Thrax and New Blood
Posted by Apostate on 05/22/21
Prince Victus Thrax, Highlord of the Mourning Isles, rules over the most traditional region of the Compact. House honor is paramount in the Mourning Isles, with any shame of individuals that could imperil house standing being more than sufficient reason to forever cast them out, and most houses of the Mourning Isle can obsessively trace their bloodlines back to at least the time of Queen Alarice the Great, and the handful of ennoblements that ever happen in the Mourning Isles are done with the polite fiction that they 'discovered' that the commoner actually had blood ties to nobility.
Change has come at a dizzying pace for the Mourning Isles, and this has not been well received at all. Even a great number of peers who saw the institution of thralldom as one that should be likely done away with have been increasingly alarmed by the changes, and they have just kept coming. More than a few peers privately believe that the wave of neo-nobles is preparation to completely dismantle the peerage all together, and some of that paranoia has spread beyond the Mourning Isles to other old blooded houses. At least some peers are now obsessively discussing which houses have Pristine Old Blood, which are not quite pristine but respected, and which have ruined their lineage by granting ennoblements to commoners, or far worse, prodigal commoners.
Fortunately, as the complaints become more feverish in tone, and as Thrax houses harden following the death of Ivan Helianthus, Prince Victus has not been idle. His grip over the impressive Thrax military has become stronger, and much of his vassals are keenly aware that he has the strong support of other highlords. With the Eurusi defeat, there does not appear to be an outside force at present that could stand against that, so much of the defiance will likely become more covert and treacherous, rather than open and easily crushed. Outside of the Mourning Isles however, and particularly in Arx itself, peers' passive resistance is becoming much more visible, and many peers are starting to pointedly isolate themselves from neo nobles and prodigals, and just avoid associating with 'those people'. Much of the peers embrace the contradiction of condemning prodigals and neo nobles for being a source of 'division' in the Compact, and promptly get on board with doing quite a bit of dividing themselves. They do not appreciate this being pointed out.
Change has come at a dizzying pace for the Mourning Isles, and this has not been well received at all. Even a great number of peers who saw the institution of thralldom as one that should be likely done away with have been increasingly alarmed by the changes, and they have just kept coming. More than a few peers privately believe that the wave of neo-nobles is preparation to completely dismantle the peerage all together, and some of that paranoia has spread beyond the Mourning Isles to other old blooded houses. At least some peers are now obsessively discussing which houses have Pristine Old Blood, which are not quite pristine but respected, and which have ruined their lineage by granting ennoblements to commoners, or far worse, prodigal commoners.
Fortunately, as the complaints become more feverish in tone, and as Thrax houses harden following the death of Ivan Helianthus, Prince Victus has not been idle. His grip over the impressive Thrax military has become stronger, and much of his vassals are keenly aware that he has the strong support of other highlords. With the Eurusi defeat, there does not appear to be an outside force at present that could stand against that, so much of the defiance will likely become more covert and treacherous, rather than open and easily crushed. Outside of the Mourning Isles however, and particularly in Arx itself, peers' passive resistance is becoming much more visible, and many peers are starting to pointedly isolate themselves from neo nobles and prodigals, and just avoid associating with 'those people'. Much of the peers embrace the contradiction of condemning prodigals and neo nobles for being a source of 'division' in the Compact, and promptly get on board with doing quite a bit of dividing themselves. They do not appreciate this being pointed out.