DRAKAENE OF SEVENTIS

[bickando 3967]

Drakaene of Seventis

Δρακαινε του Σεβεντις

 

 

A history of the Drakaene family of Rykalos and the greater Seventic peoples, as compiled by David Hevron, 18th Sigismund’s End 1740.

 

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CONTENTS

 I. INTRODVCTION

 II. ANTIQVITY

 III. MODERNITY

 IV. SEVENTIC HERITAGE

 V. THE SEVENTIAD

 

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Battle Standard of the House of Drakaene

 

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 I. INTRODVCTION

 

Those of Seventis are called by various names; those descended from Aurum or Rykalos were called Seventic, while those that were later recruited from wayward travellers were called Seventian. The Drakaene of Seventis trace their lineage to the Seventic founders of Azar, and before that to the Rykalod peoples of the northern Aegisian wastelands. Their sigil, a falcon or upon a field gules, bearing an argent cross in its beak, is said to symbolize the crucifixion of Damien Drakaene upon the Conversion of Seventis for his refusal to bend to Canonist teachings – and the punishment he surely receives in the outermost of the Seven Skies. The golden falcon harkens back to the village of Aurum that began their momentary rise to glory, and the red field their tribulations. Whilst hundreds of years have passed, various traditions and histories have been preserved, or can be inferred from secondary sources. The Drakaene battle-standard, the same as its coat of arms sans its white cross, is similarly symbolic in origin in the belief that holy symbols are not to be sullied by warfare or other mortal dealings.

 

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 II. ANTIQVITY 

 

As an entity, the Seventic ruling class of the Asulonian Kingdom can be traced from among the tribes of Northern Aegis; of those city-states within the wastes, two villages in close proximity would eventually go on to be known as “Seventian”. The first, known as Rykalos and whose people were known as the Rykalod, were said to be descendants of Shona, nation of intermixed Highlanders and Farfolk, and the latter, known as Aurum and whose people were known as the Norjuni, were of common Aegisian Highlander stock. From among the Norjuni was born one Dezios of Vallark [now known to be a somewhat primitive combination of ‘Valley’ and ‘Arch’]. Dezios claimed leadership of the tribe in Aurum and called for a show of strength within those wastes. In the early 1310’s, the Norjuni Invasion of Rykalos began, and by 1320 the Rykalod people are known to have submitted, their chieftain Symod-imi Drakaene laying down his spear. The integration of the Rykalods into the Norjuni, however, would be cut short by the Battle at Aurum, a conflict that disputed sources state occurred between Undead forces and Dezios Vallark’s newly combined tribes, causing the death of the ruler and many of the Rykalod footmen. Their defeat at Aurum forced them to flee south, where in time they would find themselves minor vassals of the Sheffield king of Salvus.

 

In Salvus, the Drakaene diverged from their Norjuni fellows; Edwin Sheffield afforded the clan a set of townhouses and farms, and hired from among them hunters and guards. It would not be until the grandson of Dezios, one Renati Vallark, called upon them personally to found a new settlement that they would rejoin the greater Seventic peoples.

 

Their migration from the Salvian capital of Solace in the mid-1300’s to the outskirts of the Temple Sanctuaries, and thereafter the founding of the towns of Azar [later called Ascella] and Seventis, would cause a rise to power at speeds unseen elsewhere. Whilst such conflicts as Mandarin’s March and the Usurpation of Ascella caused the burgeoning city-state to falter multiple times, and eventually to move their capital from Azar to the newly minted city of Seventis, the Seventic also began to gather international renown. Their alliance with the newly-resurgent Kingdom of Renatus for the legendary Battle of Das Boot would mark the beginning of a golden age for the small kingdom. It is said that silver lined the streets of Old Seventis, its people wove with gold, and that, when called upon by Exalted Godfrey for monetary assistance, a caravan of gems arrived in Abresi not a fortnight later. It was at this time that the Conversion of Seventis occurred, wherein the Vallark dynasts forcefully converted the pagan Seventic ruling class; those that rejected, like Damien the Heathen, were crucified, a punishment later made far more infamous by the White Rose inquisitions.

