House Slate

House Slate is perhaps the second most powerful great house within Raventiva, second only to their rival, House Haphet. They are the richest of the great houses, having their fingers on the pulse of near all imported and exported goods to the north. The Slates' sigil is an outstretched hand surrounded by four Raventivan Sovereigns on a bisected field of grey and black. Many assume that the Slates seat is the great city of Slate Port, though this is inaccurate, the Slates seat is in fact the Castle Morsa within the city of Calienos. The Slates' house words are "Strong as Stone, Sharp as Iron, Rich as Gold," though originally their words were "An Outstretched Hand."

Influence

The Slates have incredibly close diplomatic ties with House Serafin, which together form what is known as the "Sovereign Clawed Alliance." The Slates hold the second largest number of vassal Houses within Raventiva, beaten out by House Ferrante. The Slates' political influence is incredibly far spread, Houses' Acardi and Costanzo also rely on the slates for trade, which has caused the Houses to become indebted to the Slates', which has used this indebtment to their benefit within the Raventivan Court. Due to the actions of Matthew Slate in 1108, House Slate had been forced to pay increased taxes, forfeit their right to free trade, and pay reparations to the Houses affected by his massacre; until recently this continued to stand, however, since the ascension of Georgio I Kcrune to the Throne of Glass the Slates' had been in talks to free themselves from these restrictions, which has just recently passed. The removal of the Slates' restrictions will no doubt cause a great shift in power within the Holy Kingdom as House Slate comes to dominate trade once more.

History

House Slate has an incredibly long history, even before becoming a great house within the wider Raventiva. The Slates were originally a powerful noble house within the now extinct Kingdom of Halvar, and were absorbed into Raventiva during King Adrys II Dawnstar's Great Expansion. Given that the Slates bent the knee to Adrys, they were given status as "true-born" Raventivans and were allowed to maintain their territory.
For the majority of their existence the Slates were dedicated the the art of diplomacy and were heralded as the greatest ambassadors, advisors, and negotiators within the realm. This changed however, with their mandate to create a port city on land gifted to Raventiva by the Kingdom of Cal'mak during the reign of Celio III Dawnstar.

Strong as Stone, Sharp as Iron, Rich as Gold

Old House Words:
An Outstretched Hand

Type

Geopolitical, Great house

Alternative Names

The Sovereign House, The Gilded House

Leader

Leorio Slate

Leader Title

Duke

Family Leader

Leorio Slate

Founders

• Tiziano Slate

Subsidiary Organizations

• House Baldassare of Slate Port

Location

Calienos

Related Species

• Human

Related Ethnicities

• Halvari
• Raventivan