Post by Dorcas on May 26, 2015 11:44:02 GMT -8
This is crossposted from the old campaign subforum.
The majority of the following takes place on a different world from Golarion.
The House of Lancaster of Archonhold was an ancient and some-times noble house of the Principauté de La 'Aer, of the Kiri Principalities. Their seat was the Estate of Archonhold, located in the mountains above the province of Lancashire. The Archonhold Lancasters are currently considered extinct after the Relan Aggression, during which several provinces of Aer were overrun and occupied by the neighboring Principality of Rela.
During the domestic turmoil that accompanied the most recent Relan Aggression, the Lancasters of Archonhold were decimated. The head of the house Lord Gerard Lancaster and his daughters Dorcas and Mercedes went missing, and have not been found since. The noble family is survived by the House of Lancaster of Lancashire, whose surviving members are currently in exile. There are also several notable cadet branches of the Lancaster family tree, which reside outside of Lancashire.
TLDR: Family officially has 2 major branches. First branch is (officially) dead. Second branch has 3 surviving children in exile.
[WIP] Family Tree (in spoiler tag, click image for full resolution)
Traces the blood of the first branch of the House of Lancaster, based in Archonhold, as far back as the Vico incident.
Arms
House of Lancaster of the Archonhold (extinct): Azure, a roc displayed Argent, wings elevated, clutching a grey sword
Even demons have nightmares.
House of Lancaster of Lancashire (exile): Azure, a roc displayed Argent, wings elevated, clutching arrows
Deeds, not words.
Royal House of Lancaster (exile): Orange, a roc displayed Sable, wings elevated, clutching bloody sword
Without equal.
House of Windvale-Lancaster (Soral): Azure, a roc displayed Argent, wings elevated, clutching arrows (Lancaster), impaling, Vert, a unicorn salient Argent (Windvale)
House of Proudtree-Lancaster (Aer): Azure, a roc displayed Argent, wings elevated, clutching a grey sword (Lancaster), impaling, quarterly, 1st and 4th, Purpure, a gryphon segreant Or, 2nd and 3rd, Vert, an oak tree Argent (Proudtree)
House of Onarion-Lancaster (South Aer): Azure, a roc displayed Argent, wings elevated, clutching arrows (Lancaster), impaling, Sable, the navigator's star Argent (Onarion)
House of Lancaster di Allegri (Dae): Quarterly, Allegri and Lancaster
History
Coming to Aer
The progenitors of the house were a family of adventurers coming down from the north on the last leg of a long expedition. Having accumulated a moderate amount of wealth on their voyage, they settled down into the burgeoning community of Aer's Greenfield and assimilated into society.
The Lancasters remained genetically distinctive from their neighbors. Descendants only a couple of steps away from the main family tree retained characteristics of the family. Lancaster males always have dark brown hair, and are always shorter than the females. Females had hair ranging from blonde to dark brown, but always with a tinge of red, and were always taller than the males, and oftentimes taller than many of the folk of Aer. Finally, all Lancasters have similar eyes. At least one, the other, or both of a Lancaster's eyes are turquoise blue.
Offshoots of the family take their naming convention from these genetic traits. Those families that boast the Lancaster eye(s) take the position of majority, such as in the Windvale-Lancasters. Those that do not take the position of minority, such as in the House of Lancaster di Allegri.
If a Lancashire Lancaster weds an Archonhold Lancaster, their children are born to the Archonhold because it is the dominant family.
TLDR: They immigrants.
A Noble House
Several hundred years ago, the family evolved two distinct branches, each earning its way into the ranks of the nobility.
In the early days, the powerful and ambitious first branch resided on a small estate outside the capital city of La Aerraine. Nearly every generation provided the city with some noteworthy professional, including a handful of knights, captains, scholars and politicos. At the height of their influence, a Lancaster would even sometimes accompany the Prince L’Aer to the Isla Kiri as part of his retinue.
The second branch spread out across the rolling hills of the Greenfield, mingling with the locals, though it was hard to tell how far they went since the Lancaster genetic traits disappeared quickly as the blood thinned. This branch of the family kept a low profile and nearly disappeared off the public record until about two hundred years ago, when Rubian Lancaster asserted the wealth and influence his family had been steadily accruing over the years to consolidate and found the town and lands that came to be known as Lancashire, though it was not always governed by a Lancaster.
