Fantasy Noble Houses, Bloodshed, and Treachery.

[OddlyParanoid]

I too might be interested, if you're still looking for folks to join up.

Usually when I make a character in a RP or a nation in a Nation Builder, I tend to enjoy filling a niche that has yet to be filled by the players, but for this one I can't tell yet which niches need to be filled.

 

[LadyOfStars]

I’m planning to make a espionage oriented House.

 

[SAIGO-NO-HEATS]

I’m planning to make a espionage oriented House.

That should be interesting!

I too might be interested, if you're still looking for folks to join up.

Usually when I make a character in a RP or a nation in a Nation Builder, I tend to enjoy filling a niche that has yet to be filled by the players, but for this one I can't tell yet which niches need to be filled.

As it stands most of the houses we've seen pitched have been very warlike and militarily focused. My own House Degrance is the main exception so far with their main boon being economic.

 

[LadyOfStars]

House Corvus
​

With the a promising era of peace on the horizon, House Corvus which had been a house teetering between minor and major, decided to bolster their influence. They became a merchant House, creating several dozen businesses across their own land with the help of their bannermen. With their territory of Meridium being slightly to the right of the empire’s center, they sit at the crossroads for all travel within the land. The verdant green hills and quiet forests are picturesque scenes, and the reason why House Corvus’ inns are more expensive than the average inn. With time they branched out and diversified their services until they were the owners of dozens of businesses across the realm, including brothels. Meridian became known to the common folk as the “Pleasure Lands” for their numerous recreational businesses.


Corvus Castle, at the heart of Meridium, is a large castle complex that spans several miles. Two towering walls of white stone surround the complex, hiding it within two giant walls. With House Corvus’ military being less impressive than its neighbors, they built a defense meant to outlast any invaders. Within the first ring are trenches with a narrow bridge between the gates and small, arched bridges atop the walls connecting the two rings. The second ring is where the castle itself is located with four towers adding symmetry to the castle and overlooking the entire complex.


200 years later the house is ruled by Tenebrous Corvus who spent much of his youth perfecting the craft of espionage. Cunning, resourceful, and gifted with a silvertongue, he has managed to pacify many of his House’s would-be-rivals and enemies. Though it is rare to see, the Head of House Corvus does have his faults. Tenebrous is suspicious of everyone he meets which can sometimes leave him feeling paranoid and anxious when engaged in prolonged interactions with people he knows nothing about. He is also one to hold a grudge and make great shows of his power when such tactics are not always necessary. This fault in particular has made him difficult to befriend.


This wasn’t a feat he accomplished on his own however. House Corvus lacks a noteworthy military force and money will only buy you so much. To that end Tenebrous founded the Vulpes’ Blades. Commonly known as “Tenebrous’ Foxes” among the nobility, the large spy network focuses on gather, manipulating, and concealing information on every level of the social hierarchy and in every corner of the globe. That same information is used to blackmail other leaders, manipulate relations between people, and is even sold off to others for a pretty penny. The organization’s chain of command leaves Tenebrous with the final say in many situations, including assassinations. Recruitment is strict with members cutting ties with comrades and loved ones, deserters being hunted down, and torture being used as a method of breaking down and re-educating untrustworthy members. The Vulpes’ Blades do take on contracts from nobles and even from the peasantry, with Tenebrous choosing which contracts get filled and which get ignored.

 

[Soviet Panda]

No magic, or at least none that mortals can play with. No fantasy races either, outside of local legends. If you had to say, Is the land so undeveloped because it's newly settled or is the land just poor?

Newly settled.

 

[Lenny2000]

Heyo is it too late or ?

 

[SAIGO-NO-HEATS]

Heyo is it too late or ?

If you’ve got a strong idea for a house then there’s always more room.

