House Knox

**The most noble and ancient House of Knox** hail from the circle of islands that lie to the South-East of the Mainland. They rule from the formidable basalt fortress known as the Three Titans. An old and religious household, the Knoxes make their living through their booming textile industry, with fabrics as their main export. Their fertile lands also produce various exotic flora and fauna, many of which are considered delectable cuisine in Bastion City. Despite their comparatively small land ownership, the Knoxes boast considerable military strength, with their soldiers being among the most highly-trained in all the Isles of Aradia. They possess close ties with most southern and eastern houses, most notably with House Mac Tir before their implosion. It is within the Knoxes' culture that they never forget a slight; a popular saying that concerns the house--"a Knox never forgives, and a Knox never forgets"--illustrates this. They cling to many "blood-feuds" with rival houses; their longstanding nemeses, House Blackthorne, are proof of this. Physical features common to those of the Knox bloodline include black hair, green eyes, a lean build and angular, "wolfish" facial features. The mace is considered to be the official weapon of their house, and their banner depicts a closed armored fist on a red field. For about 80 years the House has been under the rule of Lord Oswald Knox in 1014AE.

By 1086AE, Oswald's great-grandson Odysseus Knox rules the Titans, and has modernized the family business to make it an industrial powerhouse.

## Leadership & Succession

Founding and first demon war: Typhon -> Zaius -> (first demon war) Zephyrus "the Silent" -> Tiberius -> Julion ->Juno/Augustus

Century Spat: Theseus? -> Hephaesus -> Pollux -> Prometheus

Modern: Agamemnon->Oswald (-1015AE) -> Nestor (1015AE) -> Oedipus East & Victoria(1015-1050AE) -> Odysseus (1050AE-current)

## History

#### The Fable of Nyxius and Nox

Many early historical records concerning the ancient times of the Eastern Reach territories have been lost to time thanks to the destruction of historical records during the First Demon War and its aftermath. However, a combination of oral folk tales and disparate written sources have suggested a credible origin for House Knox and how it came to rule the Reach.

The isles off the mainland's southeast coast were once governed by warring, disparate human tribes. They were a seafaring people, using their great longships to do battle with each other among the archipelagos of their homelands, and trading with settled groups on the mainland. They bartered the textiles and materials of their own arid terrain for crops they could not grow. Many years before Everglow city was built, one particular tribe rose to prominence by subjugating and conquering their neighbours and for the first time, unifying the reach under a single banner. The tribe who had done so would become known as the Noxian People.

The story goes that this great conquering tribe were lead by a King, Kronos. He believed strongly that the struggle of conquest was what made him an able leader, and was concerned that the standard rules of inheritance would lead his descendants to become inferior rulers as they had not had to compete or struggle for their position. He had twin sons, Nyxius and Nox, and decided to test this theory upon them. To Nyxius he showed overt warmth, keeping him as part of his inner circle, teaching him all he knew. But he exiled the younger twin Nox, scorning and disinheriting him. For years Nox, unaware of his father's plot, wandered the earth plotting a terrible revenge for being spurned. He eventually returned to his homeland and entered his father's household in disguise; Nyxius was happily married with a daughter, and it was this daughter (his own niece) that Nox seduced and impregnated. Nyxius was enraged when he discovered his child was pregnant with an apparently fatherless bastard and made to exile her, only for Nox to reveal himself. The two brothers fought, and Nox killed Nyxius; in one stroke asserting himself as his father Kronos' only heir, and securing his own line of succession with his incestuously-born son that Nyxius' followers owed allegiance too due to blood rights.

Kronos was delighted that his machinations had produced such a machiavellian and dastardly man, and was certain that his son would be a great ruler. However when congratulated in person by the King, Nox immediately killed his father in an act of revenge for how he was treated. The point of the fable is not to gamble with the affections of others to lest it poison them against you and prove your downfall; though, perhaps misunderstanding this, modern Reach culture views both incest and acts of violent revenge as synonymous with victory and strength. Historical records suggest that there was indeed a King Nox who inherited his father's throne by marrying his favoured brother's child. However, they contradict the story's victory by suggesting that all the fruits of the incestuous union were stillbirths and that Nox was eventually deposed by his murdered brother's supporters who supplanted him and put a new King on his throne.

#### The Three Titans, and Typhon Knox

Another agreed fact is that the fortress known as Three Titans was completed during under the rulership of King Nox following the long reign of his father Kronos. The disparate islands of the Reach were difficult to govern by one power as they were not one cohesive land. Therefore, the Noxian Kings' idea was to create a single, central point of their rule to govern from; an impregnable floating fortress in the Aradian sea of sorrows, untouchable by sieging land-armies. The great monolith took decades to construct, built from enormous blocks of volcanic black basalt that glittered from the tiny crystals within, but was completed before Everglow City and was recognized by records from the time as an awe-inspiring achievement, As they rose to an international power, the Noxian People contended with attacks from the Orcs to the West and the Elves to the North; while King Nox was successful as a military leader, he was eventually betrayed and deposed, shrinking the Titan's influence as their territories collapsed back into disparate factions; when Everglow City arrived, it quickly outpaced the Titans as a Human cultural hub.

