The Marches groups

Overview

There are many important households, landskeeper circles, market towns, and monasteries in the Marches. Despite the number, only a comparative handful are involved in the affairs of the Empire (that is, attend the seasonal summits at Anvil). Their influence can wax and wane, and involvement in Imperial affairs is not always a reflection of their prominence within the nation itself. This page presents in-character information about the groups that attend, or have attended, Anvil — the kind of thing that someone who asked about them might uncover from talking to their peers. In each case, the information is provided by the players and edited before being put on the wiki.

The majority of groups listed here are made up of player-characters. You should not create a character who is part of a group, or has personal history with one, without first clearing it with the appropriate players. You should also check before including other players' groups in your background. The background team are unlikely to approve a background that significantly impacts or involves another player character group without their permission. There are also a handful of prominent NPC groups included for completeness, but they are not intended for use by player characters.

Households and Monasteries

The households and monasteries of the Marches wield the lion's share of political power in the nation, because they control the largest amount of farmland.

Market Towns

The market towns are prosperous, but their businesses give them little opportunity to wield political power directly.

Landskeeper circles

Each landskeeper circle has it's own agenda, often tied to the protection or prosperity of a single region.

Other Groups

NPC Groups

These groups are made up of non-player characters; their members are portrayed by Profound Decisions NPC crew.

Contributing

Any player character group in the Marches can submit an entry for this page. The entry should come from the out-of-character group leader and be emailed to plot@profounddecisions.co.uk.

It should contain the following information:

• Group archetype (household, market town, monastery, landskeeper circle). If your group doesn't have one of these archetypes, it will be listed in the "other" section.
• Territory and region where the groups lands are physically located. Households have estates and farms, while market towns and monasteries are built around actual structures. Even a landskeeper circle will have a specific location where they meet, such as an old monolith, or the backroom of a certain tavern.
• If you are a household, then a description of your livery is appropriate
• Any Marcher group that has a particular symbol associated with them can include an image; likewise many Marcher groups have a motto or saying that sums up their history or attitudes. Both can be included with your contribution.
• The name of your steward if you are a household. If there is someone in your market town, monastery, or landskeeper circle that serves as the in-character leader of the group, you can mention them and their title here

You should also include up to 250 words of description, detailing the kind of things that other characters might know about your group. Have a look at the description for a Marcher household, or at the pages for the appropriate archetypes for ideas on the kind of information that is useful. You must also include a few sentences of history, especially around the circumstances of the group's formation or origin.

Some other questions to consider include:

• Does your group have any notable grudges against another group, class of people, region, territory, or concept? What's the basis for that grudge?
• Are there any particular archetypes the group is associated with that might be unexpected?
• Is there anything notable about the land your group claims?

Things to avoid include:

• Too much worldbuilding detail — this represents information other characters may know about your house. It's not a place to define elements of the game world
• Lists of character names — this isn't a place for getting your name on the wiki
• Too much emphasis on the past — while it's useful to have a few lines of history, what matters in Empire is what your house does on the field at events

It's possible to update the information on this page over time (for example if your in-character group leader changes) with an e-mail to plot@profounddecisions.co.uk.

The Wickermen

• Location:
• Livery: Blue and Green quartered
• Motto: Courage in adversity, Pride in Victory!

The Wickermen are a group of fighters, magicians and other assorted useful people based out of a school in Meade March called “Johannes Swabian’s Academy for Aspiring Champions” which offers various further education courses for those wishing to develop their skills to better serve as heroes of the Empire. The school specialises in combat training, but also offers courses in other areas such as crafting, military strategy and many more. A number of staff and students regularly attend summits at Anvil, giving the students a chance to apply what they have learned directly.

Households of Mournwold

A sad land, with a sad history. The dour hills echo with the sound of pick and hammer, and the chalk downs are watered with blood.

