Hartwood Family

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House Hartwood is a small noble house in the county of Melias in the kingdom of Eston. The Hartwoods have been isolated and reclusive for many years; content to hunt and manage their manor and tenants without involving themselves in the larger concerns of the realm.

Lately, with the coming of age of Rhisiart, the family has decided to become more involved in the affairs of Eston.

Rhisiart also has a bastard half-brother Eoin who, being elder, was exiled from the family manor when he came of age. He took a small band of men and sailed east to seek his fortune.

House Hartwood has recently become allied with House Galantos through the marriage of Bronwyn Hartwood to Lexington, the current heir to the Galantos manor and titles. Rhisiart Hartwood has eleven other sisters that he is eager to marry off to worthy lords.

The House Hartwood arms are a white tree on a red field.


The Cult of Bael

Most of the Hartwoods are members of the Cult of Bael, a mystery cult dedicated to Bael the Huntsman. Bael is a god of the hunt and the wilderness as a place of violence and danger. Bael can be depicted as a wolf, falcon, horse, hunter, or even a combination of human hunter and one of his animal aspects. Priests of Bael teach that violence is a tool for survival rather than something to be abhorred or glorified. Initiates of the cult call themselves Falcons and male members grow their hair into a distinctive style called "the hunter's tail". Not much else is known about the cult by outsiders.

Bael has been decreed a saint of the Way of the Warrior Saints. Most members of the cult of Bael ignore the Way, though they are proud so many others recognize the power of their god. With the alliance between Hartwood and Galantos (devoted followers of The Way) the aristocratic members of Bael's cult have been more involved in the larger religion; though in private they refer to Bael as a god, rather than a saint.