TLDR: 1st branch had bunch of strong individuals. 2nd branch started its own town. bling bling money money
Vico Lancaster and the Third Branch
Vico Lancaster was a wayward scion of the Lancaster family, born from the marriage between a Lancaster of the first branch and a cousin of the second. He was one of the most ambitious noblemen in the Kiri Principalities. He was a prodigy as a child, and his ambition coupled with his intelligence set him on a course to the top. At his apex, he had earned a place at the Prince's court, and exercised his wiles to seduce the other nobles into his circle, including one of the Prince’s daughters, Amarisse L’Aer. They eventually married, settled in the city, and began raising a family.
It was around this time that some started to notice the disappearances. It was nothing to blink an eye at the unexplained loss of some of the homeless or sick in the back alleys of Aer's capital, but some of the more observant in the city watch and the commons began noticing more and more people going missing.
Eventually, a private agent close to the Prince sought the services of the adventuring duo of Sir Gerard (I) Lancaster and his Inquisitor companion. Sir Gerard was Vico's younger brother, and a knight in service to the Principality. Over the course of several months, the knight and inquisitor uncovered a bloody consipiracy, ultimately finding the horrible truth: Vico and his followers had been consorting with demons for several years in a plot to usurp the throne.
TLDR: Vico, too good to be true? dun dun dunnn
They gathered the evidence and took the matter in confidence to the Prince in the dead of night. Initially, the Prince was wroth and threw Gerard in a cell, suspecting he was in league with his brother. After a heated argument, the Inquisitor was able to persuade the Prince of his innocence. However, it came too late, and Vico was already one step ahead of them. By the time dawn broke the next morning, they found that Vico’s family had allegedly embarked on holy pilgrimage to the Ordawn Empire.
Not wishing to alarm the common folk, and above all, the other Principalities of Kiri, the Prince L’Aer waged a shadow war against Vico for many years. A team of adventurers led by the first Lancaster branch systematically battled demonic corruption in the realm, eventually tracking down Vico’s stronghold and sealing his most powerful artifacts in a safehouse. However, Vico and his family were never captured.
TLDR: special ops team stemmed demonic tide, never caught the perp
As both punishment and reward, the Prince L’Aer created the Office of the Grey Sword, and charged the House of Lancaster with combating demonic and otherwise evil influences in the realm and beyond, and the safekeeping of the key to Vico’s safehouse. Every generation of Lancasters since has provided one or more members to serve as the Grey Sword.
The Estate of Archonhold was constructed in the mountains near the site where Vico’s safehouse was buried, and the Prince established this as the seat of the first Lancaster branch indefinitely. The Lancasters worked hard to maintain their public façade, and gradually the commons inquired less frequently after Vico’s "pilgrimage", until it faded from memory.
An interesting side effect was that the Prince could not disinherit his daughter without alerting the nobility that something was wrong. Therefore, Vico’s line technically remained the Royal House of Lancaster.
TLDR: hush hush everything good
Many, many years later, the Lancasters enjoy a stable position in the nobility of Aer. As with all families over time, their wealth and power wax and wane. Children are born, fall in love, marry (sometimes for love), and grandparents pass. The Office of the Grey Sword is a badge of honor, and the Grey Sword often goes adventuring around the realm, righting wrongs and earning fame.
Until one day.
The Relan Aggression and the Scourging of Lancashire
In [year], the Prince of Rela was found dead in his chambers. Having no male issue, the crown passed to his cousin, an expansionist-minded former military commander and adventurer. Despite rumors that he had had close association with various and sundry black arts in his past, his ties with some of the more aggressive families in Rela ensured his ascendancy.
He set his sights on historically disputed borderlands in Aer, and surprised all the Kiri Principalities by orchestrating a startling blitzkrieg that drove the defenders deep into the Greenfield.
