House Tlön

Sigil: A Peryton

Motto: officially:  "Iron Waits" unofficially: "The Winged Spear"

Associated Heraldry: A stag's antler crossing a feather

Colors: Midnight Blue, Silver, Black

Titles: Lords of Uqbar,  (more to come)

Lands: The central hill regions and fertile valleys of Uqbar Lord: Borges Tlön (49)

Family: wife: Alix (38) of House Clegat, sister to Oberyn Clegat, lord of the Blackhold children: Vseslivie (m) (28) (wife- (a peasant shepherd - Vseslivie married for love), 3 children (2 boys, 1 girl)), Askold (m) (26) (wife- Anna of the Kabikov clan- for internal stability, 1 child (boy)), Cecilia (24-twin) (married to Reznikov clan for internal stability, 3 children (2 girls, 1 boy)), Eudoxia (24-twin) (married to Ted Blackbeard of the Blackbeard clan, 2 children (sons))

Morphology: The Tlön are pale-skinned and dark-haired with light eyes. Their builds are generally tall with wide shoulders and heavy muscular frames. Many of the men and women of the highlands share similar features but in the lowlands it is different, with smaller frames and darker skin or lighter hair being much more common.

Vassals

Artyom Vitayev- leads the Vitayev clan

The Vitayev have long made their home on the northern shores of ‘Moon Lake’. Like the Tlön, they are genetically descended from the taller, lighter-skinned, dark-haired highland stock. The Vitayev and Tlön in ages past, had a relationship dominated by raiding, occasional trade and fierce competition. As they began to look beyond their borders to the lowlands around them, they have united with the Tlön on numerous occasions, seeing in one another a reflection of their own culture and society. Today the two clans are linked by so many labyrinthine vows of vassalage, marriage and loyalty that they cannot be effectively separated.

The lands of the Vitayev are rich in ore and to a lesser degree silver and the Vitayev are excellent iron-smiths and soldiers from throughout Uqbar dress in armor and wield weapons made in the rich smithies of the southern Vitayev mountains. Less than two decades ago the Vitayev were able to reverse-engineer the qualitative methods of steelworking invented by the Singidun of House Vilarix. Local iron was high in natural carbon and the technique proved very effective in transforming the local iron industry. For three years they jealously guarded the stolen knowledge but the Tlön quickly learned of the technique and today the Tlön, Vitayev and Singidun all practice the unique steel-working technique to produce high-quality steel with flexibility and no brittleness.

Arytyom Vitayev rules from Castle Moonsmithy at the juncture of Vitayev mountains, lake Moon, and the lands of Tarnost and House Draenon.

<u style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Verdana,Arial;font-size:13.333333969116211px;line-height:normal;">Alyona Kabikov: leads the Kabikov clan

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Verdana,Arial;font-size:13.333333969116211px;line-height:normal;">While the population ruled by the Kabikov share the ligher hair and darker complexion of the lowlanders, the nobility of the clan bears significant influence of the highlander bloodline. The Kabikov are the largest and most influential of the lowland vassals ruling agricultural heartlands surrounding ‘Riverforks’, their wheat feeding not only the highlander population in the western mountains but also being exported to distant coasts throughout the greater kingdoms. In addition to grain, Kabikov lands also serve as lowland pasturage for the great herds of unique Tlön heavy warmbloods during the winter season.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Verdana,Arial;font-size:13.333333969116211px;line-height:normal;">Their population is significant and their loyalty in any military conflict ensures a significant number of levy soldiers to fill Vitayev and Tlön-steel armor. While Lady Aloyona represents the Kabikov clan she does not sit on the throne of Solntse Chertog. That position falls to the second sun of Borges Tlön, Askold, who’s wife, Anna is of the Kabikov clan and daughter to Lady Alyona.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Verdana,Arial;font-size:13.333333969116211px;line-height:normal;">A significant minority of the Kabikov follow the Tenfold faith.

<u style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Verdana,Arial;font-size:13.333333969116211px;line-height:normal;">Vladislav Privalov- leads the Privalov in the north-west.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Verdana,Arial;font-size:13.333333969116211px;line-height:normal;">The Privalov clan are an offshoot of the Clegat which broke away during the failed uprising against the Mandon over a hundred years ago. Forced back to the mountains by their former brothers after the Clegat patriarch turned traitor and swore fealty to the Mandon. They retreated to the mountains at the edge of Tlön territory from which they faught a defensive intranicine war against their brothers. When things looked bad for them they sought the protection of the Tlön who quickly brokered a treaty with the Clegat and the Mandon. The treaty signed the break-away Clegat assumed the name Privalov and founded a new life as Tlön vassals.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Verdana,Arial;font-size:13.333333969116211px;line-height:normal;">The Privalov make a living from sheep and goat herding and the sale of woolen textiles. They have adopted the use of windmills throughout their lands and man y a Privalov valley is dotted with numerous wind or water mills turning a machine-loom. They also control the major overland route from Uqbar’s interior to Castle Blackfort in the north.

