House of Kovachev

[6xdestroyer 1610]

Ungarischer Tantz

 

HOUSE OF KOVACHEV

‘By Right of Flame’

 

((Huge shout out to @seannie for compiling this))

 

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House Standing

 

The House Kovachev is a masterly Raevir House, claiming their descent as a cadet branch of the Great House of Carrion. Originally founded by Kovac Karovic, Lord of Kovachgrad, literally ‘Kovac’s Hold’ in the tongue of ancient Raev. Once ruling as Kings and Dukes in their own right, they now stand as Baronal Lords of Kvaz and loyal vassals to the Kingdom they helped found of Hanseti-Ruska; faithful bannermen to their Karovic cousins in the Royal House of Barbanov, the rightful Heirs to the Black Barbov, Exalted Sigismund, and Karl I.

 

Standing Patriarch- Jan Kovachev III

 

 

Direct Family

 

Yuri Kovachev 

Hana Kovachev 

Sergei Kovachev

Dima Kovachev 

Vasili Kovachev 

Mikael Kovachev 

Chesna Kovachev 

Anselm Kovachev

 

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House Holding

 

The Duchy of Carnatia - Carnatia has been the ancestral title of House Kovachev for centuries - the title having been founded by Otto Sarkozic as a reward for his service to John I of House Horen. It would later be inherited by Jan Kovachev, starting the Kovac rule over Carnatia. It is synonymous with the Kovachev name, though it currently is not in their possession. 

 

The Barony of Kvaz - Positioned on a strategic hill overlooking the Capital of Haense’s countryside, Kvaz allows the Kingdom, and consequently, House Kovachev, the ability to exert influence on the Imperial Highways of the Rubernian Intersection. The land is rich in agriculture, the nearby River of Ruben granting fertile soil for the Barony, which has also led to the revival of the famous Kovac equine husbandry, with much of Haense’s Cavalry being supplied by House Kovachev.

 

House Titles

 

King of Akovia (Formerly)

Duke of Carnatia (Formerly, Active Claimant)

Count of Karovia (Formerly)

Count of Turov (Formerly, Haense)

Barony of Kvaz (Primary, Haense)

Barony of Kovagrad (Active, Imperial)

Count of Ayr (Formerly)

 

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~ Artists rendering of Akovia under Varon I ~

 

ANCIENT HISTORY

BY

ALIN KOVACHEV THE BROKEN, 1400s

 

During the time of old Raev, the Carrion Vochna had firmly cemented its rule over the surrounding provinces and all of the area inhabited by the Raevir people from their newfound capital of Khazav. However over the generations there had been a single, unrelenting thorn in the side of House Carrion - that was to say House Nzech, who Barbov the Black had originally rebelled against and deposed, claiming Raev for himself, his sons and grandsons until the end of time. The present line of House Nzech was in fact descended from a lesser first cousin of the monarch who Barbov had deposed, who had bent the knee to the rebel forces in return for his head and his family’s castle, Ralich, and all its attendant lands.

 

Barbov did reluctantly spare his line, however as a consequence of this, after generations had passed and Barbov had become a cold corpse in the ground, House Nzech began to speak once more about their ‘ancient rights’ to Raev and their supposed superior claim to the realm. This talk eventually took root in the courts of a number of feudal lords and slowly gained leverage in the realm until it culminated in a rebellion from House Nzech, whose lord proclaimed himself the Stone King from the mountainous border territories surrounding Ralich.

 

This was not the first instance of House Nzech’s defiance, and would, as any learned Raevir historian knows, sadly not be the last. King Timov I, himself the great-grandsire of the ‘Old Crow’ Emperor Siegmund, sent his young and brazen nephew Kovac to raise a cohort from across the realm and put down the Stone King’s rebellion. The young lord did just that and marched through the mountain passes to the stronghold of Ralich, laying siege to the fortress. Ralich was reputed as being unconquerable and highly defensible, and the Stone King’s forces merely hid behind their walls avoiding all combat, endeavouring to sap their assailants reinforcements. Unfortunately Kovac had a similar idea, and while his own forces could be consistently replenished and supplied by King Timov’s host, the Stone King had no such luxury and was to be starved out of his castle.

