Larra Nielems

Female Anuirean Noble 2/ Cleric of Sarimie 7; CR 9

Most Sacred Minister of the Northern Reformed Church of Sarimie

Lineage of Lesser Nobility

Major Bloodline of Brenna, 32

NE Medium Humanoid


VP/WP 45/10

Init

Languages Anuirean


AC

Fort , Ref , Will


Speed 30 ft unarmored

Melee

Ranged

Base Atk


Abilities Str 10, Dex 12, Con 10, Int 12, Wis 19, Cha 14

Feats: Leadership, Trustworthy, Iron Will, Turn Undead, Weapon Focus (Rapier), Craft Magic Arms and Armor, Slippery Mind

Skills: Appraise 3, Bluff 2, Concentration 3, Craft (Weaving) 3, Diplomacy 5, Gather Information 3, Heal 3, Innuendo 2, Intimidate 2, Knowledge (Religion - Sera) 12, Listen 2, Profession (Bookkeeper) 3, Read Lips 2, Sense Motive 3, Spellcraft 6, Spot 2, Swim 2

Special Qualities: Persuasion (major), Resistance (major)

Possessions:

Typical Dialogue:

"Mistress Bireon, I offer my many thanks for the invitation to your cottage. You can count upon my attendance."

"Excellency, your earnings are down again this season. How can I meet the obligations of our organization without sufficient funds? If your assemblies expect their luck to hold out, they must share their fortune with Sarimie."

"Preparations? Ha! Where is your faith in your destiny? Let us off to Sonnelind immediately, we need not worry about bandits, we ride with fortune."

Biography:

Larra Neilems was born to a family in the minor nobility of Duiriene in Avanil. As her older brother, Cerdwin, was destined to become Lord Neilems, she was raised in the temples of the Celestial Jewel of Sarimie in hopes that she might assist the family in its rise in Avanil. Her aristocratic background and trustworthy character helped her rise in the priesthood of the Celestial Jewel until she was noticed by Temias Coumain, the designated successor of the Sacred Broker. Temias and Larra greatly extended the influence of the Celestial Jewel against the complacent Western Imperial Temple. During this period, Larra gained invaluable insight into the appeal of Sarimie to nominal supporters of Haelyn.

When an aggressive guilder, Mheallie Bireon, began reforming the Stonecrown Coster in Cariele, Temias Coumain urged her to go there and establish a temple of her own. He promised support until should could get established, as well as an alliance hereafter. In order to conceal their cooperation, Larra formed the Northern Reformed Church of Sarimie, using the appearance of of division between the new Church in Cariele and the Celestial Jewel, since some templars might oppose Larra on the basis of opposing the expansion of the Celestial Jewel. On the other hand, opponents of the Celestial Jewel might welcome a schism. In fact, Larra and Temias Coumain remain close allies.

With rising wealth in Cariele because of the exploitation of the new Stonecrown Coster, many people in Cariele were becoming indifferent to Aeric, and their appreciation of the new wealth made them ripe for the arrival of Larra's Church of Sarimie. The Oaken Grove did not expect a new temple in Cariele, but had thought that the threat to its holdings there came from Haelyn's Bastion of Truth. Since they were aware of the posture of the Bastion and saw it lacked preparations for an offensive, the Oaken Grove was unwary.
Larra was gifted by Brenna with great powers of evangelism. She used the excitement generated by the new rise in wealth in Cariele to oust the Oaken Grove and establish her temples in very short order. By the time the Oaken Grove knew what had happened, it was over. The druids remained in their circles and preached sustainable practice and love of nature, but no one listened any more. The druids were never driven from the forest, they were just ignored. The high druid of Cariele, Euric Aelis, preached these words, after the druids lost power: "No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve nature and money."

For a time, Haelyn's Aegis and the Reformed Church of Sarimie left each other alone. The Baron of Cariele, had the support of the Aegis in a recent coup d'etat because he professed to be a supporter of the temple. Ultimately the association doomed doomed the Aegis. Baron Adrian Gladanil relied on the Aegis to help him reform the barony and it turned out their advice and assistance was too good. Mheallie Bireon of the Stonecrown Coster found the new power of the state to be an obstacle and began to demand that Adrian alter his policies. As the guilds took on the law, the guildschurch took on the lawchurch. A lengthy stalemate prevailed. The stalemate was broken, by the return of the deposed Baron, Berric Cariele.

