The history of House Glantri
by Harri MäkiYears in the Alasiyan Marches
The Glantris were an old Thyatian military family. They came to the Alasiyan lands in AC 621, when Lord Gustavo Glantri was named military-governor of Western Alasiyan Marches. He was a stern, nearly cruel leader, who centred all power on his own hands. He was an imposing figure, with a full beard and a fit and proportioned body, the perfect example of the Thyatian military man.
He died in AC 660 at the age of 64 and was succeeded by his son Lord Konstantius. He was as talented and imposing as his father has been, but he had a difficult temper and he constantly quarrelled with his 3 half-brothers. For this reason, during his governorship Thyatians began to lose ground increasingly to the Alasiyan nomads. He was not very popular because of his rash judgements and was not mourned when Alasiyans captured and executed him in AC 675. He was 42 years old.
The position of the Glantri family in the area was already so strong that it surprised nobody when Lord Konstantius' half-brother, Johannes, was named next military governor. He was not so talented as his father and half-brother had been in military matters but again a very imposing figure. Whereas his father and half-brother had been warriors, he was a warrior-priest of Vanya and fanatical one at that. During his governorship, Vanya's worship spread fast amongst the Thyatian settlers in the area. He again united the Thyatians military factions and stopped the advance of the Alasiyan nomads for a while. He died in his bed in AC 699 at the age of 62.
Lord Johannes' son, Ericus, was not interested in staying in Alasiyan Marches and had returned to Thyatis City already in AC 692. So it was Lord Carlo Glantri, last remaining son of Lord Gustavo, who was appointed as the next military governor of the province. He was not a warrior but a priest of Tarastia. However, he had got a military education when he was younger, so he was eligible for the position. He was somewhat shorter than his father and half-brothers had been and also had become somewhat plump because of his age (47). He was already balding and used only goatee instead of full beard of his ancestors.
Lord Carlo was very stern in his faith, his judgements were extremely harsh and he silenced any opposition with severe punishments. Needless to say, he was not very popular amongst other nobles and normal people. Lord Carlo took the war against Alasiyan nomads and Alphatian settlers to a whole new level. Instead of only defending Thyatian settlements, he sent his troops in the desert to attack the nomads' oasis and even over the desert to attack Alphatian settlements. His popularity amongst the military began to decrease because of these tough military expeditions. So when he died unmourned in AC 711 at the age of 61 everyone was relieved.
Tiberio Glantri
Lord Carlo's only son, Tiberio, was only 17 when his father died. Because of his young age he was passed by in the selection of a new military governor. A new man from the Isle of Dawn, Lord Pontius Gardius, was sent to replace the Glantris in the position.
Lord Tiberio had got the best possible education for the time. He spoke already several languages fluently, was gifted in music, had studied the arts and so on. He was also very gifted in military matters, and had already taken part in a couple of expeditions where he had showed his talents. Most of all he was possessed with foresight. He saw instantly that Lord Pontius would led Thyatian troops to military catastrophe and criticised his leadership. But Lord Pontius had some very influential supporters in Thyatis City, so his protests fell on deaf ears.
During the following years Lord Tiberio showed that he was a brilliant leader. He led his troops from victory to victory and it was only because of his talents that disaster came only in AC 728. Well before the Battle of Hedjazi was fought, Lord Tiberio was sure that Thyatians would lose it. It was only because of his brilliant cavalry operations that even some of the Thyatian troops get away from the battlefield.
When Otto von Drachenfels contacted him after the battle and presented his migration plan to the north-western Highlands, Lord Tiberio immediately realised that this was the right way out of the impossible situation. He also remembered that his ancestor Darius Glantri had went there as an ambassador about 200 hundred years earlier. It was because of his immediate support that the others agreed too. Lord Tiberio should have been the official leader of the migration after Graf Hans von Graustein rejected the position. However, Lord Tiberio realised that Herr Otto was a better choice. Lord Tiberio was not very imposing; he had inherited his father's plumpness and was even shorter than Lord Carlo had been, while Herr Otto was a head taller than him and looked like a real noble, whereas he looked more like a clerk.
