House Temesch et Moere

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House Novellen of Temesch and Moere

Ie Meyse de Conse Temesch et Esheve Moere

The House of the Counts of Temesch and Savoyard Moere

 

 

 

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A Brief Summary

 

The Comital House of Novellen of Temesch and Savoyard Moere (coll. Temesch et Moere) was not so much founded as borne in cadency from the House of Novellen in that time of Imperial Hegemony. Recognized by Philip III upon the eve of his coronation, the House was first among such to be declared. Prior to this new accord, the descendants of His Imperial Highness, Robert Francis, were to receive naught save spite, as the hatred for their forebears was great. Were it not for Philip III and his dynasty, Temesch would have perished in the paranoia that was the reign of Philip II. However, as of now, recovery has been ten-fold. The family is now one historically ingrained within the fabric of the realm on both religious and political terms.

 

In exile for so long, the House of Temesch, upon their return to Orenian society, planted roots within the lakeside shores of northerly Mardon and solidified ties via political marriage to the Principality of Savoie: the gracious hosts. They had held family and kin for the duration of their time apart from the Homeland. Modeled after the Leuven estate of old, the manor was established there.

 

Nevertheless, Temesch also retained its ties to Savoie through the County of Moere, held by Paul-Salvian - a barren beachhead populated by no more than a handful of remote fishing villages and a mere five heads of Hyspian cattle. With the Principality's dissolution in 1872, however, the countryside survived while the state burned. Therein with the passing of the late patriarch Adrian Marcellus, the current familial incarnation is situated with all holdings beneath one roof: Temesch et Moere. As one titan has passed, he is survived by his children, who inherit his legacy as a coterie of expansive bureaucrats backed by an inheritance of good choices. Temesch, unlike most, retains a prestigious lineage and compact form without falling into the obscure fate that has befallen so many other cadet families with time.

 

Whilst Temesch is cemented as predominantly of High Imperial stock; there remains a great pride for the entirety of its lineage. Within Temesch is the blood of Novellen, yet also Basrid and Savoie. Rhenyari and Savoyard. Thus, the family arms utilize an amalgamation of all three quartered within its heraldry - the personal arms of Prince Adrian center stage, a golden wolf with a scroll held in its maw. For official documentation and internal communiques, a melding pot language coined as Noufeille Esheve, which is intentionally unspoken among outsiders to avoid the Auvergnat-Revivalist tendencies seen so often among the disreputable rabble that make up the lesser houses, is used.

 

Titles Current

 

The County of Temesch, Kingdom of Oren

Ie Conse de Temesch, Regne Oren

 

The Free County of Savoyard Moere

Ie Freconse de Esheve Moere

 

Titles Past

 

The County of Moere, Principality of Savoy

Ie Conse de Moere, Pronse Savoia

 

Living Members

 

Paul Salvian, Count of Temesch and Savoyard Moere

Raised in San Luciano as a ward of the Savoyard Court. Upon its destruction, returned to the Kingdom of Oren and given a traditional education within the Temesch Manor.

 

His brother, Charles Joseph

Raised at first among the Orenian court before being sent for a decade to a monastery in the hinterlands for a religious education.

 

His sister, Helen Marlene (called Héléne Marleaïs in Low Auvergnat)

Raised solely by her mother, known to have profound distaste for her family - likely increased since being cut off from the excessive funding allowed by her father, then being sent off to the convent to become a nun.

 

His sister, Alexandra Marcela

A sickly young woman rarely seen outside of Temesch.

 

His mother, Athene Olivia (called Athénaïs Olivienne in Low Auvergnat)

A native speaker of Low Auvergnat, the Countess-Dowager of Temesch lives relatively estranged from her family, instead preferring the company of other noblewomen.

 

Common Traits

 

Familial members of Temesch are tan-skinned and dark reddish-brown hair - a rather strange combination of traits in modern Oren, their complexion is thought to be a holdover from their minority Rhenyari heritage, and ruddy hair is a Novellen trait passed down from Anne I. Their eyes are the now-common grey of that same Imperial family, and the quirks that once seemed pervasive among their ilk terrorize the line, manifesting primarily in physical ailments.

 

Traditions Upheld

 

Civil Asylum | Citee Alaier | The custom of civil asylum is the idea that any man temporarily quartered under another’s roof is entitled to the unbridled protection of his host, and exempt from all that wishes to bring harm to him, including the host himself. This ensures that a person can not commit violence to another under the guise of welcome. The existence of this tradition makes it so that the Savoyard are very careful of who they allow to set foot inside their homes, and often will refuse the entrance of vagrants and foreigners. This is said to have originated upon the betrayal of Ser Baldwin ‘the Black’, who slew his uncle within his own gardens, and the tradition adopted upon the marriage of Adrian Marcellus and Athénaïs Olivienne.

