House Raoxsa

'"As the warrior rises, his gods kneel." '-House Motto

House Raoxsa is the northernmost of the houses, and has accumulated military victories over the ages that it has managed to survive, with its blood often reaching the highest echelons of the Jardian hierarchy. It is led by Iusef 'Mardehkus' Raoxsa.

House Symbol
The house symbol of Raoxsa is a stylized bird, which they plaster on their flag to make their standard. Otherwise, an alternative insignia is an S adorned with swords following the top and bottom curves of the S, and a glow of light surrounding it.

History
House Raoxsa has an expansive history of peaks and declines, and a bloodline that can be traced into the Mandorian-oriented houses of old. In most of the history of the house, it is referred to as House Steelwing, as it was called so during the long Mandorian-based revival regime of Jardia.

The Founding of Raoxsa/Steelwing
The founding of the house began with the house of Winterblade, an old and respected house that became one of the most famed families. One man in the house, Luktus Winterblade, the resident casanova of Jardia, had three sons, but one of them is unknown. One son went on to found the branching house of Azelon, while one went on to found the house of Steelwing. The founder of House Steelwing, Richard made it temporarily prosper, and grew his real estate in the city of Jefeno until the house grew rich.

During this time, he found a man imprisoned in the city of Jefeno for attempting to murder an official. Seeing a future in the man, he adopted him and introduced him to the house as his lawful son. The name of this convict-turned-noble was Iusef. For most of the house's early history, he would spend his time serving in the army of Jardia, and methodically climbing the ranks.

The Azelon War
The founder of Steelwing lived through the decline of Winterblade, and both the house of Azelon and Steelwing wished to fill in the gap. The founder called in all of his family to attend an attack on Azelon in the Heartlands, now known as being the deserts in the lower Yarbusk province of Jardia.

The Battle of The Heartlands, as it has been deemed, is a mystery. A local tale of the battle is all that remains of the actual history. The tale says that the founder, Richard, bought an army of mercenaries using his vast funds. The army of Azelon being just less than. When the battle began, the head of Azelon threw coinpurses out into the mercenaries. The mercenaries scrambled to get these, which resulted in them being unprepared. Richard pulled his forces back, but they became mutinous when they were denied coin. Rumour has it he offered them 1,000 gold for each head that was brought to him, which had the potential to dwarf the amounts that Azelon threw into the lines. This made them eager to fight, bolstering their morale and stamina. With this, the battle was won, albeit bloody. When they didn't get this sum, they attempted to loot the castle of Steelwing, but were pushed off by the family guards and dispersed, angry that they were denied money twice.

The battle is most likely to have been won through the sheer coin of Steelwing. This was seen as dishonourable for both sides, and they were forced to make peace. This was nevertheless regarded as a victory for Steelwing.

After this, Richard disappeared without a trace, leaving one of his sons in charge, much to the dismay of Iusef.

Decline and First Line Golden Age
This new head did nothing to help the house, not even stopping to add more to the family. The house ailed and withered away. In the midst of this, Iusef grew more discontent in the army. He halted his methodic advance just before he became an officer to deal with the brother of his.

When Iusef arrived, the brother was not even on the throne at the house capital. With the blessings of the empress Serrathena, he rooted out and murdered his brother to inherit the house. He brought in his son Jason to the family and began the First Line.

Many sons came from Iusef's first line, and, once he became an officer within the military, the prominent family members soon followed. This resulted in a strong brotherhood of Steelwings in the higher ranks that led to the further rise of Iusef through the military and a golden age, albeit short.

Decline from prominence
The house had reached its zenith and reached into the highest ranks of the military, but when the son of Iusef left the family to seek out a new life, Iusef suddenly disappeared with the other Empires of Peurotsiil's departure. The house slowly died. There was not even a pronounced heir, and an interregnum followed.

In the meantime, Iusef was sailing to new land under the military of the Wyngerian Empire.

