The Ancient Houses

# **Beginnings**

By the time the Kaldorei began to actively study and practice arcane magic, in Year -13,500, the  nine ancient lineages, and their respective heads of the family, had already been born, grown, and active in the would-be Empire. A group of upper-class kaldorei begin to refer to themselves as the Highborne and revel in the use of this arcane magic, bestowed to them from the well font. Amongst these are the nine lineages we’re tormented by today.

Around the time Sargeras was corrupting most of the eredar race on Argus (-13,000) Azshara was already rising, and these loyal, ambitious sorcerers shared her ideals and aspirations.

By -10,000, the Age of Azshara was well in motion, and the Empire sprawled around 70% of the Kalimdor landmass continent, all the major Kaldorei settlements having been founded already a few thousand years prior, and the new ones are likely built as the extremities of the Kaldorei Empire are reaching outwards (i.e. Shendralar in the North, after pushing back the Drakkari trolls)

By the time the capital is renamed from Elun’dris to Zin-Azshari in typical narcissistic fashion, what we know as the Ancient Houses are present at the Queen’s Court and continue to pursue their interests as courtesans at the Royal Palace. When the invitation was sent forth to Sargeras, and the Burning Legion willingly welcomed into their world as part of her pact, the Highborne Sorcerers and their Houses still stood by the Queen’s side.

Even in the most dire moments, when the Well was about to implode, they did not abandon her and the amassed ideals, instead they sought to make deals with the fleeing devils, and in return for demonic powers and influence -- to be used to build the new world they envisioned -- they too, willingly, made a pact. In that moment, those nine became the Nine.

With the Exile of the Highborne they understood that while many aspects of their vision for the world would have to transform, not all was lost…

They used their gifts as competitive advantages and climbed to the very top of the upper echelons, and in our story they are the embodiment of the Thalassian government itself -- the shadowy figures, unaccountable, unseen, who have amassed incomprehensible wealth and influence.

The surviving legacies of The Nine (referred to as Ancient Houses, or Covenant Houses by the demons themselves) are:

# House Astarte

Led by Rhelor Astarte, the Dragonhawk, grandfather of Rhelonia who was a political scheper in the Queen’s court, but like Icarus flew too close to the sun and crashed. Overnight he was overthrown, and disgraced he was relegated to the Royal Rookery, a steep fall from the Queen’s terrace. But there he understood the innate power those magnificent beasts had, and House Astarte to this day claims that with the help of dragonhawks he soared higher than before.

**Known facts**: Their gift was Stasis, first encountered in Shattrath City during the Terokkar Campaign, in the form of Rhelonia Astarte -- the surviving legacy.

Not much is known of the adjacent branches of House Astarte, but the main lineage is as follows: Rhelor Astarte → Unnamed Son → Rhelonia Astarte. Given the impressive lifespan, longevity was not of concern, the grandfather and ‘The Dragonhawk’, having been well present into Rhelonia’s life. Her father and mother however… were not. They died at 2,000 years each, on the dot, and Rhelonia later figured out that it was because of the shared gift. Stasis was a poison, willingly woven into their charms,  and when the simple reflex-enhancing Arcane Brilliance charm was joined with this chronomancy-like (time manipulating, distilling) power, it unwittingly became their undoing. It led to accelerated degradation, and a once immortal lifespan was reduced to a drop in the ocean of potential -- a hidden aspect of their Pact.

While substituting the father figure in Rheonia’s life, given the untimely death of her parents, Rhelor Astarte met his end at the hand of Inquisitor (and later architect of the Selama’Serrar) Elias Goldstar during the Second War.

That is when Rhelonia Astarte became the Dragonhawk in his stead and was tasked with ensuring her House’s legacy. The sorceress is now 1,666 years old, and very much aware of the fast approaching life limit. Nevertheless, acknowledging her impending mortality did not necessarily translate into acceptance -- and so, given our limited interactions with the foul-mouthed, entitled and violently outbursting sorceress, it became abundantly clear that Rhelonia is always looking out for number one, first and foremost.

