Varlyrian Family Intrigue Thread

[Garmadon]

Varlyrian Family Affairs

Home to tumultuous political intrigue, deadly family rivalries, and chaotic trade wars, Varlyrio is not a place where it's easy to rise to the top.  And once a family has, it is even more difficult to stay there.  Marriages, assassinations, backstabbing, and everything else must be carefully calculated in order to move up in the ranks, and only the most consummate cunning will enable one to surpass their rivals and build their family's influence, power, and prestige.

Varlyians!  It's time to put your ingenuity, tenacity, and building skills to the test!  Welcome to the family intrigue of Varlyrio.

 Check out the spoiler for the Family Affairs guild challenge info - entries to that should be posted in the Guild thread rather than here, though, unless specifically related to political developments.

Spoiler

Guild Challenge 1 - Family affairs

Note that this section is already in the Varlyrio Thread, and all entries should be posted there, but this is how you establish your family and trade.

In order for your family to be accepted as an official Varlyrian family, start its adventure up and down through the ranks, and to be eligible for a royal minister position, you must complete categories A and C of the Family Affairs challenge, and at least your home scenery for the Varlyrian Scenery Challenge (unless I decide otherwise  ).  Every Varlyrian member has a family, but your sig-fig does not need to be in the Eastern area of the Guild nor do they have to be closely involved with guild intrigue and politics (you may simply ignore all this if you'd like!)

The minister positions are awarded to the master of that trade, so the more your builds incorporate the parts of your trade (from raw materials to processing to shipping and sales) the better your chances will be for gaining a minister position.

In order to complete this challenge, however, you must complete all 4 categories below. 

 

1A. Who’s in charge

Present your main character or the person in charge of your family (if it is not your character) and include their backstory.

Suggested: 8x8 Vignette

 

1B. Family and known associates

A family contains of more than one person, so present each notable member with a short backstory.

Suggested: 8x8 Vignette

 

1C. Line of business

You didn’t get famous by sitting doing nothing. Display your business or main trade.

Suggested: 24x24 or larger build.

 

1D. Everyone needs a home

With all the fame and fortune comes a nice residence. Display your primary residence.

Suggested 16x16 building with additional base, suitable for the area you live in.

Entries for Challenge I should be posted in the main Varlyrio Thread (not here).

You should however post an initial introduction of your family and what they do in this thread, once you have completed Challenge 1A)

 

Varlyrian Family Ranking:

Leading Family (Rego): Moccenigo, Rego of Varlyrio, architects (@TalusMoonbreaker)
Secondary Families: Lords of Baiamonte, soldiery (unclaimed family), Chiaro, merchants (unclaimed family),
Third rank: De Fiori, sword-makers (@Garmadon), Amancio, shipmasters (@Rogue Angel), Conzaga, wine-makers (@Basiliscus)
Fourth rank: De Cioto, aristocrats and gold-hunters (@W Navarre), di Carlo, merchants (@ZlatanXVIGustaf)
Fifth rank: Khaor, cloth and leather merchants, tailors (@narbilu)
Sixth rank: D'Gatto, artists and antiquarians (@mccoyed), Waythe, judge and mercenary (@Judge of the Wastelands)

 

The main things which affect family ranking and change of positions:

- Number and quality of builds and participation in guild specific and in major challenges
- Builds related to one's family and trade (as opposed to simply building for your sigfig without much concern for the family overall)
- Builds related to intrigue; originality, ingenuity, and story
- Consistent participation and activity

Note that the unclaimed families may be won through the Family Affairs challenge if desired (and if you're coming up with your own family, we encourage you to tie it into the current history line if you'd like to), but that they require more builds than coming up with a new one depending on the rank of the family you'd like to obtain.  PM guild leadership if you're interested in one of them!

Additionally, note that the top three ranks in particular will be GMed more significantly by the leadership.  And, of course, we're the GMs   That means we're allowed to do things like throw in plot twists where someone in the fourth rank suddenly gets launched to Rego.  Remember that this is all in-game story related, and a good story, clever assassination, or tactful marriage could help your family tremendously.  Challenges and suchlike are definitely helpful, but if you're not clever enough to master the intrigue, chances aren't good for you making it to the top.  In general, we hope to be able to approve of whatever madcap schemes you all can come up with to get to the top, but anything major like assassinating the head of a different house or kidnapping an heir or arranging a marriage or something would need to be PMed to Rogue and me for approval, however - but we hope to be able to say yes to your plans as often as possible. 

As a general rule, making your sig-fig the leader of your family is discouraged, as well as becoming excessively attached to somewhat distant family members: we want to be able to allow you all to do whatever is necessary to rise in the ranks (subject to prior leadership review, as mentioned before), and obviously we can't go around approving the murder of sig-figs or characters the member is really very fond of without getting in contact with that member and working things out to make sure they're ok with it (otherwise we'll just have to say no to the assassination), which clearly involves a deal of complications.  Leadership will use its discretion to determine when a proposed development must be turned down and/or when it requires them to get into contact with the other member involved (otherwise we will keep your idea a secret until you put it into action).

Expect many members of your family to be assassinated, blackmailed, or otherwise bushwacked!

An example of Varlyrian family intrigue in practice:

Spoiler

Let's say that the di Carlo (@ZlatanXVIGustaf) family has made it's way to the fourth rank, and the Khaor's (@narbilu) are in third... the two of them put their heads together, and decide that Luca is going to try to marry LouLou.  They shoot us a PM and we approve.  They play out the story in builds, and we pop them both into second rank (more powerful and influential because both families are now working together instead of against each other... at least for now).

