Aelryh av Aldver

Ælryh av Aldver, was one of the last Jarls in the Fifth Jarldom of Frostmarch before its collapse. He is a devoted explorer, fierce berserker, skilled botanist, and talented carpenter. Additionally, he serves as one of the original foundational Jarls of The Valdic Union , leading the Jarldom of Vulwodar and founded the Order of Hexseekers. 
==Early Life==
Ælryh's birth was a result of an affair between Grand Jarl Sir Voske av Aldver and his mistress Myonå, Myonå was just a regular farmer and was just one of the many Voske's mistresses, so when Myonå got pregnant those news didn't even reach to Voske all the way from Lunalia to Hafnarfjoll, Ælryh was born in Suðerlindt, Thanedom of Lunheim in Spring of 156 TE.As the time passed, Ælryh grew up into a large, strong man, with a terrifying appearance, He wore a wolf-skin cap pulled low over his bright eyes, his brown-ish moustache was the size of a six-month-old lamb and his cloak was a shaggy moose-pelthe.
As Ælryh reached early adolescence he would join a mercenary group in order to provide for his old mother, and by doing so, he gained respect of the other Lunheim locals, his mother would still tell him stories about Voske, trying to reassure Ælryh that he's gonna come back for her and solve all of their problems. Ælryh knew that his mom was speaking like this out of desperation and out of fear so he tried comforting her.
Ælryh has a morningstar as his primary weapon, the local shaman blessed it and together with the greatest blacksmith of Lunheim, they forged it with Blóðvin , The Ancient Bloodmagic, which gave it red tint on its spikes.
===Early Military Experience===
One of the first Ælryh's combat experiences was in the mountains in Northern Serenus, he and his mercenary band were supposed to demolish the rebels and destroy the rebelling settlement of Damannia, Ælryh always carried a Kruikryð (Fungina Valdica) on him at all times, its a type of fungi which makes the person not feel any pain for a period of time if consumed raw with combination of honey, and can be mildly hallucinogen if not cooked properly. 
This is fungi's primary use in Valdic culture was for culinary purposes. However there were old folk tales that during the Conquest of Vandalah (Winter of 59 TE) Frostmarchian berserkers used Kruikryð to enhance their combat abilities, some people say that's the reason why they won the battle so swiftly, and why the The King of Vandalah, along with his closest confidants would flee the battle, it was speculated that The King saw that berserkers went bananas after they consumed the mysterious fungi and gained an unhuman levels of strength. 
Enemies were overrun swiftly, in this battle, Ælryh managed to knock out 4 man with one swing of his morningstar , enemies quickly saw that there was no chance of winning and fled.
===Terrible Blizzard===
Ælryh and his brothers in arms would celebrate their victory by drinking the finest mead that Serenus had to offer.
After engaging in these activities for a few hours, Ælryh would begin to feel ill, perhaps from consuming too much alcohol on an almost empty stomach. He would go outside to try to feel better, where he would pass out from exhaustion.The following morning, he awoke in one of the huts and found himself surrounded by pilgrims. It seemed that shortly after Ælryh lost consciousness, a severe blizzard began. The pilgrims were traveling from Kronesia to Erðvald when the terrible blizzard struck. They entered the city and were greeted by the mercenaries, who were primarily composed of followers of the same religion, Nostíkur.They grabbed Ælryh , who was coated in snow when they arrived at the town, and brought him into a cabin to see how he was feeling.The only thing upsetting Ælryh was how hungry he was. Other than that, he was largely uninjured.
People were predicting that this blizzard would continue for a week and that they wouldn't be able to return directly to Lunalia after it stopped since it had wrecked the bridge that crosses the Dain River on the major Not-Venice and Gooseburgh road. Due to this, Ælryh and his group would have to stay in Damannia and wait out the blizzard. They would also need to go to Vesturperla, from which they would travel to Hafnarfjoll, after which they would go south till they reached Lunalia , the capital of Lunheim.
During the last day of their stay in Damannia, just as the blizzard began to calm, a messenger arrived, notifying Ælryh about his mother's passing.
Ælryh would read this and immediately travel to Erðvald to bid his mother farewell for the last time.
==Meeting the Grand Jarl==
Ælryh would hear an great abundance of people cheering and applauding as he arrived at the Holy City gate; the commotion was so loud that it could even be heard through the tallest and strongest walls Erðvald had to give. He was wondering what or who could have caused such a commotion.
