Court of Nobles

Second
 Third

Since the establishment of Castle Dacre in 548 AU, the Court of Nobles has been an allegiance of Avalot's allies and a place to settle disputes of all variety. Since its conception, the membership of the Court has simply relied up a family or single person to have enough power and own land for admittance. All members have relatively the same influence in the Court, and motions are usually put to a vote of majority rules.

## History

### Origins

The Court of Nobles was established in the middle of the Treeblood War. Former uncle to the deceased King, now King Thal Dacre, approached various nations in an attempt to see justice to the Pale Reach for its crimes and join the Pinelands in their fight against them. After Castle Dacre had been built and decided as a meeting place, in the summer of 550 AU, various delegates and noble families all across the world met for the first time to discuss the problem with their western neighbor. Members of this first meeting included the royal family from the Pinelands, most of the Pineland's noble family, all of Avalot royal families, and a few Berman and Qual families. The result of these initial meetings was a combined army that was able to push the Reachmen out of Blackport. Though the first members disbanded once the Treeblood War ended, the idea of unity in times of crisis was kept.

Besides a few land deputes, there wasn't a true call for a Court meeting until the Seventh Barbarian Invasion in 587 AU. It was Berma who then called for the Court session. While King Thal Dacre was hesitant, due to problems with the western nations after the Treeblood assassinations, he reluctantly called together all the allies that the Court could summon. Together, in 590 AU, they pushed the Westwardens back to their homeland, reclaiming Berma from the horde.

### The Berman War

The Court would not have any major meetings until 625 AU, when Berma discovered gunpowder and invaded Farqual and turned its eyes towards Avalot. What followed was the Berman War, with Berma leaving the Court entirely in an attempt to create their own Empire. The east stood firmly against this zealous behavior and stopped the Berman army at the Baltic Hills with their own combined forces. However, the Berman forces did not simply retreat back to their country and instead held the line using the newly acquired rifles and a highly defensible position to their advantage. The result was a bloody standstill for five years until a truce was reached in 630 AU. In exchange for a place back in the Court, and the marriage of Prince Alric Dacre of Avalot to Princess Beatrice Narvineous of Berma, Berma ended their war with Avalot.

What followed was a 25 year period of passive aggression within the Court as Berma would continue to attempt to gain more power and be thwarted time and time again. The courtroom was more a playground with the now King Alric less interested in the affairs of the kingdom and more with women, or so Queen Beatrice would have everyone believe. Tension continued to build to a boiling point at the end of the quarter century of peace.

### The Masquerade

In the spring of 655 AU, King Alric was murdered while at a masquerade party within Castle Dacre. While the party responsible was later proven to be Lance Wymund, the Court was almost instantly fractured with controversy. Multiple nobles made various attempts to reclaim the throne, given that Alric had no known heirs, but it was eventually Emperor Juilus Narvineous who made the rise to the throne. This would prove to be a short lived victory, as the entire fiasco was a plot to completely overthrow the Court itself and give Avalot the chance to renew itself. Wymund saw the Court, correctly, as corrupt and ended up causing nearly all the nobles to either end up murdered or cause them to flee the city. To put the nail in the coffin, Wymund exploded several kegs of gunpowder in the Castle, effectively destroying the Court's headquarters.

It took some coaxes from Mary the Mute, bastard child of Alric, but eventually the Court was re-established slowly over time. Only the brave or extremely powerful had survived, including a few newcomers such as Kenneth Deshotel. With Mary's help, the Court managed to pool together enough remaining funds to afford a new, albeit smaller, Castle Dacre in 656 AU. The Court was also reformed with a voting system to avoid the same problem with commoners revolting that Avalot had endured previously. Now, the Prime Minister, who had replaced the monarchy in the kingdom, had to be elected with a 50% vote from the current members of the Court and a 50% popular vote from the common folk of Avo. In a landslide, it was Deshotel who won the first election due to his promises of tradition in the face of so much change. Members of the Court were still decided based on positions of power, though anyone was permitted admittance so long as they had noble blood.

### Fractures

In 658 AU, when re-election rolled around, Mary the Mute made a drastic effort to best Deshotel in the race for Prime Minister. While Mary had the popular vote, Deshotel had swayed most of the Court to side with him, leaving the tie breaker to the new seat of Pokol in the Court. While Mary and Deshotel left for the island nation to win over the ruling countess there, Mary's retainer, Gunter Newgate, remained in Avo to uncover the mystery behind the Pokol ambassador. Through various interrogations and careful politics, Newgate uncovered a plot by the assassination group, the Midnight Hands, to destroy the city and pave the way for another barbarian invasion. To make matters worse, the Pinelands and the Sea of Sands had declared war on each other, another level of the Midnight Hand's attempt to fracture the eastern leadership. In the end, both the Pinelands and the Sea of Sands pulled out their representatives from Court and Avo was nearly destroyed were it not for the heroics of Mary the Mute and her escorts.

### The Summer of Storms

Deshotel, who still won the election, realized the gravity of the situation and took Mary as his apprentice in preparation for the impending barbarian invasion. The Court devoted many resources into training the girl, secretly preparing her to restore the monarchy of Avalot. The Court also provided both Deshotel and Mary with protection from assassins of the Midnight Hands, who were after revenge on the pair for thwarting their initial plans. Deshotel also put Gunter Newgate in command of the army to halt the Westwardens' advances towards Avo, in addition to working on a cure for the local disease that had been terrorizing the Pinelands. The Court was also opened up to commoners for the first time, to substitute the missing nobles and strengthen Avo's resolve in the face of war.

