Ilbarych Noble Houses

House Status

A House's rank in Status indicates its place in the feudal hierarchy of the Crowndom.

• Royal House: Status 8. There is only ever one Royal House in Ilbarych at a time, a position often contested for, though few have ever attained it. The Royal House maintains its ancestral domains, though tradition usually puts those domains into the hands of a Seneschal while the Crown is in residence in Crownhold.
• Warden Houses: Status 7. Six of the Great Houses hold Wardenship over one of the realms of the Crowndom. These Wardens are mighty within their own territory, and though not all houses within that territory owe them direct fealty, they speak with the authority of the Crown in their governance of that realm. Of course, Warden Houses can and have been replaced before.
• Great Houses: Status 6. The Great Houses are, in many ways, the true powers of the Crowndom. Any four of them exceed the royal house in terms of wealth and military might – indeed, when previous royal houses have fallen, the next to hold the Crown has always been taken from the Great Houses of the time.
• Lesser Houses: Status 5 - 4. The Lesser Houses make up the majority of the Crowndom's nobility. They are defined by their fealty to one of the Great Houses, most often the Warden House of their realm.
• Landed Houses: Status 3. Technically not considered nobility, the Landed knights straddle the line between knighthood and nobility. Their mastery of the land is usually considered hereditary, so long as their heirs are knights sworn into the service of their liege. From such foundations do new Houses rise.

Crownhold

Domain Royal

• House Ylrath: Royal House • Status 8. Like every other Royal House in Ilbarych's history, House Ylrath hails from a Steelvale domain. They are known for the fine apples and pears of their orchards, and the ciders and perrys made thereby. Unlike their Arret predecessors, the Ylrath Crowns have all favored peaceful resolutions and mediation in dealing with political strife, rather than shows of force.

Steelvale

• House xxx: Warden of Steelvale • Status 7. xxx
• House Caeden: Status 6. A house known as much for its adroitness in intrigue as for its apple brandy, House Caeden's scions have a reputation of being green-thumbed. Blessed with fields of lustre and apiaries that turn that rarity into the finest of honey, and some of the foremost apple orchards in Steelvale, House Caeden's current Head is Lady Octanda, memorable for having wooed a truly remarkable glassblower away from House Arvestal by dint of that artisan falling in love with her, and declaring sworn companionship with the Lady.
• House Ceolfrey: Status 4. A noble House related to the Ilbarych by blood, House Ceolfrey once reigned as the Royal House, after the ruination of House Ilbarych by wealdfolk assassins. In the aftermath, their scions wore the Crown for most of Ilbarych's history, over two hundred years. Unfortunately, the House's blood began to wear thin, wearied by the years of assassinations, infighting, and political strife it took to hold the Crown for all that time. Their last Crown Domerr fell to madness, leading to the Arret Uprising. In the aftermath, House Ceolfrey was permitted to return to their Steelvale domains to live out the rest of their days in obscurity, and obscurity in which they still dwell.

Steel Mountains

• House Vyranthal: Warden of the Steel Mountains • Status 7. A house with a spirit deeply entrenched in the Steel Mountains, the Vyranthal line has always defended the great mountain-gates into the Crowndom. They have produced generations of serious-faced, wide-shouldered knights, and the head of their house is always revered for their battle prowess as well as their bloodline. The current Crown's Consort is a son of House Vyranthal, giving them a very close place to the throne, indeed.

