House Jameson (Novel: House Partch)

Official Insignia

Approximate region under this house's authority

House Jameson (Novel: House Partch) is one of the five Noble Houses of Duilintinn, spanning the foothills and slopes of the Southern Mountains. The Noble House is led by Lord Jameson Jackson and is primarily known for its role as a cultural hub, encouragement of the arts, and culture of optimism and creativity.

## History

### Pre-Duilintinn

The Southern Mountains were home to several different people groups which remained separate from the Feadhainn civilization during the Ancient Era. Those that survived the Dragon War would also remain fairly unbothered by Waldren during the Waldren Occupation, thanks to their isolated location in the mountains.

Some people groups in the foothills closer to the lowlands were influenced by Waldren culture as time passed, particularly during the Interim Years after the trade company’s departure. Others would isolate themselves further, particularly as power-hungry factions began to clash over the power vacuum Waldren left behind. In addition, groups of bandits began to take shelter in the mountains, using the terrain as a hiding place between attempts to swoop north and raid towns and travelers on the Monaidh Plains. These bandit groups also clashed with the local people groups in the region, causing further unrest.

To make matters worse, Noefrach, a city controlling the Guardian River, became a coveted stronghold for the people groups of the region. After previous occupants of the stronghold built a dam over the river and fortifications at the main road through the foothills, the rest of the mountain region found itself cut off from the rest of the Feadhainn Valley. These new additions transformed the city into a powerful chokepoint for much of the Southern Mountains, since, by this point, enough intercultural exchange had taken place between the mountains and the lowlands that many people groups had become reliant on outside trade. As a result, several people groups began targeting Noefrach in an attempt to take it for themselves, beginning a cycle of takeover after takeover that only caused further unrest, distrust, and isolation.

As a result, by the time the Quest for Duilintinn began, the people groups of the Southern Mountains were in a tumultuous period of instability and tribal warfare. The lore is extremely vague about exactly how the future king and his quest companions managed to bring about peace in the region, saying only that the situation was extremely complex, with many different narratives and perspectives to untangle to discover the truth of the situation.

Eventually, however, several dozen people groups of the region agreed to support the kingdom, while many others vouched to remain independent. The complex history between so many diverse people groups in this region would prevent King Sean from naming a Noble Lord over the region for several decades after Duilintinn’s founding, for fear of disrespecting and overwriting the unique ethnic and cultural identities already in place.

### Founding

In the months prior to April 1602- the twenty-fifth anniversary of Duilintinn’s founding- rumors began to spread that King Sean planned to appoint a new lord.

This caused widespread unease, heightened by the aftermath of the Year of the Hero Lord and the continued absence of the other lords since the second attempt on the king’s life. People were slowly beginning to realize that the Noble Lords as we once knew them might never return, and the idea of a new lord in the midst of this cultural shift was sudden and jarring.

In addition, many feared that a new lord would attract the attention of The Enemy, as it had when Lord Brody was titled. At this point, the connection had been drawn between the unnatural nature of the First Great Famine and the strange magic of The Enemy, and many (correctly) believed that the famine had been a form of revenge against the new lord.

As a result, these rumors of another new lord caused a great deal of confusion and apprehension throughout Duilintinn, much to The Enemy’s pleasure. The fear and doubt he’d seeded during the First Great Famine had finally blossomed into a full-on national crisis.

In April 1602, King Sean confirmed that Lord Jameson will be titled in a ceremony taking place on Hallows’ Eve that year, in the hopes that the good magic strengthened on that day would bless his house. As expected, this announcement caused quite a stir; Hallows’ Eve had, in the past, been the date for far more evil magic than good.

Despite this, on October 31, 1602, a grand ceremony was held to title Lord Jameson as the fifth Noble Lord of Duilintinn. His Noble House was given authority over the slopes of the Southern Mountains west of the Airceann River and as far south as people would populate their heights, with Noefrach as its provincial capital.

The celebration that followed was unlike anything seen in Duilintinn before or since. For every citizen that feared the consequences of Lord Jameson’s titling, there was another who dedicated themselves to drowning out the fear with creativity and hope. Thousands of people from across Duilintinn came to Noefrach to celebrate House Jameson’s founding with demonstrations in honor of the arts, music, literature, creativity, and positivity. Lord Jameson himself carved a cheerful pumpkin as a statement of creative solidarity, and almost everyone who attended had a positive story to share about the young, but undeniably heartwarming new lord.

However, that was the last time anyone saw Lord Jameson for over a decade. He vanished almost immediately from the public eye, and while many believed he’d simply joined the other lords with the king in Cordoire, others claimed they saw signs of some strange magic in Noefrach after the celebrations began to die down…

House Jameson was founded in the name of spreading joy and hope throughout Duilintinn in the form of creative works, granting credence to the idea that these “frivolous” activities actually provided vital support to the nation as a whole. This attitude would be adopted by The Watch, which began operations in the first month of the following year.