 

Altar of Saints | Semille des Sant | Within the Temesch et Moere manor, a small chapel or area of worship is dedicated always to High Pontiff St. Lucien of Ulmsbottom, patron of crusaders, change, and family; upon entrance, it is customary to form a lorraine cross before the altar and set alight a candle in a moment of quiet reverence. While the manor is occupied, a candle is kept constantly lit beside the altar, signifying the everlasting flame of the vehement faithful.

 

Perruque | Perruquet | Conflict against the House is not resolved by duels or brawls; instead, the insulter is to be captured by any means required and brought to its seat for interrogation before its patriarch. If no recourse can be made, they are to be wigged (the act of perruque), the false hair attached normally by hot tar, and released into the nearest governmental building. The first case of perruque was said to have been undertaken by a Josephite cabal in secret against a Galbraith that would not adhere to the party line.

 

Feast of the Sunsingers | Fest des Carole Sol | Also traditional to Savoyard doctrine and upheld by the House Temesch et Moere is the Sunsingers’ Feast - though it is no feast, instead a hunt undertaken by those coming of age. This is related to the tale of the ancient Sunsingers, whom lived among permanent frost. When finally the Dark Sun fell, the frost began to thaw, and merry beasts left their hidden grottos - their ancient, pagan god’s gift to his persevering faithful, and the able-bodied were able to feed their families once more. Over time, this fable became conflated with the Canonist truth of Owyn’s return, and the Feast retained a minor place among more important holidays.

 

The Seven Mercies | Set des Ovres | To feed the Hungry, give drink to the Thirsty, clothe the Naked, harbour the Harbourless, visit the Sick, visit the Imprisoned, and bury the Dead - The Seven Mercies are not strictly adhered to, but instead virtuous deeds that one aspires to complete for those that in need. An extension of Civil Asylum grown from Imperial charity.

 

 

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Honored Ancestors

 

Beginning with the tale of Robert Francis, Prince of the Holy Orenian Empire.

 

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HIH Robert Francis, Count of Temesch

1793-1858

Wayward second son of HIM Philip II, known as a pilgrim early in life and a vagrant later.

 

Before his mother's unfortunate bout of madness, Robert Francis grew up a typical Imperial Prince. Well-spirited, a bit haughty, but by no means a standout, there were no signs that the young prince would slip into the reclusiveness that gripped much of his formative years. However, when his mother's sickness sapped her strength in mind and body, the young Robert, thoroughly attached to her, fell into a depressed stupor and retreated into his quarters, where he remained for some time. Little was heard from him, except for the occasional weeping and bouts of fury, and it is said that during this time, a demon took possession of his mind, though, by the accounts of Robert (and a fair few of those that later claimed to have been his travel companions), it was actually the voice of God speaking to him.

 

Finally, at the age of fifteen, at the insistence of his sisters, Anne Caroline and the famously pretty Helen Antonia, he mustered the ability to attend the coming of age ceremony of his cousin, Helena Augusta. Despite being a malnourished shut-in for around a decade, the frail, inexperienced Robert Francis partook in a friendly duel against Helena. Although he lost, he held his own against the prominent swordswoman- it was said that God guided his hand in the duel. While Robert Francis would never make his mark as a prominent warrior, from that moment on, he would be known as a dependable warrior and seek a life closely related to that of a soldier.

 

Around sixteen, Robert would be betrothed to Margaux Helvets, the daughter of the Duke of Cathalon. It would cause controversy within the courts, as Margaux had already been betrothed to Peter d'Arkent, heir to the Duchy of Sunholdt. To further escalate this, a few Sedanite knights claimed to overhear the young prince insult and speak ill of Margaux in private. They quickly spread their account, making it a hot topic of gossip around the Imperial Court. Immediately after, they challenged the young Prince to a duel. It was met with silence as per the instructions of the Emperor.

 

Robert Francis and Margaux Helvets soon reconciled, but mere weeks later, he fell into a great fit of madness. Due to his piety or fear of all things holy, his father, the Duke of Crestfall, sent Robert away. He demanded that his son not return until his mind had been cured but was merciful enough to give Robert a few holy relics to aid him. Robert dutifully left the city, where he soon came upon a small Knights company in the Church's service. 

