House of Dargent (Area of Concern: Finance)
"Your father is the tight fist; I am the hard bargain." Viziera Guinevera Dargent explains the house motto to Katib Hugo Dargent.The House of Dargent is one of the noble families that make up the Noble Court of the city of Palimpsest. Officially, the House of Dargent is counted as a "human" family, but in reality, they are a family of kitsune, fox-like shape-shfters with the ability to assume human form, who have been masquerading as human in order to gain the benefits and privileges afforded to the more favoured species. Even before becoming nobility, the Dargent family had illegally been using this ability for generations, hiding their true nature from the people of Palimpsest. Worshipping and operating under the constellation of the Rich Man, the Dargents manage the city's finances: overseeing taxes and delegating the budget for the other noble families' areas of concern. However, they must always be on their guard, as discovery of their true nature could result in their downfall.
Structure
Vizier and Viziera
Vizier Richard Dargent: Cold, calculating and cruel, Vizier Richard Dargent is quick to anger and a dominant force at home and in the Court. He manages most of the day-to-day running of the city finances and values power and wealth than anything.Viziera Guinevera Dargent: Viziera Guinevera Dargent is a master of manipulation, entirely focused on maintaining and improving the family's position at court. Although less prone to bouts of rage than her husband, when Guinevera is angered she far more cruel and deadly. As Connie Furr put it to Brambleson, the Prince of Rabbits, Guinevera has a smile that hasn't let the rest of her face know it's smiling.
Subvizier and Subviziera
Subvizier Victor Dargent-Laureat: Although he no longer lives on the Dargent Estate, Subvizier Victor Dargent-Laureat tries to emulate his father in all things. Having inheritted the position of Arts Vizier under the Tailor through his wife, Victor's current focus is dismantling the arts budget, which may well keep his father happy.Subviziera Satine Dargent-Laureat: Subviziera Satine Dargent-Laureat is quite docile and can be easily manipulated by the more dominant Viziera Guinevera. After her betrothal to the Dargent "spare", Katib Hugo Dargent, was called off, the older son, Subvizier Victor was offered up in his place.
Vizier's Other Children
Katib Hugo Dargent: The Dargents have pretty much given up on their "spare" son, Katib Hugo Dargent, who not only jeopordised their plans as a teenager, but who since then has been doing the bare minimum to stay on their tolerating side. Richard sometimes sends him into the lower areas of the city to conduct business and is never wholly pleased with the outcomes.Katiba Scarlett Dargent: The youngest Dargent, nine-year-old Katiba Scarlett Dargent, is closely tutored by her mother in the ways of the court. As a result, she is let into many diplomatic meetings that she wouldn't otherwise have access to and she definitely picks up more than any of the adults expect her to.
Culture
Nightmares
"Your own employer fears a cage with himself and his kin on the inside. And the jeering mob on the other. He gives himself away in his nightmares many times and many ways and always ends in the cage. His wife fears a muddy street and sore paws and a bitter cold and the ruination of a life’s work separating her from the comforts she so briefly tasted so far above. And the knowledge that if she fails, all this will be made reality against her by one far far richer than she. The children, have remarkably similar nightmares in the case of the two boys. Both fear their parents. And fear the consequences of being held responsible for their parents’ secrets. And the little girl. (laughs). Oh her nightmares fascinate me. She has seen and known and read so much more than other children her age tend to do. She knows so many things to fear. Gods and devils, divs and genies, ghouls and ghosts and curses of every stripe. She knows the powers she dabbles in and yet even in the nightmares so often just before claws fall or the sack tightens she surprises herself and she surprises me and she surprises the nightmare, be it divs or ghouls or sometimes even gods."The Man Who Is Not There tells Lindie Asklepa the nightmares of the Noble Court.
Religion
The House of Dargent operates under the constellation of the Rich Man, who acts in the capacity of a Cleric's deity for Vizier Richard, and of a more sinister Witch's patron for Viziera Guinevera.
The Viziera seems to have made some kind of pact with the Rich Man in exchange for her powers of witchcraft. Judging by the Rich Man's areas of interest, the agreement is most likely to do with the Dargent Family's fortune and lineage, and perhaps her own personal legacy. Although the Rich Man annually reminds the Viziera of the price for failing to uphold her end of the bargain through horrible nightmares of ruin and destruction, Guinevera still seems to believe she will ultimately come out on top in the overall bargain calculus.
Meanwhile, more concerned with the wordly aspects of the Rich Man's religion, Richard has a close relationship with the Archdeacon Zaccheus Simony, head of the Rich Man's Church. The Archdeacon officially has no higher authority other than the Rich Man himself, although in practice, he answers to the more dominant Vizier.
A Tight Fist and a Hard Bargain
Founding Date
Goldday, Richmoon, 1287
Type
Geopolitical, Great house
Alternative Names
Dargent Ricardine
Leader
Leader Title
Parent Organization
Subsidiary Organizations
Location
Controlled Territories
Related Species
Related Ethnicities
Related Myths
Courtly Relations
House Dargent
Subvizier Victor: +70 (Take, Tailor, 1313)Subviziera Satine: +14 (Needle, Sailor, 1313)
Katib Hugo: -14 (Needle, Sailor, 1313)
Katiba Scarlett: +36 (Gold, Tailor, 1313)
House Dargent-Laureat
Marriage: Victor Dargent & Satine LaureatVizier Victor: +70 (Take, Tailor, 1313)
Viziera Satine: +14 (Needle, Sailor, 1313)
House Darktusk
Ex-Vizier Sheikh: -20 (Give, Soldier, 1313)Ex-Viziera Quince: -30 (Give, Soldier, 1313)
House Greenskin
Subvizier Cassiopeia: -20 (Give, Soldier, 1313)
House Stargazer
Vizier Leopold: -5 (Take, Tailor, 1313)Ex-Viziera Andromeda: -18 (Take, Tailor, 1313)
Subvizier Pollux: +20 (Give, Soldier, 1313)
Katib Castor: -50 (Map, Tailor, 1313)
Katiba Cassiopeia: -20 (Give, Soldier, 1313)
