Ravok families

From Mizahar Lore

Revision as of 15:32, 15 March 2013

Familes of Ravok

Families of Ravok are a unique sort each with their own history, quirks, advantages and flaws. While there are numerous families living within the city, there are only a few that are truly notable. Whether they be comparatively poor and lack influence or vastly wealthy and capable of influencing the actions of the Black Sun itself, Ravok's families are certainly groups to be respected if not feared.

Becoming a member of one of the families can be achieved in a number of ways. How one goes about doing this can vary depending on the family. The most common way to be a part of a family is to be born into it. One may also be brought into a family by gaining their positive attention and warming up to them. Most families have race restrictions; primarily requiring would-be members to be human considering the nature of the city. Slaves however can be of almost any race and while not really considered to be citizens or true family members, a slave may still carry some benefits from that family. Slaves unless dictated otherwise by their masters, are often allowed to traverse the city alone since traffic into and out of the city is heavily monitored and few would dare help a slave escape under threat of being branded one themselves. It is important to emphasize that any benefits and of course disadvantages gained from being a member of a family are specific only to the city of Ravok and family holdings outside of the city. Note that many of the benefits are attained and maintained through active RP and posting.

Lazarin Family

The Lazarin Family Sigil

The Lazarin family is pretty well known in Ravok as having strong ties to the Ebonstryfe. The family patriarch is Lazarin himself; a Druvin of no small amount of influence within the Ebonstryfe. Lazarin is the head interrogator for the Ebonstryfe and is feared by all who know him. This fear trickles down into his own family in the form of extreme respect among members and terrible fear among slaves. The Lazarin family is composed of members holding various ranks and duties within the Ebonstryfe as well as their own personal slaves. Lazarin and his mistress, Vael, head the family with four offspring ranging in age from 10 to 23 years of age. There are also 15 other non-blooded members of varying age and occupation and 28 slaves of differing races and genders. Special note about family slaves; due to their harsh treatment at the hands of their masters and the status of the family as a whole, upon identifying the slave as belonging to the Lazarin family, the average citizen usually fears the slave and may show some amount of respect toward them.

Joining Requirements:

Races Allowed

• Blooded: Human
• Non-Blooded: Human-Looking
• Slaves: Any

Skills Required

• Blooded: None
• Non-Blooded: Interrogation 20
• Slaves: None

Benefits

• Blooded: Influence within the Ebonstryfe even if not a member
• Non-Blooded: Drop any one skill requirement for joining the Ebonstryfe
• Slaves: Feared by the average citizen

Disadvantages

• Blooded: Reputation precedes them and may make the member a target of opposition toward the family
• Non-Blooded: Lessened respect and potential conflict from full Ebonstryfe members without their own family ties
• Slaves: Brutal treatment at the hands of their masters who enjoy and excel in torture

Note - In order to be any part of the Lazerin Family, one must first post a thread with a moderator introducing them into the family. In addition, Mod permission is required in order to be a blooded member.

Valdinox Family

Valdinox Family Sigil.

The Valdinox Family is a strong contributor to the The Black Sun and most of the family members also hold rank within the Temple. The family matriarch, Valdinox, is one of the few female Druvin in existence and though taking many mates, she has no husband or loyalty to any specific male aside from her lord, Rhysol. Valdinox is a priestess of Rhysol and maintains domain over several acolytes and agents throughout Ravok as well as smaller temples and shrines across the region of Sylira. Valdinox is the only current non-human Druvin ever made by The Voice in that she is an Isur of the Pitrius clan. Driven from her home for long forgotten crimes, Valdinox came to Ravok seeking escape and protection from her former people. Small in size, powerfully built with a glistening black arm of her heritage, Valdinox is a wizard of respectable power and wields her faith just as strongly. The Valdinox family is made up of the matriarch, her 6 offspring; 2 boys and 4 girls aging between 27 and 50 (relatively young considering their half-blooded heritage). The family also possesses 17 slaves of varying races. The slaves of the Valdinox family are treated as property and valued as such. They are somewhat well cared for though always reminded that they are not individuals; only things to be owned by others.

Joining Requirements:

Races Allowed

• Blooded: Half-Isur / Half-Human
• Non-Blooded: Human-Looking
• Slaves: Any

Skills Required

• Blooded: None
• Non-Blooded: Lore - Relgion - Rhysol, Politics: 20
• Slaves: None

Benefits

• Blooded: Influence within the Black Sun even if not a member
• Non-Blooded: Drop any one skill requirement for joining the Black Sun
• Slaves: Protection and status as a valued piece of property; something of a status symbol for their owner

Disadvantages

• Blooded: Despised by some members of the Black Sun for their half-blooded heritage
• Non-Blooded: Expected to further the will of Rhysol and the family at the exclusion of everything else
• Slaves: Actions and words reflect upon the masters; screw up their good name and suffer the consequences

Note - In order to be any part of the Valdinox Family, one must first post a thread with a moderator introducing them into the family. In addition, Mod permission is required in order to be a blooded member.

Nitrozian Family

Nitrozian Family Sigil

The Nitrozian family is a wealthy, influential family operating several businesses throughout the city, primarily the NHC or Nitrozian Housing Commission in the Nitrozian Plaza of the central dock area. One of the older families in the city, the Nitrozians have engaged in merchant activity for a few generations now. The current family patriarch, Sitanos Nitrozian, is a shrewd businessman although he is also known as being one of more fair individuals in the business environs of Ravok. The family wealth is great and though they have a good amount of influence, it is spread somewhat thin across many avenues. Sitanos and his wife Milina head the family with 21 children ranging from the age of 5 to 23 with 15 boys and 6 girls; some of them twins. There are also 35 non-blooded members operating businesses and acting as security/bill-collectors across the city. The Nitrozian family also owns almost 50 slaves who also work in the various businesses that the family owns. Of all of the slaves in Ravok, the Nitrozian slaves are perhaps the most well-treated and come the closest to being considered some form of family. However they are still slaves.

