House of Eltai

The House of Eltai is one of the oldest of the Great Houses in the Empire of Dercia. They have been around in some way for form as a noble house since before the Ancient Empire, The family themself claim that they were some of the original nobles from when their people the Crienia began to form but no one can prove it since it was thousands of years ago and most documents from then have been lost to time and moths.

The house of Eltai now controls the province of Belcia, a province in the southwestern part, but stretching into the interior of the empire, its population consists of roughly 3/4 farmers and villagers with the rest living in the 4 larger towns in the province, it is a land rich in fertile fields along the coast and the two rivers in the province but the house of Eltai also sits on 2 goldmines that have made them extremely wealthy which have not improved the families standing with the other great houses in the empire and least of all the House belonging to The Astalles dynasty. The long decline from the light for the house of Eltai began really when they opposed the election of Kaylein Astalles grandson as the new king of Pearlhal and since then there has been bad blood between the two families with rumours that several Astalles family members met an untimely demise by the hands of assassins sent by the Eltai family. It didn't help the family that most of its members decided to side with the rebels during The Decade of 5 Emperors where armies carrying the banner of the Eltai roamed around the countryside burning villages, and in the end, killing the villagers often after torture. Many villagers have tried to write to the imperial court, telling them about the crimes the family is carrying out in their province. While the imperial court has over the years sent several officials to the province to have the family defend themself against the accusations, often the imperial court has received a letter from the official that the family was clear and it must have been the work of some unsatisfied commoner where after the official would never return to the capital often being explained that they must have been attacked by either bandits or beasts. In reality, the family runs a terror regime in Belcia where the population is controlled through fear and every citizen receive a magical tattoo when they are old enough to lift a sword. The tattoo will activate and cause serious pain if the person has not returned to their home within a set amount of time. If the individual tries to remove the tattoo it will just reappear on another body part. The major towns in the province are all walled and guards loyal to the family is guarding them, making sure no one without a permit enters or leave the city. The family tries to make sure that to the outside world they maintain a picture of a province that is self-sustaining and that the population is happy but over the last few decades the facade has begun to develop some cracks, some of them serious. Over time people have asked why Emperor Malthin II don't remove the family from power when it's obvious that the House does not represent the values of the empire but for the emperor, it's not as easy as it would seem.