 

The lengthy siege lasted for ten and a half months after which the Stone King, trapped in his castle, decided he would sally forth and see what damage he could do to his besiegers. His cohort was utterly destroyed by Kovac’s forces and he himself was slain by Kovac in single combat, who was said to have cut him in twain with a single arc of his bardiche. His sole child and heir, Lyudmila, crowned herself from within the halls of Ralich the Stone Queen. The Stone Queen’s servants, incited by her castellan, were less than loyal to her and understood from past example what became of those who continued to oppose the dynasty of the Crow. They yielded the fortress and delivered her to Kovac trussed and hooded.

 

As a reward for his exceptional service in the Siege of Ralich, King Timov granted his nephew Ralich and its surrounding territories which became known as Kovachgrad or Kovac’s Hold. Taking up a role as warden of the mountain passes, Kovac firmly entrenched himself within the Stone King’s old fortress, marrying Lyudmila the Stone Queen and subsequently creating House Kovachev, a cadet branch of House Carrion, taking for his sigil a feral red griffin on a black field, one of the many hardy beasts that resided in the mountains surrounding Ralich. House Nzech may have been dispossessed and pronounced extinct, but while the Stone King’s line was absorbed into House Kovachev when its patriarch wed the Stone Queen, many more and lesser lines of the house existed. Like a weed, House Nzech is known for being very difficult to eradicate, as while treasonous their roots ran deep. Descendants of the Nzechonovic dynasty are rumoured to still exist to this day.

 

From their position in the ore-rich mountains, House Kovachev had become a house of industrious repute with famed metalwork and jewellery, their smiths and furnaces producing fine artisan works. Despite this, however, the house remained poor due to the almost complete lack of arable land in the mountains, preventing Kovachgrad from growing its own food with the exception of a few sparse berries in the boreal forests. As a result of this, fire had become a more integral part than usual in the life of the communities ruled over by Kovachev, allowing their livelihood of metals and weaponry to be produced and providing them with warmth and the hearthfire that sustained them.

 

 

~ Jan Kovachev leading the Carnatian hussars at the landing of Seaholm 1543 ~

 

MODERN HISTORY

BY

MIKAEL KOVACHEV THE CHAMPION, 1747

 

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Modern history for the Kovachevs begin in the chaos that is the aftermath of the Orenian Exodus of the Anthos, when the House of Carrion was securing its rule over the remnants of Humanity. Returning to the rule of their Parent House as humble servants and soldiery experts. The Empire of the Carrions would rise and wane, finding their apex with the Exalted Sigismund, but with His passing, the basis for their fall from grace was put into motion. 

 

As Anthos was destroyed by cataclysmic floods, Humanity fled through portals found throughout Anthos, landing themselves into a new land which they dubbed ‘The Fringe’ alongside the other Descendants. It was within these years that Andrei Kovachev attempted to play his hand at politics, petitioning for his noble status to be reinstated by the King of Crows, Franz Carrion. Though it was short lived, as Franz would be murdered in an act of regicide carried out by his own kin, Ailred of House Ruthern and his Order of Decturem, alongside the Order of Saint Lucien. 

 

The betrayal left Ruska fractured, but not defeated, the Decturem were reorganized, and Ailred ousted by his own - the Kovachevs readied themselves for the storm to arrive. And arrived it did. Sensing weakness in their Human Rivals, the Grand Kingdom of Urguan summoned its Dwarven Legions, punching deep into the Heartland of Ruska, and eventually laying siege to the last remnant of Carrion Rule, Mount Augustus.

