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The [[Marcher household|households]] and [[monastery|monasteries]] of the Marches wield the lion's share of political power in the nation, because they control the largest amount of farmland.
The [[Marcher household|households]] and [[monastery|monasteries]] of the Marches wield the lion's share of political power in the nation, because they control the largest amount of farmland.
===Households of Upwold===
===Households of Upwold===
====House Dunholt====
* '''Location:''' Upwold, Stock March
* '''Livery:''' Mustard Yellow & Burnt Orange
* '''Motto:'''
* '''Symbol:''' Crossed axes below an autumn oak
* '''Steward:''' Alfred Dunholt
Perched atop a flowery hillock in Stock March is the ancestral home of House Dunholt. A site as old as its nation, whose founders had slipped away into the ranks of passing rebels and took with them an eternal aversion to authority. An aversion which would lead to their decline.
At the outbreak of the [[The_Marches_history#The_Cousin.27s_War|Cousins War]], House Dunholt was a major producer of barley and their steward Adam “Two Fingers” Dunholt was a very vocal opponent to the Empire. They pledged the household to the independence of the Marches, mustering a force of archers to meet those encamped towards Hepton Bridge. They never made the journey there, ambushed upon the way. Nearly all of them were fought to the death, leaving few left to tend the barley. The great fields were converted into a graveyard orchard and those who remained began anew.
Now House Dunholt is known more for its cider and mead than barley - most often trading in Stockland. Preparing the more popular inns and pubs for those out-of-towners who would turn their nose up at the local ale.
====Pickham Monastery====
* '''Location:''' Tower March, between King's Stoke and the Eastern Guard
* '''Colours''' Blue and Red
* '''Motto:''' If you want to hold the land, first build a tower
* '''Symbol:''' Blue, a Silver Tower crowned by a Red Stag's Head
“If you want to hold the land, first build a tower” speaks the proverb, and it speaks truly. The monks of Pickham Monastery live by a Rule that demands readiness for action, simple living, and watchfulness in all things. The monastery’s founder was [[Known_exemplars#Joshua_Benson|Major Joshua Benson]], [[Paragons and Exemplars|Exemplar]] of [[Vigilance]]. A sharp-eyed sentry, he foiled a Dawnish raid on the village of Pickham, and became a renowned local priest of Vigilance. His followers once claimed only Pickham's run-down peel tower, but Pickham Monastery grew to dwarf its namesake village.
The monks have long supported the [[beater|beaters]] and [[thresher|threshers]] of Upwold. Their library is stocked as much toward practical Vigilance as religious matters, and the monks themselves often train as intelligencers, ritualists, or exorcists. They are known for their careful study and cunning use of hearth magics, folklore and curses. A necessary expertise, as the Monastery’s lands have a reputation for hauntings and strange events around Wassail.
Siblings of Pickham often nurture grudges towards fools who act without thought. Dubious assumptions and shifty arguments are seen as falsehoods to be sought out and overturned by the faithful. As such, the siblings of Pickham are as dogged in the pursuit of Clemency or acquittal for the Virtuous as they are in the condemnation of criminals.
====Smuddy Russets====
* '''Location:''' Birchland, Upwold
* '''Livery:''' Green and white
* '''Motto:'''
* '''Symbol:''' The run Rhyn on an apple
* '''Steward:'''
The Smuddy Russets are apple farmers through and through. The house itself is a relatively small one now compared to what it once was, due to fighting for the empire or family tragedies. Living in Upwold, in Birchland, the family was shaken when their house and farm partially fell into “The Bloody Great Hole”. The family quickly acted to stop the house falling in, roping parts of it to the ground and reinforcing others. With this, the Smudds have been working to rebuild ever since and have continued to grow apples in what is left of their orchard as well as ‘branching’ out with having a side line in the pig business, bar their pet mini-pig, Bacon. He’s special.
As well as growing apples, the Smudds work to help the armies of the Empire by acting as physics in any battles they are a part of, making sure that any Marcher that falls is picked back up and gets back home. With green and white tabards, the Smudds, with the rune of [[Rhyv]] on their banner to show how important blood is, strive to keep the land they live on and their friends and family safe and strong in ever changing times.
===Households of Mitwold===
===Households of Mitwold===
====House Garamond====
* '''Location:''' Mead, Mitwold
* '''Livery:''' per pale Sanguine and bisque in
* '''Motto:''' That which is yet to be found we shall seek.
* '''Symbol:''' fess point a pair of keys yellow-ochre in nombril a corn sheaf yellow-ochre.
* '''Steward:''' Leof of Mead.
House Garamond is situated in one of the oldest buildings in Meade town centre and can trace their roots back to some of the oldest families of [[Dawn]]. The crumbling vaults of House Garamond were once used by the settlers of Mead to store their coin and valuables as well as the irreplaceable historical possessions which House Garamond had accumulated. Eventually folk trusted the [[#House Talbot|Talbots]] over House Garamond and their dilapidating vaults to store their coin resulting in a shift of the House’s income to rely more on its crops and breweries. The artifacts stored in many of the Garamond vaults eventually decayed or were buried as the old vaults collapsed, leaving only a handful that are now proudly displayed for all to see.
To this day, Yeomen of House Garamond still have a particular interest in preserving ancient history and can be found travelling from town to town in search of interesting objects of historical importance and educating visitors on the history of their proud remaining artifacts. The keys depicted in their livery once represented the security of their vaults though now only two remain in service, they are considered by House Garamond to be one of the most secure places in Mitwold.
====House Tablot====
* '''Location:''' Meade Downs
* '''Livery:''' Red & Black
* '''Motto:''' Fort et Fidelis (Faithful and Strong)
* '''Symbol:''' Passant white hound
* '''Steward:''' Edward Talbot
