House Keriell

House Keriell 'is a noble house of the local nobility, holding the minor title of baronet''. They are an old house, once possessing enough land to rival that of the smaller baronies. However, in one generation the head of household has managed to squander the family fortune.'''

Terrathean Blood
House Keriell possess a higher than average amount of Terrathean ancestry in their family tree, as it is custom for the heir to marry a noble with an equal amount of Terrathean blood. It is tradition for every Keriell child to be given a first name of Terrathean origin. The practice is not uncommon among lords of Northern origin.

Recent History
Although the swift slide down the ladder of nobility could be argued to have started with Lord Gallien Keriell II, most would agree that the most recent Lord Keriell has all but destroyed the family's fortune and lands. The first two Keriell children of this generation were born sickly, and the family sold off vast amounts of land in order to fund the healers they kept on staff. After the first passed, the house resorted to hiring a magical healer from Aturia to keep the second child with the family. Their efforts were all for naught, however, as the second child passed not long after his fifth birthday. The expense left the Keriells with little more than half of their original estate.

Gilles and Emery, third and fourth respectively, however, lived into adulthood. Gilles went on to become a knight and led a contingent of the Keriell Carrant during a large peasant revolt, along with contingents from neighboring fiefdoms, among them the Marshalls. The routine march went awry when the force was ambushed. The Carrants of Marshall and Keriell made up the core of the column, and as such took the brunt of the attack. Gilles was mortally wounded during the battle, perishing on the field.

Emery Keriell grew up alongside her brother Gilles. The girl met the young Aric Marshall during his days of squiring, before he was sent to the Griffith estate. At the age of 8 it was discovered that she possessed some magical talent. However, the kingdom does not possess any centers for magical instruction, and the Keriells could not hire an instructor due to lack of funds. She was increasingly kept to the estate grounds for her own safety, and mutterings of her being a witch became increasingly common among the peasantry. After the death of her brother, she let loose a magical firestorm in one of the fields of wheat, destroying a good portion of that year's crop. The family decided they could no longer safely house her at the estate, and at the age of 16 her parents were forced to sell off yet more land to fund her instruction in Aturia.