Barrow Hills

• House xxx: Warden of the Barrowhills • Status 7. xxx

Three-Rivers

• House Kylervus: Warden of Three-Rivers • Status 7. Lord Artoran Kylervus is the warden of this realm, and the lord of this House. House Kylervus has extensive mercantile investments, and a close personal alliance with several Habersi trading cohorts. Their domain extends between two of the three rivers of the realm, and their seat, the city Taversil, is arguably the largest trading hub in the Crowndom, possibly including Crownhold itself.
  • House Asterum: Vassal of House Kylervus • Status 4. Arnilather
  • House Atembus: Vassal of House Kylervus • Status 4. xxx
  • House Durwald: Vassal of House Kylervus • Status 4. The lords of Houndsreach are known for the scandal that founded their House, the wines their hilly lands produce, and most recently, the founding of a remarkably high quality military academy.
  • House Filendus: Vassal of House Kylervus • Status 5. Out of the treachery of House Zarovet rose two Houses: House Durwald, after the knight Sir Rigmund Durwald, who warned the Warden of Three-Rivers about Zarovet's treachery, and House Filendus, named for the young toddler Filendus Zarovet, adjudged too innocent to be held responsible for his family's treachery and given a portion of the old Zarovet lands (the other portion of which were made the domain for House Durwald). House Filendus has worked to liberate itself from the actions of its predecessors, although they do maintain a generational animosity with House Durwald. Ostensibly, this has more to do with the stresses of being neighbors than anything to do with their shared origin, but there are some who suggest that the Zarovet blood's grasping, scheming nature seems to have bred true in the Filendus line.
  • House Segmundus: Vassal of House Kylervus • Status 5. Walantar
  • House Stannum: Vassal of House Kylervus • Status 5. Dunhills; A vassal house of House Kylervus, one of the first to settle Three-Rivers. For their loyalty they were given a domain with a silver mine, and for many generations were very wealthy. (On the map, the hilly area near the middle river and the words "Three-Rivers") The silver mine played out however, and even with tin mines the house has been in decline for the last few decades. They have a small castle filled with reminders of past glories, a tin mine, and not much else.
  • House Thielbus: Vassal of House Kylervus • Status 5. Duelvros & Kæmegyn
  • House xxx: Vassal of House Kylervus • Status x. xxx
  • House xxx: Vassal of House Kylervus • Status x. xxx
  • House xxx: Vassal of House Kylervus • Status x. xxx
• House Arilyndus: Status 6. Masters of the port city Trierthan, House Arilyndus are well-known as pirate hunters. Though they do not have quite the same relationship with the Habersi as the Mervandil do, Arilyndus have the respect of the Habersi for their sailing acumen and skills at battle on the waves. House Arilyndus also maintains the most extensive shipyards in Ilbarych.
  • House xxx: Vassal of House Arilyndus • Status x. xxx
  • House xxx: Vassal of House Arilyndus • Status x. xxx
• House Bandergaul: Status 6. Combative and fractious, the Bandergauls seem to have always acted as rivals and opponents to the Wardens, both the Ylarantis originally and the Kylervus after them. They are wealthy and old, their hills rich in silver, iron, and stone, and the family quite conscious of their pride.
  • House xxx: Vassal of House Bandergaul • Status x. xxx
  • House xxx: Vassal of House Bandergaul • Status x. xxx
  • House xxx: Vassal of House Bandergaul • Status x. xxx
  • House xxx: Vassal of House Bandergaul • Status x. xxx
  • House xxx: Vassal of House Bandergaul • Status x. xxx
  • House xxx: Vassal of House Bandergaul • Status x. xxx
• House Elmorei: Status 6. Known as some of most pious of the Great Houses, the lands of the Elmorei and their vassals have always been open to the cloisters of the unctæ and those dedicated to them. Though they have a reputation as folk who put on transcendent airs, their patronage of many covenants and cloisters certainly suggests they are at least mostly genuine in their piety.
  • House xxx: Vassal of House Elmorei • Status x. xxx
  • House xxx: Vassal of House Elmorei • Status x. xxx
  • House xxx: Vassal of House Elmorei • Status x. xxx
  • House xxx: Vassal of House Elmorei • Status x. xxx
  • House xxx: Vassal of House Elmorei • Status x. xxx
• House Gorinmet: Status 6. Lords of the eastern frontier in Three-Rivers, the Gorinmets have a long-standing hatred of the hill-dwelling wrightfolk who still inhabit the lands as yet unclaimed by the lords of Ilbarych. The Gorinmets maintain a brutal policy of awarding bounties on the ears of hill-folk – and more than one observer has noted that there is nothing to separate the folk of the hills from wrightfolk citizens of the Crown in those ears, making these territories a dangerous place for wrightfolk of any political affiliation.
  • House xxx: Vassal of House Gorinmet • Status x. xxx
  • House xxx: Vassal of House Gorinmet • Status x. xxx
  • House xxx: Vassal of House Gorinmet • Status x. xxx
  • House xxx: Vassal of House Gorinmet • Status x. xxx
  • House xxx: Vassal of House Gorinmet • Status x. xxx
  • House xxx: Vassal of House Gorinmet • Status x. xxx
  • House xxx: Vassal of House Gorinmet • Status x. xxx
  • House xxx: Vassal of House Gorinmet • Status x. xxx
• House Maurthos: Status 6. Originally a vassal of the Elmorei, the Maurthos accepted the vassalage of some of the old Zarovet vassals and broke away from their old affiliation with the blessings of the Elmorei, to whom the Maruthos are still very close allies. House Maruthos maintains very close relations with the Guilds – no surprise, considering that the guild-town Canbervale is found in their domain.
