Magnate
Angharrad Pietys is said to have had at least three other names before she joined the Church of Terref and that at least one of those was deeply unflattering, labelling her as something of a woman of the night. Whatever the truth of those statements the enigmatic Magnate of the Ten Travellers is tight lipped about her past and greets any such rumours with a filthy smile and raised eyebrow. Whatever is insinuated of her the truth of her journey and rise to the leader of the largest Church in the Royal Basin is much more interesting and in truth, deeply moving and motivating at the same time. So before anyone raises questions or places half truths in the hands of the press let us examine that story as any self respecting member of the faith should.
What we know for sure is that Angharrad Pietys was born in 1967 in the sleepy hamlet of Delve which has become a place of Legend. The people of Delve are believed to have settled from various Duchies or versions of the Royal Basin and Angharrad was descended from these people. Stories of Delve sprung up over the centuries some of which had been proven and others that are still locked into fable. Two for sure, that have been proven, is that the people of the place are long lived, perhaps even immortal and that the township hops from place to place and time to time in a seemingly unplanned route across The Royal Basin and potentially even Daer Akmir perhaps, even, the world. Stories of its existence frequent the history books and the exploits and deeds of many of its inhabitants litter the guild manifestos and indeed records.
All of this came to an end, for Delve at least, in the battles in the last days of the Shadow War when the darkness came and the final battle took place. All returned to Delve and the Blights, the Shadows and the Ministers arrived to fight them. The battle ended when Dazak North spirited the mortal battlers away on the Grey keep and left the place that was Delve suspended, locked in time, with the enemy within. There are no more people from Delve but the stories of those that came from there will live on for as long as we remember the Shadow War and the people that died in it. Yet from this place is where the living tales that were born there still wander the land, changing its state and its people for as long as they live.
It was tales of these folk that Angharrad was bought up on; stories of the birth of the Oath and the adventures of the Academy of Bold Companions. She had the privilege of hearing these tales from the lips of Gable “The Fable” Trent who found the young girl fascinating. Even at the youngest of ages she could take the words that he spoke to her and spin them into new tales in which the heroes of the past danced to a new tune, fighting new battles each as plausible and breathtaking as the last. Each time he left Delve he delivered reports of her abilities to the various people that would listen to him hoping that this delivery of information would lure people to her door and take this talent under their wing. Imagine his surprise therefore when he finally managed to get Aliminster Tolwick of the Bold Companions to visit only to discover that she had left.
Angharrad was never someone that enjoyed sitting still, she says that herself even now and she was always grateful that she was born in Delve. The village was full of strange magical glades that led to hidden places and wells that were portals to other corners of forgotten memories and each day, from the moment that she understood that she could, she began to explore them in an adventure that she hoped would never end. Here she found bones of the long dead that spoke to her of long ago and hidden Fae things that whispered to her of days to come. All the time she desired more, to hear more stories, see more places and experience these new races and peoples. In between her sojourns she would meet with “The Fable” and hear these amazing stories of other places and other worlds. So many paths to follow and so many people to meet an endless world with trackless wastes and lost places that held secrets and wealth and knowledge beyond measure.
When she had explored everything in Delve there was nothing to keep her here anymore and so in 1982 she gathered up her wealth and belongings and wandered out into the wider world heading for the Oath Buildings that she had heard of with the intention of signing up. At this time Delve had appeared in Argent County near Silverlance and at the time the young Angharrad did not know rightly where she was. Following the road closest to her she found herself in the township of Gremen on the road to Vobde. She settled down at an Inn called the Whippets Coat and settled in to listen to the stories of a troubadour called Spikey Daniels who wandered with a young boy styled David. Staying at the inn she soon discovered that she and various other wanderers had been robbed of their wealth by the young David whilst they listened to Daniels. She learnt a lesson that day, one that would see her in good stead for many years to come.
When Gable caught up to her he found her still at the Whippets Coat, washing dishes to pay for the breakfast that she had eaten that morning. She had been waiting for him and soon outlined her plan to travel and enjoy themselves, a plan which, surprisingly, Gable agreed to. So in late 1982 she travelled with her hero to settlements across the Royal Basin. She was given the chance to tell the tales he had taught her and impress the locals with her dancing and juggling skills. Then they would swiftly move on to another town and repeat their performance, never staying in one place for oo long. Things were idyllic until the militia caught up with them in Sakralem. Whilst Angharrad had been telling stories, stories made up by Trent, he had been robbing the poor folk of the land, which had then lined their pockets and allowed them to live in relative opulence. In 1984 she was released from incarceration with no less enthusiasm for stories and tales but with a lot less naivety.
Whilst inside she had spent much time listening to the Penitentiary Priestess, a Terrefian, called Beth Egret Fetallban who had begun her training. Through her she learned the power that came through faith and how to manipulate the strengths of fortune and the shaping of fortune. Her time in the Fallgate Prison was not wasted, she longed for her freedoms but she still had her voice and her talent, earning coin for singing and then organising and profiting from gambling circles and running contraband into the prison. Beth seemed satisfied that she had created an economy for herself in the penitentiary and one that all could benefit from. Many hardened criminals that she employed learnt trades this way and completed their sentences to go on and have successful business ventures and better lives.
When she left prison she was introduced to the Palace of Holy Merchants by Beth Fetallban who spoke with the Priests there who agreed to take her in. Glenflatter Bahbete was assigned as her teacher and he found an extremely keen and energetic young woman desperate to make up for the time she viewed as lost in Fallgate. He taught her to be a Versifier a role to which she was fully ordained in 1990 and for the next twenty years she campaigned endlessly; protecting the business interests of the Church, protecting legitimate bards and story tellers and outing those that followed in her and her once masters footsteps. Slowly she made her way up the tree, coming to the roll of traveller in 2003 and at each step of the way her instructor, Glen, was waiting to celebrate her successes with her.
In the later years of her active service she also began to act as an instructor gaining a great deal of respect and loyalty. In 2010, during the Cataclysm wars the senior members of the church gathered together to discuss how to solidify their position. It is said that they were visited directly by three faces of The Charmed and it was decided that the Church needed stronger leadership. By the voice of Terref and the great contract between her clergy and her magnificence she was elected to the helm of the Terrefian Church and has been their ever since.
Holly Goodall
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