At first, it seemed as if The Enemy did not respond to Lord Jameson’s titling until over a year later, during the Overnight Defense. However, recent discoveries and occurrences (especially Lord Jameson’s reappearance in 1614) have led The Watch to suspect that The Enemy secretly struck back at the young lord as early as the day of his titling, though the exact series of events is still unclear.

### Modern Day

House Jameson suffered a minor recession during The Second Great Famine, as starving citizens had little money to spend on the arts. During this time, the creative outlets found in House Jameson shifted to become more practical. Cartography, record keeping, and pamphlet making continued to be extremely popular pursuits even after the famine had ended.

That being said, House Jameson fared better in the two great famines of Duilintinn’s history thanks to its agricultural self-sufficiency. While the geography, infrastructure, and seasonal climate in House Jameson prevent the region from becoming an agricultural powerhouse, local community gardens and small individual farms can produce enough food to get by without imports from House Brody. Granted, the famine still affected the people of southern Duilintinn. Scarcity meant that they had to rely upon what they could grow locally, instead of eating the variety of foods they’d grown accustomed to. However, under the circumstances, the fact that they were rarely in danger of starvation is more than many could say during these periods.

In addition, a trend has recently begun where artists will create likenesses of their lords in their medium of choice. While this likely originated from a desire to remember and possibly find or prompt the return of these lords, what truly kindled this spark into a flame that swept the artistic world was the discovery that no two representations of a lord looked alike. It has been decades since some of the lords have been seen, so discrepancies in local memory are not surprising, but the citizens of House Jameson and the kingdom at large became enamored with these diverse depictions of these legendary figures. It is a common practice for multiple artists or authors to pass time by creating multiple versions of a tale or figure and comparing them amongst themselves. While this is hardly an internal conflict or struggle, the sudden public interest in the missing lords beyond members of The Watch is an interesting cultural development that might have unexpected results for The Watch and their future actions.

## Geography

House Jameson is perched amidst the heights of the Southern Mountains. To the north, the mountain foothills eventually descend into the plains of House Jackie. To the east, the Airceann River flows beneath the Iolla Cliffs of House Schneeplestein. To the south, mountains. Lots of ‘em. To the west, the Western Forest reaches into the mountains, with the Gáire River marking the boundary between familiar lands and the unknown wilderness.

By comparison to the Northern Mountains, the Southern Mountains have fewer resources, but they’re much more habitable. While extremely tall, the Southern Mountains rise with a far more gradual incline than its northern counterpart, allowing for grass and scattered towns to grow and thrive upon the lower slopes of the mountains themselves, not just the foothills. Only until one travels much further south do the mountains begin to grow steep and uninhabitable, preventing further exploration.

The foothills on these mountains would be considered highland moors, which eventually transitions into an alpine tundra at higher altitudes. Like most mountain ranges, the rise of the Southern Mountains isn’t just a massive uniform slope. Little valleys also appear within the rising landscape even as the elevation trends steadily upwards.

Major Geographic Landmarks

* Airceann River
* Gáire River
* Guardian River
* The Southern Mountains (and Foothills)
* The Western Forest

### Borders

House Jameson’s southern border is defined by the Southern Mountains, as high as it is possible for people to explore and live.

The western border is marked by the Gáire River, though, since only The Watch and a handful of other brave souls live beyond the fringes of the Western Forest, it’s not inaccurate to say that the populated regions of House Jameson end where the trees begin, slightly further east.

The Airceann River, dividing the brunt of the Southern Mountains from the Iolla Cliffs, marks the eastern border.

Finally, the northern border is where the foothills of the Southern Mountains end and where the Monaidh Plains begin. However, it’s difficult to define exactly where this location is. Therefore, the northern border of House Jameson is defined by an invisible line extending east from the southern banks of Loch Glas, with a curvature to match that of the Southern Mountains proper. Due to the difficulty in determining the boundaries of this region, large stone markers can be found half-buried in the soil all along this line to inform people of the border between House Jameson and House Jackie.

### Flora and Fauna

House Jameson is considered a highland moor in the northern foothills and lower slopes, with all of the flora and fauna this might involve. As one travels further south, the mountains become steeper, rockier, and colder, home to mosses, birds, and other wildlife typical of an alpine tundra.

### Climate

The climate is very cold and snowy in the winter, and mild and rainy in the summer. Because the mountains of House Jameson face away from the equator and this continent is in the northern hemisphere, its winters are longer than those on the southern side of the mountains.

While House Brody’s wet summers consist more of intermittent bouts of heavy rain, House Jameson will get consistent, steady showers that rarely fall below a light misting for most of the summer.

