House Gabel

House Gabel holds the Duchy of Southreach, and within that duchy also holds the counties of Westgate and the Plain Between. It counts House Luthe and House Ehrhart among its vassals. Its head is Duke Wilhelm Gabel.

History
House Gabel first appears as a consequential entity in historical records in the mid-300s, which generally hold that the Gabels had risen from being minor nobility to holding a few baronies. By the mid-400s, they are noted as holding the county of Westgate, along the River Reuss, at the time on the border of the Realm of Intis. In the years since, House Salfeld has seized the Duchy of Greenwood from Intis.

The Duchy of Southreach was created in 546, in response to House Otrese at the time finding the administration of a large number of direct vassals within the area difficult. The Gabels of Westgate were elevated to rulership of the duchy, and then the problems of their new vassals became far more the problems of the Gabels than of House Otrese. In 570, the then Duke Eike Gabel inherited the county of the Plain Between through dynastic succession.

In 627, with the involvement and acquiescence of the Imperial Crown, House Gabel embarked on a massive project to link the River Reuss and the River Ineth, a tributary of the Ada, with a canal. The long-term dividends for people in the region are that they will be able to send their goods by river directly to anywhere in the Ada Basin, without having to haul them overland or send them downriver to the sea first. However, the project was always understood to be one that would be extraordinarily expensive, and has run into problems from the outset with the strain it places on House Gabel's coffers.

Holdings
House Gabel's seat of power is in the castle of Lest, far inland, on the banks of the River Reuss, in the county of Westgate. The town around Lest is relatively small. The county is primarily pasture, turning wooded to the west as it reaches the boundary with Greenwood, now ruled by House Salfeld. Westgate is a major source of fine horses, bred for their size and power, in high demand as destriers in much of Elthos. The burghers of Oldan, a town held by House Ehrhart, dominate river trade along the Reuss, and their vessels are a frequent sight as far upriver as Lest and beyond, into Greenwood.

House Gabel holds the Plain Between, at the heart of which is the market town of Cross. At present, a road spans the plain between the River Reuss and River Ineth, and Cross is about halfway along that road. The project to build a canal between the Reuss and Ineth will see it pass by Cross some five miles away.

Current Events
House Gabel has a significant number of minor noble vassals, as well as a few larger houses such as House Luthe and House Ehrhart. Dealing with them consistently occupies much of the duchy's attention and, at the imperial court, it is never quite a sure thing that House Gabel's vassals will stay in line with it. House Otrese tolerates this occasionally fractious state of affairs, since, after all, House Gabel was elevated to the position it holds to act as a buffer between the minor nobility of Southreach and the imperial house.

The seizure of Greenwood by House Salfeld led to some initial disruption of trade along the River Reuss, but since then, it has flourished all the more, with a great deal of the high-quality timber sourced from Greenwood redirected along the River Reuss and towards the rest of the empire, much to the chagrin of the Realm of Intis.

The construction of the Reuss-Ineth Canal is proving a major burden on House Gabel's coffers and has stretched it thin. It could cease the work at any time and so have funds available to it once more, though it would mean the benefits of the canal may never be realised, and would be a major blow to the house's standing. There are various problems with the canal's development. Some minor nobles are asserting that traditional or legal rights of theirs are being violated. The burghers of Cross are agitated at the five mile journey from the canal to the town and have lodged reactionary protests. The plain is mostly flat but some engineering difficulties have arisen.