Category:House Tepet

Description

When a member of the Scarlet Dynasty speaks of Shogunate tradition, the same breath will often mention the House of Tepet, one of the renowned martial Houses of the Realm. Founded by the Scarlet Empress granting a House in RY362 to a favoured consort, Tepet, a descendant of Gens Masuda (one of the Shogunate Gens). Though Tepet himself vanished in RY371, his children from previous unions took up the reins of the House, which they have held to this day.

Though their Gens had long been a junior rival or subordinate to the more powerful Gens Kurosa which held sway in the heartland of Lord's Crossing Dominion, House Tepet emerged in dominant position after the events of the Unbroken Rushes Rebellion and Second Cull of the Intransigent Cacophony laid low the once-powerful Kurosa.

The reputation of House Tepet has always been martial, hewing to the Shogunate ideal of the warrior-poet. This reputation was proven deserved time and time again, by Tepet commanders securing victory while at the same time demonstrating mastery of Iaijutsu, Tea Ceremony, poetry, and other civilized arts. Indeed it is a point of pride for the House that their founder gained the affections of the Scarlet Empress through brilliant soldiery and impeccable artistry.

Leadership

Imperial Consort Tepet has been dead for centuries, but his offspring hold firm control of the House... some would say that this control predates his death, the father more concerned with matters at Court and the children more with those of family. Ostensibly each of Tepet's children heads a line within the House and meets in council to determine its course: known colloquially as the Council of Taimyo (a Shogunate rank of senior ministers and generals), it currently consists of Tepet Marek, Tepet Berel, Tepet Vergus, and Tepet Nerigus. Though the line of Tepet Tilis remains acknowledged as a branch family, the Taimyo have not recognized any of his successors among their number. Likewise, the line of Tepet Deramol has been deemed a branch but never offered a seat at the table of the Taimyo Council.

House Tepet's political course has long been set by its military elements. For centuries, most in the Dynasty knew well that Tepet Marek, Tepet's eldest living son, held the reins of power. While he might not have been able to command inface of unified opposition from his siblings, Marek's will surely guided House Tepet... until the [[War with the Bull]. The devastating losses to the military branches of the House have weakened them among the Taimyo, and Marek particularly. Marek has responded by seeking to firm his grip on the House as they seek to salvage their position: the more mercantile Berel and Nerigus branches, less devastated by the war, have so far held back from challenging his claims to authority.

The Council of Taimyo traditionally meet in the Chamber of Five Winds, a council chamber within the central keep of the Castle of Flying Cranes in Lord's Crossing.

Major Lines

House Tepet is dominated by five major branches, who claim its leadership and nearly all of its members.

The Marek Branch, Vergus Branch, and Tilis Branch, have long martial histories, with many among their number having seen service in the Imperial Legions. Once they constituted the majority of the House, but losses in the War with the Bull struck these branches particularly hard, and their once-dominant positions in House politics are now in question. House Tepet falters as a whole, but it is at their feet any fall will come to rest.

By reputation, the Mareks were considered senior in House leadership, traditional and conservative, the Vergus seen similarly but leaning more poetic to the martial views of the Mareks. The Tilis were more brazen and impulsive, often at odds with the measured approaches favoured by other branches. Theirs was the line whose blood was most spilled, but whose heroism was most glorious, and this might well have held true against the Bull: the branch was the first to be heavily bloodied. This, however, meant their members were also most likely among those withdrawn to recover, before general devastation washed over the Tepet Legions.

The Berel Branch and Nerigus Branch were more mercantile than martial in inclination, though they too supplied a number of officers to the Imperial Legions. Berel commercial interests focus on the central Blessed Isle in Lord's Crossing Dominion and Juche Prefecture, with significant intrests in Silk, Marble, and Rice production, while those of the Nerigus are more focused on the coastal Isle and the Threshold. While it is not overtly brushed, few would deny that merchants within House Tepet have been long subordinate to soldiers... now that the bulk of the House's living members and remaining resources are under aegis of these two branches, some within the scarlet Dynasty watch expectantly for a realignment.

The Deramol Branch of House Tepet is far smaller and younger than its peers, acknowledged less than a century ago. An offshoot of the Marek branch, the Deramols are oft viewed as more House Cynis than House Tepet, an insult cast overtly in decades past which has now evaporated from conversation in wake of the War with the Bull. The Deramol focus on social events and what some might term 'tourism', hosting hunting salons and poetry retreats. The significant reversal in House fortunes after facing the Bull has seen the Marek branch exert significant pressure on their Deramol cousins, and increasing numbers hold 9th Imperial Legion commissions in addition to their social duties.

Each of the Tepet branches holds a powerful Manse in Lord's Crossing Dominion as its ancestral seat. For the Mareks it is the Castle of Flying Cranes (also considered the seat of the House itself), for the Berels the Castle of Morning Mists, for the Vergus the Towers of Thunder, for the Nerigus the Castle of Shattered Peaks, for the Tilis the Castle of the Phoenix in Flight, and for the Deramol the House of Tranquil Repose.

Economics

Among the whispers of the Scarlet Dynasty it is easy to say that House Tepet is done... they have lost significant numbers of Exalted, and even more mortal Dynasts who might birth Exalted. These losses are very real and very possibly insurmountable. But what the whispers often fail to grasp is that House Tepet has not lost all its wealth along with its Dragonblooded.

