House of Ironside (Area of Concern: Military)
One of the eight "human" noble families, the Ironside Family are the figureheads of the Palimpsest military. They worship the constellation of the Soldier, and oversee the elemental Genies that aid in city defenses against the encroaching Ghouls from the Screaming Desert.
Structure
Vizier and Viziera
Vizier Balthazar Ironside: Vizier Balthazar Ironside is shallow, brash and sort of a eugenicist. He seduced his wife, Katharine Ironside, when she was only fifteen years old (and he was twenty-three) based on her breeding potential, making her a somewhat submissive Viziera at Court.Viziera Katharine Ironside (banished): Katharine Ironside is the former Viziera of House Ironside. She was unfairly banished from the Noble Court in a Whisper Vote on Copperday, Soldiermoon, 1313.
Subvizier
Subvizier Agamemnon Ironside: The smallest member of House Ironside by a considerable margin, Subvizier Agamemnon Ironside compensates for his weediness with magical armour, gifted to him by his father. His father's single-minded focus on militarism has led to Agamemnon developing some unpleasant character traits that he probably woudn't have if he were allowed to follow his true artistic passions, particularly painting and dancing. While he desperately yearns to satisfy his father's expectations of him, it is unlikely that he will ever meet the physical and martial standards Balthazar demands.Vizier's Other Children
Katib Menelaus Ironside: Although he cuts a mighty figure, his muscular form towering above most of the Court, the "spare" Katib Menelaus Ironside is a staunch pacifist, and therefore, another major disappointment to his father. Not that he seems to mind, seemingly bearing nothing but resentment towards his father.Katiba Britomart Ironside: Katiba Britomart Ironside, is just the sort of pedigree that the Vizier would value. She is strong, tough and good at fighting. Too bad she's also female, and therefore disqualified from Balthazar's estimation from birth. These days she is also secretly dating the Stargazer Subvizier, Pollux, who stands at a measly head shorter than her.
Culture
Nightmares
"And to the warlike Ironsides, their boy is not a child anymore. Yet he has retained a certain familiar naivety and that I see in his nightmares. Mostly they are of war. War or hunting. Sometimes he is forced to carry out the murders himself. Sometimes he is on the other end of the barrel. The other children fear only one thing in all their nightmares. They share a single, solitary terror of their father. The times he has broken them. The times they have seen him break others. The father has nightmares too. Though I would not expect to hear him admit it. Underneath the robes of his office and the armour of his rank Balthazar Ironside conceals many scars. And each scar has a nightmare to go with it. An abdomen torn open by ghouls. A lung pierced by a rhinoceros. A terrible malarious infection contracted in the Plane of Earth so far from his camp. A swarm of wasps from within. And the mother. Dear, sweet Katharine. Like so many who become mothers so young, for a long time her nightmares focused primarily around her children. Their safety. Her inability to control their fate. More recently she’s been introduced for some delightfully new fears for the last few nights. Insects forcing their way from her body, the trail of blood on the carpet, a fragile weakened broken form huddled in unfamiliar passages under a drain. Her blood coursing down the grooves born over years by the blood of others. And finally, inevitably, the capture. The imprisonment. The sensation of all her many years of secrets torn from her by force."The Man Who Is Not There tells Lindie Asklepa the nightmares of the Noble Court.
No Blood More Costly
Founding Date
Woundsday, Soldiermoon. 1289
Type
Geopolitical, Great house
Leader
Leader Title
Parent Organization
Controlled Territories
Related Species
Related Ethnicities
Courtly Relations
House Ironside
Ex-Viziera Katharine: +75 (Scrap, Soldier, 1313)Katib Menelaus: -3 (Needle, Soldier, 1313)
House Stargazer
Marriage: Pollux Stargazer & Britomart IronsideSubvizier Pollux: +7 (Needle, Soldier, 1313)
Katib Castor: +20 (Needle, Sailor, 1313)
Katiba Cassiopeia: +15 (Needle, Sailor, 1313)
