House Vorka
Long one of the most powerful houses in the Merdenkal Peninsula, the House Vorka can trace its lineage back to the days before the Great Flight to Naz'Asketon. From its ancestral home in Wash'kal, they have long managed the Blacksteel mine located in the hills of the Peninsula's center, extract vast wealth and exerting much political control from the slow distribution of Tarien's rarest metal.
Unlike other mines across Tarien, which are often worked at a frenetic pace until all of the ore is expended, the Vorka's have taken a much different approach, carefully rationing the extraction of the raw ore, often going decades without producing any. They have learned, long ago, the ability to control its distribution is more valuable to their plans than the mere gold that the sale of Blacksteel can bring. And while they have never led it, using this tool as leverage, the Vorka's have remained a powerful voice on the Elanthai Council since its inception. This steady state of great, although perhaps not the greatest, power, has served the House well and the strategy seems ingrained in each new generation as they rise from observers to participants in the often bloody politics of the Merdenkal Peninsula.
House Vorka also has a history of producing some of the finest - and most daring - theologians and wizards from among Nosferian's children. Here, their philosophy differs from their other political maneuverings encouraging their brightest to join the church and push their limits, seeking quick wins and advantages for the house. It was a Vorka who first overturned the stricture against summoning greater demons. Likewise, it was a Vorka that was rumored to have been working on magics to circumvent the Translocation Ban, though that effort has remained shrouded in mystery.
