Duchy of Osterlind (OSS-ter-lind)
"Oh dear, here comes one of the Glooms again. Ready for your daily lecture on how we should all still live in 1500?"
Notable House Qualities
Superstitious, traditional, close minded, stubborn, Honorable - keeps their given word but gives it rarely, particular, pickyStructure
The Duchy of Osterlind is primarily led by House Graven who has maintained control since the original founding of the Duchy. Unlike other Duchies, for some reason none of the families in Osterlind want to name themselves after the Osterlind Wilds. The ducal lands are in the west, close to Novandria.
The duchy also supports two counties in addition to the ducal lands. The Marshfields and Waldnachts are related families through marriage and staunch supporters of the Duchy.
The Duchy of Osterlind is primarily led by House Graven who has maintained control since the original founding of the Duchy. Unlike other Duchies, for some reason none of the families in Osterlind want to name themselves after the Osterlind Wilds. Duke Jerard Graven, Human Fighter, is an older human man in his 50’s. He is married to Duchess Yseult Graven (Human), and they have two children. Ser Theodore Graven (human fighter) is in his late 20’s, and Lady Merlinda Graven (human sorceress) is in her early 20’s.
Countess Nathalia Marshfield holds the lands in the middle of the duchy, encompassing the marshes of the Emerald Mire. She is a beautiful yet mysterious woman who often goes veiled or with part of her face covered. She is currently unmarried but keeps several young knights in her retinue, the latest of which is Ser Klint Varheese. Ser Klint is an earnest and dedicated man who is as devoted to his knightly duties to the duchy as he is to his knightly duties to his lady. Countess Nathalia has two daughters. Her eldest, Lady Emera Marshfield, is a fey and somewhat wild young woman who spends more time alone in the marshes than she does in her mother’s halls. Her youngest, Lady Dia Marshfield, is much more like her mother in temperment.
Count Calder Waldnacht is a young man in his 30’s but his youth is undercut by a foul temper and a fierce dedication to Waldnacht’s isolationism. His county sits in the far west of the duchy, and includes the deepest part of the Osterlind Wilds. He is as of yet unmarried, but he has a younger brother Ser Cayden Waldnacht. Ser Cayden is of a generally more pleasant demeanor, but he is also dedicated to his House and family and never contradicts his brother in public.
County House - House Marshfield
County House - House Waldnacht
Notable Members of the Duchy
(click to expand) Ducal House: House GravenCounty House - House Marshfield
County House - House Waldnacht
Culture
House Graven and its banner houses occupy the Osterlind wilds and nearby marshes. It’s a solemn and often soggy land, full of damp and cold and sunless days. Marketh is the main city in Osterlind featuring the Ducal estate - an ancient timber affair that has no electricity, barely has gas lighting, and looks like it might collapse at any given moment. Despite this, the homestead is actually quite sturdy and large, backing up to the Osterlind wilds.
Those of the Osterlind duchy often remain in the duchy. They are ill disposed to wide travel and children of the house do not often settle elsewhere or change their allegiances to other houses unless they are ejected from the duchy for being too rebellious or revolutionary.
