House Varich

*One pattern I started, now I end it to begin anew in the name of Varich, founder of the house I take as my own. May I never leave the threads of a pattern unread. May I never let a challenge go unanswered. May I never give a vow of true love to another. I give honor to House Varich and serve it with my mind, my heart, and my actions. If I forswear my oath, may all hands of my house rise against me and may the pattern of my beating heart fall to stillness forever.*

**Pronounced:** VAH-rik

**Court:** Unseelie

**Nickname:** Weavers, Puppetmasters (vulgar)

The sidhe of House Varich hail from Russia, where they were once worshipped as gods by the mortals who Dreamed and shed blood for them. Masters of pattern recognition, they followed the threads of their fellow sidhe’s actions and, through that design, foresaw the Shattering. Long before the other houses had begun to flee the Earth, Varich had already returned to Arcadia with many of their vassals. For centuries, they thrived in the long Arcadian winter, finally returning to their old homeland to find it a barren waste of Banality. They immigrated to America, where they found a new home in San Francisco’s Russian Hill.

Varich changelings are known for their frozen hearts and inability to love. The founder of House Varich was once betrayed in love, fooled by a sluagh sorceress into loving a magical construct made of snow. When the maiden melted away in Varich’s heated embrace, Varich’s parents set a curse upon the sluagh. The enmity between the sidhe of House Varich and the sluagh exists to this day, and members of House Varich vow never to give their heart to another. Varich’s standard became a rallying point for the broken-hearted and betrayed, with bitterness as their banner.

House Varich doesn’t fret and wait. They search for meaning in everything around them. When observing a series of seemingly-unrelated events, Varich can see the small threads that connect them, quickly learning an opponent’s battle strategy, and predicting changes in politics or even the stock market, which has given Varich a great deal of financial power in the mortal world. House Varich also excels in all areas of gambling, from cards to sports betting, able to note subtle patterns in play, distinguish tells, and successfully predict outcomes.

This talent also plays out in battle, though members of this House would rather orchestrate the battle than fight it. House Varich stations officers at several key points around a battlefield to observe their foes. Once they discern the patterns governing their strategy, they reconvene and plan their attack. Those aware of Varich’s ability seek to thwart it by initiating attacks before their observant enemy has a chance to learn their strategy, and by hiding key training and planning from sight, beyond Varich’s prying eyes.

## House Boon

House Varich’s greatest strength is their ability to discern patterns and make predictions. They can look at a week’s worth of stocks and predict the market, observe a game of cards and predict who has what hand, watch a duel and predict the outcome. They require time and preparation, but once the Puppetmasters see the pattern, manipulating it comes easily. If the character has an opportunity to analyze his opponent in advance of a competition or conflict (such as fighting, sports, chess, etc.), the player can roll Perception + Kenning (difficulty 8) to successfully analyze his target’s pattern of play in that specific type of competition. While in that conflict with the target, all rolls against the target pertaining to the specific challenge have a –1 difficulty.

## House Flaw

Broken-hearted Varich vowed never to love again, and his house followed suit. Their perspective allows them to see the entire pattern and to manipulate it, but forces them to remain outside of it themselves, disconnected from others. They can never swear an oath of love to another, and the difficulty of Empathy rolls increases by one.

## Exile

House Varich was not exiled, but carefully orchestrated both their entrance to and exit from Arcadia based on the patterns foretold through signs and portent. Even if they had been exiled, this situation would have resulted from the careful manipulation of the pattern by Varich nobility.

## Factions & Societies

* The Obtenyani, a group dedicated to disrupting or deviating from the pattern, are ruled by passion instead of careful planning.

* The Notchnytza, an elite group of all-female assassins, have mastered hand-to-hand combat, weaponry, and poisons.

* The Players, a ring of bookies operating out of Russian Hill, prey upon mortals and fae like, sometimes Ravaging hopeful humans dreaming of their big payout.

## Notable Members

Varich, Child of the Sun and Moon, the founder of this house, who claimed the body of a dancer in a San Francisco theatre group upon his return, Rytsar Wila Irynocha, founder of the Obtenyani, who once stood in active opposition to Varich but whose views have mellowed somewhat in the decade and a half since her return, Darya Vetrov, a key figure amongst the Players, known for her particularly vicious treatment of those who fail to pay their debts, and Tzar Ivan and Tzarina Ekaterina, rulers of the Empire of the Firebird.