House de Belliere

House de Belliere is one of Renvanel's noble houses. Nominally an independent Great House, the ancient *House of the Harp* due to several reasons fell from its power and has been in decline for several centuries, lowering in power to the stage of one of the stronger branch houses of the other Great Houses. The house is most well known for it's members striving for the status they call *perfectus* - Every House member has to try to achieve excellence in at least one field useful to the house if it wants to hope to gain any Status within the family.

**Slogan:** *"Achieve to inspire. Inspire to achieve."*

### History

\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_

The founder of the house is the mythic Lorelei, la Belle (The Beautiful), a companion of Talrin Valoures, the famous hero who lead the free races against the demon plague, earning the freedom of not only Humanity but also the Elves, the Dwarves, the Beastkin created as warriors and the Fae which had come to their aid. Lorelei, also known as the *Silver Marshal*, was a famous bard, herald, diplomat and agent. It is said that one of her songs alone was able to lead a broken and desperate force back into victory or drive terror even into the hearts of the demonic hordes. She was also said to have been a scholar, achieving the knowledge of an elven sage in a human's lifetime. Darker rumours speak about her laying with demons to gather dark knowledge about the enemy or being the later king's favourite. It is undisputed that her actual true love belonged to her art and that she made it into a tradition within her house, to strive for perfection in the one thing she believed every person to have the most talent in. It might be different for everyone, but one may not let her- or himself be distracted from this perfection before all others. This perfection would then have to be used for the good of House and kingdom. House de Belliere claims they are the oldest Noble House, their ancestor elevated as the first of the old founders, but this statement is disputed by the other Houses today.

House de Belliere over the centuries became known as both highly flexible and possessing great political talent. If the silver tongue of their ancestors became an inheritance or if Lorelei's descendants just more often took her as a role-model is worth a dispute, but the effects are the same. Each de Belliere was either a specialist, constantly working for their own betterment, or someone trying to be one. While diplomacy was the most common specialisation, the house also possessed knights, spellcasters, scholars, or even (so it is rumoured) assassins. They were less keen to intermarry solely based on political assumptions than the other houses, being more on the lookout for spouses both with status, but, more important, of high talent. Nevertheless, for every highly disciplined, near-ascetic house member, there was one that enjoyed being revered for their abilities or bathing in social life. But what was rarely spoken of was the fact, that many house members also fell through the cracks, not achieving the excellence asked to be truely praised by the house.

The house became a major power within the empire, in the eastern, Flouish provinces even surpassing House Valoures itself in influence. Their relations to the royal house - More than one Belliere being adopted also into House Valoures because of their achievements for the empire - allowed them a prosperous reign.

But then the house started to fall on hard times. An Orcish invasion destroyed much of their lands and killed many of their defenders before the other houses came to help and the invasion was pushed back. Only half a decade later a plague spread through the realm, coming from corn grown in a corrupted field, then spreading. A plague twisting mind and body of nobles and citizens alike, killing some, driving more into madness. Lord Asturius, the head of the house at that time, a known warrior and tactician became paranoid, accusing several of the other noble houses having engineered the plague, not coming to aid immediately versus the orcs and other things which were, of course, met with feelings of insult. That several of the highest members of the house started to suddenly disappear didn't help. After a clash, Lord Asturius was attacked by Solosh Tenath, a son of the Lady of House Kamdeth at that time (or the other way around). In the end, they both lay dead. With the named heir of the lord having disappeared shortly before, the house fell to inner quarrels about the next head of the house. In the end, several parts of the realm broke off with their lands, marrying into other houses for stability. Also, several titles were stripped from the house for the crimes and infighting cause from their former Lord. Only the new marriage alliances kept a civil war at bay and the relations with House Kamdeth were at an all-time low. In the end, the realm of the house had shrunk to a fifth of its former size, not counting the lands which were still devastated by the corruption and plague before. The disappeared members were never found and many of the others had either died or married away. Much actually pointed to an intrigue of some sort, but what was left of the once-proud house lacked the resources to investigate and their allies elsewhere desired finally peace, as other realms already looked with interest at the weakness in the eastern half of the empire. When the dust settled, House Belliere did not count more than thirty heads anymore, most of them either old men or orphaned children.