Particular Views
Osterlinders are superstitious to a fault. Even the House members that head to Novandria for Parliament are an odd lot. They dress primitively in clothes markedly older than the current fashion trends but in good quality and sturdy fabrics. Seeing an Osterlinder in finery is almost unheard of - even their evening social clothes are plain and typically in shades of brown, black, gray, and green. Staunchly traditionalist and often confrontational about it. They will tolerate magic if it is well controlled and serves their purposes, but they want nothing to do with the eletech revolution. Key viewpoints include: Keep it secret, keep it safe Outsiders are not to be trustedCultural Symbols
Osterlinders all tend to wear a symbol of their duchy - an eye with a crescent moon in the center. They generally ignore any explanations of what this symbol means but it appears throughout Osterlind - on buildings, on heraldry, on houses, painted as sigils on items, drawn in the dirt, and often fashioned out of twigs as an ornament hung in the borders of the forests.Osterlind Holidays
Osterlinders also celebrate a few holidays that are present no where else in Eisen. These secretive affairs read more as cultish gatherings than festivals but they have remained in place for centuries. Feast of the Full Moon - Every month, Osterlinders gather in the local town commons or court commons to observe a solemn midnight feast. The feast is held completely in silence - and the food varies from season to season as appropriate. The feast begins promptly at sundown and runs to dawn whereupon traditional hymns are sung before departing. Nachtgard - Or Night Guard - is celebrated on the longest night of the year. This celebration takes place in the forests of Osterlind, sending the populace into the forests. Each person finds and marks a tree with the symbol of House Graven. Solemn watch is kept until the height of moonrise whereupon the holiday breaks into revelry that can only be described as Bacchanalian - wild hunts through the wood, sex, and madness ensue until sun up. The children of Nachtgard nights are considered to be blessed and are often sent in service to the cleric hood of Sephira, Gorath, or Rhodena.Public Agenda
House Graven keeps their disturbances inside their house to a minimum - at least to the public. The Duke tolerates no “deviant” thinking inside his House and any members who show any sort of rebellious tendencies are either socially curbed or ejected post haste to less conservative areas. Strangely, most of House Osterlind seem fine with this arrangement, adhering to ancient traditions and a certain solidarity that outsiders find baffling.
In reality, there are two main factions inside the Osterlind Duchy - The Gravens which, while staunchly traditionalist, does see the need for some outside contact in Novandria and Parliament for the good of the house. The Marshfields support this stance. The second faction - led primarily by the Count Waldnacht and his family - would prefer it if the Duchy remained on its own and kept its nose out of affairs in Eisen. So closed off are the Waldnacht faction members that even seeing them in the ducal court is rare. The rest of the duchy is slightly more open about non-human races but House Waldnacht maintains a baffling propensity toward humans, shunning contact with anyone they consider foreign. It is, instead of outright hostility, a seemingly superstitious hold over of their tradition. PC’s of this house who have traveled to Eisen will be more willing to let go of this particular idea.
House Osterlind does not get along with any of the other houses very often. While much of Eisen would like to move into the nineteenth century and modern progress, House Graven steadfastly supports isolationism and keeping to older traditions. They are vocal and loud about their disdain of progress and an abandonment of old ideals and honor.
House Osterlind seeks to constantly check the flow of progress and remind Eiseners of their traditions. They also work to build up the timber industry and trade. The house is staunchly traditionalist and often confrontational about it.
Assets
House Osterlind is known for a few things:
Being stubborn, sour, and doggedly hide bound in any matters of technology, progress, or politics is the first.
The second is for the prolific forests that they hold. Osterlind provides a good portion of the timber trade in Eisen, making tolerating the persnickety house a necessity.
House Osterlind is far less concerned with material power and more with the power of throwing its opinions around every way it can to remind Eisen to remember its past. It seems more concerned with endless repetition and being, frankly, annoying and a bit creepy. Still, the Osterlind control of the timberlands keeps the house in parliament and the Duchy in grudging good graces with other houses who need supplies.
Osterlind is the primary source of the timber trade and also provides some fishing resources to Eisen. While this certainly ensures that the house has ample wealth, it’s rarely seen in public. Austere is a good word for House Graven and it’s fellows. While physical resources are the obvious power of House Graven, there certainly is a certain power to their superstition.
History
House Graven was founded by Grieg Graven, called the Kingmaker. Graven was granted the duchy after helping found the Eisen Empire, giving resources from his estate in the Osterlind Wilds. The resources from the area were instrumental in providing housing and weapons to the then Monarch Friedrich Albrecht.
House Graven and the Osterlinders were wildly unsupportive of the ducal takeover of Eisen. They vocally opposed the move from the start, preferring to remain under a monarchy. As such Otto Graven, the house head at the time, was assassinated by unknown hands during the ducal takeover. A slightly more progressive house head was put into place afterward.
Vigilans per Mortis
Founding Date
1525
Type
Political, Family
Alternative Names
Graves, Grave Robbers, Glooms
Demonym
Osterlinders
Leader
Subsidiary Organizations
Location