Unseelie Nobles

[alysen]

The Unseelie nobles arrange themselves into houses within the court. These coteries often intermingle, but for each Sidhe, loyalty is sworn first to the Queene herself, and then to the head of your house. The houses are organized sometimes by family bloodline and other times by birthright, but in all cases the house heads reach their position through a combination of politics, alliances, and more often than not, violence.

The Unseelie accept anyone and *anything* into their midst, expressing that all fae come from the magic of the mists. In the end, however, somehow only the Sidhe have ever ruled the court and only the Sidhe head the houses. Many of the "lesser fae" as they are often called, are only too familiar with this type of prejudice. Some simply accept this fate, while others become masters of manipulation, studying the weaknesses of the Sidhe and climbing among the higher ranks of the Darkling Host.

[Megan]

House Morrgion
Symbol: A Raven, Black against a Bloody Setting Sun

Scholars of a Bloody Truth, the Morrgion have dedicated themselves to searching out the power of the Fae through flesh. They are artists in pain and transmogrification of the body, disciples of blood magic and the art of war. Nothing is more sacred than the pursuit of knowledge and power for these terrifying sorcerer-soldiers. Joining the Morrgion means dedicating oneself to pushing the boundaries of the possible - whether your studies are in Blood, Pain or the Battle-Arts. Though they can appear hedonistic, one difference between the Morrgion and other Unseelie Houses resides in the fact that they pursue these things from a desire for knowledge and achievement rather than personal pleasure or physical satisfaction. A Morrgion pleasure-seeker would be studying the art of pain in pleasure, perhaps, rather than simply seeking to satisfy his own inner desires. Applicants to the House must prove some technique or knowledge that is currently beyond the understanding of majority of members - and this is usually done during the House's annual Hallow's Eve Haunt. Applications are approved by majority acclaim but are only official when sanctioned by the Head of the House, the enigmatic Onora Dolorosa. Of course it is whispered that Long Dark Queene Una, the most prominent member of Morrgion, has final say on any admission to the House, but this has never been openly confirmed. The Morrgion congregate at Golgoth, a great dark Plantation House with sprawling outbuildings and slave quarters where arcane blood rituals and deadly duels alike send screams into the starry, steamy night.

[Megan]

House Griane
Symbol: A Blood Lily, Gilded and Dripping Rubies

To be Griane is to be one with pleasure. Sybarites and hedonists in the extreme, nothing is too bizarre for the Children of Lillies and Thorns. Griane believe that Fae are created to be purely sensual - to be keepers and archons of the mystical dross of emotion and sensation. Their incestuous motleys band together to further explore and experience the true meaning of sensuality in all forms - although it is usual for a particular motley to have a speciality. Displays and competitions between motleys and minor branches of the House are encouraged, as is frequent cross-pollination of ideas and techniques. The existence of the House itself is meant to keep the Griane solvent and functioning as sybarites - to give some structure to the decadence. Thus loyalty to Court and House become the only law among the Griane - and each member is expected to tithe some portion of service or sustenance to the greater whole. Applicants to the House are subjected to a grueling season of service as slaves to the whim of the House - those who survive tend to join the motleys who provided the most pleasure during their ordeal. The Griane cluster in a great warren of pleasure dens and harems called the Palace of Thorns. Once a year at the dawning of Summer the Griane open the Bazzar, an event where everything from love-potions to blinding charms to handcuffs to sexual favors can be had for the right price.

[Megan]

House Balthazar
Symbol: Scythes crossed in Silver on a Black Night Sky.