The ancient House of Talbot were once the [[seneschal|seneschals]] of the [[Dawn groups#House de Gauvin|De Gauvain]] noble house in Dawn. When they made the decision to March with the other yeomen families they bought with them not only military might but the administrative skills needed to run a successful household. Taking lands in Mitwold, they eventually sided with the [[First Empress]] in the Cousins War, being present at the bloody battle of Hepton Bridge - they claim it was their forces that took the bridge itself.
The Talbots are well known as landowners and manage well run estates. This business sense has led them over time to be entrusted with the coin of other houses, using it to buy the stores their neighbours needed. This allowed, over time, the household to accumulate a vast wealth. Eventually they became a powerful household in Mitwold, especially around the trade centres of Meade and Hay. They have extensive properties in Meade but the seat of power for the house is the fortified Talbot Manor on the Meade Downs, situated in acres of sheep grazing land, from which their wool and subsequent wealth is harvested.
The houses animal heraldic symbol being the loyal hound, the white dog of Talbot. Loyalty is the virtue prized highest amongst the Talbots. The family motto “Fort et Fidelis”, which is Asavean for “Faithful and Strong” echoes this sentiment. Although many of the prefer the unofficial motto “Never Knowingly Under Cater”, which is particularly popular around the Household gatherings and has yet to be proven wrong.
===Households of Bregasland===
===Households of Bregasland===
{{CaptionedImage|file=Wheelwright.png|align=right|width=250}}
====House Wheelwright====
* '''Location:''' Near the Gullet, Bregasland
* '''Livery:''' Claret and Blue
* '''Motto:'''
* '''Symbol:''' Seven-spoked wheel
* '''Steward:''' Reg Wheelwright
House Wheelwright have a small plot of land near the Gullet. Originally just the Wheelwright family lived here with some farm hands,  now this includes a few other families that have married in and taken a field as their own. The land is mostly used to raise small livestock that are able to thrive in the conditions.  There is also a small church built next to the main farm house. All members of the Wheelwright household or attached church are encouraged to wear imagery of a seven spoked cart wheel. This hails back to the founder of the House,  while also acknowledging the seven virtues.
House Wheelwright has lived here since their founder,  George Wheelwright, bought the land from an old widow.  Having always dreamed of a life outside of the town he grew up in,  George didn't question the fantastic price, ending up right in the edge of [[Jotun]] territory.
As the name suggests, Wheelwrights like to make things,  although there is more demand for mill wheels than the cart wheels they were originally named for. Various members of House Wheelwright have been seen in [[Anvil]], including the steward, Reg, when he has the chance. When Reg is unable to make meets at Anvil, his sister Rosemary speaks for the Household.
House Wheelwright claims links to House Fenner, due to an aunt marrying into House Fenner.
===Households of the Mournwold===
===Households of the Mournwold===
====Copperhill Monastery====
* '''Location:''' Mournwold, Greensward
* '''Colours:''' grey and red
* '''Symbol:'''  Prancing Cockerel
* '''Leader:''' Abbott Thomas Arch
Copperhill Monastery is dedicated to the virtue of [[Pride]] though all virtues are practiced here. The 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 and Graven March
* '''Livery:''' Black (for the peat), crimson (for the herbs)
* '''Motto:''' From dirt to stream to river
* '''Symbol:''' A Duck Sinister
* '''Steward:''' Nathaniel Drayton
House Drayton started its life in [[Mournwold#Freemoor|Freemoor]], struggling to cope with scrubby farmland. Several winters were survived by trading skills and herbs picked from the local scrubland of their neighbours. As the years passed, trading became more important to the family. By the time of the Jotun occupation the family had adopted a non-traditional lifestyle living aboard several small river craft, farming the stream banks for herbs and collecting flotsam for trade. They moved much of this to the family members who had moved to [[Bregasland#Graven March|Graven March]]. With the approach of the Jotun cutting off trade and being unable to sustain themselves by staying stationary, the Draytons were some of those who left the Mourn. Those at Graven March established a business trading in herbs and other resources - the Wanderin' Shop - that moved around, even as far as Anvil at times. The shop has a reputation for selling practically anything…
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.
==Market Towns==
==Market Towns==
The [[market town|market towns]] are prosperous, but their [[business|businesses]] give them little opportunity to wield political power directly.
The [[market town|market towns]] are prosperous, but their [[business|businesses]] give them little opportunity to wield political power directly.
==Landskeeper circles==
==Landskeeper circles==
Each [[landskeeper]] circle has it's own agenda, often tied to the protection or prosperity of a single region.
Each [[landskeeper]] circle has it's own agenda, often tied to the protection or prosperity of a single region.
====The Reapers====
* '''Location:'''  Maiden's Menhir Inn in Hay, or the Applewood Manor in Upwold
* '''Motto:''' Serve the Marches, Reap the Rewards
The Reapers aren't so much prominent as everywhere and useful. They came to Anvil after Auld Grimm died at the same time as [[Empress Britta]], and have gotten quite skilled at cat herding and ritual shenanigans. So if you wondered who gave the Mourn its prosperous year just after the conquest, it were them. They still gather up small household [[coven|covens]], stick their noses into most of the powerful rituals, and push the borders of what the Marchers can do with magic. Rather a lot of them are what you might call Rainbow Wizards, mainly spread around the realms of Spring, Summer, Autumn and Night.
If you're looking for where they're based, then the closest I can get you is the Maiden's Menhir Inn in Hay or the Applewood Manor in Upwold. Nicholas Reaper, who's officially their if-landskeepers-did-leaders-then-he-would-be, has a favourite seat at the both of them and visits every few weeks. If he's up for taking business, his staff will be outside the door.
==Other Groups==
==Other Groups==
===Other Player Groups===
===NPC Groups===
These groups are made up of non-player characters; their members are portrayed by Profound Decisions NPC crew.


