House Rangor

Principle House of House Vaele that rule over Ethos' Finger The banner is turquoise with golden knucklebones crossed. Recent reinventions of the Rangor banner have introduced a skull above the knucklebones, an ode to the pirates they have slew.
Rangor possess the Bloodsteel sword Krynnos.

DRAMATIS PERSONAE

Garrick the Kraken, Lord of Ethos' Finger. Garrick is renowned for his stunted height, as all of House Rangor are. As is custom with the Rangor House, he was given a nickname relating to one of the mythical creatures of the deep created during the Breaking when fighting pirates. Despite his heroics, Garrick's wives have a reputation of falling from the tall bridges that connect the two castles of Ethos' Finger.

• Sir Grumio Rangor, the Arybdis, engaged to Kiren Vaele, firstborn son of Garrick the Tall. Named in honor of Grom and Grag Vaele, with an attempt to add the class of Glore's naming as well. With Garrick's first wife: Sabina Skelsmith. Sabina was the daughter of Wulfric Skelsmith II, making her the aunt of Tiberius Bloodsteel and Calla Aegis, wife to Wily Walter.
• Sir Gilbar Rangor, the Leviathan, second son of Garrick with his second wife: Calantha Drakis. Calantha was older sister to Sir Leandros Drakis, who perished at the Inferno and whose children died in the fall of Ashfield.
• Galerius Rangor, third son of Garrick the Tall with his third wife: Cassi Paratus. Cassi is a descendant of Paratus Blackblade through her first son Algar Paratus.
• Silia Rangor, daughter of Garrick with his fourth and current wife: Thalia Aemilius Mallus. Thalia arrived to the Finger on an attacking pirate ship. The stories differ to the reasoning as to why. Some believe that Thalia is no more than a fisherman's wife turned pirate, who Garrik took a liking too and kept as his wife. To avoid suspicion, he made her an escaped descendant of Mallus, a House of which no one knows much about anymore.
• Lullt Rangor/Vaele, grandmother of the Isdemor/Vaele heirs. Lullt married Rustic Vaele, the bastard and mothered two daughters in the Vaele name that married the first and second born sons of House Isdemor. She is the aunt Garrick, but lives in Hero's Rest .
• Soren Rangor, the Kelpie. Younger brother to Darian, fought and died in the Breaking alongside him.
• Lord Darian Rangor, the Hydra. Lord of Ethos' Finger during the Breaking. Father of Garrick.

Petasius Glore, of House Rangor. Married Vesuvius Glore, the First Soulsworn.

• Isidorus Glore IV, their son. Was nicknamed the Scyllia after his Rangor heritage.
• Classicius Glore, married Oetrinius Cortys and took the Cortys name.
• Sir Galienes Cortys, first son of Oetrinius and Classicius. Lord of Blood Mountain.
• Gwyth Sentel, daughter of Oetrinius and Classicius. Married to Brunn Sentel.
• Chefar Cortys, second son of Oetrinius and Classicius.

Culture

When a Knight of Rangor proves himself, he is given a title relating to one of the creatures created during the Breaking. 

1. The Kraken - A gargantuan octopus with tentacles able to wrap around ships and crush them with little effort.
2. Leviathan - A sea monster that was once a sea serpent. It is said to be able to breathe fire and has impenetrable scales. Its glowing red eyes can be seen from miles away. It's said that the Leviathan can swallow whole ships and sailors.
3. Scyllia: A creature with six arms and multiple heads that lives in coastal waters. Its razor-sharp teeth and powerful tentacles make it a formidable opponent for even the bravest sailors. Thought to have once been some kind of shark that has twisted with female-human features.
4. Arybdis: a sea monster that is said to create whirlpools in the ocean that can pull in ships and devour them.
5. Siren: A mermaid-like creature with the power of telepathy. Sirenix are known to lure sailors to their death with their enchanting voices. Only some say that Sirens were created during the Breaking. Most agree that they have been around for much longer, and are not related to the Lost.
6. Selkie: A shapeshifting creature that can transform from seal to human form. Selkies are known for their beautiful singing voices and their ability to control the weather.
7. Kelpie: A malevolent water spirit that takes the form of a horse. It lures unsuspecting travelers to ride on its back before dragging them beneath the water to drown. A horse that was stuck in a sinking ship absorbed a host of souls to become a Kelpie.
8. Hydra: A multi-headed sea monster that can regenerate their heads if cut off. They're extremely territorial and fiercely defend their underwater lairs from intruders.