Copperhill Monastery

• Location: Greensward
• Livery: Prancing Cockerel

Copperhill Monastery is dedicated to the virtue of Pride. A small abbey located between two hills in the Greensward in a region with a long tradition of copper mining. The monks have a tradition of taking in people with lineage who have nowhere else to go, and a result the population of Copperhill are mostly lineaged. With the war in the Mourn Copperhill was destroyed but they are working to rebuild and to restore the Pride and Prosperity of the Greensward.

House Drayton

• Location: Freemoor
• Livery: Black (for the peat), crimson (for the herbs),
• Motto: From dirt to stream to river

House Drayton started its life in Freemoor, struggling to cope with the scrubby farmland several winters where survived by trading skills and herbs picked from the local scrubland to their fellow Freemoorlanders. As the years passed, trading began to become more important the family. By the time of the Jotun occupation the family had adopted a very nontraditional lifestyle living aboard several small river craft, farming the stream banks for herbs and collecting the debris and flotsam for trade. With the approach of the Jotun cutting off trade and being unable to sustain themselves by staying stationary the Draytons were some of the Freemoorlanders to leave the Mourn.

Even without land, though, the Draytons have never seen themselves as anything other than true Marchers. The head of family still takes the title of steward and the household gathers resources to secure the banks of their home. The Draytons know they come from the land, and though they are now more nomadic in nature than most, the Mournwold moor, its rivers and dirt are where they will return to.

Brackish water is common in the streams of the moor and no Drayton will ever turn down a request for a drink, just don't hold out for water.

House Dunlain

• Location: Haver-on-the-Hill north of Overton
• Livery:
• Motto: Together or not at all.

House Dunlain once had rich green iron mines that were lost when the Jotun attacked the Mourn. Little now remains of Haver-on-the-Hill (named for its location on a hill north of Overton), save a burnt-out watchtower. The mines themselves were collapsed by the Dunlains when it was clear they would fall to the Jotun, in an attempt to deny the orcs access to the rich seams of green iron. The Dunlains boast the first senator of the Mournwold in over thirty years - Robert Dunlain, known by the Mournwold as the former Sheriff of Overton. The Dunlains are rumoured to have close ties with the folk of Whittle Hill, having offered them succour since their re-emergence into Marcher politics.

House Stone

• Location: Ore Hills and anon
• Livery: Green above Grey, Stone on Hilt with Bluebell
• Motto: All of us or none of us, we chose all! We beat down all who did not agree, we're the House of Stone!

House Stone came to prominence at the beginning of the Empire, when the First Empress came to the Marches. They were one of the most ferocious houses fighting for union in the civil war. Upon their eventual victory, the House stood depleted, and so took on many of those who had been divested of their own houses. After a period of rebuilding in their lands in Upwold, their Prosperity was again cut short this time by a sickness that claimed many of the household around 74YE.

This time, the remaining members took House Stone south into Ore Hills in the Mourn, where they built their "rock farm" with farmers working alongside miners to exploit the natural resources of the hills. Both miners and farmers were 'rock farmers', even if only one could vote, the priests in their ranks were apt to go on pious rants about Loyalty and landskeepers and beaters often focused on keeping the territory grounded, as if worried it was going to fly away. The loss of the Mournwold saw most of House Stone's people falling to the Jotun's blades. The steward of House Stone, Dunstan was key in taking the rock farm back and setting the house on the road back to stability. Sadly he was lost in battle in the summer of 381, and the stewardship then fell to his younger sister, Blayk Stone.

House Swindale

• Location: Mournwold (originally)
• Motto: If we can't bring back the bodies we'll take back the land.

Thirty years ago the Mournwold was taken from Marcher hands by the Jotun. Swindale was just one of many villages taken unaware by the speed and ferocity of the attacks. Many of the residents fled the orcs, becoming refugees scattered through the marches. In the last few years a few survivors from Swindale who were not much more than children when the Mourne was lost have reconnected at Anvil, they have been referred to as a house by other heroes at Anvil and the idea is slowly catching on .

Households of Upwold

The oldest of the Marcher territories, the SIlver Chase is the wealthy heart of a wealthy nation.

