to the Warlord of her own domain, counting thousands of subjects and at least six campaigns to her name. While she was not called Baroness in her time, she truly forged Wolstad in her fire.
The mausoleum of The Candleblade hopefully still remains in Konigsrue under occupation by the Zekartaal. I can only hope that it has remained unmolested in their many years of holding it. For someday The Baronies may once again need to draw the Candleblade itself in anger.
The Advisor and The Second Baron
Following the defeat at Valk, Valint Brockenmann was the natural replacement for The Candleblade. A captain from Wolstad, Brockenmann was well respected and had once been a supporter of the Knight of the Gravetree, Ser Juergen Zuuecker. A man of numbers and diplomacy, he had overseen Wolstad during The Candleblade’s first and third crusades and was well trusted by the First Baroness.
However it appears that the first two years of his rule were hardly without issue. Even though the transfer of power was unopposed, the burgeoning polity was still at war with Verlorenherz to the north and was still beset by the myriad dangers of the Weald. Lacking any trusted advisors, Brockenmann relied on family members such as his wife, young sons and sister. But many of these individuals were skilled in other areas rather than the business of managing a nation. It was during these two years that pre-Resinderholz struggled to retain control against a hostile Verlorenherz and its own ambitions.
Relief came in 19AE from a most unexpected source. Baronness Narina invented what she termed as ‘Barons’ from across Ritterswald, Vassertal and Resinderholz to meet in Konigsrue to discuss peace and the future of the region. It appears that these bloody conflicts of territory were breaking out across the Weald and rather than continue the conflict, Narina saw to put it to bed.
The records of the First Council of Barons are immense and largely incomplete, certainly worthy of their own historic research, but upon his return Valint was styling himself Baron Brockenmann. He met with his leaders in Wolstad and said that he had seen the mausoleum of The Candleblade that Baroness Narina had built in Konisgrue and had spoken to her of peace. The newly established barony of Resinderholz ceded lands won by The Candleblade north of where the pines turn to furs and any lands beyond the Eisen river (which had been skirmished over since the settlement began). In exchange the Baronies of Verlorenherz and Vassertal confirmed Resinderholz’s claim to all lands south and west of these markers.
In 20AE, Brockenmann held a feast in Wolstad where a symbolic Candleblade (which still remains in 224 on my checking) was suspended from The Gravetree. He named The Candleblade the first Baroness of Resinderholz and endeavoured to carry on Resinderholz ever on in her legacy and if ever his people needed to remember what they fought for, they could look to the highest boughs of the Gravetree to be reminded. Consequently, this is where the name of the Barony originates, Resinderholz translating into the common Artebazzani as Reminding-Wood.
What follows is a term of rulership longer than nearly any Baron since.
Brockenmann was near forty-five in 20AE and would rule for an additional twenty-four years during a time of unparalleled peace and growth within Resinderholz. Much of this time appears dedicated to stability and growth within the twin settlements of Wolstad and Eisen, but largely focused on Wolstad. It appears that during his years supporting the Knight of Gravetree and The Candleblade Brockenmann had his fill of war and there are no records of any great battles or campaigns during his rule.
What is recorded is much construction in Wolstad including numerous streets, whole neighbourhoods and the completion of the plaza around the Gravetree itself. The establishment of Chapter Kristov in Wolstad and the Eisen Ritterschool within that township (on which the teachings of the modern Eisen Battle Academy are based). Valint visited Baron Zachariah Worgen in Vassertal following the arrival of Bordevarians in the region and offered counsel. By the time of his death in 44AE, Valint was in his early seventies, had amassed a respectable fortune for his family and was a foremost among any of the four barons of his time. Buried in a vast mausoleum in the Baronies north the sealed precipice of his tomb-room read thusly:
Within are the remains of Valint Brockenmann, Second Baron of Resinderholz
A man of strong bearing and respectable temperament.
He wished for little more than peace for his people and a home for his family.
May the Spheres accept their most faithful servant.
The Quartet Years
Before I begin, I would like to thank Symposiarch Princep in particular for seeking out myself for this section of research.
Since my retirement from being a Huntsmarshall in an official capacity, I have been engaging in cataloguing the known histories of our previous Barons, particularly during the time in which The Baronies were supposedly at their height. The Quartet Years (approximately 20AE to 149AE) is a period incredibly rich in Resinderholz’s history, despite the destruction of much of our information at the hands, directly or not, of Baron Arnmeyer. There is much to be learned of the behaviour of the populace through the individuals that they allowed or encouraged to rule, or, in one case, rejected entirely from such a position. Given my prior role in wider Resinderholz, the period also holds a particularly special place in my heart due to the origin of The Huntsmarshall’s Guild in Velorenherz during the time, and their eventual operation in our Barony.
Due to the extended time which this era of Greenwealdean history covers, it seemed the most pertinent to focus somewhat specifically on the Barons of this era - they were, despite their rapid disempowerment, one of the most defining exemplars of the different cultural shifts that we see across Resinderholz in this time.
If any of the information within these sections or the Barons themselves are of particular interest to individuals within The Greenweald, or the wider Concord for that matter, there would most certainly be an opportunity to be found to research further into these areas, depending where this focus may lie.
Baron Vinzenz Brockenmann
Eldest son of Baron Valint Brockenmann, Baron Vinzenz Brockenmann was inducted into the position sometime between the autumn of 44AE and winter of 45AE - although the specific date has been lost, we can presume this due to the invoice for new drapes placed by the Baronial Estate in the spring of 45AE with the following request:
“New window coverings are to be made for each of the main chambers within the Baronial Estate - though the ones presently in place are in near-perfect condition, the “dour” colouring of the fabric creates an “air of melancholy that is quite unbearable.”
The approach Baron Brockenmann the Second seems to have taken on the maintenance of the Baronial Estate appears to be a rather accurate representation of his overall philosophy on the maintenance of Resinderholz - amenable to carrying over the foundations of his father’s governance, but wishing to change things that, by all accounts, did not necessarily need to be altered.
The years following his inauguration into power were, from the information that we have at present, reasonably stable. Much like his father, Brockenmann the Second had the security of a stable Baronial Estate and staff, and so was able to lay his focus into the development of other settlements in Resinderholz, including Eisen and the bones of Krezenberg, with the architectural plans for Krezenberg Monastery being completed during his rule in 50AE.
Further, Brockenmann the Second was responsible for the establishment of many of the cultural traditions and celebrations still in place today, including the Blumenmod Festivities still held around May of each year in Wolstad.