The main advance halted its progression in Aer after a calculated distance -- large enough to create a sizable dent in Aer's holdings, but not so large as to draw the jealousy or fear of the other Principalities looking on. Then, as the court of Princes began to convene on the Isla Kiri in anticipation of yet another peace treaty that they assumed was coming, a second invasion force appeared.
From the north and west through the mountains, a huge force descended in a pincer movement homing in on Lancashire. The Sheriff of Lancashire initially believed it was the Relan army that had somehow circumvented the line of the defenders away to the south. However, the reports rolling in seemed incredible at first, and told of something far worse. The militia was being overwhelmed by a dark host of undead, lesser demons, and men clad in black and wearing no regalia -- an army out of the bedtime stories told to little Lancasters in their diapers.
With the main Lancastrian army away helping to holding off the Relan invasion, the dark tide swept largely unchallenged across the countryside. What Grey Knights and Lancastrian militia were available attempted to mount a defense, but were pushed back time and again. The Sheriff began to hear the tales spreading of the enemy battle commander -- a tall figure, cloaked and bandaged, with eyes that shone blue-green through the morning mist. And, it would seem, brilliant as well. The Grey Sword and his Knights were driven back with every battle and skirmish, all the way back to the garrison at Archonhold, separated from the Sheriff and his militia.
On [day], the weary militia woke to the sounds of a distant warhorn coming from the mountains. At once, the Sheriff mustered all of his remaining forces and marched on Archonhold, knowing that the warhorn could only betoken one thing -- the protective wards surrounding the Estate had been breached, and whatever Grey Knights remained would be fighting for their lives and the safety of the family.
They soon learned the outcome of the battle. A carriage bearing the Archonhold Governess barreled down the mountain road toward them. White-faced, she briskly told them what she had witnessed. The soul-wrenching noise of the wards being breached, undead erupting out of the ground to take the Grey Knights by surprise, and the Grey Sword and his little daughter Dorcas being overwhelmed and taken by men in black bearing no regalia. The Governess and her retinue had been the only ones to escape. In their protection, they held the infant Mercedes Lancaster, and one of the Archonhold greatswords passed down through generations.
The Sheriff and militia formed up to buy time for the Governess to flee. They were a small force and represented the last resistance in Lancashire, but their sacrifice allowed the Governess and her retinue to escape the carnage.
Meanwhile, the Relan army away to the south, sensing a weak point, drove through the demoralized defenders and pressed towards Lancashire. Finding the area overrun by undead and demonspawn, they did what any good and pious army would do -- they set about driving the forces of darkness from the land.
And as the Relans advanced, the dark host seemed to simply melt away. The horde that had overwhelmed the Grey Sword's defenders gave ground steadily to the front ranks of spearmen. Though the Relans at the front had reported massive casualties, it did not seem to slow them down at all. In fact, eyes on the road never saw any caskets headed back to Rela. Soon, the entire province of Lancashire was in their control.
On the Isla Kiri, the Princes and their ministers convened to discuss yet another peace treaty that would soon be one of the hundreds of peace treaties that cluttered the shelves and the floor of the Royal Library. Because possession is nine tenths of the law, and because the Relan army proved to be so much more effective at fending off the completely unexpected evil that had swept in from the north, the council naturally allowed Rela to retain stewardship of Lancashire, along with several highroads leading into the province for the maintenance of the territory and movement of goods.
The Prince L’Aer, though outraged and aghast at the loss of one of his noble houses, had his hands tied. The other Principalities ostensibly had no knowledge of any of the demonic activity that had plagued Aer in the past, nor of the secret safehouse in Archonhold that contained some of the most dangerous dark artifacts the Grey Swords had secured over the years. The most he could hope was that the Lancaster family members that had escaped would be able to muster a comeback and assemble a force that he could use to retake Lancashire.
TLDR: DAMN dey got FUCKED UP
TLDR 2: suspicious circumstances about how Rela came to hold Lancashire, but aint no one can say shit!
Cordelia, Ardelia, Elafi, "Present Day"
The Lancasters of Lancashire that managed to escape the fighting made their way to a friendly estate in the Principality of Soral, of which they shared ownership with several families that had been tied to the Lancasters through alliance and marriage over the years. They quickly established themselves in secret, fearing (due to the very suspicious nature of the attacks), that they had deadly enemies on the lookout for them. There, they would spend the next several years launching private investigations while gathering the family’s strength and assets in order to try to regain the land they had made their home.
