Founder: Pieter van Brabant
Lord: Karel van Brabant
Heir: Aernoud van Brabant
Sworn to: Kohlingen
Sigil: Boar rampant on a green and red by band sinister
Words: Schilt Ende Vriend
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Well, well. Look who’s gone an’ finally pulled themselves away from their books and stories! We started thinkin’ you’d forgot what today is. Greengrass, that’s what! And you know what tha’ means. So le’s open up the kegs an’ get this ‘ere feastday underway, curt’sey o’ the Brabanders! What? Oh, right. Ye’re new here. Well, come get yer mug an’ sit down, an’ I’ll tell ye ‘bout the Van Brabants. The brewer knights. Or the pig-heads, if ye want to start a good brawl. Har-har!
So, ye see tha’ shield on’ this ‘ere keg? Wi’ the boar? Tha’s the shield o’ the Van Brabant family. I’ve heard’m say theirs’ ‘s one o’ the the oldest families o’ Kohlingen. If they ain’t sayin’ they’re the oldest alt’gether. See, according to the ol’ stories, when Lord Darius Tristram left Benwick at the Minmir an’ travelled up north with his knights to build Kohlingen, there was already people livin’ ‘round these parts. Farmers an’ woodsmen mostly. They had their own ways an’ even their own cant. I’ve heard a scholarly sort mention how’s he found it curious blend o’ old ways, with even a touch o’ the far north. Damarra ‘re somesuch. He said tha’ the Brabanders are distant kin o’ the Moonshaes, but tha’ came an’ settled on Amia instead when the Ffolk settled on th’ Green Isles.
Anyways, when old Darius an’ his arrived, many o’ the village folk ain’t non too welcomin’. They’d rather see them knights an’ lords keep wi’ their own prancy-fancy lot down south, an’ leave the simple folks to their lives. But parts round’ ‘ere were non too safe in those days either, an’ some o’ tha’ lot thought havin’ a company’ o’ knights ‘round might be a trite safer than not. ‘s all a unclear wha’ happened in those days, bu’ in the end ‘bout half o’ the families left. Most o’ the woodsmen built wha’ became Guldorand, while others up an’ left elsewhere. s’ an old rumour tha’ the bandits up the west coast’re wha’ became o’ those. But I dun’ pay too much heed to rumbles like tha’. Now those families tha’ remained became an’ honest part o’ the realm o’ Kohlingen. They’d keep their lands as theirs, an’ the knights’d protect them from beasts an’ monsters. In exchange the locals ’d give them food an’ craft. Other families from down south or across the sea came an’ lived ‘ere as well, an’ the town grew into a real city an’ the keep into a citadel o’er time. Bu’ tha’ old vows o’ service fer protection’ still stand, an’ they made Kohlingen into wha’ it is today. Tha’s nothin’ too special, I hear tha’ a lot o’ kingdoms an’ nobles work tha’ way. Bu’ there nobility’s a thing o’ land, ye see? ‘ere in Kohlingen most o’ the noble families are either merchants, or settled adventurers wi’ a fair amount o’ coin or soldiers fer life. Bu’ the Brabanders are different. They’re nobles fer the land they own, an’ they won’ let anyone take it from them. No’ after… bu’ I’m getting ahead of m’self.
Now, o’er time the Van Brabant family - most people call’m the Brabanders - became the biggest family o’ them all. And in two ways. One’s in numbers. And tha’s not even counting their basterds. Those o’ them tha’ people know ‘bout are known as De Groene’s, bu’ ye’ve to wonder how many o’ them people don’t. ‘s always been a bit o’ a sore point wi’ the other houses, bu’ the Brabanders are laughin’ it off as a blessin’ from Chauntea. An’ who’se to say they’re wrong? Now the second’s in land. They’ve been brewers, inkeeps an’ traders fer as long as anyone knows, bu’ they’ve their fingers in a lot o’ peasant pies. They own a fair share o’ the fields o’ wheat, barly an’ fruit, an’ a vinyard or two. They keep some cattle an’ sheep, an’ even have a fishin’ boat. But’s beers an’ ales an’ wines tha’s closest in their heart. It’s said tha’ nay much food or drink goes through Kohlingen that don’ pass by the Brabanders sooner or later.
Get me ‘nother mug, all this talkin’s makin’ me thirsty. Thank ye, kindly.
