Vaevici

Vassal of Pravus

Words: "Woe to the Vanquished."
Sigil: A drop of blood encased by white flame.
Colors: White and Red
Nickname: Warmongers

From the Valley of Flies in the region of the Caldera, where the impregnable city-state of Sangris sits behind its massive bloodstone walls, the Vaevici have ruled for innumerable years. Their presence there is accepted as part of life just as the ship-breaking storms of their seas and the wars between the Houses that dot the landscape beyond the valley. If one is born in the Caldera, they will do so under the weight of thousands and thousands of years of accumulated blood vows and vendettas, their life forfeit to the sword as warriors or victims.

House Vaevici specializes on the first. The so-called Warmongers are the paramount warlords of the region, and their culture is forged by, and completely reliant on, war. Their traditions reflect this mindset in that, before kneeling to Archduchess Belladonna Pravus, the Vaevici openly boasted to have slain their very gods and seized from them the ability to write the destiny of mortals. Their adoration for the will of their warriors and people is seen in their obsession for the Code: a litany of pragmatic annotations and rules of how to harness one's Pyros, a codex and pathway to allow some, but not all, Warmongers to be Blooded by the Code and embody all the virtues and strengths of their godslaying ancestors.

The only family to ever rule Sangris, the Vaevici are stoic and have no time for nonsense, leading the nobles under their rule with a constant reminder that tomorrow might be the last day of those who slack in their duty for people and country. Unlike many of the Houses in the Compact, the Vaevici have little time for dilettantes, poets and socialites: unless their courtiers can bare their bodies and show scars to prove their wisdom and worth, no Warmonger is considered truly part of the family.

The Vaevici ethos is the source of their individual might, but also the reason why they are so few, and a waning House. At every moment in time, there are never many Warmongers, and bad decisions have led them into a position of weakness. No longer able to meet their enemies in open battle, but safe behind the Watchers of their walls, the proud Vaevici would have succumbed to their own bloodthirst and marched nonetheless if not by the unlikely happenstance of Calla Vaevici becoming their leader. Where her father would have never accepted anything of the sort, she has struck a bargain with House Pravus that will forever change her House's fortune.

As of 1012 AR, House Vaevici has knelt for Belladonna Pravus after the Battle of Pieros, recognizing in the distant Sins a hunger that is a sign of strong Pyros. Together with their new allies the Warmongers desire for nothing but to take over the Chain once and for all, starting with the Caldera and their ancestral enemies.

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Ruler: Calla

Land Holdings

Sangris

Description: The city-state of Sangris sits at the edge of the desolate region of the Caldera, the crimson-coated landscape forming a deep valley that serves as a strategic chokehold that leads straight into the legendary walls of the Red City. Despite the eternal state of war between the Abandoned of the Caldera, Sangris has never been breached by external forces, its mighty legions doing quick work of all the remnant forces that survive outside their walls for long. The people of Sangris are known to be hardy and warlike, unwilling to budge or surrender even in the face of grim annihilation.

Landmarks: The Stone Watchers, Sangris massive Calderan bloodstone walls that are legendary for claiming hundreds of thousands of lives over the aeons.

The Valley of Flies, the corpse-littered valley of red rocks that leads to Sangris and that is kept unclean to remind invaders what is coming should they pursue it.

The Godfall, an enormous crater at the south of Sangris that is considered a sacred site, and forbidden to foreigners.