While traditionally, it was always the Lancasters of Archonhold responsible for the Office of the Grey Sword, many of the second branch had participated in the family business as Grey Knights.
Cordelia Lancaster (retired rogue/master spy), the de facto head of the surviving family, knew the importance of the Archonhold and the potential dangers of unlocking the safehouse. In [2 years before the start of campaign], she managed to infiltrate the Relan-held territory of Lancashire, and made her way up to the site of the Archonhold. The Estate had been destroyed and picked apart, but she managed to recover some of the important hidden documents in the Office of the Grey Sword.
Then, she made the dangerous trek through the woods to the safehouse. To her despair, she found the first and second levels broken wide open, and the artifacts mostly missing. Only a few remained where the Relans or whomever else had been there were unable to disarm the traps. The only consolation she had was that as far as she could tell, the third lock was still in place, the key safely hidden away, and its young protector being trained to defend it with her life.
She hoped, anyway. Nobody had seen or had news of Mercedes Lancaster since her Governess had hired the fastest ship in Aer to spirit them away.
Then, as she prepared to make her escape, Cordelia noticed the air around her growing dimmer, and the shadows in the corners coalescing. In seconds, she was surrounded by dark shapes moving to cut off her escape from the safehouse. Having had none of the Archonhold training in combating evil, she fled. Unfortunately, one of the dark shapes scored a hit in her side, but she managed to tear away from it and run down the mountain, dodging Relan patrols.
By the time she made it back to the base in Soral, Cordelia Lancaster was dying. With the last reserves of her strength, she entrusted her daughters with the artifacts she had recovered, and set the family affairs in order. Then, with Elafi and Ardelia at her side, she went to rest.
As the eldest of the main line of the second branch, the burden of managing the family fell to Elafi. She did her best for a while, but the stress began to wear her down, and she spent most of her free time in solitude with only her grandfather’s musket as company.
Fortunately, her salvation came in the form of her sister. Ardelia had matured a lot over the year and a half since their mother’s death. She was also preternaturally intelligent, not unlike to the degree that Vico Lancaster had once been. She took quickly to the task of managing the household, an endeavour which suited her far better than it had Elafi. All the household could see that Ardelia was meant for this kind of task, and so a grateful Elafi passed the reins to her younger sister, only fifteen at the time. With an authority born through excellence, Ardelia was able to command the respect of the household to a degree that allowed her to put the family’s assets to work.
From Soral, Ardelia restarted their mother’s earlier attempts at investigaton, intrigue, and rebuilding. Her twin brother she managed to enroll in an academy for magic, to hone his budding skills as a sorcerer.
With the governance of the family in capable hands, Elafi turned her attention outward. Out there in the world, were potential allies and tools they could use to reclaim Lancashire, and battle their dark, unknown enemy. Not to mention, all of the artifacts that had been taken from the first two levels of the safehouse, and the missing Grey Sword and his daughters. With their grandfather’s musket and a sack full of gold, she set out on her first adventure.
Historical or Notable Members
Lancasters in the Office of the Grey Sword
The majority of the following takes place on a different world from Golarion.
The House of Lancaster of Archonhold was an ancient and some-times noble house of the Principauté de La 'Aer, of the Kiri Principalities. Their seat was the Estate of Archonhold, located in the mountains above the province of Lancashire. The Archonhold Lancasters are currently considered extinct after the Relan Aggression, during which several provinces of Aer were overrun and occupied by the neighboring Principality of Rela.
During the domestic turmoil that accompanied the most recent Relan Aggression, the Lancasters of Archonhold were decimated. The head of the house Lord Gerard Lancaster and his daughters Dorcas and Mercedes went missing, and have not been found since. The noble family is survived by the House of Lancaster of Lancashire, whose surviving members are currently in exile. There are also several notable cadet branches of the Lancaster family tree, which reside outside of Lancashire.