 

These knights were venturing to the accursed city of Talon’s Grotto, a port town known to be home to several monsters and sorcerers, to scout it to determine the viability of a crusade. When they reached Talon’s Grotto, Robert and the crusaders discovered that despite their far inferior numbers, Talon’s Grotto was a town devoid of military or central leadership. Seeing no need to report back to the High Pontiff to initiate a large-scale crusade, Robert and the 90 crusader knights stormed Talon’s Grotto and sacked it, killing many of the demonic inhabitants and burning it to the ground. Imperial historians noted that this was the greatest among a fair few causes that led to the destruction of Talonsport as an entity and the formation of the Dark Elven Vortissine state in its place. This brave storming of heathen lands was well-noted by Dame Helena Augusta - and, with issues raised in the Cathalon betrothal eventually ending in it being broken off, Robert courted, successfully, the Holy Dame. His life thereafter, however, grew quiet - until, in 1858, he is recorded to have suddenly passed away in a feverish madness.

 

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Holy Dame Helena Augusta

1791-1869

Devout daughter of the Basrid Count of Susa, Iskander Alexios, known to be the strongest Orenian-born woman of the time. 

 

Helena Augusta, as a child, if she was not practicing her sparring with a wooden training sword her soldierly father had so kindly given her, always found herself perched beside her balcony, staring west as the first rays of morning began to puncture the sky. Her brothers would say their sister would be daydreaming of mere follies, though her parents knew better. From a very young age, the only daughter of The Princess Imperial of the Holy Orenian Empire and Count of Susa had a vision - a dream - so profound and enduring that her mother, Elizabeth, once likened this passion to a sun that would never set. 

 

Although she was born as a member of the Imperial Family, due to her being styled as an Earl’s daughter as the product of a morganatic union, Lady Helena was afforded enough freedoms and parental support to pursue her unconventional interests. 

 

By the age of fourteen, the eager Basrid scion became a squire beneath Holy Sir Armande de Rennes, the Apostolic General and most high ranking Equester of the Canonist Church, who later in life transitioned from being a mentor to a dear friend. At age nineteen, Helena debuted, to her chagrin, before all of Orenian society and made a conscious decision to wear traditional Rhenyari attire that included trousers. This roused the criticisms of Imperial High society, though she did not seem to mind; marriage was the furthest probable thing from her mind. Two years later, The Squire-Armiger became The Holy-Dame Equester Helena of Rosemoor and Susa in service of the Papal state, and by extension, GOD. She served without fault for several years and duly took upon several squires, among them the late Viscount of Provins, Philip Pruvia. 

 

At twenty nine, Helena Augusta married her longtime companion, Prince Robert, later the Count of Temesch; she endearingly knew him as “Rob”. She would bear four children for him.

 

At the age of fifty, The Holy Dame was promoted to Knight-Commander of Exalted Owyn’s Knightly Order and fruitfully executed the mission she valued most: delivering the remains of her beloved friend and mentor, Armande de Rennes. She maintained such a position until she matured in age, eventually retiring to the crisp-aired coast of San Luciano in her son, Prince Adrian’s, summer residence to quietly mourn the loss of her husband.  She travelled alongside her son, Father Ioannes, for a nondescript but lengthy amount of time; the details of her travels are yet to be disclosed by either she or her son. 

 

Twenty years later, at the age of seventy one, Helena, the Dowager Countess of Temesch, returned to the Courts of Oren where she served as Concierge beneath the Holy Orenian Empress, Anastasia I, for nearly ten years. When the Emperor and Empress perished and the Brothers’ War began, Helena quietly vied for a resolution but ultimately lent her passive support to Frederick I for his uncompromising promise and piety. 

 

At the age of seventy-eight, Helena Augusta of Rosemoor and Susa passed in her son’s estate within the region of Upper Petra and was found upon her balcony, sat upon a chair, while the sun’s rays began to set upon the Heartland’s urban horizon. Although she seemed to be in excellent health for her advanced age, doctors from the Royal Court of Frederick I determined that the Imperial Princess had been quietly suffering from a malignant cancer in her liver but also noted that her passage from the mortal plane to the heavens was nothing short of peaceful. 

 

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Adrian Marcellus, Count of Temesch

1824-1880

Vice Chancellor of the Kingdom of Oren and promulgator of the eponymous Edict of Temesch, which set the theme of democratic movements for a generation.

 

Closeted within the Basrid Estate at Rosemoor with his siblings, Adrian Marcellus grew as a silent and sickly child plagued by hemophilia for a large portion of his life. Wounds did not clot, he bruised easily, nor could he exert himself too much save a few moments of strain. For this reason, he was kept at home. Unallowed to travel by his protective mother like a bird in a cage. However, despite the ailments of his body, the young Lord’s mind was untouched, a blessing in disguise, and so too was he not wholly alone either. Upon the Estate, his closest companions in those days were his cousin Jasper and his two siblings, Alice and Ioannes. Particularly inseparable was he from his brother Ioannes, his twin. 

