Great House Autonon

Great House Autonon is one of nine current Great Houses of the modern Meridian of Stars' Eternal, whom all were charged by the living goddess, Astralshaper to manage and oversee the advancement of a single school of magic. Great House Autonon was ordinated in R.222 as the de-facto Great House of Evocation, superseding their predecessors, Great House Immortal, whom were ousted from their position as the previous Great House of Evocation due to their rampant abuse of authority. Namely, they regularly enabled nation-wide insurrection through the resale of high-grade weapons to dissident parties, and promotion of harmful ideals, such as independence. Major House Autonon was recommended by six of the eight Great Houses as a tractable alternative that could be easily held accountable should they present themselves as a threat as well. During the three year reprise between Great House Immortal's forced disbandment in R.219 and Great House Autonon's official ordination in R.222, a weaker government and strict regulations were drafted, tested, and coupled with their conditions of ordination by the Regent Vicarvoyancy and blessed by Astralshaper herself. Great House Autonon begun their difficult task of rebuilding on the backfoot, contending with the tattered reputation of Evocation amidst a manipulated market that no longer respected their contributions, as well as a deliberately gimped, competitive internal government that held no form of centralized authority. The odds were stacked against them, but as their long history would tell, the patrons of Evocations relish in environments of extreme adversity.

Fresh Start, Old Habits

Following the dismantling of Great House Immortal, the newly instated Board of Directors set to work repairing Evocation's name. The road to Evocation's complete recovery was a long and treacherous one, but was otherwise necessary to uphold their celestial charge as per their conditions of ordination. As with all Great Houses, they would regularly meet yearly at the hosted Summit, as required by the Vicarvoyancy as a method of ensuring the increasingly unruly Great Houses do not slide into total delinquency of duty. The Summit was conceived to both coordinate major projects that required the cooperation of all the Great Houses, but as well as discussing the value each Great House brought to the wider Meridian for that year. Initially, the instated Board of Directors that inherited and split the overwhelming debt and divided the remaining assets left behind by Great House Immortal simply elected one among themselves to attend and vouch for Autonon. This arrangement survived for a few years until it was discovered just how impossible of a task it was to assuage the Great Debt of Autonon due to the imposed laws and regulations on processing and handling Evocation particulate. Selling necessities to the open market was enough to keep their head afloat, but it was not nearly enough to maintain relevancy in the competitive network of Evocation Directors; the main money maker was direct contracts with the other Houses, especially Great Houses. The Summit devolved into a chance for the best Director to publicize their newest inventions, thus acquiring an edge over their other fellow Directors. This naturally lead to tension and conflict, with only the most influential of Directors now attending the Summit, resorting to threats and ultimatums on their fellow Directors to secure their spot.

The First Small War

At the turn of R.250, the competitive spirit of Autonon reached a tipping point, in part due of their less-than-friendly battle for market dominance over the other Directors, but also because of the Legion under the Star's inability to maintain unity and cohesion. For the first time in history, there was a near nine-way stalemate between the nine acting Directors as to who should be elected to represent Evocation at the Summit; they all almost elected themselves, with only one receiving two votes. It was clear that additional precautions were required to ensure their seat in the Summit was secure. By the turn of R.251, an Autonon outpost in the Wastes was raided by militant privateers equipped with weapons of the very same. An arms race ensued and total anarchy broke out within the Evocation Great House through the medium of mercenaries, both of whom profited immensely from the chaos. The worst of the First Small War (as it was retroactively proclaimed) lasted for 3 years, having been artificially extended for 11 years as to promote the self-defense market, the entirety of which taking place exclusively in the Wastes. By R.260, the Legion and Ital Tek's Partisans were able to police the Wastes enough to dissuade most conflict.

The First Small War was officially concluded in R.262 when the nine Directors were brought to trial in the Palatial Courthouse, as sponsored by many other Houses and Great Houses alike. In exchange for maintaining their ordination as the Great House of Evocation, the Board of Directors had to pay 75 million platinum in war reparations, accept several new regulations that limited their arms production even further, and had to elect a politically neutral Coordinator every 5 years to represent them in the Summit. The Coordinator was easily corrupted, as the Directors and other Houses resorted to bribes in order to get an edge over their competition, but it was otherwise manageable and far less violent overall. As the Coordinator was the typically the first to hear of lucrative contracts, they effectively determined which Directors were relevant and which ones were less so.

