Court of the Gilded

Masterful Merchants

The Court of the Gilded is an ancient court that earned its recognition in the second age of Tawdrii by the example of its exceptional mastery in statecraft & mercantilism. Leveraging the markets throughout independent countries & the widespread use of their court's currency as a standard throughout Tawdrii to manipulate the political climate of their neighbours. The eventual economic reliance upon the financial products & currencies produced by the Court of the Gilded provided the opportunity for its families to swoop in & replace political adversaries, leading to the uniting of many independent counties into the Court of the Gilded by nature of indebtedness or marriage.

Through Gold or Blood

Unmistakably calculating & surgical in their methods, the Court of the Gilded is considered one of the most Influential & dangerous of courts with ties to The Grand Courts. Having managed to retain their recognition longer than any other noble court, the Court of the Gilded is known for harbouring long & violent grudges over even the most minuscule of slight, a reputation they wear with pride.
The Gilded's motto "Through Gold or Blood" accurately represents their history, one minted in the very Memories of every piece of bullion that leaves their hands.

We stood proudly above a battlefield laid to ash, the sweet stench of burned meat raw on the nose while we surveyed what was left. Hundreds of thousands of our foes left laid waste underneath our onslaught, mere hundreds of our own scattered among the lost - but still too many, they argued.
In their wake, we took what was theirs; stripped them everything they held dear - even of their Memories & laid them bare with nothing but their skin. It still wasn't enough. No amount of gold or material vengeance would bring them back... but "blood would pay their debt." That's what the court ordered... "blood for their debt."
We held executions in their garden, buried each with a golden seal burned over their heart so that their descendents would know that their debt had been paid.

- Memory of a Mercenary hired by the Court of the Gilded during the course of one of many Feuds

Often challenged for their Authority & hotly contested as a rival to many other factions within The Grand Courts, the Court of the Gilded has persisted through the sheer willpower & unmistakable mastery of the markets that it possesses. Capable of depriving almost any organization of the funds, connections & information which they require to operate & with a vast array of Mercenary orders at their fingertips, a war against the Gilded often is a war against the market itself.
To this end, the Court of the Gilded often resolves feuds with ruthless efficiency & calculated savagery - exacting both financial and psychological retribution from their enemies in a manner that even The Grand Courts often fail to replicate.

"Through Gold or Blood"

Founding Date

The First Age of Tawdrii

Type

Court, Royal

Alternative Names

The Guilded, The Golden Court

Demonym

The Guilded

Leader

Demitus 'Demi' Valmour

Leader Title

Count / Countess

Parent Organization

The Grand Courts

Location

Luchair

Controlled Territories

• Luchair

Related Ethnicities

• Kindred