New Noble Houses
This describes four new Houses available for Seelie, Unseelie, and Merfolk characters. Enjoy!
House Bukura
Of the recent Unseelie Houses to emerge from Arcadia in exile, House Bukura is one of the most noble. It is also one of the few noble Houses that maintained (or at least, reestablished) links to humanity. Based originally out of the Balkans of Eastern Europe, particularly Albania, their imperious nature earned them little love from their fellow fae. They proved to be heavy-handed and commanding rulers, demanding and expecting obedience. Of course, House Bukura grew in a region known for dark and brutal circumstances. The conflicts of humanity aside, werewolves and vampires both helped to make the stakes of these nobles living hells.
So it’s no wonder that House Bukura turned to religion for strength within and without. To this day, House Bukura is one of the few faerie agencies that actually promotes and accepts organized religion. This doesn’t mean they’re stodgy and lost in the Banality of ecclesiasticism. Indeed, like their mortal neighbors, House Bukura maintains an open mind toward all religion. Catholicism and Islam are both accepted, though a family within House Bukura will only follow one of the two religions. They do not denounce the rest of their House because of religious proscription. After all, even for these fae, religion comes second to their faerie natures and responsibilities.
Their faith might seem to make the Bukura a more compassionate and thus more Seelie households. But the bitterness of ages of conflict from before the Shattering, and renewed struggle on their return, keeps them in the shadows. Still, their strength comes from their defiance of the evil that threatens their holdings and friends. Thus, the Shadow Court shelters very few Bukura nobles, due to their religions upbringing and disdain for the monsters with which the Shadow Court associates. It’s that aloof pride that drew many Unseelie Trolls to the Bukura banner – dark Trolls who uphold their own brand of honor and refuse to become hulking ogres for the Shadow Court.
Their faith puts the Bukura at odds with most fae, Seelie and Unseelie. The Kithain tend to nurse a dislike of religion due to the Crusades and Inquisition, which brought many witch-hunts to the circles of the fae. The Bukura argue that any losses the fae suffered at the hands of the church might have been averted if they built castles on their sacred circles like the Bukura did!
The blazon of House Bukura is gules, two rampant inverse griffins sable on a chief sable cross argent and decrescent or. (A silver cross and silver crescent moon on a black field above two black griffins facing opposite ways, rearing up on their hind legs, on a red background.)
Boon: Members of House Bukura embrace both their faith and a strong, forceful rule. This translates to a –1 difficulty on Intimidation rolls; Intimidation rolls can never be botched when used in lieu of Leadership. They also receive a –2 difficulty on Reverie rolls when they have the very rare opportunity to harvest Glamour from a person of True Faith. Despite this, most fae of House Bukura are too domineering and high-handed to ever gain True Faith of their own.
Flaw: Most Kithain have an innate dislike of the Bukura, and these nobles suffer a +1 difficulty on all rolls (except Intimidation) when dealing with other fae. The few non-Bukura who maintain non-pagan religious beliefs do not engender this penalty. Certain Prodigals were involved in bloody feuds with House Bukura before the Shattering, and may remember their old enemies.
Exile: During the Second Resurgence, the sidhe of House Bukura were hurtled to Earth because of their clinging to mortal religions even in Arcadia. High Lord Dheut and Lady Detit reside in their grand castle overlooking the Adriatic Sea and rule the surrounding land with iron fists. Ironically, they embody their religious unity by honoring both Christian and Muslim faiths in their halls and encouraging celebrations of both religions’ holy days. The grandeur with which those holidays are honored can shine with more Glamour than pagans would like to admit. After all, the religions themselves are not stodgy and Banal.
Though most Bukura are found only in the Balkans even today, some have immigrated to America and sought service with other worthy lords or to set up their own households. Wise nobles seek Bukura out for their connection to mortal society (and the fact that, unlike House Liam, House Bukura is not oathbroken.)
