Ten Houses
At the re-founding of the Kingdom of Accia, the Syltharis royal line established ten duchies they dubbed The Ten Houses to serve under their rule. The many territories acquired by the kingdom by treaty, alliance or conquest fall under the control of these Houses. The King grants them territories and each house assigns lesser nobility to manage those territories in their stead or at more local levels. Every lesser nobility falls under one of these houses and ultimately answers to them.
The King is able to grant or rearrange these territories at will and can also change which family acts as head of their house—though they do not make these changes lightly. Most of these families are the descendant of the original ten but some changes have occurred. King Ambrose Syltharis has been considering offering these positions to foreign royalty from their various conquered territories for the sake of future stability. This has increased the competition between these powerful families and houses further. Many of the ten families possess rare magic which gave them advantages in battle.
Current Ten Houses
Stahlmann:
The Stahlmann family comes from the north portion of the Eluzian Valley. Their family magic is Martor's Body, along with other various Martor magics. Martor's Body allow them to turn their entire body into a given kind of metal, one of the rare Body manifestations. Gokrilvek magics also occasionally surface in their family. They are valued as front line combatants, equal parts defense and offense. Gunther Stahlmann is their current head and Andrea Stahlmann his heir.
Espina:
The Espina family comes from the coastal farmlands and pastures of the east portion of the Eluzian Valley. They possess Lithyr's Body. This is a unique ability which grants them a number of skills and abilities but ties them to the life of a corresponding flower or herb. Other common magics in their family include those of Zithvek and Torith. They are valued as assassins and healers. Florio Espina is the current heir.
Chevalier:
The Chevalier family comes from the central and western regions of the Eluzian Valley. Their family handles much of the animal husbandry and raising of various mounts. They are famous for two kinds of magic. Rithaldis's Blade and Maralith's Manipulation or Aura. They often 'tame' mammals, even the most dangerous of beasts. The second allows them to craft blades of radiant energy. Together, these two abilities are highly effective for cavalrymen and beast tamers. Leon Chevalier is the current heir.
Cel Tradat:
The Cel Tradat family is from the south portion of the Eluzian Valley, though their ancient ancestors called the Tenebrous Chain home before Zalikar's revenge drove them out. Their family possesses Riptalis' Form, specifically that of a dark dragon. Felryth or Siptalis magic is also common within their family. Many mistake the black wings they inherit as bat wings but the draconic scales grant them elemental resistances among other benefits. They compete with the Minx family as aerial combatants but also fall into the 'Special' division working as assassins or saboteurs. Danut Cel Tradat is the current heir and Lola Cel Tradat is the current Duchess.
Minx:
The Minx family comes from the Tenebrous Chain south of the Eluzian Valley, specifically the heathlands. Their minx form, a kind of Maralith's Form, grants them many favorable features including claws, fangs, wings, keen eyes, etc. while still allowing for another racial magic. They tend to marry those with elemental auras to match their abilities, granting them range. They are commonly aerial and/or ranged warriors. Allen Minx is the current head of the family and Tia Minx is his only heir, a newcomer to the court.
Scylla:
The Scylla family comes from the Sea Isles off the eastern coast of the Eluzian Valley. They have a particularly powerful magic for aquatic environments. It is a kind of Lishil's Body which allows them to transform partially or wholly into a sea monster of sorts by forming a special bond with one such creature. This form is too large and heavy to be fully useful on land but in the water they are hard to match. Typically, their secondary magic allows them to craft whirlpools, a blessing from Vekaltor and Rylmer. They have dominated the aquatic division for generations. Adamantia Scylla is the current heir.
Morozov:
The Morozov family comes from the northernmost part of Eluziar, the lands of the Burnished Spine. Their family owns the various mines throughout this region. Accia relies on these mines to support their war efforts. Their family possesses two unique abilities. The first, Rylmer's Aura, allows them to summon blizzards with intensely cold temperatures. The second is Gokmar's Body which allows them to turn any or all parts of their body into that mineral as well. For the Morozov family, the specific mineral they typically manifest is diamond. They are usually placed into the mid ranged, control or infantry divisions. Grusha Morozov is the current heir.
