House Skender is a minor House of Vel Anir. Originally a cadet branch of the now-fallen Great House of Viteri, the family first came to prominence during the Second Elven War, when they carved out a small estate on the Falwood coast.

Traditionally known as sea brigants with a penchant for violence, the Skender and their fleets were once the scourge of the Cortosi Coast, feared by friend and foe alike. Those days however, have long passed and the House now finds itself in seemingly terminal decline, with only a single living member, and the remnants of its once-dreaded armada moored on the rocky shores the Clan once called home, serving for naught but feeder for the crabs.​

Holdings

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Valdorren [2]​

An austere-looking, rather underwhelming stronghold, reflecting the perennial lack of resources of the Skender Clan, Valdorren is – to put it nicely – a sorry excuse for a fortress. Dreary, frigid and damp, the castle is further ailed by leaky roofs and crumbling residential areas.

To exacerbate these problems even further is the fact that the lands that are held in fief together with the castle, and are supposed to support it economically, are barren wastelands, which were - at the best of times, some centuries ago - inhabited only by a handful of equally destitute peasants, being in present day completely devoid of life.

Believed to be cursed by those that live the nearest, Valdorren often features in all manner of distasteful rumours, and is a popular bedtime story for many-a-parent trying to scare their children into good behaviour.[3]

Easily the most iconic feature of the fortress however, is its luminous tide. An event that started to occur only after the Skender conquest, it happens when the waves that wash upon the black shores around the castle start to glow in fluorescent hues. Eerily absent for the past seventeen years however, it is said the luminous tides only shine when a Skender presides over Valdorren.​

The Fallen Wraith [4]​

Once the flagship of the Skender fleets, the Fallen Wraith was built during the reign of Margravine Alisa Skender. Carved out of blackwood from uncertain provenance - which gave its hull its distinct dark coloration - it was once one the fastest vessels to ever sail the Cortosi Coast, and participated in a myriad of battles during its heyday, the most famous being the Clash of Storms.

Also holding the distinction of being the last vessel of the Skender fleet to ever set sail, the Wraith has been marooned on the shores close to Valdorren for about six decades. Eerily resistant to the effects of time, the ship has withstood nigh-a-lifetime of battering by the unforgiving seas of the Cortosi Coast, and though it is certainly not in any state to set sail again, its decaying husk still stands above the waters of the bay its owners beached it in.

Wealth

With nothing but barren holdings on a remote borderland, the Skender never engaged much in traditional economic practices such as agriculture, mining, or the commerce associated with either.

Instead, the dynasty's fortunes were always tied to the seas, as family members, and their retainers, scoured the oceans as pirates, smugglers or - on occasion - wreckers in search of foreign property.

This meant, of course, that while some wealth accumulation did take place, it was fleeting and tended to evaporate rather quickly once its provider died, or was otherwise incapacitated. Overall, Skender fortunes were volatile, and very driven by personal efforts and merit, which gave rise to a very individualistic culture, even within the Clan itself.

Beyond this, the only resource of note the Skender ever had were the indigo opals. Claimed to be the residual magic present in the luminous tides of Valdorren given form, these gems are thought to be impossible to refine, and widely famous for making magic destructively unreliable to those who wield them. Never a sought-after commodity, they were only ever sold on occasion to academics and scholars interested in their arcane properties, though it would be the colour of these jewels that the Skender would adopt in their heraldry.

Rather predictably, nothing of note remains of Skender wealth in current days.​

Physical Traits

Throughout history, members of the Skender dynasty were known for their handsome features, and straw-blonde hair. Most striking of all though, were the ice-grey eyes that passed on uninterruptedly from the founder of the House.

A local legend of the Falwood also states that those of the Skender bloodline have enhanced magical powers and capabilities during the double eclipse - that is, when the Sun is obscured by both Pneria and Lessat - though the rare occurrence of such events has made it hard to prove the claim.[5]

Psychological Traits

The Skender have always had a reputation for brutality and wanton cruelty. Better known in the Falwood as sea brigands and coarse sailors, Clan members were often fickle, arbitrary and callous, their tempers matching the raging tides of their home.

One particularly striking trait of the Skender though, was the individualistic nature of its members. A side effect of the Clan’s lackluster lands and wealth, family members were always expected to build fame and fortune on the back of their own efforts, as opposed to being handed down generous inheritances. This all meant that the dynasty functioned more like an enterprise than an actual family, with kinsmen looking out for their own, selfish interests first and foremost. It also meant that - beyond crude tempers and callous personalities - the family was also rather famous for its perpetual infighting, and occasional kinslaying.

Religion

Broadly speaking, the Skender of old held a loose set of beliefs that came to be known as the Lore of the Seas.

This “religion”, if one could call it that, revolves around the multitude of spirits and demons that inhabit the depths. These wraiths, while held as beings of great power - much superior to that of the average human - are not regarded as holy in any way, however. Instead, they are thought of as challengers, foes, or allies as humanity plies the Seas in its never-ending quest to tame the Oceans.

