Wednesday, May 20, 2015

The 13 Meridian Houses (Aristocrats)

When the Tarrasque was first subdued, thirteen ‘immovable’ harpoons were sunk deep into its body, each with a long, thick chain running to an iron anchor sunk magically into stones. As the founders built the fortress Salzinwuun they appointed 13 guardians amongst their most popular and well considered number; each a hero in the binding of the Tarrasque. Each guardian was personally responsible for ensuring that the harpoon in their charge held fast in addition to making arrangements to deal with unforeseen changes.
In the last hundred and fifty years, the status
of these guardians has changed. Their descendants (or in some cases, the original hero) are now referred to as Binder-Lords, each still responsible for ensuring that their harpoon remains secure and keeping the beast chained with the caveat that each now claims the area around their harpoon as their charge to exploit and utilize as they deem fit. This sections of control and responsibility are generally referred to as ‘meridians’ – hence the Binder-Lords and the houses they lead each ‘own’ one of the thirteen meridians.
Authority is transferred via legal 'possession' of one of the magical command words that can unlock their respective meridian harpoon.
Decisions that effect the whole city are made by the council of Binders, and enforced by the various House Militias. Meridian houses 1-3 have been effectively merged into a single family, with the voters always voting the same although their power is negated somewhat by the fact that the other houses fear them and are biased to oppose them for no other reason than to check their influence.
Basic 'publically understood' knowledge about the houses is listed below, while links lead to 'deeper' knowledge of the respective house (including its secrets).
 
House of the 1st through 3rd Meridians 
  • The Houses of the First, Second, and Third are all effectively one, consolidated through political marriages and outright hostile takeovers.
  • Together, these Houses make up the most 'conservative' block.

House of the 4th Meridian
  • (Coming Soon)

House of the 6th Meridian
  • Founded by a warrior adventurer.
  • Has the best trained, most feared militia.
  • Sometimes agitates for war or to otherwise increase Salt in Wound's sphere of influence.


House of the 7th Meridian
  • Founded by a cleric adventurer who converted to worship of Macinfex.
  • This house is extremely devout and are widely admired by the population as they tend to be  most interested in feeding and providing for the poor.
  • Heavily invested in the rebuilding of the Tail Stones district.
  • Many of the 7th house family end up working for (one of) the churches.




House of the 8th Meridian
  • Founded by a Bardish adventurer, this house owns the opera house, gladiatorial arena, and 3 out of the 4 newspapers in Salt in Wounds
  • Interest in importing/attracting more entertainers.
House of the 9th Meridian
  • Founded by sorcerer adventurers, 9th House has an intense rivalry with the other 'magical' aristocrats of 11th House. 

House of the 10th Meridian
  • This house is aggressively insular, mysterious, and largely unknown.
  • All house members wear masks outside of their manor/estate, communicating using only heralds to whom they whisper.
House of the 11th Meridian
  • Founded by wizard adventurers, 11th House runs the magical academy in town.


House of the 12th Meridian
  • Led by Tolviko Marcellun.
  • 12th House in general and its former Binder-Lord in particular are blamed for the 12th Meridian Crisis; for which it is currently paying reparations.
  • Controversially helped create the Marrow Miners to work on extraction (as opposed to simply contracting with the God-Butchers).
  •  Rumored to have ties to organized crime.
  • Currently doing a massive outreach campaign to shift public perception. 

House of the 13th Meridian
  • (Coming Soon)


Like this post? Click one of the share buttons below to let the world know. 

This post made possible by the Salt in Wounds Patreon Supporters: Make more Salt in Wounds happen and become a Patron today.





No comments:

Post a Comment

Popular Posts