His question was quickly answered when he saw who was parading trough the crowd on a beautiful white Giant goat, as white as snow, it was no other than the Grand Jarl himself, Sir Voske av Aldver.
The Grand Jarl noticed Ælryh moving through the crowd and almost immediately recognized his eyes, his eyes were a spitted image of his mother's. Voske would then turn to Ælryh and asked him to speak privately with him inside of the Great Hall.
They went inside of the Great Hall and Voske ordered everybody else to leave, Voske then would go on and explain that he didn't know Ælryh 's mother was pregnant and expressed regret for what had happened to her, but that didn't mean he would have accepted her as his wife because he already had a wife when Ælryh was born, but unfortunately Voske's wife passed away years ago. That being said Voske already heard about Ælryh's exploits in Damannia and offered him to live in Hafnarfjoll and to join his guard which Ælryh gladly accepted. Later they would go on and do a proper Nostikur ceremonial burial for Ælryh's mother. 
===Gunnar and Aelryh===
In The Grand City of Hafnarfjoll, Ælryh would meet another son of Voske, Gunnar av Aldver, Gunnar was older than Ælryh so he tried teasing him about it but they ended up having a truly brotherly relation, at this time, Ælryh would've started a excavation site west of Hafnarfjoll which would later turn into a blossoming city of Farløarn. Gunnar was helping his father with leading the capital and building the defenses in case of an attack. They also trained together and they went to countless battles together. Over the course of 2 years many incursion happened trough the Grand Jarldom Ælryh and Gunnar were renowned for their fighting skills, many men wanted to fight alongside them just because of the sagas they heard from the Valdic bards.
Then suddenly, Gunnar and Voske got into a huge argument, which made Gunnar leave. Gunnar reasoned that he was to part from Frostmarch on the morrow to seek meaning in life and find new lands, while Ælryh tried talking Gunnar out of it, but to no avail. Worried, Ælryh went to Voske to ask him to talk some sense into his brother. However by the time they went to see Gunnar he already had left, which left Voske brokenhearted. 
===Reaching Solycia===
Then Aelryh went out and raised a decently sized raiding party to go sailing, they went and raided several coastal towns of Sørligste, but nothing grandiose enough to come home with. So they decided to continue sailing until they have something awe-inspiring to show off to the Grand Jarl. Ælryh and his raiding party were sailing for days until they reached the shores of the new world of Eldham, Ælryh has heard about this new world before but he thought it was just a myth, a legend, but there he was, with his raiding party traveling trough its seas. They noticed a somewhat familiar architecture at one of the island they were passing by, curious, Ælryh decided to visit the Island. 
When he and his crew arrived on its shores, they were greeted in a familiar language, although with a strange accent. 
The nation that Ælryh arrived in was the Jarldom of Solycia or;Jarlstjarn av Solycia; in the Valdic language. As he was talking with the locals about their similar cultures, they would get interrupted by someone, it was the King of Solycia Jacob Bjørkson Liberatus, he was worried that Ælryh and his party came here to raid the Island but he was pleasantly surprised. Jacob would then feed Ælryh and his men and gave them a place to sleep. The next day the two would talk about their customs and traditions and seeing how similar they are.
==Frostmarch civil wars ==
Ælryh's crew wanted to stay a bit longer in Solycia but they didn't want to abuse their hospitality so they said their goodbyes and started sailing home. After many days of sailing they finally arrived onto the snowy Sørligstian shores, they landed near the settlement of Whitemaw in Northern Frostmarch, Jarldom of Mjoldovar.
Not long after they set foot on the Frostmarchian soil the news reached Ælryh and his crew.
The Grand Jarl Voske has been usurped by Reginald av Temsyod, the exiled Jarl of Suðerlindt whom was appointed as a new Grand Jarl by the vampiric Lorentish Kingdom. Voske was disliked by regional nations because of his irredentist and separatist politics, that is why the nations of Lorent, Soumere-Serenus, Tortuga and Featherian Federation heavily supported the usurper.
This resulted into an all out Civil War within the Grand Jarldom, on one side there were Pro-Lorentish and on the other were Voske's Loyalists.
