The Founding Saga

The following exercise is to be played together with the group founding a Noble House. During the process, everyone gets at least one turn to detail a period of the Houses' history and add bonuses to their Attributes, Distinctions, Skills and Assets.
When your turn comes up and you get to build the House further, you will get to spend Skill advances, Resources or Holdings. Skills are applied directly to the House's skill ratings, which cannot exceed d10 at House creation. Resource advances can be spent on Relationships, Assets or Skill Specialties. Holdings represent tangible lands and the structures on them; a castle, a city, a stretch of farmland, a notable port, etc. Each Holding advance can be spent to create a new Holding with a d6 rating or improve the rating of an already-established Holding by one step, up to a d10.
The Founding Saga is broken up into twelve Phases. During each Phase, answer the questions and assign points to create or step up Attributes, Skills, Distinctions, Resources and Holdings.

1. Founding	Distinction	+1 Skills, +1 Holding
2. Painted Glass and Ancient Stone	+1 Attribute	+2 Skills
3. The Burdens of Leadership	+1 Attribute	+1 Resources, +1 Holding
4. The End of Heawick	+1 Attribute	+1 Skill, +1 Resources
5. The Long Drought		+2 Skill, +1 Resources
6. The War in Ostamber	Distinction	+2 Skill, +1 Holding
7. Bitter Defeat	+1 Attribute	+1 Skill, +1 Resources
8. Symund's Coup	SFX Unlocked	+1 Skill, +1 Holding
9. The Long Peace	+1 Attribute	+1 Skill, +1 Resources
10. The Tambar Rebellion	Distinction	+2 Skill, +1 Holding
11. Aftermath	+1 Attribute	+1 Skill, +2 Resources
12. Present Day	SFX Unlocked	+1 Skill, +1 Resources

1. Founding - Your House was founded centuries ago during the reign of Gilas II, sixth King of Banteave, though it would take many generations for your kin to rise in stature and become one of the Great Houses. What was your House elevated to nobility for? Were you noticed for your heroics on the battlefield? Were you good friends of a ruler granted lands for services rendered? Did you take your seat of power by force, seizing the noble title through blood and iron? Was your House's founder noble or nefarious?
2. Painted Glass and Ancient Stone - Around the time your House was founded, the construction of the Abbey of Painted Glass was completed. According to the Church of the Six Saints, noble investiture must be completed in the light of the Six. However ancient Antari tradition dictates that nobles must utter their oaths as they place their foot upon the Crowning Stone at Crag Ayl. Did your ancestors travel to the Abbey or Crag Ayl to assume their mantle of nobility? Does your family today still pray to The Red Sisters, or do you join the hymns every seventhday in honour of The Six Saints?
3. The Burdens of Leadership - Your family’s lands and holdings expanded over the course of generations. Some neighbours joined their houses to yours through marriage, others sought your protection from their rivals. How did your family rule those sworn to serve them? What was the legacy of the first few generations? What was a notable success? What is remembered as a bitter failure?
4. The End of Heawick - The ruling House of Heawick was always rife with infighting, but their line came to a sudden end when King Arryn II of Heawick was denounced for secretly murdering his father to seize the throne. Did you House honour their vows to Arryn II and stand in his defence, or did you join the chorus of voices calling for his abdication and imprisonment?
5. The Long Drought - The people suffered during several years of bad harvests. How did your family pull together to survive? What strengths did you discover? What means did you take to care for the commonfolk who worked your lands, and how much did they cost you?
6. The War In Ostamber - Desperate to help saving his failing kingdom, King Robern declared war on the neighbouring nation of Ostamber to claim their resources and territory. How did your House serve Robern in the Ostamber invasion?
7. Bitter Defeat - The War against Ostamber ended in a brutal failure, with Banteave's armies routed in the field and scattered across the Backbone. How was your house impacted? What lessons did you learn? To where did you shift your focus? What scars from the failed war does your House carry to this day?
8. Symund’s Coup - With the kingdom on the brink of ruin after the failed invasion of Ostamber, Symund Dillestone lead a rebellion against King Robern to depose the tyrannical, inept monarch. Did you throw your lot in with Dillestone and the rebels or side with the failing Sandoreale king?
9. The Long Peace - Having seized the crown, a long period of peace fell upon the land. Symund alleviated the kingdom’s debts by selling off Sandoreale’s seized coastal holdings to House Luneste. How did your house navigate the long peace? What approach did you take towards the freshly-arrived House Luneste and their foreign customs?
10. The Tambar Rebellion - Ostamber agitators whipped a peasant mob into a formidable force, challenging the authority of the Church and Crown. Eadvard Dillestone III tried to contain the movement but failed, and the Heartlands were wracked with violent insurgency that cost the kingdom dearly. How was your house affected by the conflict? Did you ride to Dillestone’s aid or hunker down and protect your own to ensure the Tambarist ideals didn’t infiltrate your own lands?
11. Aftermath - The reverberations from the Tambar rebellion are still being felt to this day. Many suffered losses, but a few Houses found a way to capitalize on the chaos. Surviving Tambarists have gone to ground, and Church inquisitors comb the hamlets and hillocks of Banteave trying to snuff the last of them out. How did your house fare in the aftermath? What did you do?
12. Present Day - We now find ourselves at a crossroads. The country hangs on a precipice, as the aging Eadvard III finds himself without a suitable heir. In the year after the Rebellion ended, you’ve had time to consolidate your power and position in the political arena of Banteave. How has your house grown?