Lord's Crossing remains a land of abundance, Rice, Marble and Jade continuing to flow, Mulberry groves supplying the bulk of the Silk needed for Dynastic Fashions. There are difficulties to be sure: Tepet satrapies, with no troops to keep them in line, increasingly refuse to pay tribute to the Realm, but the Taimyo have been eager to purge such rebellious lands from their holdings, rival Houses such as the Cathaks and Mnemons snatching up tributaries at bargain rates in exchange for jade to refill Tepet coffers. There is also a more direct intervention to slow the fiscal bleeding: while many consider the Imperial Regent Tepet Fokuf ineffectula or a puppet of the Deliberative Senate, he has intervened to grant a 'bereavement subsidy' to House Tepet from the Imperial Treasury. This arrangement means the stipend normally paid to each Dragonblooded continues to flow despite the deaths of those Dragonblooded, not to their former households but directly into Tepet coffers.

Military

The War with the Bull devastated House Tepet's military power, which was once significant. Even before the Legion Control Act gave power over the Realm's armies to the Great Houses, most would have named several Imperial Legions as beholden not just to the Scarlet Throne but to House Tepet specifically: the 5th Imperial Legion and 11th Imperial Legion to the Mareks, the 10th Imperial Legion to the Vergus, the 9th Imperial Legion to the Tilis, and the 25th Imperial Legion to the Berels and Nerigus. All of these Legions suffered devastating losses in the War with the Bull, the House Guard of Tepet along with them. Almost all were disbanded, their assets consolidated into the 9th Legion, a force which struggles for manpower but now posesses perhaps the second-largest concentration of Magitech armaments in Creation, exceeded only by the Seventh Legion of Lookshy.

The House has been active in attempting to make up for its losses through conscription of its Dynasts, meaning nearly all of its younger members and many middle-aged now hold Legion commissions. Elders who had long ago retired are also being called to serve once more, and combined with the effect of the shortage of manpower on line infantry this means Tepet's last Legion is not only leading in concentration of artifice but also in ratio of Exalts to mortals. House Tepet and its rivals know they do not have the forces to campaign on multiple fronts... but on one front any attacker would bleed heavily for the challenge.

Despite being laid low in war, House Tepet officers are still held in perhaps the highest regard among Dynasts by Legion soldiers. It has long been said in the mess tents of the Legions that a Sesus sacrifices you so they needn't fight, a Cathak sacrifices you to win the fight, and a Tepet fights so you needn't be sacrificed.

Politics

For centuries House Tepet has sat uneasy in the Scarlet Dynasty, holding tight to Shogunate Era traditions when the rest of the Scarlet Empire had moved on, its bloodlines originating with the Gens of old not the children of the Empress. A martial House, the Tepets had particular rivalry with House Sesus and House Cathak. Tepet moves within the Imperial Legions they sponsored, which pressured officers from other Houses to transfer or resign, are pointed to by many as the template for the Legion Control Act.

Marriages and alliances with House Tepet were once widely sought: they offered military, economic, and cultural power, and their future position seemed secure at worst, perhaps even ascending. The Tepets were conservative in allowing such connections, of particular note rebuffing extensive efforts by House V'neef to entwine the two bloodlines, perhaps in no small part due to the anger of House elders at the defection of V'neef Jegan and his Harbourhead wineries. After their losses, though their economic power remains, the House moved to finalize arrangements it had once rebuffed only to find them evaporated: few wish to tie themselves to a House they know is dying, to gain assets it cannot hold for long... remembering how they were treated when relative strength was reversed, the V'neef have been particularly bitter on such matters, their demands for wedding gifts including 'every mulberry tree in Lord's Crossing' and 'adoption of the House of Tepet as a beloved branch line under Princess V'neef'.

If one ally still remains to house Tepet, it is House Ragara, for it was Regara ships which evacuated the remnants of the Legions mauled by the Bull when House V'neef refused use of the Imperial Mercant Marine. Even here, few think the Ragara act out of generosity, expecting due payment for each favour granted to the crippled Tepets.

With marriage for political advantage now severely limited, the House has sought to bolster its numbers through an aggressive campaign among the Outcastes of the Realm, particularly those serving in the Legions or studying at Pasiap's Stair, making offers of marriage and adoption to increase its number of Exalted. Never highly regarded as a bloodline by those concerned with breeding, these moves have seen the Tepets dropped into even lower regard: even should they manage to recover their line will be forever muddied. This hunt for Outcastes has also soured Tepet relations with House Nellens, who normally had their pick of such candidates but now finds even weakened the Tepet name carries more weight.

The goal of House Tepet at this time is to survive. This requires rapid rebuilding, which in turn demands sacrifice of longer-term interests that will be immaterial if the House falls tomorrow. They know well that they could not resist dismemberment at the hands of the other Great Houses, but they can make the costs heavy enough no single rival House will take up the effort alone, and hope that the shifting alliances and jockeying for advantage since in wake of the Empress' disappearance will keep the other Houses from uniting to divvy up Tepet assets. Many view House Tepet as dying, but not so their leadership: they are hobbled, but they will persevere through this crisis and rise once more.