During this time, the regional Jarl of Jrunmarch, Grandenhoff Eagle, got usurped by regional nobles due to his unwavering support for Grand Jarl Voske and his loyalists, despite the local nobility being openly against him. Temsyod and his allies were sieging the Grand Capital of Hafnarfjoll for a week straight, Voske and his supporters were heavily outnumbered and so, Hafnarfjoll fell. Voske and most of his jarls and some petty thanes managed to leave the city trough the system of the underground tunnels beneath the city.
While the rest of the Frostmarch's governance who was under Voske's reign got exiled or killed. Frostmarch had its land ceded to the surrounding nations, some of the towns that were taken away were: St.Istvanvar,Nature's Peace and Fjordmont.
Meanwhile, Voske and other Jarls were loading their ship on the docks.
Hearing this, Ælryh and his group decided to go into hiding in the very north of the country to live next to the fjords with a lookout to the sea. 
They lived there for about a month and then Ælryh saw two fisherman who were ice fishing near them, they seemed really familiar, Ælryh would then go and approach him, it was one of the exiled Jarls and his brother, it was Jarl Tvynky Stimison of Ëderia, and his brother Nokar , they were very ungroomed for being in hiding for so long which made it hard for Ælryh to recognize them right away, it ends up that Stimisons were also hiding from tyranny that came with Temsyod's reign. Under Temsyod, Frostmarch started to become just another Lorentish puppet which even made his own Jarls frown.
===Foundation of the Ëderian kingdom===
After catching up with Stimison brothers they decided that they need to try and save Frostmarch and its people from their Vampiric Lorentish overlords and Temsyod's tyranny. They started recruiting warriors from small settlements north of Hafnarfjoll, and in the span of just couple of weeks they had a sizeable army, with which they overthrew the mayor of Edenville who was placed to rule there by the Lorentish government instead of the Stimisons. Now that they had a control over a city they could start their uprising against Lorent and Temsyod's regime. First they took over Ælryh's city of Farløarn which made the old capital of Hafnarfjoll more vulnerable to an attack, also the city north of the capital, Whitemaw would also support Ëderia in this maneuver. Ëderian army was standing near the Hafnarfjoll's still badly damaged walls ready to engage, but then Temsyod would send his message-carrier to Stimisons and Ælryh saying that Frostmarch is going to declare independence from Lorent under one circumstance, if Ëderia stops this agression against Frostmarch immediately. Jarl Stimison and Ælryh agreed to these terms.
===Return of the Aldver rule ===
Everything seemed ordinary for a while, but then one day a single boat would wash up on the shores of Whitemaw, the mayor of the city walked up to the boat to see an elderly man who was weak and malnourished. He would then take him to the city hall to take care of him and to investigate who he is and where did he come from. 
After finding out who he is he immediately called out for Ælryh and Stimison, the elderly man was no one other than the old Grand Jarl Voske. It ends up that he was on one of the islands in the "Sea of many stones" thats just north of Whitemaw's coast, he was hiding there and was running low on the supplies, there were no fruits on that island, land was infertile, so as a last resort he decided to sail back to Frostmarch and to risk being killed.
After Voske recognized Ælryh relief swept over him, he thought that Ælryh was dead, they hugged and talked for a while, and after hearing how things are under Temsyod he wanted to take back the crown.
Voske, Ælryh and Stimison went together trough the streets of Whitemaw where they were met with joyous crowd, the people wanted the old Grand Jarl back. And with Stimson's and Ælryh's help that was not impossible, they would go and recruit people into their army and in span of a month they raised a decently sized army with which they marched marching towards Erðvald, the temporary capital while Hafnarfjoll was still being repaired from the civil war. They fought multiple small sized battles/skirmishes on their way to the Holy City. When they went trough the great city walls Temsyod already got advised by Kasjös av Havardr to not fight Voske but instead to rule together as joint rulers. They both agreed on these terms after some more convincing from Kasjös.
Kasjös and Ælryh also assembled Ældres -An order consisting of the Jarls and Thanes and other notable experienced people within the Grand Jarldom
After couple of months of them being joint rulers, Temsyod would start to go mad, he would refuse collaboration, and he would start claiming himself as the only true ruler of Frostmarch, he would also order all of the members of Ældres to be killed so one night during a celebration of Vlangolar, the patron protector of the city, a group of 10 men broke in the room where all the Ældre's were, miraculously enough Stimison, Grandenhoff, Kasjös and Ælryh managed to kill most of the attackers with no injuries. They captured 2 of the hostages to ask them who sent them and they spoke right away.