 

When he was finally healthy enough to vaunt away from the Estate and live at Augustine, this sheltered childhood proved inadequate. For their family had fallen out of favor at Court, particularly with his grandfather Philip II who ignored all out of shame and loathing for his son, Adrian’s father. Thus, he received no privilege, no respect, yet evermore important, no kindness, and so he grew to despise the Court, his grandfather, and the entirety of the farce that was palace life. Connection within the Court was few and far between, his aunts Anne Caroline, and Helen Antonia, and his cousins Anastasia and Philip, before their ascent. As his adolescence ended so too did his patience with the Palace, as his grandfather refused to allow his father’s inheritance to be naturally interred by his children. Should Robert expire Adrian and his siblings were to be left with nothing. 

 

It was not an uncommon occurrence. Jasper, too, once heir to Susa, had been erased from the succession unacknowledged. Thus, there was only one route to follow. There was no place in the Empire for them, no promise for ambitious young men, so when Jasper left, Adrian also went, with his brother en-tow, to the southern continent and Savoy. Hosted within the Court of Savoy, the atmosphere was completely different, and he became fast friends with all, including his most gracious hosts. Their self-imposed exile bore fruit and freedoms unavailable previously. It was a time of much revelry, excitement, and carefree adventure.

 

Nonetheless, it was also at this time that the family became disparate. Ioannes left for Du Loc to take the crimson cloth. His sister Alice was married and forwent their household for that of her husband. In many ways, though wild and untamed in Savoy was also a stagnancy, there would be no growth from these conditions.

 

So when his grandfather perished, and the climate of his Homeland changed, Prince Adrian’s ambition was renewed. When the Prince of Savoy mustered his might to aid Philip, Adrian joined resolutely, returning unto the Empire with vigor to aid his cousin in seizing the throne. This savvy success marked the series of endowed choices that allowed familial prestige to be restored. With grandfather no longer in the picture, his regime broken, and his supporters fled or sworn in fealty, respect was easily attainable, and no limitation was put upon the right of birth that had been stolen. Throughout this time, immediate results were commonplace during the reign of Philip III. Adrian served in Civil Affairs, saw his titles restored and properly inherited, as a Grandee in the Diet, and eventually as Director of Intelligence to the Imperial Crown.

 

His calm practicality served him well, as, despite the dozens of opportunists who pervasively infested the new regime, Prince Adrian had competency unfound anywhere else above each. With no prejudice to reinforce the wall he faced, all would be torn down, and everything lost was restored just as quickly as it had been taken away. The task therein would be to ensure that it could never happen to him or his ever again. Thus, as newfound politics shifted, the Prince finally settled upon marriage to Athénaïs de Savoie, the daughter of Oliver Renault, his gracious host. So too did he situate the familial home within the Mardonic territory of the Prince Frederick Charles, the most promising of his cousin’s children. As though despite the successes of the day conflict was inevitable in time. There was almost always more to accomplish.

 

When the winds changed, Temesch rode it with full sails, declaring in all but words for the young Prince Frederick. Even-tempered and calculated, Adrian had learned during his tenure in Savoy the words of his patron well: not words, but deeds. Civil War came, but it was swiftly won by Frederick’s military acumen and the political machinations of both he and Albert de Falstaff. Though politics, as so many find, is a game for the young, of which Adrian was no longer. Thus, in the capacities of Privy Seal and Vice-Chancellor after the War, he did much, though he slowed gradually over time. As he enforced the will of his younger partners he established the grounds for the General-Assembly, the very form of which the Government would take. Wrote speeches, established treaties. 

 

He worked even as he marched unto the grave. His siblings passed on with little notice from him, his children provided for by household servants, though he loved them. He did not truly raise them. As he was left with a tarnished legacy, all his labors were to be accomplished therein so that he and his ilk might feel pride in their family newly nourished by power. He was a sheltered youth who exploded unto life, experienced all he could, seized all he could. Just as quickly, he perished, suddenly within his palatial office, slumped over his desk, head in his work.

 

Artifacts in Possession

 

Northern Flamberge of Philip III

The blade HIM Philip III wore at his hip during the retaking of Southbridge, it is a crude, torturous thing of jagged, sharp ridges. Proudly received by Adrian Marcellus after the execution of three Sedanite prisoners of war. Ironically nicknamed ‘For the North’.

 

Blessed Blade of the Martyred Saints

A sword made of human bone, Robert Francis was purportedly guided to it, and the ancient Arany-Bosca treasure trove of Olde Temeschburg, which had mysteriously washed ashore in the realm of Arcas, by St. Lucien of Ulmsbottom in a holy vision.

 

Artifacts Lost

 

Holy Banneret of Robert Francis

Said to have been received by holy gift in frigid Vaelya, the Banneret was given to Robert Francis by his father, HIM Philip II, just before the former departed for a years-long pilgrimage.

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