Aydem:
The Aydem family comes from the plateau on the other side of the Fulgurant Mesa. Their family is peculiar in that every one of them inherits the same racial magic, Kalitho's Eye and Sonildaz's Whisper. This has made them highly valuable within the command division. They can see using all spectrums of light, switching between them at need (including x-ray or infrared as an example) as well as talk directly into the ears of those they've touched once. They tend to have many children and, due to the general safety of their support roles, most survive service. As twins, Lucy Aydem and Faustin Aydem are the heirs but Faustin is considered to have the best chances.
Aquila:
The Aquilla family is one of two duchies calling the Canyon Complex home. Once, they and the Cato family competed for the same House but when the Festering Peninsula left the kingdom, they each fell into their own House. However, as the territories of Accia have expanded they feel the pressure of losing their House to foreign royalty. Their family magic, Besida's Form, grants them attributes of golden eagles. Yrisni magic is also common for them. However, in order to empower their bloodline further, they have recently married a sibling of the Stahlmann house to produce heirs with Martor's Body instead and have one such heir with the desired abilities. Marcus Aquila is the current Duke and Martia Aquila is his heir.
Cato:
The Cato family also calls the Canyon Complex home. They once competed with the Aquilla family for their House, but now solidly possess this position. They inherit strong Sonildaz manifestations such as Will, Aura or Voice as well as occasionally inheriting Charnos magic. These abilities generally land them important support roles, especially enhancement support. They are well respected and patrons of academia and art. Sirius Cato is their heir.
Structure
Each house is lead by a Duke or Duchess, all of whom serve the King. The King can take away these titles, transferring them to a different family, but this doesn't occur often. All lesser nobility will fall under one of these Ten Houses. Typically, they allow the leaders of each conquered region continue their already established forms of government and operation. However, these leaders must still remain obedient to the nobility in charge of each region and must pay taxes, tariffs and offer tributes to the kingdom in exchange for this autonomy. The Accian nobility also work to establish deals and trade beneficial to the kingdom and, of course, these territories must still send their children to serve in the military.
Culture
The children of these ten houses, and most nobility under them, have a particular way of raising and preparing their children for service. Generally, a child begins their training at the age of five. At ten, they host the child's "introduction" to the rest of noble society. They begin forming connections with other nobility and learning more about the politics of the capital. Finally, at 16 they are assessed and join the Accian Training Progam/Procession. They begin their service at 18 and are required to serve for at least four years but most will serve longer if their circumstances allow it
House Heirs are not determined by order of birth but are instead chosen from among all of their children by the Duke or Duchess. Most often, they are those with the most favorable magic, most decorated military career or those who are closest in age to the current prince.
Public Agenda
Each House manages the territories under them and they tend to compete with each other to gain the King's favor, hoping to earn more territory as the kingdom expands.
Assets
All resources under their territories technically belong to them but their personal wealth generally comes from taxes, tariffs and gifts from those leaders they allow to continue managing territories in their stead.
History
Each of these houses have history within their own territories. They were considered powerful lords before the kingdom was re-established and, after allying under the Syltharis throne, were recognized as the masters of their lands. These ten houses and the Syltharis king who united them subdued all resistance within Eluziar together before turning their attention outwards. There was another house which called the Festering Peninsula home but they left the kingdom a century before this story begins.
Foreign Relations
After conquering or allying with a region, their previous ruling class or leaders work directly in tandem with the House Head or lesser nobility responsible for the new territory. They allow relative autonomy to retain local structure and assimilate these lands as smoothly as possible. These leaders are still required to follow the orders of the House they fall under and are replaced if they are disobedient. While most territories were earned through conquest, there are still a number who chose to ally with the kingdom. Often, these local royalty, nobility or leadership are encouraged to marry into Accian nobility. Many foreign leadership or even royalty have set out to form political marriages into the houses or even the Syltharis line.
Current House Heirs
Founding Date
3,867,549 (66,393 FE)
Type
Geopolitical, Duchy
Capital
Leader
Ruling Organization
Leader Title
Head of State
Government System
Monarchy, Absolute
Legislative Body
The Sytharis royal line dictates the structure and functions of the Ten Houses while the Ten Houses do so for their territories. The King must still approve of their major legislations.
Executive Body
There are Accian soldiers stationed throughout the kingdom as well as local guards. There is also a special order of soldiers in each region responsible for keeping track of and enforcing mandatory recruitment of all teenagers.
Parent Organization
Location
Official Languages
Neighboring Nations
Notable Members
Related Ethnicities
This article isn't quite finished yet! Annie, Albert and I are hard at work adding and editing this article, you can expect more here in the future!
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