Ealstan
A man with a firm, authoritative voice who walks the burned field with two companions, dismisses the idea of a wight, and orders the villagers to lay out sacrifices that night and to call back a departed skop named Hild. STD:FWH:Ch 1
Known facts
- thegn-orders-sacrificesUpon seeing the burn-circle and the unburned man-shape at its center, ordered the villagers to lay out sacrifices that night and to send a boy after the departed skop Hild to beg her return — anticipating a need for a binding or a loosening.STD:FWH:Ch 1
- local-lord-of-villageHolds the local lordship of the palisaded settlement, residing in its sole stone building and emerging from it accompanied by two axe-and-shield housecarls when visitors arrive at the gate.STD:FWH:Ch 2
- kneels-to-the-stranger-after-killingDrops to one knee with his wife and guard, addresses the stranger as honoured spirit, blames his own imprisonment of him for the evil that fell on the hall, and promises to find all his quest objects and more if he will only spare the village further losses.STD:FWH:Ch 8
- rides-out-with-the-skopInsists on accompanying Sefawynn and the runian to Wellbury himself — the boy was taken from before his hearth, the messengers ride for the earl, and the thegn judges this his own duty as host as well as his chance to earn boasts again — kisses Rowena, straps on shield and axe, and joins the party at dawn.STD:FWH:Ch 10
- lost-both-sons-in-a-raidAt forty-two, Ealstan tells John he has begun to feel his strength go. The village has been attacked six times in his tenure as thegn; the last raid, a little over a year ago, took six people. Both of his sons died in it. He believes two of those deaths he could have prevented if he had still been strong enough, and dates from them his first real sense that time is taking him.STD:FWH:Ch 12
- oswald-was-his-nephewAsked offhandedly whether he knew Oswald well, Ealstan answers that the young man was his brother's son — and adds, when John registers surprise, that everyone in the village is a close relation. His family has worked those lands since the crossing, hundreds of years gone now.STD:FWH:Ch 12
- kills-a-hordaman-on-the-longshipWhen three Hordamen close on him during the bluff, Ealstan fights his way through them in close quarters — one is left bleeding out against the gunwale, the other two retreat warily. The first kill John has seen him make in person.STD:FWH:Ch 14
- axe-named-for-his-wifeEalstan has named his axe *Rowena* — for his wife — on the unembarrassed reasoning that *I like my wife, and it makes perfect sense to use her name for something else I like.* It is not a Weswaran custom; Sefawynn has never heard of anyone naming a weapon, and laughs.STD:FWH:Ch 30
- offered-himself-as-blood-sacrifice-to-wodenOn the walls of Maelport under the Hordamen sky, Ealstan quietly offered to let John spill his heart's blood as a sacrifice to turn Woden's favor — reasoning that, no earl, he was at least the highest-born blood the defenders had. John talked him out of it and asked him to come with him instead.STD:FWH:Ch 33
- candidate-for-earl-after-godricWith Godric dead at Ulric's hand, Logna names Ealstan as the obvious candidate for the open Maelport earldom — and both Sefawynn and John readily agree he is the better choice over anyone else, including John himself.STD:FWH:Ch 37
Events
- STD:FWH:Ch 1 Walks the burn-circle with two companions; rules out a wight and orders sacrifices and the recall of Hild.
- STD:FWH:Ch 2 Emerges from the stone hall in his orange cloak, escorted by two axe-and-shield housecarls, and proceeds into the meeting hall to receive the riders.
- STD:FWH:Ch 4 Enters with Wyrm to examine the captive, catalogues him against aelv lore alongside Sefawynn, and leaves before his absence is noticed by the messengers.
- STD:FWH:Ch 6 Receives the two hooded messengers by his hearth alongside his wife, in profile from the entryway.
- STD:FWH:Ch 7 Stands his ground at the door, rebukes Ulric's overreach, then accepts a hostage arrangement at gunpoint to spare further killing.
- STD:FWH:Ch 8 Kneels to the stranger as an honoured spirit, then rises to outfit Sefawynn with a horse, a guard, and the boasting space at the founder's wēoh.
- STD:FWH:Ch 9 Saddles two horses by the great obsidian stone in the courtyard and points the stranger toward Sefawynn's lantern at the wēoh.
- STD:FWH:Ch 10 Saddles a fourth horse for the aelv, straps on the axe and shield Rowena brings him, and joins the ride out of Stenford himself.
- STD:FWH:Ch 11 Rides at John's side most of the day, answers his questions about waterwheels, pulleys, and shield walls with patient amusement, and supplies the local names of the gods that let John finally place the era.
- STD:FWH:Ch 12 Sharpens his axe by a roadside log, asks careful questions about the cartel's weapons, opens up to John about losing his sons in a raid and the slow loss of his strength, then catches the meaning of the distant horns.