While nominally not giving up their status and rights, in the coming half of the century, House de Belliere was more and more treated as a branch house of House Dranstad, who had profited most from the de Belliere marrying off to greener lands. Titles like the Seneschall of the king, or the royal herald or the foreign minister, long-held by de Belliere's went to other houses. The coming generation was mostly mediocre, many of the older Belliere dying before they could teach the next generation or lacking the resourIes they had become so accustomed to.

### Today

\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_

After a long decline and hard work, the House has seen an impressive rise in the last 50 years. Under the rule of the old Patriarch, Gerard de Belliere it has started to prosper again. Gerard, an honoured General of the imperial army, has taken it into his own hands to lead his house back to the status it deserves. A better tactician and logistics officer than his (still impressive) physical prowess, he has organized the few holdings the family still had into new, prosperous ones, relocated the seat of the house from the ancient Vilard Manor to the city of Arbor Bay ("Beggars can't afford traditions, as long as they need to recenter themselves") and invested much of the remaining money - And later, the intense earnings through his good nose for business - into the education of the next generation and the binding and honouring of loyal servants. He also relaxed the traditional approach of the family about blood purity, legitimating more than one half-blood formerly seen as a bastard, through political acumen reassimilating a branch house formerly belonging to house Dranstad without making it into a political scandal and, lately, reinstalling the old custom of the house about the inheritage of the position of head of the house. At over ninety years of age, even the tough old Nordener has to start to think about his heir, though... Luckily, he has done what was necessary to get at least one good option...

### Influence

\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_

Not much has stayed from the old power of the house, though for such a small house their influence is (again) impressive. Their lands mostly consist of a triangle between the towns of Arbor Bay, Vilard and Cabinshite and the countryside in between, largely consisting of forest and soft hills, but also including part of the Blackrock mountains in the north. Their economy comes largely from the forest, especially the ironwood trees, and especially stable kind of wood growing only in this area. After centuries the land seems to also have finally healed and since about 40 years, agriculture is possible again. This is, because of the hilly terrain, mostly used to cultivate the flouish red and black grapes, which in turn are turned into the famous flouish whine, especially a sweet rosé called "Jeune fille" (Beautiful girl") which the house specializes in. There are also a few mines in the Blackrock mountains, led by the dwarven Clan Ironbrow, ancient allies of the house, but the findings of huge mineral deposits still have not happened. For the time being, the mines mostly extract the name-giving black granite of the Blackrock mountains, as well as a few rare gems. Sadly, much of the de Belliere part of the mountains are riddled with deposits of the oily black Blood of the world, a staining substance contaminating what it touches and largely useless beyound being distilled into a particularly stinking kind of lamp oil.

Long to weak and unextended to take much notice of the capital, the house has about two years ago after almost three decades sent an ambassador to the royal court again, regaining a voice. The house caused a minor scandal, when their ambassador introduced herself as the speaker for house de Belliere AND the Dranstad branch house of the same name, essentially regarding it as a great house despite its fall. But in the end, no repercussions followed and the House itself seems to support this notion. Gerard's careful placing of his descendants and relatives into various positions has further thinned the concentration of members of the house, but on the other hand allowed them to gain small raises of influence all over the empire, with some small relations into Rodshire, too. The problem is, that most of this power is solely based on individual house members power and can easily be lost again should the member fall or die. For that reason, further influence is found under the links to individual members of the house.

### Branch Houses

\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_

De Belliere has largely lost its branches, most have them dying out or loosening themselves from the house after its downfall. The few that remain are mostly small and all have special circumstances.

