Rothenstein Family
Based in Orz, a farming region in eastern Dwilight, the Rothenstein family is the result of a union between an impoverished line of minor nobles from the Far East Island and native Dwili landowners who had built their wealth and status primarily through agriculture. Painfully aware of their reputation as jumped-up farmers, the family elders have encouraged the most gifted of their heirs in the pursuit of political and military careers.
Notable Members
Konrad, Earl of Demyansk
As a youth, Konrad was sent to Golden Farrow, the capital of Caerwyn, to pursue his studies. After the death of his older sister, Cathrin, his parents had second thoughts about the wisdom of sending their son to the other side of the island, and sent him gold and guards, in the understanding that he would immediately purchase passage on ship and return to Orz. Konrad, having no great love of Orz, but a very great desire to make a name for himself, had other plans. He kept the gold, and the men, and at age 17, swore an oath of fealty to Earl Jax Mithras of Demyansk, State Purser of Caerwyn and Marshal of the Southern Border Protectors.
Earl Jax assigned Konrad to the Southern Border Protectors, and much of his time was spent in Demyansk, scouting the borders and assisting the peasants in their efforts to rebuild after each wave of incursions from the rogue regions to the south. Having shown himself to be a dependable knight, he was appointed Steward of Demyansk, and later Vice-Marshal of the Southern Border Protectors, who had been renamed the Southern Knights of the Golden Phoenix in preparation for an offensive against the rogue realm of Quadrivium, which had taken hold in Port Nebel. The voyage was long and arduous, and the threat which they had sailed to fight disintegrated before their arrival.
Rather than return to Caerwyn, the army pressed on even further south, seeking to bring assistance to Caerwyn's ally, Ordenstaat. However, their every step was plagued with ill fortune. Two of the army's knights vanished in Port Raviel, along with all of their men. Another led his men too far in front of the main army, was caught in the open, and crushed. Finally, the remains of their force was flanked and overrun by two large groups of monsters, leading to the severe wounding of one knight and the capture of another. The few survivors made a brief, inglorious stop in Rettleville before retreating to Paisly, and from there to Golden Farrow. Konrad, who had had severe doubts about the viability of the mission from the start, came away from it thoroughly soured on the notion of lengthy foreign engagements.
Not long after their return, matters of state drew Earl Jax's attention away from the Knights, leaving Konrad in charge during a period of great unrest, with monsters striking both at Caerwyn's northern and southern borders. Naturally he leapt at the opportunity, but with multiple regions under threat, and an army that was severely under-strength, he found that the decisions did not come as easily as he had once imagined: in some situations, there simply was no perfect solution. The experience left him humbled and, at its conclusion, he took a brief sojurn in Golden Farrow to rest and contemplate his hard-earned lessons.
From there, he returned once more to the border, to join Earl Jax and the other Southern Knights in an assault on monsters in Faithill. Once again, a trip south of Caerwyn's borders was to end in disaster. Poor timing and misinterpreted orders - not to mention a lack of knights in fighting condition - saw the Southern Knights arrive in complete disarray. Both Earl Jax and Konrad were left wounded, their forces all but destroyed. He returned to Golden Farrow once more.
Then winter arrived - and with it, an unexpected changed. Monster attacks along the border, which had been a constant occurance for all of Caerwyn's history, simply ceased. At first, Konrad considered this a change for the better. The autumn had been a difficult season for the realm, and now fate had provided them with an opportunity to repair and prepare themselves for the next round of assaults. But winter changed to spring, and the expected assaults did not come. Rather, extended peace brought only disgruntlement, amongst noble and peasant alike.
- Recollections of Caerwyn: a long-term project of Konrad's; what he hopes will someday be the basis of an authoritative history of Caerwyn, based on the recollections of some of its most notable and longstanding nobles (a work in progress).
- Caerwyn Timeline provides further reference points - also a work in progress.
- Roleplays
Leona, Countess of Uforth
The black sheep of the family, who emigrated to Atamara with the intention of quite literally carving a niche for herself amongst the barbarian vikings of the Barony of Makar, "the only people I've heard of yet who don't blather on about chivalry and honor and all the rest of that bollocks." The rest of the Rothensteins prefer to pretend that she doesn't exist.
Leona's fortunes have risen and fallen like the tide. Shortly after she'd entered his service, her liege, Baron An'ton II Unitea of Howling Waste, stepped down from his position following a disagreement with the realm's newly appointed Banker, Thistledown mortis. Leona, never one to look a gift horse in the mouth, quickly moved to secure the position of Baroness for herself, despite her inexperience and youth. The Banker's poorly worded introductory letter had incited more Lords than An'ton II to bloodlust, and in the ensuing debate her own minor coup appeared to pass largely unnoticed, just as she'd hoped.
It didn't last, however. Her sudden and unexpected success proved shocking to her family, who felt compelled to recognize her and insist on her presence at the funeral of the family patriarch (some say that it was the fact that Leona, of all of them, had been the first to make the leap into landed lordship that caused the old man's heart to fail - that, or the news that she had become an enthusiastic practitioner of the Hörgr of Makar). Keenly aware of the reasons why she was suddenly back in favor, Leona attended the funeral - but only after relinquishing her position.
Upon returning to the Barony, she took up a position in the service of the Duke of Brackhead, Salem O'claude Ve. As Brackhead had been recently destroyed, it wasn't as lucrative as she had been hoping. However, there was little time to stew over it, as the Barony came under attack and it suddenly seemed that there was more than the health of her bank account at stake. A sudden attack by the combined forces of Minas Ithil, Tara and the Cagilan Empire all but destroyed the unprepared Makarian Horde. For a moment, it seemed that the Barony might be overrun. But, perhaps mindful of the need not to overstretch themselves, the enemy pulled back. The two sides settled into a border standoff that drug on for weeks, shiftingly rapidly from tense to dull. Eventually, the Barony agreed to turn the region of Mansbridge over to Minas Ithil, a decision which caused much consternation amongst the ranks of vikings who had defended it for so long.
In adversity, opportunity blooms, as Leona discovered. The previous Count of Uforth vacated his position as the conflict wound to a close, and Leona quickly moved to secure the position for herself.
Deceased/Retired
Cathrin
The eldest daughter of the main branch of the Rothenstein family, Cathrin had little success ingratiating herself into the high society of Pian en Luries. Stung by her failures, she boarded a ship from Giask to Port Nebel - accompanied, apparently, only by her handmaiden, as she had dismissed her bodyguards in a fit of pique. Her plans were unclear, and would remain unexplained, as the ship did not reach its destination. She is presumed lost at sea.
Alexia
A member of the branch of the family that remained on the Far East Island, Alexia grew up in the city of Ozrat. Once she had come of age, it seemed only natural to swear her allegiance to her liege lord, Duke Balthazar Bathgate. Her position was lucrative, quiet, easy and ultimately boring. Her cousins, with all their varied fortunes, made her feel that her own career was stagnating, so she gave everything up and boarded a ship to the Sultanate of Asena on the East Continent, where she quickly became caught up in the war with neighboring Sirion that was engulfing the realm. Alexia was, at heart, a sensitive soul, and had always strugged to deal with the deaths of the men under her command. She was completely unprepared to deal with the carnage and wholesale slaughter that marked the Sultanate's engagements with Sirion. After a particularly bloody battle, in which her archers were slaughtered to a man, she suffered a nervous breakdown. For a period afterward, her captain took command of her forces, but eventually it became clear that Alexia was not going to recover. She boarded a ship and returned to the family estate.