The Balthazar are a small House, but they cast a long shadow. Devotees of fear and the darkness of the night, the Balthazar spend time plumbing the darkest places in the soul, creating masterworks of shadow and nightmare in the dreams of the Mortal world. Membership in Balthazar requires an apprenticeship of a year and a night, during which time the prospective member exists entirely in the dreams and nightmares of House members. Many prospects are driven mad by the experience - which keeps the numbers of the House low - but those who emerge from the Dream are changed, more powerful for their new connection to the Mysts, and able to take their place as a Master or Mistress of Dream. Balthazarians usually appear pale, sometimes even transparent, and they can be difficult to harm with physical weapons. They are the only House who are said to accept Mortal members - though this has never been directly confirmed by any member - reasoning that any creature who can withstand the initiation and take control of the dark dreamscape deserves admission. House Balthazar's home, The Chateau de Obscurite, is a crumbling ruin that crouches against windswept moors - visitors are inevitably surprised by the opulent interior so at odds with its derelict outward appearance.

[Megan]

House Keening
Symbol: Wailing Mask in White before a Great Black Oak

Keening is the House of the Bean-Sidhe, and exists solely to forward the agenda of that misunderstood group. They are a relatively young House and have found that banding together as a group not only provides political clout but also a sense of belonging to something - a sense of greater destiny that has most in the House convinced that the Bean-Sidhe exist for a reason. The search for this destiny and the building of the House reputation occupy most members. Recruitment of emergent Bean-Sidhe is also an important activity - attempts are regularly made to contact those known to have been born into the Seelie Courts, despite the danger involved.

[Megan]

House Tyranis
Symbol: A Great Bronze Wheel chained with Iron

If Tyler and Marla from "Fight Club" were Unseelie Sidhe, they might belong to House Tyranis. Irreverant, dour and generally possessed of dry wit the Tyranis gather hangers-on and dependants like moths to flame. Tyranis are deal-makers - they use their understanding of Oaths and other contracts to manipulate and control those around them. Tyranis enjoy power games of all stripes - in the bedroom, on the battlefield, in the Courts. They can also be incredibly passive-aggressive and dependant, enjoying the power that their helplessness brings. It's a strange kick - but the Tyranis know how to suck their victims dry and make them love it all the way down. The House itself really revolves around the arts first taught to the descendants of Tyranis, lord of Thunder, and subsequently distributed to the members of the House as it grew. Anyone who craves power might seek out Tyranis and the tantalising abilities they can teach - but membership, like everything, comes with a price. Once a Tyranis, always a Tyranis. Members might use non-members as chattel and playthings but they themselves are forever bound with strict Oaths to serve the House. Members of Tyranis must serve one year in every seven at the Great Hall of Tyr - giving up their vaunted power to the Chatelaine and her gruesome attendants. The Great Hall itself is a secluded chateau set somewhere in rolling forested hills - those who stumble inside rarely emerge without a mark or two - visible or not.

[Megan]

House Paridas - Unseelie
Symbol: A Pair of Silver Wings, Shedding Feathers

The Unseelie Paridas have all, to a one, given in to their baser instincts and become the fallen angels they are so often mistaken for. They are beautiful and praise beauty, but unlike their Seelie counterparts the Unseelie Paridas find beauty in the grotesque as well as the sublime. Many Unseelie Paridas mate freely with lesser Fae, producing some of the most unearthly gorgeous Half-Sidhe among the courts. What separates the Paridas from other Houses is the fact that members must truly be born into the House. Adoptions are not common among the Paridas - although they can happen they are the exception rather than the rule. Pure Paridas are distinguished by their handsome feathered wings and it is rare for a half-breed to inherit this trait. Rather than dying out, as their Seelie cousins seem to be doing, the Unseelie Paridas have become one of the most fertile of Houses, mixing generations of miscreants into a sprawling extended family. Members of the House tend to have artistic aspirations - jewelcrafting and goldsmithing are favorites - but the House has picked up a distinctly musical gene somewhere and there are now many distinguished Paridas musicians and composers among the Unseelie Courts. One trait they share with their Seelie bretheren is the fascination with the sword as an art form. Paridas Sword-Dancers give some of the most breathtaking and dangerous performances at Unseelie Masques - and are well feared duelists. The Unseelie Paridas have adopted the Palace of Surkashti as their fief. It is a never-land of endless mosaic corridors and frescoed dining and sleeping chambers where unearthly music drifts through the walls and stray silver and gold feathers can be found by the lucky wanderer.