 

Overconfidence and hubris brought Urguan to its knees however, for in a spectacular display of martial prowess the remnants of Ruska held their ground. With invaders beaten back, Andrei Kovachev relished in the victory he had partaken in, but with the Carrion line having gone near extinct, he found no other Crow Lord he could serve, and so, as humanity reformed into the Second Empire under the jurisdiction of House Chivay, the Kovachev name once again fell into obscurity.

 

House Chivay however, was built upon weak foundations, founded upon the titanic personalities of the Chivay Brothers, and so, as Peter I of House Chivay passed into the Seven, Robert I inherited an incredibly tumultuous Empire. He was later deposed in the Vibian Coup, which saw the restoration of House Carrion to its Imperial Throne. With The Fringe ravaged by endless wars, the Descendants fled for the newfound continent of Athera, and once again reformed into their respective nations, with the Carrion Empire reigning supreme. Peace would last until the birth of Alexander Carrion. 

 

Alexander was the final blow to the Carrion Vochna, his inexperienced and lofty attitude to the matters of rulership left him deposed and exiled at a young age, but with no heirs to take his place, the Empire fell into disorder, birthing forth The Kingdoms of Renatus, Oren, Akovia and Aesterwald, along with other minor realms into the Schism War. Oren would soon be captured by Renatus, making House Kovachev flee to Akovia, from where Voron Kovachev would be elected to Kingship. As if cursed by the Crown he wore, Voron’s tenure as King would be ended abruptly as he fell into a fit of madness, and found himself deposed and executed by Arik of House Vanir. Voron had ensured that the Kovachev name was smeared and cursed for the foreseeable future.

 

Akovia was then reformed under the reign of Andrik Vydra, which saw Akovia’s rise as a major power. The Schism War ends in his terms, Aesterwald and Renatus is destroyed, and he restores the Capital of Petrus, reforming in the Third Kingdom of Oren. Andrik is assassinated shortly after in a plot orchestrated by High Elves paranoid of Humanity’s newfound hegemony over Athera, and having left no heirs, Olivier of House de Savoie is elected to the Throne.

 

Late into Olivier’s Reign, with Humanity now having settled the fertile lands of Vailor, the Duke’s War is initiated when the King’s subordinates murders members of House Vladov without any repercussions. The forces of the Duchies of Adria, Haense, and Vanaheim raise their forces in an act of rebellion against the Crown of Ashford. The famed Jan Kovachev, known well by his moniker “John the Old”, is introduced into this era of chaos, son of Mad King Voron Kovachev and Anne Ruthern.

 

Responsible for the state House Kovachev finds itself in present times, Jan Kovachev had humble beginnings at first; serving the Savoyards rather than his Karovic Cousins, for King Olivier accepted his service despite his father straining his familial name. Jan proved to be a competent officer during his engagement against his Adrian counterpart, decisively winning victories to his names and earning himself a small fortune. He was responsible for the defense of Northern Savoy against Adrian incursions. Commended for his part in the Battle of Blackwald and later the Siege of Barrowyck, Jan is granted his own fief to rule, land taken from the Duchy of Haense in the North by his own self, named Valwyck. With the War now over, Jan is granted the opportunity to secure his lands and make a name for himself, his station further upgraded to Count, and his title renamed to Kvaz.

 

The Savoyardic Rule would not last long however, for during the infamous Polycarp Plot, the Horenic Restoration begun. Olivier’s heir, now King, Guy de Bar, is assassinated, and the Ashford Rule usurped. The House of Horen is returned to its rightful throne after over a century of absence, the Kingdom of Oren reformed into an Empire once more. Jan is informed of the Polycarp Plot prior to its enactment, and is the first of the Orenian Nobles to swear fealty to Emperor John of Horen. Jan’s vassalage was transferred to the rule of Otto Sarkozic, the newly risen Duke of Carnatia and close friend. Under Duke Otto Sarkozic, Jan served in the Holy Order of the Black Sepulchres where he became a Knight of the Ashen Urn and was granted the Ashen Urn of Damon the Squire by His Holiness, Everard II, on the eleventh of the Grand Harvest in the one-thousand four hundred seventh Year Since the Creation of Horen the Father. The family still holds the relic and it is an item of great pride.

