N O T E S:
Short history of the Realm:
House of Emberheart
" It matters not if you crush the fire into embers, for they will only reignite."
The name was not the original name of the dynasty, but it was changed at some point in their history and no one bothered or dared to research the original one. From the warring tribes that inhabited these lands, the Emberhearts managed to establish themselves as the strongest, not so much through having the best warriors, but rather by pulling out continuously brilliant tactics. It wasn't long, until they managed to unite the entire land, making one kingdom with sovereign houses. Their rule was neither always the best nor perilless, but through political schemes, assassinations and many open rebellions, somehow, as if through some magic, they always seemed to remain in power, sometimes only by the skin of their teeth, but nevertheless - rulers.
The Chernev invasion changed everything for the Kingdom - many other houses believed the dusk of the Emberhearts has finally come, with this warring nomads laying waste to castles and armies alike, but the Emberhearts managed to pull through once again - mounting heroic resistance, defending castles, despite suffering immense casualties, even changing their battle tactics and gear, which were suited to the inter-house warfare into something strangely similar to what the new invaders brought forth, the Emberhearts carried the weight of the war largely by themselves.
To be entirely honest, several factors aided them: the Chernevs, even though they received offers to join them and betray the Kingdom by a number of houses, declined them all, as they utterly despised such behaviour and refused to trust such people, even only for the purposes of the war. They were also bound to their own traditions and refused to even slightly change their ways in response to their enemies' specifics - for instance they would never wait to starve a castle out, as they considered it utterly disgraceful and pathetic thing for a warrior to do - no ruler would do that and keep the respect of their warriors. Instead, they would charge into the fray, crushing the gates with charge of their enrages steppe beasts and specifically designed heated iron bars. Those charges would cost them in the hundreds more than other tactics would have, but even clearly understanding that, they simply refused to even consider changing they ways - something the Emberhearts fully exploited.
Nevertheless all those choices of the invaders would seem, like it was providence, once again, aiding the Emberhearts in their time of need. Whenever the two forces collided, it was as if their gods also clashed swords and, when finally the ceasefire was signed it was as if the God of the Emberhearts shook his many hearts with the pagan pantheon of the Chernevs ,establishing a piece in the kingdom, that hasn't been broken by any major disturbances for nearly two hundred years... until now.
The first Emberheart lady to pass into the Chernev house was Lady Meridith Emberheart and, even though, according to the Chernevs' traditions, women had the same rights as men, only different duties, everyone, including her own father, expected her to be a mere political prisoner. How wrong everyone was! She not only mastered the intricate language that the Chernevs were using, which had two distinct forms, depending on the position of the person you were addressing, but also wrote the first seven tomes, ever written in the common tongue, about the Chernevi culture, beleifs and traditions. All of this, however, pales in comparison to her love with Garvan Chernev - the warchief who had lain waste to half of the land - the man who had walked in river of blood and piled mountains of skulls would be impressed by her presence of spirit and would, eventually, listen to her words, seeing wisdom. From this forced relationship, where both parties at first had to only stand up against one another, was born the most beautiful and famous epic of songs, dances, tales and poetry, that is known to every child in the kingdom today. Many attribute to this love the fact, that none of the sides ever made a move towards reigniting the conflict, despite the occasional instigators.
Chernev stems from the word black, in their native tongue.
The Chernev rulers have a long-standing tradition of naming themselves with bird names, dating from their nomad days, when the shamans would name the new rulers with a bird's name after a certain bloody ritual, so that he would fly the steppes, just like his bird patron did.
The Chernevs would keep using their native language amongst each other, but nowadays the majority speak, at least to a certain extend, the common tongue of the kingdom, those in higher standing - to almost complete fluency.
The pagan shamans, who form the priesthood of the Chervnevs, would permit the worship of the local gods within the Chernev house territory, ever since the peace treaty, as well as allow building places of worship. No one has ever been brave enough to build one, though many traders and craftsmen from all around the kingdom travel or live in those lands.
There is only outsider known, to have converted to the Chernevs' religion and that was Lady Meridith and Garvan's oldest daughter - Lady Elysa Cherneva, who, would later go on to change her birth name to Ven, a beautiful name custom for a Chernevi girl. She and her mother are also the only outsiders, to be berried with the Chernevi rites of Lork'roth, where the body would be burned and a shaman would ride and scatter the ashes to the four directions of the world.
In time, the Chernevs and the Emberhearts became so intertwined, that it was impossible to tell one's story without mentioning the other. So it comes as no surprise, that many wealthy Chernevs developed a taste for the "finer" things that their counterparts were enjoying.
My Character:
Name: Alexei Chernev
"Victory is our duty"
Personality: rash, steadfast, incredible warrior, but more of a raider than a civilised politician.
Short bio : His people were horse lords and raiders before becoming rules and, eventually, noblemen. Alexei belongs to a family line which could rival that of the King in terms of raw power and numbers. Three generations ago, the Chernevs invaded the Kingdom, causing unheard destruction, but nevertheless being halted by the King's power. Facing a stalemate, the King choose to offer them an exemplary status and vast lands, for actually allying their forces with his, to enforce the kingdom. The raiders, reluctantly, accepted, having the King's own daughter marry their leader.
Naturally, time has passed and their blood is rather mixed, as intermarrying between the two houses turned into a tradition keeping the kingdom together, With that background in mind, Alexei Chernev often criticises the actions of the kingdom of not taking land from its surroundings by force and not conquering other people. He is adored by his father's warriors, though the latter realises this boy would probably destroy the kingdom, should he not change his ways before he takes over the house.
Alexei frowns upon the ways of the noblemen, especially on the corrupt ways they have fun. He personally hunts down bands of bandits and murders local rules reknown for their corruption, for his own amusement and a strangely twisted sense of justice - even such that are outside of his family's domain, but because of the power of his house, he has been able to get away with it so far.
He does see that the Kingdom is falling into chaos, as most of those who should rule care only about themselves, while the poorest and defenceless are left to suffer. On one hand he wants to help them, while he despises them for their weakness on the other hand.
Torn between the savage, pagan gods of his ancestors and their priests who advise him to break out the house from the Kingdom and return to the old ways, to save his people and the impeding sense of duty and higher purpose that come from his house's status as Grand advisers and Protectors of the realm, he must choose his destiny.