The Prexyann Family

Famous protagonists of many ballads and songs, the Prexyanns are also one of the most controversial families of Menicea. Known for their many feats and influence in Menicean History, dark rumors became as many as the poems to their glory.

The Prexyanns are a well-known mercenary family that rose around the year 80. Their fame grew as the years went by and they won their nobility fighting for the kingdom.
Nowadays, they are said to influence all the Menicean social spheres as they frequently visit the court and have a lot of recruits from various horizons. Since most Menicean people don't know anything about the underground world that lies beneath their feet, only a few know the details of their illegal relationships. Still, everyone takes the famous legends with a pinch of salt and try to avoid troubles with this family.

Do you know the story of the Cut-Throats?
Silly, silly, bandits in the mountains.
Silly, silly, now they are all dead.

They killed, they raped, they theft.
They laughed at their blasphemy.
But Prexyanns got their heads.

Structure

Their headquarters are in the Insdyl Plains. They were given lands when they rose to nobility back in 80, and then built their famous mansion that is considered to be one of the safest places in Menicea during the following years.
From there, the heads of the family organize all their principal operations and oversee all their branch offices. You can find a Prexyann counter in every region of Menicea, and in every average-sized city.
Even though they are called a "family," this only applies to the leaders of this company that are in fact related. 95% of the members are recruits that do not share any blood with their superiors. The Prexyanns have a rigid hierarchy. Every member has a personal crest on its chest, the symbol of his rank. Anyone can then identify the hierarchic state of a member as long as they know the Prexyann's heraldic symbols.

Inner hierarchy

The Elder is a pure-blood chosen among them for the rest of his life. He gets to establish the central policy of the family and to decide whether or not to accept urgent job requests. Being the Elder also comes with a lot of fame and honor that is recognized throughout the whole continent. A council elects him right after the last one died or is declared unable to lead the family. The commission consists of all the pure-blood Prexyanns and the high-ranked of the organization. During the history of the family, a lot of ridiculous rumors went out about inner fights, fratricides, and even patricides.

The Pure-Bloods are born Pexyanns, the ones who carry the blood of the family. A strict rule stipulates that there can't be more than 4 pure-bloods in each generation. Each member has the responsibility of supervising a part of the company, based on cardinal points divided into "equal" pieces that are subject to inner conflicts.

If one of the pure-blood happens to give birth to twins, one of them will have to be sterilized. Oppositely, if one of the pure-blood is born sterile, one of the siblings will be allowed to have two children. A lot of people say that being born in the Prexyann family is worse than the slums of Irisport. A reputation isn't built by itself, and Prexyanns learn it very young. They're taught how to behave, bargain but most importantly how to fight, endure pain and survive in the wild. A few witnesses said that the trials that children have to pass are actually harsher than the Menicean Army's initiation.

The Spouses are just under the Pure-Bloods in the social hierarchy and have access to the family's quarters in the mansion. They are considered to be the luckiest gérouns of Ménicéa: Who wouldn't dream to be granted a life-comfort that equals the royal family without having to endure the labor of being a pure-blood? It goes without saying that the Prexyann's loved ones must have to know how to make a good impression, whether it is to their future mate or to the clients they will welcome in the mansion. Unfortunately, the Prexyanns aren't strangers to the sad truth of the nobility world. Thus, a lot of arranged weddings happened even if both families tried to hide it as much as possible.

The Senior Officers aren't members of the family but obtained an excellent place in the hierarchy through their engagement and feats. They're the only outsiders who can actually vote for the Elder's selection. Every senior is under the leadership of one pure-blood that they assist in administrating the branch they're a part of.

The Office leaders are supervising a branch office of the company. They organize the average and small missions by choosing who gets to work on each task. They're also the ones that make sure clients can pay before accepting an offer, and they report their activity each month to the pure-blood of the region.

The Squad leaders are leading one of the groups that work for one of the offices. They organize their squad during the missions and make the calls when things are getting tough.

Public Agenda

The Prexyanns are straightforward about their goals in Menicea. They want to keep peace and order all around the continent and protect the Nélandrean culture from blasphemy. Even if they're mercenaries, they still do a lot of work for free.
The best example is their mission as nobles. Each noble family in Menicea has a particular purpose for the sake of the kingdom. The Prexyanns, who became famous and gained their nobility through military feats and discipline are charged to train the army's recruits. They come once for every training intake and provide a week of lessons about the importance of discipline and teamwork. They also often redirect persons that wanted to join their company in the army when they already have enough recruits to train.
Local guards often call them when tracking down wanted outlaws, as they offer great discounts if they're fighting for public safety.

A lucky group of travelers was rescued by glen-Prexyanns who were happening to patrol nearby.
The civilians were being ambushed by Tiaplos that managed to escape of the last hunt. The soldiers reacted immediately and killed most of the animals before they could severely hurt someone.
May Nelandra and Kelyeran bless those protectors who keep helping our people again and again. We remind our beloved readers that a Prexyann counter has recently opened in Clairelune, and we highly recommend to hire an escort before wandering in the plains.