Affording to be brash, given the advantage-bestowing Stasis, Rhelonia maintains the poisoned brilliance charm active at (almost) all times, for without it the cellular degradation has advanced to such a level her cognitive processes have almost been rendered inert - with an incredibly limited attention span and function. Every day she makes the hard choice to renew it, for without it she truly would be nothing, and with only 300 years left on the clock to find a solution to her problem, while also having been unable to render children thus far, this looks to be it for House Astarte.

# House Veridis

Magister Valkor Veridis, a known associate and an amenable, well respected colleague of Rhelonia Astarte -- has inherited the sins of his father just the same as everybody else. He has dead eyes, absent any remorse or conscience behind them, and a forced smile that he does not often care how it is received. He has a much, much older sister, Kaleida Veridis, and together they’re both currently believed to have been the culprits behind The Dragonhawk’s death, much like how their Veridis ancestor must have been behind Rhelor Astarte’s fall from grace during the time of Azshara.

**Known facts**: Close friend of Elias Goldstar, the name Veridis holds an entrenched Magisterial position but they have long been in the limelight, accused of uncountable crimes and alleged to be responsible for the majority of the mishaps at both macro and micro levels of Thalassian heritage.

Having let the mask slip, or perhaps uncaring for it in the first place, House Veridis -- while accused -- has remained untouchable for the eons. They are perhaps the most actively pursuing the most dystopian, otherworldly influences in the pursuit of the power required to remake Quel’Thalas. They consider themselves true visionaries and the sole people who understand how worthy of the many bloodsheds and sacrifices the collective greater good truly is.

To that end, Kaleida Veridis briefly married, becoming Kaleida Morningsun, and got close to the ambitious Magister Khai’tor Sunreach (Eidanar’s older brother) via his Terrace colleagues. Years later, the information is circulated in the right places and by the right people -- so that Blood Knight Ventheas Ordana, and by extent Silvarisyn Tyralis, catch wind of the odd mishap. They inform their mentor, Blood Knight Champion Integra Iresong that somehow, by some rhyme or reason, Initiates of their Order are being sent to Northrend and casualty reports suggest they’re almost all finding untimely deaths.

Champion Integra Iresong begins investigations, and together with Ventheas Ordana and Silvarisyn Tyralis uncover the sinister plot driven forth by Khai’tor Sunreach and Kaleida Veridis. Through House Veridis’s influence, they have been funneling the hapless initiates to their deaths to further their Soul Engine experiments, towards the ultimate goal of creating the technology required and the fuel to venture back into the past to undo the pact of their ancestors.

Together with Houses Sarafen, Orias and Lybaris they are believed to be the main active agents behind the proposed revision for the War of the Ancients, as informed by Rhelonia Astarte.

# House Sarafen

Led by Arepo Sarafen, a well known hedonist who, with no love for politics or the people inhabiting the world, desired and treasured the environment they inhabited above all else. A sensitive soul, and with artistic inclinations, the Head of House Sarafen remained fixated in his views. During the Fall, he withdrew from the world, and drowned his melancholic sorrows by creating his own opulent distractions and attractions, at his magnificent estate in Pandaria.

**Known facts**: Likely still a High Elf, who upon the request from House Veridis, commissioned Elias Goldstar with the creation of the Selama’Serrar, funneling the required resources for the project.

The sociopolitical goal of the Selama’Serrar (The Blade’s Justice) is believed to have been the social and political erosion of Quel’thalas, while sourcing from it the young and brilliant minds that would help shape the world in the coming transformation.

The technological goal of the Selama’Serrar is believed to have been the pursuing of an alternative type of fuel for their journey into the past -- something more refined and elegant, and not as impactfully destructive as the pursuit of a Soul Engine would be. The result was the independent development of a seed of power, from an arcane-birthed tree -- not too different from an Arcan’dor seed. Subsequently, Arcanist Elania Goldstar betrayed her uncle (Elias Goldstar), during the War of Terokkar by stealing the seed for her own project (Project Sunspark, the prototype mana bomb) and her own career’s advancement -- having inherited the same ruthlessness and unscrupulous behaviour.