## Culture

House Jameson is the house of those who stand on the sidelines, watching and encouraging others with an optimism that shines over the entire Watch. They are quiet; often feeling like they don’t contribute a lot to the fight against The Enemy, but their presence and encouragement is a fundamental support structure in The Watch. During the weeks and months where no sign of the enemy can be found and all other Watchers are pacing in nervous anticipation, members of House Jameson will fill their time with tales, songs, art, and encouragement. Many also ply their skills to aid those with a more active role against the enemy, either by creating maps, charts, or illustrations of new monsters and foes, or by simply encouraging them and standing by them during periods of frantic stress. Some members of House Jameson who were once employed as couriers for messages and deliveries across the kingdom now serve as scouts and messengers for The Watch, sketching or writing their observations or simply passing along the observations of others. They are a quiet undercurrent of positivity and morale that keeps the Watchers from despair during their slow, endless battle against the enemy.

House Jameson is a culture of creativity and mutual appreciation. It is common to see two artists fawning over the other’s works while paying no heed to the compliments they are receiving. To celebrate and commemorate the efforts and deeds of others is the primary goal of House Jameson, and its members do so with gusto. Those who do not create artistic or creative works (and many who do) will often volunteer their services as couriers to share their peer’s works across the rest of the kingdom. Others are museum curators, protecting these works and preserving the history of the kingdom for the next generation. While House Schneeplestein is also a cultural hub in the kingdom, its focus is scholarly culture, while the focus of House Jameson is an artistic and creative culture.

Unsurprisingly, this culture of mutual appreciation and positivity causes members of House Jameson to be fiercely loyal and tremendously accommodating. A bard once remarked that if you asked a member of Houses Marvin, Schneeplestein, and Jameson for a nail, one would laugh as it exploded in a shower of sparks, one would tell you to find your own nail, and one would trip over their own cloak in their eagerness to find you the best nail in the land. Another bard retorted that it was foolish to assume the member of House Jameson wouldn’t attempt to make you a nail himself. While not all members of House Jameson have artistic or creative skills, all are extremely positive and supportive of those around them. All are grateful for their cheer, as this positivity helps to balance the paranoia that has gripped the entire kingdom since the lords all vanished into the king’s halls.

### Candles

Candlemaking is a lucrative career in House Jameson, especially in Noefrach and the surrounding area. In addition to beeswax, which is common throughout Duilintinn, animal fat (tallow) is sometimes used as wax for candlemaking. Since the smell of tallow is unpleasant in comparison to beeswax, herbs like lavender were added to the wax to make it smell nicer. This eventually became a trend, with aromatic beeswax candles becoming equally common. There are also special, magically infused candles for when you need to concentrate/sleep, made from either enchantments or magical ingredients.

For this reason, wax toys are also popular coming out of House Jameson. Kids peel away wax deposits leftover from the candles on the stone walls and shaping them into little creations or marbles or whatever. Beeswax toys being used for small children, young enough to be wanting to put everything in their mouths. However, wax toys are still kind of expensive because you’ll be wanting to mostly use beeswax for candles. It’d probably be more of a reuse thing, with spare wax that isn’t enough to make another candle out of. Unless some clever soul realized that there are entirely too many people making candles and found their niche making little wax shapes with the candles to set themselves apart.

## Settlements

**Noefrach:** The capital of House Jameson, on the Guardian River. With its own unique style of architecture, this city is home to House Jameson's government and the political hubs of House Jameson's major guilds.

**Guardian Spire Outpost:** An outpost of The Watch, located in the Northern Mountains near the source of the Guardian River. Keeps a watchful eye over the rest of Duilintinn.

**Gáire Roosts Outpost:** An outpost of The Watch, located in the southwestern corner of House Jameson along the banks of the Gáire River. Spearheads all research and operations into the Western Forest.

**Dwelly:** Small town a few miles away from the Western Forest. Hometown of Lord Jameson.

**Bally Cappaghowen:** Large town in the center of House Jameson.

**Fay's Cabin:** Small, isolated cabin, home to a Watcher named Mage Artisan Fay.

**Teannta**: A town in the west, containing the secondary guild hubs of House Jameson.

## Economy

House Jameson is most well-known economically for its creatives, cultural enthusiasts, creators, and storytellers.

House Jameson provides little in terms of necessary goods to the other houses. Instead, they are the hub of artistic culture and expression within the kingdom. Not only do these creative endeavors serve to entertain and delight the citizens of the kingdom, but also many members of House Jameson have begun to turn their skills towards tasks such as cartography, recording famous events, and other purposes useful to the watch beyond simple positivity.

