Vestantes

The Vestantes are a tribe of Rams who live in the kingdom of Vestenan, to the south of the Black Eel Valley. They are known as great warriors and magicians. They are a Summer Tribe, while all the other Rams you may encounter come from Winter Tribes—not that outsiders really understand what this means. They claim descent from Vestene Summer, daughter of Vingkot, and her husband Gorolf Brown. In the past, Gorolf built a fortress named Gorolfstead, supposed to have nearly rivaled the future Berenstead. They are often accompanied by a bear and like to present themselves with bear or snake imagery. In battle, they often carry—besides the swords typical to Rams—spears, many with multiple prongs.

## Ride Like the Wind

In *Ride Like the Wind*, the Vestantes are the only Southern Ram kingdom to raid you.

### Lore

Your clan circle says:

* "Aside from the occasional raid, the doings of the Vestantes don't much affect us."
* "All the other Rams around here are from the Winter Tribes, but the Vestantes are a Summer Tribe. Whatever that means."

### Events

Aside from their raids, the Vestantes appear in the following events:

* Lake Imaress
* Vestantes Encounter
* Vestantes Trade Visit

## Lights Going Out

The Vestantes is one of the possible targets of Brolarulf's Great Raid in the *Lights Going Out* prologue, setting up a special enmity between them and the player clan for the rest of the game.

Like everyone else, the Vestantes have fallen on hard times in the Chaos Age. Gorolfstead, the fortess built by their heroic founder, has been razed by Chaos forces. This is possibly as a result of an undead army, since the kingdom apparently fell apart due to an attack by one. As a result, some Vestantene refugees may come to Berenstead asking for adoption. If granted, their leader will join your pool of potential ring members. It is possible he will be a Dostal devotee, suggesting that the Vestantes, like the Berenethtelli, prefer him over Odayla. This is in contrast to his Forosilvuli counterpart, who will never be a Dostal worshiper.

The Vestantes and their king (variously named Varanalf, Vestvantho, Girulf, etc.) may visit Berenstead as friends. However, they may also try to invade and occupy Berenstead as a replacement for Gorolfstead. In fact, it is possible for a Vestantene king with one name to make a friendly visit to Berenstead after a Vestantene king with another name tried to invade it. It is not made clear if there was a change of leadership between events or if the tribe has fractured to the extent that there are multiple chieftains claiming the Vestantene throne. In either case, if Vestantes refugees come to Berenstead to seek adoption some time after the attempted invasion then they will make it clear that they had nothing to do with it and express their admiration that you could withstand the attack of their "self-proclaimed" king.

After discovery, it is possible to raid, and be raided by, the Vestantes.

On Exploration, there is a chance of finding the Wand of Vestenan, one of the Four Kingdoms treasures, here.

### Lore

Your clan ring says:

* "Their tribal founder was named Gorolf."
* "Their tribal founder was Vestene, daughter of Vingkot. They would have been wiser to have had queens not kings."
* "The Vestantes king, Gorolf, built a fortress that nearly rivaled Berenstead. If they're here, it must have fallen."
* "We have an advantage over the Forosilvuli or Vestantes, in that we ride and they don't. But Orlanth could favor either one of us."
* "The Vestantes raid us from time to time, but not at [their king's] command."
* "Vestantes clans raid us from time to time, but the king has never had much control over that."
* "I bet he had all the Vestantes regalia, and his tribe died all the same."

### Events

The Vestantes appear in the following events:

* Vestantes Refugees
* Vestantes Warband Encounter
* Vestantes Plan Invasion
* Vestantes King Seeks Aid

## Other Stories

More information on the Vestantes tribe can be found here.

## Images

Vestantes RaidVestantes with their bearThe Vestantes want your treasures and will pay generously.Vestantes holy women at Lake Imaress.The king of the Vestantes visits Berenstead.The Vestantes plan an invasion of Berenstead.A Vestenan invasion force.Vestantes refugees hail Berenstead.Vestenan lies to the southwest of the Black Eel Valley. Lake Imaress is visible. To the west is Pentenan and to the east is Forosan.Vestenan on the map in Lights Going Out. Notice the change of location of Lake Imaress.