Unfortunately, however, the dispensation of resources while Baron Brockenmann the Second was in power seems to point either to a lack of understanding of the wider state of the Barony, or, perhaps more critically, a degree of apathy to it.
Primary among such decisions was the movement of nearly all Ritters within his reach to Eisen to patrol along the border of Weiland. Though this move was understandable, given the nature of Ritters as a protection against external threats, the border skirmishes against Bordevarian Knights attempting to expand their colonisation created their own difficulties.
As The Weald is a reactive entity, it is believed by some primary sources that the movement of such vast numbers of Ritters through The Sablehearts is one of the many reasons that many fae creatures, as well as creatures of other ilk, became quite such a severe problem during this time: the Weald responded to military might with a monstrous might of its own. One such source, the diary of a Wealdsage abandoned in The Sableheart states as follows:
“The Baron’s Ritters are disrupting too much - I can hear the clanking of their boots through the trees even now, echoing through my bones as I try to sleep. She is displeased, as she always is, and where there is displeasure for her, there will be pain for the Havens.”
In response, many of the settlements outside of The Sableheart seem to have become more segregated in their behaviours - many grew to rely further on the Houndspriests based in Chapter Kristov, hoping the warrior-Priests would save them from the worst of the monsters, while others looked to the Wealdsages to offer themselves as shields against what dwelled within the dark.
Unfortunately, this segregation, along with the toll that his overly enthusiastic spending was having on the overall economy of The Weald, did not seem to be recognised by Baron Brockenmann the Second. There is some speculation that either his Seneschal was signing commissions and orders on his behalf without his knowing, or that he was simply too ill-informed to recognise such great inefficient uses of resources.
The final paper signed by the Baron was his most controversial, with no full copies of it remaining, even within the archives of Houndspriest Chapter Kristov. It is, however, known that the document included by-laws that enabled the prominent Wealdsage Coven at the time full Baronial protection for their activities in protecting people from The Weald.
Whether this contract was one signed with full knowledge of its repercussions, or the idle scrawling of a man out of his bureaucratic depth, is unknown. What is known, however, is the immediate aftermath.
Baron Vaughust Brockenmann
Second son of Baron Valint Brockenmann, Baron Vaughust Brockenmann (henceforth noted as Baron Brockenmann the Last), rose to power in 55AE after executing his eldest brother for crimes against The Spheres.
Graced by Anarch, and an ardent follower of said Sphere, Baron Brockenmann the Last spent much of his time in the company of the Houndspriests of Chapter Kristov in Wolstad. Though not a Houndspriest himself, he seemed to have distanced himself from the somewhat laissez-faire attitude of his eldest brother in regards to The Spheres, and was considered, even as a young man, to be a religious zealot.
A number of complaints against the young Brockenmann placed by his father’s household guard were found amongst the household ledgers, including the following:
“Following being unable to procure a new pocketwatch for young Master Brockenmann, he stated that I would “fall into nothingness before the touch of Anarch would singe my flesh.” He then, benevolently, offered to show me what it would be like by sticking a red-hot poker into my chest. I refused his offer, much to his chagrin.”
This pattern of behaviour continued on into his adulthood, with numerous threats being leveraged against merchants, Ritters, and healers alike, all of whom were deemed to be heretics and blasphemers when they expressed differing opinions to the youngest Brockenmann.
Following his ascension to power after his execution of his brother, none of these behaviours abated. If anything, his access to resources previously inaccessible to him seems to have pushed him from a vindictive young man to, in my opinion based on his recorded actions, a totalitarian maniac.
Between the years 56AE and 59AE, Baron Brockenmann the Last authorised the burning of approximately seventy-five civilians, including the entirety of the staff of the Baronial Estate. Many of these burnings, recorded by Houndspriests selected by Brockenmann himself, were ‘justified’ by claims that these people were corrupted by the wiles of The Weald, although most that he killed were not, by all accounts, actually Wealdsages.
In fact, one of the few Wealdsages that he did burn was Niocresso Talins, who, following the removal of the curse on the then-named Eisen Pass, Brockenmann claimed had placed the curse there beforehand, and was only ‘fixing it’ in order to gain notoriety. An excerpt from the Baron’s statement at the ‘trial’ of Talins, held in Wolstad’s main square on March 7th, 58AE, is as follows:
“Look at him - I can sense that he has let go of The Spheres entirely. He has come here to embrace the darkness of The Weald, and he will drag us down into the depths with him! We must cleanse this pustulent impurity from within us, lest we be blinded by it!”
Though there is some credence to Baron Brockenmann the Last’s clear consternation over the strength of the Wealdsages and beasts of The Weald across Resinderholz at this time due to the actions of his eldest sibling, it is likely that his perfervid empowerment of the Houndspriest Chapter at the time had the opposite effect to intended.
During the period of his rule, following officially establishing the Houndspriests as the primary Constabulary across Resinderholz in 59AE, there are reports of many civilian deaths at the hands of monsters of The Weald. These events seem only to have increased the fervence of Brockenmann’s beliefs, creating a cycle that was thankfully cut off in September of 61AE.
Baron Vaugust Brockenmann was attending the re-sanctification of the recently completed Krezenberg Monastery on the 29th of the month when he was reportedly stopped by a family whose youngest daughter had been killed in a small forest fire outside of the township. The fire, started by the burning of the largest Ent populations in Resinderholz at the time, had then moved on to swallow one of the smaller Havens in the area, resulting in the child’s death.
When questioned on this, Brockenmann the Last purportedly claimed that “the child must have been seduced by The Weald” and that “the fires of Anarch would not purify someone who was already cleansed by the light of The Spheres.”
The upset this caused was presumably exacerbated by the reading of a speech, which included Brockenmann sanctifying the abbey in “the name of Anarch, the bathing blaze that burns away those of sin to save those of us of virtue.”
Understandably, there is not much information to be found of this event in the archives of Houndspriest Chapter Kristov. However, it has been noted that on the same date, twenty Houndspriests responsible for guarding Baron Brockenmann the Last died under unknown circumstances. Further, a hand-carved message on the riser of one of the steps of the Krezenberg Abbey states “a blaze burned true - may his ashes be purer than he was.”
Baron Lydia Mortensen
Baron Lydia Mortensen, titled as such on December 13th of 61AE, was the first of the Barons of Resinderholz to be officially voted in by the people of the Barony. Specifically, a series of town councils held between the 14th of October and the 5th of December detail the mayors of the three townships of Wolstad, Eisen, and Krezenberg putting forward candidates from their communities to lead the Barony.