TLDR: Family officially has 2 major branches. First branch is (officially) dead. Second branch has 3 surviving children in exile.
[WIP] Family Tree (in spoiler tag, click image for full resolution)
Traces the blood of the first branch of the House of Lancaster, based in Archonhold, as far back as the Vico incident.
Arms
House of Lancaster of the Archonhold (extinct): Azure, a roc displayed Argent, wings elevated, clutching a grey sword
Even demons have nightmares.
House of Lancaster of Lancashire (exile): Azure, a roc displayed Argent, wings elevated, clutching arrows
Deeds, not words.
Royal House of Lancaster (exile): Orange, a roc displayed Sable, wings elevated, clutching bloody sword
Without equal.
House of Windvale-Lancaster (Soral): Azure, a roc displayed Argent, wings elevated, clutching arrows (Lancaster), impaling, Vert, a unicorn salient Argent (Windvale)
House of Proudtree-Lancaster (Aer): Azure, a roc displayed Argent, wings elevated, clutching a grey sword (Lancaster), impaling, quarterly, 1st and 4th, Purpure, a gryphon segreant Or, 2nd and 3rd, Vert, an oak tree Argent (Proudtree)
House of Onarion-Lancaster (South Aer): Azure, a roc displayed Argent, wings elevated, clutching arrows (Lancaster), impaling, Sable, the navigator's star Argent (Onarion)
House of Lancaster di Allegri (Dae): Quarterly, Allegri and Lancaster
History
Coming to Aer
The progenitors of the house were a family of adventurers coming down from the north on the last leg of a long expedition. Having accumulated a moderate amount of wealth on their voyage, they settled down into the burgeoning community of Aer's Greenfield and assimilated into society.
The Lancasters remained genetically distinctive from their neighbors. Descendants only a couple of steps away from the main family tree retained characteristics of the family. Lancaster males always have dark brown hair, and are always shorter than the females. Females had hair ranging from blonde to dark brown, but always with a tinge of red, and were always taller than the males, and oftentimes taller than many of the folk of Aer. Finally, all Lancasters have similar eyes. At least one, the other, or both of a Lancaster's eyes are turquoise blue.
Offshoots of the family take their naming convention from these genetic traits. Those families that boast the Lancaster eye(s) take the position of majority, such as in the Windvale-Lancasters. Those that do not take the position of minority, such as in the House of Lancaster di Allegri.
If a Lancashire Lancaster weds an Archonhold Lancaster, their children are born to the Archonhold because it is the dominant family.
TLDR: They immigrants.
A Noble House
Several hundred years ago, the family evolved two distinct branches, each earning its way into the ranks of the nobility.
In the early days, the powerful and ambitious first branch resided on a small estate outside the capital city of La Aerraine. Nearly every generation provided the city with some noteworthy professional, including a handful of knights, captains, scholars and politicos. At the height of their influence, a Lancaster would even sometimes accompany the Prince L’Aer to the Isla Kiri as part of his retinue.
The second branch spread out across the rolling hills of the Greenfield, mingling with the locals, though it was hard to tell how far they went since the Lancaster genetic traits disappeared quickly as the blood thinned. This branch of the family kept a low profile and nearly disappeared off the public record until about two hundred years ago, when Rubian Lancaster asserted the wealth and influence his family had been steadily accruing over the years to consolidate and found the town and lands that came to be known as Lancashire, though it was not always governed by a Lancaster.
TLDR: 1st branch had bunch of strong individuals. 2nd branch started its own town. bling bling money money
Vico Lancaster and the Third Branch
Vico Lancaster was a wayward scion of the Lancaster family, born from the marriage between a Lancaster of the first branch and a cousin of the second. He was one of the most ambitious noblemen in the Kiri Principalities. He was a prodigy as a child, and his ambition coupled with his intelligence set him on a course to the top. At his apex, he had earned a place at the Prince's court, and exercised his wiles to seduce the other nobles into his circle, including one of the Prince’s daughters, Amarisse L’Aer. They eventually married, settled in the city, and began raising a family.
It was around this time that some started to notice the disappearances. It was nothing to blink an eye at the unexplained loss of some of the homeless or sick in the back alleys of Aer's capital, but some of the more observant in the city watch and the commons began noticing more and more people going missing.