 

[Lenny2000]

I was thinking a possessive religiously fanatic house where a demon or god of mistrust and deception persuaded the house into a cult following :3 of course there are other ideas of you don't like it

 

[Soviet Panda]

Spoiler: Order of the Maple

The Order's beginnings are shrouded in mystery. All that is known is that it was founded some time shortly after the beginning of the Black Plague. And that the first members were formerly followers of a god. Order records state that they found their salvation in a clearing with a lone maple tree standing proudly in the center. There the Goddess revealed herself. She had red hair that blazed like fire, skin as fair as snow, and beasts flocked to her as if she were their mother. This was truly a divine being, but the heart and mind of man is a skittish one. Like a rabbit sensing danger and ready to bolt for it's hole, so to were the men who had found the clearing. But the Goddess calmed them, assuring them that she did not want to harm them. She saw how they thirsted, for the last of their water had run out days before, and she cupped her hands and water come as if from a spring before telling them to drink. As they drank from the water that sprung from her hand as if from a spring, they felt as if they had been reborn. The water had given them energy they had not had since they were youths. She saw how they starved, for their hunting and gathering had found nothing in the barren landscape. And from her hair she pulled berries of the most fiery red and commanded them to eat. With each berry they felt as strong as an ox, as if they could uproot the lone maple tree in the clearing with their bare hands. And she saw how they feared the coming dawn. This time she asked why. And once she was told of their hardships, after all fifty laid their hearts bare, she said with the voice of divinity "You do not have to fear anymore. For I will protect you. In return, you shall do as I ask. You will protect this tree, the symbol of what I am, from all those who seek to harm it. And you shall protect the lands from all that dare taints it."

From there the record goes on to tell about how they then built up the great chapter house that stands today around the Maple and the official founding of the Order. How the first knight came about is unclear, the first name given the title of knighthood was mentioned not several paragraphs after the founding of the Order. But it can be easily explained why their order became one more orientated towards violence. The original promise made by the first fifty had to be upheld. And the command of the Goddess was not always in the name of peace. Sometimes violence in her name was even rewarded, something unheard of in the previously peaceful Order. Tales of gaining divine blessings given by this Goddess soon spread across the land. And current members took up the way of the sword in hopes of gaining Her blessings as well. Soon the iconic green and red armor of the Knights of the Order of the Maple became a common sight around the immediate area of the chapter house. This fascination with Divine battle has bred the utmost best of warriors. Of course, Chivalry and honor still holds in the Order, if just barely. Their reputation for their calculating ferocity suddenly being halted in it's tracks in the name of honor and chivalry is legendary. Particularly the tale of Sir Albreic, who broke his own sword after shattering his opponents to make the fight fair.

The Order of the Maple holds it's allegiance to the Goddess above all else. If their chapterhouse is threatened or attacked, honor and chivalry will be forgotten to uphold their promise to the Goddess, if it is necessary.

The Order of the Maple has, in theory, only one position, that of Chapter Master. However, in practice there are several ranks to be made aware of when interacting with the Order. The lowest rank of the Order is Initiate. Whether squires to Knights of the Order or newly joined members of the clergy, they hold little power in the Order. They are often found either in the Chapter House running errands for Monks or by their master's side (if they choose to become Knights). It is left up to the rest of the Order to determine how long individuals are Initiates. Often times those that wish to join the clergy of the Order take years longer then those wanting to become Knights of the Order, most likely because of their need to become literate and to write neatly so as to be able to read books deemed holy and to copy them so others can read them.

Monks make up the next level above Initiates. Though lower then Knights for their lack of fighting prowess, they hold greater power when speaking of what the Goddess wants and what needs to be purged to cleanse the land. They manage the great library in the Eastern wing of the Chapter, making sure the records are accurate and in good condition. They wage a war all their own in an attempt to keep the records whole, a war fought against nature with quill and ink. They also are in charge of keeping the Chapter as clean as possible, though they leave the Barracks and Southern wing to the Knights to handle.