- STD:FWH:Ch 13 On the cliff he goes pale, accepts that his village will likely die without him, and kneels to ask John for help. Once John commits, he arranges the packhorse and seal to send a death-warning to Rowena should the plan fail.
- STD:FWH:Ch 14 Trails John up the beach as retainer, fights through three Hordamen in close quarters on the longship deck, and hauls the captive over the side at John's word.
- STD:FWH:Ch 15 Hauls John out of the surf, builds a fire, thanks him for saving Stenford, and quietly admits to Yazad's prompting that the joys he can name are full larders and the safety of his lost sons.
- STD:FWH:Ch 16 Eyes the dark forest warily before going in, then sleeps under his cloak alongside Sefawynn.
- STD:FWH:Ch 17 Helps the Preserve's men dig out an apple-tree stump, then bows to the aelv when the party finds him in the orchard and proposes pleading with the midfather for Wyrm's release.
- STD:FWH:Ch 18 Talks through the Wellbury approach with John — pleads for trying Wealdsig despite Ulric's claim of him, and accepts the eventual plan of sneaking in under Yazad's fruit-delivery cover.
- STD:FWH:Ch 19 Hands his Preserve robe back to Yazad in the storehouse and turns to the work of getting Wyrm out of Wealdsig's hands; offers Yazad's god a prayer on their behalf.
- STD:FWH:Ch 20 Holds position with Sefawynn and Thokk at the manor's alleyway corner, waiting to peel off and free Wyrm from the pit once John has the reeve fully distracted.
- STD:FWH:Ch 22 Cornered against the city wall with Wyrm behind him and his axe out, takes an arrow through the gut and two more before John can reach him; goes still long enough for Wealdsig to call him dead, then sits up under John's hand with his wounds scabbed over and afterwards backs the wizard's offer to Wealdsig.
- STD:FWH:Ch 23 Tells the tale of his death and resurrection to Yazad's flock by the firelight, poking his fingers through the holes in his bloody tunic; refuses John's attempt to send him home, citing duty to the highfather, and declares he will ride on to Maelport.
- STD:FWH:Ch 24 Rides up front sword and all, swaying in time with the horse, willing to explain the theology of why Woden's people deserve their curses — and willing to deadpan to John that the first god was licked from a rock by a very special cow.
- STD:FWH:Ch 25 Hand on his axe but knowing the odds, swallows the urge to draw on twelve men; calls the lord-bandit out for preying on a crumbling country, gets fined a double toll for the ego, and dismounts under Sefawynn's quiet correction.
- STD:FWH:Ch 26 Eating soup by the fire when John finds the camp.
- STD:FWH:Ch 27 Sits among the Merry Men by the fire while John and Ryan speak in private at the edge of camp.
- STD:FWH:Ch 28 Listens by the fire as Ryan exposes John's history.
- STD:FWH:Ch 29 Bedding down with the Merry Men by the fire.
- STD:FWH:Ch 30 On foot beside John's horse with Sefawynn; tells them not to be ashamed of joy.
- STD:FWH:Ch 31 Crouches at the edge of the woods to scope the city beside John, hears the news of Hordamen raids on coastal hearths confirmed, then walks in disguised as a refugee with the bait party.
- STD:FWH:Ch 32 Joins the bait party crossing into the courtyard, spots the Hordamen-style archers on the wall, scales up among them and clears one platform with Rowena — then takes a near-miss from a hidden gunman, brings news of Hordamen ships at the oceanside walls.
- STD:FWH:Ch 33 Climbs the wall with John, begs Quinn to put aside their conflict against the Hordamen; offers his heart's blood as sacrifice to Woden, and on John's refusal pledges to follow him to hell instead. Crouches with him at Ulric's saferoom wall.
- STD:FWH:Ch 34 Backs John's bluff inside the saferoom to free Ryan and Jen from Marta's custody, watches the aelvs' argument outside in confused silence, then stands beside John at the bunker door as Sefawynn walks alone into the Hordamen tide.
- STD:FWH:Ch 35 Bows immediately when Thokk reveals herself, then takes John's side outside the saferoom and is left to guard the door while John goes back in alone to break the portal.
- STD:FWH:Ch 36 Glimpsed bloodied on the courtyard ground when Ulric opens the saferoom door, then reappears in the doorway moments later — leaning, cut to ribbons, holding a rifle and a severed arm with the finger still on the trigger — to shoot Ulric dead. Two riot-armoured corpses lie behind him in the yard; he downed them, he says, because they didn't have bows.
Backreferences
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- factJohn West
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- factWealdsig
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- factmedical nanites
- factJohn West
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- factEalstan
- factJohn West
- factRyan Chu
- summarySTD:FWH:Ch 31
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- factEalstan
- factWoden
- summarySTD:FWH:Ch 34
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- factWoden
- summarySTD:FWH:Ch 36
- factUlric Stromfin
- factUlric Stromfin
- factMarshal
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- factEalstan
- factGodric