The Return and Two Lines
Iusef would soon fight in the Faarn War and return to Jardia after his Empire defeated the Jardians. He would revive the Steelwing house but ultimately fail as the base of the power was gone. These lines, referred to as the Second and Third line, were never to sprout into something important. They were even forgotten to time, as no historian noted any achievements. However, Iusef's position in the military would never decline, which built the foundations for a new revival, and a new Golden Age.

The Fourth Line, and second golden age
The Steelwings were once again revived under Iusef. However, this fourth line came to be the most successful of the three revivals. He found a distant cousin and a brother, Brynjar, to kickstart the house. Afterwards, after long hiatuses of coitus with the peasantry, Iusef had a son, Olorin.

This line once again reached into the upper echelons and so began a rebirth. They trained a professional army and lashed out. In one year, three wars came to be. This was known as the Year of Three Wars, and the epitome of Steelwing prowess that was not shown in nearly a decade. This single year doubled the prestige of the Steelwings, and pushed them back into the forefront of the military and political spotlight.

The Year of Three Wars
The reborn house's first line of order was to eradicate a neighbour. They went to war with their neighbour, the house of Ironclaw. They raised one of the largest armies ever raised by Steelwing and marched to Enf Jardi, slaughtering any Ironclaw man or woman they could get their hands on. When they reached Enf Jardi, they besieged the ancient fortress, while the Ironclaws were reinforced to make the garrison near equal to the Steelwing force.

Then, the battle of Enf Jardi began, after a long period of encirclement by Steelwing forces. They rushed through the gate, but upon realizing that there was much more troops than expected, began to fight in house to house rather than advance en masse to the citadel. The Ironclaws began to surround the houses when Iusef led his brother and his private army and broke a part of the Ironclaw encirclement, leading to the Steelwing army coming out of the houses and chasing the Ironclaws off. They judged that a no-combat zone would take place at the church, where the men would pray and wish eachother good luck.

Though the Ironclaws were pushed back to the citadel, they were still a formidable force, albeit suffering considerable casualties after the disaster in the settlement. The Steelwings led a siege that drained the Ironclaws of their food. When they began to starve, they walked outside to surrender. The Steelwings decided to humiliate them by siezing their arms and dragging them out of the city. They reorganized by Kaerithynn and marched back.

The brief Second Battle of Enf Jardi ended in a status quo, as it ended before it could be resolved when Brendan Ironclaw left the field with his army, to instead form a massive army that he would use to fight against the Empire itself. This rebellion ended briefly with heavy damage to the Jardian Empire, but Brendan Ironclaw's departure with his family to Hirsdenia. This left the Ironclaw lands for the taking, which Steelwing slowly absorbed by contending with the remnants of the Jardian Ironclaw army. Ironclaw in Jardia collapsed, leaving Steelwing as the sole survivor of the encounter.

Afterwards, a new house came to be under Ilyich Khaldun, called House Khaldun unsurprisingly. This house was the only house left to challenge the might of house Steelwing, the rest being too weak to defend themselves. They naturally made war.

Iusef raised an expeditionary force which was fairly large, but not too large to eat up the much needed supplies that were required for surviving the harsh deserts. He crossed the Suor and promptly continued to Khaldun's Rest. This march killed off many of his troops as they quickly ran out of supplies when the water they had gained from the Suor after blessing it to keep it pure. This killed off ten percent of their army. Iusef, realizing he desperately needed supplies if he were to survive, was forced to raid the local village of Waetanceaster. They quickly besieged, looted and occupied this fort, expelling the heathens in the area. They then continued on a march to Khaldun's Rest.

When they reached Khaldun's Rest, House Khaldun had an army as well, which was more adapted to the desert. They met them just outside of the village, and the battle began. The commanders on the side of Khaldun were Ilyich Khaldun himself and Covou. The Steelwing commanders were Iusef and his son Olorin.

When the battle began, it was clear that no side would ever be able to beat the other as both of them were fighting to the last man. Both Ilyich and Iusef thinked in the same fashion when it came to military combat, and often employed the same tactics throughout the battle. Meanwhile, Olorin with a group of footmen was holding off the legendary Covou and his small band of archers. He ordered the men to run as fast as they could to prevent Covou from firing, but they were able to fire on occasion, almost always hitting a man.