The druids of the Oaken Grove were plotting a comeback and plotting the return of Berric as their vehicle. The Oaken Grove supplied Berric with gold and both proceeded to re-establish their followings in Cariele. Adrian Gladanil was caught in the middle. Mhaellie was determined to hold at least a portion of the law of the realm, and Berric hoped to recapture the whole barony. Adrian was assisted by the Bastion of Truth, who proved to to be very skilled at defending law holdings. All the while, the Oaken Grove and the Reformed Church of Sarimie moved against one another.

The Oaken Grove again proved its aggressive posture when it stepped up to outright military action. From safe bases in Dhoesone, the Oaken Grove raised Rjurik troops from Dhoesone and exiled warriors from Rjuvik. It quietly laid the groundwork for raising troops from its followers in Mhoried, but was unwilling to move to quickly there. The Mhor was unlikely to intervene if it were clear that the Oaken Grove would restore Berric in Cariele. The Mhor would not take very kindly to Torien's Watch becomming embroiled in a civil war, however.

Three companies of Rjurik archers and a mixed company of battle ragers and housecarls crossed over into Riverford and moved directly on Caerlinien and Cariele Castle, overlooking the city. The Grove had anticipated that units of scouts could be raised in Cariele from followers of Aeric, but no such rally occurred. The foresters were not only desirous to maintain their new wealth, but ideologically reoriented to value wealth more than nature. as such, it was the Stonecrown Coster who proved capable of mobilizing the foresters to fight the foreign troops brought in by the druids. As Caerinlien fell to the invaders, Mheallie and her chief lieutenants slipped out of the city disguised as townsfolk, while Larra Nielems took refuge in Cariele Castle.

Larra proved invaluable in keeping the outnumbered defenders' spirits up by reminding them of the defects of Berric Cariele. As one of the most devout followers of Aeric in Cariele's memory, Berric has failed to live up to the knights and the Aegis' role for a baron. Likewise, he supported a policy of self-denial from the produce of the forests for the pleasure of a god who prefered the health of a forest to the health of his followers. Larra possesed no battle spells to aid the keep's defenders, as a priestess of Sarimie. She was, however, able to improve the quality of the workmanship of the armorers, boyers, weaponsmiths, and fletchers hard at work in Cariele Castle so that no warrior wanted for quality weapons and armor. Many masterwork items were created during that siege and the smiths and armorers never wavered from devotion to Sarimie every since.

The small force of Rjurik was unable to take Cariele Castle, and as the siege went on towards six months the forces raised by Baron Adrian and the Aegis, while the Stonecrown Coster were getting closer to relieving the siege. Euric Aelis, the High Druid of Cariele concluded that the effort had failed. He was especially disappointed that the foresters had turned away from Aeric so complet[ly that they prefered to war on druids in the defence of their depradations, rather than embrace any harmony with the lands that gave them their bounty. Truely the doctrine of Sarimie was embraced in Cariele now. The druids arranged a truce with the lawpriests of Haelyn and withdrew to Dhoesone. Berric was soon assasinated by agents of the Stonecrown Coster as much to prevent a restoration of the druids as to serve a personal emnity of Mheallie Bireon.

In the post war situation, the prior conflict between guilds and law resumed. Mheallie, though not particularly devout, regarded Larra as her ally, because the doctrines of Sarimie justified the vigour of the Stonecrown Coster under her leadership. The Baron's law holdings and his ideological partners in Haelyn's Aegis proved stubborn defenders, and Mheallie decided it was best to go around the problem, by replacing Adrian. When Adrian turned up poisoned, his son, Entier understood the message. Entier met with Mheallie and agreed to control only a third of the law, leaving the rest to be controlled by the guilds. Furthermore, he never formally accepted the title of baron, but continues to call himself a count.

When Entier Gladanil abandon his father's struggle for the law holdings, it was the final phase of Larra's struggle with Haelyn's Aegis in Cariele. Cut away from its supporting role with the Baron and left to fend for itself, Larra was in a position to drive the Bastion out of Cariele. From her youth she had learned how to attack the doctrines of Haelyn, and her personal powers of persuasion brought the full force of that experience to bear against the Bastion.

After a while, the Stonecrown Coster decided to expand its holdings outside of Cariele, and Larra stood ready to follow behind with the Northern Reformed Church of Sarimie. Mheallie Bireon took a page from Larra's book and she invented the Northlands Exchange as a cover organization in Dhoesone and Tuarhievel, and the Source of the Maesil is her cover organization in Alamie and Tuornen. It is in fact one organization with three names. Larra has only extended the Reformed Church into Dhoesone, respecting the sphere of her old master, Coumain.

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