==Contributing==
==Contributing==
Line 44: Line 132:
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 [mailto:plot@profounddecisions.co.uk plot@profounddecisions.co.uk].
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 [mailto:plot@profounddecisions.co.uk plot@profounddecisions.co.uk].


[[Category:The Marches]]
[[Category:The Marches]] [[Category:Groups]]
 
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Revision as of 12:23, 10 May 2022

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.

Households of Upwold

House Dunholt

  • Location: Upwold, Stock March
  • Livery: Mustard Yellow & Burnt Orange
  • Motto:
  • Symbol: Crossed axes below an autumn oak
  • Steward: Alfred Dunholt

Perched atop a flowery hillock in Stock March is the ancestral home of House Dunholt. A site as old as its nation, whose founders had slipped away into the ranks of passing rebels and took with them an eternal aversion to authority. An aversion which would lead to their decline.

At the outbreak of the Cousins War, House Dunholt was a major producer of barley and their steward Adam “Two Fingers” Dunholt was a very vocal opponent to the Empire. They pledged the household to the independence of the Marches, mustering a force of archers to meet those encamped towards Hepton Bridge. They never made the journey there, ambushed upon the way. Nearly all of them were fought to the death, leaving few left to tend the barley. The great fields were converted into a graveyard orchard and those who remained began anew.

Now House Dunholt is known more for its cider and mead than barley - most often trading in Stockland. Preparing the more popular inns and pubs for those out-of-towners who would turn their nose up at the local ale.

