Threedan Order
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The creation of the Order was a necessity.
Since the faction’s inception a few years after the Coalescence, to this very day, the Dyrus Houses have put on an excellent front. Few of their enemies would suspect any disarray within the Order’s ranks. However, infighting between the houses is prevalent and the only thing holding the Order together is the fact that they are still officially at war with the Materians.
Nereus leans against the balcony, gazing out over the frozen fields below. He holds a letter in one hand, scratches his chin lazily with the other, mulling over the words he has just read.
‘The Fourth House is the target’ dwells unwanted. Nereus is no fool; just because they found themselves stranded on some strange amalgamation of their world and another does not mean that the Dyrus Houses have set aside their differences. The Fourth House of Lightning, his own damned house, has been a target since its founding.
Perhaps he had hoped deep down that the Order would protect him and the Fourth House from further retaliations, if only slightly. Though that shred of hope died with the letter. If the Order refuses to protect us, then I must find a way to do it myself. Before all of the Fourth House falls…
Founding the Order
It is no secret that the Dyrus were more caught off guard by the changes to their environment than the Materians were. They found themselves in a world wholly unfamiliar, with the exception of a few glimmers of what once was Dyrethreed, and faced far greater challenges in the way of more hazardous climates.
So really, it surprised no one that it took longer for the Dyrus to come together, even when assaulted by Materian forces. In fact they probably found it more surprising that the Dyrus Houses even agreed to an alliance at all.
In the year 5 CO, after a bout of heavy losses, Lourdants from six of the eleven First Houses gathered together. They intended to combine their forces and perform coordinated assaults against the Materian Alliance. Before they could act, however, they needed to persuade the other five Lourdants to follow their cause - which would mean swaying the temperamental Aloysius, Lourdant to the First House of Fire.
“You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?” Decimina asks, whispering to the reventian at her side whilst the other Lourdants wield their arguments like weapons of war.
The reventian in question, Aloysius, offers her a smirk. “How could I not?” he starts, gesturing to the rest of the room with the casual shrug of one arm. “You have to admit their whining is quite funny.” When Decimina remains silent, lips pursed, Aloysius loses his smile. Instead he adopts a co-conspiratorial frown and leans in close enough to brush against her shoulder. “It’s all pointless anyway. There’s nothing they could offer me that would change my mind.”
“No,” she replies softly. Brows creased in thought. “But I am not them.”
Decimina turns in her seat, bumping Aloysius’ shoulder with enough force to jostle him backwards ever so slightly, yet even in her open hostility his smile returns tenfold. “No, you aren’t. So pray tell, dear ‘Mina, how much of your soul are you willing to sell?”
Founders and Associates
Eventually, all of the Lourdants to the First Houses were convinced to join the Order. Their responsibilities regarding the general running of the Order vastly differed, with the original six Lourdants taking on most of the responsibility themselves. Because of this those six are seen as the ‘founders’, whilst the other five are seen as ‘associate founders’.
The six founding Lourdants were:
Atticanus
Atticanus was Lourdant to the First House of Sun. Of Avenicant heritage, Atticanus was a resourceful, cunning man. He was a controversial Lourdant - many within and outside of the First House of Sun believed him to be a coward.
Although he was respected by the other Lourdants of the First Houses, they often left him out of conversations surrounding large scale assaults, mostly out of fear that he would forgo their plans in favour of saving his own skin.
Octavio
Octavio was Lourdant to the First House of Glass. Of Devermyn heritage, Octavio was a strong willed man. A fighter through and through, he was one of the driving forces behind the founding of the Threedan Order.
It was Octavio’s wish that the Order go on the offensive, striking the Materians before they had a chance to cull any more of the Dyrus’ numbers. He would often be seen on the battlefield leading assaults against the Materian Alliance.
Nona
Nona was Lourdant to the First House of Lightning. Of Lycereb heritage, Nona was the eldest of the Lourdants at the time of the Threedan Order’s founding. Her age was the primary factor in her decision to help found the Order; she was worried that, should the Dyrus continue infighting whilst trying to ward off the threat of the Materian Alliance, her house would fall.
She only lived for five more years before passing her title and responsibilities on to her youngest son. Just enough time to see that founding the Order was the right decision.
Lucianus
Lucianus was Lourdant to the First House of Moon. Of Arankan heritage, Lucianus was a ruthless and efficient individual. It was not often you would see them on the battlefield. Lucianus tended to be the type of leader who would strategise and lead their forces from a safe distance.