Head Director, Doctor Maxwell Harrowitz

In R.282, a promising individual presiding over the lower Board of Endeavors within Autonon was elected as the next Coordinator. He was officially chosen due to his extensive background with Orax customs and law; unofficially, his timely promotion can be attributed largely to his innate networking skills and charismatic personality. This individual's name was none other than Doctor Maxwell Harrowitz, a sort of savant of his age, attaining a doctor's license in Enigmatic and Esoteric Engineering by the age of 20 (which was revoked eight years later because of a scandal). He quickly became famous among his peers for being as shrewd as he was intelligent. Maxwell Harrowitz was known to be a rather "rabid" advocate of Evocation, and he was sure to let everyone know that he had grander plans in store for the faltering Great House. While his idealistic tendencies set off several red flags within the Board of Directors that supervised him, he was also rather indispensable by the end of his second year in office. He proposed and attended several hearing in the Palatial Courthouse alongside his brother, Tedian Harrowitz, whom provided him the channels in which to organize public sessions. For years, he renegotiated the regulations forced upon Autonon that crippled their economic and political potential, rewriting and drafting legislation on his own terms. And as he was the one who wrote the documentation, he was also fully aware of the legal loopholes that were deliberately installed within; Autonon was finally starting to wrest control of their Great House from those that would rather see it as a puppet.
Doctor Maxwell Harrowitz was also a man of high moral standards, denouncing bribes and only vouching for Directors at the Summit that actively are working towards the greater whole of Autonon. And as written by him through Orax's many hearings, he was now able to decide where the contracts were allocated to fully. Before the revision, contracts could only be divided among other Directors. Now, contracts can be offered up freely to any interested party regardless of allegiance; if the Directors were unwilling to work towards restoring Autonon, he simply would bar them from profiting. As he was a Doctor of Engineering, he was also a member of the non-partisan Imperial Engineer's Association: a collaborative network of free-thinkers and apolitical inventors that other Houses regularly contracted for research, development, or construction. The Association received many high-paying Great House-level contracts which was previously unheard of, profiting immensely because of their fellow aligned inventor, Maxwell Harrowitz. Naturally, the Directors were furious, but since the now rebranded "Head Director" position (previously Coordinator) was designed to be detached from reprise, there was little they could do, save for one thing: threats.

The Second Small War

By R.289 Head Director Maxwell Harrowitz of Autonon seemed to do as he pleased. Now on his second term, he was skating on a very thin line of popularity. He became a sort of idol for the denizens of Autonon, also notably making amends with many of the other Evocation Major Houses, whom were eternally grateful for his crusade to lift the production regulations wrongfully forced upon them. There was massive support for the evangelist Head Director from across the Meridian, save for his fellow Directors, whom were either fearful of the control he had over the Great House, or vengeful for his belligerence and dismissiveness towards them. However, as the Directors were elected by the very same that support Harrowitz, they wereafraid of the repercussions should they attempt remove him from office.
The Board of Directors returned to their piratical roots, hiring mercenaries to pillage property owned by the Head Director, and any whom received one of his Great House-level contracts. Subsequently, they requested a hearing from Great House Orax to revise the regulations to only allow contracts to be handled by the Directors, citing Harrowitz's failures by hiring third-parties that were unable to deliver that rotation (due to the mercenary raids). Doctor Harrowitz however was having none of that, hiring his own band of misfits to put down his fellow Director's "uncivil behavior".


Major House Clawz of Illusion was one target of the Directors, having received several Great House contracts through the Head Director themselves, and they were not too pleased with the antagonistic Directors blatantly attacking their assets. Maxwell Harrowitz and Clawz were close allies at this time, the contracts having brought the Major House from the proverbial dead, since they were blacklisted by their host Great House Vertinal for being "a risky variable and liability" whom cut all funding to Clawz. Now entirely self-sufficient and independent, they were not going to allow mere pirates to dethrone Clawz so easily, readily accepting the new request from Harrowitz of the "untimely decommissioning of obsolete resources".
In R.291, the Imperial City was bombed by unnamed assailants from the inside, targeting vital facilities belonging to many of the Directors that were previously thought to be untouchable. While there was minimal civilian casualties, Great House Vertinal jumped on this incident to accuse Major House Clawz of domestic terrorism, disbanding the Major House immediately and repossessing their assets. Though evidence did lead back to the Head Director, he was able to sway opposition away from being able to lawfully accuse him, as his official recorded cantrips to Clawz never explicitly mentioned an organized attack. Even so, the Directors understood the message, minimizing their raids and distancing themselves from the Head Director.

