The Founding Families

Originally from Aldinor, the Reikhardt fortune was robbed from the family by the merchant elite that typically ruled the state. In Aldinor the Reikhardts owned a prosperous timber industry that dipped into the Savage Lands for produce. It was the Reikhardts who originally discovered Estavyr but it would be some years before they would return to claim it.

Ulrich Reikhardt controlled most of the family at the time. Years of petty squabbling and feuds with merchant lords soon took it's toll on him. He eventually fell prey to political intrigue when his logging enterprise was stolen right fro under his nose, and he was banished from the capital altogether. He left with his faithful workers in tow, his families, and his house guard. Later in life he would be the driving force behind Estavyr's colonization, and it would be he who gathered all the banished families together in the first place.

Ulrich Reikhardt fought against Szo'karh and his satyr horde in person. He drew blade against the beast and was eventually crippled. Known in other lands as the 'Cripple King', a title he resented for the rest of his life. Ulrich lead the family council in Estavyr for years, bound in his chair and completely helpless otherwise. Aids and servants moved him when necessary. Clerics tried for years to repair the damage done to his back but were ultimately unsuccessful. Ulrich was born into the world able bodied, but would leave it crippled and paralyzed.

His policies live on today in full effect. Ulrich organized the first guard corp that still protects and reigns over the mountain. The Reikhardts left Gildren to settle down near the Ceryn. Syndhal is still under Reikhardt control to this day. Ulrich Reikhardt was succeeded by Ulrich II, and eventually Ulrich III. The tradition continues with Ulrich IV still a boy young in his years, awaiting his chance to rule over the family in high order.

Cold and calculated, the Elwynes proved the hardest for Ulrich to track down. Supposedly Ostians, these winter hardened smiths never explained the nature of their exile to anyone. This had the other families on edge for some time but the Elwynes would eventually earn trust and keep with their famous metalcraft.

The Elwynes would rule over Gildren, the highest quarter. They would ally with the Dwarfs in their later years, making for an odd clash of the two cultures. Many Dwarfs would marry into the family and vice versa. The Ostians and Dwarfs would supply the rest of Estavyr with some of the finest irons and lightest steels. This kept the guard corps well equip and always maintained. In recent years younger Elwyne smiths have left Estavyr. Some traveling far enough to return to Ostia to practice their crafts.

Rodrick Elwyne ruled over the family initially, and on his death bed he would pass the title to his daughter. His daughter would give birth to a boy named Edwin who now reigns over the family in full effect.

The Brauers are typically ridiculed for their massive stature and grotesque features. It's said in rumors that the women lay with ogres, a tall tale the family has taken to spreading themselves with pride. Their strength is unmatched and to this day they serve as siegebreakers and goliaths in the guard corp.

In truth the Brauers were dockworkers, hardy sailors and cutthroat privateers that both worked and preyed over the Aldinor coast. They were ugly in truth, but it was in no way a supernatural affair. In their prime they owned a massive wharf. Eventually news would come of their pirates and thieves harassing other ships coming down The Divide and they would be exiled for treason.

Valery Brauer first ruled over the family and she passed the title to her brother. Her brother would let rule fall onto his two sons, and its the 'Brauer Brothers' that control most of the docks these days. They continue tradition by conscripting their massive kin into the guardsmen corp, with the rest of their family mainly simple dock hands.

Milton Hargrave was a revolutionary among the common man, and in Aldinor a thorn in every merchant's side. The merchant lords raised routinely raised levies out of the poor farmers they rented land to, a policy the Hargraves had rebelled against in full force. Many other indentured hands would join them, backed up by levy garrisons who were abused and abandoned by their lords.

The rebellion was quelled almost immediately and was ultimately a disaster. The survivors were exiled, and while Milton was killed in the affair his son would lead the remnants out of Aldinor. Eadwig Hargrave would join Ulrich in his march for Estavyr, leading a pack of armed farmers and abandoned levies. They would make up most of the armed forces taking the mountain.

In the modern age the Hargraves coexist with Bylandr's elves at the base of the mountain. The Fenplatz have become a bed of poverty, an affliction the Hargraves struggle to remedy. They have been the only family to truly accept the Troglodytes as citizens and it's said on the wind that they might mix blood. This is more then likely political slander.

Once famous horselords, the Stolms were consistently raising famous steeds. Many of these horses would serve as cavalry mounts, with others raised as show stallions. Eventually the would be disgraced when one of their horses turned on a famous Astanian clergy men, killing him with it's trampling hooves.

From that point on they rarely found a buyer, and they would be forced to sell most of their wares and assets. They were never truly banished, but without work and eventually fell prey to poverty. The Reikhardts would seek them out, desperately in need of mounts to take them to Estavyr. The Stolms provided and were forever held in high reputation with the other families.

Their hardy horses still serve Estavyr. Some pull mine crafts and ferry citizens to each of the districts. Others aid the guardsmen corp as loyal stallions. Rikard Stolm controls most of the Stolm's assets, though in truth they are the weakest of the five families. They provide more in services then they do politically. They respect most council meetings with a representative but are mostly silent in their debates.  

Volgrim the Martyr would forever be emblazoned in Dwarven architecture and sculpture decorating Estavyr. Famous for slaying Szo'karh, his crescent axe head remains the Dwarf's most prized possession. Volgrim's Dwarfs were in truth an expeditionary force sent into the Savage Lands to reclaim a lost mountain home they would never actually find. Most of their numbers were lost to the beasts within. Had Bylandr's elves not rescued them they would have all perished.

Disgraced, Volgrim refused to return his Dwarven kin. Many of his men followed and they wandered the Forest wastes aimlessly. They would eventually be joined by Bylandr's elves and seek out Ulrich when news reached them another was trying to scale Estavyr. They became one of the biggest assets in Estavyr's reclamation as their stonework would bring the mines back in full force and carve out most of the settlements.

Now most of the Dwarves have either married into other families or continue their crats in Gildren. Volgrim has been treated to a massive statue at the peak, surrounding him with the names and graves of those who also fell in service to the mountain.

Rejected by their kin, Bylandr's elves practiced old magic and faith that their elf brethren had abandoned. They were forced to live out life in the Savage Lands, which made them all adept skirmishers and archers as they were constantly waging war against the Satyrs and other monsters within. They would eventually discover Volgrim's Dwarfs and join them to find Ulrich.

The elves would settle with the Hargraves at the base of the mountain. Coupled with the Hargrave's rustic upbringings, his made the Fenplatz an architectural anomaly as it was both minimal and ornate in it's design. In some sections of the district roofs would still be thatched, with others rooftops decorated in the hanging gardens the Elves revered so highly.

Bylandr surpassed Ulrich in life as age treated him much kinder. Later in life he would become a scholar. Much of his work was put into founding guilds and schools for youth. Many of his elves would join the guard-corps as scouts and rangers. Some married into other families but the Elves have kept most of their efforts away from politics. Some still practice their ancient beliefs but many more have begun serving the seasonal gods like the rest of Estavyr.