Eventually, a private agent close to the Prince sought the services of the adventuring duo of Sir Gerard (I) Lancaster and his Inquisitor companion. Sir Gerard was Vico's younger brother, and a knight in service to the Principality. Over the course of several months, the knight and inquisitor uncovered a bloody consipiracy, ultimately finding the horrible truth: Vico and his followers had been consorting with demons for several years in a plot to usurp the throne.
TLDR: Vico, too good to be true? dun dun dunnn
They gathered the evidence and took the matter in confidence to the Prince in the dead of night. Initially, the Prince was wroth and threw Gerard in a cell, suspecting he was in league with his brother. After a heated argument, the Inquisitor was able to persuade the Prince of his innocence. However, it came too late, and Vico was already one step ahead of them. By the time dawn broke the next morning, they found that Vico’s family had allegedly embarked on holy pilgrimage to the Ordawn Empire.
Not wishing to alarm the common folk, and above all, the other Principalities of Kiri, the Prince L’Aer waged a shadow war against Vico for many years. A team of adventurers led by the first Lancaster branch systematically battled demonic corruption in the realm, eventually tracking down Vico’s stronghold and sealing his most powerful artifacts in a safehouse. However, Vico and his family were never captured.
TLDR: special ops team stemmed demonic tide, never caught the perp
As both punishment and reward, the Prince L’Aer created the Office of the Grey Sword, and charged the House of Lancaster with combating demonic and otherwise evil influences in the realm and beyond, and the safekeeping of the key to Vico’s safehouse. Every generation of Lancasters since has provided one or more members to serve as the Grey Sword.
The Estate of Archonhold was constructed in the mountains near the site where Vico’s safehouse was buried, and the Prince established this as the seat of the first Lancaster branch indefinitely. The Lancasters worked hard to maintain their public façade, and gradually the commons inquired less frequently after Vico’s "pilgrimage", until it faded from memory.
An interesting side effect was that the Prince could not disinherit his daughter without alerting the nobility that something was wrong. Therefore, Vico’s line technically remained the Royal House of Lancaster.
TLDR: hush hush everything good
Many, many years later, the Lancasters enjoy a stable position in the nobility of Aer. As with all families over time, their wealth and power wax and wane. Children are born, fall in love, marry (sometimes for love), and grandparents pass. The Office of the Grey Sword is a badge of honor, and the Grey Sword often goes adventuring around the realm, righting wrongs and earning fame.
Until one day.
The Relan Aggression and the Scourging of Lancashire
In [year], the Prince of Rela was found dead in his chambers. Having no male issue, the crown passed to his cousin, an expansionist-minded former military commander and adventurer. Despite rumors that he had had close association with various and sundry black arts in his past, his ties with some of the more aggressive families in Rela ensured his ascendancy.
He set his sights on historically disputed borderlands in Aer, and surprised all the Kiri Principalities by orchestrating a startling blitzkrieg that drove the defenders deep into the Greenfield.
The main advance halted its progression in Aer after a calculated distance -- large enough to create a sizable dent in Aer's holdings, but not so large as to draw the jealousy or fear of the other Principalities looking on. Then, as the court of Princes began to convene on the Isla Kiri in anticipation of yet another peace treaty that they assumed was coming, a second invasion force appeared.
From the north and west through the mountains, a huge force descended in a pincer movement homing in on Lancashire. The Sheriff of Lancashire initially believed it was the Relan army that had somehow circumvented the line of the defenders away to the south. However, the reports rolling in seemed incredible at first, and told of something far worse. The militia was being overwhelmed by a dark host of undead, lesser demons, and men clad in black and wearing no regalia -- an army out of the bedtime stories told to little Lancasters in their diapers.
With the main Lancastrian army away helping to holding off the Relan invasion, the dark tide swept largely unchallenged across the countryside. What Grey Knights and Lancastrian militia were available attempted to mount a defense, but were pushed back time and again. The Sheriff began to hear the tales spreading of the enemy battle commander -- a tall figure, cloaked and bandaged, with eyes that shone blue-green through the morning mist. And, it would seem, brilliant as well. The Grey Sword and his Knights were driven back with every battle and skirmish, all the way back to the garrison at Archonhold, separated from the Sheriff and his militia.