### The Ninth Barbarian Invasion

In the winter of 658, the Ninth Barbarian Invasion began and Deshotel immediately called for an evacuation of the city upon Avo's siege. While Mary was sent to gather allies to break the siege, Deshotel and a majority of the Court stayed behind to guide Avo in its time of crisis. This would prove to be a fatal move, as the Court was quickly invaded by agents of the Midnight Hands. Deshotel was killed by Lilian Ernest and the Court was taken hostage while the city continued to be bombarded from the outside. This would continue on for several months until Mary mounted a rescue mission with some of her followers. Her exploits both saved the city and the Court, in exchange for her marriage to Hysaph Jaric. They also succeeded in completely dismantling the Midnight Hands.

### Peace Talks

With the unity between Mary and Jaric came the unity of the Eastern Territories and Westward, and the Court was at the forefront of the peace talks. This proved challenging as the barbarians retreated into their own territory, but refused to give up Berma, which they had raided in their conquest. In addition, the Pinelands had abandoned the Court entirely, considering they now had the largest army in the east. Between these two rising conflicts, Prime Minister Argus Verze worked closely with Mary up until her death in 665 AU during childbirth. Her death created a void between the two territories, who desperately needed to work out their differences.

Eventually, unrest in Berma built up to the point where the citizens started to revolt against their new barbarian masters in 670 AU. The Court stayed out of the riots, which came to be known as the Black Dog Revolution, despite Verze's heritage with Berma. This earned the Court some respect from the Westwarden leadership, though Bermans all hated and cursed Avalot. To make matters worse, the Pinelands had been expanding its territories slightly, encroaching upon land once belonging to Avalot. This gave rise to the reformation of the Court of Nobles into the Avalot Alliance in 672 AU, as the various countries of the Eastern Territories became to push back at the prideful nation. They have plans to return to being the Court of Nobles after this conflict ends.

### Rebirth

Currently, the Avalot Alliance has made it it's mission to end the Pineland's warmongering and bring peace to the east.

## Hierarchy

There is no true ranking system within the Court, with anyone allowed so long as they have enough power and land. A donations of large sum is required as an admittance fee, but once a noble pays it, their entire family has a place in Court. There is only one true force in Court that all members are required to defer to, the King, and later the Prime Minister. This head directs the Court and keeps the conversations on track, but cannot decide the final ruling on his own. Instead, the King may only decide on matters regarding Avalot.

Indeed, all nobles do not have the right to decide laws set for other countries. Only general policies can be decided, with the nation's leader's choice to follow the Court's ruling. Though, because there are so many allies with seats in the Court, it would be foolish to stand against their decisions. Any member of the Court can bring up a topic of conversation and decisions are decided with a vote, requiring an approval of at least 66% to pass. The King/Prime Minister acts the guide to make sure matters do not grow out of control, as Court can quickly erupt into arguments.

After the Court was re-established in 656 AU, the Prime Minister position was developed instead of a King of Avalot, with the Minister having to refer to the Avalotian noble families before deciding anything. The Minister position was decided by 50% a popular vote from the commoners of Avo and 50% vote from the members of the current Court. The Prime Minister could then elect a Vice Minister to help him on Court matters.

Other Ministers in Court include:

* A Minister of War
* A Minister of Coin
* A Minister of Intelligence
* A Minister of People

In terms of actual ranking with the nobility itself, while the Court is an equal ground, certain titles have different social statuses. In order from most important to least, they are:

* King
* Queen
* Prime Minister
* Foreign Kings/Queens
* Vice Minister
* Minister of War/Coin/Intelligence/People
* Prince/Princess
* Baron/Baroness
* Duke/Duchess
* Count/Countess
* Lord/Lady
* Arl/Arless
* Sir/Dame

## Notable Members

* King Alric Dacre- Former King of Avalot.
* Queen Beatrice Dacre- Former Queen of Avalot and Princess of Berma.
* Count Lance Wymund- Former Count of Avo.
* Count Jop Carnell- Former Count of Briggham.
* Baron Radolf Maynard- Former Baron of Mayford.
* Prime Minister Kenneth Deshotel- Former Lord of Whiteport.
* Lord Sniveleous Feck- Former Lord of Avo.
* Emperor Juilus Narvineous- Former King the Emperor of Berma.
* Arl Henry Stonebrooke- Arl of the Stonebrooke Estate.
* Arl Henry Stout- Former Arl of the White Hills.
* Count Dante Anderson- Count of Avo.
* Countess Ida Ermintrade- Countess of Mayford.
* Baron Van Cole- Baron of Farqual.
* Prince Hugh Drago- Former Prince of the Pinelands.
* Princess Isolda Drago- Former Princess of the Pinelands.
* Roger Norman- Blacksmith of Avo, agent of the Midnight Hands.
* Leon Brewster- Alchemist of Avo.
* John Foolset- Beadle of Avo.
* Anfroy of Anderfall- Leader of Anderfall.
* Mary the Mute- Lady of Avo.
* Lord Daguf Serell- Lord of Avo.
* Lord Jurs Keppel- Lord of Whiteport.
* Count Leroy de Pinchemont- Count of the Pinelands.
* The Hudsons- A noble family from Briggham.
* The Flambards- A noble family from the Pinelands.
* The Poers- A noble family from Blackport.
* The Vescis- A noble family from Holiday.