Though they were not keen on the idea of the Order, they understood that the best chance the Dyrus had to push back the Materian Alliance would be to stand united against their foes, rather than squabbling with each other.
Procula
Procula was Lourdant to the First House of Wind. Of Cleshan heritage, Procula was a woman of diminutive stature and keeper of a prideful heart. Her reasoning for seeking out the other Lourdants and agreeing to founding the Order was a simple one: she couldn’t stand constantly losing to the Materian Alliance.
The others soon came to see her as reckless. A bit of a liability. Unfortunately, Octavio backed Procula time and time again, making it practically impossible to keep her out of the loop on potential plans.
Decimina
Decimina was Lourdant to the First House of Ice. Of Devermyn heritage, Decimina cut quite an imposing, sometimes outright terrifying figure. Yet beneath the surface was a tactful, compassionate woman working through a mountain of grief.
Without her, the Order may never have formed. Decimina was the one to convince Aloysius to agree to the Order’s founding in the first place. No one knows the price that was paid to do so; only Decimina and Aloysius were privy to that information.
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The associate founders each had their own reservations about founding a unified faction for the Dyrus to consolidate under. In the end, they deemed the threat the Materian Alliance posed to be too great to ignore, and so aligned themselves with the other Lourdants of the First Houses.
Of course, that didn’t mean the Order immediately began to run smoothly. Each Lourdant still had their own agendas, and the associate founders would often walk a very fine line between their own goals and what the rest of the Order deemed appropriate.
The five associate founders were:
Aloysius
Aloysius was Lourdant to the First House of Fire. Of Reventian heritage, Aloysius was a man who could change his mind on a whim. It made his true motivations difficult to pin down and caused a great deal of strife when the founders of the Order were trying to get him to agree to the unification.
To his enemies, he may have seemed cruel and unreasonably vicious. Those that knew him knew he was far more of a cautious and cunning man than he let on. He wanted something in return for helping found the Order. Something that only Decimina could give him. Nobody knows what the transaction may have been; it was a secret that the two kept to their graves.
Quinatius
Quinatius was Lourdant to the First House of Water. Of Drakonemian heritage, Quinatius was universally disliked by the other founders and associate founders. Deceit and subterfuge were the tricks of his trade, so the others were hesitant to give him even a sliver of their trust.
As it turned out, that sliver of trust turned into a bountiful partnership - at least where the Order was concerned. His talents proved to be a bane for the Materian Alliance, who were left confused by how easily their plans had been exposed, and a boon for the likes of Octavio and Procula who constantly proposed more offensive strategies.
Appatia
Appatia was Lourdant to the First House of River. Of Teroc heritage, Appatia was the youngest of the Lourdants, having only been appointed the rank a year before the Coalescence occurred.
Her lack of tenure in the position constantly weighed on her mind. It was the main factor behind initially refusing to work with the founders; would her house see her as weak if she were to accept help from the others at the first sign of trouble? Despite this, she was convinced to join by Lucianus, who offered her a veritable wealth of wisdom in exchange for her help.
Hostasimus
Hostasimus was Lourdant to the First House of Stone. Of Lycereb heritage, Hostasimus was a paranoid individual, a trait that was only made worse when the Coalescence occurred and their world was thrown into chaos.
Such a trait made it difficult to swear to allegiances, especially with so many of the other Lourdants. They were no stranger to how such allegiances between the houses had ended historically, and they were only swayed when Aloysius agreed to be an associate founder.
Volusa
Volusa was Lourdant to the First House of Sky. Of Avenicant heritage, Volusa had a huge chip on her shoulder - such was the way with most Lourdants to the First House of Sky. She believed herself above the other Lourdants, and that her house was superior due to its more prolific history.
It took a great deal to persuade Volusa to join the cause. In the end, she proposed a trade: her help in exchange for the sacred artefact from the rival House of Ice. Decimina, having already given up something precious to Aloysius, agreed to the trade (albeit reluctantly).
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Adversaries and Opposition
The Materian Alliance
The reason for founding the Order in the first place. How better to combat a unified force, then to create one of your own?
The Order and the Alliance have been at war with one another since 6 CO. Each side has experienced plenty of loss, especially during those early years where both sides were driven by fear and anger. In the Order’s eyes, those casualties were worth it to get to where they’re standing today.
