[Neus]

ORIN

Sigil: A black wyvern's head with golden reins around it in the shape of a crown.
Unsurprisingly, House Orin's sigil proudly shows the pitch-black wyvern that the house is known for taming. Like many Alstalain royal houses, there is a crown motif within it. In this case, the 'crown' is supposed to simply be reins, but due to the angle and position, it appears to be a chain-like golden crown.

Colors: Purple, black, gold.
House Orin typically wears purple as a primarily color along with black cloaks with gold trim. The mountainous region that House Orin calls home have trees covered in purple moss which is used as a dye.

Heirloom: Abductor
A two-fanged rider's reaper made from two tips of Zera's claws. A rider's reaper is a weapon originating from Alstalsia. It is similar in design to a scythe on a very long pole, except there are two curved blades, and each one of them sticks out at an angle from the other, creating a triangle-shaped gap between the two. It is a poor weapon in normal combat, but for wyvern riders such as House Orin, it is used to pick up soldiers on the ground from a distance and carry them into the air. One of two things happens, then. One would be that, the victim, struggling to get free, cuts themself apart on the blades; this is uncommon. The more likely result is that the wyvern rider carries the helpless soldier into the sky and drops them to their doom, usually on top of their own army.

As you might expect, being made of godly remains, Abductor is most certainly the strongest of these gruesome tools, but it is far too valuable to use or potentially lose in battle, and so it sits in safety.

Size: Medium
House Orin's upper echelon is primarily wyvern riders, which is a difficult job made harder because of House Orin's choice to tame only the black 'wild' wyverns. However, it takes more than wyvern riders to care for wyverns, and so there are many who serve to take care of the beasts and capture new ones.

Stronghold: Blacknest
Located in the high mountains of the north-east 'wide' pennisula on Alstalsia, specifically the Ruined Bluff, lies the Blacknest, with its 16 tall, wyvern-roosting towers. A hard fortress on a steep mountain with a thin, dangerous path leading to it, the Blacknest doesn't see many visitors. A common saying describing the way of life there is that 'You only walk to Blacknest once. After that, you fly.' which is mostly true. Coming and going is done mostly on the back of wyverns, no doubt due to the convenience, but being able to flaunt the beasts is a nice bonus for House Orin.

Values:
House Orin believe very strongly in force-of-will and think that any obstacle can be overcome if you try hard enough; a lesson they utilize in their wyvern taming. The black wyverns on Alstalsia are notoriously wild and ferocious, at least twice as hard to tame as the green cousins they have on Sigrogana and elsewhere. Still, House Orin has and continues to bring the beasts under their control, which is... a very Zeran thing to do. They have a strong appreciation for tradition, believing they define who we are, and as a result House Orin does not change very much from generation to generation.

The act of taming is one of bringing control and peace, and House Orin also prefers that in regards to their country. They believe the boat shouldn't be rocked too much and, in the past, made strong efforts to that effect. The exception to things they enjoy being challenged are they to themselves, and like to find new personal barriers to break and heights to climb.

History:
House Orin has a long tradition of taming the wild wyverns of Alstalsia, as well as other native beasts, to varying degrees of success and failure. They are one of the oldest houses still on the High Council. They have served as a powerful air force for Alstalsia, causing havoc on both land and sea, in wars and internal conflicts. One such internal conflict was the uprising of the fallen Houses Mantra and Ignis. These houses did not sit on the High Council but were still as large as any other House; seeing this as an injustice, they decided to try and remove House Zelag, a much smaller House with a much higher position in court, from their place. House Mantra and Ignis were to rule on the High Council together, but this ended up being a far-off dream. As they marched their forces east, they met strong resistance from House Echor and their Red Knights.

When word reached House Orin, the wyvern riders reinforced House Echor's army and cut down the lesses Houses' forces in a battle known as the Massacre of Silence and Ashes. The extremely one-sided victory left the vocal House Mantra and the firey House Ignis as nothing more than the namesake, and their history ended there. The surviving members joined other noble houses, and so it went on. However, House Ignis and House Mantra weren't the only ones to meet their end that day. With House Orin reinforcing House Echor, they were distracted with quelling the uprising, and this left another noble House, House Hetter, vulnerable. House Hetter, like several other noble families at the time, were artisans that happened to own land with a large quarry of valuable marble. And like those other houses, they lacked one thing; a strong military force. During the massacre, House Suran saw its opportunity and pounced on the defenseless house, slaughtering them all and taking over their lands during the chaos. This gave House Suran more lucrative lands, as well as a seat on the High Council.

House Orin nearly started another internal war between the houses, but wise council told the head of House Orin that doing so would only further weaken Alstalsia. House Hetter was gone, and losing House Suran would not fill the void. If an outside force were to strike while Alstalsia is in chaos, it could have resulted in a much worse fate. So House Orin stayed their hand, choosing to stabilize Alstalsia again, but they have never forgotten or forgiven the transgression. House Suran and House Orin are enemies in all but name. Suran supply ships are often 'randomly attacked' by wild wyverns along the coast, which many assume is House Orin's doing, a theory that brings much annoyance to House Arkime, as the ships and men lost are usually at least 50% theirs.

House Suran does not so openly assault House Orin, but it is the spider's nature to lie in wait for a chance to strike.