House Lindner

House Lindner holds land along the Ada, not far upriver from Sanctuary. It is ruled by Countess Silja Lindner.

History
House Lindner is an old house. After Valon, anticipating the Third Greytide, established Sanctuary, he had one of his earliest and most formidable followers, Alina Lindner, travel upriver of Sanctuary to establish a fortress centred on an island in the middle of the Ada where a major tributary, the Ineth, flows into it. The fortress, Alina's Fastness, was used as a major assembly point for refugees bound for Sanctuary. Lindner's traditions maintain that the fastness was never abandoned and held strong even in the face of the Greytide. In the wake of the Greytide, Valon was left with the task of selecting rulers for the various parts of the fledgling Realm of Adana. Alina Lindner was bid resettle the land around her fortress.

Over the intervening centuries, Lindner has maintained a remarkably strong martial tradition. Its members are invariably ardent adherents of the Cult of Valon. The Companions of the First King and Knights Custodian have often counted Lindners among their ranks.

In 617, Count Gerhart Lindner, father of Countess Silja, participated in the military expedition of House Salfeld to seize the Duchy of Greenwood from the Realm of Intis. Gerhart, a righteous, valiant man who believed in doing things for their own sake, demurred from the opportunity presented to take control of a county within Greenwood. He simply believed that the matter of the duchy's rule going unresolved was wholly contrary to the teachings of the Cult of Valon and that the Crown of Intis was too weak to properly reign over the land it claimed.

Silja Lindner took over rule of the house in 629 after her father, vanished, presumed dead, in the northern reaches of Lonin, on the very fringes of the Terror, in an expedition to aid House Sikorin. Gerhart was a friend of Rasa Sikorin, Voivode of the Expanse, who also vanished in that expedition. There were no traces of the expedition whatsoever and after an exhaustive search, Silja and her soldiers returned home.

Holdings
The seat of House Lindner's power is in Alina's Fastness, at the heart of the county of Inethmeet. The fortress is built on an island in the middle of the River Ada and is a formidable position - the main threat to it over the centuries has in fact been erosion from the river, a matter which various engineers have taken measures to ward against. Rivergoing ships must pass the Fastness to navigate the Ada and cannot feasibly avoid it. The bridges which span the Ada and meet the island in the middle are an architectural marvel with their high arches. The surrounding county, Inethmeet, makes for decent agricultural land, typical of the Ada Basin, but nothing particularly extraordinary.

Current Events
The loss of Gerhart Lindner was a blow. While the house is not unused to losing family members as they roam Elsoth to face peril, it stings that they do not know what happened. The house nonetheless persists much as it always has, providing military aid far beyond its own borders - its forces are well-drilled and well-equipped, though not particularly large. They are also rarely required in Inethmeet, secure as the county is in the heart of the Ada Basin.

House Lindner is, at least publicly, respected at court, due to its propensity to help its friends and to uphold the values of the Cult of Valon. Privately, some treat the house warily - the Lindners can be scathing when they perceive weakness among nobility. The house is neither wealthy nor, in the grand scheme of things, particularly powerful, but it is able to make itself heard when it wishes.