### Guilds

Three specific guilds hold the most economic and political sway in House Jameson: The Bards' Guild, Grand Troupe, and Artisans' Guild. However, all of Duilitintinn's guilds have at least a minor presence in every Noble House. The Inventors' Guild of House Marvin regularly collaborates with the Artisans' Guild, and the Bards' Guild often works heavily with the House Schneeplestein's Keepers of Memory, and the Craftsmen’s Guilds take a special interest in many of the unique crafts created by House Jameson, especially candles.

### Transportation

Only one major road in the foothills of the Southern Mountains is clearly marked on every map in Duilintinn. Due to the difficult mountain terrain, most of House Jameson is strewn with small, winding roads created through generations of people teaching their children, “don’t step there or you’ll fall off the path, a monster will get you, and you’ll die.” Apparently, these people preferred traumatized children to children who died from drowning or falling off the mountain, and you know what? That’s fair. All of these smaller roads connect to the large main road in the foothills.

### Agriculture and Natural Resources

House Jameson does have some agricultural self-sufficiency. Much like the foothills of the Northern Mountains that provide House Brody such fertile soil, the combination of the sandier soil from the mountains and the heavy, chalky clay soil of Duilintinn’s plains creates a decently workable loam in the foothills that’s good for planting. While the longer winters and lack of space for fields prevent this region from being as fertile as the farmland in the Northern Mountain foothills, the locals can produce enough food to sustain small, isolated communities on the mountainside without importing foodstuffs from other regions. Since becoming a part of the kingdom of Duilintinn, the area has been able to support a larger population with the aid of resources produced by other regions of the kingdom.

Unlike the Tandeli side of the mountains, Duilintinn does not mine the Southern Mountains in any significant capacity. Local communities may run their own small quarries for building materials, but there are no official mining operations for larger regional or national infrastructure located in this region.

## Government and Politics

### The Lord

Until Hallows Eve, 1614, Lord Jameson had not been seen since the celebrations upon receiving his title. Most believe he was immediately called to the castle to help the other lords in dealing with the threat of the enemy, though some worry that the enemy might have a hand in his disappearance. Worse still, rumors have begun to spread that Lord Jameson might have committed treason and joined the enemy of his own free will. It seems that the former rumors were correct. Lord Jameson reappeared briefly in Cordoire in late October 1614, but on Hallows Eve soon afterward, The Enemy used his evil magic to puppet the man before the eyes of the whole kingdom, even as Lord Jameson fought and signed for help. He has not been seen since.

### The Bureaucracy

Each Noble House has a bureaucratic system running the day-to-day administrative stuff in the background, and has had one since Duilintinn's founding. The Lords were there to run the whole show, pick what they wanted their lands to strive towards, that sort of thing. The lords were more like a symbolic "this is what we stand for" heads of state than someone with actual administrative power, which was left to the bureaucracies.

At first, this required a lot of oversight from each lord to make sure that the bureaucrats were actually doing what they asked of them, but since each house is now full of people with similar ideology and goals, that oversight is much less necessary. Most officials in the bureaucratic part of the government legitimately want the same goals that the Lord wanted (otherwise they would have probably chosen a different house). When the lords disappeared, very little about the actual functioning of the government changed. Instead, the bureaucracy strives to carry on the legacy and aims of their missing lord.

## Symbols

The House Animal of House Jameson is a water horse, specifically inspired by the legend of the Agrona. As the story goes, long ago, a young mortal boy was given a quest to destroy the giants that walked the land. He was aided in this endeavor by a member of the Fae Folk who took the form of a water horse named Agrona. However, the boy called her “Agro” for short. A streak of light from the boy’s sword marked Agro’s path, and she followed the brightness toward the next creature, bringing death and slaughter with her in the form of the mortal on her back. When the boy died, Agro used her abilities as a Fae to bring him back as a changeling with small horns.

This tale of companionship, duality, and innocence in the face of tragedy is what later inspired Lord Jameson to take the Water Horse as the symbolic animal of his house.

## Meta IRL Theorist-Type

Every Noble House is based upon a certain type of JSE community member who engages with ego content in some way. House Jackie is based on those who get very heated over threatening Anti or defending their favorite ego; those who initiate community fires and community revivals.

House Jameson is the house of those who spend less time theorizing and more time spreading the love, appreciation, and fanworks related to the Jacksepticeye community, egos, and PMA. These are your authors, artists, edit-makers, songwriters, and content creators across every medium and platform imaginable. In addition, House Jameson is the house for those who consume this content and spread the love and appreciation for it across the rest of the community. If you’re a content creator or simply the sort of person who shouts, “PMA!” across your friends’ blogs, you probably belong in House Jameson.

## Trivia

* The real-world equivalent of House Jameson's geography is the Swiss Alps, with its slowly rising foothills, sharp increases of elevation, and winding isolated roads.