1. de Belliere: The main house. Head: Patriarch Gerard de Belliere. Seat: Arbor Bay Town (Formerly Vilard Town). Membership: About 25, consisting of Gerard, his direct legitimate decendants and those of his siblings with a few distant cousins leftover.
2. Sans-Arce: Descendants of Arcea de Belliere, Sister of the Head of the House about 350 years ago. Following the customs of the original house founder, Sans-Arce focusses more on excellence in craft and creation than political or physical power. Loyal to the main house, the members of this branch house have spawned many great artists, bards and partygoers. Less well known, they also tend to serve as the ears of the house, well-educated in the gossip of several courts. Membership: About 15.
3. Plannard: Descendants of the quiet Lord Sebastienne de Plannard, a Bastard legitimized into the house for his resourcefulness, the Plannard are much less joyful and social than the rest of the house. They are hard workers not stepping into the foreground much. Many excel as craftsmen(primarily metal or woodworking) or warriors, but they rarely leave their home in the Blackrock Mountain range. The Plannard differ slightly among the descendants of Belliere in terms of racial purity, as the branch founder's mother was a dwarf, making the most members of the clan more stocky and/or small, some of them even exhibiting dwarven characteristics (mechanically, a de Plannard has the option of choosing a Half-dwarven, Half-human combination as her race). Membership: About a dozen.
4. Thelioné: Acting largely independent from the main house, but nominally still a branch and on good relations with the main house, the Thelioné have relocated to the Rodshire province despite their nobility Status in Renvanel, their main influence now laying there. Their house founder married a Rodshire patrician after the downfall 200 years ago. They are well-known traders now. Membership: About 20. Seat: Campine Town, Rodshire province.
5. Ferrard: A house prefered to be forgotten by the main house and not recognised as an actual branch. Its founder is said to have fallen to darkness and followed Xerethian, the Betrayer, into exile, where he became one of his apprentices and today the house is well known for its Illusion and mind magic on Kelmar. Some rumours say this might be a particularly long ploy of the old Belliere-spymasters, though...

Due to the small size of the house, de Belliere has, for a noble house, built an especially close relationship with families of commoners which have shown extraordinary loyalty and competence to the noble house. They often do tasks for the house which in other houses are delegated to branch houses (which de Belliere largely misses). Different to the house itself, while humans are still the dominant species, those "follower families" are taken from all kinds of races (with the exception (til now) of the "corrupted" races (Orcs, Trolls and Goblins) - The terrible impact of corruption and invasion are still fresh in the mind of the population. Especially orcs are reviled.

### Customs

\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_

House de Belliere still follows its ancient customs about excellence. Much is invested into the children's education and a "late-bloomer" can also count on his house's help... If he does not need to many tries... That this leads to such an intense focus that it often also creates people that have (sometimes intense) shortcomings outside their specialized area is a flaw the house quietly accepts. Though the most well-received housemembers are those who also are able to excel at the secondary fields of tehir chosen specialization (A courtier should also be well-educated in international customs, noble history and organizing his house, a warrior should know about tactics, military history and antimagic, etc.). This custom even extends to the most valued follower families. The child of a loyal follower family can get aducation together with the de Belliere children, creating both highly competent and usually thankful servants, further cementing the relations between the families. For that reason, while the house troops of de Belliere are quite small, they are each and every ne highly trained and competent. For that good education ,they swear to follow the house til they either die or are given their freedom. Many see no reason to ever leave.

Believing that racial talents are actally something that lowers when mixed, the de Belliere have long been the house with the least diverse racial membership. While intermarriages or legitimated bastards sometimes happened, over 90% of the house consisted of humans of the Nordener or Talrane subrace (rumours say, with some extraplanar (Read: worldgater) blood inb-etween. What came in was usually from a political alliance to good to give up. This custom has recently weakened, with Lord Gerard putting more weight on the rerise of the house than ancient customs, but it is still a believe cemented in the self-understanding of the house. Especially beastkin blood is rare. Currently, in the whole house ,there is not a single Lupine and only two Gnarrs (one of them with strong human blood-relations).

