House of the Bear

"We are all warriors, proud and strong. Through hardship and through times of merriment. Always prepare yourselves for the winter gales, as only after the most destructive of storms have raged will the air be cleared from polution and doubt. Our Household will thus always remain strong. Stout in the face of those who'd seek to tear our traditions down but formal and merciful to any that seek to live in harmony. We are all in this together, hence we should put our blades to the true threats which mock us all. Not edge our blades to the throats of sister and brother."

Structure

Knightlord: The grand leader of the Household.
Master of the Hunt: The military command of the Household, as well as the high general in command of hunting parties.
Master of Traditions: Cultural and religious supervisor of traditions and celebrations.
Handmaid/Houselord: Minor nobility in charge of their own minor Households.

Culture

Heritage

The House of the Bear remains the most pure and wild grand Household to have formed from the Waldebris people. During the Sylvhar reign of tyranny on the Dyskhari, a few groups of the elves managed to break free and took to hiding within the ancient Blackwood of Diestria. During their years underneath the woods but also embracing the human natives more natural practice of wild gods, they developed a less gray skin and maintained green and blue eyes, for the most parts. These Dyskhar are avid hunters, magicians, animal tenders and craftsmen of bone and wood, as they but up to a hundered and fifty years ago have lived a mostly secluded and tribal lifestyle.

Fashion

The Shroudborne prefer looser but still modest clothing, which mixes a lot of robes, hooded garbs, bangles, rings and other jewelery made from bone and ivory combined with furs and softer shirts, leather boots and linen or cotton breechers and shorts. Most of these articles tend to be handstitched with handcrafted materials and bone needles, rather than machinery. It makes a lot of their style highly functional and diverse, though generally strays out of the territory of making finely decorated pieces.
The colours the Shroudborne are most often clad in is Orange, which symbolises and is meant to inspire creativity and confidence. Brown to symbolice the Household being reliable, but also to honour the earth from which they live. Some also say it's to represent the colour of brown bears, which is found on their crest. Lastly, they take on the colours of green with some red shades, symbolicing love and peace, but also that they do not shy away to fight for these ideals.

Tradition

The Ivory Night is a day during late autumn where the members of the grand Household host a feast in the honour of their wild gods. The celebration involves animal sacrifice to give of it's blood back to the lands as a celebration of both the bountiful hunt and the earth which grants them the means to survive and thrive.
The carcase of the sacrificed animal isn't allowed to just rot though, as all of it is taken care of to prepare grand feasts but also to use the skin and bones to set up altars and decorations to this tradition. The clean skull of elks and needles of bone is believed to have a healthy impact on the lands surrounding. The druidic rites of returning what has been taken to the earth and putting the creatures souls at ease is said to fight back the Eldritch and the souls of slain animals that have been honoured ascend to the spirit realms to battle corruptions such as Blissrot or The Huntmarshall's Curse.
The Calling is a day of ascendance among the young adults of the Household. The tradition involves the gifts of bone and ivory trinkets and jewelery, which marks the role and occupation of an individual. As such, the claw of a bear within a necklace could symbolise a protector, while a curved antler of a deer symbolises a hunter.
The individual also get their tattoos, which are intricate painted symbols in different colours to represent their herritage as both Waldebris, but also to represent their Households, both Grand and Minor.
This tradition takes room at the twentyfourth birthday to any Dyskhari whom is Shroudborne and is considered the age of maturity when a young adult is developed and cease to require the constant guidance of their elders, as it's believed that by this age one needs to find their own roads and challenges to further develop. These trinkets and tattoo's are mere guiding memories and tales to aid them on this spiritual journey.

Public Agenda

The House of the Bear speaks of peace, unity and traditon. They believe each Household works best as allowed to develop their own culture and norms, while embracing the whole of Dyskhari kin as unified nations in a greater alliance. They believe that their differences can be strengths, rather than risks. That a larger, more diverse unity would not only strengthen the bonds of the Households but also profit and benefit all of them.

