Oterel was Lord Holder of Tillek Hold late in the Eighth Interval and early in the Ninth Pass. He was the oldest child of Melongel. His mother was Juvana.
Biography[]
During his school days, Oterel shared a room and duties with Groghe of Fort Hold. He already had stewardship responsibilities, which went more swiftly with help.
Oterel was confirmed as Lord Holder by a Conclave that was held after Melongel fell off a runnerbeast then died from the resulting fever. It was strongly suspected (but not proven) that the fall was not an accident and that Fax, or his men, had been behind it (having given the runnerbeast lur-weed to eat). On Nip's advice, filtered through Robinton, Oterel enlarged the guard posts along his borders. Groghe and Oterel also trained men together to protect their holds from whatever plans Fax or his men might have.
When Robinton and Nip saw the aftermath of Fax's raid on Ruatha Hold, they decided that Groghe, Oterel and Larad must be warned, who then made an orderly march to Nabol to protest Fax's usurpation of Ruatha Hold and the murder of the entire Bloodline. Fax's response was to tell them that if they were not out of his Hold by nightfall, he would order them all slaughtered for trespass.
After holders from High Reaches began asking for sanctuary outside their hold, Oterel gave refuge to several. Then, during Fax's period of domination as the "Lord of Seven Holds", Oterel sheltered many of the displaced and heirs who had managed to escape being killed.
Oterel held Wrestling Contests at Gathers; but, after three kills, no matter what the reason, the person who had killed was made holdless, on the spot. After Dushik's third kill, Oterel paid a steward and told him to have Dushik escorted to the High Reaches border, because "Fax uses men of his sort!".
After Aivis was discovered, Oterel insisted upon seeing it, but was not impressed by what he saw.
When Oterel died from an illness, the next Lord Holder was to be selected from his sons - Blesserel, the eldest, Terentel, and Ranrel, the youngest. Both of the older sons were considered poor holder material but had a few supporters. However, Ranrel's reputation as a hard worker and a supporter of AIVAS led Ranrel to be confirmed by the Conclave on the third ballot.