House Kontostavlos

## The History of House Kontostavlos

House Kontostavlos was surprisingly founded by a member of an order of human witches who drew power from a number of pagan gods. This order was originally named the Magoi and was founded in response to the chaotic events of the Thousand Year War. For centuries the Magoi would hone their craft in a magical arms race against the rising power of competing vampyr dukes that ravaged the land. During an era dominated by vampyrs, the Order of the Magoi stood as one of the last defenders of humanity. As time wore on the Magoi became increasingly desperate and eventually resorted to researching alternative methods of magical power. This would lead some to begin investigation into the power of their vampyr enemies.

In the year -517 BFE, a witch known as Maescia Kontostavlos would gather seven of the most powerful witches of the Magoi together and perform a mysterious ritual under the promise that it would give them power greater than that of the vampyrs. However, when the ritual had been completed all of the participants died and Maescia was reborn as a pureblood vampyr. Sadly, her magical tether to her gods was severed leaving her powerless. Whether this was planned as a way to sabotage the order, to gain power through a sacrifice, or was simply a miscalculation was never discovered. Maescia was shortly thereafter forced to go into hiding for her transgressions against the order. This event would be the nail in the coffin of the Order of the Magoi which would inevitably succumb to the might of vampyr warlords.

As the events of the Thousand Year War raged on Maescia would hide in the mountains and begin experimenting with a primitive form of sanguinare (blood magic) that she had seen practiced among vampyrs. She would eventually become adept in the art and progressed the craft beyond what anyone could have imagined at the time. She would record all of her work in a tome called, *Thaumaturgy Sanguinare*.

Emerging from her solitude, she would rise to be a formidable force and would eventually start a lineage of her own under the banner of the House Kontostavlos. The Kontostavlos family intially became infamous for their prowess with Sanguinare and were looked at with suspicion for their strange origins. Unfortunately, Maescia was killed during a battle that took place in the year -256 BFE creating a power struggle amongst her children that left the House in a weakened state. Inevitably House Kontostavlos became allies with Lizbeth Xithus and became a prominent house in the times of peace that occured in the First Era.

House Kontostavlos were given lands along the Eastern mountains of Nylorn overlooking the sea. The warmer waters and abundance of gold from the mines in the mountains would allow Kontostavlos to amass wealth in a relatively short period of time. Even after the turn of the Second Era Kontostavlos would remain a wealthy and powerful house stooped in suspicion. However all of this would change after nearly all of the members of this great house were murdered during the night the cicadas cried. Only one member of House Kontostavlos, Eliza Osborne, would survive. She was only allowed to live due to being under the protection of House Osborne. And so, Eliza Osborne carries with her the inherited wealth and magical prowess of her dead forebears.

##### Physical traits

Members of Kontostavlos had grey skin, and a third eye in the center of their forehead often covered by cloth or jewels. The third eye is rumored to have been a gift from the god Zilthur to Maescia to help her uncover the secrets of sanguinare.

##### Traditions and Values

Descendants of this house would often dye their hair a scarlet red to imitate Maescia's practice of staining her hair with the blood of her enemies. They also had an extensive knowledge and widespread use of sanguinare unlike most other houses. The Kontostavlos House judged it's members on magical capability and held trials to weed out those who were incompetent in the arts. A Kontostavlos felt superior to humans due to the perception that humans lacked magical abilities rather than simply on the basis that vampyrs were better. They also would often claim that they were different from the other vampyr bloodlines. Instead of taking shame in the origins of their creation as a house, the Kontostavlos simply felt that their magical origins made them better than other vampyr houses.

##### Reputation

The Kontostavlos had gained a reputation of being wealthy and magically gifted which was a source of jealousy amongst other houses. There was also dispute within the circles of vampyr nobility about the house's origins. Consequently Kontostavlos was viewed with much suspicion and was a name that became synonymous with opulence. Humans under Kontostavlos rule did not receive much of the wealth or the benefits of the magical practices that had become associated with the house. In fact, humans were often used by the house as vessels of blood with which the Kontostavlos could use for the magic of sanguinare. Still, the bustling ports of the city which the Kontostavlos governed, along with the warmer weather of the Southeast of Nylorn was considered a godsend from the harsh realities of the frozen wastes of the Northwestern territories of the Nylorn Empire. However, now the house is considered to be dead for the most part with the wealth inherited by Eliza Osborne.

## Kontostavlos Family Tree (WIP)

##### Notable members of Kontostavlos

-Maescia Kontostavlos

- Eliza Osborne