The recommendation for Mortensen, put forward by the Mayor of Krezenberg, stated the following about the then-prospective-Baron:
“She is a studious young woman, with a keen mind for governance as exemplified by my deputising many concerns of the outer Havens to her. Further, and perhaps more importantly, she is a woman of the people, with a vested interest in the wellbeing of her community. She would do well to lead and represent all of us in Resinderholz.”
Based on her holding the position of Baron of Resinderholz for more than forty years, between December of 61AE and 107AE, Baron Mortensen appears to have been significantly more well-liked than her predecessor.
Despite the extended length of time which Baron Mortensen held the position, there is scant specific information remaining on the Barony during this time. Perhaps particular care was taken in the destruction of such records, or perhaps such records were limited in their creation; it is not known.
What is known is that, following a move to the traditional Baronial Estate in Wolstad in March of 62AE and the Council of Baronies being held in the city in the same year, Baron Mortensen officially established the Wolstad Huntsmarshall’s Guild.
Based in what had been Baron Vinzenz Brockenmann’s personal constabulary office, fallen into disrepair since his brother’s rule, the Huntsmarshall’s were a demonstration of Baron Mortensen’s commitment to aiding the commonfolk that she came from, working alongside the magistrates in the Mayor and Baron’s judiciary system, and being ultimately loyal to the people.
This seems to be a pattern in Baron Mortensen’s relationship with the people of The Weald - very much one of an individual gifted limited power, that they used near-all of it for the betterment of the populace.
Baron Lydia Mortensen passed away in 107AE, still holding the position of Baron up until the moment of her death. After her passing on February 7th, she was entombed beneath Weltschmerz Abbey, with the following epitaph:
“Here lies Baron Lydia Amalie Mortensen of Wolstad, formerly Krezenberg. May she Journey to Cervitas, for all that she did for the people of Resinderholz.”
Baron Albretch Aschauer
Following his movement from Vassteral as a young man, and his work in Eisen on the categorisation of herbs in and around the Eisen River, Baron Albretch Ashauer was recommended by the Mayor of Eisen at the time, Theodora Liescher. Though the initial reasoning for recommendation has since been lost, part of the written acquiescence from Mayor Karina Gasparth of Krezenberg to his installation has been recovered.
Within the correspondence, Gasparth expresses concerns over the quiet nature of Ashauer, given the increasing number of conflicts with Knights of The Kingdom of Bordevar along the border of Lake Ladure. They write that Ashauer may be a ‘well-meaning raven, when what we need is a dragon.” They then go on to lament the loss of ‘intended-Bechtel,’ but ultimately give written permission for the formal recognition of Ashauer as Baron of Resinderholz.
By the time of his claim of the title sometime in late 107AE to early 108AE, much of the stability provided by Baron Mortensen’s overseeing meant that Ashauer’s quiet nature was not of detriment to the Barony. If anything, by allowing most of Resinderholz to continue on as had worked for the last forty years, Baron Ashauer was able to dedicate most of his attention on the maintenance of pre-existing systems, and his own area of focus - that of medicine.
Baron Ashauer’s wife, Yosefina Ashauer, was a sickly woman, suffering from frequent fatigue, seizures, and difficulty with her memory. Although many of the herbs Ashauer worked with in his younger life assisted his wife in the worst of her symptoms, her condition seemed to be one that worsened with time. Further still, based on accounts in Yosefina’s personal journal, the condition was hereditary, passing on to her two infant sons.
In one journal entry, she wrote:
“I know that I do not have much time left - I can barely sit up in our bed any longer, and my left arm and leg do not follow the instructions of my mind. I am at peace with my coming end - I have lived for much longer than ever thought possible. Though, I do regret that my boys - sweet Miakel and Ivanth - small as they are, are soon to follow. I knew as soon as I saw their pale faces and blue-tinged lips that they were not long for this world. How I wish I could have seen them grow.”
Despite the greatest efforts of Baron Ashauer, both in his attempts to gather more physicians from Vassertal, and in his construction of Schloss Mortis, Yosefina and the twins Miakel and Ivanth died of their condition in November of 128AE.
It is reported that Baron Ashauer was silent through his public mourning period, until he stepped down from the position of Baron in June of 129AE. The ending of his parting address - “I am sorry for all that I did not do for you” - is unclear in its intended recipient.
Following his renunciation of the title, Baron Albretch Ashauer purportedly walked back to his home in Eisen, the road he walked being renamed from the Eisen Pass to the Baron’s Road following his journey, where he was last seen walking into the Eisen River.
Baron Aidel Hanselvacht
Despite seemingly serving for over fifteen years as Baron of Resinderholz, there is almost no recorded information specifically about Baron Aidel Hanselvacht. To be entirely transparent, I truly don’t know why - by all accounts he must have been a reasonably proficient Baron given the period of comparative safety that Resinderholz experienced whilst he was in the position.
The only information I was able to find was a single engraving marked on the underside one of the flagstones of the previous Baronial Estate in Wolstad (found some years ago during a case I had been working on in my duties as Huntsmarshall), which stated the following:
“You work for Baron Aidel Hanselvacht. You are his scribe. You wrote this on the 6th of September. You cannot fall asleep here.”
Baron Elias Schempfer
Baron Elias Schempfer was titled as such in 139AE, and was the final Baron prior to the Years of War. Based on the information that we have of his rule before the beginnings of the Years of War, Baron Schempfer seems to have been a somewhat distant ruler - he was, based on the records from the Baronial Estate at the time, infrequently within Wolstad at all.
Letters from 142AE detail the planning of a journey to Ritterswald, with Baron Schempfer stating that he would like to “learn from the best of the best,” and hoped that “the tactics that the Ritterswald College of Warfare [would] be effective in stopping our invaders to the east.”
In this, it is likely that Baron Schempfer was referring to the invading Knights of Bordevar, following their attempts to follow The King’s Ethos to the best of their ability. This is further reinforced by written instructions still held within the Eisen Battle Academy, now known as the Eisen College of War, stating:
“Hold your course for The Sableheart. There may be a time where these Knights attempt to attack us on a different front and our forces must move, but for the time being we must hold our eastern side secure.”
Ultimately, the unknown author of the above instruction was correct - when Bordevarian forces eventually began attacking to the north, on the eastern border of Vassertal through Royal Bordevar, a great number of the Ritters of Resinderholz were sent to assist in its defence.