When the migration reached Selenica in AC 729, Lord Tiberio married Herr Otto's sister Griselda. It was his second marriage, since he had already in AC 714 married Lord Cecare Fulvina's cousin Lucrezia. She had however died in childbed when their son Claudio was born in AC 716. This new marriage made the relations between von Drachenfels and Glantris even closer. They had already been in friendly relations since Herr Otto had married Lucrezia's younger sister Lucia in AC 718.
In Selenica they also met Morphail Gorevitch-Woszlany's migration from Traladaran lands. Lord Tiberio was only one to oppose merging with the Traladarans. There was something he didn't like in Morphail and he finally was persuaded to accept him only because they would have had more chances to survive the passage through the Broken Lands.
When the migration arrived in the Highlands in AC 730, the refugees from the Alasiyan lands separated and settled amongst the scattered southern Flaemish farmers. Lord Tiberio and his followers settled in the forefront against the Flaemish heartland in the area of modern Hightower.
When the skirmishes with the Flaems started, Lord Tiberio was adamant he would not give up his area. If the Flaems wanted a war they would get a war. Lord Tiberio lead the troops of the settlers during the next four years with varying success. He won more battles than he lost, but the victories were usually Pyrrhic ones. He fell in battle in AC 734 at the age 40.
Claudio Glantri
Tiberio's only son Lord Claudio was only 18 when his father died. He was a slim, plain youth, who had none of his father's military skills. He was as intelligent as his father was and much more versed in the arts, but those were not the qualities needed at that time. Luckily he had his father's old teacher Alexius Steltarius as councillor and right hand man. Steltarius was already over 70-years old, but his political abilities were still intact. Before he died in AC 737 he helped Lord Claudio through the hard times. He realised that Lord Claudio didn't like the fighting, so he advised Lord Claudio to appeal to his ancestors, Darius Glantri's, good name amongst the Flaems. This was just the right thing to do and the truce was settled in AC 736.
After that Lord Claudio concentrated his efforts on building a home for himself and his stepmother. He began to build Castle Glantri in the place were there is now Hightower. He also took the title of Count Glantri. The Castle was finished in AC 739. After that Lord Claudio spent his time in feasts, celebrations and hunting. His castle became the centre of art circles and scholars amongst the settlers. Years went fast and only disturbance was his stepmother Griselda, who was worried because Lord Claudio didn't get married. In fact she began to worry about Claudio's lack of interest in women.
The Happy years ended in AC 751, when Lord Claudio's cousin Joachim von Drachenfels married Luise van Agt, a Flaem. Lord Claudio couldn't care less, but he also couldn't stop his supporters for labelling Joachim's marriage as a grovelling towards Flaems. This rapidly led to skirmishes between Flaems and settlers and everyone was surprised when Joachim took the side of the Flaems. Lord Claudio was very unhappy of this development. In AC 753 he began to talk about leaving the Highlands and giving his title to his cousin Titus Glantri, but his advisors talked him out of this at the end.
When skirmishes stopped in AC 756 everybody acknowledged that Joachim von Drachenfels was the best military leader in the highland area. During those five years Titus Glantri had also shown that he had inherited his family's military abilities. Although Lord Claudio was happy when the peace returned, he realised that he couldn't stand the life in the area. He also saw that Titus would have been a far better ruler in the forthcoming time. So in AC 759 Lord Claudio announced that he relinquished his position as Count Glantri to his cousin Titus. A couple of weeks later he left Highlands for Thyatis City were he lived amongst artists and scholars as a respected patron until he died in AC 789 at the age of 73.
Titus Glantri
Titus was the son of Tiberio's younger brother Drusio, who hadn't followed his brother to the Highlands but stayed in Thyatis. Titus was born in AC 722 and was given military training. In AC 742 he had suddenly decided that his possibilities would have been much better in the Highlands than in the army of Thyatis. His arrival to Castle Glantri in AC 743 surprised his cousin Lord Claudio totally.
Titus was not a very charismatic person; instead he was short, stout, coarse and even ugly. But he was also intelligent, strong-willed, brave, dutiful and industrious. He soon became one of his cousin's closest advisors. It was however a surprise when in AC 751 he was given the command of the Thyatian troops in the area. During the following five years he showed to be second only to Joachim von Drachenfels in military ability.
In AC 754 he married Hedvig Graustein, Hans Graustein's youngest daughter, and following year their only children, Hadriana was born.
