Great House Melide
One of nine current Great Houses, charged by Astralshaper to manage all aspects of Conjuration, from handling and harvesting to Transmutation and particulate bonding. Great House Melide is a special exception to the usual upbringing of a Great House, only attaining said status retroactively after already self-proclaiming their right to their respective school of magic and all who practice it. Rising from the ashes that was the failure of Great House Tassel - the previous Conjuration holder - owing their origins to not success nor politics, but the mass riots and slaughter that was the @White Band Rebellion: a uprising lasting 1000 nights, taking place during the @Stenum Period. A time highlighted by uncertainty and paranoia, inducing hysteria among the Meridian's citizens as the wasteland first begun to take shape, spreading its Hatred of all and strangling the life out of Astralshaper's domain. Famine and war reigned as the Goddess's right to rule was contested, consuming the empire in the fires of decay and death. What happened during those 1000 nights has been forgotten, lost to time, but as the dust settled and the Meridian accounted for its losses, it was apparent that Great House Tassel was no more. In their place, a subsidiary to Great House Orax named House Melide took their place in R.117, salvaging the many secrets and valuable Tassel technologies that were buried in the ruins. It is assumed they were a sympathizer to the White Bands, as their power base was exponentially stronger than last audited, drawing in millions of refugees and hastily incorporating lesser, more desperate Minor Houses to consolidate their strength. They had something no one else had: food, as in the secrets they uncovered were the foundations of an innovative methodology that perhaps single-handily saved the Meridian during the aftermath of the @Stenum Period: Extra-Planar Boring. It took many rotations, but slowly, the self-proclaimed Great House Melide in the absence of any true disaster relief solved the food shortage, establishing an inter-planar domain in which they immediately stripped down for much needed resources and farmland. Astralshaper however did not acknowledge their position as a Great House for some time for reasons unknown. What is known is that during this time, another self-proclaimed Conjuration Great House in Konx-om-Pax rose from the ashes of the aftermath and openly contested the legitimacy and right to lead Conjuration. Said upstart was none other than Great House Orchon, whom was also widely popular with their sudden medical prowess, conquering the ensuing Particulate Poisoning that affected countless lives. For one hundred rotations, the two conflicting Conjuration Houses violently berated and tarnished the other's reputation, both helplessly dragging their competition into political obscurity, though in the process brought themselves down with their underhanded methods. The success and wide-spread Mercenaries and Privateers of today are to blame because of House Orchon and Melide's one hundred rotation long strife, expending most of their excess in hiring saboteurs to best their rival. In the end, Melide was victorious, annexing the entirety of House Orchon after their internal administration underwent a brutal schism that divided their strength into three, two of the secessionist rebels defecting to Melide and reducing Orchon to a shell of their former glory, only to be quickly assimilated in the coming rotations. By R.220, Great House Melide was ordained by Astralshaper to be the sole Conjuration House almost immediately after the terms of surrender were discussed.
Today, Great House Melide has significantly mellowed its hostilities, redoubling their efforts in recovery and expansion to rebuild their tattered economy and dismissing most of their hired goons for the sake of retaining positive income. As an unfortunate side effect, this left the many mercenary and privateer companies that flourished from Melide and Orchon's civil dispute without a job, now marauding the Wastes and plunder the resources of the Meridian. Even still, Melide continued with the assistance of Orax, adopting many of their administrative philosophies to best cling to their position of power, focusing on the needs of the people rather than the desires of the throne. While they answer to a single Auditor that organizes and directly commands all subsidiary Conjuration Houses, it is the free Investors that possess most of the political authority, entirely influencing the priorities of Melide, for their interests are one in the same. Without the Investors, Melide would be without a functioning economy, as all income is funneled straight back to the Investors whom continue to invest (hence their namesake) their funding into Melide for the chance of a higher return. The Houses retain their own income and do not answer to the Investors, though are required to sell all goods directly to the Great House, barred from participating in the open market. This whole system exists solely for the decentralized mission of Melide, which is to provide ample food and medical services to the entire Meridian: a feat to not be taken lightly. Alone, a single Great House can not hope to sustain the manpower or finances to support such a grand endeavor, thus opting for a more freeform contributarian society that is ultimately commanded by wealthy civilian aristocrats. Additionally, they hold exclusive rights to all the mysterious hoards of Tassel and Orchon technology, establishing a thriving multi-planar state that utilizes the very elements to cultivate and conjure sustenance, among other exotic resources. The Great House itself possess very little currency to call its own, relying solely on the Investors for their power; a foundation that can just as easily be revoked should they displease the merchants.
Under Great House Melide, three subsidiary Major Houses align with Conjuration:
House Si A Mio
One of two loyalist remnants of House Orchon, risen to Major House status for their contributions to Great House Melide in annexing House Orchon. They are primarily a provider in high-grade conjuration, exotic planar minerals, and logistic teleporters.House Wormwood
One of two loyalist remnants of House Orchon, risen to Major House status for their contributions to Great House Melide in annexing House Orchon. They are primarily a technologist augment that provides advanced components for the widely employed planar bores.House Iron Whisk
An unstable "shifter" as Melide calls them, constantly switching between a set number of Houses, though each with the same objective. Currently, House Iron Whisk is the dominant shifter House, tending to the masses of conjured fields abroad and providing for the culinary needs of the Meridian. They are considered a disloyal subordinate due to their indifference.Structure
Great House Melide bows to no one but Astralshaper herself and their ravenous investors, forming a government of authoritative shareholders that held political influence proportional to their market contributions. Inspired and support by Great House Orax, they adopted many of their administrative philosophies, namely in the idea that no single person controls Melide, rather it is a combination of the demands of the open market and their investors. These investors collectively comprise the Consulate: an advisory body that ensures the interests of their respective Houses are recognized by the Great House. They are closely monitored by the Auditor, whom distributes the demands of the investors and the Great House to the subordinate Houses of Melide and behaves similarly, though in a limited capacity to that of a monarch. An unnamed individual forever cloaked and masked, he represents the faceless mass that Melide caters to, presiding over the Consulate as the silent ears and executor of the Investor's will, delegating orders to the Houses to be carried out. These subsidiaries are generally tasked with maintaining stability within the open market or keeping tabs on price fluctuations of a specific product, with the Great House heading the Exaction Effort. The loyalty of the Investors is paramount, for if any of their stocks were to dwindle in value, they may withdraw their financial support and cripple Melide's economic engine. As such, the Exaction Effort guarantees that the wants of the Investors are always prioritized, the Great House forcefully correcting any stock that falls "out of tolerance" no matter the price. To Melide, the ends always justify the means; embargoes, lies, cheating, stealing, sabotage, they bear an intimate history of unsavory reprise, with no price being too great to ensure their throne is never contested.
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