Clan Rhyne

**Clan Rhyne** holds the honor of being the first High King's Clan in Vornair. Its people are stout, brave of heart, clever, and honorable people. Their Sigil, the Fox: represents wit, ingenuity, and wisdom. These traits have aided Clan Rhyne largely over the years as military and civil leaders, strategists, and diplomats. Their lineage is passed through meritorious elective ambilineal decent.

Clan Rhyne founded and still holds the Crown of Vornair. They rule from the ancestral homelands of the Rhyne, appropriately named: The Rhynelands. Their seat of power sits in the city of High Revburgh in the Thanedom of Penrith.

## Overview

### **Characteristics**

Rhynes would be hard to pick out in a crowd if not for their eyes and posture. Their hair is dark red-black, and their eyes are most often a steel blue to blue-green. The men and women stand at roughly the same height at 72" - 78", as they are built to be powerful but fast, largely from their military history. What clearly marks an individual as a Rhyne is often their posture, standing tall and proud while not arrogant. Another marker would be their keen eyes, constantly taking in and learning as much as they can about their environment.

### **Values**

Clan Rhyne values valor, magnanimity, perseverance, and honesty above all other things. They approach everyone with absolutely no sense of entitlement, for they are entitled only to what each of them earn. No Rhyne would ask someone to bow before them, and oftentimes they will bow before those persons whom have earned that respect from them.

The Rhynes have a rich history of military, civil, and diplomatic service in their tribe, and value these skills very dearly. They have also had figures in their clan with large focuses on pursuits of engineering when industry's need was desperate for it, and to this day, members of the Rhyne clan can be found tinkering and utilizing their ingenuity to the benefit of all.

## History

### **Background**

House Rhyne has held Penrith and The Rhynelands for as long as there has been written history only adding onto it over the years. Over the course of their oral history, the Rhynes passed stories down related to the conquest of the lands around Penrith as well as the lands pulled in without so much as a drop of blood. It wasn't until Jarl Hilf Rhyne's time that the clan started actually recording their history, stories, and legends on paper.

The Rhyne names of the past are spoken with much pride by the family as they recount the stories that their parents and their parents passed down through the ages. They have been legendary military leaders, strategists, warriors, engineers, and diplomats. The Rhyne family continues to prove themselves and each generation strives to earn their right to carry their name, and prove themselves that they are worthy to bear its weight.

### **Origins**

The origins of Clan Rhyne have been lost to history. So far as anyone within Penrith is aware, the Rhynes have owned the land since far before any story or legend stretches back. It is believed that the Rhynes themselves were planted there by the Gods themselves, others believe that the Rhynes forcibly took the land long ago, and then stamped out any legend of its previous owners. Only the Gods know for sure.

## Current Situation

High King Evelake Rhyne, chosen inheritor of the Crown from his mother, High Queen Jordyn Rhyne, and his father, High King Beinir Rhyne (Haert), has been making great strides in further uniting the Kingdom of Vornair and learning all he can about his people and their cultures. He is also allowing his interest in cultures seep into learning about these other Kingdoms in the world. The High King is also the acting Jarl of Valor over the Rhynelands.

The middle brother Haervy Rhyne is the acting Thane of Magnanimity in Penrith and Captain of the High King's Guard, aptly named the Skulk Guard. He is also the Baron of Ledrhals Keep. An imposing figure and a master of the combating arts, he has an amazing sense of self and his surroundings, and utilizes this sense to great advantage for both himself and his Kingdom.

Their youngest brother Vorlok Rhyne, a genius when it comes to civil and mechanical / alchemical engineering, is the acting Baron of Perseverance in High Revburgh. In addition to running and maintaining the Kingdom's Capital City, he also runs his own company conducting alchemical research to supply the Kingdom's military with extremely useful tools for both defense and offense.

## Culture

The Rhyne Clan's culture is based off of a mix between Norse and Arthurian cultures. One of the key points to their culture is that they require those around them to embody the values that they hold most dear and in the highest respect. Valor, Perseverance, Magnanimity, and Berzerking are all values that members of the Rhyne Clan have held and continue to hold. However, the leaders of the Rhyne Clan ensure that they embody every single value that is represented by those below them in order to ensure that they are earning and worthy of their respect.