Then in AC 759 Lord Claudio announced his resignation and Titus Glantri became the second Count Glantri at the age of 37. He had anticipated that Lord Claudio would eventually do that. In fact Titus had on purpose told Lord Claudio about life in Thyatis City and so increased his desire to go there.
Lord Titus immediately began to train his army because he realised that the peace could not last long. There were hotheads amongst both the settlers and the Flaems and he wanted to be ready when the fighting would start again. When in AC 761 Joachim von Drachenfels began to send envoys to various rulers of the Highlands to negotiate the creation of a unified state, Lord Titus was very sceptical from the beginning. He had seen the differences between the various ethnic groups more clearly than Joachim had.
Lord Titus however used the opportunity to better his relations with Joachim, because he realised that together their military talents might have be enough to overcome the other leaders in case of war. So when Joachim changed his plans in AC 769 Lord Titus was amongst the first people to support his plan of a military pact between various settler leaders. Still it was only in AC 776 that they finally convinced Barone Carlo di Sfonti to join them. Joachim von Drachenfels was acknowledged supreme leader of the troops in case of war and Lord Titus was made his second-in-command.
When the war then came in AC 784 it didn't surprise anybody. Joachim von Drachenfels and Titus had been provoking the Flaems already for years. Joachim and Titus lead settlers' troops rapidly into the Flaemish lands and in AC 785 they arrived in the Flaems' capital Braejr. There Joachim's gout got so bad that he couldn't take part in the battle. Titus led the siege against the city, but this proved to be more difficult than he thought. He was a brilliant commander in an open field skirmish, but had no experience in siege tactics. The Flaems were victorious and the settlers had to retreat south. This defeat was an enormous loss to Titus's reputation.
The following year Joachim von Drachenfels succeeded in rallying the elves on his part. And then in AC 786 arrived the Alphatians with Halzunthram. It was only because of Joachim's strong pressure that the others accepted the Alphatians amongst them. Now the alliance was strong enough to push the Flaems north. The Flaems were totally defeated at the Battle of Braastar in AC 788. Lord Titus stood right next to Joachim when he accepted the surrender of the Flaemish leaders.
And then Joachim died. Lord Titus immediately felt the burden of leadership on his shoulders and didn't know what to do. He realised that he himself was not charismatic enough to take the leadership. Barone Ottone di Sfonti was already over 80-years old and Joachim's son Sigmund didn't have any of his father's qualities. After some talking Titus and Ottone realised that now they had to negotiate with the Flaems and the elves about the future.
In the negotiations Lord Titus represented the settlers' side, since Ottone was too tired to take part. A Council with 5 members (1 Thyatian, 1 Kerendan, 1 Hattian, 1 Flaem and 1 elf) was Titus's initial proposal, but he soon agreed with Don Fernando de Belcadiz's counter-proposition of a Council with 8 members (3 Flaems, 2 elves, 1 Thyatian, 1 Kerendan and 1 Hattian).
Halzunthram's coup came as a total surprise for Lord Titus. He was at first very angry, but soon Halzunthram and Sigmund von Drachenfels talked him and Ottone di Sfonti to their side. Titus was already 66-years old and had begun to feel the signs of old age. So he decided that if they could get a peace treaty under Halzunthram's leadership, even if he was an Alphatian, that would have been good enough for him. And Halzunthram also promised him the title of Duke of Glantri, while Ottone di Sfonti was made Viscount of Sirecchia.
So Lord Titus left the command of his troops to his generals and retired to Castle Glantri. The following year his daughter Hadriana came back from Thyatis City were she had been sent 19 years earlier for education. She brought along her 1-year old son, Alexander. Titus was happy for seeing his grandson. Hadriana never said a word about the boy's father and Titus was tactful enough not to ask when he saw that Hadriana didn't want to talk about him.
When the war was prolonged and Halzunthram's demands began to grow, Lord Titus began considering again his alliance with Halzunthram. Also for some unknown reasons Hadriana strongly opposed the alliance. In AC 794 Titus contacted Matteo di Sfonti, Ottone's nephew, who was now the real leader of the Kerendan faction because of Ottone's old age, and proposed him to start secret negotiations with the rebel Flaems. The negotiations went on for nearly two years until in AC 796 they got an agreement and Thyatians and Kerendans joined the Flaems.
