Blackveil Family

*"The Dead Don't Speak" -- Words of the Blackveil Family*

The Blackveil family are a family of Marcher Lords who rule over Shadowdale in the Imperial Marches. They are looked down upon by some other noble families due to controvrsial practices in the past and recent blunders, and like the rest of the Marcher Lords spend most of their time squabbling with the others.

## History

While in recent years (thanks to the efforts of Rickert and Gadd Blackveil) the Blackveils have produced many knights for the Empire, historically the Blackveils have trained among their number many of the Empire's greatest assassins in generations past. While this has mostly stopped, the reputation of the Blackveils as a family of cutthroats still lingers. The Blackveils are currently a house on the rise thanks to the efforts of two effective leaders, though they are still haunted by mistakes of the past.

The Blackveils are an ancient house who, like most of the Marcher Lords long ago once ruled a small independent fiefdom before being conquered by the Cagilan Empire. Being one of the smallest houses, the Blackveils relied on diplomacy and subterfuge over brute force. For generations they trained some of the deadliest assassins in the empire. Because of this the family gained an unsavory reputation and were viewed by the other Marcher Lords poorly. Over time the Blackveils became one of the poorest noble families in the Marches.

In more recent years the patriarch of the Blackveil family, Rickert Blackveil, decided his family needed to turn things around and implement changes to increase his family's prosperity. He burned the texts and manuals they previously used to train killers and forbid his family from the trade. While the Blackveils had over the years produced knights of the Empire and bring glory to their house.

When searching for a wife however he fell deeply in love with a lowborn elven girl. Despite his household begging him not to he elevated the woman Gaeia to the rank of noble, granting her the name Lightshadow. This was very controversial and nearly led to a war between the Marcher Lords which required Imperial intervention to prevent. Gaeia and Rickert married and lived happily with 4 sons whom he proclaimed would all be knights. The rest of the realm looked down upon him for marrying a lowborn and an elf and his children are still mocked for their elven features.

While glory would not come to pass, and Imperial Senate seat would be granted to the Blackveils due to the gallant actions of Rickert's son, Gadd Blackveil, during an attack on the Marches by Tilogian raiders when he saved the life of Duke Jan van Horn. For this the Duke knighted the heir to Darkhold and granted him a seat in the Imperial Senate. After the death of his father he returned to Darkhold and passed his Senate seat to his younger brother, Borch.

Borch was pleased with his new appointment as he found the Marchlands dull and the petty squabbles of the lords pointless. Eager to see the capital he rushed off to Cagil. Living a semi-luxurious life, he currently serves as an Imperial Senator from the Marches and has two sons with a Vicean noblewoman.

Daggert too was displeased with his life in the Marches, but loved his father and sought to serve him diligently. In return, knowing his son's wandering spirit, and seeking to bring honour to his house through knighthood, he knighted him as a Knight of Shadowdale and sent him on various assignments and to many battles. Daggert distinguished himself enough to be granted the honour of Imperial Knight which he accepted. His daughter Chorin serves her grandfather as a Knight of the Shadowdale.

Wilben, the youngest of Rickert's children was always shy and quiet, and while his other sons always displayed martial prowess, Wilben was often seen as cowardly and restrained. Wilben has a soft spot for animals and eventually became a priest of Hestia. He has helped the lowborn folk of Shadowdale reinvigorate the region's agricultural infrastructure, and while his father and brother were disappointed in his failure to become a knight, he is well liked by the people of the Shadowdale.

After taking over Darkhold following the death of his father, Gadd spent much of his time dealing with the constant feuding of the other Marcher Lords. Eventually he married Glenna Raemont and had 4 children. While their marriage was not loveless they never spent much time together and when she fell ill and died shortly before the events of the game, he was not particularly grieved. Gadd in his elder years is mostly jaded, cynical, and disillusioned due to the tiring and never-ending infighting within the Marches. Despite this he still tries to do what is best for his family even if he comes off as vicious or cantankerous.

He and Glenna had four children, Victor, Andin, Valla, and the young Kes. Victor is a Knight of the Shadowdale and heir to Darkhold. Andin also served as a knight however he served the Duke of Antioch Boris van Horn, protecting the greater Marches region. While in the Duke's service he organized an unsanctioned duel with the van Horn heir, Shane van Horn, killing him. Lord Boris had him exiled as a result. Valla currently serves Duke Boris in his place and resents him for exiling her brother, but serves him to appease her father and as her duty. Kes is a younger girl of 12 and is doted on by much of the family (though not her father) and while her father intends on her being married off for gain. She is more interested in the Saints, particularly Saint Aetius.

## Notable Members

* Rickert Blackveil (deceased) and Gaeia Lightshadow (lowborn, deceased)
	+ Gadd Blackveil, Lord of Shadowdale and Glenna Raemont of Olddale (deceased)
		- Victor Blackveil, heir to Shadowdale
		- Andin Blackveil (exiled)
		- Valla Blackveil, Knight of Antioch
		- Kes Blackveil
	+ Borch Blackveil, Imperial Senator and Essa of Vice
		- Kareem Blackveil
		- Logan Blackveil
	+ Daggert Blackveil, Imperial Knight
		- Chorin Blackveil, Knight of Antioch
		- Dilfer Blackveil
	+ Wilben Blackveil, Priest of Hestia

## *Bad Tidings*

Valla Blackveil appears in Monsters Get Slain after the Legends of altmar meet her adventuring party and take custody of her ward, Emilia Halford whom she was attempting to return to Strombran. Valla follows Rikkert, Alia, and Emilia as they ride off toward Garad Estus, and confronts them in the forests off the road near Velen. After defeating Alia but being subdued by Rikkert, she reutrned to her party back down the road to lick her wounds. She briefly ran into Ahamed, Gimlee, and Luther who took off after their companions.

## Relationships with other Families

The Blackveils are mostly looked down on by the rest of the Imperial nobles as they have historically been poor and not particularly useful for much outside of conducting assassinations. Combined with recent mixing with former lowborn elven blood, the Blackveils are considered irrelevant at best and worthy of contempt by some of the more proud families in the larger noble community.

### Harstone

While all the families of the Imperial Marches hate each other to some degree, of particular note is the hatred between the Harstones and the Blackveils. The two families have what is considered by many to be one of the most intense rivalries in the Marches and likely the entire Empire. The feud dates back centuries and most don't even know what started it but all involved Blackveil and Harstone alike have perpetuated it. Wars have been fought between the two houses several times and the only thing keeping them from having wiped the other out is betrayal and fear of reprisal from the other March houses. After the March Kingdoms were conquered by the Empire, the wars came to an end, but the endless political fighting, border disputes, insults, small scale violence, and other minor crimes against each other continued for generations.

### van Horn

Like the rest of the Marcher Lords, the Blackveils are resentful of their liege as they feel they should be the ones running the Marches. While the tumultuous history with the van Horns is much briefer than with the other lords, the Blackveils have done their share of political maneuvering to place themselves as Dukes of Antioch in the van Horns' stead.

## Trivia

* The original name for the family was Shadowbane however after the family's role in the story became much more than just a cameo from another game, the name was changed and retconned.
* The name Borch is a reference to the character Villentretenmerth from Andrejz Sapkowski's story The Bounds of Reason who styles himself Borch Three Jackdaws to hide his true identity. This is another of many nods to the author's Witcher series which inspired much of the setting for the game.
* Valla was was only meant to appear in one encounter but was liked so well as an antagonist, the DM brought her back and developed her storylines and background into the Marches.
* The Blackveil family was the first of the March families to be introduced and the first to be fully developed.