Death's No StrangerKingdom Location
Formaroth -> Alenius, Akki, Glarmion
Relations with other Kingdoms
Imperial Concord - A rocky alliance, loosely held together by the betrothal of Naomi Blackwell and Patrick De Reimer
Family reputation
Dragonslayers
-The Blackwell family has a fierce reputation, for they are well known as the slayers of dragons. A great many, many, dragons.
Strong as Iron
-The Blackwell family was born into a noble house from the ashes of warfare, and their people are a hard and strong people.
Duty before Honor
-The Blackwell family is one who sees 'getting the job done' as superior to the concept of 'Honor', and their use of guerilla tactics and clandestine operations in the past is noteworthy.
Queer Fighters
-The Blackwell family is notorious for training to combat foes without the use of shields, and typically wield additional weaponry in the off hand or adopt the use of larger weaponry in the stead of traditional sword-and-shield pairings
Kingdom's main export goods
Raw goods: Lumber, coal, ores
Skilled goods: Weapons, armor, agriculture//seasonal crops
Kingdom's imports
Alenius' imports alter to accent any shortages and emergency needs-Primary imports consist of skilled laborers and educators, rather than any material needs
-Secondary concerns are dependent upon the Alenius' kingdom's own production of goods, and is typically shifted to correct any shortages seen;
alternatively, exports may be cut to offset this rather than imports made-Importing goods is seen as a last resort
Description of Kingdom
Alenius is a land that, in recent years, has prospered greatly. Prior to the Blackwell family placement upon the kingdom, it was a simpler land that was heavily dependent upon its neighbors for goods such as tools and food, and had seen considerable damages due to dragon attacks frequenting its southern provinces [quite near the mountain ranges] that left the south almost entirely uninhabited, save by those few wanton dragonslayers seeking their glory.
With the Blackwell placement preceding the Mandarass-Remonnet civil war, considerable industrial upheaval occurred in the kingdom. The Blackwell family instituted more rigorous agricultural practices, which dragged the kingdom out of its dependency, and allowed it to further progress into its own enterprises and expand the kingdom's demesne.
Under Blackwell rule, the dragons plaguing the south of the kingdom have been slain and the land made habitable, allowing the kingdom of Alenius to expand into its own profitable mining and prospecting enterprises, further eradicating the heavy debt that originally lay across the land.
Now, the kingdom is powerful economically due to its centralized production and lack of consistent imports. The military of the kingdom is comparatively small in regards to its neighbors, yet highly trained and elite under the Blackwell standards, and has a high reserve force that is constantly in training circulation to keep the civilian populace prepared in the event of a war.
Following the crown war, the kingdom has expanded to include Glarmion and Akki, which The Blackwell House works to assimilate steadily.
Family Background
Summarized - See individuals for further explanationThe Blackwell family is one bred from the fires of war, and hardened in combat like the harshest of irons. Originating as a peasant family who served as a mercenary company, the Blackwell family saw extensive combat and operations in the Mandarass-Remonnet civil war, where they served as a guerrilla unit, a misinformation broker, as well as a strong backbone in central battles when the need arose.
Their extensive operations in crippling the Mandarass forces at every available opportunity, as well the spread of misinformation through the enemy [Mandarass] forces, was a critical role they played in the war. They targeted high priority persons, sabotaged supplies, engaged in open warfare to a considerable extent, and by the end of the war the Remonnet's had them hoisted up to the position of nobility due to their display of effectiveness and loyalty to the crown.
However, peasants cannot simply be made noble without angering the other vassals of the kingdom. The Blackwells were granted land and territory in what is known as the kingdom of Alenius, which at the time following the war was little more than an inhabited wasteland of barren fields and scorched earth. The land was facing incredible debt.
The kingdom of Alenius had sided with the Mandarass forces in the beginning of the civil war, and as a result had been utterly crushed by a massed Remennot attack as a pre-emptive measure, and the ensuing battles backed the Alenius nobility into Hell; dragons at their backs and an overwhelming enemy at their fronts. Needless to say, the kingdom of Alenius was rendered a non-issue in the war.
Upon being granted their title and lands, the Blackwell family continued to serve the Remennot's until near the end of the war, when they withdrew from the combat in order to govern their lands and recouperate from the extensive combat they had seen.