Knights are the bulk of the Order's numbers. With lance in hand they purge the land of blights in the name of the Goddess. They protect the Chapter, with their lives if necessary. Because of their physical prowess, they are placed above simple Monks. Knights have a ranking system all their own based off of traditional military ranking. Lowest ranked Knights are denoted by two green plumes atop their helmet and flat green armor. Sergeants have two plumes as well, but these are green and yellow respectively, their armor is also more ornately decorated with yellow scroll work along the edges. Captains wear three plumes, one green and two red, and instead of yellow scroll work like Sergeants it is red. They often have a crest on their helmet, as this is when they are allowed to have a crest.

Warrior Priests. Often those that are to old to fight, Warrior Priests are tasked with the honor of guarding the Tree itself. Rumored to have been granted a vision by the Goddess of their own death, they have taken oaths of silence and celibacy so as to focus more on their duty. To communicate among themselves, Warrior Priests have come up with a complex system of hand gestures. They are often more lightly armored then Knights, their heads often uncovered. The reason for this is not completely known and is a closely guarded secret by the Warrior Priests, meaning that not even other Order members know why they do it. Their weapons vary greatly from Warrior Priest to Warrior Priest.

The one who holds the title Chapter Master holds the highest rank in the Order. When seen in battle, the Chapter Master wears red armor with green scroll work, five plumes on his helm (three red two green), and has a crest of a maple tree on his helmet. And each Chapter Master wields the lance and two handed sword passed on from Chapter Master to Chapter Master since near the beginning of the Order itself. The sword is named Blight's Bane and has been baptized in water blessed by the Goddess and now burns with a holy fire when it tastes blood. The lance has been named Wyrm, after having supposedly slain a creature by the same name that plagued the land causing crops to fail and all manner of creatures to fall ill and die, tainting their meat so as to make it unsuitable for consumption. The blood of Wyrm stained the lance, strengthening it and making it poisonous to the touch.

There is one rank held above even Chapter Master, the rank of Primarch. The rank of Primarch is extremely hard to obtain, there being only one Primarch in the history of the Order. In order to become a Primarch, the current Chapter Master must call upon the Warrior Priests, those closes to the Goddess, for a vote. If the Warrior Priests choose to answer this call, which it isn't garunteed they will, they must unanimously agree upon a chosen member of the Order outside of the rank Warrior Priest. If there is even one vote for someone else among the Warrior Priests, no Primarch will be chosen. It is unclear how the secretive Warrior Priests go about voting, but if they do decide on someone they will approach their chosen candidate and challenge him, one by one, to a duel. After that the candidate, if they won the numerous duels, must recite the Blessings of the Goddess as Monks listen in to make sure he does not miss one word. And after all that is done, the final hurdle to jump is to lay for one night in the garden the Tree stands in. If the Goddess approaches you, then you are to become Primarch. If she does not, then you are simply to be honored for making it that far. The few times someone has made it that far, they became the next Chapter Master.

The only Primarch to have existed was Buras the Undefeated, a man told to be as tall as the heavens and as strong as the mountains. Upon dying in battle, after having been unhorsed and with an assortment of weapons embedded in him and his armor, a crypt was carefully built under the Tree, so as not to harm it. He was buried with all of his now legendary equipment. His armor that blazed the color of the leaves in Autumn with golden scroll work, masterfully crafted by beings said to have crafted weapons for gods. It is told that after the battle the armor sealed itself, repairing any rents in it caused by man or beast. His winged helm allowing him to speak with creatures of the air thwarted many an ambush. His flamberg, made and embued with fey magics and never needing to be sharpened or mended, crackled with each swing and sung of his foes death as it drank their blood. His lance roared like a lion as it approached its prey, and drank greedily of their life, giving it to its wielder. Even his mighty steed, Balius, had its remains preserved and draped in it's armor, the same color and made by the same craftsman as its rider

Saints are people, not always of the Order, that have managed to gain the Goddess' blessing. The records are filled with the deeds of these saints, and alcoves all over the Chapter house are filled with statues in their likeness. If a member is blessed with Sainthood, he is no longer a part of the Order, technically. These saints then go out on self imposed exile to spread the word of the Goddess with a small library, which the Monks have hastily copied from the library, on the back of their chosen mount, some choosing to ride out on oxen and mules instead of horses to carry more books. These saints can not be bought, are tireless when on the hunt. Their faith guides them, and the Goddess protects. But they are still mortals and can be killed.