Pickham Monastery

  • Location: Tower March, between King's Stoke and the Eastern Guard
  • Colours Blue and Red
  • Motto: If you want to hold the land, first build a tower
  • Symbol: Blue, a Silver Tower crowned by a Red Stag's Head

“If you want to hold the land, first build a tower” speaks the proverb, and it speaks truly. The monks of Pickham Monastery live by a Rule that demands readiness for action, simple living, and watchfulness in all things. The monastery’s founder was Major Joshua Benson, Exemplar of Vigilance. A sharp-eyed sentry, he foiled a Dawnish raid on the village of Pickham, and became a renowned local priest of Vigilance. His followers once claimed only Pickham's run-down peel tower, but Pickham Monastery grew to dwarf its namesake village.

The monks have long supported the beaters and threshers of Upwold. Their library is stocked as much toward practical Vigilance as religious matters, and the monks themselves often train as intelligencers, ritualists, or exorcists. They are known for their careful study and cunning use of hearth magics, folklore and curses. A necessary expertise, as the Monastery’s lands have a reputation for hauntings and strange events around Wassail.

Siblings of Pickham often nurture grudges towards fools who act without thought. Dubious assumptions and shifty arguments are seen as falsehoods to be sought out and overturned by the faithful. As such, the siblings of Pickham are as dogged in the pursuit of Clemency or acquittal for the Virtuous as they are in the condemnation of criminals.

Smuddy Russets

  • Location: Birchland, Upwold
  • Livery: Green and white
  • Motto:
  • Symbol: The run Rhyn on an apple
  • Steward:

The Smuddy Russets are apple farmers through and through. The house itself is a relatively small one now compared to what it once was, due to fighting for the empire or family tragedies. Living in Upwold, in Birchland, the family was shaken when their house and farm partially fell into “The Bloody Great Hole”. The family quickly acted to stop the house falling in, roping parts of it to the ground and reinforcing others. With this, the Smudds have been working to rebuild ever since and have continued to grow apples in what is left of their orchard as well as ‘branching’ out with having a side line in the pig business, bar their pet mini-pig, Bacon. He’s special.

As well as growing apples, the Smudds work to help the armies of the Empire by acting as physics in any battles they are a part of, making sure that any Marcher that falls is picked back up and gets back home. With green and white tabards, the Smudds, with the rune of Rhyv on their banner to show how important blood is, strive to keep the land they live on and their friends and family safe and strong in ever changing times.

Households of Mitwold

House Garamond

  • Location: Mead, Mitwold
  • Livery: per pale Sanguine and bisque in
  • Motto: That which is yet to be found we shall seek.
  • Symbol: fess point a pair of keys yellow-ochre in nombril a corn sheaf yellow-ochre.
  • Steward: Leof of Mead.

House Garamond is situated in one of the oldest buildings in Meade town centre and can trace their roots back to some of the oldest families of Dawn. The crumbling vaults of House Garamond were once used by the settlers of Mead to store their coin and valuables as well as the irreplaceable historical possessions which House Garamond had accumulated. Eventually folk trusted the Talbots over House Garamond and their dilapidating vaults to store their coin resulting in a shift of the House’s income to rely more on its crops and breweries. The artifacts stored in many of the Garamond vaults eventually decayed or were buried as the old vaults collapsed, leaving only a handful that are now proudly displayed for all to see.

To this day, Yeomen of House Garamond still have a particular interest in preserving ancient history and can be found travelling from town to town in search of interesting objects of historical importance and educating visitors on the history of their proud remaining artifacts. The keys depicted in their livery once represented the security of their vaults though now only two remain in service, they are considered by House Garamond to be one of the most secure places in Mitwold.

House Tablot

  • Location: Meade Downs
  • Livery: Red & Black
  • Motto: Fort et Fidelis (Faithful and Strong)
  • Symbol: Passant white hound
  • Steward: Edward Talbot

The ancient House of Talbot were once the seneschals of the De Gauvain noble house in Dawn. When they made the decision to March with the other yeomen families they bought with them not only military might but the administrative skills needed to run a successful household. Taking lands in Mitwold, they eventually sided with the First Empress in the Cousins War, being present at the bloody battle of Hepton Bridge - they claim it was their forces that took the bridge itself.