In the aftermath, Valkor and Kaleida Veridis once more persuaded Arepo Sarafen to act, which led to the rash and poor-thought-through decision of deploying highly specialized counter-troops to end the surmounting Phoenix Ring threat. These highly specialized troops came in the form of Demon Hunters, Dark Rangers and Spellbreakers -- who, if not effective in their duties, at the very least are unable to be traced back to House Sarafen and its allies.

The rumours are that he and Rhelonia were quite close.

# House Farrona

Led by Aurelius Farrona, the young and, albeit still learning, charismatic and resourceful lord. As an ardent and deceptively savvy political entity, Lord Farrona lent his voice during the trial of Irillien Bladesworn, arguing vehemently against the brought charges and facilitating the favourable outcome, as part of Rhelonia’s ploy. Thanks to him and the support he garnered for their cause, the Blood Falcon walked free and the Phoenix Ring was the recipient of medals instead of nooses, transforming the war criminals into war heroes.

**Known facts**: Commands the largest navy out of the Nine and aided the Phoenix Ring on several occasions. His fate remains unknown after the Sunfall chapter.

# House Damodyl

This lineage, either by willful spite, vengeance, or unfortunately poor circumstances, saw fit to defy the demonic forces that bound them into a pact. When the time came to collect, the Head of the family reneged on the bargain, and the Four Eredar sisters had made an example out of them. Ruin befell their House, which crumbled in gradual and increasingly complex misfortune, until today only one young and disinterested party remains.

**Known facts**: The sole survivor and Head of the House is Lady & Blood Knight Apolonia Damodyl, recorded as Ventheas Ordana’s last apprentice, before his retirement from the force. Through her adventures and connections, Lady Damodyl married another whose house had fallen, the responsibility-averse Lord Flamecrest, and together with Ventheas Ordana and his family they are withdrawn from the world’s affairs, with Silvarisyn Tyralis as their only left connecting thread.

House Damodyl hosted Elias Goldstar, facilitating his imprisonment in a temporal-shrouded cage, with the help of the proprietary magic of Lady Ordana’s wardstones. These same wardstones were later imbued by the Black Harvest Council and facilitated second chances to the Phoenix Ring during the revisited Sunfury era.

# House Orias

Presumed to be led by Lady Zelzhana Orias, at least in the absence of her slain kin, the Phoenix Ring first encountered the transformed Highborne during their campaign in Zangarmarsh. Now existing as Naga, the transformed sorceress raced to recover a tremendously powerful relic pertaining to time manipulation on a regional scale.

The origins of the relic, House Orias, or her motivations remain obscured for now, as the Phoenix Ring was thoroughly defeated by the Naga Witch, who was not seen since their last encounter.

**Known facts:** As a Highborne sorceress who was known to experiment on the very edge of the newly witnessed types of magic, to serve the whims of her deranged Queen, Lady Orias maintained her own cadre of admirers of her immoral works. She reanimated fallen guardsmen, and created bone structures from dead animals from the Queen’s livestock -- marking the incipient stage of the wider use of necromancy, as observed and obtained from the demonic overlords occupying their land.

Before the well shattered, Lady Orias was exiled, and her research fell in disfavor with the prominent magi peers.

# **Endings**

While Rhelonia’s goal -- and thus House Astarte’s goal -- may have changed, there was once alignment between the Nine. Together, they worked tirelessly to secure the brighter future they envisioned, but during the long years of the millennia spent deliberating, planning and enacting, the ideals once held by the first of their houses -- however pure they may have been -- ultimately got irredeemably corrupted, ranging from the torturous tendencies of Elias Goldstar, the remorselessness of Veridis, to the terror-inflicting practices of the Selama’Serrar.

Today, having been thrown in the midst of this millennia spanning conflict, of many fronts and unknowable natures, the Phoenix Ring is tasked with stopping the surviving Ancient Houses from returning to the past and undoing the pacts that led to the world as they knew it.

For even if it is unfair for them as children to inherit the sins of their fathers (the bestowed gifts and their duplicitous nature, passed from generation to generation), shouldering the responsibility of remaking the world in their idealized shape is something they would be truly unable to bear.