Just when it seemed they were both about to break each other, an emissary was sent from Khaldun to Steelwing, offering a truce. The Steelwings reluctantly accepted, and vowed to return with an army to march on Khaldun's Rest once and for all, and slaughter the Khalduns. Iusef marched his army back to Waetanceaster, where he would leave them to form the garrison of the town. This war was the first war that was anything less of a victory for the house of Steelwing. The myth of Steelwing invincibility was hurt for a small time, which lead to the rise of an arrogant house which greatly helped Steelwing reassert themselves.

Until their recent white peace with Khaldun, there was a myth of Steelwing invincibility. That shattering for a small period would lead to a rise of the house of Young. This house was small, much dwarfed by Steelwing, but lead by an arrogant man with an ego who vowed to destroy all houses in his path.

Iusef raised an army and marched to the army, lead by a short man with an axe. They met just outside Enf Jardi. The Third Battle of Enf Jardi began.

The house of Young tried a full on assault on the Steelwing line, despite being much smaller. This would be as unsuccessful as it seemed, with the small house incapable of forcing anyone back. The Steelwings surrounded the tiny army and destroyed them utterly, with only their leader being able to escape. This quickly restored the Steelwing invincibility myth. Their leader fled to their enemy of Khaldun.

The Year of Three Wars had ended. Not only did they incorporate Ironclaw diplomatically, achieve military victories over House Khaldun and damage them, acquire an exarchate fortress named Waetanceaster and quell an uprising, they managed to diplomatically incorporate their Winterblade ancestors, making them the sole house to come out of the ashes of the north, then known as Rhinskip. He earned the name 'Mardehkus' for his dominance over the region, named Mardehk in Jardian. This gave more prestige to the house.

The Rise of Sethkeht
One day, Iusef led a patrol, but a snake led him out into the desert. This snake lead him out into the desert until they stopped in the middle of nowhere. He received a revelation from the snake, who told him that Sethkeht was the only god that existed. Immediately, he began his conversion of his house.

The first convert, Randyr Khaldun, was quick to be converted. Then his entire family accepted the faith. Before long, the faith spread like wildfire, mostly due to its martial nature and demand for conquest. The faith became the faith of the military and soldiers often worshiped their swords daily, and were even more moralized than they were before, believing in their duty as soldiers to become martyrs. They hailed Iusef as the prophet, and Randyr as the high priest of the church, based in the Steelwing capital.

This religious revolution spread across the west of Jardia and eventually, their age old enemies, the Khalduns, were converted by Randyr. This sewed the seeds for a friendship.

Friendship with Khaldun
After a long void of low military activity, Ilyich Khaldun eventually stepped down from the leadership of Khaldun. He left the house to Randyr Khaldun, a significant friend to Iusef and the Steelwing family as a whole. Their most dangerous adversary became their biggest friend within seconds. They established a very short lived Diarchy between eachother, where they would work to advance their goals under one dual banner.

The Diarchy became the dominant power in the houses, but fizzled out as the two parted ways. Without accomplishment, the Diarchy ended nearly right after it began.

Rebirth under Raoxsa
The dawn came upon Steelwing, and it held its breath. The Empress which had kept the empire together for an almost entirely uninterrupted reign stepped down. Aruffo Aul'Sakhra stepped to the throne and restored a Triumvirate. He appointed Iusef to help lead the Empire and shape it to his wish. Iusef's first order was to banish his political opponent to the approval of Jardia as a whole. The exile snapped and went insane, running in the desert looking for cows to milk. It is unknown if he survived. He murmured "Six hundred able bodies! SIX HUNDRED!" throughout the desert as he slowly spiraled into the sands.

It is a local legend that this man owns a hut out in the desert, where he leads an army of rats, raiding the burrows of local snakes and dying at the hands of them. However, this is probably just a story, and he is most likely dead, being feasted upon by vultures.

