House of Istivean

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"BRING IN THE HARVEST"
HISTORY

The House of Istivean is as old as the House of Brais and these two families were always close, as history tells us in the old books. There hasn't been any war, battle, feast or any other event, where these two houses wouldn't have stood side by side. Moreover, the House of Istivean has always been in charge of keeping the Westland region safe from the barbarians.

Many years they did just perfectly until the famine in the years 671-673 came over them, when a lack of rain led to bad crops. The hunger of the people led to a moral decline with many of them turning into bandits and joining the already existent gangs in the Dark Forest and the Scales.

When the famine reached its peak in early 673, there was a revolt of the peasants, during which many altars of Felgurna, the goddess of fertility were burned. The revolt was ended swiftly with the help of Istivean troops.

It was during this period that this region had to suffer the most of all, possibly, as crops had declined and the famine had already weakened the health of its people. Following the famine was the plague in the years 673-674. The people had little to hold against the desease, being as weakened as they were, and so many lives were claimed, of both nobility and commoners. Today the Duchy of Granville has lost more than half of its population, leaving most of the farms in a sorry state.

These consequences came quite unexpected, especially since the Istiveans used to have the most fertile lands and had never felt the lack of crops before. Additionally, attacks from the barbarians of the north became much more frequent, and they found the land weakened enough to conquer some of the northern villages close to the Dark Forest and the Scales .

TRADITIONS

Marriage rites: The traditional Granvillean marriage ceremony will only apply if the groom hails from Granville. It begins early in the morning with the bride saying good-bye to her parents and to her parent’s home. This is a very dramatic and sad time, with a great deal of sorrowful music and farewell songs, culminating with the bride riding away from her parent’s home and to the home of her future husband. The bride comes to her husband‘s home with the dowry drivers. They must have the bride’s dowry chests which usually is filled with things that she had collected over the years in anticipation of this very moment. A typical dowry chest might contain such items as rolls of fabric, towels, clothing, bedclothes and similar items. So, the young girl is preparing her dowry from the day she learns how to keep needle in her hands.

The actual wedding ceremony itself is the presentation of the bride to the groom’s household. The bride-to-be enters the temple wearing a wreath of rue, symbolizing her childhood. (After the time, when all the Temples were destroyed, the ceremony of the wedding for royals and nobles happens in the main castle, while commoners have the ceremony in groom‘s house yard or house). The ceremony begins with the bride’s matron of honor and other married women removing the bride’s girlish wreath of rue and replacing it with the headdress of a mature woman, symbolizing the young bride’s transition from girlhood into womanhood. The wedding vows are simple, requiring the couple to pledge themselves one to another until death parted them. At the conclusion of the ceremony the bride and groom place the wedding rings on each other’s finger, symbolizing never-ending love, and the marriage is sealed with a kiss. When there was a religion allowed in the Dutchy of Granville, after the wedding ceremony, couple, friends and family performed rituals that are intended to keep evil spirits away from the couple – especially the bride – and which would also insure the couple’s fertility. Some of the people still secretly do that, mostly it‘s villigers, because they can hide it from the King. Nobles – can‘t, because they have the wedding ceremony at the castle with the King, who is the one, who leads the ceremony. For commoners the ceremony is lead by the groom‘s father and marriage contract is written on the paper, which is written in two copies and one is saved at bride‘s parents and another at groom‘s parents house. Also, the couple is showered with both grain and water and is then wrapped in furs to insure that their life together would be rich and successful and that their future harvests would be bountiful and their livestock healthy and fat.

FAMILY TREE
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POLITICAL RELATIONSHIP
THE KINGDOM OF THE ISLES
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Foreigners.
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Deen Zorich was sent here to squire for Lord Brodny Istivean and then taken on by Brodny's cousin Lord Fordric, when Brodny's life was claimed by the plague in 674.
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Foreigners.
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Foreigners.
THE KINGDOM OF THE GOLDEN LION
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Foreigners.
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Foreigners.
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Foreigners.
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Foreigners.
THE KINGDOM OF THE TWO RIVERS
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Despite alll these dire times the King has never let us down.
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Our allies, the people of the woods.
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Pompous and boisterous. Second House after House Brais? Hah! Although one of their bastards squired for one of ours, and turned out to be surprisingly modest.
THE KINGDOM OF THE ESTORIA
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Neighbours.
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Neighbours.
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Neighbours.
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Neighbours.
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Neighbours.
The HOUSE OF ISTIVEAN
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Kingdom: The Kingdom of the Two Rivers
Seat: Duchy of Granville
Fortification: Castle Whitstock
Colors: Green & Black
Liege: House of Brais
Vassals: House of Lombard, House of Mordake
Rank: Duke
Honorific: Your Grace
Head of the House: Duke Solinus Istivean
Predecessor: Duke Laszlo Istivean
Heir: No male heir so far
Wealth: Used to be comfortable, now poor
CURRENT MEMBERS

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