At the same time, a great amount of the resources collected in Resinderholz at the time were being sent to Ritterswald to assist in stockpiling ready for conflict brewing to their north. This conflict, though predicted, could not have possibly been prepared for, given the Years of War that it became.
The Years of War
I would like to begin by thanking Symposiarch Princep and High Historian Vanatoure for the opportunity to present my knowledge to this text. I am Hannes of Wolstad, as earlier introduced by the Symposiarch, and I have spent many years gathering books, scrolls and hidden texts beneath the boughs of The Greenweald. While not all interesting nor groundbreaking, I am nonetheless excited to impart what I have managed to uncover.
In particular, I will be sharing what I have found in regards to ‘The War Years’, those times where The Baronies faced The Zekartaal. While the results are well known to us all, there is still some light to be shed on the happenings during those harsh fifty or so years. Of course, it is important to keep in mind that this Research is focused around the history of Resinderholz itself, rather than The Baronies as a whole, and so the findings are framed with this perspective in mind.
There are a few particularly notable events that occurred during The War Years:
- The Fall of Ritterswald (164AE)
- The Night of Silver Blood (183AE)
- Before The Zekartaal Return from Andash (164AE - 188AE)
- The War of Molten Moon (198AE - 204AE)
- The Year Without Moon (204AE)
Over the course of these fifty odd years, Resinderholz would see very little in terms of the brunt of the action. As the furthest from the Zekartaal attacks, there was a rather focused effort on providing rear-line support and aid. As one may expect, this took many forms such as Militarily, Economically and Politically. I have gathered as many records as I could to attempt to paint a broader picture, and have gone into further detail within each particular event where I have been able.
The Fall of Ritterswald - 164AE
Around this time, Resinderholz was led by Baron Elias Schempfer, proven to be rather distinctly in favour of the Ritters of the time. As mentioned earlier in this document by Huntsmarshall Abstreiter, tense relations with the East would see the Ritters of Resinderholz primarily focus on assisting Vassertal in handling such matters. Such a focus would, naturally, reduce the available military presence that would be sorely missed in the final Fall of Ritterswald.
I have been able to unearth a set of letters shared between a Ritter Officer of the Eisen Battle Academy, still the foremost Academy for the Archetype at the time, and a Ritter Apprentice of the Ritterswald College of Warfare. The letters were, luckily, kept by the Eisen Academy and able to be dug up and dusted off.
This particular set of letters has been fully copied over into this document, their originals now safely filed away, so as to more clearly shine light upon the circumstance. It would be a shame for me to attempt to summarise such words without doing so.
I have attempted to keep the letters in chronological order while trying to most efficiently utilise page space, my genuine apologies if it makes such things slightly awkward to read.
Letters pertaining to The Fall of Ritterswald - Roughly Dated 163-164AE
Eisen Battle Academy - Resinderholz,
You must surely be aware of our circumstance. Even now, all Ritters who are able to hold a blade effectively are fighting against those who would invade The Barony of Steel. The fall of Baron Ritter Vokker has been catastrophic, but his son has taken up his blade in his stead.
Our final hold here in Sohnsterben is bolstered by The Ritterswald College, but our supplies are running low. Verlorenherz has done what they can, but we need more blades, rations and hands to hold either.
I have little time, even despite my status as an Apprentice, but I beg you to respond in all haste.
- Ritter Apprentice Braune
Apprentice Braune,
The Baronies weep for the loss of Baron Vokker, and all that have fallen during The Shaman’s War. All here in the Academy wish to be at your side, fighting off the Wartribes of the Zekartaal in tandem.
Our primary number are occupied with the matters of the east, bolstering Vassertal with our best. This limits our capacity in providing true military aid, but I have prepared a list of what supplies I have gained permission to share.
- Three Hundred Sharpened Blades
- Fifty Warhammers
- One Hundred and Fifty Wooden Shields (Large)
- Twenty Five Metal Shields (Medium)
- Seventy Metal Breastplates
- Two Hundred Metal Greaves
- Two Hundred Metal Bracers
- Twenty Metal Helms with matching Bevors
- Five Hundred bundles of Minor Medical Supplies
This is all that we can spare. With such numbers, we expect the carts to arrive within two months assuming travel is not made more difficult due to factors outside our control.
Hold, Apprentice Braune. Hold and survive.
- Ritter Officer Grebel Schiefer
Grebel,
Your words arrived before your supplies, but the supplies still came.
Sohnsterben stands, but the beasts crash against the walls each day. The First Shaman takes the field near every second day now, and every time the enemy's fervour is heightened.
We need help. More than what you can give. We need anything and everything.
Verlorenherz has diverted some of their forces to start defending their borders from those of the Zekartaal that are moving past our city. A necessity, whether we fall here or not.
This siege has been two years too long, and I am sick of the smell and sight of death.
Help.
- Ritter Braune
Ritter Braune,
I hope your rise from Apprentice to true Ritter was not one stemmed from necessity, but perhaps the tact of saying such things is misplaced here.
My betters have spoken to Baron Schempfer, and have worked to organise for a regular set of mundane supplies to be sent to Sohnsterben. It is primarily foodstuffs, and to be frank it is not much. I would estimate it is enough for a few hundred people to survive for five days with no other source of supply, but with the Zekartaal now passing the city such supplies face greater risk.
I cannot guarantee their arrival, nor can I guarantee enough blades to protect it. Some local militia and Houndspriests have volunteered to do so, and we are thankful for it. All of Resinderholz is uniting as best we can to handle both the east and west, alongside the rest of The Baronies.
I hope to hear from you, and your circumstance, again.
Stay safe, Braune.
- Ritter Officer Grebel Schiefer
Baronies.
Ritterswald has fallen. The First Shaman is dead, but the cost is too great. Sohnsterben is in ruins, and the whole of our Barony with it. We are fallen.
- Acting Baron Hans, Son of Vokker
Unfortunately, in a return to the present writings, we have no further letters from Ritter Braune. Based on the final letter from the Acting Baron of Ritterswald at the height of its fall, Ritterswald College was lost in the final battle. From the perspective of Resinderholz, there is no way to know further how such a thing occurred, only that it did in fact occur.
The split focus between the east and west certainly seemed to have a severe impact on the Barony of Resinderholz’s generalised ability to more properly assist one or the other. It would be too simple to assume that by ignoring one then the other could have succeeded, and I personally do not envy the decisions that needed to be made by those in power.
Regardless, Ritterswald would fall in the year 154AE, and many of its fleeing citizens would find themselves assumedly settled across the Baronies that remained.