The Engineering Parliament

The so-called Second Small War came to a close when Doctor Maxwell Harrowitz convened at the Palatial Courthouse to establish an advisory Board of Inventors to the Head Director as a means to coordinate and centralize development efforts for Great House Autonon. Incidentally, the newly instated Board of Inventors contained many members belonging to the Imperial Engineer's Association as well as promising potentials from within Autonon itself. They were funded with a cut of the Great House's overall profits, siphoned through the same laws put in place by Harrowitz from the Directors own pockets. As they were an extension of the Head Director, the Board of Inventors inherited his political immunity, quickly expanding their unsupervised and unrestrained operations as to supersede the Board of Directors in both means and competency. As the Imperial Engineer's Association and Board of Inventors grew in size independently from one-another, Doctor Harrowitz found it necessary to "bridge" the cousin organizations together once more. As such, a third, private cabal of the Harrowitz's personal favorites were hand-selected to found the Engineering Parliament, with blessings from the Board of Inventors and Imperial Engineer's Association.
The Engineering Parliament was headed by the elite of both the Board of Inventors and the Imperial Engineer's Association, containing persons oh high respect and prestige across the entire Meridian. Though unofficial, they were often considered the "leaders" of both organizations and were revered as such; a majority were also close friends with the Head Director. With their leadership and ingenuity, Autonon soared to new heights never-before-seen, with most lower governmental bodies in the Great House received additional funding and support, thereby prospering and growing their influence (except the Board of Directors). That does not mean the Engineering Parliament were popular however as word spread of this "shadow council" of unaligned engineers that appeared to be calling the shots. Treasury and property regularly disappeared, secret projects were authorized without consent, and a privatized militia controlled solely by the Head Director was conceived following the completion of the Redoubt (which was built in response to Clawz's terrorism). Even still, he remained ever-popular with the unaware citizen, but the other Houses and Great Houses were beginning to re-evaluate their standing on Great House Autonon once more, suspicious and fearful of Evocation's sudden rise to power.

Faith and Suspicion

Great House Autonon became less of "Evocation's Great House" and more of "Harrowitz's Great House", and by the turn of R.295, the Great Houses decided it was necessary to intervene, lest they allow history to repeat. Pressured by Great House Solens Arc and Great House Melide, both of which were on the receiving end of explicit ultimatums from the Head Director, pressured Great House Ital Tek to conduct a thorough investigation of Doctor Maxwell Harrowitz for racketeering. While what they found wasn't technically "unlawful", it certainly did shock the Great House of Transmutation: the Board of Inventors was far too powerful. And what was this about an "Engineering Parliament" leading them? They documented the perceived state of Autonon and brought it to Melide for a Grand Audit, whom conducted their own investigation to verify "random" financial transactions that were retrieved from private and public record, many accounts of which were freely tipped off by several Directors. Of course, nothing added up, and Melide failed to verify up to 109 million platinum that had apparently gone "missing" since the Head Director's election as Coordinator in R.282. As such, an official case of protest in R.297 was filed to Great House Orax, whom was now under the attendance of Officiator Tedian Harrowitz, the Head Director of Autonon's brother.
While Tedian favored his brother, the protest filed against him was powerful and unrelenting, and he was fearful that should his response be perceived as "lax" that they would immediately denounce him under the notion that "he went easy on his brother". Tedian was just as, if not more acutely attuned to the whimsical of Orax law and customs, and with the evidence in his hand, he rummaged through old signings and legislation, particularly the ones drafted by his brother. From his findings, the Officiator drafted five impeccable clauses, proclaimed as the "firewall five" that sealed many legal loopholes Maxwell Harrowitz was suspected of abusing throughout the years, announcing at the dawn of R.298, inviting the Head Director of Autonon to defend himself against the slew of allegations and accusations; what ensued was nothing short of anarchy. Maxwell Harrowitz appeared before the Defacto Council of People, dismissed all claims immediately against the wishes of his advisors, and refused to relent a single inch of ground. The sessions lasted for a chaotic sixteen minutes before the Head Director prematurely ended the hearing by walking out of the door, seemingly unwilling to relinquish any of the hard-earned power of his DIY throne. So a second and third hearing was scheduled: the Head Director did not attend, and by the end of R.298, Maxwell Harrowitz publicly announced his intentions for Honorable Conflict against Great House Orax.
At the eclipse of R.299, Autonon troops stormed into Orax territory, whom were poorly organized and woefully unprepared for the overly-zealous militia of the Redoubt. As Orax requested for reinforcements, the other Great Houses appeared to be more interested in gauging the strength of Autonon than providing direct aid. Great House Orax's close ally, Great House Melide provided what little military assistance they could, and condemned Great House Ital Tek in particular for "allowing democracy to die" for not defending the side of the law when it mattered most. By the end of R.300, the victor of the honorable conflict was clear, with Autonon standing before the Palatial Courthouse, demanding a resolution hearing to settle the conditions of surrender. At the end of R.301, the official hearing took placed, headed by the newly appointed Director Lagenor, whom unalike his colleagues was not elected to office, rather he was the first individual hand-picked by Doctor Maxwell Harrowitz to replace a recently reprehended Director for "stealing particulate from the Great House". The hearing was concluded prematurely by the Head Director once more, whom proclaimed himself the cause of the destruction of Topaz Anchor due west, stating that he is the only one that is a true patriot of the Meridian and would not stand down until his task is complete. The fate of Autonon is unclear at this stage as we enter the modern day as all eyes rest wearily on their acquired power, unsure of how to contend with this new national threat to stability.