Applewood Levy

• Location: Applewood, Stock March
• Livery: A full apple tree on a quartered field of black and green

The Levy is a group of allied households who live/farm/work in the Applewood region of northern Stock March. Their farms are scattered around the village of Applewood on the road between Stockland and Moot in Hahnmark, mostly on the west side of the road. Applewood is known for its abundant crop of apples, and for the Orchard Graveyard that lies to the west of the village where generations of brave Applewood residents rest beneath the soil.

Applewood has had regular problems with the Feni. Indeed, two months before the Winter Solstice of 376YE much of the village was burned by a major raid. As a result of the raid, several local households suggested forming a levy to act as a unified force and defend the area against future raids. The smaller households merged to form a single household, with a single steward. The Steward guides the levy, and also oversees the famous Applewood Arms in Anvil.

The Boundarymen

• Location: Winterstoke Manor, near Ashill, Upwold
• Livery: Yellow crescent moon on a dark blue bende
• Motto: “The bounds don’t beat themselves.”

In the years leading up to the Interregnum, the woods and fields in and around the Silver Chase were becoming less hospitable. The local charcoal burners, woodcutters and yeomen grew fearful as the itinerant Feni became bolder, no longer seeming content with thieving the occasional sheep or run-of-the-mill banditry. The threat was constant enough that the informal groupings of beaters just couldn’t keep up. Thus, the Boundarymen were formed: a collection of beaters drawn from many different houses, joining forces for the good of all.

An unprecedented attack on the settlement of Applewood by Feni gave the Boundarymen their first real engagement as a unit and cemented their reputation as canny fighters and loyal Marchers. The relationship between the Applewood Levy and the Boundarymen has been strong ever since, although there is much kinship with other houses too.

More recently, the Boundarymen have concentrated their efforts on protecting the Empire from threats of a more sorcerous nature. Always happy to share their fire with newcomers, some of them have even made Winterstoke their home. Beating the bounds is a dangerous life, but Upwold’s safety is a rewarding harvest!

King's Stoke

• Location: The village of King's Stoke, Tower March
• Livery: Yellow and green
• Motto: King's Stoke, first and always: first to march, first to stand, first to break the king.

The villagers of King's Stoke proudly trace their history to first Marchers who settled in Upwold, and repelled the Dawnish at the Battle of King's Stoke. The village has remained prominent in Upwold since, with notable historic residents including Cardinal Simon Kingstoke, spiritual guide to Empress Teleri. While the Mournwold was lost, the village was on the frontier with Jotun lands. Accordingly, it has always been proud to be represented on the battlefield; while battlefield losses mean it can no longer field the full bill block it once did, there is rarely a fight where the green and yellow of King's Stoke is not represented.

In Anvil, King's Stoke runs the noted tavern The Mandowla's Arms. Henry "Harry the Book" Ward of King's Stoke has been Senator for Upwold for most of the time since Britta's death, and the village has in that time provided a general, three adjutants, a cardinal, two gatekeepers and three members of the Imperial Bourse. The village has often funded historical research, and sponsored the second edition of the Book of the Empire. It was the home of prominent briars Rosamund Holt, Archmage of Spring, and Tilly Stoke, and has opened its doors to briar children rejected by other parts of the Marches. Away from Anvil, the village welcomes friends annually to its remembrance of the dead and celebration of harvest, the King's Stoke Wassail.

Pickham Monastery

• Location: Between King's Stoke and the Eastern Guard
• Livery: Blue and Red (Arms Blue, a Silver Tower crowned by a Red Stag's Head)

The Pickham Monastery is a close-knit order of monks of Vigilance that form the village of Pickham in Upwold. Considered to be one of the very early Marcher villages, and equipped with a once mighty tower, the Monastery upholds the memory of Major Joshua Benson, Exemplar of Vigilance. They live by the monastic Rule of the Tower, which exemplifies Virtuous behaviour in all situations of life. Collating information suitable to assess and prevent threats, questioning unwarranted assumptions and exposing their dangers, the virtuous use and eradication of curses, and a close focus on the reasons and developments of Marcher hearth magic play a strong role in the lived Vigilance of the monastery. As such, the monks try to balance a strong view of the importance of Marcher traditions with a caring eye on the spiritual well-being of all Marcher (and by extension, Imperial and beyond) individuals, independent of history or lineage.