 

The ambition of the Emperor did not stop at his restoration however, and his forces moved to counter the Dwarven Invasion into his Empire, commencing the Eighteen Year’s War. It was during the Eighteen Years War that Jan found room to demonstrate his clear martial aptitude from previous experience. Attending court regularly, Jan was responsible for saving John I’s life from assassins a rumoured eight times and was granted rights afforded to few others for his loyalty. His loyal service and close proximity quickly led to Jan and John I becoming close friends, often engaging in conversations regarding the war long into the night. After commanding numerous victories, Jan was promoted to Imperial Admiral and was sent across Vailor to levy and construct ships for the Rurikid War. Jan’s most notable victory during this time is the naval battle at Dogger’s Bay which repelled Rurikid and their Nortruppen levies from the very walls of the imperial capital, Felsen.

 

Having decimated Nortruppen naval forces, Jan was tasked with leading the Sack of Seaholm of which Jan was the first over the walls of the coastal stronghold and first to shout victory over the burning streets of the city. Having proved his worth, Jan is promoted to the position of Imperial Field Marshal, responsible for the defenses of the Empire, and eventually the offensive fortifications into Urguanite Territory. In the process of the War, the Isle of Avar, and much of central Vailor is conquered by the Imperial Forces, but are stopped from continuing further as the Emperor is forced to retreat to deal with unrest in the heartland. Jan, forced to return to Carnatia due to increasing hostilities with its Southern neighbor Courland, ultimately left John I on the frontlines, where John would die an untimely death, falling off of his horse and drowning in a river crossing in the treacherous terrain of Aerochland.

 

With the Coronation of John the Second, a tense peace is established throughout Vailor, which during this time, grants Jan to establish himself as the Duke of Carnatia during a succession crisis following the death of his grandson, Stephan Sarkozic, then Duke of Carnatia. It was during this time that Jan began constructing wayshrines across the Orenian Empire, constructing and funding an estimated three-hundred holy shrines for prayer alongside all major roads. With newfound influence at his disposal, Jan builds up Carnatia’s levy and attracts the service of Petyr Barbanov and his retinue, a descendant of Aleksandr Carrion and the first Patriarch of House Barbanov, Karl the First. Both Jan and Petyr had been long time inseparable friends having served as battle compatriots in numerous sieges during the Rurikid Rebellion. With the two combining their forces, they established the Golden Corps which aimed to serve and protect the descendents of Carrion and the highlanding peoples; it was not long before they were put to use. The newly established Duchy of Courland stole the title of Krakens Watch from the House Vanir after pushing the Vanir Patriarch down a flight of stairs. This began a period of tensions that ultimately would result in the battle of Curon Forest where Carnatian cavalry suffered not a single casualty and slew an estimated force of 2,400 opposing horsemen, leading to a glorious victory for Carnatian forces. Ultimately the war against the newly established Duchy of Courland for their crimes against the highlander people, lead to a decisive and swift crushing of the House Staunton, sacking their Capital and returning with untold amounts of wealth.

 

In his old age, Jan abdicates not to his own son, but his friend and comrade for life, Petyr Barbanov, giving birth to the idea of a unified Highlander People. The Duchy of Carnatia is renamed into the Duchy of Haense, and Petyr acquires the Crowns of both Hanseti and Ruska, his inheritance to Carrion Legacy legitimized even further. Kovachev continues to serve Haense, but as Counts. During this time, Vailor is inflicted by a devastating plague perpetrated by Orcish Shamans and their wicked Gods, sending the Descendants to flee from Vailor and into the Isles of Axios.