Steelwing experienced a massive change of self over this small period, embracing Jardian traditions fully and abandoning their past name. They took on the name Raoxsa, meaning Steelwing in Jardian, to bridge a connection between the past and future. However, the past was to be held high forever as a symbol of the eternal dominance of House Raoxsa.

In this time frame, Winterblade also rose again as Zaqhrum Dashi (Winter Blade). Iusef gladly stepped back from Winterblade to honour them, and they came back into their lands. Murluk and Iusef were to be suspicious of eachother for the remainder of their time in contact.

Iusef 'Mardehkus' Raoxsa
Iusef Raoxsa, son of the founder, holds the title of former Plumed Lord of Raoxsa and is one of the former Jardekahs of Jardia. He is a noble soldier who's ambition runs ahead of him. He is the driving force and the top dog of Raoxsa, and is the man behind the alignment of House Raoxsa in times of rebellion. Otherwise, he leads the armies with Olorin Raoxsa, in the very front.

He was brought up from the slum in Jefeno and became a criminal. This earned him a sentence in prison where he was smuggled out and taken into the house of Steelwing as the adopted son of the founder. He brought the house many victories, turning it from an insignificant house to an everlasting power that extended far beyond being a regional one.

In his early life, however, during his upbringing, he was brutally slashed, mutilating his face. This quickly demoralized him, and he believed that showing this weakness would damage his reputation with his soldiers. He donned a mask that covers, to an extent, even his eyes, along with everything else. He then attached a plume onto the mask to amplify his presence among the soldiers. He was never seen without it, only by a select few who saw his face before his injury, which they cannot recall.

He was named Mardehkus by his soldiers after he came to dominate the entirety of the province of Mardehk, and asserted his dominance over it for more than a decade, incorporating Winterblade, Ironclaw and others.

He also lead the Royal Guard on occasions, leading to his family taking up the tradition.

He dissapeared and no one is sure where he is currently.

Olorin Raoxsa
Olorin Raoxsa, fourth-line son of Iusef Raoxsa, is a young man who stands at the right hand of Iusef Raoxsa as his sole heir. In the earlier half of his life, he was often warded by Iusef. He has since developed into a worthy general, following in the footsteps of the ambitious forefathers that drove the house.

Born in a colony to a peasant woman, Olorin did not see his father for the first few years of his life, as Iusef did not know of the child's existence. When Iusef found out of his existence, he returned to raise him and turn him into his heir. He became the ward of Iusef, trained to continue his father's legacy when he dies. When he was done his upbringing, he served in Iusef's Royal Guard alongside Brynjar. When the Second Triumvirate came into being, he was put in the position of leading the new Imperial Guard due to his experience in the past.

After Iusef's dissapearance, Olorin took control of the house.

Brynjar Raoxsa
One of the less active members of Raoxsa in the military, Brynjar Raoxsa is the brother of Iusef Raoxsa. He was the first person to come to Iusef's side in the Fourth Line. He, along with Iusef, brought Raoxsa to prominence, and has since retired.

Beforehand, he was an obscure civilian until Iusef found him. He was given the equipment he needed and brought into military life. At his prime, he was the best fighter in Raoxsa, and joined Iusef in his Royal Guard to bolster the Raoxsan prestige, but has since retired again to the civilian life after a successful military career, earning him an elegant home to live the rest of his days in and some Mandorian slaves.

Richard Steelwing
The founder of Steelwing and father to Iusef.

He was a man of significant real estate, owning a manor, a business and a small section of houses in Jefeno. He became a very wealthy man and led a colonial effort into the Stonelands, forming a colony known as Deepmotte. He also used his vast funds to hire mercenaries and engaged in the first war to happen to Steelwing, resulting in a bloody victory.

Ryolith Raoxsa
Ryolith Raoxsa was an indicted traitor, lost in history. During the rebellion of Brendan Ironclaw, he left the house to join the rebellion while the house was loyalist. He was subsequently banished from Raoxsa. He is supposedly dead, but nobody cares to know.