Ældres organized a meeting to discuss what will happen to Temsyod, to this meeting even Gunnar showed up, he sailed for days just so he can contribute in deciding the fate of his dad's usurper.
They decided to imprison him, however shortly after he disappeared, it was rumoured that he tried running away but after he left the town he got torn apart by polar bears in a blizzard.
This resulted in Voske being the sole ruler of Frostmarch.
===Foundation of Ødemark===
Because of the immense loyalty and support that Ælryh showed to his father, he decided to promote Ælryh into a Jarl, giving him a Jarldom right next to the capital.
Ødemark, with its capital being the town of Farløarn, was also used to store massive amounts of ore and crystals that were excavated in nearby Dwarven hold of Grimagund, the ores were transported by a giant network of water powered pipes with their final destination being the lake near the city centre of Farløarn.
During this time its suspected that Ælryh slept with several local women and created several unofficial children.
Ødemark also saw immense growth, new cities blooming settlements emerged, and the old ones grew.
Even the retired Jarl Grandenhoff Eagle established a new town of Ørnvald in Ælryh's Jarldom.Grand Jarl Voske was joyous seeing Ælryh and his province grow, so he decided to give him a special gift, Voske gave him a male baby of Giant Sørligstian Goat, it was dark as the night itself, which is quite rare for the species, also the animal was sign of nobility in the region and were worth a fortune.
Ælryh took great care of the goat, naming it Mryklv, meaning "dark cloud" in Valdic tongue because of its extremely fluffy dark wool. Mryklv grew in a blink of an eye and was now taller than Ælryh. Mryklv was now inseparable companion of Ælryh, he would acompany him to every battle, they even always shared meals and alcohol , when Ælryh would drink mead he would drink half of it and the other half he would give to Mryklv.
Ælryh would continue developing Ödemark with help of his Thane Dënik, with Farløarn becoming major trading hub in western regions of Frostmarch, and with Ørnvald becoming alchemical and infrastructural powerhouse, there was also an ongoing project of renovating and reconstructing the ancient settlement of Illuc.
The next few years would be spent in peace and prosperity
==Treacherous Snowfall war==
One mournful winter, the ancient mind of Jarl Host fell prey to corruption, a sinister taint sent forth by the Aeonians, a group of dark sorcerers—a last, desperate ploy by the vampires of the Lorentish Kingdom to obliterate the Grand Jarldom once and for all. These shadowy manipulators twisted the frail will of the elderly Jarl, ensnaring him into granting them dominion over one of his towns. Their reasoning behind this was that they are going to wage war of Featheria, a break away state of Frostmarch, for them, and after they suceeded they would rejoin Frostmarch, they swore on their honor, and so the government took their word. Soon after, the Aeonian severed ties with Host's Jarldom and the realm of Frostmarch as a whole, declaring themselves the "Realms of Evermore." Their true ambition was the annihilation of the ancient Valdic culture, seeking to erase every trace of Valdic heritage from the eastern Sørligste. They strove relentlessly to snuff out the enduring Valdic flame, yet their efforts met only failure. For the fire within a Vald's hearth burns ever brighter, an example of endurance when things are at their worst.
Evermore and their vampire allies, sieged ruins of Hafnarfjoll, and won, the casualties were big on both sides, but Frostmarch suffered a deadly blow, the once "Grand Valdic Capital" fell, Ælryh's brother, Gunnar got killed in cold blood by the vampires, and their father, Voske got burnt alive in his castle while trying to defend Gunnar's children against the vampiric horde. Ælryh filled with thirst for vengeance, lead his fellow kinsmen east, to the ancient capital of Erðvald, Kasjös and Grandenhoff followed , they tried to rescue as many citizens as possible, telling them to pack their valuables before undead army over ran the city, Kasjös and Ælryh managed to hold the enemies off for several months, establishing Frazdom and Schantsdom of Frostmarch, raising new generation of Valdic warriors, this was one of the last remnants of Frostmarch, the other one being the Dwarven hold of Grimagund which fell a bit later due to their isolated position inside the mountains of the northern march.
