[b]Jarl:[/b] Bertil Reenburg [b]Path:[/b] Way of the Patron (bonus to loot roll) Household: [hider=House Reenburg] Eleonora Reenburg (Wife, 41 years of age) Henriette Reenburg (Daughter, 16 years of age, unmarried) Ulla Reenburg (Daughter, 18 years of age, unmarried) Jerrik Reenburg (Adopted son, 20 years of age, unmarried)[/hider] [hider=Merchant Council Advisors (Arls)] Arl Ivar Knudsen (Wealthy merchant, 53 years of age, married) Arl Jorn Hjort (Wealthy merchant, 61 years of age, widowed) [/hider] [hider=Dynasty Bio:] The blood of House Reenburg is a young entrant into Norsia’s varied and historic nobility. Bertil was a wealthy sea faring merchant in his mid-twenties, having been provided with the funds to start up his own trading operation by the early death of his likewise money-minded father. Norsia was, and still is, a harsh land in which to live, let alone make a living worth more than the clothes you wear – but Bertil succeeded splendidly. Starting with one ageing longship, the young entrepreneur had a gifted ability to identify the needs of certain towns and regions. He would then capitalise on these markets, often before others had realised. With the advantage of frequently being the first merchant in town with a bulk load of much desired goods, whether it was fish, corn, ale or metal, he was able to establish monopolies over his rivals, and quickly became one of the most hated men in the business. His rivals resorted to all kinds of tactics to remove him from their area of trade operations. Four assassination attempts failed, one after the other, because Bertil was always duly informed by his vast network of ‘watchers’ that he paid to listen out for such threats. More than a dozen attempts were made to simply buy out his establishments, but as with the assassinations, Bertil was always one step ahead of his enemies. Where he could not hope to prevent the loss of business in one port, he would simply sell up, take the money of his rivals, and set up shop further down the coast. This would buy the other merchants some time to re-establish themselves, but sooner or later, Bertil’s commercial cunning would return with a vengeance. When Jarl Tore Anthenson of Escgor fell from his horse and cracked his skull, Bertil saw a rare buying opportunity. The old Jarl, last of his line, and impotent from birth, had failed to secure an heir. Former Arls and Thanes that had once fought together for one man, started to sharpen their axes as their eyes fixed on an empty throne. The last thing Norsia needed, was yet another civil war, at least from an observer’s viewpoint – Bertil’s viewpoint – and therefore maybe the title of Jarl was up for sale. Meeting with the King of Norsia at the age of thirty, and with more gold than he had sense, Bertil offered his entire fortune to the King’s treasury in return for the title. The King agreed, and thus a new bloodline entered Norsia’s ancient lines of great warriors in the form of a cocky, lowborn merchant. The first order of business as Jarl? Bertil dismissed the Thanes, and took their title (and wealth) from them, because he feared they would attempt to supplant him. This caused the Great Thane Rebellion of Escgor, where hundreds of enraged former-Thanes formed a warband and attempted to march on Bertil. Prepared for every eventuality, Bertil threw the last of his gold reserves at assembling a large mercenary host. With it, he was able to defeat the Thanes (though he himself played no part in the battle), and cement his rule with threats of force to any others that may take up arms against his reforms. He then turned against his Arls, and though both had taken oaths to serve him, he had them stripped of their titles, but left them their wealth. Insulted and dishonoured, the two Arls then assembled an army of thralls with which to seek vengeance. Bertil’s mercenary army triumphed once again however, thus ending all political opposition to his reign – more or less. With no more need for an army, Bertil dismissed the mercenaries, and opted in favour of a Jarldom-funded militia instead with which to keep the peace. He destroyed trade restrictions placed upon Escgor by the former Jarl, allowing for a much more opportune market. Fish, corn, weapons, lumber, jewels and gold started to pass through Escgor every day, and in ever increasing amounts. In response, Bertil introduced tariffs on the goods being bought and sold in his land, and used the money to piece together his decimated finances. Realising that he alone could not watch every aspect of the dealings going on under his nose, Bertil formed the Merchant Council of Escgor, and filled It with Escgor’s richest and schrewdist merchants. The most successful of these, he took on as friends, and charged them with the duty of overseeing the day-to-day running of his bustling trade empire.The two most prominent of his inner circle, he awarded the redundant title of Arl. Bertil meanwhile, with two daughters and no son, retired from his money matters and started to look towards building a future for him and his line. He moved quickly; his wife, Eleonora, had almost died giving birth to his second daughter, and so he refrained from fathering on her a third child. Instead, he adopted the bastard son of Escgor’s former Jarl, whom had been disavowed by his deceased father years before his death. This secured his name, and gave him a future to build upon.[/hider] [b]Province Name and Number:[/b] 7 - Escgor [hider=Fiefdom Bio:] Escgor is a largely flat Jarldom, with few hills and fewer mountains. However, woodland is aplenty and the soil is adequately fertile. Fields of crops, dotted by small farming villages, blanket the countryside. Often separating these small communities are large swathes of uninhabited forests. The only settlement of note is the port town of Highhammer, located at the northern edge of the arching coast. With a natural dry-dock, and Bertil’s commerce-influenced ideology, it is quickly blossoming into one of Norsia’s major trading points. Situated in the centre of the Kingdom, it is a natural crossroad for the Kingdom’s trade routes, and much gold passes through its borders every season. [/hider] [hider=Stats] Player: Syrian Hamster Trait: Patron Titles: Jarl of Escgor Gold: 50 Chests of Gold Army: 5,000 Navy: 10 Longboats Fort Level: 0 Infrastructure: 0[/hider]