House Name
House Antar

Sigil
A golden, two-headed serpent upon a purple background. In the left mouth of the serpent, there is a sceptre. In the right head, there is a sword. The serpent is coiled on a pile of coins.

House Words
“Speak Softly, Strike Harshly”

House Specialty
The smiths of House Antar are one of the few houses left who fully understand the secrets behind Voltaani Steel, and are the primary exporter of the alloy, predominately among their vassals.

Ancestral Weapon
Mordedura de la Serpiente - A falchion, made from a specific alloy of Voltaani Steel meant to be rust-resistant and hold an edge through weeks of heavy use, whose formula was lost prior to the Voltaani exile. Its pommel is carved like a snake's head, and an inscription on the gilded, jewel-encrusted hilt reads “know no fear” in ancient Endosi.

Important Members

King Mateo Antar – King of Voltaani, age 20
Even from a young age, there was a fire in the young prince Mateo Antar that could not be quenched. Throughout his childhood years, ever since he could walk, he could throw a punch. He would often organize brawls with the children in the capital, both sides going to war with each other over a few iron crowns scattered on the ground. As he grew into adolescence, taking in lessons on fighting, religion, economics and etiquette between fist fights and nighttime liaisons with servants and the daughters of visiting nobles, the passion that throbbed through him turned to anger. Anger at the state of his country, which seemed to have lost its pride and replaced it with money. Anger at his father, for so complacently bowing to the demands of his vassals. And anger at himself, for his youthful ignorance and rash, self-indulgent behavior.

It was during one lecture on the maintenance of a castle's budget that he was suddenly called out of his lesson. His father, King Thiago Antar, had suffered a bout of apoplexy in the middle of a conference, and though he recovered, he was now incoherent and bedridden. In a hastily-prepared coronation ritual, Mateo ascended to the throne of Volaanti, and proceeded to swear off the many bad habits he had accumulated in his youth. He knew that, as a king walking into a proverbial pit of vipers, he couldn't afford any distractions, or anything that would make him seem weak in the eyes of his council.

In spite of his young age, he has gained infamy in court due to his aggressive personality, keen head for politics, and major push for military reforms. While some find these traits admirable in a king, the majority of Volaanti nobility is stubbornly against many of the policies the king has adamantly tried to push through, and his misgivings about the increasing political sway of sellsword companies has been met with accusations of paranoia.

Queen Estefania Antar – Queen Mother, age 36
Born Estefania Orlanti, Queen Estefania was born the only child of Leon Orlanti, a minor noble serving under the Duke of Castillo. Despite being of relatively low birth, and being arranged to marry a nobleman in Caelia, Estefania managed to catch he eye of the then-Prince Thiago. After pressuring his father into proposing marriage with House Orlanti, Estefania quickly consummated her marriage with the young prince, and was with child within months.

When Prince Thiago succeeded his father as king, Estefania quickly wormed her way in as the king's chief advisor. Often, King Thiago would disregard the advice of both his council and his family for Estefania's advice, advancing her own agenda in his blindness. Thus it carried on, until his sudden illness. While some believe Estefania had a hand in it, she herself had nothing to gain from incapacitating her highly pliable husband.

She now serves as an advisor for her son, though she is nowhere near as highly regarded as she was by her husband. This has embittered her towards her son, and she seeks to curry her own favor among the nobles to undermine him.

Cibran Antar – Prince of Voltaani, age 43

Cibran was the black sheep of his family, a moody and quiet child who became a dour and highly withdrawn adult, born from the second wife of King Estevo Antar. Much of his misgivings were due to the insults of his father, who made it clear that he existed only as a spare, in the case of his brother's death. Though his brother Thiago had tried many times to mend the gap caused by their fathers' favoritism, Cibran drifted further from his half-sibling and father. By the time the Crown Prince Mateo was one year old, Cibran had already left on trading missions to the east, across the sea.

In foreign lands, he became a famed adventurer and merchant, writing many journals of his discoveries, and of his service as a sellsword to foreign lords of far-off lands. He returned Voltaani a total of four times, each time merely to greet one of his nieces and nephews, send a copy of his journals to the Sage, and load up his ship before setting off again. But the fourth time would be the last time he set out.

None were as shocked by the news of King Thiago's illness as his brother, Prince Cibran, who had been home from overseas for less than a month before he was confronted with it. Though he had barely spoken to his brother in twenty six years, and had no real love of his country, he knew that duty demanded he stay, at least until the political situation settled down.

He has angled himself as a contact for various foreign resources, such as sellswords, artifacts, and a very small smattering of magical knowledge which he has not shared with anyone. Unfortunately, his long stay overseas have left him ill-equipped to navigate the current political landscape.

Rosalia Antar – Princess of Voltaani, age 15

In spite of the efforts of her parents, Rosalia is shaping up to be another Mateo, at least as she currently stands. She is mercilessly frank in conversation, and utterly ruthless in action. Slicing the face of a servant that accidentally spilled tea on her dress is not the most scandalous rumor that surrounds her by far. The overbearing presence of her brother, who has far less patience than her father ever had for her antics, has curbed her habits somewhat, but she is still regarded as rude, impulsive, and cruel by those who aren't afraid to speak against her, and she is determined to not merely be one of her brother's bargaining chips.