Landholdings
Raoxsa almost entirely dominates the northern province of Jardia and has but a single roadblock in its path to complete control of the grasslands in the north: their Zaqhrum Dashi ancestors, who they respect and admire. But in the forests of the rest of the north, The Raoxsan flag flies over the populace. Due to being a grand house and the head being a governor, most of Raoxsan affairs are dealing with the subordinate barbarians rather than sweeping the other houses under its province.

Enf Jardi
Enf Jardi, the most recent addition to Raoxsa's conquests, is an ancient Jardian base, adding to Raoxsa's prestige. It was last headed by the Mandor-born house of Ironclaw, until their collapse at the hands of Raoxsa. The Emir of Enf Jardi is Olorin Raoxsa, son of Iusef Raoxsa.

Razuraam
Based on an island off the coast of the north in a small bay, Razuraam is a bustling city, the seat of Iusef Raoxsa. It is inhabited by Mandors but they are becoming a fringe minority as Iusef heads a resettlement program to jardianize the area. This city contains the Grand Temple of Sethkeht and the Tomb of Randyr Khaldun, friend of the House.

Culture
Raoxsan culture is militaristic to a wild extent, dwarfing the military primacy of the other houses. As it stands undefeated, many Raoxsans believe in the divine blessing of their military and near invincibility of the soldiers. Otherwise, they value men who perform administrative tasks, and to some extent Orcish supremacy.

Military
The Military of Raoxsa is one of the strongest in Jardia. In its zenith, the army was the biggest in Jardia aside from the Jardian military itself, and goes through constant training to ensure their continual victory. Some of the training includes hauling pieces of stone carried in bags across a marching line until they reach tens of miles.

They frequently come into conflict on the border with the Mandorians, being the border guards to the north. Due to the high frequency of Mandorian bands coming from Borsopus to raid, and the sheer frequency of these raids outnumbering the raids from other Empires (even Hirsdenian nomads), they came to further be skilled in single combat as well as formation combat as they hold off the ever-present threat of a Mandorian raiding campaign across Jardia.

As well as the Mandorians from Borsopus, it often comes into conflicts with the local Mandorians, who tend to form small bands of insurgents and battle in guerilla warfare, ambushing the Raoxsans from the forests. These are the deadliest bands of Mandors, as the Raoxsans are very inexperienced in guerilla warfare, and take it as being cowardly tactics.

Mandorians are not the only enemies of Raoxsa that they must face. Quite often, they face Arganian and Hirsdenian incursions, the latter being more frequent. The Hirsdenians often raid the westmost parts while small Arganian detachments join with the Mandorians. The Roaxsans therefore line their borders at all sides, as they are the first line of defense against an invasion from most empires.

The military shows an undying loyalty to their house head, who they herald as a prophet and that, as long as they follow him, they will always claim victory, or at least never be defeated. This is held up by the track record of the house, as they have never been defeated in military combat.

A favourite military folk tale is a tale about Pheokinse, a great warrior who slays all of his opponents and plants the Raoxsan flag in Mandoria after their departure, only to make a legendary sacrifice in the Faarn War while being the last man to defend the city of Teloctil. There is a famed hymn that is often used while marching:

With us, Pheokinse marches,

Before his sacred maiden.

With us, Pheokinse marches,

So that our spirits never cave in.

And on a fool's bloody rag,

O' Pheokinse, we will plant your flag.

O' Pheokinse, we will plant your flag.

-Excerpt from the Hymn of Pheokinse

The strongest soldier in Raoxsa's military is known as the Emiradiyya, the 'Lordslayer'. In the current absence of the Lordslayer, the strongest soldier is Iusef Raoxsa, followed by Olorin Raoxsa.

Community
The community is very military-oriented, reflected by their religion and tradition, and often excludes warriors who are not worthy. However, they have very strong bonds with each other which often result in political alliances and a united house that never falls into infighting. This is one of the factors leading to the primacy of the military.