History

When the Great Settling occurred and the Heartlands were first settled in by Iron citizens, the mountains that border a long-running lake at the East were picked as a prime location. Settlers thought that these mountains could possess great stores of iron like the mountains of Virnach and started mining right away. However, they soon found these mountains bare rock, harsh and jagged, and more extensions of the Lance instead of Virnach. Disappointed, the people stayed there nonetheless, already settled. The river snaked into the land in a long arc, resembling a crooked finger, so the lake was named Ethos' Finger, in honor of the God of Death. The river was filled with good fish, and the Finger was close enough to the lush Heartlands to warrant some crop growth. Although in modern times, the Finger is referred to as being in the Lance more, due to its location. When the Empire was first mapped out, the cartographer made a mistake, and misjudged the distance of the Finger to the Emerald Falls in the Heartlands, but newer maps have revealed it being much closer to the Lance and Duskport.
The people of Ethos' Finger were happy for a short while, relatively protected from storms by their natural mountains, until ships started sailing down the Finger. With the exploration of Carantus across the Rusted Sea, pirates sprouted up all along the coast. A King rose amongst the ranks of pirates, a Soleri man that had been outlawed from his nomadic tribe and traveled far to the north to live a life on the sea. He was ambitious and ruthless, this Sea Fox, and wanted all the hoarded gold of Radiant Lance. The Carantus House boasted too much, and the Sea Fox wanted a share. He spent many years trying to fight through to the Lance by sea, but was thwarted at every turn by the two warring brothers, the Wartide and the Seaspark, who were always trying to prove themselves better than the other. Infuriated for years, the Sea Fox was forced to retreat, but he came up with a new plan. Ethos' long finger stretched deep mainland, and he thought they could get in down that river, race across the land between the river's end and the lance, surprise the city, then pillage and loot, retreating back down the river all before the Wartide and Seaspark could dock and fight back. A couple pirates scouted the area out and found just the small fort belonging to the insignificant Principal House of Vaele; Rangor. They went back to their King and told him the plan, and the entire Pirate Fleet set sail.
Sir Darian Rangor was Lord of the Finger at this time. He was a humble man, like the rest of his House, and lived simply off the harsh land, fighting off Lost to protect his family when he had to. He received a report but a few days before the entire pirate fleet would be upon them from a fishing boat, and Darian took it upon himself to stop the fleet there. Over the years, the town of Ethos' Finger had expanded to encompass the majority of the mountains the bordered the long river. They had built bridges across the river, high above the river itself as they lived high in the mountains. Darian set about his defenses, preparing, but his small garrison was still outnumbered 20 to 1 by the pirates. It did not matter, Darian would do what had to be done. The chokepoint of Ethos' Finger where the river runs tightest and the most stalwart bridge across its mouth was named the Knuckle. And that is where Rangor made their stand. It was a battle of fire and blood, souls ripped from their bodies by burning cauldrons of oil, stones dropped from high above, and torrents of arrows driving into flesh. The pirate boats were destroyed, their sailors forced down into the tumultuous river waters pooling out into the stormy Rusted Sea. Thousands died at the Knuckle, and the day became known as the Breaking. The blood and death below the Knuckle blossomed in the river water, and creatures below the depths drew forth, absorbing the dying souls of humans and becoming Lost in larger quantity than ever seen in the seas. Mythical creatures were created that day. Aquatic animals that were never supposed to absorb so many human souls morphed into something stranger. Something new. The Kraken. The Hydra. More.
The few pirates that survived called the ruthless Darian Rangor the 'Hydra' because it seemed that no matter how many they killed up in the mountains of Ethos' Finger, two more would appear by Darian's order.

From mountain keep to river run, our hearts are true, our will is done

Sir Garrick, the Kracken. Lord of Ethos' Finger.

Type

Political, Family

Leader

Garrick the Tall

Ruling Organization

House Vaele

Leader Title

Lord

Parent Organization

Iron Empire

Location

Ethos' Finger