 

During the fledgling days of Axios, the Imperial Crown, with John the Third as its incumbent Emperor, is petitioned by the Highlandic Population of Haense led by Petyr Barbonov to be granted the titles of the Kingdoms of Hanseti and Ruska which were in the Emperor’s control. The Emperor acquises after a tense moment in the Imperial Palace of Johannesburg, and the people rejoice. House Kovachev is returned to its landed status as Counts of Turov under Sergei the First, while House Barbanov sets itself to establish a newfound Crownlands in the North of Axios.

 

During the Reign of Petyr, the Haeseni people rose to even further prestige, far shadowing any other Imperial Vassals in terms of economy, military, and quality of life. Sergei established the first traditions of cavalry and other equine matters of the Kingdom, giving rise to the famed Haeseni Hussars. Following Petyr’s death to dysentery, his son Andrik the Second inherited the throne, and Haense experienced another short reign, as Andrik was executed for his attempts to rebel against the Empire, Sergei and his Hussars capturing Andrik in the midst of his travels and extraditing their King to the Emperor for judgement.

 

Following Andrik’s death, his son, Marius the First, inherited the Throne as an infant, allowing House Kovachev to continue to secure its influence over the Kingdom, tying themselves into many aspects of the Government. Sergei continues to rule as the de facto controller of Haense until his mysterious death, in which his son, Henrik Kovachev inherited the Turov. Henrik is remembered for the restoration of his familial title, the Duchy of Carnatia, as well as his modest Chancellorship under King Marius. His rule over Carnatia ended as he was murdered by his own vassal, soldiers of House Brawm under their Lord, Hektor.

 

With this blatant act of rebellion, House Kovachev under the inheritor, Sergei the Second, brought upon House Brawm the Royal Army of Haense, and destroyed their lands and family, exterminating the House of Brawm. Sergei would oversee the fall of the Johannian Empire at the hands of a resurgent House Staunton and later on, his own Kingdom. Now forced into exile with the rest of the Haeseni People, the Kovachevs fled to Mardon, where they found refuge with their King under the hospitality of an Horen Duke who managed to avoid losing his land at the hands of House Stauntons.

 

The nation lived in exile for many years, seeing the passing of King Marius in exile, only returning once House Ruthern, as the Counts of Metterden in the motherland, rose up in defiance against House Staunton. What followed saw the rise of a once more united Haeseni People, retaking their lands and reestablishing the Kingdom of Haense. The new King however, Stefan of House Barbanov, proved to be a major proponent of instilling centralism, in which his Crown, controlled near absolute power over his nation. The Kovachevs from this point on would not see themselves elevated to any landed titles for many generations, opting out from the traditional sense of feudalistic rule, and continuing to serve in government and military positions.

 

However, as the Kovachevs continued to show a lack of ambition, it led to schism within the family, and during the last days of the Alban Haeseni Era of Axios, Andrei Kovachev (II), feeling neglected and betrayed by his Karovic Cousins, renounced the traditional obedience and allegiance that was expected of his family. Along with his cadet branch, he departed the lands of Haense and served in various other orders, most notably the Teutons, where he had a son. Andrei’s son, Emil, did little of note and was raised on the Teutonic isle in the service house Vladov his father left him at age nine, Andrei never to be seen again. following the fall of the continent of Axios, Emil would eventually move to Renatus where he became a smith and horse trainer.

 

Andrei’s Grandson, Jozsef’s Kovachevs swore fealty to the rising state of a new reborn Renatus, a hyper militaristic Kingdom bent on domination and unification of Mankind during the Era of Atlas. As war after war wrecked havoc throughout Atlas, these schismatic Kovachevs rose further in prestige, displaying their mastery over the matters of equestrian handling.  For their service to the Renatian Crown, now retitled as The Empire of Man, the Kovacs descendant from Andrei and Jozsef were granted the Barony of Kovagrad, once again reinstating themselves as landed nobles of Mankind. It was during these times that the Kovachevs played a key part in the advocation of a united Humanity, under the overlordship of the Pertinaxi Horens. 

