Icons Thanes

The Thanes

"Gather up and heave together, friends. For this is the Strength of Men, and it does not falter in this task."

Allies

The Guilds • The Pastoral Sainted • The Sea Lords

Enemies

The Slumbering Inferno • The Speaker of Spirits

Token Benefits

Agent's Elevation • Sanctuary of the Vale • Wizardry of Rumlinn's Tower

Though their title is an old dwarven one, the Thanes are the human leaders of the settlements of the Vale. While the Thanes together hold a single seat at the Guildsmoot, their influence goes beyond this advisory role. Left to their own devices for years at a time, the Thanes work together to see to the defense and prosperity of the Valefolk, sacrificing much to accomplish it, and given much respect and wealth as their due.

The current Thanes (the term is, like so many terms of dwarven origin, gender-neutral) are as follows:

• Hammergate: The Thane of Hammergate is Mother Grielda Anshamar, a local matriarch long married to the dwarven mason Gaeldir Rockbite. Many of their children and grandchildren serve in the forces that defend Hammergate.
• Grimmisold: The Thane of Grimmisold is Carvald Ruen, a local farmer who owns and operates the largest farm space, with his husband Undiah. The Ruens frequently take in orphans, raising them as their own children; their oldest, Hermania Ruen, is their heir.
• Thörgrinnir: The Thane of Thörgrinnir is Varya the Summer Rose, one of the owners of the inn and brothel called the Three Roses. She and her wives (Welda the Spring Rose, and Naera the Autumn Rose) are consummate hostesses and very approachable by not just those within the town, but by the many travelers who need Thörgrinnir.
• Lochside: The Thane of Lochside is Sweet Mersha Crumblecake, a daughter of the halfling Crumblecake baking empire. Though she herself is no baker, she grew up with everyone in town coming through her family's sweets and confections shoppe, and she has successfully parleyed that into a career in politics.
• Great Gate: The Thane of Great Gate is Divisala, a half-elven woman trained in human wizardly traditions. The magess Divisala is quite wise, and well-regarded by Frostwood clans, with whom she spent her childhood before being taken by her father to be apprenticed to the old Great Gate wizard Rumlinn, who also held the distinction of being Thane of Great Gate at one point during her apprenticeship to him.
• Oldengar's Valley: The Thane of Oldengar's Valley is Mondigen Blackearth, of the Clan Blackearth who have worked the soil of Oldengar's Valley since before the Guildsrule (and, if they are to be believed, since even before the Clansrule). Mondigan is very proud of the Valley's ancient heritage, and that of his family.

Usual Location

When they are not found in their local communities, the Thanes can often be found meeting as a group, either in the Thanehall in Thörgrinnir, a round, stone edifice with tall statues of the First Thanes that look down over the great circular meeting table there, or at their seat in the Halls of the Hammer, in Hammer Peak, as the Thanemoot technically occupies a single seat of the Guildsmoot.

Allies

• When the Guilds took power of governance over Hammer Peak, the Thanes threw their full support behind them, and with good reason: unlike the membership of the Great Clans, it was possible for non-dwarves to become part of the Guilds. And while practically speaking the Guildsmasters are almost exclusively dwarves still (mostly owing to the lifespan of dwarves), they support them still because of this possibility.
• The Pastoral Sainted and the Thanes work quite closely together to see that the fields of the Vale continue to produce as much as ever before and that the people are safe, healthy, and prosperous.
• Over the years, the Sea Lords have approached the Thanes about alliances. And while the Thanes are not directly interested in the subversion of dwarven rule that the Sea Lords like to whisper about, neither are they loathe to maintain alliances with far-off human powers who thus far seem to have only the best in mind for Valefolk.

Enemies

• There is no doubt in anyone's minds: when the Slumbering Inferno wakes, it will be the communities of the Vale who feel the flames first and most. As such, the Thanes work against the Inferno's agents as frequently as they can, and seek to discover where the Infero's lair is, that he might be slain before he wakes.
• The Thanes have had cause to run afoul of the Speaker of Spirits before, and likely will again. The Frostwood elves consider the humans of the Vale to be deplorably rapacious in their treatment of the natural world, and while there is no war between elves and Valefolk, the tensions are there at nearly every meeting.

The Thanes Token Benefits

• Agent's Elevation: The Thanes are empowered to elevate agents of their own, although such agents serve the Thanemoot, not individual Thanes. Such agents are given legal authority in the Vale to address concerns of the law, acting as sheriffs, and are given residences and a standard of living commensurate to their duties.
• Sanctuary in the Vale: Those whom the Thanes favor may seek sanctuary at any of the major settlements of the Vale, acting as guests in the household of the Thane there.
• Wizardry of Rumlinn's Tower: Those who have proven themselves to the Thanes may seek magical aid from the wizards of Rumlinn's Tower in Great Gate. Even when one of Rumlinn's folk are not themselves Thanes, the Thanemoot gives great financial support to the endeavors of Rumlinn's Tower, and part of what they get in return is that aid. There are wizards in the lineage of Rumlinn in many of the towns and hamlets, including: xxx.