Structure

Firstly, it is important to note the difference between Great House Autonon and the remaining Houses of Evocation. As with most other Great Houses, Autonon began as a Major House, then were ordinated due to their potential to lead their respective schools of magic to greater heights than their predecessor. In the modern Evocation political environment, it is a very dog-eat-dog world, as it always remains an uncertainty that the current Great House is able to hold their coveted seat of power for any extended period of time due to their rampant economic hardships. While other Great Houses enjoy a relatively steady relationship with the majority of their subsidiary Major Houses, the Evocation Major Houses are anything but cooperative and are entirely hostile towards one another, and the superior Great House. The Major Houses of Evocation are entirely independent entities with their own agendas, and do not like to be associated with the current Great House more often than not nor each other.
In general however, the Great House of Evocation is charged with setting the tempo of the Evocation's path of development, as they are the ones that receive the most lucrative contracts. Their responsibility in the chain solely involves them pioneering potentially profitable merchandise, as their subsidiary Houses are quick to chase the trends set in place by the Great House in hopes of besting the competition.
The Major Houses of Evocation are entirely independent subsects that do little for their Great House other than keep them in line by providing the necessary sense of rivalry so that they are always attempting to one-up each other, thereby improving Evocation's output overall. They should not be considered as part of the organizational ladder due to their highly independent nature. Consequently, the Minor Houses are also effectively removed from the chain.
The Head Director is the unofficial lead of the Great House, responsible for coordinating the completion of Great House-level contracts and representing the Evocation Great House's interests in the yearly Summit.
The Board of Inventors were initially conceived to be an approved advisory body to the Head Director, but quickly grew to be more of a private executive branch of government with their extensive funding. They are charged with the oversight of major projects, external production and harvesting of Evocation for use by the state, organizing the Redoubt's militia, and head researching efforts for Evocation as a whole. The Engineering Parliament - an unaligned third-party organization - is unofficially recognized by the Board of Inventors to be their leadership.
The Board of Directors is the official "highest" level of government within Autonon: an elected council of administrators that answer to the whims of the Lower Boards, as they rely on the very same for their political relevance. Directors often specialize in certain aspects of Evocation, typically coordinating with the other Directors on which of the Lower Boards they represent as to not present overlap. Of course, competition within the Great House is fierce, so these arrangements never last long. Usually, no more than nine Directors are elected at any given point.
The Lower Boards is a blanket term for all other essential services, organized and headed by their respective Boards as to harmonize development of their specialty as a whole. They are many and varied in size and they are arguably the most territorial of Autonon, forming a handful of elite unions Boards across the Imperial City and beyond, denouncing other uncooperative Boards that do not align with their ideals.

Foreign Relations

Empire through innovation.

Founding Date

222

Type

Geopolitical, Great house

Demonym

Autonon

Leader

Dr. Harrowitz

Head of State

Dr. Harrowitz

Government System

Despotism

Power Structure

Semi-autonomous area

Parent Organization

Regent Vicarvoyancy Assembly

Notable Members

• Dr. Harrowitz