 

Following the uniting of Haense and the Empire of Man, Jozsef’s son Henrik retunited the house in Haense with their relatives, having two sons, Varon and Andrei (III), and serving faithfully until his death. Soon after, their lands in Atlas were lost to the usual cyclical apocalypses, and the Kovachevs were unable to hold on to their status and once again fell into irrelevancy. The Kovachev name only being documented in positions of little importance in the new continent of Arcas. 

 

In the last years of Andrik the Third’s Reign of Haense, the descendents of Andrei Kovachev III whom had taken up horse rearing and smithing on the fringes of the Empire’s borders made a return in full to their Karovic Cousins. Led by Jan the Third, and his seven siblings, they swore fealty to the Crow King’s heir, and later King, Andrik IV and were granted the Barony of Kvaz as a reward for the resources, manpower, and martial aptitude they brought to the Kingdom.

 

 

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Culture and Physicality

 

Ethnically, the House of Kovachev are of the Raevir culture and hence claim their ethnicity as Highlanders. Though over time they have adopted many Heartland and Northern traditions, an example of this is their diluted use of Raevir botch. As the centuries progressed, a distinct Carnatian identity became present from their Raev counterparts. Their culture largely forgotten as they gave way to the unification of the Highlander People under King Petyr of House Barbanov.

 

The Carnatians, from which modern Kovachevs claim descent from, were originally derived from a fusion of Raevir and Hanseti Cultures, much like the current status of the Haeseni People. They can be traced back to the Hinterlands of Vailor, as sizable communities of Alimanian Peoples were intermarried with the dispersed Lahian Raev population. They were later centralized into the Duchy of Carnatia under Otto Sarkozic, giving them the name of Carnatian as a result of their association with the Duchy.

 

Typically the descendants of the Kovac-Karovic line are robust and broad men, with most claiming light hair that ranges from flaxen to dirty blonde. Most are thick-bearded and the members of the noble line almost always possess the deep-green eyes of their Karovic forefathers or alternatively a shade of steel-blue eyes.

 

 

 

 

 

[winterblood 11181]

In the waking hours of the morning, Chesna Kovachev sat within her bedroom, readying herself for the day.  Her wild, golden hair has been partially tamed and braided back; she applied a minuscule amount of freshly prepare eyeliner to better bring out her blue eyes; and she had donned her fine, woolen garb colored a wine red.  Her lips curled into a small smile as she viewed her reflection in the small mirror on her desk, though it faded as she felt something was missing.  “Ah!”  The fair woman reached for her jewelry box, taking out a lovely necklace of gold, which bore a finely cut ruby – crafted under the Kovachev name, of course.  As she put it on, the young Kovachev’s smile returned.

 

It was a smile of pride.

[seannie 7443]

Mikael Kovachev holds his finished work on the Chronicles of the Kovacs high, beaming with pride as he admires his handiwork. Having stayed up many long nights, compiling old records and documents from days long gone, he finds satisfaction in his finished results. He remembers the nights that his elder brother, Jan, came into his office to give him assistance on the documents, fixing issues here and there, tidying up sentence structuring elsewhere; good times for Mikael. The young man then stands himself up from his office chair, gathering all his papers on his desk into one bundle and bounding his way down the main stairs of his family’s fief. He sits himself by the main fire of the Kovakeep, a cup of warm cocoa in hand, now once again reading his family’s Chronicles, a small smile plastered on his face.

[monkeypoacher 8055]

((may I play a kovachev? :DD

[colovian fur 8360]

 

 

Caius I manifests from his domain in the Seven Skies, ever fond of the Kovachevs from his days as a wandering Prince of the West.

 

”Destiny is a peculiar thing. Good faith and fortune to the Kovakids.”

 

 

[Marquesa_ 298]

Somewhere in the depths of the Seven Skies, the first Queen-Consort of Haense, Reza Elizaveta Kovachev, gazed down at her living kinsmen with an immense amount of benevolence and pride painted across her visage,

 

“This able bunch shall regain all of our former glory – and then some, Godan willing.” the flaxen-haired ancestress cooed.