House Ismay

The Royal House Ismay has spanned several generations, and encompasses many notable characters in the galaxy. The Ismays have always been spread among the leading organizations and governments to this day. Currently most of the less influential members reside in Black Star Recycling. Previously the House was also closely linked to the Galactic Empire, but the two are now estranged. The House is also the rightful rulers of the Anzatan Commonwealth, as well as the regional government of the Twi'lek homeworld of Ryloth, with blood links to the current Hapan Royal Family.
The family has a ranking system that includes the blood related members and those that have pledged fealty to the House.
== Members ==
Please note that these constitute player characters only. If non-player characters were included, there would be well over a dozen additional persons, both alive and deceased.
=== Nobility ===
Conte/Contessa (Count/Countess)
*Alexander von Ismay (Count-Regent)
**Leigh von Ismay (Leigh Kellan)
Visconte/Viscontessa (Viscount/Viscountess)
* Asarya`katr von Ismay
* Jesika von Ismay
* Owen von Ismay
Barone/Baronessa (Baron/Baroness)
*Gavin von Ismay (Gavin Rollan)
*Sydney von Ismay
*Asmo von Ismay (Asmo Bodan)
*Ottomar von Ismay
Signore/Signoressa (Lord/Lady)
* Taliesen O'Reilly-von Ismay**
* Deshwitat von Ismay**
Patrizio/Patrizia (Patrician, or Highborn)
* Deana von Ismay (Deana Branson)
Deceased
*Conte Victor von Ismay XVI [Assassinated]
*Visconte Vlademar von Ismay III [Assassinated]
*Barone Terrence von Ismay (Terrence Thorne) [Deceased]
*Visconte Varick von Ismay XI [Natural Causes]
*Conte Wilhelm von Ismay [Assassinated]
*Viscontessa Caitiri JaBrai** [Murdered]
*Jessica von Ismay (Tania May)
Pretenders
* Memnon Gato-von Ismay [Origin unknown]
[*] By marriage, no authority within the House
[**] By marriage, reverted to Signore/Signoressa after spouse's death
[***] On the twenty-first birthday of the Count-Scion, Owen von Ismay will revert to the title of Visconte. Until that time, he functions as a Regent, or co-head of the Royal House.
=== Pledged Members ===
Pledged members of the House are those not related by blood, marriage, or adoption who have sworn an oath of service to the Royal House. They gain rank with service and time. These ranks are Retainer, Oathman, Lawman, and Kinsman. Occasionally Pledged Members are granted minor noble titles and essentially adopted in the family, though they are outside the proper line of succession. As no male member may be adopted into the House's lineage, this offers non-blood males to serve the House faithfully and honorably.
At the current time, no Pledged Members will be listed.
== Family History==
House Ismay's founding and founders have been lost in the mists of time, however the family traces it's lineage back thousands of years to the early years of the Republic. What is known is that the Ismays originated on Coruscant and gained the hereditary title of Count. More recently the family came to prominence under the leadership of Victor von Ismay XVI. Victor rose within the Imperial ranks to hold numerous high ranking positions, including Bureau Chief of Imperial Intelligence, Minister of Information and Moff of the Corellian Sector. After the murder of Victor, the title of Count passed to his eldest son, Wilhelm von Ismay.
During the time of Victor, the comital title of House Ismay was verified by not just one Galactic Emperor, but three (Charon, Uebles, Bonias). While Wilhelm was head of the Household, he added first a baronial title (granted by the Falleen Crown) and gained the kingly title of Sovereign (through the Ismayic Anzatan Crown).
==Family Dynamics==
The Ismay family is blood related with the Tylger family. Alex Tylger and Victor von Ismay both had the same mother, thus linking both great families as one. Over the generations, many people have married into the family, and some have divorced out of the family. A notable family that married in to the Tylger side was the Ikron-Soyak family via the union of Tara Tylger and Navik Ikron.
The Ismay family is not limited to the Human race. Lady Asarya`katr is half human and half Twi'lek.
Most, if not all of the Ismay siblings are half siblings. Victor von Ismay's many girlfriends and wives over the span of his life, produced countless numbers of children, of which they keep being discovered periodically, making the family even larger. Taking into account his elder children's exploits, the family has continued to grow drastically, with an average of two to six children per descendant.
===Structure===
Since the assassination of Victor von Ismay by Teniel Djo and the rise of Wilhelm von Ismay to the head of the Household, the Royal House has maintained a triumvirate-like upper structure composed of the Count (Conte) and the two Viscounts (Visconte/ssa). They hold a simple majority vote on most issues directly concerning the House, including new pledged members and investigations into the genetic lineage of those claiming to be descended from the House. During Wilhelm's stewardship, the Council consisted of himself as the Count, Viscount Owen von Ismay, and Viscountess Asarya`katr von Ismay
With Wilhelm's murder, Viscount Owen von Ismay became Count-Regent until Wilhelm's eldest son reaches the age of twenty-one, as per Ismayic Law, co-ruling the House with him. In effect, the House's triumvirate council is still in place and will continue to for the foreseeable future.
===Pretenders===
Persons claiming to be descended from the Ismay lineage has been a common factor in the last decade of the House's history, mostly considered on the 'upswing' due to Victor XVI's inability to maintain decorum in the presence of women as well as to the family's positions of power over the years.
Though many have claimed to be Victor's children or even married to various other persons in the family, most have remained virtually unknown and fade into further obscurity or simply relinquish claim to the House's lineage and birthright. Two persons that have continued to be a thorn in the side of the House and refused to do either have been Memnon Gato and Alexander Varrus.
Memnon von Ismay was a descendant of Victor XVI, his eldest son. However young Memnon was found dead at a young age, having passed during mysterious circumstances. The person now going by the name of Memnon Gato von Ismay frequently claims a grudge against the family, and Victor in particular even though long dead. Many times during his service in the Empire's Sith Fleet during Emperor Charon's reign, Memnon Gato was chastised and even arrested for plotting to assassinate Moff Victor von Ismay XVI. He is generally considered to be harmless, albeit mentally unstable. He is wanted for questioning in the death of the real Memnon von Ismay.
Alexander Varrus, however, has been a far more insidious individual, actively working with the assassin of Count Wilhelm von Ismay, Victor XVI's heir and Sovereign of the Anzatan Commonwealth. He did not turn on his mistress until after further promotion within the government was denied to him. As if being admittedly involved in the murder of a member of the House was not enough, as a pretender, he frequently attempts to 'adopt' full grown non-humans into the lineage as nobles, seeking to taint the bloodline and its legacy, as well as attempting to promote humans into positions of high power within the family, including even the position of Count, currently held by Owen von Ismay. He is considered a threat to the House's genetic integrity and moral integrity.
==External links==
* The Red Mist - Tylger - von Ismay Family
Beginning entry by --Asarya 04:26, 16 October 2006 (UTC)
Category:Noble Houses
Category:Families