House Dinh

### Notable Members

Baron Kazuto I of AvageruBaroness Emilia II of AvageruBaroness Mako II of AvageruCount Kazuto I of AvageruMistress Emma of GaramoMistress Lilian of Marode

House Dinh is a noble house, currently ruling over the County of Avageru. Often referred to as the Tea Lords or the Tea Masters, the Dinhs have maintained a reputation as reform-minded and hands-off rulers, with a preference to focus on culture and mercantile interests rather than martial ones.

## History

### Origins and foundation

Not much is available in the records about the origins of the Dinh family, though the legends perpetuated by later generations of Dinhs claim that the noble house traces its lineage to the ancient Vietnamese imperial dynasty of the same name.

The first Dinh to emerge in modern historical records was Kazuto Dinh, who became a prominent retainer and supporter of the Imperial House. In CE 2607, Kazuto was ennobled as a baron. The baron, allowed to choose his fief from several newly settled worlds, decided on Avageru after conferring with seventeen close advisors in what is today known as the Moot of Seventeen.

Having received advice that Avageru soil nurtured some of the finest tea in the Empire, Kazuto I quickly secured House Dinh's place as the Imperial House's foremost tea supplier. Within a few generations, tea had become a cornerstone of House Dinh's prosperity and influence.

### Dinh Succession Crisis

The very short tenure of Baron Maximilian I marked two major events: the completion of "substantive colonisation" of Avageru, and the succession crisis that followed the baron's unexpected and early demise.

Maximilian I died childless, meaning the barony would pass to one of his twin sisters. However, a clerical mishap years earlier had obfuscated the order of birth of the twins, with no one being certain about who had been born first. Each potential heir received backing from rival factions within the Dinh court. Civil war on Avageru loomed.

House Cullen, ruling nearby Tellus, opted to intervene, concerned about its important supply of tea and the potential for unrest to metastasise. After tense negotiations mediated by House Cullen, with the Cullen fleet orbiting above Avageru, the factions involved agreed to the accession of a compromise candidate, Lady Emilia, the third and youngest sister of Maximilian I. Additionally, as a mechanism to avoid future crises, House Dinh and its vassals agreed to an electoral method of succession, adapting the system the Cullens already had in place for themselves.

#### Creation of cadet branches

Emma Phan and Lilian Takagi, the twin sisters of Maximilian I and original claimants to the baronial seat, agreed to establish formal cadet branches using their husbands' names, under the stipulation that these new branches would be excluded from future baronial succession. In exchange, the newly created House Phan of Garamo and House Takagi of Marode were later granted the status of baronial elector by Emilia II, in place of two original vassal houses that had gone extinct. These houses attained the rank of baron soon after House Dinh's elevation to countship.

### Reformist rulers

Baroness Emilia II formalised the agreements that ended the Succession Crisis by issuing the Charter on Electoral Succession, along with other legal documents. She also laid the foundations of what would later become the civil service on Avageru by establishing formal ranks for officials working for her.

Her successor, Baroness Mako II, the first to be officially elected in a conclave, ushered through the most consequential reform with the Charter on Responsive Government. With help from renowned jurists from Avageru and Tellus, Mako consolidated a variety of existing informal institutions in the Barony and established a quasi-constitution for her fiefdom. Overlapping and often conflicting political privileges were streamlined or revoked, and guarantees were made to ensure the inclusion of the gentry and the commons in the political process. This charter, along with many other reforms to the nascent Avageri administrative state, became known collectively as the Grand Reforms.

Mako's great-nephew and successor, Baron Maximilian II, built on the foundations laid by his two predecessors and established Avageru's civil service, called the Avageri Secretarial Service, with clear standards for admission and criteria for promotion.

### Elevation to countship

Baron Kazuto II received an elevation to the rank of count. He became Count Kazuto I Dinh, and his fiefdom became the County of Avageru.

## Charter

The affairs of House Dinh, including matters of succession and membership, are governed by the Charter of House Dinh, established by Baron Kazuto I with approval from the Crown, reaffirmed by Count Kazuto I.

## Titles

The ruler of House Dinh bears the substantive feudal title of "Count of Avageru," as well as the honourary titles of "Guardian of the Sacred Waters" and "Protector of the Roving Clans."