Joining Requirements:

Races Allowed

• Blooded: Human
• Non-Blooded: Human-Looking
• Slaves: Any

Skills Required

• Blooded: None
• Non-Blooded: Lore - Economics - Ravok, Math: 10, Profession-type Skill (Blacksmithing for example) 10
• Slaves: Profession-type Skill 5

Benefits

• Blooded: Access to family resources; wealth, businesses, etc.
• Non-Blooded: Operate a business under the family name
• Slaves: A job in a family owned business

Disadvantages

• Blooded: Person and property often the target of competing merchants
• Non-Blooded: Unable to own a business under the family name; must pay 35% of all profits to family
• Slaves: 1/2 the normal pay for their job in the family business

Note - In order to be any part of the Nitrozian Family, one must first post a thread with a moderator introducing them into the family. In addition, Mod permission is required in order to be a blooded member.

Lark Family

Lark Family Sigil

The Lark family deals in the business of imports, acting as a profitable middleman between the Docks and the Noble’s District. They deal namely, but not exclusively, in slaves. While their wealth is great, they are better known for the way they spend it. The Larks put beauty and pleasure above most else, taking their share of imported slaves, jewels, and drugs to host infamous parties. Despite its prolific hedonism, the Lark family is large and diverse. It members typically branch into fields of business and law, including a growing number that rank among the Ebonstryfe. The Lark family offers respect to the Rhysol where they often lack honest belief and worship, claiming allegiance to their patron god by blood, if nothing else. Vernon Lark, the head of the family, prefers to focus on more tangible rewards. He keeps a council of cutthroat businessmen that keep the money flowing; impressing him is the most difficult and most advantageous means of entering the family. With a Lark for a father, Vernon has two sisters, eight cousins from two aunts and an uncle, nearly two dozen nieces and nephews at varying degrees of separation, and a grandson. The Larks’ slaves are toys that often suffer the cruelest of pleasures.

Joining Requirements:

Races Allowed

• Blooded: Human
• Non-Blooded: Human
• Slaves: Human-Looking

Skills Required

• Blooded: None
• Non-Blooded: Physical Beauty, Business 20 or Persuasion 20
• Slaves: Physical Beauty

Benefits

• Blooded: Access to family wealth and resources, forgiveness for petty crimes
• Non-Blooded: Access to family wealth and resources
• Slaves: A comfortable, if not indulgent, lifestyle

Disadvantages

• Blooded: Reputation of hedonism and frivolity
• Non-Blooded: Reputation as pandering sycophants
• Slaves: Creative masters

Note - In order to be any part of the Lark Family, one must first post a thread with a moderator introducing them into the family. In addition, Mod permission is required in order to be a blooded member.

Galatos Family

Galatos Family Sigil

While there are a few legitimate businesses bearing the Galatos name, they are not the reason why the family is so well-known among those in Ravok. Whereas other merchants and traders may seek to expand their influence through clever business practices, thus shouldering out the competition, the Galatos would rather disrupt their rivals through sabotage or outright remove them altogether. The family and its businesses have been around for many decades, even growing exponentially in wealth and influence around 480AV and appearing to give even the Nitrozians someone to worry about, only to come crashing down to its original stature soon after the turn of the fifth century. Coincidentally, it was a couple years after that when word began to circulate and spread of their new, darker reputation. Rumors of assassins and secret embedded agents ran rampant, and the family made no effort to dismiss the hearsay.

No one knows outside the Galatos family who makes the final executive decisions, the person in question preferring to remain invisible to the public for obvious reasons. However, the popular spokesperson of the family named Xerin Galatos has a large amount of influence on the inner workings of the family, and is accepted by outsiders as the de facto leader of family affairs as it relates to public dealings and legitimate transactions. Xerin's family is extensive despite not having a wife and kids of his own. He has two brothers and four sisters, all of them married and with ages from the early thirties to late fifties. Between his siblings, Xerin has almost twenty nieces and nephews who he sees regularly, all of them either late teenagers with a ton of potential or young adults blossoming into their own. There are also two cousins in Xerin's generation, both with a spouse and two children of their own, generally younger than his immediate family. The number of assoaciates and non-blooded members that work for the Galatos is unknown, and they would prefer to keep it that way. In terms of slaves, the family owns about forty total primarily for personal attendance and use, but on frequent occasion they are also used to run messages between the family and its operatives.

Joining Requirements:

Races Allowed

• Blooded: Human
• Non-Blooded: Any
• Slaves: Any

Skills Required

• Blooded: None
• Non-Blooded: Posion/Intelligence/Forgery - 20 OR Stealth - 10, Weapon/Larceny - 10
• Slaves: None

Benefits

• Blooded: Access to family resources; wealth, intelligence network, agents, etc
• Non-Blooded: Family allowance for expansion and work, steady supply of contracts
• Slaves: Paid relatively handsomely to keep quiet and decent living costs covered

Disadvantages

• Blooded: Reputation breeds suspicion and wariness, makes legitimate interactions more difficult
• Non-Blooded: Must perform tasks for family free of charge, will not receive support for personal endeavors
• Slaves: Often carrying sensitive information, risk of being targeted by rivals

Note - In order to be any part of the GalatosFamily, one must first post a thread with a moderator introducing them into the family. In addition, Mod permission is required in order to be a blooded member.