  • House Agririus: Vassal of House Maurthos • Status 5. Ithfelion River & Tarphanthyr
  • House Alorian: Vassal of House Maurthos • Status 4. Rondarn; descended from House Orian
  • House Cyrgaunt: Vassal of House Maurthos • Status 5. Æevershore & Sefton
  • House Endicastre: Vassal of House Maurthos • Status 4. A small House in a small domain beside the mouth of the Peakesriver, Endicastre is not particularly noteworthy. Fishing and the raising of livestock form a large portion of their land's wealth, although the lavender fields of old Lady Melietta are well-known for their heady perfume.
  • House Urfandyr: Vassal of House Maurthos • Status 4. Elberoth
  • House Zerindal: Vassal of House Maurthos • Status 5. Damark & Ulifthyr
• House Mervandil: Status 6. Known for their long-standing relationship with the Habersi traders, House Mervandil are deeply invested in trade routes themselves. In a very real way, the Habersi bring goods to Lanceport, the seaside market city of the Mervandil, and the Mervandils get them to the rest of the Crowndom. The Mervandil have married several Habersi into their lineage over the years, and many of its scions are trained in the thin blades of Habersi wave-dancers.
  • House xxx: Vassal of House Mervandil • Status x. xxx
  • House xxx: Vassal of House Mervandil • Status x. xxx
  • House xxx: Vassal of House Mervandil • Status x. xxx
  • House xxx: Vassal of House Mervandil • Status x. xxx
• House Raugynn: Status 6. In the wake of the Ylarantis fall from grace, it was nearly House Raugynn and not House Kylervus who were made Wardens of Three-Rivers. It is generally agreed that only a significant flurry of back-room deals and alliances brought the Raugynn to the side of the Kylervus at the eleventh hour, and in the generations since, it's been clear that the Raugynn scions may regret the concession of their ancestors. Still, the Raugynn are no Bandergauls – they are renowned for their honor and faithfulness, although they have made it clear that their liege needs to be at least as upright as they. In the past, every time they have gone against House Kylervus, it is because of underhanded or shady decisions by the Kylervus that the Raugynn have very clearly noted as being beneath their dignity. The Raugynn town of Tarnthis is regarded as home to some of the finest jewelers in Three-Rivers.
  • House Lynusan: Vassal of House Raugynn • Status 4. Findler
  • House Myreum: Vassal of House Raugynn • Status 5. Bændesk Hills & Timesk
  • House Orian: Vassal of House Raugynn • Status 5. Lhæfthyr
  • House Tarsian: Vassal of House Raugynn • Status 4. Askindyr & Hæsbrovyn
  • House Vorandar: Vassal of House Raugynn • Status 5. Kavorsin & Tarument
  • House xxx: Vassal of House Raugynn • Status x. xxx
  • House xxx: Vassal of House Raugynn • Status x. xxx
• House Sacundi: Status 6. Before the Gorinmets and Tanthelvers were raised and given warrants to expand the borders of the Crowndom, the Sacundi were the newest of the Three-Rivers houses. Though now they have a degree of pedigree above the two upstarts, they also watch with no small degree of envy as the frontiers of the Three-Rivers continue to be pushed to their north and south, and they are starting to feel they have been left out of the benefits of similar expansion westward. Still, there is no one who could question the wealth and power of House Sacundi – the city of Vrylanhill sits beneath some of the richest iron ore-bearing hills in the Three-Rivers, with numerous mines and smelters that funnel that wealth to the rest of the Crowndom down the Crownsroad.
  • House xxx: Vassal of House Sacundi • Status x. xxx
  • House xxx: Vassal of House Sacundi • Status x. xxx
  • House xxx: Vassal of House Sacundi • Status x. xxx
  • House xxx: Vassal of House Sacundi • Status x. xxx
  • House xxx: Vassal of House Sacundi • Status x. xxx
  • House xxx: Vassal of House Sacundi • Status x. xxx
  • House xxx: Vassal of House Sacundi • Status x. xxx
• House Tanthelver: Status 6. The southernmost of the frontier domains, House Tanthelver and their vassals harvest what remains of the great woodlands of the Three-Rivers areas, providing extensive lumber resources to the rest of the realm. The scions of House Tanthelver have a reputation as hunting, wild-ranging woodsmen more comfortable in forest glades than in civilized courts. Still, they cut romantic figures during the Summer Courts, that's for certain.
  • House xxx: Vassal of House Tanthelver • Status x. xxx
  • House xxx: Vassal of House Tanthelver • Status x. xxx
  • House xxx: Vassal of House Tanthelver • Status x. xxx
  • House xxx: Vassal of House Tanthelver • Status x. xxx
  • House xxx: Vassal of House Tanthelver • Status x. xxx
  • House xxx: Vassal of House Tanthelver • Status x. xxx
  • House xxx: Vassal of House Tanthelver • Status x. xxx
  • House xxx: Vassal of House Tanthelver • Status x. xxx
  • House xxx: Vassal of House Tanthelver • Status x. xxx
  • House xxx: Vassal of House Tanthelver • Status x. xxx
  • House xxx: Vassal of House Tanthelver • Status x. xxx
• House Ylarantis: Status 6. The first Wardens of Three-Rivers were House Ylarantis, appointed by Crown Manea Ceolfrey. Unfortunately, the rich lands were a terrible temptation to a great many, leading to numerous charges of corruption by House Ylarantis, taking the sides of Houses who gifted them the most richly. By the time of Crown Serydia Ceolfrey, their grasping ways threatened to embroil Three-Rivers in a storm of small inter-House conflicts. To ensure peace, the Crown stripped House Ylarantis of Wardenship and granted it instead to House Kylervus, a slight which the Ylarantis have never forgotten.
  • House xxx: Vassal of House Ylarantis • Status x. xxx
  • House xxx: Vassal of House Ylarantis • Status x. xxx
  • House xxx: Vassal of House Ylarantis • Status x. xxx