<u style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Verdana,Arial;font-size:13.333333969116211px;line-height:normal;">Kirill Reznikov leads the Reznikov hills of the west.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Verdana,Arial;font-size:13.333333969116211px;line-height:normal;">The third family to boast pure highlander blood, the Reznikov, like the Tlön and Vitayev have taller builds, ligher skin, and darker hair. They, like their cousins, are ancestors of sheep and goat-herders. Unlike the Tlön they did not have mighty sure-footed mountain horses to call upon, nor, like the Vitayev, were their lands as wealthy with iron. Instead they drew their strength from the might and accuracy of their bows and the best and most practiced archers of Uqbar all hail from the Reznikov clan.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Verdana,Arial;font-size:13.333333969116211px;line-height:normal;">For many centuries the Reznikov, as stong and militant as the Tlön were independent of the Tlön or the eastern highlanders. They claimed the lowland Serebov and Tsaplin clans as their vassals and grew rich on the produce of their cattle herds and wheat and barley fields.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Verdana,Arial;font-size:13.333333969116211px;line-height:normal;">Less then three generations ago the Tlön and their then-vassals marched upon the Serebrov and Tsaplin and the arrows and might of the Reznikov were unable to protect the Serebrov or Tsaplin. None-the-less, castle Vysokiy never fell, its high walls protected, as they were, by the withering hail of Reznikov arrows. After the Serebrov and Tsaplin had long capitulated to the Tlön it took another eight years to siege and eventually end the war through starvation and attrition. The lords of Reznikov swore loyalty to the Tlön though are quick to remind them that they were never truly defeated.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Verdana,Arial;font-size:13.333333969116211px;line-height:normal;">The Tlöns have since been very careful to keep the Reznikov close and treat them with a certain respect they normally reserve for themselves or the Vitayev, indeed Lord Kirill’s eldest son is married to Borges’s eldest daughter Ceclia and his wife, Catherine, is Borge’s only sister.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Verdana,Arial;font-size:13.333333969116211px;line-height:normal;">Today the lands of the Reznikov are known for their highland pasture, raising many sheep, while also being dotted with numerous newly developed silver mines.

<u style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Verdana,Arial;font-size:13.333333969116211px;line-height:normal;">Evgeny Serebrov of the far western plain

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Verdana,Arial;font-size:13.333333969116211px;line-height:normal;">The Serebrov make their homes in the dustier plains of western Uqbar where the lands meet those of the [NPC nation? Living in a really dry area?]. For centuries the Serebrov have been lowland ranchers, moving their herds along the shores of the southern sea and inland between the mountains of the Reznikov and the western steppes.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Verdana,Arial;font-size:13.333333969116211px;line-height:normal;">Despite their excellent light cavalry, the Serebrov were conquered by the Reznikov centuries ago and served as their vassals for generations. When the Tlöns and their allies came, they fell quickly however, their light weaponry having little effect upon the heavily armored easterners.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Verdana,Arial;font-size:13.333333969116211px;line-height:normal;">Today the Serebrov continue to ranch cattle and serve as an excellent source of both salted meats and excellently prepared leathers.

<u style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Verdana,Arial;font-size:13.333333969116211px;line-height:normal;">Vasilisa Tsaplin of the north-western hills and southern shores of the north sea

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Verdana,Arial;font-size:13.333333969116211px;line-height:normal;">North of the Reznikov lands lie the Tsaplin. For many centuries they were traders, facilitating merchants’ travel between the northern sea and the bounty of Riverforks and the silver mine of the Tlön. They were conquered by the Reznikov centuries ago but like the Serebrov fell to the Tlön when the later arrived with heavy horse and heavy armor.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Verdana,Arial;font-size:13.333333969116211px;line-height:normal;">Today much of the trade that once flowed through their lands has been rerouted north through the homelands of the Tlön themselves. The Tsaplin capital has atrophied as the Tlön focus on matters other than trade and Lady Vasilisa fumes at what she considers opportunities wasted by her lords who see more value in iron and horse then in ships and trade.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Verdana,Arial;font-size:13.333333969116211px;line-height:normal;">None-the-less, Sever Harbor remains a major city and the greatest trading hub on the northern sea within Uqbar. It is a major ship-building site and exports ships throughout the greater lands. They also fish and numerous smaller Tsaplin fishing villages extend far along both the eastern and western coasts.