The Night of Silver Blood - 183AE
The most renowned of events, and perhaps one of the most impactful from a cultural perspective, to happen during The War Years. Even now, the learned behaviours reinforced since this Night persist in various forms, though it is important to acknowledge the efforts of our modern Barons in trying to abate such things. Even now, our current Baroness herself is a Wealdsage, and I personally am looking forward to seeing how her term affects The Baronies.
Regardless, the Night of Silver Blood set expectations for Houndspriests and Wealdsages for nearly forty years after its happening. I have summarised below what is well known according to the people of our Realm, using easily found information. While such a thing seems out of chronological order, it defines important shifts in The Baronies and as such was considered necessary to know.
“During the high point of power in the Greenweald Baronies, the role of Wealdsage was as widespread as any other notable profession. While they had no additional goodwill or status, they were far more connected to each other, owing to the various Wealdsage Covens present throughout the Baronies.
These Covens would elect a leader from their number, often called a Sage-Superior. Above all of this was the Hochscoven, which brought together the Sage-Superiors from across the Weald to discuss matters relevant to all Wealdsages. They in turn could elect a single leader to represent Wealdsages in all things, sometimes called the Witchmaster.
During 183AE the Witchmaster was Klaus Krieger, well known for his intensity and his short fuse. Krieger had risen to prominence in his willingness to disagree with the other guilds and to stand for Wealdsages, particularly fellow refugees of Ritterswald.
However under Krieger’s short leadership (Roughly 180 - 183AE) the more esoteric elements of the Hochscoven appeared to grow. From the outside, the greater coordination of the Wealdsages was allowing a greater communication of heretical and dangerous ideas. Houndspriests reported more and more that they were encountering Wealdsages bearing strange marks and mutations from their time in the Weald, found wandering the roads from coven to coven.
The Night of Silver Blood, which happened in Verlorenherz, occurred on August 27th, 183AE. Houndspriests from Chapter Anselma and Benedikt entered the Hochscoven Hall in Ulsterberg. They slew the Witchmaster, three of the other seven members of the Hochscoven and burned all their records. In separate assaults, Houndspriests from Chapters Kristov and Ottfried arrested and then executed two more of the Witch-Superiors in Ritterswald and Resinderholz respectively. Only Sage-Superior Konstantina Valentik of the Black Mountain Coven was able to escape, although she later disappeared in 184AE under mysterious circumstances.
Chapter-Kaptain Jaulin Vonferral of Chapter Anselma and Chapter-Kaptain Xavier Thrakt of Chapter Benedikt, alongside Chapter Master Sarina Drekov presented themselves before the Baronness of Verlorenherz with blood and smoke still clinging to their clothes. The Chapter Master explained that by the nature of a Wealdsages work, they could not elect a leader from experience and expect them to remain uncorrupted. A Wealdsage becomes more corrupted, more indebted to the Weald as their career continues. To elect the most experienced it simply creates the greatest circumstance of risk. From her perspective, The Witchmaster was spreading corruption throughout the Covens and was facilitating an internal coup against the Church and people of the Baronies. Her hand was forced.
While the nature of the deliberations that followed are not public record, the results are. Since 183AE Wealdsage Covens were forbidden by law. Unless accompanied by a Houndspriest, Wealdsages were not permitted to gather in groups larger than four and the Covens were broken. The role of the Wealdsage in Greenweald society was hardly optional, and so Wealdsages continued to take apprentices, but they did so absent any larger organisation and under far harsher observation.”
The above summarises most accurately what is known about the Night of Silver Blood, and by the nature of its happenings occurring in Verlorenherz it is difficult for us to truly know more. There is some light to be found though, as the most recent resurgence of Chapter Kristov in Krezenberg has included the unlocking of the Tome of Sacrifice. This is a rather important Tome to the Chapter, but I was granted a small amount of guided time to read its historic pages in search of further information for this research.
While my time was brief, I was able to firmly identify that it was a gathering of Houndspriests, under orders of Chapter-Kaptain Matthias Brezenbach and in tandem with others of Chapter Ottfried, who hunted down two Sage Superiors of Covens from Ritterswald and Resinderholz. Of the names of those Houndspriests of Chapter Kristov who were listed, of particular note was the name of Vina Frederov herself.
Frederov was unable to provide comment, as she has since retired from her previous position and is no longer within Krezenberg. Additionally, I was not granted leave to read the explicit and complete details of these events, however I was and am more than pleased to be able to share at least this with the Chapter’s permission.
Before The Zekartaal Return from Andash - 164AE to 188AE
In the years following the Fall of Ritterswald, those that led Resinderholz are known to have spent much of their time consolidating their position in the now trio of Baronies. With Ritterswald no longer present in the military, economic or political landscape, and the Wartribes of the Zekartaal firming their hold on Ritterswald and Sarimento, there was much to discuss and do.
Resinderholz in particular, according to some amount of logistical records kept within the old Baronial Estate in Wolstad of the time, now moved to Krezenberg, seemed to be struggling from the split attention of the last few years. Smiths and similar crafters who had been overly focused on arms and armour were finally able to return to crafting the necessities of regular life, a thing that reads to be sorely lacking. Life simply endured in Resinderholz, and with it would history continue to be passively made.
The Baron Schempfer of the time seemed to spend many days in Verlorenherz, which is unsurprising as it was vastly considered to be the most prominent of the Baronies between 164AE and 204AE. While such a statement is not intended as an insult to the Baronies of Resinderholz and Vassertal respectively, it is difficult to deny according to our known and recorded histories. Baroness Meyer of Verlorenherz was well known to be a mighty political figure, and is largely believed to be the cause of the tentative, yet tense, peace.
Still, twenty four years is not an insubstantial amount of time. While nothing truly more noteworthy than the fall of a Barony or Night of Silver Blood would happen, as otherwise we would surely know of it, it is not to say that there were not important happenings. Some of these fall within the scale of greatness, but most are recorded as if they were simply considered to be normal for the time. Perhaps with the growing strangeness that predated The Night of Silver Blood, such things are linked. Perhaps not.
Baronial records indicate that in the year 168AE Resinderholz Houndspriests and Wealdsages were required to combine their unique skills and methods. As this was around fifteen years before The Night of Silver Blood, such a combination of tactics appears to be written as quite a usual occurrence, especially in the face of a severe curse of particularly dangerous monster of The Weald. In this instance, in the early months of 168AE, it was to stop a creature that was wreaking havoc in The Ravensreach Wilds.