History

Origin

The House of the Bear started out from the Dyskhari slaves that had escaped labour and captivity within the boughts of the deepwoods, which at this period of the time was known by the name, the Blackwood. Thanks to the shadows and darkness underneath the lush canopy, the so called Waldebris came to evolve much in the same way as the rest of Dyskhari kin and would eventually blend back with them through the later unifications, though at this period they all turned into solitary bands of survivors that made camps within hidden glades and roots of the woodlands.
To survive, they needed to hunt and forage which forced the Waldebris Dyskhari to learn the arts of the bow and stealth. It didn't take many months until several new cultures of small nomadic camps, between the numbers of fifteen to fourty individuals established themselves as hunters and gatherers. Something which eventually had the bands run into both each others as well as the Sylvhari.
Rather than fight over territory and resources, these different bands ganged up into the tribes to become minor Households later on, as they embraced the differences of each culture to supply one another through trade and also fight back against their oppressors. Thus, a vast network of the people known as the Waldebris spread through the Blackwood in a secret unity to wage a defensive guerrila warfare on the Sylvhar occupation.
Eventually, they ran into the wild god worshipping human tribes of the Blackwood, which had many treat them with open arms as eager to both trade and spread their religious influence through peace and compassion, while others met them with zealous fury. Already then, were they engaged in the warfare between wild gods and that of the Abyssal Lords. Something that had them sceptic about the new saviours, which had popped up as rumors among the forming Households of other Dyskhari people. Hearing the warnings of the Blackwood human oracles though, the Households ancestors resolved that they would fight the Sylvhari elves side by side with the Morstein and Weisestanz but refused to bow for their darker gods.

The Diestrian Front

When the House of the Bear first formed due to the thin unity between the Dyskhari Households and their war against the Sylvhari, they also partook in a different front. The Old God's that the former House of Shadows were hunting down had managed a few escapes, thanks to certain human tribes that conspired against the forces of order.
The Household hence became allies with both Morkadia and Peregon during the Peregonic Crusade where they aimed to conquer the woods in the name of holy. Something which had them completely abstain in the following elven wars against mankind, after the Dyskhari defeat and subjugation to the old Sylvhar Empire. Causing them to join up with Diestria and mankind rather than their fellow elves, resulting in the near extermination of the Household.

Back from the Dead

In present time, the House of the Bear has made a return during the last war, started as Zobert unleashed many captured, or even brought back Abyssal Spawn that they had prior already dealt with.
Underneath the new leadership of Brunhild Nachtbaum they managed to reclaim a new territory, with the aid of the Serpents and Crows. By utilizing tribal guerilla tactics and stealth, they'd reignite old alliance with both Peregon and the ancestors of traditional Blackwood natives to secure enough resources and mercenaries that they could invade and take control of the Dyskhari held Sylvhar northern province.
Having the support of the people within, wishing naught for neither Imperium to control them, the Household managed not only to properly reform, but forced political truces and diplomatic communication to be held between most groups of both elves and mankind. Effectively being the cornerstone to establish peace, after Zobert's death.

When you are at the lowest point, there is no way but up.

Military

The Orden Militarius of the Bear's forces are known to be swift and cunning. Using old weapons such as bows and spears above guns, yet make up for their lack of technology with magic and beasts.
The Shroudstalkers are known as the main guerrila force of the Household. Utilizing stealth tactics with bow and arrows, accompanied by druidic magics, they are easily able to hold up and even outclass most modern infantery in harsh terrains. Their training even giving the best of their elites such skill and strength that their arrows can travel far longer than any but the best guns can propel a bullet.
The Nightbringer Knighthood is a Peregon inspired knightly force which utilizes armoured beasts, bows and magic to raise hell on any battlefield. This elite force is known to be closely bound to both the other reformed Households and serves as a military police around the three. Their main mission is actively to hunt down cultists.
The Thornkeepers is a druidic, militant circle which utilize the purified usage of witchcraft and summoning to create nature based monstrosities that serve to protect rather than mindlessly seek out dinner. They are also known to harbour both aerial units and wood and bone based wargolems, effectively making it their siege factories.

Religion

The Shroudborne believe in a mixture of traditional druidic practices and are also followers of Sarak. Their faith is based around nature and her bounty, to respect and honour all that comes and goes as an eternal cycle. No hardships remain forever, though good times also never lasts forever. Though it is this cycle of constant struggle which ultimately makes the peaks of relief and merriment so worth it.

Type

Geopolitical, Great house

Demonym

Shroudborne

Ruling Organization

Dyskhari Imperium

Currency

Mynt

Legislative Body

The Serpentine Circle

Judicial Body

The Serpentine Circle

Executive Body

The Nightbringer Knights

Related Species

• Dyskhar

Related Ethnicities

• Waldebris