Regarding their political opinion, they are entirely against the recent world-opening decisions¹ that allowed sien-grissos to go outside of the two littoral cities. They see the recent discovery of other sapient species as a threat, and can't understand how the royal family could approve to reconsider some of the fundamental learnings that were given by the Menicean goddess: Nélandra.
At the court, they can often be seen talking with other traditionalists and are always against the approval of reformist laws.

Hiring Prexyanns

The secret behind the Prexyann's popularity rise is that they remained accessible even though they were considered to be the best mercenaries of Menicea.
As they grew, they kept affordable offers for the modest customers. They assigned new recruits that took care of the cheapest offer. Each squad was supervised by a veteran that was training them at the same time.
Regular clients and general offers will be welcomed at of the nearby offices while important business, between nobles or rich people, will be discussed at the mansion in privacy.
It is important to note that a pure-blood cannot accept such offers on their own. They must have the Elder's approval, or they will likely be punished by their pairs.

Prexyanns and stranger customers

After the first strangers were allowed in Menicea, Prexyanns made a clear statement that they never officially announced that makes other species paying more when asking for their services.
As self-proclaimed protectors of Menicea, they don't see why they should be affordable for people who have "nothing to do here."
The result is that strangers tend to hire other mercenaries, and the family now has a terrible reputation overseas.
Still, as regard for their professionalism, they will keep their standards high when working for strangers. People keep asking them for protection when traveling with high-valued wares, even if Meniceans will always be their priority.

Assets

Prexyanns own a lot of branch offices all around Menicea as well as opulent houses in the biggest cities like Irisport, Dornôme or Havre-Sylvestre. These are mainly used by the pure-bloods or seniors when they have personal business there.
The last Elder decided to enlarge their activities by buying a lot of forges and recruiting their former owners to work for them. They brought them to the royal factories to learn from the best, then ensured the sustainability of their knowledge by recruiting new blacksmiths every three decades. A lot of craftsmen now try to attire the attention of the Prexyanns, hoping that they could get hired during the next wave. Once installed, blacksmiths have the responsibility to provide weapons, armors, and maintenance to the company's equipment.

The Prexyann Mansion

The Prexyann's most valuable possession is clearly their mansion and its gardens. It was built in the years following their nobility in the Insdyl Plains. The founder of the family was asked if he preferred a small domain in the middle of the royal quarters in the capital, or a bigger one away from the city... he chose the latter.
However, their new home didn't become the big and beautiful mansion we know before a few years later. The Prexyanns started by building a robust and modest house that was later expanded step by step to its current size. Meanwhile, they made an enclosure all around the domain and hired gardeners as their wealth grew to create the beautiful gardens we know today.
The principal residence of the Prexyann Family is where they hold conferences, meetings between the high hierarchy of the group about private business but it's also an exceedingly praised place among the nobility.
In fact, the Elder and pure-bloods often organize ball and mundane dinners where important people talk about the future of Menicea, discuss precious offers and most-generally build a network.
Every single noble in Menicea dreams to be invited there one day. Since the Prexyanns are considered to be one of the most prominent noble family of the continent, going there means that you got the right attention on yourself.
Besides the political aspect of the mansion, it is still a gorgeous piece of architecture and luxury. In the outside, the property is surrounded by a beautiful fence made of decorated steel. This protects the garden that surrounds the house. They're composed of a lot of rare flowers from Menicea, overseas and the holy Nelandrean Flower that is said to be very difficult to take care of.
There's also a maze, where drunk nobles get lost during parties. Gardeners used a beautiful pine species for the walls they trim each week. Finally, the enclosures are behind the manor, where mounts are kept safe as well as the farm animals.
The mansion itself has a large entrance made of two big doors that are opened during receptions and a more modest one decorated with flowers that the family uses.
The first thing people see is the big hall, decorated with trophies, rewards, statues, and jewels the family won during their career. It leads to the main salon where parties are being held and upstairs, to the family's quarters.
The salon has a direct opening to the gardens and a beautiful scene made of marble where musicians and comedians entertain the guests. The access to the kitchens and the household quarters is very discreet, behind a few pieces of textile that are a part of the room's decoration.

History

The Prexyann Family's history began only a few years before their ascension to power.
Aderbaal Prexyann was a hunter from the Insdyl Plains and highly devoted to the Nelandrean cult and its values. More precisely, he indeed approved the idea of Nelandra's great market and was shocked to know that robbers attacked some of the caravans. He tried many times to reach the king to ask for an improvement of their protection, unsuccessfully.
He then decided to protect what he considered to be the pillar of the society and religion by himself. He used most of his wealth to buy decent equipment and convinced his two brothers to join him. Together, they offered their protection to caravans for a very affordable price each year. Meanwhile, they heard more and more about sad stories for people being robbed, attacked by outlaws that were disrespecting the laws of Nélandra.
Resolved to fight for what they thought right, they created their company in the Insdyl Plains which was called the Prexyann Brothers Safeblades. After that, they received a lot of offers and demands to protect merchants, track down black markets and hunt down dangerous animals.