Nicolau Antar – Prince of Voltaani, age 12
In contrast to his two older siblings, Nicolau is a frail, skittish child who rarely leaves his room, and prefers the company of servants to nobility. Indeed, among the nursemaids that have served House Antar, he's considered a favorite. However, his gentle nature, combined with his inattentiveness to his studies, Though his gentle nature is appreciated by many, including his mother, his inattentiveness to his studies is a concern for those worried about the currently shaky nature of the house's future.

Vassals
1: House Arvarid, Duchy of Txau
2: House Roivas, Duchy of Castillo
3: House Perris, Duchy of Corazon
4. House Navar, Duchy of Notura
5. House Casca, Duchy of Sebin
6. House Artez, Duchy of Surta
7. House Valari, Duchy of Corte
8. House Leon, Duchy of Valdis
9. House Iniigo, Duchy of Montas

Courtiers & Retainers
The advisors, knights, and other such members useful to your house.

Realm
Kingdom-Republic of Voltaani

Primary Holding
Feel free to be as brief or descriptive as possible with your primary holding, though to reasonable form.

Vassal Holdings
Feel free to be as brief or descriptive as possible with your vassal holding(s), though to reasonable form.

Influence & Relations
A summarized list of relations/influence with neighbors or vassals.

Exports & Imports
A summarized list of product yield that are traded in or out.

Recent History
Text

Other Information
Theme Songs, Notes, and so forth.

Diosaea is a nontheistic religion based on the teachings taught by the ancient philosopher known as Saint Jovita dos Voltaani which were written and recorded in the Santo'libro. The faith is one with great historical and cultural significance to the people who fled the crumbling empire to Orlandis as well as the merchant republics in their homeland that survived the fallout of such an exodus. The head of the organized religion are separated into two people to serve two continents (Orlandis and Atularis) is Paragon of the West and the East, who is elected and serves his or her sentence at the grand cathedral known as Templo dos Refugio in Voltaani or Templo dos Santo in Ortan.

Originally coined as “The Path of Enlightenment” by Jovita’s smitten royal supporters in the imperial congress, Diosaea was not intended to be a ‘religion’ but a scholarly approach to morality to make humanity understand to appreciate their brothers and sisters. As a philosophy-oriented belief system there are no gods or deities, though this did not stop people from worshiping Saint Jovita as if she was one as history faded and the truth became clouded. The rules of Diosaea are based around universal humanism and about doing good by your fellow man not because there is an afterlife or damnation but because there isn’t one and that in the end all man are bound by their species so they should not seek destruction of them. In a way it is comparable to the Way of Aavaar in that it promotes virtue above all, but that is where the comparison ends.

The symbol that represents Diosaea is that of a circular infiniteness (infinity symbol) to represent the cycle of man. This goes into a completely different belief that Saint Jovita had during her journeys throughout the empire she was born into—of how life is so full of karmic coincidence and reoccurrence that life is most certainly a cycle. As such she believed souls (or people, it’s hard to say as the bit written is inconsistent) lived on after physical death thus entering new mortal coils and continuing.

Today, Diosaea has become a religion centered on the “saintly” figure of Jovita, with her rules of living turning into scripture law.

In addition to said philosophies, Diosaea adopted the beliefs of the beliefs of their new neighbors near the desert known as The Expanse. These beliefs were that of constellation worship that drew in beliefs that these stars and symbols represented the world at large:

The Bee / Biendor – Represents wealth, believed to grant abundance of harvest.
The Hare / Hasen – Represents luck, believed to bring good fortune.
The Hound / Hundif – Represents protection, believed to ward off dark omens.
The Lion / Loweal – Represents strength, believed to watch over warriors who prepare for war.
The Owl / Eulosa – Represents wisdom, believed to grant knowledge to those in need of guidance.
The Raven / Raber – Represents death, believed to watch over the dead and prevent sickness.
The Swan / Schwana – Represents love, believed to aide in problems of conception.

The Stormbroken Faith (or Followers of the Storm) refers to the religious traditions of the Hinterlandic people who lived historically on the western coast of northern Orlandis. The head of the religion is a small council of druids called The Synod. There is no written text.

A religion based on elemental druidism, The Stormbroken Faith is one of archaic simplicities and is historically the cultural beliefs of all people who descend from the Hinterland. The religious hierarchy is separated into four domains: earth, wind, fire, and water. It is commonly believed by the people that every natural occurrence is an act of spiritual unrest or will—thus the eruption of the volcano called “Stormbreaker” was seen as a defining moment especially considering this was during the time when most of the people of the Hinterlands were being converted by missionaries who worshiped the god Aavaar. Considering this, appeasing the gods is done through sacrifice from appropriate materials to the price of blood.

Human sacrifices are a commonplace action by druids who follow the religion, believing that the highest form of honoring the gods is by appropriate ritual sacrifice of heretics and thralls. Depending on the season, ritual, and other mitigating factors the chosen element is decided in a sacrifice and the prisoners killed are done so by that elements domain—if it is earth they would be buried alive, if it is water they would be drowned, and so forth.