First thought to be a particularly large Blugrough Beast, there are still no accurate records on what this monster truly was. All accounts of the event provide some small additional note that another lacks, but with the passing of time and oversight of the situation in its entirety, I believe I have pieced together what has happened.
Blugrough Beasts, by the nature of their hard chitinous shells and potent acid produced from their maws, are already a dangerous foe to take down. While they are quite rare in number now, records from 168AE and prior indicate they were far more of a present threat and in fact were generally at least a metre and a half larger in all dimensions than they are now.
The beast of 168AE, recorded and referred to as Auberidischka, would certainly reinforce reasons to slay such creatures when they pose an active threat.
First appearing around the 14th of January 168AE, it was first described exactly as a common Blugrough of the time. It had ended up in a particularly poor Haven’s pig pen, feasting on the poor animals and destroying the area with its simple presence and the remnants of its acidic saliva. Luckily, no people were hurt and the Haven was able to receive immediate support by a nearby Wealdsage who was able to guide the beast away and back towards its expected habitat.
By the words of the Wealdsage’s report, luckily saved from the purges coming later years, quote “Such a beast should not have wandered so close to the noise of the Haven, and it certainly should not have been able to stomach so much pig in such a short time. Still, leading it away using all the usual methods posed no issue.”
On February the 15th, nearly a month later, a Houndspriest of Chapter Kristov was found horrifically slain only a few hours from Krezenberg. The investigation by the slain’s comrades found clear signs of feasting by a Bludrough, but more concerningly found what appeared to be the shell of one not too far away. More accurately, what seemed to be the shed skin of one. Such an act was unheard of, and heavily implied that this particular creature was now far larger in size and as such strength.
This would prove to be the unifying factor to have the now-named Auberidischka hunted by both Wealdsages and Houndspriests. Fear of what the already powerful, if not usually docile in its own area, creature could do would necessitate active efforts to cull it. The reports that I have read unfortunately do not detail anything further for the hunt itself, only that it was successful at great cost. It is unsatisfying from a historical perspective to have little to no clue of what happened further, but the date of its confirmed slaying would be April 3rd 168AE. Perhaps it had evolved or grown yet further, but we shall never know.
Around the same time, dated to somewhere between 173AE-175AE, the people of Resinderholz would work to establish a new settlement in The Hunters Wood. South west of Wolstad, this settlement would be settled on the other side of The Gap, close to where The Weald borders La Lungo Elsa. According to documents pertaining to the supplies and skills of those that settled it, it seemed to be planned to be a town that would take advantage of trade between those nations that must travel The Gap.
Letters between those settlers of the town and the Baronial Estate in Wolstad indicated that they certainly faced the usual troubles one would expect when trying to tame the forests we live in. Still, with a healthy number of Houndspriests, Wealdsages, Ritters, Crow Doktors and a few Huntsmarshalls, let alone those folk that live a life outside of our Archetypes; all issues seemed to be overcome with sheer and simple effort.
Over the course of a scant few years, this town would even rival the size of Krezenberg in 180AE. This seemed to be a source of some contention, though it is difficult to infer based on the writings if this contention was a simple town rivalry done in good faith, or if there was something further to it that was not recorded. Regardless, it seemed a vast success and to be taken in good stride by the people itself. Even to the point of a regular festival, a rarity for our people, to be established in celebration of the town itself.
This festival seemed to be one that embodied the intent of the town itself, and came to be shared across Resinderholz around the later months of 180AE and the earlier months of 181AE, according to some eyewitness accounts from Wolstad and Eisen. The festival was one that encouraged neighbours to join efforts in creating goods that embodied their talents, with the intent to bargain with and sell them with others in or beyond the town. One who recalled the experience in Eisen said that they remember working with their parents to fletch arrows and weave baskets, using them to barter for some such similar goods that the family needed at the time, now forgotten.
Such a festival, it seems, was created to encourage all of a town to engage in useful internal trade, providing an important time where one could spend it with one’s family and neighbours, yet still allow the town as a whole to be productive and better connected. While it is something that has grown out of practice, at the time it certainly seemed a positive reinforcement in a time of difficulty. Resinderholz would still be recovering from splitting its resources between the east and west, and this to me seems a good way to try and remedy such things while promoting positive community interactions.
Unfortunately, perhaps due to the greater impacting events in the coming years, it seemed this attempt at a new traditional festival of Resinderholz would only last for around three years. As of 183AE, during the same year as The Night of Silver Blood, the people of Resinderholz and beyond would face a lack of willingness to trust their neighbours, especially those who were Wealdsage. This was further reinforced when the town past The Gap would simply vanish in its entirety, as if it was never there to begin with.
Eight years after its founding, the settlement would simply disappear from the forest in which it had made its living. Those who lived within it disappeared along with it, and by all accounts, written or otherwise, that I have been able to collect, there is not a single known reason as to why or how.
Given how close the event was in time to The Night of Silver Blood, it seems widely accepted that it was some horrendous curse manifested by the particularly corrupt Wealdsages, but such a claim is hard to identify as truth or the result of mass community panic relating to similar events. Regardless, not a single record lists the name of the town, and not a single person can recall it either. A whole town, the size of Krezenberg or bigger, would see eight years of settlement and growth before entirely disappearing from the world in 183AE.
The War of Molten Moon - 198AE to 204AE
It is well known that the Zekartaal would appear again in the year 188AE, returning from Ritterswald and Sarimento to once again attack The Baronies. Verlorenherz would face the brunt of these attacks, eventually culminating in The War of Molten Moon beginning somewhere in 198AE. While the ten years before the war itself, with skirmishes and the discovery of the Thorn cult, were particularly disconcerting, Resinderholz would not face much if any of the brunt of such things
Baroness Meyer of Verlorenherz would not request much aid from either of the remaining two Baronies until The War of Molten Moon began in full, though by then Baronite Bullherz was soon to come to power.
Resinderholz, as the closest to the threat, took up a role similar to the one that Verlorenherz had filled in The Shaman War. As the closest Barony, supplies would be the most important to share first and foremost while Baroness Meyer still maintained control over nearly all of Verlorenherz. These supplies would be primarily mundane and spiritual, notably lacking an equal presence of arcane elements after The Night of Silver Blood. While not entirely missing, there was a notable lack compared to during The Fall of Ritterswald.