Aderbaal, Aderbaal, will you work for us?
Aderbaal, Aderbaal, you are so mighty.
You are the light, so conscientious,
You show the way up to glory,

For who might even cross the law,
You rise you shine up to the skies,
As you lead them back to the right,
Protecting us from all their flaws.

Slowly, the company started to earn a bit of a reputation and so came the first persons who wanted to join them. At first, based solely in the south of the Insdyl Plains, the brothers bought two houses in the near Southern Forest and in the north of the plains. Aderbaal kept their central office while the two brothers were busy opening new ones in their new acquisitions. By joining their forces, they were now able to protect three of the four main roads that were taken by the Market's caravans.
As the years went by, Prexyanns started to hear what was happening in the Mt Odelia, with the now well-known Cut-Throats. Aderbaal himself joined one of the unsuccessful expeditions that tried to figure out where the hideout of the bandits was. This allowed him to measure the danger those bandits represented and started to spend a lot of time in the region, by himself, investigating for clues and tracks.
After a few months of researches, he got a pretty good idea of the plausible area where they would be, and as he learned about the upcoming assault against them, he rushed to the capital, calling all the company to join the army and provide all the information he collected. Aderbaal Prexyann's intervention was decisive in the success of the operation, according to the prophet Kelyeran. Thanks to him, the western mountains were now free of all the bandits that were terrorizing the locals and the merchants, highly reducing the income of the miners.
That's when the Prexyann family got their nobility. When they were asked where they wanted their new lands, all of them immediately answered Insdyl.
With the funds offered for participating in the hunt, they built the first part of their mansion and infrastructures to house a larger company. Two of the three brothers already had wives, and one of them was pregnant. It was about time to discuss the future of the family. Aderbaal's two brothers agreed to choose him as the leader of the company, creating at the same time the status of elder, as he was the older.
They created the founding of the Prexyann code of behavior, intern organization and started to actively frequent the court. Aderbaal was actually the last one to have kids and had twins. Since the company was growing, the brothers didn't want to have too many children, which would make legacy and organization difficult. They then decided to raise their children to continue what they started and told each of them to watch over one corner of Menicea. That's how Prexyanns began to divide each member's territory with the cardinal points as it was more comfortable.
Things went smoothly for the family as the first generation passed away and the kids took charge of the business as they should have. They kept expanding all around Menicea and having one of each member supervising a side of the continent made it really easier to gain influence and territory.
It was during the third generation's reign that things got complicated within the inner family. Cousins started to fight for territory, money, and the recently elected Elder took the decision to completely renew the organization of the family, creating all its ranks and heraldic.
Afterward, the rumors that we know today started to spread in the continent. People heard about murders, fights for power that the rest of the nobility tried to cover.
Through all that, the Prexyann family kept expanding, over and over, with each side of the company acting as an independent company. They only kept their core-values synchronized and their respect for the Elder's macro decisions.
Yet, their notoriety for well-done work never went away but grew even more as their discipline got stricter.

Notes

¹: Rapid point on Menicean international politics : Menicea is a rather small continent that was isolated from the rest of the world. Their inhabitants, the gérouns, were convinced that they were the only sapient species existing and always had extreme values against sea travel. Even now, departures from the continent are highly regulated and subject to firm procedures to make sure natives don't go out without a reason and/or for too long.
These values come from their goddess, Nélandra, who was a war-heroïn that people rose to divinity when she put an end to a neverending war climate on the continent. Thus, modifying even slightly rules she created often encounters high resistance from the people.
Humans and other species discovered Menicea about 100 years ago, and their arrival on the continent followed by their installation went slowly as Meniceans had to digest the changes in their lifestyle. The former king was reluctant to change as well but his son that know reigns for a few decades is the total opposite. He started to make a lot of changes, as leaving the continent is now way easier and strangers can now live in all Menicea under certain conditions, whereas they were only allowed in two littoral cities before. A lot of traditionalists are scared of his policy, receiving a lot of criticism from many people. His councilors most likely told him to be less aggressive in the reforms he makes, fearing that a revolt might happen if things keep going that way.
From his side, the king points out the fact that Menicean technology is late compared to other races and that they need the help of foreign scientists and engineers to modernize as soon as possible their infrastructures. He also states that the best way to fight the unknown that so many people fear is to learn about it. The only thing that reassures the old-fashioned politicians is the age of the king, that will most likely leave the commandment to his son in the coming years.

Type

Political, Family

Alternative Names

The outlaw slayers

Training Level

Elite

Veterancy Level

Decorated/Honored