Son’s Sorrow
The town is most well-known as the headquarters for Lord Illys Arayas the First of Ildûn during the Battle of Vyr. At the time the town was a nameless village on the edge of the Plains of Vyr. On the night following the battle, Hedrèwyri assassins slipped into the village and and executed Lord Arayas, who had been celebrating the day’s victory. The lord’s steward, Sadan, was grievously wounded defending Illys. The assassins then set fire to several tents and buildings before making their escape. The next morning Illys’ son, Karákas, was crowned in Savris. Lord Karákas then rode to the village where he presided over his father’s passage rites. While there, the Lord visited the valiant steward and granted him lordship over the village and its surroundings. The Lord then named the place Barðmorn (i.e., son’s sorrow) and it has been known thus ever since. To avenge his father’s murder, Lord Karákas Arayas the First of Ildûn pushed eastward into Hedrèwyr burning villages and towns throughout that province and dragging nobles from their houses to suffer horrible deaths. Meanwhile, newly titled Sadan Barðmorn set about building an impressive manor which would one day become the Town of Barðmorn.
For almost 600 years, the Town of Barðmorn was ruled by the same House. The last of the line, Caldir the Second, was a notorious womanizer and gambler. Following the death of Lady Barðmorn, he surrendered completely to his vices and soon lost his House and lands. During a particularly miserable evening, the destitute lord gambled and lost his coronet in a game of cards. His world collapsed around him, Lord Barðmorn wandered from the tavern and was found face-down in an alley sewer come morning. Lord Barðmorn left behind two adult sons, Callain and Arrin. While both men owned some property and wealth of their own, the coronet and Lordship passed to another family. The sorry tale of Lord Barðmorn is well-known through Savárið and much of Ildûn, where many jokes are told at the expense of his memory. The fate of his sons is generally unknown.
Landmarks
- Barðmorn Manor. An ancient estate stands amid wide-ranging untended fields. Since the death of Lady Barðmorn and the inglorious passing of her husband, the manor grounds have fallen into disrepair. With the lordship of the manor in question, the estate has been abandoned by all except a handful of soldiers stationed by the High Lord to prevent looters and scavengers.
- Tomb of Lord Illys I. The remains of Lord Illys I rests beneath a large stone slab on the grounds of Barðmorn Manor. Each newly crowned High Lord in Savris is obligated to visit the grave and pay homage to the House patriarch. The tomb was constructed on the site where the Lord was killed. Despite reconciliation with the Hedrèwyr, the grave site is considered hallowed ground, and forbidden to all from that province. Originally, the tomb was surrounded by a fence of tridents, signifying that this was the first Drāūn burial following the Second Acèntyri-Dekàli War. The fence was removed in the 4th century and replaced with a formal garden. All of this is now overgrown.