House Grudge

Leader: Holga Grudge

Great House: House Wheelnameitlater

Province: TBD

Economy: House Grudge’s economic strength lies in Runesmithing, a revered dwarven art that merges arcane power and masterful craftsmanship. Their rune-inscribed weapons, armor, vault systems, and oaths are highly sought after across the Oligarchy, especially by Houses that value durable magic over flashy spectacle.

Though publicly aligned with the Oligarchy, rumors persist that House Grudge engages in quiet trade and dealings with agents of the Amium Confederation. These allegations remain unproven, but their refusal to allow outside audits of their deep vaults has raised eyebrows among certain Great Houses, particularly House Grudge and House Gha'ard .

Military: House Grudge maintains an elite force of heavily armored warriors who advance like a moving fortress. Their famed Rune-bound soldiers can inscribe and activate magic mid-battle, imbuing armor with resilience or disrupting enemy enchantments. In siegecraft and fortress defense, they are unmatched and often serve as subcontractors for containing House Wheelnameitlater’s more unstable innovations.

House Grudge also maintains a feared company of debt-collecting mercenaries who specialize in hunting oathbreakers.

Culture: Rigid, traditional, and deeply literate, House Grudge reveres the written word, especially when carved in rune. Their society is built on grudges, which are not just remembered, but documented and passed down like titles. The oldest books of grievances are centuries old and magically preserved.

Although they show outward loyalty to House Wheelnameitlater and the Oligarchy, many suspect that the Grudge hierarchy harbors sympathies for the Amium Confederation. While no open proof has surfaced, whispers persist of shared dwarf kinship, republican ideals, and hidden tunnels linking House Grudge vaults to Confederation outposts. These suspicions make other Houses uneasy, though House Grudge’s unrivaled military utility keeps them too valuable to confront directly.

Religiously, the House is devoted to Ba-Rhad through the lens of divine craftsmanship, though some members quietly follow Denarius, drawn to her dual nature of fairness and ruthless gain.

History: House Grudge claims descent from an ancient dwarven mountain hold long before the Oligarchy’s founding, a hold lost not through conquest, but betrayal. This formative wound led to their sacred recording of every slight and betrayal in their Books of Grudges.

When the Oligarchy rose, House Grudge was absorbed into House Wheelnameitlater during a brutal siege. Their survival was bought with engineering support, and while they swore fealty, they never forgot. To this day, they maintain semi-autonomous control, with the Books of Grudges acting as their moral compass, code of law, and historical record.

Their reputation for never forgetting a slight makes them both feared and respected. Their secretive nature and rumored ties to foreign powers, however, have placed them on more than one watchlist