Importantly, these supplies are indicated to not include any military strength at this stage of the conflict, roughly 198AE-199AE. Even arms and armour were not required, as the soon to be Baronite Bullherz indicated that they had been preparing for this inevitability, much to the supposed ignoring of Baroness Meyer’s diplomatic efforts. There are rumours that this was a factor that contributed to The War of Molten Moon in the first place, but I could find nothing within our region of Resinderholz that supports nor denies such rumours.
Regardless, the war would continue and the tides would slowly shift. Resinderholz, and by extension Vassertal, would continue to supply Verlorenherz with whatever was needed if and when it was requested. Around 201AE this turned from supplies to manpower, with the official election of Baronite Bullherz taking charge of Verlorenherz and their military forces. By this time, nearly a third of the Barony had been lost to the invaders, and the cult of Thorn had begun to take more overt action.
Perhaps wisely, both Resinderholz and Vassertal would take the opportunity to strengthen their borders around this time. It is hard to say whether this was done in anticipation of the worst, or simply fear of the cult of Thorn expanding its influence and reach, but regardless it would prove to ensure both Baronies survived the war. In 203AE, Baronite Bullherz was known to be cut off from Oxstone, unable to receive any form of meaningful or effective support, military or otherwise. While the demise of their force was all but confirmed, the Baronial Estate of Resinderholz holds no record as to what exactly caused such a thing to occur.
The year 204AE would see Brother Ash rain molten stone upon Oxstone, after which Verlorenherz was known to have fallen and Resinderholz would withdraw all remaining support to focus on ensuring the last two Baronies would remain strong.
The Year Without Moon - 204AE
To this day, there are none who truly know what Ash had done to our world. Even in my research, I found myself unable to really find much more than what near all of us had experienced first hand. There are no notes or researchers that had ventured into Verlorenherz to discover the truth and returned alive. The time would see Wealdsages legally forced to separate, so they were unable to pool their knowledge or resources to discover the truth either.
We all simply lived with darkened nights, every day for the entirety of a year. I truly hope that when we one day step into Verlorenherz again, we may find our answer. But for the purpose of this report, simply know that the night was dark, and the horrors lurked fiercer than ever before.
- Collected, Composed and Written by (Mundane) Sage Hannes of Wolstad
The Plague Years
While Baron Schempfer had been attentive to the needs that he deemed appropriate, he was a distant hand in Resinderholz. As is befitting a man of his focuses, he died when Castle Oxstone was destroyed by Ash, crushed beneath the moon or the flagstones of the castle, whichever you prefer to believe.
But there was no time to mourn and panic for a vacuum in power as a most dedicated and influential family had been preparing for this eventuality for some time.
Thankfully much of this knowledge is held in common memory, including my own. I will do what I can to summarise these matters here before concluding this research.
- Symposiarch Gavril Princep
Baroness Drewina Arnmeyer - The Spideress
Already into her sixth decade when Baron Schempfer perished at Oxstone, Drewina Arnmeyer was the matriarch of an established house within Wolstad. Drewina’s grandfather had established their power back during the collapse of the Brockenmann family, purchasing property and taking over from failed endeavours of the failing Baronial dynasty. By the time of Drewina they were well represented across Eisen and Wolstad in varied enterprises and were considerably wealthy. Drewina had control of a considerable family web including two brothers, a dozen nieces and nephews and a growing gaggle of grandchildren. But she was a widower unblessed with children.
What she was blessed with was a cunning mind and head for business. For many, Drewina became ‘The Unseen Baroness’. From her studies in the Arnmeyer manse Drewina ruled Resinderholz with an iron quill, pulling its finances and legacy away from what she saw as losing battles.
There was a short period where Baroness Drewina’s position was questioned following the death of Baron Schempfer. Not a day had passed since word of his death had reached the Barony and there had been no official declaration of intention from Schempfer, let alone one that supported Drewina as his heir. It was well known that there was no love lost between the influential matriarch and the war-focused Baron. It is said that during the council of towns that followed, Drewina attended and stared at every single representative until they broke. She was elected unopposed.
Baroness Drewina’s most notable mark on Resinderholz is the establishment of the Eisen Orchard, finally collecting and enshrining a process that had been endemic and largely unmanaged in the region for centuries.
But her influence is far more nuanced than the orchard. It was Baroness Drewina’s influence that allowed the region to recover through a strong hand against merchants of both Wolstad and the further havens. Drewina defunded the Ritter’s college in Eisen (unfortunately to the point of near collapse) which granted additional monies required to prepare for invasion from the north in more practical ways such as roads and granaries, which had the added benefit of supporting the economic recovery of the Barony.
It is said that Drewina, already a harsh and uncompromising woman became even more so in 208AE. She accelerated a process of stepping back from Vassertal that she had already begun the year prior and by the end of 209AE it was not uncommon for travellers from the Barony to be stopped and searched in Eisen by Huntsmarshall’s answering to the Baroness. During this time it is said that she became paranoid and distant from much of her family as well. It came as a surprise that following her sudden death in 211AE that she named her the grandson of her eldest brother her inheritor.
Drewina Arnmeyer is a poorly remembered Baron. For those in Eisen or those who shortly flooded across from Vassertal she is held in poor regard at best or scathing hatred at worst. There are those that lay the death of thousands of the people of Vassertal at her feet, if only she had been more allowing or supporting then perhaps the plague crisis that followed would have been less devastating. But there are those who see the senior Arnmeyer as a necessary action. Following Baron Schempfer she put Resinderholz into a position to survive and were it not for her hardline stance, perhaps it would have fallen to plague as well.
Baroness Drewina is buried in Wolstad, in the graveyard on the Arnmeyer Manse grounds. Her gravestone is a simple affair set beside her husband, who perished some twenty three years prior.
Baron Eugen Arnmeyer - The Regretful Baron
The unexpectant Baron, Eugen Arnmeyer would be the last true Baron of the Baronies as all those who have followed would be Concordian Barons.
By the time of his ascension to the Baronial seat, Eugen was already an established man. The scion of an incredibly influential house, he had studied the faith with Chapter Kristov (even completing a pilgrimage to Artebazzan as a young man), worked as a clerk in numerous mercantile concerns and was trained in arms by the Wolstad militia. He held no official occupations, instead moving from one element of the Arnmeyer family enterprise to another, becoming well known for his personable nature and unwillingness to consider himself defeated, a trait that would serve him well in later years.
Described by others as ‘hawkish’ and ‘like a cadaver someone had taken a whetstone too’, Eugen famously unsuccessful in his pursuits of a family, but was respected by his contemporaries. Regarded as diplomatic and even handed, many believed that the barony had been lucky when the chosen seemingly at random Arnmeyer had been skilled at the position of Baron.