Now, wha’ ye’ve to understand is tha’ the Brabanders are an old family, bu’ they’re nay an old noble house. See, fer a long time they were gentry if tha’. They’d own a lot o’ the land, have more blood in the family than the next three o’ four combined an’ a fair amount o’ coin passin’ by from trade. An’ though they’ve never been shy’ o’ a fight when them an’ theirs be threatened, they’d never earn a lot ‘o glory in battle either. ‘s a hard thing to impress a court o’ paladins an’ cavaliers when all ye’ve ever fought ‘re beasts an’ a couple o’ bandits. Tha’ dun’ count the family Jaegers though’. Tha’ lot of hunters an’ woodsmen know their way ‘round the south woods an’ fields ‘s good an’ well as any druid, an’ twice as well as any knight. They’re keepin’ watch o’er the roads an’ makin’ sure the beastmen don’ get ornery. When ye hear th’alarm ‘bout tha, ‘s usually the Jaegers who called it.
Anyways.
Years ago’ but in me own life.. the Horde o’ monsters came out o’ the pit o’ the abyss an’ slaughtered an’ burned their way ‘round south. The Justicar collected ‘is knights an’ soldiers an’ left south to fight’m. Now, these Horders were nay as stupid as ye’d think an’ a whole group o’ them went ‘round west an’ came out o’ the woods when the Justicar was already south o’ the river. So these things went ‘round burnin’, lootin’ and killin’ everythin’ they found outside the walls o’ Kohlingen. Oh aye, there were some soldiers left b’hind an’, bless their souls, they did their best. Bu’ the Horde was nay triflin’ matter. The Justicar di’ hear ‘bout the rampagin’ beasties an’ took wha’ he could spare back north’s fast as ‘e could ride.
See, now here’s where things b’come the stuff o’ legend, an’ wha’ happened next depends on who’s tellin’ the stories. Some say tha’ when he got to the gates jus’ in time to see a group o’ Brabanders cleavin’ the limbs an’ heads off the last o’ the livin’ Horders. Others say’ tha’ the Horde raiders ambushed the knights an’ really tore into’m, until a group o’ Brabanders charged out o’ the woods screamin’ bloody murder. ‘s even a tale they charged along wi’ a sounder o’ huge boars the side o’ horses. Wha’ever the case, the Brabanders an’ their Jaegers had cleaved their way through’ the beasts wi’ nothin’ bu’ sickles, scythes, spears an’ huntin’ knives. Oh aye, a lot o’ them died then an’ there, bu’ they fough’s hard an’ fierce as the boar tha’s on their shield. Ye’d best think twice b’fore tryin’ to take from the common folk ‘round ‘ere, ‘cause if the knights don’ get ye the boar’ll. Well, the Justicar an’ many o’ the knights were right impressed, an’ so Pieter Van Brabant - the eldest survivin’ son - became the first Lord o’ House Van Brabant.
Nowaday’s House Van Brabant’s doin’ well fer itself. ‘s a strong voice for the common folk ‘round Kohlingen, an’ now tha’ we’re tradin’ wi’ the dwarves o’ Runedar an’ Waterdeep they’ve really grown their trade. An’ they’ve never lost touch wi’ their folk. Lord Karel Brabander’s the father o’ the family, an’ he’s a damned likeable sort. Might’ve dipped too much into his own larder an’ cellar too often, bu’ half o’ tha’ keg o’ a belly o’ his is all good cheer. ‘s a real grandfatherly sort, if ye knows what I mean. Now, wha’ I think’s his wife Agnes tha’s the real power in the house. She’s a real motherly type, bu’ there’s a keen eye an’ a razor wit on tha’ one. An’ tha’s nay exceptional fer the women o’ the Brabanders. Tha’ men do the work an’ the women make’m do it. Hah, tha’s how it goes aye? Har-har!
Now, now, dun’ get me wrong. The Brabanders’re right decent an’ honest folk. They dun’ have much patience fer false pomp, an’ ye’re more likely to find’m ploughin’ ‘longside us or stirrin’ the kettles in the brewery than wastin’ their lives on scrolls an’ tomes. ‘s sayin’ they respect those tha’ work an’ feast ‘longside them, an’ little else. They’re the most loyal an’ generous friends ye could have, bu’ ye’ll rue the day ye threaten wha’s theirs. Hell hath no fury bu’ a boar .. .eh.. punched in.. the snout. Or some such.
Well, anyways ah’m jus’ ‘bout done talkin’ an’ ready to really get drinkin’. If ye want to know more o’ make a good friend, ah’d say talk to tha’ one o’er there. Tha’s Adriaen. His older brother died in the war nay long ‘go, an’ now he’s the heir o’ the family.
So aye, here’s to the Brabanders. The Skilt an the Frind!