 

Seventis, however, would not enjoy this era forever. The city of Seventis itself, called Grata in Rykalod, bustled with activity – too much, some began to think. Many among the Seventic nobility called for a new migration, for the beginning of a Seventian Empire in the eastern reaches of Asulon. Renati, young and ambitious, was inclined to agree, and so even as the beginnings of the Holy Orenian Empire could be seen on the horizon, Seventis abandoned its greatest strengths to found the city of Sarun. It was said that Sarun’s walls reached the clouds; historical records note that while this may have been the case, Sarun only ever completed three such walls. The wide savannah they had moved to lacked the necessary mines to construct a new capital in the same quick manner as had been done in Asulon, and soon major issues began to trouble the nation. It was at this time, though, that the Drakaene reached their greatest territorial might; while they had always been the chief generals of the Vallark, they were now given vast swathes of land to rule as near-dictators – within such regions as Somnia, Green Point, and Pine Harbor, bannermen of House Drakaene and the power that the family wielded far outmatched that of the House of Vallark itself. Even in the city and capital province of Sarun, it was said that Symodimi Drakaene controlled the land, Cultor Drakaene the sea, and Renati only the palace.

 

Three primary factors caused the depopulation, and eventual collapse, of the Seventic State. The first was the Subudai War – constant Farfolk raids upon the colonizing nation collapsed the import-export businesses it had so relied upon to thrive in the Sanctuary lands and weakened its military forces. The second was the War at Midnight, a time of political turmoil between the Seventics, traditional leadership and nobility of the nation like the Houses of Drakaene and Centaurum, and the Tyrian, new-blood houses raised to balance against them aided by dark forces, namely Ursolon Ironheart, Relgard Sintel, and the Shade Sister. Culminating in open civil war and causing minor fame for such names as Rhaegal the Cat, Kilgrim ‘Mastersmith’, and Bitazity Shadeslayer, Renati would become a paranoid mess, angry at both the new houses and old and causing political stagnation within the kingdom. The final, and most famous, was the Doom of Seventis, known more widely as the Asulonian Plague. Thought to have originated from Subudai merchants, and, perhaps more often, raiders, the Seventic population was decimated, reduced to but a tenth of its former size. Among the earliest casualties was King Renati, and the majority of the original Seventic people would meet their end along with him.

 

As Seventis fell, so too did its ability to defend itself – the power of both the royalist and vassal banners greatly diminished, Exalted Godfrey’s vassals became able to make demands. A force of Flay horsemen delivered the letter that would seal the nation’s fate – bend the knee to Godfrey, or face war. Young Aerios, son of Renati, accepted, and, never coronated, pledged his servitude to a land he had never seen. His sister, Rose, became Exalted Godfrey’s second wife, and he was allowed to keep the destitute Sarunyr wastes as the Duchy of Norjun.

 

The Drakaene, once first among Vallark vassals and commanders of seven fortresses, would suffer the same fate as their homeland; the vast majority would be executed in the years thereafter for some perceived treason during the time of the Plague of Asulon, and the rest would cling desperately to the traditions of their homeland. Their commanderies slowly depleted of manpower, the House fell to infighting until the House of Vallark had enough power to banish them entirely from the already-crippled Duchy of Norjun. The Drakaene banner forces evaporated and, over time, their name disappeared from the annals of Orenian history.

 

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 III. MODERNITY

 

A minor barley-farming and mercantile family that tended Helena Fields prior to the Protectorate Era in Arcas, the Drakaenes have recently been displaced. Their scion, Odoaker, was afforded a Vessian education by his bread-merchant father, but little else other than history books, bedtime stories, and legends.