The most well known of the saints is Saint Anna. She set out on her journey on a gazelle, who was granted to her by the Goddess, with but only the core books of her faith and a sword to protect her. She has been attributed with several holy actions such as curing a whole village from the plague with a mere touch, sending away the pests that ate away the crops with only a whisper, and the slaughtering of man and beast that threatened many villages. Her kindness is legendary, and her faith was unshakeable. Her death came about when she was captured in a desert far away and was executed for heresy, the Goddess being rejected in those lands. Once beheaded, blood did not flow but instead the purest water came forth. And where the water land, new and extraordinary plants leapt forth and grew in seconds.


The Order of the Maple, also being a religious one, believes that something happens to them after death. There are mentions of a grand forest in their holy texts where one can hunt beasts of legends, drink from springs of nectar, and plants laden with food that never seems to end. A grand tournament goes on forever, where the Goddess herself congratulates the victor and consoles the loser. Here the Goddesses purity and essence isn't muffled by the filth of mortality, and those that are allowed into the Grand Forest (her followers and particularly the Saints) can bask in her presence.

Knight order number one, the one that's gonna be on my minor noble's land.

 

[Soviet Panda]

And I need to edit it because there's magic in there. Bah, there isn't to much, so I'll do it later.

 

[Lenny2000]

Derp well it's not a holy one tbh more like chaos cult in a way

 

[SAIGO-NO-HEATS]

I was thinking a possessive religiously fanatic house where a demon or god of mistrust and deception persuaded the house into a cult following :3 of course there are other ideas of you don't like it

Well the first thing would be that this is a fairly non magical setting, So no litteral demons or dark gods running around. but if you go back to post #25 I did a brief write up on my thoughts as to the main religion of the setting.

Maybe the house could be championing a heresy that venerates the Earthen god over the god of spirit?

And I need to edit it because there's magic in there. Bah, there isn't to much, so I'll do it later.

It could still work if the magic is apocryphal. Like there’s a huge difference between claiming your founders met god and shot fire from their hands and actually being able to do it now. You just run the risk of being called out on it when you fail to reproduce those supposed miracles.

 

[SAIGO-NO-HEATS]

House Corvus
View attachment 570428​

With the a promising era of peace on the horizon, House Corvus which had been a house teetering between minor and major, decided to bolster their influence. They became a merchant House, creating several dozen businesses across their own land with the help of their bannermen. With their territory of Meridium being slightly to the right of the empire’s center, they sit at the crossroads for all travel within the land. The verdant green hills and quiet forests are picturesque scenes, and the reason why House Corvus’ inns are more expensive than the average inn. With time they branched out and diversified their services until they were the owners of dozens of businesses across the realm, including brothels. Meridian became known to the common folk as the “Pleasure Lands” for their numerous recreational businesses.


Corvus Castle, at the heart of Meridium, is a large castle complex that spans several miles. Two towering walls of white stone surround the complex, hiding it within two giant walls. With House Corvus’ military being less impressive than its neighbors, they built a defense meant to outlast any invaders. Within the first ring are trenches with a narrow bridge between the gates and small, arched bridges atop the walls connecting the two rings. The second ring is where the castle itself is located with four towers adding symmetry to the castle and overlooking the entire complex.


200 years later the house is ruled by Tenebrous Corvus who spent much of his youth perfecting the craft of espionage. Cunning, resourceful, and gifted with a silvertongue, he has managed to pacify many of his House’s would-be-rivals and enemies. Though it is rare to see, the Head of House Corvus does have his faults. Tenebrous is suspicious of everyone he meets which can sometimes leave him feeling paranoid and anxious when engaged in prolonged interactions with people he knows nothing about. He is also one to hold a grudge and make great shows of his power when such tactics are not always necessary. This fault in particular has made him difficult to befriend.


