The name is entrusted
Carry the family name through conduct, craft and obligations fulfilled. Prestige is earned over generations.
Vardessa · 312 FR
Houses & holds
Seven Houses, rival crowns and cultures shaped by land, trade and obligation.
Established foundationTHE CREST IN THIS ERA
Seven claims, seven crests
Independent Houses, each with its own land, household and obligations.
The lion, ship, joined hands, bull, bear and the other ancestral symbols belong to distinct House shields. Preserve their original colors and cultural origins.
Follow the changing crests ↗ANCESTRAL · LORE
The First Divided Crown
In Vardessa, land, climate and trade shape seven Houses. Fachelli and Marino contest the crown; allied holds bear the cost. These are ancestral struggles. The later Doom forces a union under the Fachelli crest.
Lords, wards, knights and rival crowns belong to this historical setting. The seven-seat Commission does not yet exist.
THE CODE IN THIS ERA
The household code
These are roleplay principles for this setting. Current community standards, consent and host-game rules apply across every era. Additional chapter rules require Commission review.
Community standards ↗- A sworn oath binds the named people and terms; record the witnesses and cost of breaking it.
- A hold owes care to the land, its households, stores and trade partners. Rank brings obligations.
- Treaties, inheritance and marriages have specific parties. Neither a shared banner nor military service creates a blood relationship.
How this era plays
- Holds, sworn service and household appointments
- Land, harvests, workshops and trade routes
- Marriage, succession and treaty obligations
Apprentice → retainer or practitioner → House officer
What enters the record
Record the hold, season, resources at stake, oaths and both parental branches. Cenerath is quiet in 312 FR; the Doom follows later.
Choose a game adaptation and its local rules; preserve the surveyed Vardessa geography as the ancestral reference.
Read the historical archive ↗WHAT THE GENERATIONS KEEP
Tradition, without standing still.
Hospitality and the table
Make room for guests, introduce newcomers properly and build relationships over shared time. Italian family culture informs the fiction without prescribing how real people must behave.
Discretion before display
Let quality, patience and a kept word speak. Old money is expressed through stewardship, restraint and care for what the next generation inherits.
Respect across generations
Learn the stories, preserve the songs and remember who made the present possible. Respect for elders leaves room for younger generations to question and change the code.
A living inheritance
Names, sayings and family lines endure; institutions, loyalties and customs evolve. No descendant is obliged to repeat an ancestor’s feud.