<u style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Verdana,Arial;font-size:13.333333969116211px;line-height:normal;">Sergei Emskikh of the Emskikh (southern lands between the Moon Lake and the southern seas)

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Verdana,Arial;font-size:13.333333969116211px;line-height:normal;">A relatively new house made from the careful maneuvering of one of the relatively smaller houses, working closely with House Tlön to increase its prestige, wealth and military power, the Emskikh rule a the southern woods and control the trade routes between River Forks and the Tlön homelands and the southern sea. The Emiskikh capital, Emisk Keep, sits upon the coast and the mouth of the great Uqbar river. As a result they have grown wealthy from trade with the Elsedune and the southern lords.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Verdana,Arial;font-size:13.333333969116211px;line-height:normal;">In addition to trade, the Emskikh control small but agriculturally blessed territories which produce significant wheat and barley. They raise horses similar to those found in Tanstar (Draenan) lands- lighter than the Tlön ones- raised for the open plains and speed, not for carrying armored soldiers in a charge.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Verdana,Arial;font-size:13.333333969116211px;line-height:normal;">Lastly the Emiskikh have a significant proportion of their population which follow the faith of the Tarnost cult of stars.

Biography:<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Verdana,Arial;font-size:13.333333969116211px;line-height:normal;">

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Verdana,Arial;font-size:13.333333969116211px;line-height:normal;">The Tlön are descended from hunters and shepherds. They are highlanders of the local mountains which mean they are tall with long limbs and wide shoulders and thick muscles. They have pale skin and dark hair and usually have pale grey or blue eyes. Both the men and women are physically very attractive though their height means they often tower over men and women of other races.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Verdana,Arial;font-size:13.333333969116211px;line-height:normal;">Their mountains are the home to a unique breed of sure-footed horses that have adapted to steep slopes. They are warmbloods of great stature and endowed with great strength as well as speed. The Tlön were quick to adopt them as mounts and used these to gain a military advantage over their local highland neighbors, many of the smaller ones having since been absorbed into the Tlön clan. The Vitayev remained independent and a sort of competitive culture or raiding but also trading and festitivity grew up between the two highland people.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Verdana,Arial;font-size:13.333333969116211px;line-height:normal;">With time the Tlön’s use of cavalry led to their dominance. The Tlön made extensive use of their southern neighbor’s iron mines to quickly establish a tradition of heavy shock cavalry able to traverse and make their homes in mountains. Using these, they set their sights upon the lowlands and captured the great local capital of TwinForks, burning the keep. They put their own people upon the local throne and ruled as tyrants for several generations before the lowlanders and highlanders became economically and politically inseperable. The lowland tribes reformed around the dominant Kabikov who were quick to swear loyalty to the Tlön in exchange for greater authority over the other lowland tribes and the local economy.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Verdana,Arial;font-size:13.333333969116211px;line-height:normal;">For many decades the Tlön and their vassals lived thusly until the Tlön set their sights westward and waged war upon their highland cousins the Reznikov and their lowland vassals. The war was over in less than a year but the Reznikov themselves held out bitterly, doing their parentage proud. Ultimately these people we also integrated into the dominion of the Tlön.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Verdana,Arial;font-size:13.333333969116211px;line-height:normal;">The Tlön are a warrior-people who’s respect for strength of arms is summarized in their motto, “Iron Waits”. They are also a people of stoic patience, rational and calculating.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Verdana,Arial;font-size:13.333333969116211px;line-height:normal;">The heartlands of the Tlön are highland mountains though the Tlön can be found throughout Uqbar- directly leading and influencing the governance of their vassals. Their subjects have mostly grown accustomed to their heavy-handed rule though not all have come to accept it without (private) complaint.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Verdana,Arial;font-size:13.333333969116211px;line-height:normal;">Economically, in addition to the tribute gathered from their vassals, the Tlön are horse-breeders, silver-miners, iron-miners and sheep and goat herders.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Verdana,Arial;font-size:13.333333969116211px;line-height:normal;">Today they are still very martial and use heavy cavalry extensively, which each of the sworn vassals raising several ‘wings’ of knights. Additionally, House Tlön has its own small private force of elite heavy cavalry, paid for through the tribute of the vassal houses and their own silver and iron mines.

Religion:<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Verdana,Arial;font-size:13.333333969116211px;line-height:normal;"> Silver Stars: Just building on Thomas's here, but effectively a pantheon of elder gods who nurtured mankind during its infancy when the night sky was dark. They retired and became the constellations. Effectively a lot of liturgy and ritual of the Silver Stars pertains to constellation worship/veneration. Each family or individual might take for their patron god a particular constellation. It is said that Borges Tlön worships at a shrine dedicated to the spear-wielding goddess of the hunt, Caeceldi. Some of the lowlands clans worship the Tenfold but this is generally rare in Uqbar.

<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Verdana,Arial;font-size:13.333333969116211px;line-height:normal;">Thomas: I changed it to be gods not from the stars but the god-stars having taken form. I hope thats okay. Also, no reference to a ship- sort of sounded like sci-fi to me. If not- i'll do something else.