House Keshalyi
Most Sidhe never deigned humanity worth mingling with. A few lovers were taken here and there, but few nobles embraced mankind at whole – or at least an entire race of humans. House Keshalyi is the exception. For thousands of years, these Sidhe have been close allies, even interbreeding with, the Romani people more commonly known as Gypsies. The mingled bloodlines led to the rise of the Urmen family of Roma, who travel the globe and spread their own brand of fey mischief.
Of course, the Keshalyi were forced to abandon their Urmen friends during the Shattering. But the Urmen kept their stories close, and most Urmen are also Kinain to the Keshalyi even today. The Keshalyi are a good folk, and largely Seelie, but they also stay quite reclusive. Due to mainstream’s society mistrust of the Romani, this attitude also translated to the Keshalyi. Thus, they stay away from most other Kithain, too.
Unlike most noble houses, they are nobility based on blood and family lineage rather than freeholds. This is due to House Keshalyi’s lack of holdings; they travel as much as their Urmen brethren. Not all Romani travel, and some settle down. And though the Keshalyi dwelled in Arcadia for centuries, they kept their mingled bloodlines pure. Even today, most Keshalyi have a little Gypsy blood in their veins.
So like the Urmen, the Keshalyi do travel. Indeed, they must travel, due to an ancient curse levied on their line (brought on by their mingling with humans). It helped that House Keshalyi and the Urmen once mingled regularly with certain Satyr tragos. Now some of the highest-ranked members of the house are fauns, and this helps bridge the distance between noble and commoner.
The blazon of House Keshalyi is sable, a lotus wheel gules between five pentacles vert. (A red spoked wheel between five green pentacle stars on a black background.)
Boon: These fae only suffer Banality’s Curse if they linger in the same place (town, city, et cetera) for more than a month at a time. They do not suffer the same stigma most Sidhe do because of the Accordance War. The Keshalyi did not participate in that, of course, nor ever engender such animosity even before the Shattering. Of course, most commoners don’t know about this mysterious House, and will judge a Sidhe to be a Sidhe if otherwise ignorant. Keshalyi also gain one automatic success on any Wayfare cantrip, provided they use some element of Romani lore or trappings in the Bunk.
Flaw: If one of these fae lingers too long in a place, not only do she begin to suffer Banality’s Curse (even for a non-Sidhe), no form of Epiphany will yield Glamour for the changeling. Furthermore, other nobles only nominally trust or even consider the Keshalyi to be noble. They suffer a +1 difficulty on Social rolls with other nobles.
Exile: House Keshalyi is thought to have volunteered to return to Earth to reconnect with their Urmen brethren. Queen Ana dwells in a castle in the sky, where she weaves tales through the Dreaming to pass onto both her faerie and mortal heritage. It’s though the House’s resistance to Banality derives from Queen Ana’s suffering at the hands of a Fomorian in ancient times. Other stories suggest she was captured by a vampire lord, which brought on the enslavement of certain Romani peoples in the Balkan fiefdoms. But the fact that Ana was forced to have children with her captor tends to rule out the vampire story (though others insist the children were dhampirs). Regardless, Ana escaped and is alive and well, and far too powerful for any monster to easily overcome her today. That strength empowers the rest of the house in the face of prejudice and Banality.
House Tyche
Hailing from a line of Sidhe that long ago dwelled in or near Greece, House Tyche ranks among the most capricious nobles of all. They are markedly Unseelie in their carelessness and whimsical, often selfish, attitudes. Their talent at manipulating the small threads of dan, more frequently called “luck” or “fortune”, makes them valuable soothsayers. Some work for Unseelie lords and the Shadow Court, while many serve themselves. Since returning from Arcadia, most are bent on amassing new fortunes of wealth and dross. Unlike other Unseelie, the Tyche openly and greedily hoard Glamour, making no pretense of “freedom”. Freedom, they argue, is the whim to do what one wishes with what one has. Thus, not surprisingly, Tyche like to put on a good show, and will spend (often wastefully) for such occasions.
Despite their Unseelie nature, they confess no loyalty to any court. Individual Tyche nobles can be found serving any lord – if they choose to serve anyone but themselves, that is. Only shrewd nobles would take in Tyche advisors, due to the mischief they often leave in their wake.