During Ælryh's stay in Gældingvåld, the town where Schantsdom of Frostmarch was established, he discovered ancient text, which gave him revelation and lead him to later establish the Church of Áldthadt.
=== Regency council ===
After successfully rescuing the citizens and all the treasures of the Holy City, they voyaged north and back west, just north from where Grimagund's dwarven hold once was, they were now entering the territories of Tengalii Ejzen Kajzerryk, or TEK for short, TEK let the Valds populate this area and create new settlements under one condition, they had to serve as border guards and protect the Tengali lands from any Vampiric horde intrusions, forming the "Valdic Military Frontier", or Frietstra in Valdic tongue, also commonly referred to as "The Regency Council", this way the Ælryh could continue to fight against the treacherous snakes of Evermore and blood-thirsty Lorentish vampires.
During the reign of Regency Council, Ælryh would defend the borders of the Iron Empire, killing Vampires and Evermorii who were unfortunately enough to come too close to the border, Ælryh killed Vampires with such a great pleasure even his own warriors were frightened by him. 
=== Solycia - Sylvania wars ===
Ælryh, Kasjös, and Grandenhoff, hearing of the dire struggle facing Solycia—the last remaining Valdic stronghold—decided to leave behind the Iron Empire. Solycia, though still standing, was engaged in a fierce war for survival against Sylvania, a ruthless nation that had long harbored anti-Valdic sentiment. The Sylvanians, seeking to crush the last of the Valdic people, threatened to bring about the same fate as befell Frostmarch and Skjoldrbrodir.
Determined to prevent another catastrophe, Ælryh and his kin journeyed to Skjoldrbrodir, gathering the last of their scattered people. United, they sailed to Solycia, their hearts set on preserving the legacy of their ancestors.
In Solycia, they allied with Jarl Liberatus, who led a valiant defense against the Sylvania forces. Ælryh, driven by the memory of his fallen kin and the fear of total extinction, vowed to protect their home at all costs. The war was brutal, but the Valdic warriors, resolute and fierce, fought with unmatched courage.
Together, they shattered the Sylvanian advance, securing a hard-earned victory that saved Solycia from annihilation. The Valdic people, bound by their unbreakable will, proved that their spirit could not be extinguished, no matter how great the enemy.
=== Valdic Union and Hexseekers ===
After the events of the Comet of Doom, the Great Valdic Voyage, and those chronicled in Ash and Fire, the Valdic people primarily settled in Iristoya, with some groups moving northward into Tiberia and others eastward into Talasi. Following the establishment of the town of Nyr Erðvald, the nation of The Valdic Union was officially founded. Ælryh then focused on uniting the Valdic tribes and fostering shared values. To further this goal, he preached to the people about Church of Áldthadt., a religion that embraced the oldest and most fundamental Valdic beliefs and traditions. Ælryh also established the Jarldom of Vulwoðar and the city of Roðlørn, and created the Order of Hexseekers. This order was dedicated to hunting down dark magic users, whose practices had been outlawed in the Valdic Union. Among those targeted by the Order were vampires, whose presence plagued the caves and ravines of central and southern Iristoya. He appointed Wyvald as second in command of Hexseekers, Wyvald proven his worth to Ælryh in the battles of Hafnarfjoll, where they fought side by side, its also heavily speculated that Wyvald is one of the unofficial children of Ælryh, this claim is even further supported by their close relationship and similarities in stature and voice. 
The Order Hexseekers engaged in numerous battles against these undead bloodsuckers as they fought to protect their people from the dark forces lurking beneath.
Each night, the shadows would stir as vampires and other undead creatures sought to breach the wooden walls of Roðlørn. Their twisted forms crept from the darkness, aiming to overrun the city and claim it for their cursed kind. Yet, despite the humble construction of the city’s defenses, they were no match for the Hexseekers. With unyielding determination and the ancient arts passed down through their order, the Hexseekers stood resolute. Their weapons, glowing with the power of their sacred oaths, clashed fiercely against the dark forces. Time and again, they drove the undead back into the night, ensuring that Roðlørn remained a beacon of life amidst the surrounding horrors. Each battle they won added to their growing legend, and the Hexseekers became both a symbol of hope and a dire warning to those who dared threaten the Valdic Union.
Category:Characters
Category:Valdic