This wasn’t a feat he accomplished on his own however. House Corvus lacks a noteworthy military force and money will only buy you so much. To that end Tenebrous founded the Vulpes’ Blades. Commonly known as “Tenebrous’ Foxes” among the nobility, the large spy network focuses on gather, manipulating, and concealing information on every level of the social hierarchy and in every corner of the globe. That same information is used to blackmail other leaders, manipulate relations between people, and is even sold off to others for a pretty penny. The organization’s chain of command leaves Tenebrous with the final say in many situations, including assassinations. Recruitment is strict with members cutting ties with comrades and loved ones, deserters being hunted down, and torture being used as a method of breaking down and re-educating untrustworthy members. The Vulpes’ Blades do take on contracts from nobles and even from the peasantry, with Tenebrous choosing which contracts get filled and which get ignored.

Pretty cool! They kind of remind me of medieval Venice or the Medici family.

It’ll be interesting to see how they stay alive with their lack of military power and their leader’s apparent lack of tact, but they could be a real pain for my family as we try to build alliances.

 

[RayPurchase]

Words can not adequately describe how interested I am in this.... so I will not even try

Haven't been this excited since I RPed Lord Hightower, permission to come aboard?

 

[SAIGO-NO-HEATS]

Words can not adequately describe how interested I am in this.... so I will not even try

Haven't been this excited since I RPed Lord Hightower, permission to come aboard?

Permission granted!

 

[Lenny2000]

Pretty cool rp tho I'm no longer interested

 

[SAIGO-NO-HEATS]

Pretty cool rp tho I'm no longer interested

No problem, that's the purpose of having an interest check. Good luck elsewhere!

 

[RayPurchase]

Excellent!

I'll begin planning now (got a few ideas) and send a flurry of ideas your way tomorrow and get some planning going!

So at this point are the 'great houses' reserved? Just so I know how much to limit the House

 

[SAIGO-NO-HEATS]

Excellent!

I'll begin planning now (got a few ideas) and send a flurry of ideas your way tomorrow and get some planning going!

So at this point are the 'great houses' reserved? Just so I know how much to limit the House

Not quite. I'd made plans for between 7 and 9 great houses and total and so far only about 6 cover that role and we'll get everything a little more organized come phase 2 (The ooc proper, character and lore sheets, etc.) so feel free to just hit us with whatever you got.

 

[RayPurchase]

Not quite. I'd made plans for between 7 and 9 great houses and total and so far only about 6 cover that role and we'll get everything a little more organized come phase 2 (The ooc proper, character and lore sheets, etc.) so feel free to just hit us with whatever you got.

Gotcha, seeing as how I've got far too much free time at the moment, most likely have a general idea fleshed out by tomorrow

 

[Dalamus Ulom]

So who wants to be one of the houses that's nearly caused the extinction of House Veritun in the past? Don't worry, it won't cause strained relations*!




*Note: This is a lie and will probably cause strained relations between Veritun and said House, but hey, we all need enemies, right?

 

[RayPurchase]

Sure do love a blood feud

 

[QuirkyAngel]

SAIGO-NO-HEATS
Let me know if anything else is needed. I don't know what to do about politics and alliances...

 

[SAIGO-NO-HEATS]

SAIGO-NO-HEATS
Let me know if anything else is needed. I don't know what to do about politics and alliances...

For politics, you’ll just want to ask around and look at some of the other bios.

Your house is one of the oldest in the current lore, and was loyal to the king, this could put you in historical opposition to houses like Erio ( KameChan ) and Ambercrown ( Rusty of Shackleford ) who resisted to the last. And I believe you’re closest on the map to house Corvus ( LadyOfStars ).

 

[KameChan]

@DalamusUlom , could my house be the one that almost caused ruin to yours?