The Great Houses of the Ivory Kingdoms

[Volsung]

Basic stats right now. Will give basic info paragraphs later.

House Rafiq, +1 Willpower
House Rafiq is the most reviled of the great houses, though this was not always the case. House Rafiq was formed in the first days of the Kingdoms and was named after a peerless warrior that many claim was an Avatar of Indra. House Rafiq were some of the first supporters of Arun when he began his war against Revan. They then took up the duty of standing against the enemies of the Ivory Kingdoms, but centuries of slow corruption from all sides eventually began to weigh on House Rafiq, and the Cult of the Destroyer managed to find the gap in House Rafiq's honor and slip in, corrupting the House into a shadow of it's former glory. Their goal changed from protecting the Kingdoms, to destroying them.

The fortunes of House Rafiq changed drastically with the conclusion of the Mantis-Ivory Kingdom's war. House Rafiq was cast down, it's leadership almost completely killed, it was thrown out of favor and many assumed it would die on it's own. But the House survived, and stripped of everything, they found they had little to lose in finally giving in completely to the Destroyer. There is little left of House Rafiq now, many having either been killed in the Mantis-Ivory Kingdoms war and the fall out, or sacrificed to bring forth Kali-Ma. Those who have survived though are not to be trifled with. They are the generals of Kali-Ma's armies now.

House Suresh, +1 Agility
House Suresh contains perhaps the most noted sailors in all the world. They began as a minor house who's main resources came from the activities of the Sindhi pirates. But when a wrongfully deposed prince named Suresh took over the SIndhi pirates and used them to retake his throne, his tale and his grand fleet so impressed the Maharaja that he and his house were elevated. Since then, House Suresh has expanded their navy and trade routes to many far off nations. Becoming the de facto ambassadors of the Ivory Kingdoms.

Their success in dealing with Rokugan where all others seemed to have failed brought even more prestige upon this House, and during the Mantis-Ivory Kingdoms war, they gambled everything on the truth of the Mantis' claims that House Rafiq was corrupt. If the Mantis had lost, or if they had been found out, House Suresh would have been no more. But it was due to House Suresh carefully positioning their navies to be unable to engage the Mantis without looking like they were avoiding them that the Mantis were able to eventually claim victory. Since then House Suresh have been the stars of the Ivory Kingdoms. Now that the Kingdoms have all but fallen and their navies have been destroyed, it is hard to say what is in the future for House Suresh.

House Kosala, +1 Perception
The most noble of Houses, House Kosala is named after a region of the Ivory Kingdoms. House Kosala was formed in the early days of the Kingdoms by a wise and watchful Raj who soon after spoke to Buddha and after that retired, renouncing his name, and became a brahmana to spread the word of Buddha to anyone who would hear it. House Kosala takes after their unnamed founder and is dedicated to the teachings of Buddha and discovering new places and secrets. Their libraries were the largest in all of the Ivory Kingdoms and were filled with knowledge that they had gathered by brave explorers of the Kingdom's secrets and beyond the borders of the civilized world.

A few centuries ago a wise and powerful prince named Rama was exiled for 14 years by an act of jealousy by the current Raja's second wife so her son could become Raj. The Raja, having promised his wife one request, dutifully obeyed and his son obeyed his father, exiling himself into the forest nearby. He was so loved however that much of the city and his younger brother followed him into exile. Rama eventually managed to get away from the city folk after promising his brother to return and went on to wander the Ivory Kingdoms, eventually battling the resurgent force of a Rakshasa and defeating it before returning to the city.

In more recent years, the Kosala have fallen far. Their libraries have burned and their people have scattered to the winds. There is some slight good news, the current Maharaja's family comes from a Kosala marriage into the royal family.

House Pandavah, +1 Strength
Perhaps the greatest of the Houses. House Pandavah was founded by Arun after his defeat of Revan. The royal Maharaja line comes from the Pandavah. Those of House Pandavah are most well known for their strength, as Arun was known for his and do not hesitate to use that strength when they feel they need to. House Pandavah is known for their brave warriors and many stories revolve around Pandavah heroes in battle. These heroes are pervasive throughout culture and it is not hard to find someone claiming a relation, even if they have no actual proof.

Unfortunately, in the recent upheaval House Pandavah has nearly gone extinct. The Cult of the Destroyer targeted this house specifically for destruction and have done their best to annihilate them. For the most part, they have succeeded. Many Pandavah were eager to meet the enemy in battle, and died there, many others were hunted down when they fled. The Maharaja family that was part of House Pandavah has been wiped out completely. Many of the survivors have abandoned the old stories of heroism in favor of survival. But some few still cling to the tales of heroes and think that Vishnu will return and save them from their plight.

House Kauravah, +1 Awareness
An off-shoot of House Pandavah, House Kauravah's birth nearly led to the destruction of the Kingdoms many centuries ago. When the Maharaja died, two of his grandsons from different families had an equal claim to the throne. Neither side was willing to back down over the matter and lines were eventually drawn and war became inevitable. Each of the other houses stood with one cousin or the other and each massive army was led onto the field of battle. The ensuing war, called the Kurukshetra War, took place for a whole week and by the end both sides had been almost completely destroyed and the Kingdoms were left destitute. But the Pandavah managed to maintain the throne.

The Kauravah have spent much of their existence cleaning up from the Kurukshetra War and has become wealthy through wise business ventures and their careful way with words. Eventually their part in the devastating war was forgiven and House Kauravah was on the rise, with courtiers and money-tellers across much of the Kingdoms and even beginning to venture beyond. Now their vast wealth is gone, captured by the servants of Kali-Ma and many of house Kauravah have either already fled the Kingdoms or have been killed.

House Yadu, +1 Intelligence
The youngest of the Great Houses, House Yadu was brought up after the efforts of a man named Nala, an Avatar of the Divine Builder Vishwakarma. Upon the unexpected death of a popular Maharaja four centuries ago, there was a clamor to build him an appropriate tomb. The call went out across the Kingdoms for a builder to construct the most grand tomb that had ever been built. Nala is said to have snuck into the realm of dreams and stole some of it's substance, using that to build a floating grand tomb with over 200 rooms in the course of two weeks. After a harrowing journey after the tomb was stolen from him, Nala managed to retrieve it and for his workmanship his House was elevated.

Since that day, the Yadu have built grand and glorious structures across the breadth of the Kingdoms, each attempting to out do the efforts of their peers. Since the rise of Kali-Ma however, many of their treasured buildings lay in ruins, and the Yadu turn more to the art of war, building grand defenses in an effort to halt or at least slow down the advance of the enemy.