Van Markham family
The Van Markham family is a noble family from Nevarra. As a former senate-leading house of Nevarra, the Van Markhams enjoy a privileged status among the Nevarran nobility though they are nowhere near as powerful as they once were.
Structure
Notable Members
Note: † means deceased.- Otto Van Markham †, assassinated on his way to give an inaugural address after he was voted into being the leader of the national senate.
- Tylus Van Markham †, one of Nevarra's best ever generals. Led a coup which usurped the Pentaghast family from their position leading the national senate then took the position for himself, and subsequently his family later in life.
History
In the aftermath of some of the Orlesian-Nevarran territorial battles, General Tylus Van Markham, a hero of the recent campaigns and a man who claimed descent from Kordilius Drakon I, took the opportunity to stir the despondent Nevarran people against the unpopular ruling Pentaghast family. Eventually Tylus Van Markham rallied the Nevarran populous against the Pentaghasts. Senate-Imperator Nestor was murdered, stabbed sixteen times while seated on his throne, and the surviving Pentaghasts fled to Hunter Fell. In the aftermath of the coup, Tylus was crowned Senate-Imperator of the Nevarran national senate.
Under Tylus Van Markham and his successors, Nevarra aggressively expanded westwards into Orlais, changing from a mere city state into a fully fledged nation. During another later assault by Orlesian forces, a cadre of knights known as the Fallen held the line at the Fields of Ghislain against the incursion, which kept Tylus alive long enough for Nevarran forces to retreat. This act is credited as ensuring the survival of the newly carved out Nevarran nation.
After only four of their bloodline taking the position of power, the Van Markham's hold over the national senate ended. The family was given an offer by the Pentaghast family to merge into the Pentaghast family so they would be one single unified power. The Van Markham family agreed.
Since the Van Markhams and the Pentaghasts stepped down from being the two dynasties that basically ruled Nevarra's history, the Divine has instead become Nevarra's political and spiritual guide.
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