Looking back over the years since the Order’s inception, they have certainly appeared to have the upperhand over the alliance. Of all engagements - from minor skirmishes to deadly confrontations - the Order has won (or has at least come out of the engagement better off than the other side) around 70% of them. Their success rate is one of the main reasons why they, or rather the Lourdants in charge, are reluctant to open peace negotiations.
Not all of the Lourdants agree with this though. One in particular has not only gone behind the Order’s back, but has also defied the wishes of his House Superior and arranged to meet in secret with one of the barons from the Materian Alliance.
To the Lourdant of Solace: we will accept your invitation, with stipulations.
One - a delegate from Honourhold must be present. You have already involved them by sending your original communications through one of their messengers, and it feels only right to have them act as mitigators on the matter.
Two - the meeting shall take place on neutral grounds. A place where neither ourselves or your own forces have a foothold in, or nearby, to ensure that the meeting will not be disturbed.
Three - no weapons.
I tentatively look forward to meeting you in person, should you agree to the above.
Inter-house Drama
As mentioned, the Threedan Order is still subject to all of the drama unfolding between the Dyrus Houses. From petty arguments arising between the Lourdants of the First Houses, to their own House Subordinate causing no end of problems, the Order has seen and survived it all.
For now.
The latest series of inter-house drama and politics feels different.
Something sinister is growing within the Dyrus Houses - something that may well throw their alliances into chaos and threaten all that they have built on Amalgia these past 6 centuries.
Before you start...
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The symbol used by the Threedan Order represents two things. The first, in the form of a searing orange flame, is a manifestation of their magical capabilities; their Internal Magic Reservoir known as the Magi Network. The second, a darker orange coloured dakask, is the weapon of the Dyrus people.
Headquarters
The Threedan Order has adopted several locations on each of the five continents to act as a base of operations. Though ‘base of operations’ is perhaps putting too much weight on the term.
These headquarters - one in Solace, Reach, Calling, Burden, Victory, and Greed - are part of the citadels that the six founding Lourdants called home. They are used for strategy meetings between the Order and, in many instances, a neutral ground between Dyrus Houses when an inter-house conflict needs settling.
When not in use by the Order, these headquarters are maintained by members of the associated house.
Behind the Name
The Order is named for one of the largest citadels on Dyrethreed - Threedan. It was an extremely popular place to live and visit, to the point where almost every Dyrus who lived before the Coalescence would have been to Threedan at some point during their lifetime.
Despite the grievances between the various houses, Threedan was often seen as the neutral grounds. A place where no one was allowed to fight with one another, even if the reasoning may have been legitimate, and any who did so were swiftly and harshly dealt with.
Most Dyrus had fond memories of the citadel. When the time came for them to decide on a name for their Order, rather than just continuing to call it ‘the Order’, the six founding Lourdants agreed that naming it Threedan would show that the houses were united under one banner. Even if it was more or less just an illusion of unification.
Fight to Survive, or Thrive?
The Threedan Order was originally created with a single goal in mind: survive. Those in charge knew that the easiest way for their houses and their people to survive was to join forces, just as their enemies had done.
Of course, once they realised their forces were overpowering the Materian Alliance in the majority of their clashes, ‘fight to survive’ soon became ‘fight to reclaim’. But reclaim what, exactly?
Dyrethreed seemed to be a thing of the past, despite insistence by many Dyrus to the contrary. So their thoughts turned to this new world. Unfamiliar, but with the occasional echo of a home long gone. The Order knew they had every right to claim it - why should the Materians be allowed to declare ownership of this new world, without giving the Dyrus a second thought? - and soon their goals shifted onto the path of violent conquest.
The Order’s Hierarchy
To make sure things didn’t get complicated, the Lourdant’s decided to align the Threedan Order’s hierarchy with that of their own houses. Essentially nothing changed. All it meant was that every so often the Lourdants would get together to discuss strategies, plan future skirmishes, or keep one another up to date on the status of the land they had claimed.
For anyone not a Lourdant of a First House, their roles remained unchanged, and they still answered to their Lourdant first, and the Lourdant of the House Superior second.
Sublime article! I love the formatting here as well as the short-but-sweet sections, it's made reading oh so easily digestible! I will be secretly rooting for the negotiations to go well with Baron Axetide and some form of peace can be fostered!
Ah thank you! Fingers crossed for those negotiations eh ;) - it'll be tough, that first step always is, but I've got a feeling Baron Axetide might be able to make a progress (whilst also stumbling into some drama along the way)
Garlan | Ma'rune | Osiron | WorldEmber 2023