House Balston

• Location: Birchland
• Livery: Blue and Green, with a Rampant Badger

House Balston originated from a family of trappers and gamekeepers during the March from Dawn, and has been an influential presence in Birchland ever since. Yeomen and beaters of the household are a usual sight on the front lines of the Bounders army, eagerly seeking out enemy flaws to exploit. A recent series of calamitous events have caused the house to lose many of its older members, meaning the younger Balstons have had to take up the political and military responsibilities of their parents.

Once again House Balston suffered heavy losses when disastrous fights saw Sam and Pyp Balston, General Alusair Farstrider, and then later General Rickard fall. Yet those who survived bounced back and saw their proud household put onto even footing. If not fighting in their iconic blue and green livery, "the Badgers" as they are often known can be found making merry at the various pubs and campfires around Anvil.

File:Guildenstern.png

House Guildenstern

• Location: Stockmarch
• Livery: Crimson/Burgundy and Mustard Yellow

House Guildenstern is one of the many houses of the Marches that traces its roots back to the original exodus from Dawn. During the early years house Guildenstern settled in an forested area of northern Upwold. The woodlands are particularly wild and home to a dangerous beasts and, according to stories, other worldly entities. They largely kept to themselves, becoming involved in Marcher politics only during the Cousin's War. House Guildenstern still boasts that one of their house was present when the Empress accepted the Marches as part of her Empire. Due to their knowledge of "strange things" and a general reputation for being "not quite right" House Guildenstern has connections with the thresher movement, fighting against the sorcerers serving Alderei the Fair as part of Tom Drake's retinue in the army that would become the Drakes.

After the formation of the Empire, House Guildenstern went into decline and endured many years of bad luck. Inspired by Empress Britta, they reformed their banner with a manticore leaping over a faltering gold star as a symbol of a new way of thinking (and another sign that the house is a little peculiar by Marcher standards, their banner being almost Dawnish in its outré imagery).

House Merrick (Merrick’s Travelling Company)

• Location: Atherton
• Livery Brown and Gold; their heraldic device is a gold pig’s head on a brown background.

House Merrick are a group of pig farmers who, due to droving their pigs to various markets, discovered that they could earn a bed for the night in the towns and villages by performing music, poetry, short plays and telling stories. Whilst they have land in and around Atherton, their pigs create a nomadic lifestyle for many of the household at certain times of the year. The household had a travelling playhouse which they used to perform in and often had other bards performing there as a lucrative sideline to raising pigs. At Anvil the playhouse is often used as a community hall, a meeting place for drinks, games and singing.

Less martial than many other households, the Merricks plays their part in the struggles against the enemies of the Marches and the Empire by providing potions for the troops and as a centre for the community to gather, meet and sing. There is always a cup of tea waiting in Merricks for a thirsty Marcher.

The Green Men

• Location: Upwold
• Livery: Green Black (Halved With a Griffon)

Formerly Dawnish, and originally based in the Barrens, one of their primary aims was to reclaim their order's home which had been lost to the barbarians. Originally consisting of noble knights and yeofolk, the group worked for the best interests of the Empire; even when it meant putting their desires to reclaim the Barrens on hold. Now their nobles have given up their nobility, but still remain proud of their heritage and past achievements. In the future the order hope to integrate better among their new neighbours in the Marches. They pride themselves on their military strength. "

Other Houses

House Fisher

• Location: Fisher's Rock, North Fens (Bregasland)
• Livery: A grey dolphin rampant (reversed) on a blue/green field with a sable bend sinister

House Ramsbruck

• Location: Bregasland
• Livery: Red and Blue

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