Rasanach Folk

Dardina, Priestess of Ernalda and village matriarch

Dardina is a Priestess of the Earth Goddess Ernalda and leads a scattered but bountiful flock of followers in the wooded highlands of western Tarsh. She is also the local midwife, healer and wise woman and though she lives in the village of Rasanach she cares for the faithful in several other hamlets.  She is also the matriarch of her own extended family with five children and numerous grand and great grandchildren.

She was but a young girl when she came to Tarsh from her then home in Aggar with the other settlers that would rebuild Rasanach. She remains the long and arduous journey but also remembers the joy of meeting Hengis, a young boy who would wed her in the future. They had two sons and a daughter before he died over thirty years ago. Since then Dardina has remained unwed and focused on her family and devout flock.

Dardina is in her early sixites and can be seen in the illustration to the right. She wears the traditional three layered dress of Ernalda but her garb is more practical than ornate. She ispreparing to make an offering to the goddess as she asks for a good crops and a bountiful harvest.  The three runes on her face are earth, fertility and harmony; unsurprisingly the runes of Ernalda. Her sickle has been purified for the sacrifice and was forged locally with copper from the nearby Hydra Hills mines.

Hafanor, Hetman and Initiate of Oldaya

Hafanor is the village hetman and eldest son of the Priestess Dardina. He keeps order within the village and represents it for matters outside of it. He was only 12 when his father died and for much of his life has looked to his thrall slave Mitrolar as a father figure. Hafanor is an initiate of the god Odalya the Hunter and takes great pleasure in stalking the numerous edible creatures of the hills.   

Hafanor leaves much of the day to day chores to Mitrolar and his mother while he keeps Rasanach well fed and safe. He was married and widowed relatively young with three sons, Genath, Harshad and Hosvald, to succeed him. They live in the village while he has never remarried. He is a tall and broad man in his early forties with a touch of grey creeping in to his hair and beard. He carries his much prized shield, gaothach, which was his fathers before him. The shield is magical and has an air rune upon it that defends the wearer from missile attacks.  

Natalina the Cursed, Initiate of Ernalda

Natalina is the daughter of Korsar the Copper Smith whose family used to live in Rasanach till he was hired to work in the mines further in the Hydra Mountains. Korsar took his family with him and lived a good if transient life but unfortunately his daughter Natalina was abducted by cultists of the goddess Thed. They took her in to the deep mountains and it was assumed she was lost to all. Then four months later in mid-winter she stumbled back in to Rasanach in poor condition but alive. Natalina is unable to talk about her time with the Thed Cultists and her family has shunned her since her return. Korsar has called her cursed and has disowned her out of fear and shame.   

In the four year since her return Natalina has lived at Rasanch under the protection of Dardina who has taken her as an assistant and acolyte. The other folk were wary of her but this has faded over time and she is now an accepted part of Rasanach. Natalina is an Initiate of Ernalda the earth goddess but is unlikely to ever become a full priestess as to do so requires a priestess to have born a healthy child. The stigma around the abduction is still there and it is unlikely that Natalina will ever wed. Natalina is a pretty dark haired woman of twenty three years of age who comes across as rather sombre in her manners. She is very attached to Dardina who is like a mother to her. Indeed some whisper that her devotion is more to Dardina than Ernalda but they would never say it to either of their faces. 

Mitrolar the wise thrall

Mitrolar is the old thrall slave of Hafanor and before him his father Hengis. He was captured by Hengis in Dargon Pass years ago and brought back to Rasanch to serve till ransomed or time served. The two became great friends and Mitrolar stayed with his master right up to his death thirty and more years ago. Then he stayed to help his widow and family and then he stayed some more. He is very close to Hafanor and his mother Dardnia but he truly loves the lands around Rasanach where he walked extensively.

Mitrolar is seventy years of age and has lived most of his life in Rasanach, where, though technically a slave, he is held in high esteem. His knowledge of the hills and general area is good and he keeps extensive journals. He is the most literate person in the village being able to read in Tarsh, Sartarite and Pelorian. He is a font of knowledge and his fireside stories have always been popular.    

Hosvald the craftsman

Hosvald is the third and youngest son of Hafanor and the younger twin brother of Harshad. Hosvald is a gifted craftsman and it is said he can turn his hand to anything. He is a carpenter, potter and thatcher that even knows some smithing. A gifted and clever person that is also a good trader as well but by all accounts a pitiful hunter. He always has to be doing something and the patience of stalking a creature is beyond him by his own admission.  

He is twenty one years old with a slight frame, like his deceased mother, and has an aura of energy about him that can be contagious. He is by far the hardest working person in Rasanach. Hosvald has a wife, Cillevas, and a young one year old son, wee Hafanor.  

Lonota the weaver

Lonota is the wife of Genath and the youngest daughter of Joviand the guildman of the nearby town of Brathairmor . She is an initiate of the goddess Orane the Weaver and is also highly skilled in the creation of dyes and pigments. She creates the blue and green cloth that Rasanach folk use and trade through her use of local flora and fauna. Genath and Lonota have a three year old son Harothgar and are praying to the Goddess Ernalda for a second child but with little success. Lonota is a woman in her early twenties with a serious disposition and organised manner.

Kalkeus the Smith

Kalkeus the Smith settled in Rasanch over five years ago when he arrive injured and destitute after being set upon by brigands. He was healed by Dradina and worked to pay off his obligations for a year and a day.  The calm of Rasanach soothed him and his skill with metals was a boon to the village, so Kalkeus stayed on till the end of the year and so on.His skill with metals is obvious and each season he travels to Copper Town to visit the temple of The Temple of Gustbran, the smith god, where he worships and possibly the Copper Bottom where he carries out other business. Kalkeus is a muscular man in his late fifties with many a burn from his trade and an infectious laugh. He says he is from near Tarshford in the Rockwood Mountians to the far north east of the Kingdom though there are a few good tales and rumours about 'where he really comes from' going around.

 Original Art by Pino44io