House Huurin

## Aspects

* Situational Aspect: Great Power, Spread Far and Thin
* Situational Aspect: Through Suffering, Wisdom
* Situational Aspect: Needs Must Rely on the Fastest Ships

## Overview

Huurin might be one of the mightiest of Houses, but it is difficult to truly say, for they keep much of their strength well outside of Yosthaven. A full accounting of their power is rendered impossible, as they take great pains to obfuscate the true number of their Housebound. Their Oathsworn pull Meluc from the earth and sea, poisoning the land and rendering the oceans barren to empower their Mantles. Naturally, the House takes great pains to ensure that they draw forth what power they need well away from the prying eyes of others, sometimes sending agents as far as the Arcaneocracy to distil their Craft. More than one Kryat advance has been stopped in its tracks over the last three hundred years when a single Oathsworn to House Huurin snuck into their encampment and drew upon their Mantle, poisoning their water and rotting their supplies within their wagons. At least, so House Huurin would have the city believe.

* Situational Aspect: Great Power, Spread Far and Thin

## History

Originally only a middling House, Huurin first placed its Wards in the Docks 201 years ago as a Lesser House. The House's founder, Walden Huurin, was not an accomplished Craftsman by any means. What he lacked in talent, the young Walden more than made up in ambition, launching several offensive campaigns against the Kryat. It was upon one of these that he was struck with a Spellplague of Kryat design, his limbs twisted and crooked by fell Craft. He returned from the campaign broken in body, but not in spirit, for his mind was alight with new ideas. He placed the first Sigils upon Pirika's Wall then, nearly thirty years after the founding of his House, strong enough with plundered Meluc to establish himself and his Bound as a Great House of Yosthaven. He turned his focus inward, developing his skills as a shaper of flesh and a binder of diseases and poisons, combating the horrors inflicted upon his body by the invading host.

In the years since his passing, the House has continued the tradition of sending their Housebound far afield to gain power. A such, they have crafted and refined a Mantle upon the foundation left behind them. It is well known that the Oathsworn of Huurin are shapers of flesh and wielders of fell poisons, their agents steeped in the House's long history with such Craft. From the Docks, they sail South and East, heading into the Arcaneocracy and beyond to work their fell arts.

* Situational Aspect: Through Suffering, Wisdom

## Domain

One might expect House Huurin to place their Wards in Greyrock near the World Gate, given their outward focus. Yet since the House's founding, they have always looked even further than that, which means the House has always been somewhere within the Harbour Ward. It has also always been a Hidden House, for with so much of their strength far outside of the city, they must rely on subterfuge and not strength at home.

* Situational Aspect: Needs Must Rely on the Fastest Ships

## Housebound

### **Wefsa Bauman, Head of House Huurin**

Wefsa, or "the Old Wasp" as she is colloquially known, has been Head of House Huurin for seven years. She was the heir apparent of the old Head of House, Alfonse Huurin, and her rise has been largely uncontested by the other powers within the House. The bloodline of Huurin has produced many Heads of the House that shares their name, but it has not been an unbroken line. The current heir to the name, Vogt Huurin, conceded twelve years ago that she was better equipped to manage the role, and evidently has not changed his mind in the time since. Whereas most of the House is focused outward, upon the Arcaneocracy and the lands beyond, Wefsa is the first Head of House in a generation to have turned her attention inward. She sees the ways in which Huurin is powerful, yet stretched far too thin, and sees this as a vulnerability. It is her hope to consolidate the House's power, though she as of yet is unsure how to make such a move without starving them of Meluc.

### **Oathsworn Stergios Aetos**

It is likely that Stergios is the most wanted man in all of Kryat, for there is not a Kryat city within three days travel of the border between the two nations that is not filled with wanted posters baring his scowling countenance. One of the old guard within House Huurin, Stergios is responsible for more than three dozen acts of aggression against Sundevalda's Northern Neighbor. It is he who leads the House's Oathsworn deep into enemy territory, poisoning their land and water as he draws wealth for his House from the earth itself. It is rumored that he possesses one of the strongest Mantles in all of Yosthaven, the reward of dozens of successful campaigns. He is rarely home for long, for he is a strong believer in taking the fight to the enemy, and even the shortest foray into Kryat takes several days by ship.