The blazon of House Tyche is per fess nebuly, vert and argent, scales or and laurel counterchanged between two cornucopias gules. (Golden merchant’s scales on a green background above a wreath of green laurel between two red horns of plenty on a silver field.)
Boon: Nobles of House Tyche can affect fortune on a small, occasional scale. Once per Story (month), a Tyche can invoke this luck. This takes the form of affecting a dice roll. He can cancel a single “1” (botch) from any roll he or another person makes. Alternatively, he can invoke a curse, adding a “1” to any single roll of his choice. This blessing or curse can be invoked after the subject has made a roll. This is a limited effect of Glamour. Any further meddling of luck must be made with Soothsay. Additionally, as a matter of course, all Tyche nobles begin with at least one level of Resources (this is considered a free bonus).
Flaw: Due to the mercurial nature of the fae, and with this House’s mythical connection to capricious Greek deities amplifying this attitude, no Tyche can stand an insult. Any perceived mistreatment or slight must be answered in kind. The Tyche suffers a +1 difficulty to all rolls until he defends his honor (whether the insult was imagined or intended or not).
Exile: There are many reasons that House Tyche was kicked out of Arcadia, and most of them were well deserved. But these nobles, and their High Lord Vortumna, were quite eager to return to Earth. This is where real success was to be found; Glamour was only part of it all!
House Undine
House Undine remains one of the rarest noble families today, for they represent the Merfolk of freshwater – rivers, lakes, and ponds. Until the modern era, the Undine were virtually unknown outside of Europe, where they hid from land-dwelling fae and the ocean-going mer alike. They have since spread to the Americas and Australia, too.
The Undine’s relations with other merfolk tend to be shaky at best. The Melusine feel the Undine went too far, the Lorelei are disgusted, and the Syrinx disavow that the Undine are real merfolk at all. Undine form smaller enclaves instead of the grand cities that the other merfolk can afford in the deep seas. They avoid contact with all other fae except when absolutely necessary.
Lacking the problems now facing the oceanic merfolk, the Undine are largely content to keep things as they are. Despite that outlook, the Undine are fair, good-spirited, and decent as far as merfolk go. Legend has it that the first Undine derived from a mermaid’s love for a mortal man so deep that she abandoned the sea for the rivers, and adapted to life in freshwater.
The Apsaras of the Undine are frequently pikes, catfish, carp, freshwater dolphins, and even certain amphibians and reptiles, like turtles and frogs. They interact infrequently with other mer, but do not trust land dwellers much either. Most Undine spend their days in secluded relaxation. Lately, other mer have been recruiting their cousins to aid in the ocean-dwellers’ growing problems. The Melusine broached most contact. So far the Undine have proven wary but receptive. Even if it means embracing their cousins’ worries, they look forward to reconnecting with their race after centuries of isolation.
Boon: Because they have more frequent interaction with folk of the land, Undine find it easier to affect mortals with Glamour. The difficulty to affect any mortal (whether casting a cantrip or enchanting) is always lowered by one.
Flaw: Undine Merfolk are tied to freshwater locales. They can endure saltwater or prolonged periods on dry land, but only for one day per point of Willpower. Afterward, they gain one point of temporarily Banality per day of estrangement from any large body of freshwater. (“Large” qualifies as any body of water in which the mer can be immersed fully in his fae mien.) Man-made reservoirs are sufficient for a dip but scarcely comfortable (most are concrete tubs of Banality).
Merfolk of East Asian Waters
While the Mer all over the oceans of the globe share similar metaphysical characteristics, their politics tend to vary in relation to the peoples of the land. Their culture and histories certainly vary! In China, the Mer are called the Di while Japan refers to them as ningyo. Most cultures have their own terms for the Merfolk. The Houses do not change (at least in Boons/Flaws and typical Apsaras), but the names like the histories, legends, and myths, do:
House Syrinx becomes House Eienyu.
House Melusine becomes House Suvanna.
House Lorelei becomes House Sowaka.
House Undine becomes House Hirogawa in Japan, House Lingyu in China.