Lord Titus again led his troops to war. But his physics couldn't stand anymore the strain. He died in his bed in AC 797 at the age of 75 for the complications after wounding in the battle.
Hadriana Glantri
Hadriana was already 42-years-old when she became leader of the Glantri faction of the rebels. She was a tall, lean, shorthaired, plain-looking woman in her prime physical condition. She usually wore men's clothes and among the soldiers she was "one of the guys". Titus had sent her to Thyatis in AC 770 to get educated there. After getting through military academy there, Hadriana had served in the Thyatian army for five years and then began career as a professional adventurer. The only reason she gave for her coming back to Glantri was that she wanted a home for her son.
Hadriana was a brilliant commander and she fought side-by-side with her men, but she had some clear defects. First of all she had no sense of military strategy. And secondly she absolutely hated Alphatians, and that included also Flaems. When asked about this hatred she always gave some vague answers about some difficulties during her adventuring career. She was also very self-willed; things were done either her way or not at all. Because of that and his hostility towards the Flaems it was usually Matteo di Sfonti who kept in touch with the Flaem leaders and who tried to co-ordinate their operations against the Alphatian troops.
The rebels were slowly pushed back by Alphatian and Hattian troops because of the division inside the rebel troops. It was very hard for Matteo di Sfonti to keep the alliance together, because Hattian troops were between his troops and the rest of the rebels. At the Spring of AC 801 Halzunthram was so confident that he declared that the rebels vanquished. But then he made a mistake; he divided his own troops by removing Hattians to the north, to the area west of Aalban River.
This was a heaven sent opportunity for Hadriana. She harassed the Hattian troops on their way north and slowly led her own troops west, where they joined Matteo di Sfonti and his troops. She had some reasons to do that. For one Castle Glantri was in ruins, there was only one tower standing after Alphatian battlemages assaulted it the previous year, so she had no reasons to stay there. Also Hadriana wanted to take her son to a safe place. She left Alexander with di Sfonti family, where he had a company of his own age amongst Matteo's children.
Matteo now left his own troops to the hands of Hadriana, because he wanted to concentrate on his efforts to get more allies to rebels. He sent envoys to don Fernando de Belcadiz, to Morphail Gorevich-Woszlany, to the Ethengarians living eastern side of Colossus Mountains and to the Kaelics. He himself travelled over the Glantrian Alps to visit Etienne d'Ambreville, whose magical capabilities he was well aware of. The only success came from the Ethengarians, who were promised area in the west side of mountains.
The attack of the Ethengarian horsemen and hakomons over the Colossus Mountains in the summer of AC 802 took Halzunthram by surprise. Braejr would have fallen if the rebels only had co-operated. The Ethengarians were approaching from the east and the Flaems from the north. Hadriana was with her troops at the western side of Isoile river, but at the last moment she decided to go to the north and attack Hattian troops coming from there. Original plan was that she should keep the riverside so that the Alphatians from the south could not enter the city or the defenders could not escape. When the Ethengarians, who of course were not experienced in siege warfare, saw that Hadriana's troop left their positions, they also retreated. This left only the Flaems in the battlefield.
Matteo di Sfonti had his hands full, when he tried to assure the Ethengarians and most of all defeated Flaems that no one had betrayed anyone. He was also furious with Hadriana. Hadriana couldn't care less, and she led her troops north to fight with the Hattians there. During the following three years Hadriana harassed the Hattians and their connections with the Alphatians in the north. She didn't care about Matteo's pleas to lead her troops to the south. She even occasionally robbed supplies from the Flaems. Disaster came in AC 805 when Hattian troops strengthened by some dwarven units beat her totally in the battle near modern Vorstadt.
Hadriana and a handful of his men escaped and fled over the Wendarian Ranges to Wendar. In her frustration after the defeat she stayed there for four years. Not until AC 809 she decided to go back. Before leaving she tried to get Wendarian humans to ally with her. She couldn't persuade them but at least she managed to hire troops, so that she had nearly 100 men when she left.
She went first over the mountains to Boldavia. Her plan was to persuade Morphail Gorevich-Woszlany to enter the battle. The plan was good, but when she met the sinister lord of Igorov, it was she who stayed in Boldavia for two years. It was not until AC 811 when Hadriana led his Wendarian and Boldavian troops to battle.
