Barony of Taravanal

Taravanal is a new barony of the County of Lensely, created in Enchanter after the defeat of Sashtalia and the fall of West Fleria. Baron Arathanial of Sendaria, who had done most of the fighting, carved up the conquered lands rather than annex them wholesale: the southern estates of Sashtalia and the tenant domains of West Fleria were bundled together into a new barony for his eldest son Arlastan, with the seat kept at the old Sashtalia castle. As Arathanial proudly announced: "The new barony will be known as Taravanal. The seat will still be at Sashtalia, of course, but it will be a much-reduced entity. Sendaria will be taking back most of the border domains directly. And we will be adding the remainder of the West Flerian domains to it."

Arlastan inherited a young barony still finding its feet. He proved a capable lord, settling his vassals and building up the court; by Necromancer he was housed in the Mewstower for major Sevendori events as a peer of his father's. His most persistent and public preoccupation, however, is his long courtship of Dara the Hawkmaiden. He invites her to every party, reception, and tournament Taravanal hosts; the Hawkmaiden found it maddening until the brutal battle of the Darkfaller raid, after which Arlastan and his vassals hung on her every word, and a walk through his castle garden shifted the terms of the relationship for good.

Taravanal sits at the heart of the revived Lensely bloc in the Bontal. Along with Sendaria and Sevendor, it forms the trio of loyal Lensely-banner baronies on which Count Antonar's strength in the county now rests. Minalan's offhand promise to the old count — that "Sevendor will be sworn to a long line of Lenselys in the future" — is more than flattery: it foreshadows the marriage that will eventually bind Taravanal and Sevendor through Dara and Arlastan.