Overall, when looking at the Lore of the Seas, one finds a system of beliefs which places emphasis on mortals in general - and humans in particular - as the catalysts of power and change, with spirituality little more than a tool, and scarce notions of Godliness or holiness to be found within its teachings. In short, it is a philosophy heavily inspired by the Statism one would find in the Skenders’ ancestral home of Vel Anir.​

Origins

They were intemporal. They were here before Vel Anir, before the Elven Wars, or the Great Houses. Even when King Grishen led humanity to its greatest heights, he had the Viteri by his side. Theirs was truly a bloodline of power and prestige. Alas, it would seem as though greatness is not inherited.” Remarks of historian Erik Andern, about the Houses of Skender and Viteri
The House of Skender can trace its lineage back to one of the original Great Houses of Vel Anir, the Viteri Dynasty. Once known as the Death Dealers of Aniria, the Viteri were masters of magical weaponry, combining arcane and scientific might to forge some of the fiercest war machinery the Kingdom ever saw. It would be into this powerful bloodline that the founder of the Skender Clan was born.

The bastard of a younger son of one of the lesser branches of House Viteri, Kasiodor Viteri was born as the lowest of the low; not so much unwanted as inconsequential. So far removed from the line of succession that his existence mattered little to anyone. Still, the blood of the great can carry one far, even if smeared by bastardy.

A talented warrior, and a master in his House's disciplines of martial magic, the young Viteri was soon graced with a post in the Anirian army. For the best, it would seem, as his skills would soon be put to the test when the Second Elven war broke out.

The Battle of the Waves

And so it was that we saw him, astride a great chariot pulled by the wraiths of three enormous white sharks, his halberd glowing with arcane might, and his flesh turned to aether. The Fallen Wraith had come.” Anirian witness to the Battle of the Waves
So it was that, as Cinira Anireth rode triumphantly over the charred ruins of the Northern Falwood, another crucial battle unfolded further down the coast, on a weather-battered beach of black sand in the rugged peninsula of Falmaar, to the South of the Anirian heartland and at the very heart of the Falwood coast.

In what would come to be immortalized in songs and legends as the Battle of the Waves - as the two sides clashed during a rising tide that left the men submerged by waist-deep sea water by the end of the day - Anirians and elves - the latter led by a great sorceress of light, capable of scouring an entire field by drawing on the powers of the Sun - struggled for the fate of the Peninsula.[6]

The break of night however, would see desperation take hold. Hopelessly outnumbered and outmatched by the resplendent hosts of the Falwood, the Anirian army stared down the abyss of oblivion. The sorceress - they said - could not be killed, and when the sun rose the following day, they'd all be washed away in a tide of fire.

With his commanders either dead or dying, a young lieutenant - a Viteri bastard - stood ready to take their place, and lead the men to their ultimate fate. After addressing the soldiers one final time in the hours before sunrise, Kasiodor Viteri delved into the dark waters of the sea, not to be seen again.

No one knows what happened then, though tales tell of luminous tides, of howling at dawn, and of apparitions off the coast.

Whatever it was, it would pale in comparison to what was to come, for when the men woke up the next day, they found themselves immersed in darkness. The sun had not risen. A double eclipse was upon them.

Robbed of the light - the true source of their power - the Elves soon found themselves facing an even more distressing sight, for the full fury of the seas seemed to be unleashed upon them, and at its head was he who every single soul on that beach and beyond, would soon come to know as the Fallen Wraith. Erupting from the dark depths of the Ocean, riding a great steel chariot pulled by the spirits of three great white sharks, Kasiodor Viteri decimated the ranks of the elves, slaying their sorceress in single combat, and delivering charge after charge from atop his ethereal mount.

No elf would leave those shores alive.

For his role in saving the army from certain doom, and for clearing the peninsula of the enemy, Cinira Anireth himself would reward the young Viteri bastard, granting him the lands around the site of his most glorious victory, as well as a coat-of-arms of his own.

It was thus that Kasiodor would come into possession of Fa'el Andarien - the Black Bay, which would then become Vel Andorren, and, in turn, be morphed into Valdorren - as well as the small cropping of land beyond it - known to the Anirians as Cape Skender.

It would be here that he would build his fortress, which he would turn into the seat of the newly-minted House of Skender, and it would be from there that his banners - bearing the double eclipse of the Battle of the Waves - would be flown from.

The Succession Wars

Alisa Skender thought she could burn out the Seven; instead her and her House fizzled out quicker than that eclipse on their banners.” Memoirs of Lord Arno Forbarr of Vel Anir

The centuries that followed the Battle of the Waves, and the establishment of the Margraviate of Valdorren, would see the exponential growth of the Skenders’ fortunes, as their navy swelled, and their power boomed.[7]

With time - and very much through ups and downs - the House would find itself ascending from a burgeoning power to an established one; its great fleets unrivaled, and its magic unparalleled, as the Skender effortlessly bound the great spirits of the depths to do battle for them, raised entire armies of undead thralls to man their vessels, and made pacts with the eldritch creatures of the deep seas, not as supplicants, but as partners on equal footing.

