Lord of Pravend and Drapand, Keeper of the Old Capital
Baron Aldric dey Tihr is a baron of the Kingdom of Vlandia and the head of House dey Tihr, a cadet branch of House dey Meroc. He holds the town of Pravend and the strategic stronghold of Drapand Castle, giving his house control over the old western roads and the cavalry lowlands that feed Vlandia’s mounted arm. Through blood, Aldric stands close to the crown without possessing a claim to it. Through land and charter, he commands one of the realm’s most economically vital regions.
Aldric is known across the Marches as an aloof and calculating administrator. He rules from ledgers rather than saddle. Taxes are high and strictly collected. Quotas are enforced with little tolerance for hardship. Grain, fodder, and coin flow steadily into dey Tihr storehouses, while protection and relief arrive slowly in return. The people of Pravend speak of Aldric as a distant presence whose wealth grows regardless of their losses. His reputation for avarice is well-earned. He extracts every denar the law permits and some it does not, then reinvests in estates, stables, and counting houses rather than in patrols or rural defenses.
This imbalance between extraction and protection has shaped the reputation of House dey Tihr as an entitled and wealthy clan. The dey Tihr live well within Pravend’s upper wards, while bound villages struggle with thin patrols and delayed responses to raids. Aldric does not deny this disparity. He views protection as a cost to be minimized and revenue as the foundation of lasting power. To him, a fortified balance sheet is safer than a fortified village. This philosophy has allowed banditry and raiding to persist at the margins of his domain, provided they do not threaten core revenue streams.
Militarily, Aldric is cautious to the point of timidity. He avoids decisive engagements unless success is nearly assured. This caution is remembered bitterly by other lords who fought in costly campaigns while Aldric held back forces to protect his own assets. His reputation suffered greatly after the Battle of Pendraic, remembered by many as Neretzes’ Folly. When King Derthert called for coordinated action, Aldric was among the barons who failed to commit fully, withholding troops at critical moments. Though his actions did not break the alliance outright, they contributed to the disorder and failure of the campaign. The memory of that choice lingers in court politics and private resentments alike.
Unthery, husband of Baroness Calatild of House dey Arromanc, is among Aldric’s most vocal critics. He recalls Aldric’s absence at Pendraic not as prudence, but as cowardice masked as calculation. This grievance has fueled quiet rivalry between Houses dey Arromanc and dey Tihr, with tensions surfacing in council disputes over coastal patrols, levy obligations, and funding for border defense. Aldric dismisses such criticisms as theatrics, believing that those who gamble lives for honor are poor stewards of land.
Within his own household, Aldric’s governance style has produced troubling heirs. Furnhard, his son, mirrors Aldric’s closefistedness and cruelty without his restraint, using delegated authority for personal indulgence. Aldric is aware of his son’s behavior but tolerates it so long as revenue flows and scandal does not reach the crown. This tolerance reveals Aldric’s priorities clearly: stability of income over integrity of rule. His daughters, Liena and Megenhelda, have been shaped differently, with Liena bearing much of the practical burden of governance that Aldric and Furnhard neglect.
Despite his flaws, Aldric is not incompetent. Pravend’s cavalry yards function. Brewing charters remain intact. Trade flows reliably through his lands. The infrastructure of the old capital endures under his management. What Aldric fails to provide is protection proportionate to extraction. His rule keeps the machine of Pravend profitable while allowing the countryside to absorb the cost of insecurity. This makes him a successful administrator in the narrow sense, and a failed guardian in the broader moral sense.
To the crown, Aldric is useful and frustrating. He delivers coin and mounts. He avoids costly disasters. He also weakens trust among villages and sours noble cooperation through his reluctance to commit fully to shared risk. To common folk, Aldric is a name stamped on tax writs and levy orders, distant and uncaring. To rivals, he is proof that wealth can substitute for courage in feudal politics.
Baron Aldric stands as one of the clearest examples of how Vlandia’s order can rot without breaking. His lands function. His coffers grow. His people burn at the margins.