On [day], the weary militia woke to the sounds of a distant warhorn coming from the mountains. At once, the Sheriff mustered all of his remaining forces and marched on Archonhold, knowing that the warhorn could only betoken one thing -- the protective wards surrounding the Estate had been breached, and whatever Grey Knights remained would be fighting for their lives and the safety of the family.
They soon learned the outcome of the battle. A carriage bearing the Archonhold Governess barreled down the mountain road toward them. White-faced, she briskly told them what she had witnessed. The soul-wrenching noise of the wards being breached, undead erupting out of the ground to take the Grey Knights by surprise, and the Grey Sword and his little daughter Dorcas being overwhelmed and taken by men in black bearing no regalia. The Governess and her retinue had been the only ones to escape. In their protection, they held the infant Mercedes Lancaster, and one of the Archonhold greatswords passed down through generations.
The Sheriff and militia formed up to buy time for the Governess to flee. They were a small force and represented the last resistance in Lancashire, but their sacrifice allowed the Governess and her retinue to escape the carnage.
Meanwhile, the Relan army away to the south, sensing a weak point, drove through the demoralized defenders and pressed towards Lancashire. Finding the area overrun by undead and demonspawn, they did what any good and pious army would do -- they set about driving the forces of darkness from the land.
And as the Relans advanced, the dark host seemed to simply melt away. The horde that had overwhelmed the Grey Sword's defenders gave ground steadily to the front ranks of spearmen. Though the Relans at the front had reported massive casualties, it did not seem to slow them down at all. In fact, eyes on the road never saw any caskets headed back to Rela. Soon, the entire province of Lancashire was in their control.
On the Isla Kiri, the Princes and their ministers convened to discuss yet another peace treaty that would soon be one of the hundreds of peace treaties that cluttered the shelves and the floor of the Royal Library. Because possession is nine tenths of the law, and because the Relan army proved to be so much more effective at fending off the completely unexpected evil that had swept in from the north, the council naturally allowed Rela to retain stewardship of Lancashire, along with several highroads leading into the province for the maintenance of the territory and movement of goods.
The Prince L’Aer, though outraged and aghast at the loss of one of his noble houses, had his hands tied. The other Principalities ostensibly had no knowledge of any of the demonic activity that had plagued Aer in the past, nor of the secret safehouse in Archonhold that contained some of the most dangerous dark artifacts the Grey Swords had secured over the years. The most he could hope was that the Lancaster family members that had escaped would be able to muster a comeback and assemble a force that he could use to retake Lancashire.
TLDR: DAMN dey got FUCKED UP
TLDR 2: suspicious circumstances about how Rela came to hold Lancashire, but aint no one can say shit!
Cordelia, Ardelia, Elafi, "Present Day"
The Lancasters of Lancashire that managed to escape the fighting made their way to a friendly estate in the Principality of Soral, of which they shared ownership with several families that had been tied to the Lancasters through alliance and marriage over the years. They quickly established themselves in secret, fearing (due to the very suspicious nature of the attacks), that they had deadly enemies on the lookout for them. There, they would spend the next several years launching private investigations while gathering the family’s strength and assets in order to try to regain the land they had made their home.
While traditionally, it was always the Lancasters of Archonhold responsible for the Office of the Grey Sword, many of the second branch had participated in the family business as Grey Knights.
Cordelia Lancaster (retired rogue/master spy), the de facto head of the surviving family, knew the importance of the Archonhold and the potential dangers of unlocking the safehouse. In [2 years before the start of campaign], she managed to infiltrate the Relan-held territory of Lancashire, and made her way up to the site of the Archonhold. The Estate had been destroyed and picked apart, but she managed to recover some of the important hidden documents in the Office of the Grey Sword.
Then, she made the dangerous trek through the woods to the safehouse. To her despair, she found the first and second levels broken wide open, and the artifacts mostly missing. Only a few remained where the Relans or whomever else had been there were unable to disarm the traps. The only consolation she had was that as far as she could tell, the third lock was still in place, the key safely hidden away, and its young protector being trained to defend it with her life.