When Hadriana came back after six years of absence, she was 55-years-old. She was still surprisingly fit and agile, but there was something harder in her sight. She was more ferocious in battle and she had got some very powerful magical items. Most disturbing to both his allies and enemies was that she only attacked during night-time. Her troops attacked the Alphatian villages and troops and usually slaughtered everyone. Her troops, although their number seemed to stay at the same level, were so small that they had no big impact on the war.
After seven years Hadriana's allies began to suspect that there was something wrong with her. After some consultation with his Immortals, Matteo di Sfonti realised that Hadriana was totally evil, and she would have been an even greater danger to the Highlands than Halzunthram. He told what he had found out to Alexander Glantri. It took some time to persuade Alexander, but at last when he met his mother for the first time in 17 years, it became very clear to him what his mother had become. Three days later Alexander Glantri drove with his own hands a stake through his mother's heart. Matteo di Sfonti then cut her head off. They never told to anyone else how Hadriana Glantri had died.
Alexander Glantri
Alexander Glantri was 30-years old when he was appointed Duke of Glantri after his mother's death. He was of medium height and plain looking, but when he started to speak his charisma was overpowering. When people met him for the first time he seemed to be just a clumsy fighter. But that was all forgotten when Alexander got a chance to talk about the future, his dreams, his plans for Highlands.
After Hadriana had left Alexander with the di Sfonti family, Matteo di Sfonti had raised him like his own son. Matteo had 7 children of his own, 5 sons and 2 daughters, and Alexander had quite a happy childhood with them. When Alexander grew up, Matteo soon realised that he had more talent for military matters than any of his sons and although not as intelligent as some of them Alexander had more wisdom than all of Matteo's sons had together. So before Alexander turned 20, he was already commanding the remaining di Sfonti's troops.
Alexander Glantri was the first among the rebel leaders to take up the difficult issue about the future of the Highlands in AC 814: what would they have done after vanquishing Halzunthram? So far all the others had been avoiding this question out of fear of breaking the alliance. The only sure thing was the promise that had been made to Tulai Virayana, leader of the Ethengarians, that they would have got the area at the western side of Colossus Mountains. And even that was something that the Flaems had problems to accept. But Alexander Glantri's vivid vision of multiracial Highlands was something that broke the opposition of even the Flaemish leaders. Besides that Matteo di Sfonti's and Don Fernando de Belcadiz's diplomatic skills were crucial to keeping alliance together in 810's.
When Wilhelm von Drachenfels secretly contacted the rebels in AC 813, Don Fernando and Alexander persuaded the other leaders to take this seriously. Don Fernando supported the negotiations because no harm could come even if this was a plot of Halzunthram and Alexander was in favour of it simply because he wanted to believe that Wilhelm was as tired to the war as he himself was. This was the most serious flaw in Alexander Glantri's character: he usually trusted others and the purity of their motives.
After AC 818 the war began at last to go clearly against Halzunthram, as rebels were harassing his troops everywhere. Then in AC 820 Halzunthram found out about Wilhelm von Drachenfels's betrayal. Wilhelm was forced to switch side openly. Next year Don Fernando de Belcadiz at last succeeded in persuading Morphail Gorevitch-Woszlany to join the rebels. Also in the same year some of the Alphatians lead by one Vortram, whose father had been made Count of Silverston by Halzunthram in AC 803, decided to join the rebels hoping that they could end the war.
All seemed to be lost for Halzunthram, but then he brought again fresh troops from Alphatia and managed to keep on fighting. In AC 822 his troops captured Matteo di Sfonti, who was returning from Linden where he had been negotiating with the Flaems. Matteo was promptly executed for high treason. After this event Alexander Glantri was left the only leader of the rebels, and even the Flaems recognised this.
War went on still for six years. Halzunthram's troops were slowly pushed back everywhere, separated and hunted down. Finally in AC 828 Halzunthram's headquarters were found. In the ensuing battle, both sides have great casualties. Among the casualties was Galeazzo di Sfonti, Matteo's eldest son, who had followed him as leader of di Sfonti family. Battle was over after Alexander Glantri personally captured Halzunthram, who was trying to escape. Others wanted to execute Halzunthram immediately, but Alexander refused that and said they should give him a fair trial later.