In the following years, in the face of having their titles revoked and land squabbled over by neighboring lords, the Blackwells turned the same lethal efficiency they carried for the art of war towards the art of statecraft; the core Blackwells, the ones who had served in the civil war, were masters of the arts of war and death, but many of their extended family and subservient citizens were farmers and simple artisans. Rather than trying to institute the standard reconstruction process, the Blackwells deferred to those who understood the earth and the tasks that needed to be done.
Those who could best get the job done received the highest positions in the Blackwell society, and through the constant struggle for improvement the land became fertile once more, and the people's fortitude returned as- rather than with swords and shields- they fought with hoe and sickle to win back the plentiful peace they once had.
The only issue was that of the uninhabitable wastes in the south, where the prospect of ores and mining stood as a saving grace for the land of Alenius. Many dragonslayers had gone into this southern land in an attempt to fight and gain glory by slaying one of the great beasts, but none had succeeded. The Blackwells, however, were backed into a corner in the face of crippling debt and a rebuilding society. The Blackwells were not ones to back down from a challenge.
So the Blackwells went south, to the mountains, to hunt dragons. They left the army they had grown through the years of combat and war behind to defend the territory with The Shadow as governor, and left with but a small elite group of soldiers rather than employing vast numbers of dragonslayers- opting instead to gather up the wanton heroes already present in the country rather than warn their surrounding threats of the family's planned absence.
However, the rumors were hardly enough to prepare the Blackwells for what awaited them in the south. What they intended as a speedy mission quickly developed into a task that took the span of a few years, with the forces back in the northern half of Alenius holding the land and warding off possible threats. The Blackwell family had anticipated but a few dragons that had grown into many by years of myth and rumor, but the truth of the matter was both harrowing and boldening; There were hundreds of dragons in the south of Alenius, and the Blackwells had found another war on their hands.
And war for the Blackwells is like harvest for the farmer; it revives the spirit, and makes one look to the future.The dragons in the south were steadily eradicated into manageable numbers; nearly two hundred dragons having been slain by the Blackwell family, and a vast quantity of those were accredited to a single member of the family alone. Scales, claws, teeth, and bones were harvested from the creatures and sent back to Mercy [the renamed capital of the Blackwell kingdom].
Now, only a handful of dragons still survive in southern Alenius; hardly enough to pose a threat to the Blackwell family, or the people of Alenius. The south became an industrialized powerhouse for the country, and the north evolved into an agricultural cornucopia...
Beatrice Blackwell's death shook the Blackwell family, save for Naomi Blackwell. Drevala, in a depression and a desire for new horizons, started being away from her family more and more, opting instead to drown herself in magical research and Lanaya's Mage's Collective while she handled her grief. Eli Blackwell, Naomi, and the Old Man all returned to Alenius with Beatrice in order to give her a proper Blackwell funeral...
Various mottos of the Blackwell lands, and their origins"Death's no Stranger." ~ The Old Man; in response to threats from the Mandarasss during the civil war - Adopted as the family motto
"I'll choose death." ~ The War Maiden; when prompted to turn coat in the civil war - Adopted as a military slogan
"Send me more!" ~ The War Maiden; Her disappointment at the lack of a challenging foe during the civil war conflicts she took part in - adopted as a military slogan
"Salted earth doesn't grow." ~ The Lord; his grim displeasure at the land they had been titled - adopted as a military slogan.
"Never falter, never fall." ~ The Dragonslayer; during the Dragon War - a common saying
"What are we?" + "Forged in dragon's fire!" - Pre-battle mantra of the Blackwell military
"Dragons were hardly as big an issue as this". - A comical colloquialism of the Blackwell lands---
family motives [See; individual characters]
-The Old Man...Is tired.
-The Lord of the Blackwell Family seeks to sustain the rule of the blackwell family in the face of ever-worsening relations with the Concord.
-The Shadow seeks to ???????
-The Dragonslayer seeks to protect her family to the fullest of her ability, regardless of the challenges they face. This includes her ever-more-frantic research into the regenerative arts.
Naomi Blackwell seeks to enlighten the masses.
Lurking Krog,
Guardian Angel Haruki,
tadcfnaf,
kalanggam,
rush99999,
Sister Sable,
Lunamaria Hawke,
Alisdragon911,
Hibachi90,
DraconicDespair