The Belliere always try to lead by example, trying to inspire those that follow them to also turn to excellence. Noblesse obligé is deeply ingrained in the house and treating an underling poorly for undeserved reasons is frowned upon.

Gèrard has recently reinstated the old tradition of "inheritance of excellence", basically meaning he will that house member as his heir that he considers to be the one most talented and best for the house's development. It is rumoured he wants to step back and act as a mentor to the new head of house before he actually dies. His children and older grandchildren know he would have long named them, would he prefer one of them to the others, which led to increased workings among the younger members of the house... Which might be exactly what the old Fox planned.

### Notable members

\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_

Lord Gérard de Belliere, 91 - Patriarch of the house, Nordener Human. Specialization: Logistician. Dragon-marked. Widower.

Lord Jeromé de Belliere, 42, grandson of Gérard, Baron of Cabinshite. A rather reclusive man with pitch-black hair and melancholic behavior, gentle yet strong. Specialisation: Botany and Agriculture, Nordener Human. Married.

Lady Elthessa de Belliere-Manaphtec, 49, Wife to Carlmané de Belliere (Gérard's youngest son) and Leader to the Temple of Death in the Emerald city, Half-Elf (Erethos), Half-Human (Talrane).

Robert de Plannard, 67, Stoneblood-Dwarf. Master of Winecreation. Unmarried.

Laurent de Belliere, 39, Half-Nordener/Half-Talrane Human, half-brother to Jeromè, grandson of Gèrard. Specialization: Hunting. Lord of Chateaù de Rosé, a little outside of Vilard town, the ancient family seat.

Adelaide du Sans-Arce, 42, Nordener Human, wife to Laurent, famous artist. Specialization: Painting. Much more of a politician than her husband.

Felicia de Belliere, 18, Nordener Human, daughter to Laurent and Adelaide, Guild minister of the adventurer's guild, speaker of her house to the royal court, heir apparent. Specialization: Wise Courtier. Dragon-marked. [PC] One of the upcoming talents of the house, Felicia has suffered since birth from a frail constitution, in her childhood often binding her to her bed. She is usually calm and friendly, but her delicate stature hides an incredible social talent, mainly seated in the fact that she thinks before acting. Unmarried.

Fiora "Fifi" Beaulieu en Belliere (basically means under Belliere), 21, Human (?). Specialization: Dangerous Handmaiden. Daughter to a follower family. The Beaulieu have served the Belliere for several generations now. Raised together with Felicia de Belliere, Fifi, full of energy and strength has grown into the oldest (and in some ways only) childhood friend her young mistress had. They have only been divided for a little time when Felicia went to Saundred, but Fiora soon followed. Her true specialisation is fencing and many have underestimated the elegant beauty. She might be one of the most talented fighters in the whole house, but Felicia has also seen to her social talents at least a little. Unmarried.

### Merit/Flaw

\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_

Merit: Leading by Inspiration

Whenever an ally does the same general type of action you did in this or the last turn (in combat), or generally last (out of combat) he gains (the higher of your CHA or INT divided by 2) on all numerical values and rolls. The action needs to be generally the same, but not exactly. He would need to attack the same foe, but not use the same weapon, cast a spell from the same school or craft a weapon from the same materials and for the same damage type. You can instead Inspire your allies for a particular action you don't use yourself (say, you are a scholar wanting to inspire warriors), but then it costs your action for the turn and you need to succeed in a Diplomacy or Bluff Check vs. your Ally's composure. You roll only once but the roll is compared to each of your allies composures individually. You do not need to roll if your allies are your direct retainers (and see themselves as such) or of your House, but you still need to spend an action.

Flaw: Overspecialized

Each de Belliere is so much bred and trying to excell in a certain area that he can't help but have a weakness elsewhere. Choose one Stat. All rolls based on that Stat are made at a disadvantage. All numerical Values (HP, PP, MP, Ini...) are counted as if your Stat was 2 less, to a minimum of 1.