The Republic of the Highlands
After the war, tough negotiations for the future of the region began. Everyone accepted Alexander's ideas about multiracialism. The biggest disappointment for Alexander was the refusal of the elves to join the Republic. Also Etienne d'Ambreville refused when asked to join the negotiations. The hardest part was to convince Morphail Gorevitch-Woszlany of the advantages of joining, but at the end that was achieved. It was also very hard for Alexander to get others to accept the right of Alphatians, both those who joined the rebels and those who supported Halzunthram till the end, to stay in the Republic. In the end Alexander succeeded also in this issue with the support of Wilhelm von Drachenfels.
At the first meeting of the new Council Alexander was chosen as a Chancellor of the Council. Others also decided against his will to rename Braejr as Glantri City. Also in the first meeting of the House of Lords, Alexander was given a title of Archduke of Westheath: he was to be the first amongst the nobles of the Republic.
During the following years Alexander Glantri concentrated his efforts to establish diplomatic ties with Darokin and Thyatis. There weren't any problems with these two countries so the task was relatively easy. Much harder were negotiations with Alphatia about the imprisoned Halzunthram. Finally in AC 833 Alphatia withdrew all claims on the region and the same year Halzunthram was released and sent back to Alphatia.
In AC 832 Alexander Glantri married Julia di Sfonti, Matteo's younger daughter. They had grown up together and this marriage had been in the air already over 10 years. At last in AC 832 they decided that now the time was right to settle down and the following year their son Alexius was born.
In AC 835 Alexander began to get some very disturbing information from Boldavia. At last he connected his mother's condition with her staying with Morphail Gorevitch-Woszlany. He contacted Morphail and presented the information he had got to him. Alexander demanded explanation and hinted about his suspects concerning his mother's curse. Morphail of course denied everything with a very arrogant manner. Alexander replied to Morphail that he was going to examine the matter until the truth would be found.
Alexander Glantri died in a Council meeting at the end of AC 835 at the age of 47. The Alphatian member of the Council, Vortram, suddenly blasted him to the ashes with his spell. Birkai Virayana was also killed in the ensuing fight before Vortram was captured. For some obscure reasons the three remaining members, Morphail, Frederick Vlaardoen and Wilhelm von Drachenfels didn't want to go any deeper into the matter and executed Vortram the day after. Lucchino di Sfonti, Matteo's fourth son, succeeded Alexander in Council.
The following week Council passed a law in memoriam of Alexander Glantri and the land was officially renamed Republic of Glantri. They also decided to start building a mausoleum to him in the Glantri City.
Alexius Glantri
Alexander's son Alexius was only 2-years old when his father died. His mother Julia was to be ruler of Westheath till Alexius came of age. Julia had idolised his husband and she raised his son in this idolising. When he grew everybody saw that he was externally his father's image. Difference was that he didn't have his father's mental capacities. He was a rash, spoiled youth, bent on partying and giving in other unnameable vices with some of his cousins.
Alexius took the title from his mother in AC 853. The year after the death of his uncle Giovanni di Sfonti, he demanded the place in the Council for himself. He was however passed by in favour of his cousin Matteo di Sfonti. This cooled his relations with di Sfonti's somewhat. Alexius renewed his claim after Matteo di Sfonti's murder in the first day of AC 855. But Thyatians and Kerendans couldn't decide about their Council member for three months because of the infighting amongst the di Sfontis. Finally there was only his other cousin Borso di Sfonti left and the decision was between them. Alexius was again disappointed when Borso was chosen.
When the Council announced their Light of Rad decision in AC 858, Alexius was first to raise his voice against it. He declared that this was not what his father had in mind for the country and that he wouldn't accept the decision. Alexius was logical choice to lead the rebellion but the rebels were too few and he didn't have his father's military skills. He had to flee to Darokin in AC 859. He spent there the rest of his life, gaining a minor fief at the border with the Five Shires. He died in AC 889 at the age of 56.
Summary
Carlo Glantri b.650 d.711
Tiberio Glantri b.694 d.734
Claudio Glantri b.716 d.789
First Count Glantri
Titus Glantri b.722 d.797
First Duke of Glantri
Hadriana Glantri b.755 d.818
Alexander Glantri b.788 d.835
First Archduke of Westheath
Chancellor of the Council 829-835
Alexius Glantri b.833 d.889