Lady Aalangama Gulderhorn was Countess of Morninggold,[1] Title Chancellor of Tethyr,[1] Marquise Scion of Siamorphe,[1][4] and commander[1] and one of the founders of the Order of the Silver Chalice.[2][3][4] She was also the unofficial Crown Ecclesiastic of Tethyr.[1][5]
Description[]
Aalangama appeared much older than she actually was, because of her level of stress and hard work.[1]
Personality[]
Aalangama had a driven personality.[1] She was also somewhat of a chatterbox, her favorite topic being matters of religion and politics. This personality trait was bothersome to Malcor Grannox, the Count of Ithmonn.[6] She was impatient and grew easily frustrated with hypocrisy among the nobles who pretended to be religious.[1]
Relationships[]
Aalangama was the second child of Belkerri Gulderhorn, the re-founder of the worship of Siamorphe in Waterdeep. Aalangama's older sister was named Kerri and married into the Assumbar noble family. Aalangama's younger brother was named Vrom Gulderhorn and worked as a priest in her mother's temple in the city.[4]
Aalangama had been married and had a son and a daughter, but she was a widow by 1370 DR.[1]
Responsibilities[]
As Countess of Morninggold and commander of the Order of the Silver Chalice, Lady Aalangama saw to the defense of the eastern borders of Tethyr.[2] As Title Chancellor, the countess oversaw matters of hereditary ascension and records. In this role, she worked closely with the Heralds of Faerûn, especially Heralds Blue Velvet (Uriel Honnice in 1370 DR[7]), Shining Helm (Jhessar Talltankard in 1370 DR[8]) and Thorn Tree.[9] Countess Gulderhorn's decisions on matters of succession could only be overturned by the queen herself or a majority vote of the Royal Privy Council.[9]
Holdings[]
As Countess of Morninggold, Lady Gulderhorn split her time between living at her official county seat of Morninggold Keep and Mount Noblesse, the headquarters of the Order of the Silver Chalice.[1]
History[]
Aalangama was a priestess of Siamorphe living in Waterdeep at the Assumbar Villa.[2] Her family had fled Tethyr in 1347 DR, after the Ten Black Days of Eleint.[4]
In 1358 DR,[2] she joined nine young nobles to defend the Sea Ward of Waterdeep from Myrkul's horde.[2][3] Thanks to Aalangama, they declared themselves a knightly order in 1359 DR.[2]
Aalangama and the others knights departed for Tethyr shortly after the end of the Time of Troubles, where they worked to restore the nobility of that anarchic country.[4] As a member of the Gulderhorn family of Morninggold, she was rightly a noble herself, but her hereditary lands and titles were sold to Zaranda Star during the time period of the Tethyrian Interregnum in 1362 DR to help fund the Order's operations.[1][note 1]
At the start of the Reclamation Wars, the Order was divided about whether to support Zaranda Star or not.[4] They eventually joined her side, and bravely participated in the fighting.[2][3]
At the First Siege of Myratma, only three of the founders of the Order, including Aalangama, survived the battle.[2][1][3] Queen Zaranda restored Aalangama's lands and titles back to her family as a reward for her bravery and leadership in the battle.[2]
Appendix[]
Notes[]
- ↑ The dating details provided in "The Reclamation Wars" section of the "Tethyr" booklet of the Lands of Intrigue boxed set, beginning on p. 39, are not self-consistent concerning the timing of Zaranda Star's time as countess of Morninggold. Page 39 claims that Zaranda purchased the county and its keep in the Year of the Wave, which is 1364 DR. This conflicts with p. 88 of the same book, which says that the year of purchase was the Year of the Helm, 1362 DR.
She is said to have spent a significant amount of time in that first year of purchase, at least, refurbishing the keep. It then states that at the end of 1366 DR, "she embarked on a mercantile career" in Unther and Thay. This conflicts both with the novel War in Tethyr and with the very next sentence, which says that she returned to Tethyr, again, in the Year of the Wave. She couldn't possibly return before she even left, and War in Tethyr is very clear that she actually returned to Tethyr in Mirtul, the 5th month, of 1366.
The remaining paragraphs are consistent both with the novel and with the rest of the sourcebook.
We thus assume that the actual purchase was made in 1362, as stated on p. 88. Perhaps she left for the east at the end of the Year of the Wave, 1364, not 1366. She must have returned at the beginning of 1366, in the month of Mirtul.
References[]
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 1.17 Steven E. Schend (August 1997). “Book One: Tethyr”. In Roger E. Moore ed. Lands of Intrigue (TSR, Inc.), p. 88. ISBN 0-7869-0697-9.
- ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 Steven E. Schend (August 1997). “Book One: Tethyr”. In Roger E. Moore ed. Lands of Intrigue (TSR, Inc.), p. 10. ISBN 0-7869-0697-9.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 Thomas M. Reid, Sean K. Reynolds (Nov. 2005). Champions of Valor. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 104. ISBN 0-7869-3697-5.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 Eric L. Boyd (September 1997). Powers & Pantheons. Edited by Julia Martin. (TSR, Inc.), p. 60. ISBN 978-0786906574.
- ↑ Steven E. Schend (August 1997). “Book Three: Erlkazar & Folk of Intrigue”. In Roger E. Moore ed. Lands of Intrigue (TSR, Inc.), p. 32. ISBN 0-7869-0697-9.
- ↑ Steven E. Schend (August 1997). “Book One: Tethyr”. In Roger E. Moore ed. Lands of Intrigue (TSR, Inc.), p. 85. ISBN 0-7869-0697-9.
- ↑ Steven E. Schend (August 1997). “Book One: Tethyr”. In Roger E. Moore ed. Lands of Intrigue (TSR, Inc.), p. 84. ISBN 0-7869-0697-9.
- ↑ Steven E. Schend (August 1997). “Book One: Tethyr”. In Roger E. Moore ed. Lands of Intrigue (TSR, Inc.), p. 93. ISBN 0-7869-0697-9.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Steven E. Schend (August 1997). “Book Three: Erlkazar & Folk of Intrigue”. In Roger E. Moore ed. Lands of Intrigue (TSR, Inc.), p. 31. ISBN 0-7869-0697-9.