The Talbots are well known as landowners and manage well run estates. This business sense has led them over time to be entrusted with the coin of other houses, using it to buy the stores their neighbours needed. This allowed, over time, the household to accumulate a vast wealth. Eventually they became a powerful household in Mitwold, especially around the trade centres of Meade and Hay. They have extensive properties in Meade but the seat of power for the house is the fortified Talbot Manor on the Meade Downs, situated in acres of sheep grazing land, from which their wool and subsequent wealth is harvested.

The houses animal heraldic symbol being the loyal hound, the white dog of Talbot. Loyalty is the virtue prized highest amongst the Talbots. The family motto “Fort et Fidelis”, which is Asavean for “Faithful and Strong” echoes this sentiment. Although many of the prefer the unofficial motto “Never Knowingly Under Cater”, which is particularly popular around the Household gatherings and has yet to be proven wrong.

Households of Bregasland

Wheelwright.png

House Wheelwright

  • Location: Near the Gullet, Bregasland
  • Livery: Claret and Blue
  • Motto:
  • Symbol: Seven-spoked wheel
  • Steward: Reg Wheelwright

House Wheelwright have a small plot of land near the Gullet. Originally just the Wheelwright family lived here with some farm hands, now this includes a few other families that have married in and taken a field as their own. The land is mostly used to raise small livestock that are able to thrive in the conditions. There is also a small church built next to the main farm house. All members of the Wheelwright household or attached church are encouraged to wear imagery of a seven spoked cart wheel. This hails back to the founder of the House, while also acknowledging the seven virtues.

House Wheelwright has lived here since their founder, George Wheelwright, bought the land from an old widow. Having always dreamed of a life outside of the town he grew up in, George didn't question the fantastic price, ending up right in the edge of Jotun territory.

As the name suggests, Wheelwrights like to make things, although there is more demand for mill wheels than the cart wheels they were originally named for. Various members of House Wheelwright have been seen in Anvil, including the steward, Reg, when he has the chance. When Reg is unable to make meets at Anvil, his sister Rosemary speaks for the Household.

House Wheelwright claims links to House Fenner, due to an aunt marrying into House Fenner.

Households of the Mournwold

Copperhill Monastery

  • Location: Mournwold, Greensward
  • Colours: grey and red
  • Symbol: Prancing Cockerel
  • Leader: Abbott Thomas Arch

Copperhill Monastery is dedicated to the virtue of Pride though all virtues are practiced here. The 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 and Graven March
  • Livery: Black (for the peat), crimson (for the herbs)
  • Motto: From dirt to stream to river
  • Symbol: A Duck Sinister
  • Steward: Nathaniel Drayton

House Drayton started its life in Freemoor, struggling to cope with scrubby farmland. Several winters were survived by trading skills and herbs picked from the local scrubland of their neighbours. As the years passed, trading became more important to the family. By the time of the Jotun occupation the family had adopted a non-traditional lifestyle living aboard several small river craft, farming the stream banks for herbs and collecting flotsam for trade. They moved much of this to the family members who had moved to Graven March. With the approach of the Jotun cutting off trade and being unable to sustain themselves by staying stationary, the Draytons were some of those who left the Mourn. Those at Graven March established a business trading in herbs and other resources - the Wanderin' Shop - that moved around, even as far as Anvil at times. The shop has a reputation for selling practically anything…

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.

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.

The Reapers

  • Location: Maiden's Menhir Inn in Hay, or the Applewood Manor in Upwold
  • Motto: Serve the Marches, Reap the Rewards

The Reapers aren't so much prominent as everywhere and useful. They came to Anvil after Auld Grimm died at the same time as Empress Britta, and have gotten quite skilled at cat herding and ritual shenanigans. So if you wondered who gave the Mourn its prosperous year just after the conquest, it were them. They still gather up small household covens, stick their noses into most of the powerful rituals, and push the borders of what the Marchers can do with magic. Rather a lot of them are what you might call Rainbow Wizards, mainly spread around the realms of Spring, Summer, Autumn and Night.

If you're looking for where they're based, then the closest I can get you is the Maiden's Menhir Inn in Hay or the Applewood Manor in Upwold. Nicholas Reaper, who's officially their if-landskeepers-did-leaders-then-he-would-be, has a favourite seat at the both of them and visits every few weeks. If he's up for taking business, his staff will be outside the door.

Other Groups

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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