All of this power would be crowned by the ascension of Alisa Skender as the head of the dynasty. The very personification of might, she was a lethal warrior, a legendary sailor, and an accomplished sorcerer. Having slain all five of her elder brothers to take power, Alisa ruled the Coast with an iron fist from aboard the Fallen Wraith - her blackwood-built flagship - named after the legendary founder of the House. About as vicious and hedonistic as the Skender came, Alisa - it was said - even kept her own harem within the walls of Valdorren, collecting only the finest, fittest and handsomest of specimens for her enjoyment.

It would be under her rule that the House of Skender would reach the absolute zenith of its power; not quite a Great House, but as close as it could be to one.

As the Skender grew in power however, so too did their rivals.

In Vel Anir, the Great Houses of the Kingdom played their game, making and shifting alliances in their blind pursuit of power until, one night, in the frigid, dead reaches of Winter, they made their move. In the ensuing chaos that followed the establishment of the Anirian oligarchy, and the Seven Great Houses’ usurpation of power away from the royal family, the House of Viteri would find itself isolated from the ever-shifting politics of Aniria. Having tied themselves much too closely to the royal House of Anireth, the Viteri would find themselves friendless in the face of the vengeful wrath of the other Great Houses. Over the course of the brutal winter campaign that followed, House Viteri would be wiped out, its members hunted down, and its holdings destroyed.

It would be then, with the Viteri estates in ruins, and the hostile gaze of Vel Anir upon her, that Alisa Skender - the likeliest heir to the fallen Great House - mustered the Skender fleets and sailed to war, rallying all the might of Valdorren against the greatest military power of Arethil.

The war - better known as the Viteri Successions Wars - would rage for almost three years on the high seas, and would culminate in the so-called Clash of Storms, where the vastly outnumbered Skender fleets faced off against the Anirian Navy. Though it lacked in numbers, the Valdorrean armada more than made up for it in pure mastery of the oceans as its marines relentlessly struggled against their Anirian counterparts, while its sorcerers summoned the full horrors of the depths against their enemies, calling forth the great beasts of the abyss, and conjuring the great storms that would come to define the battle for posterity.

In the end though, Vel Anir would not be denied.

With half of her fleet sunk, and her forces critically depleted, Alisa Skender would call for the retreat, sailing into one of the conjured hurricanes as her fleets withdrew back to harbour.

In the aftermath of the Clash, though the initiative would shift onto the Anirian side, the new regime would soon find that not even the best of Vel Anir stood a chance against the wrath of mother nature. As it unleashed its fleets against Falmaar, Aniria would see most driven back by storms so powerful and unnatural not even the greatest of mages could weather them. On the rare occasion a ship did land, it would find itself beset from the get-go as the notoriously violent Clan made good on its callous reputation, in defense of its home turf. It would only be after a couple of years of indecisive stalemate, that a ceasefire would be reached. The House of Skender would be reinstated into Anirian politics, though in exchange it was obliged to forgo any claim it may have laid to the old Viteri estates and patrimony.

And so it was that the Succession Wars came to a close, though - as time would tell - both sides would go in diametrically different trajectories. While Vel Anir would bounce back effortlessly, with all the strength and grit humanity’s greatest champion had to offer, the Skender domains - broken and veering into bankruptcy - would not have such luck.

The March of Death

Aye love, I may be as wide as a tunnel, but your efforts are as doomed as the Skender.” Vel Cirak prostitute turning down a potential patron
Following the chaos of the Viteri Succession Wars, the Skender would enter a period of rapid decline. Abroad, the damage done to the fleets, as well as the new, hostile Anirian regime, which soon began to tighten its grip on the Cortosi Coast, spelt doom for the old Skender thalassocracy, while at home, the decades of infighting that followed the death of Alisa Skender saw the rapid draining of the family coffers. Eventually, as the peninsula descended into uninterrupted warfare, even the peasants of Falmaar started to depart for more prosperous shores.

As time passed, and Valdorren's economic base eroded, the Clan lost the ability to support even the rump of a navy it had left and so its ships were gradually abandoned around the family's castle. The final watershed moment for the Clan came about sixty years ago when the Skender patriarch - the great-grandfather of the current head of the family - made the decision to maroon the Fallen Wraith - the Flagship of the fleet, and, truthfully, the last sailing vessel in the Skender armada - in a bay outside the castle, where it remains to this day.

Current Times

House Skender? There is no House Skender anymore; there is only Ivan Skender parading around pretending he's a big deal.” Thoughts of Proctor Gamble, of the Academy of Vel Anir
Stricken by depopulation and desolation, the Skender domain finally met its demise less than two decades ago. With the death of the last reigning Margravine - the Lady Alisa III Skender - in the aftermath of a conspicuous childbirth, the handful of loyal retainers and servants that remained in Falmaar locked the fortress of Valdorren and set sail for Vel Anir, taking Alisa's young orphan with them.

And so it is that Valdorren now lies abandoned and derelict; the Skender fleets a collection of unassuming, broken husks among the dark shores, and the fate of the family naught but an idea in the hands of a seventeen-year-old initiate at the Academy of Vel Anir.​