 

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Coat of Arms of the Kingdom of Seventis, circa 1370

 

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 IV. SEVENTIC HERITAGE

 

Black hair, pale skin, and green eyes are trademark features of the Rykalod Seventians, and such is reinforced within the Drakaene lineage. Idolatrous worship of both Saints and the Creator, traditions of bygone, pagan rituals, are not unheard of, and the flamboyant excesses of the Seventic Rise never quite left the family; purchase of jewelry and silks over perhaps more necessary items is common. The integration of the Seventic peoples over time, however, has long corroded more proper cultural aspects; the same food, the same speech, and the same writing is shared with the average Heartlander.

 

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 V. THE SEVENTIAD

 

A collection of the names of historical Seventic figures, the Seventiad details all those of Seventic descent, or of the Kingdom of Seventis in antiquity, that had previously achieved notable deeds. Uniquely, the Seventic leadership all died grisly deaths. This phenom, known as the Curse of Seventis, plagues them to this day.

 

DEZIOS ‘OF AURUM’ OF THE HOUSE OF VALLARK

 

United the original Seventic peoples. Shot in the back and ripped to pieces in battle against feral undead. Seventic-Norjuni.

 

RENATI I OF THE HOUSE OF VALLARK, KING OF SEVENTIS

 

First and last king of Seventis in Asulon. Died in the Doom of Seventis, plague-stricken and alone. Seventic-Norjuni.

 

ROSE OF THE HOUSE OF VALLARK OF AMEDAIUS, SECOND WIFE OF EXALTED GODFREY

 

Daughter of Renati and second wife of Exalted Godfrey. Locked in a tower and starved to death by Horen V ‘the Black’. Seventic-Norjuni.

 

SYMODIMI THE YOUNGER OF THE HOUSE OF DRAKAENE, COMMANDER OF AURUM, GRATA AND SARUN

 

Right hand of Renati. Beheaded, drawn, quartered, and his remains fed to the wolves by White Rose soldiery after the Doom. Seventic-Rykalod.

 

DAMIEN THE HEATHEN OF THE HOUSE OF DRAKAENE, COMMANDER OF AZAR

 

Chief architect and quartermaster of Seventis. The first to be crucified during the Conversion of Seventis, pecked to death by ravens. Seventic-Rykalod.

 

DIMATRIK OF THE HOUSE OF DRAKAENE, COMMANDER OF URSAKAR

 

General of Seventis and primary commander of its armies before the Doom. Beheaded, drawn, quartered, and his remains fed to the wolves by White Rose soldiery after the Doom. Seventic-Rykalod.

 

BITAZITY OF THE HOUSE OF DRAKAENE, COMMANDER OF SOMNIA

 

General of Seventis and commander of Seventic forces in the War at Midnight. Eyes gouged out and bashed to death with a blunt sword after the Doom. Seventic-Rykalod.

 

URSOLON ‘OF TYR’ IRONHEART, LORD OF FAIRFIELD

 

Commander of Tyrian forces in the War at Midnight. Slain by red-masked marauders outside his home and eaten by shadows. Seventian-Heartlander.

 

ARIANA OF THE HOUSE OF GRACCHI, DUCHESS OF AUVERGNE

 

Famed statesman and among the progenitors of the House of Valois. Lost all power to her Guivret rivals, her son forced into a lesser union, and disappeared in a ‘hunting accident’. One son also disappeared, the other found torn to pieces in gruesome fashion. Seventian-Auvergnat.

 

MARKUS OF THE HOUSE OF POWELL, LORD OF ANDROMEDA

 

Usurper of Azar. Declared himself King of Andromeda before being usurped himself by Jullius of Ascella. Seventian-Heartlander.

 

JULLIUS ‘OF ANDROMEDA’, LORD OF ASCELLA

 

Lord of Ascella, Queller of the Fairfield Rebellion. Limbs pulled from body by Ursolon of Tyr before being fed alive to the hounds. Seventian-Heartlander.

 

NIKATIEN DRAKAENE, CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVIST

 

Quickly garnered support for a Seventian Rights Lobby, putting a bill to vote before disappearing. Body found bloated in a nearby stream the next day, and bill unanimously struck down. Seventic-Rykalod.

 

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[[For forum posterity. This all happened in RP, including the Aegis and Asulon sections, and also including the horrible deaths.]]