She hoped, anyway. Nobody had seen or had news of Mercedes Lancaster since her Governess had hired the fastest ship in Aer to spirit them away.
Then, as she prepared to make her escape, Cordelia noticed the air around her growing dimmer, and the shadows in the corners coalescing. In seconds, she was surrounded by dark shapes moving to cut off her escape from the safehouse. Having had none of the Archonhold training in combating evil, she fled. Unfortunately, one of the dark shapes scored a hit in her side, but she managed to tear away from it and run down the mountain, dodging Relan patrols.
By the time she made it back to the base in Soral, Cordelia Lancaster was dying. With the last reserves of her strength, she entrusted her daughters with the artifacts she had recovered, and set the family affairs in order. Then, with Elafi and Ardelia at her side, she went to rest.
As the eldest of the main line of the second branch, the burden of managing the family fell to Elafi. She did her best for a while, but the stress began to wear her down, and she spent most of her free time in solitude with only her grandfather’s musket as company.
Fortunately, her salvation came in the form of her sister. Ardelia had matured a lot over the year and a half since their mother’s death. She was also preternaturally intelligent, not unlike to the degree that Vico Lancaster had once been. She took quickly to the task of managing the household, an endeavour which suited her far better than it had Elafi. All the household could see that Ardelia was meant for this kind of task, and so a grateful Elafi passed the reins to her younger sister, only fifteen at the time. With an authority born through excellence, Ardelia was able to command the respect of the household to a degree that allowed her to put the family’s assets to work.
From Soral, Ardelia restarted their mother’s earlier attempts at investigaton, intrigue, and rebuilding. Her twin brother she managed to enroll in an academy for magic, to hone his budding skills as a sorcerer.
With the governance of the family in capable hands, Elafi turned her attention outward. Out there in the world, were potential allies and tools they could use to reclaim Lancashire, and battle their dark, unknown enemy. Not to mention, all of the artifacts that had been taken from the first two levels of the safehouse, and the missing Grey Sword and his daughters. With their grandfather’s musket and a sack full of gold, she set out on her first adventure.
Historical or Notable Members
- Sir Kubric Lancaster, eldritch knight, Battle Royale Champion, and Kingmaker.
- Sir Gerard I Lancaster, paladin or fighter (sources differ), the first Lord of the Archonhold, the first Grey Sword, and Knight-Commander of Aer during the shadow war against Vico Lancaster
- Lord Vico Lancaster, antipaladin or necromancer (sources differ), founder of the Royal House of Lancaster, and disavowed for his conspiracy against the throne
- Lady Cassandra Lancaster, paladin, Grey Sword, and Battle Royale Champion.
- Sir Kubric IV Lancaster, paladin, Greycloak, and
- his squire Hannelore Windvale-Lancaster, barbarian, wandering Golarion.
- Lady Adelaide Lancaster, shadowdancer, Battle Royale Champion, and Kingmaker.
- Lord Gerard III Lancaster, fighter, the last Lord of the Archonhold, the last Grey Sword, the last of the male line of the Lancasters of Archonhold.
- Lord Calvin Lancaster, gunslinger, last Lancaster to hold the position of Sheriff of Lancashire.
- Dorcas Lancaster, barbarian, badass motherfucker.
Lancasters in the Office of the Grey Sword
- Sir Gerard I Lancaster, paladin or fighter, retired, passed to son.
- various
- Lady Cassandra Lancaster, paladin, retired, passed to nephew.
- various
- Lord Edyric Lancaster, fighter, KIA, passed to son.
- Lord Kubric I Lancaster, fighter, KIA, passed to daughter.
- Lady Brunhild Lancaster, barbarian, eloped, passed to sister.
- Lady Maerie Lancaster, tactician, retired, passed to niece.
- Lady Alisainne Lancaster, wizard, KIA, passed to brother.
- Sir Jovelin Lancaster, fighter, retired, passed to nephew.
- Lord Gerard III Lancaster, fighter, MIA.