• • House xxx: Vassal of xx • Status x. xxx
• House xxx: xxx
• House xxx: xxx

Greensward

• House xxx: Warden of the Greensward • Status 7. xxx

Northshore

• House xxx: Warden of Northshore • Status 7. xxx

Extinct Houses

• House Ilbarych: The first Royal House of Ilbarych, only three of this House ever wore the Crown, and none for longer than a decade. The years of the Ilbarych Crowns were full of strife and assassination, ultimately culminating in the murder of the entire House by wealdfolk assassins.
• House Arret: Warlike and grasping, the Arrets saw their chance to seize the Crown when the madness of Domerr Ceolfrey became known. Insisting that this weakness was endemic in the Ceolfrey bloodline as a whole, House Arret mobilized their allies and their armies and marched on Crownhold. After the resigned surrender of the Crown, the Arrets were forbidden by their allies to end the Ceolfrey line; they insisted that regicide was a sin unforgivable to their ways, and promised to rise up against the Arrets if they slaughtered Domerr or any of his kin after their surrender. The Arrets remained warlike throughout their reign, frequently choosing military action and personal violence when dealing with their foes. There were only six Arret Crowns – the last, Tyrtannus, was overthrown after his cousin seized a bride from one of the Great Houses by force, and Tyrtannus sided with his cousin's brutality. This would not stand for the other Great Houses, who rose up and overthrew them. The House the young woman was stolen from led this uprising and the young woman herself wore the Crown afterwards.
• House Zarovet: Scheming and power-hungry, the end of Zarovet was brought about by their own ambitions. Planning to rise up and overthrow the Warden of the Three-Rivers, the Zarovets were only stymied in their plots by one of their own household knights, one Sir Rigmund Durwald, who warned the Warden of the treachery. Though Sir Rigmund nearly died in the resulting conflict, the Zarovets were attainted by the Crown in the aftermath, and their lands divided between two new Houses: Durwald, as a reward to Sir Rigmund for his loyalty to Warden and Crown over his direct liege, and Filendus, a House created to give sanctuary to the toddler-age son of House Zarovet who was adjudged innocent of his family's crimes.