By 100AE, a rebel king who brazenly defied the rule of the Senate and the worship of Aradia ruled the Titans. He once attempted to lead a coup against the Everglow Senate to seize the city for himself, and the peoples of Aradia looked to the Temple for help against the godless invader. The High Priestess resolved to send a single of one of her crusaders, a holy knight who had been raised within the faith by the name of Typhon Knox--he claimed to be a descendant of the original Nox though there was no way to verify this. After praying to his goddess for her aid, Sir Typhon went to treat with the rebel within the walls of the Towers. It is said negotiations took place behind a locked door and without interruption for seven days and seven nights. On the morning of the eighth day, the rebel ruler emerged and claimed that he and all his sons had forsaken their lands and elected to join the Temple as lowly monks for the rest of their days so that they might serve Aradia's will. Sir Typhon was immediately showered in accolades for resolving the situation bloodlessly; the Senate bequeathed the Titans onto him and named him as the first Lord Knox. Typhon was a humble man, however, and it is said that he felt uneasy about his new position. He therefore elected that all his descendants would give their firstborn son over to the faith to serve as crusaders like him for a period of seven years after earning their knighthood. It is a tradition that continues to this day, and it is known that no house is closer to the Temple than House Knox.

The pious story of Typhon Knox is thought to have even less merit than the Fable of Nox, and is particularly disparaged by Western scholars who have secular beliefs. They record that the Titans were captured by an Aradian missionary who mutinied from within its own walls and was able to name himself as new lord by gaining the support of the Senate.

#### First Demon War

Zeph baked inside his castle by Verm, sends Tiberius away, Tib's son Maxus then grandson Julion-Julion grows up alongside Jason's reign and they're friends.

#### The Blackthorne Blood Feud

In 621AE, the Knoxes were involved in the overthrowing of another monarchy--in this case, the last High Elven dominion, the Brecilidian Reach. It's King, Argiliac II (called "the Beautiful") had been at war with the Thunderlands for generations. House Blackthorne was, at this stage, ruled by the first female ever to sit in the role--the Lady Jayne. The Western troops numbers were insufficient to defeat Argiliac, but the cunning Lord Hephaesus Knox was generous to step in and offer his own army. The only condition was that he take Jayne as his wife in return. It is widely agreed that Jayne loathed her suitor, but recognized the importance of victory in this context; she agreed to the match and the unified Knox-Blackthorne army succeeded in subjugating the Brecilidian Reach for good. Unfortunately the success of the union between the families would be short-lived. Jayne gave Hephaesus only one child. This son, Bellerophon, sailed to Stormrise Isle upon his mother's death to claim Lordship over the Thunderlands, only to find that the Blackthornes had named his cousin, Orion, as lord. Bellerophon and his father were furious at this breach of succession laws and declared war upon the Thunderlands. As it's name would suggest, the resulting Century Spat was over in a hundred years. But the rivalry between House Knox and Blackthorne had only just begun.

## Events of 1014-1016AE

By the year 1014AE, the House had been ruled by Lord Oswald Knox for 70 years. He had sired four sons in an incestuous union with his younger cousin. The firstborn, Dorian, was a knight and a crusader for the Temple, as well as a decorated jousting champion. The secondborn, Nestor, had been found to be magically gifted and was sent to train as a mage, eventually achieving the prestigious title of Grand Warlock. Thirdborn Preston, despite his cruel behavior, had been wed into House Corcoran with a possibility of one day ruling Mistvale. The youngest and least useful of the brothers, Cadmus, had been sent on the expedition to the Untamed Isle.

It was in this year that the old rivalry with the Blackthornes resurfaced harshly. Years ago Preston had been suspected of murdering Lord Arthur's prized heir; tensions erupted at the Everglow festival when a fight broke out between Dorian and Jaster Blackthorne that resulted in the former taking a crippling wound. Incensed by this, Preston stormed Jaster's wedding party with armed soldiers and the situation quickly spun out of control--Lord Arthur was killed. The Blackthornes wasted no time declaring war on the Knoxes.

Meanwhile Cadmus was proving his ineptitude on his voyage. He ran afoul of the Mercenary captain and alleged Blackthorne bastard, Arianne West, and was defeated and humiliated by her with his ship, the *Indomitable*, taken captive. He received a fortunate rescue by his father's bannerman, Lord Rickard Worcester.

## Known Members

* Oswald Knox, Lord of House Knox and Lord-Paramount of the East, an old man of 90 years;
	+ Una Corcoran, his first wife, died from an STD given by the sailor she was having an affair with;
	+ Ginevra, his second wife, a High Elf who died birthing a stillborn daughter;
	+ Vivian Knox, his young cousin and third wife. Gave him four sons and died birthing her youngest;
		- Sir Dorian Knox, his firstborn son and heir, a knight, crusader and Tourney champion;
		- Nestor Knox, his secondborn son and Hand of the House, a powerful Warlock;
		- Sir Preston Knox, his thirdborn son, a knight of ill repute married to Lady Aislinn Corcoran;
		- Cadmus Knox, his fourthborn son, a foolish and inept man.

### Household

* Sir Bolzak, a brutish Orc knight who served Cadmus, slain by Arianne West aboard the Indomitable;
* Sir Raanik, a scarred Wood Elf man-at-arms who serves Preston;
* Walys, a man-at-arms who serves Preston, slain by Lord Jaster Blackthorne at his wedding;
* Idris, a man-at-arms who serves Preston, slain by Sir Valar Druun at the same wedding.

## Sworn Houses

### Current Bannermen

* House Corcoran of Mistvale
* House Worcester of Porcupine's Den
* House Knox of Bann Arde
* The Barony of Motter's Spiral
* Many lesser landed knights and lordlings native to the East

### Former Bannermen

* House Pentaghast of Dimhollow Mire
* House Hassarath of The Heathers