Rookroost - River Jarl Steading (5)

Rookroost is the name of the steading of the Daughters of the River Raven.  It was once an impressive castle, built high on a rocky abutment that rises some 200 feet above the surface of the Erantor river, which runs out of the Great Owl Forest, to join the Greywater River.  Today, the remains of the ancient castle are still standing, but the steading itself is built into the stone mound that it stands upon.

The Erantor is not a particularly wide river at this point (only about 500 yards from bank to bank), but wide enough to require ferries and other means of crossing.  It is also not particularly deep, but it does run swiftly down from the hilly rises of the eastern Great Owl Forest, and cuts deep into the rocky terrain of this area.

Rookroost built into the the rocky escarpment named Carnockle rock.  The ruins of the ancient castle offer a commanding view of the Erantor, and in the distance, even the Greywater can be spotted.

Rookroost is the home of the Daughters of the River Raven.  As a group of Storm King barbarians, this steading is really at odds with the other steadings in the area.  The reason for this is the culture of the Daughters.  The steading is ruled by a woman (which is not unheard of amongst the Storm King tribes), however, all of her huscarls are also women.  This is rare, and it is perpetuated by the culture of the steading.  Long ago, the Black Chieftain, in an attempt to slay the son of the Storm King, put on the disguise of a great black wolf, and he followed Tyrros, the prince of thunder, to a lonely spot on the Greywater, and under cover of darkness, he almost slew the son of the Storm King.  However, Tyrros summoned his two great blue oxen, Glangor and Feory, and they came and trampled the Black Chieftain in his guise as a black wolf. This allowed Tyrros to escape with his life.

The great black wolf lay on the bank of the greywater, bleeding out his life's blood, when he was discovered by runewoman, once very powerful, who lived in the empty towers of the castle what would become to be known as Rookroost.  She was flying in the guise of a giant raven, known as the River Raven (she would fly up and down the Greywater, the Terrapin, and even the Erantor, every night in the form of a giant raven, as part of a curse put on her by a devil, in exchange for her seeing ability).  She saw the wolf, had pity on him, and landed to take care of him.  In daylight, once again in the form of a runewoman, she took him back to her home high up on Carnockle rock, and slowly brought the black wolf back to life.  Some say as a raven she came to love the wolf, some go further to say as a woman she came to love the wolf.  Far to the east, in the Riven Moor, this legend is known, and some attribute the fell beasts and death birds that haunt the barrows there as the children of the River Raven and the black wolf.

The story is as it is, but over the years woman of stature from among the tribes and steadings would occasionally have disagreements with the men of their steading.  In many cases, these would flee to Rookroost and join the community there.  The population of the steading is near to parity - half women and half men - yet those who hold power and positions of authority are all women.  And they all revere the River Raven and her innocent love for the black wolf (even though, when pressed, all would clearly admit that he was the Black Chieftain, or Helgor).

The current leader of the Daughters is Jarless Embra Innamor.  She rules fairly, but does not have much use for trade or bargains with the other steadings.  The Daughters of the River Raven (although this is properly the nickname of Embra Innamor's woman huscarls, it is also applied to the community in general) have a small, but efficient fleet of small dragon ships.  These are able enough to travel up and down the Erantor, down to the Greywater, and can transport fyrd and huscarl warriors, but would not do to stand up to the dragon ships of one of the larger steadings in a battle.

As to the original origins of the castle on Carnockle Rock, it is assumed to be very, very old.  Whether it was built by the Old Ones or not is a matter of conjecture.  When the gather of the Daughters began to dig into the rock to make their steading, they did find a number of underground structures already there.  Some of these still exist, and who knows how many more, still deeper than the Daughters themselves have burrowed out.

There was originally an adventure location that was described as part of this description of Rookroost.  That was part of the Week of Adventure Locations, and it was location number 4, The Celerium of Great Truth, which is a ruined library, halfway between the western edge of Rookroost, and the Great Owl Forest.

The Storm King's Pantheon

The various tribes of Storm King barbarians vary one from another in many different ways, however they all share one thing in common - reverence and worship of the Storm King and his associated pantheon. This is a brief overview of those gods.

Bronc is the King of the Destriel Gods, and also the King of Storms. He is rarely seen, but always present. He is in every storm cloud, and looks down on his people. The Destriel Mountains, marking the northern boundary of the Valley of the Old Ones is a cold, windy place, often wracked by mysterious storms of all sorts. It is fitting that the king of storms dwells here. When the broody Bronc (who is much more frequently called, simply, the Storm King) appears, either in artwork, or during his very rare appearances on earth, he is a dark hulking being, with a horned helmet, wearing a great black shag-cow's hide as a cape. He carries a single broadsword, called Arrios which sings to the Storm King when in combat. His common foes are the many Sun Worms sent against him by the Sun King, Photos. The Storm King dwells in his cloudy castle Windkeep with Tyrros and Othero.

Tyrros is the son of the Storm King, and is the Prince of Thunder. He is the god of thunder and lightning, and has a personality to match. He is often roaming the world, in search of combat and warfare. He carries a great warhammer named Bloodthunder. When roaming the world, he is often in his chariot, which is pulled by a pair of great blue oxen named Glangor and Feory.

Othero is the lady of the Storm King, sometimes called the Storm Lady. She is pale and golden and beautiful, but she is also freezing cold. She dwelt alone at the top of the tallest peak in the Destriels until she attracted the interest of the Storm King. He rescued her from her mountaintop by beating the giants keeping her imprisoned, and then took her back to Windkeep with him. She bore him the son, Tyrros. Now she dwells at Windkeep and controls the coming and going of winter. She sometimes, for sport, will shoot at the sun worms that encircle the fortress with her bow, Icefinger.

Helgor is the Black Chieftain. He is the ruler of the Dark Shore, and is the lord of the domain of the restless dead. All those who die an unsatisfying death are doomed to dwell on the Dark Shore, where they may be called upon by sorcerers to perform foul deeds, or worse. Nobody wants the Black Chieftain to appear, however some will pay homage to him when affairs of the dead are concerned. He appears as a tall dark man, with a helmet set by two great curving goat horns. He carries a black longspear named Soulteaser, with a slender tip that ends in flame. By his side, when he is seen traveling the face of the earth, he is sometimes accompanied by a Fell Beast (a huge wolflike creature the size of an elephant, and quite ferocious).