Some of the favourite downtimes in Raoxsa are sparring and hitting the local taverns. Therefore, many taverns and inns succeed in Raoxsan land and there are often designated sparring areas to replace bathhouses.

The Raoxsan community also abides by strict legality and religious orthodoxy. The priests are hailed almost above the soldiers and the law is followed by the letter. The peasants often gather in bands and hunt down thieves with the support of the local patrols. This vigilante justice is rewarded by the administration.

However, aside from denouncing of barbarians, they otherwise do not discriminate on racial grounds but, rather, on grounds of military competence. Their high echelons are almost entirely filled by orcs, who they praise for their military competence.

Religion
Almost all of the officers and administrators in Raoxsa, as well as the family, follow the monotheistic belief in the god Sethkeht. The pagan populace has either been wiped out or converted, as they hail Iusef Raoxsa as the most recent prophet of Sethkeht. The people worship their swords, often go hunting to banish polytheists, and hold public sacrifices at the border to Wyngeria of their infidel prisoners they manage to catch.

There is a small fringe movement of Mandorian and Jardian paganism, but they have fled into hiding and worship the gods in secret, never daring to show any polytheism in front of others. Those pagans who show belief openly have either been alienated, caught by local vigilantes, banished or sacrificed.

[Remember Sethkeht isn't official until you show me what it is as Argus has been asking]

Attire
Reflecting the military nature of Raoxsa, most of the soldiers wear their armour in casual and formal affairs. The family dons ceremonial armours when they need to if they are attending significant events. Otherwise, they wear their armour to bond with the army and earn their loyalty.

The peasantry who cannot afford armour wear linen clothing, and the administrators and wealthy citizens often import fine silk clothing from the Suor to distinguish themselves from the peasantry and look intimidating in business meetings to get better deals.

The Mandorian clothing style has had a resurgence, as gladiators often don traditional Mandorian armour because of its menacing appearance. This is shunned elsewhere, however.

Relations
Since the dawn of Raoxsa, it has always considered itself superior to other houses. This is due to not only their military might, but also their noble blood, which they hold high.

House Khaldun
They display rivalry towards the house of Khaldun, and often engage in minor skirmishes. Yet, they respect them to a degree, believing them a worthy foe in battle, having been at war in the past in the Year of Three Wars.

It is a common joke in Raoxsa that "Khaldun filth cannot sustain itself near cleanliness", so they have to retreat to the unwashed deserts to truly thrive. They also believe their blood is superior.

The only friend of the house that arises from the house of Khaldun is Randyr Khaldun, a great friend to the family, and a companion to Iusef.

House Akhiban
House Akhiban is considered like a little brother to the Raoxsans. They respect them for their scholarly endeavors, and are the only infidels they truly tolerate, for their monotheism. They tend to consider Vri and Sethkeht to come from the same religious concept and some even consider them to be the same, but this is unproven and false. They are willing to defend the house of Akhiban if one of the other houses begin incursions on their island.

House Aul'Sakhra
They do not have any major feelings towards Aul'Sakhra. Iusef is contented with serving under Aruffo Aul'Sakhra, and they do not have any reason to make war, and there is no big prejudices against them. Still, they are willing to take up arms if need be.

House Yarbusk
House Yarbusk is considered to be of perhaps even more nobility than the Raoxsans, and the Yarbusk nobles have earned their respect for that. They still consider themselves superior due to their military might, but they are willing to recognize the Yarbusk rule over their little island.

House Zaqhrum-Dashi
As they may trace their roots to Luktus, the son of Murluk, Zaqhrum-Dashi has earned a special place in Raoxsan opinion. While they share the same blood, Raoxsa considers them friends and enemies at the same time, as both of them lay claim to the Winterblade legacy while simultaneously defending it together. Raoxsa is just as easily seen invading Zaqhrum-Dashi as they are invading their enemies.

House Cylvannath
House Cylvannath is considered the compatriots of House Raoxsa due to their closely linked past and the Cylvannath imperial past, because Raoxsa is a loyal house to the crown.