Following the death of his grand-aunt, the younger Arnmeyer doubted his abilities and left much of Drewina’s projects and decrees untouched. Resinderholz continued in isolated stability and the cold calculation of coin as the first great challenge of his reign brewed.
The Winter Plague crisis in Vassertal followed three months of dreadful autumn where Vassertal was rocked by riots, death and chaos. Voices around the new Baron pleaded for him to relax the border controls established by his Grand Aunt out of mercy. At this stage the town guard of Eisen along with what Ritters could be found (the College having well and truly disbanded following Baroness Drewina’s harsh austerity measures to blame) were in place on the Eisen River, forcing back any who attempted to cross without first spending a week on the river's edge, where many of them later contracted Blasserstreit.
However, following meetings with what Crow Doktors could be found within Wolstad, Arnmeyer did not relax the quarantine. Rather, it was increased and a great many people of Vassertal died arrow filled within the Eisen River or drowned after being forced back at pike-point. By the end of 214, one in twelve people in Vassertal had fled to Resinderholz of Weiland, the remainder dead at the hands of the disease, their country folk or the Baron’s border guards.
In the end, the people of Resinderholz saw this as a necessary evil, much the same as they saw his predecessor. But for many who did manage to cross the river into Resinderholz under the watchful eyes of the Baron’s guards, they would never forgive the name Arnmeyer.
Fortunately for Eugen, there was little time to lament his leadership as crisis followed crisis. Over the next three years Resinderholz was raided and assaulted numerous times by the same forces that had seen to the death of Verlorenherz: the Zekartaal. The exact specifics of the Zekartaal War in Resinderholz are too numerous to lay here but what I can say is that Baron Arnmeyer was skilled in the placing of individuals where they were needed. Despite the near full-collapse of the Guilds by this stage of the fall, The Baron’s vast web of contacts (rejuvenated after the paranoia of his predecessor) enabled him to see to the survival of his barony. I myself can confirm that it was Arnmeyer himself who recruited and paid Baloch Del-Arcadian through a contact in Obregon who originally sold the Arnmeyer’s goods imported from Artebazzan.
Rulership did not agree with the man as Baron Arnmeyer was regularly wracked by illness following his ascent to the title of Baron. By the time of 217AE the Baron regularly spent months abed with one illness or another but never lapsed in his duties, often leading the barony from his sickbed.
It can be said that the last two acts of note from Baron Arnmeyer are his role in the establishment of The Concord and his destruction of the records of Resinderholz.
As the heroes of The Barony aged and the guilds collapsed, the Baron feared that there was only so many years before Resinderholz collapsed as well. There needed to be another source of skill and strength present in the circle of the world. With the good luck he had had recruiting mercenaries from Obregon it was by the Baron’s on hand that a delegation was sent to Andash, a delegation that would become the Treaty of Last Pine. Two years after this fact it was the Baron’s pen that brought the Valley and Andash to Wolstad to discuss forging a pact, a pact that lasts until this day. I do not mean to say that Baron Eugen Arnmeyer is responsible for The Concord but there is a significant part of me that fears it would not have happened without him.
But the Baron’s final acts, those that consumed him through his final years of 220 and 221AE are the ones we have the hardest time reckoning with now, particularly as we attempt to complete documents such as these.
Baron Arnmeyer had the Baronial records, kept since the time of The Candleblade, burned. Spares held in archives in Eisen were cast into the river and even the Hall of Lessons in Wolstad was searched and much of it confiscated before being destroyed as well. Private family records in the Arnmeyer Manse were burned in crude bonfires and the Baron perished shortly after, a victim of one of the many illnesses that battled him since he took the mantle of Baron.
While I cannot say what motivated Baron Arnmeyer, I can say what he said to me. I was a part of the delegation to Obregon and then again when the representatives came to Wolstad as I was a clerk in the Baron’s employ for many years at this point. While I would not say I was within the Baron’s circle of confidants, I spent many eve’s sitting beside his bed as he dictated to me the morrows schedules or weakly signed decrees and payments penned by my hand.
Baron Arnmeyer was ashamed by the end of things. He saw the Concord coming as a rebirth, not for him, but for the Barony. He often spoke of debts, spiritual ones incurred during the times of Hanselvacht, of Brockenmann, of Dornhauer and beyond. With this haunted expression of a man exposed to power beyond my reckoning he would lament with tears in his eyes what he and those Baron’s who had come before him had had to do. I think he hoped that in the destruction of these records that the future Baronies would not be shackled to history. I do not believe it was an attempt to seek redemption for himself or others, but a foolhardy dream of stopping the past from being repeated.
It shames me to say it, but I do not believe he was successful and I think the knowledge of that would make him much the sadder.
Baron Arnmeyer died on the fifth of May 221, three months before the First Concordian Summit. Without any children or family of his own and with the business of the burgeoning Concord being so all-consuming his funeral was small. Attended mostly by the household staff, those members of the Wolstad civil service who had gained our positions on his recommendation and three cousins, we said goodbye to Eugen Arnmeyer in the family graveyard that held his Grand-Aunt and other notable Arnmeyers. His grave reads:
Eugen Arnmeyer, The Last Old Baron of Resinderholz
179AE - 221AE
Conclusion and Future Research
Much has happened since 221AE, but given it has occurred under the auspices of The Concord I do not feel empowered or appropriately positioned to write of it. Perhaps I shall one day when I am older and sages come to me asking what happened with The Bloody Baroness and The Butcher. Even now they feel like tales from another time much as the history presented here does.
Within these tracts we have presented numerous opportunities to further focus research in the history but I do feel the history presented here is reasonably thorough (excepting those circumstances where information is simply not available, such as with Baron Hanselvacht). While there are hundreds of smaller stories within Resinderholz to be researched and told, I do not feel a broad reassessment of the Barony is required.
As stated before, my thanks go out to Amalia Abstreiter of Eisen, and Hannes of Wolstad, without whom this text would not have been possible. My thanks go to High Historian Houndspriest Wenche Vanatoure, without whom this text would not have been needed.
I had hoped to end this with some lesson to be learned, some crystalline artefact of history that might guide us through the next few troubling years. But I confess that marching down the halls of memory have shown them to be full of darker shadows and sadness than perhaps was first anticipated.
I hope you can find some solace in these pasts and if you do find that crystalline meaning I would most enjoy hearing of it.
Symposiarch Gavril Princep, August 224AE.