Another possible scenario built on the first.  Let's suppose that the de Cereto's (@The Maestro) have somehow made their way to Second rank by this time.  Matthias de Cereto wishes to keep the Khaor's and di Carlo's off his back, and so he PMs us to ask if he's got the go-ahead to assassinate Luca di Carlo.  (Unfortunately that is currently his main character as well as the head of the family, so that complicates things.  Let's just suppose for the present that his sig-fig was actually some grand-nephew thrice removed and therefore it wasn't an issue.  You really shouldn't get too attached to your distant family members in this guild  ).  We tell him to feel free and he does so.  We upgrade the rankings to show the result, and since (let's say) he didn't bother to be very discrete about being behind the killing in his story, he drops a rank due to unpopularity, and the Khaor's and di Carlo's go back to fourth and fifth ranks respectively since their union was broken up.  Maybe the next di Carlo has a daughter with whom the Rego's son falls in love, however, and they instantly jump back up into second rank, above the fallen de Cereto's.

 

@Rogue Angel and myself (@Garmadon) will do our best to keep things rolling efficiently, keeping the ranking here up-to-date (Garmadon), as well as handing out titles and trade and ministry positions where deserved (Rogue).

 

This thread:

This is where you will introduce your family and trade, post important family developments, where the leadership will keep the up-to-date rankings, and where we will post the results of events on families' ranks and influence in Varlyrio.  As a general rule, if your build is associated to your family and may affect your ranking, please link it here.

This thread is meant to work kind of like a story thread and less like a Q&A thread, so if you have any questions about the Varlyrian family ranking and political possibilities, or general questions about how this works, please post them in the Varlyrio Thread.

[Garmadon]

De Fiori Family

The grand-nephew of Dialto De Fiori, Alesio De Fiori is the current head of the family and leader of their large sword-making business - a trade of which they are the masters in Varlyrio.  A deal of political experience and a mind for intrigue have help him survive and hold his family's place near the top so far.  While most of the family is along the eastern coast or the one large city in the west, at least one member of the family went off to sea to try his fortunes under the black flag a few generations ago, and it is rumored that Xari Spadro, a pirate terrorizing the waters between the guild and Historica to the east, does own De Fiori as his last name...

Find out all about the De Fiori family here!

[Rogue Angel]

The Amancio Family

The Amancio Family have been powerful in Varlyrio almost since the founding of the Guild.  The Amancio ancestors excelled at ship-building, and were able to use this skill to profit.  THey acquired vast tracks of forest land to source their timber from, and have a been a powerful family in Varlyrio ever since.

Spoiler

Established family members:

Supano Amancio:

 

Malco Amancio, Supano Amancio's notorious nephew (deceased, poison):

 

Aldacio Amancio, Malco's cousin:

 

[ZlatanXVIGustaf]

Don’t know how I missed this thread but this is very exciting!

I’ll edit this post once I’ve come up with an array of expendable family members

[The Maestro]

Oh this looks interesting...

For the Glory of the De Ceretos!

(Will edit once I have built something)

[narbilu]

Throll Khaor

The recent passing of Rashgrall Khaor pushed Throll to the throne. He is a ruthless craftsman and trader, who will do everything to satisfy his customers. His specialty of trade is creating the most enchanting and mythical leather armors. Skin of demons, scales of dragons and hide armors of mammoths, with or without magical treats are within the scope of his skills and fame.

Link to Khaor Family tree

Edited August 20, 2018 by narbilu

[Garmadon]

In recognition of their service to the realm, the D'Gattos (@mccoyed), Conzagas (@Basiliscus), and di Carlos (@ZlatanXVIGustaf) have been officially added to the list of Varlyrian families and to the sixth rank (in that order).  Please do add a post here introducing your families and come up with an array of expendable characters if you haven't already, but you are now warned officially to be on your guard - the intrigue has begun!

All important family developments (that's on you) and the results of events (after they've happened   - that's on me) on families' ranks and influence in Varlyrio are to be/will be posted here.  Please brush up on how everything works on the first post here if you haven't got it all down, but y'all can go ahead and start backstabbing here whenever you like!

[Basiliscus]

Staffen Conzaga (family head, deceased)

Staffen is the current head of the family and a shrewd and ambitious man. Having lived through a period of Varlyrian stability, with three generations of Amancios as Rego, he can afford to expand more aggressively than his father and take more risks for the family business.

Whereas his father preferred bribes and marriages, Staffen isn't shy in carrying out the occasional abduction or assassination to further his goals.

After his second wife died in childbirth, he turned all his energy into the family vinyards and is posed to take every advantage he can.

Whilst his more underhand tactics have had some successes, it has also created him many enemies, and he insists that him and all his children are assigned a bodyguard for their protection. 

For his own bodyguard he has picked a Minotaur named Minos, chosen because only he can speak the Minotaur tongue and no-one can turn the beast against its master.

***

Meet all the other members of the Conzaga family here.

My family members and their bodyguards are expendable, with two exceptions: Meiyo (my player character, seen above as the bodyguard to Mychel) and Poppa (since she's modelled on my daughter ). They can be abducted, blackmailed or whatever but I would object to them being assassinated, blinded, losing limbs, etc. The rest are fair game, so fire away!

Looking forward to seeing how this plays out!

[Garmadon]

On 10/19/2018 at 6:10 PM, Basiliscus said:

So I've posted my family members above as requested in the first post in this thread. Happy to link to the original post to save it being in two separate threads, up to you @Garmadon 

My family members and their bodyguards are expendable, with two exceptions: Meiyo (my player character, seen above as the bodyguard to Mychel) and Poppa (since she's modelled on my daughter ). They can be abducted, blackmailed or whatever but I would object to them being assassinated, blinded, losing limbs, etc. The rest are fair game, so fire away!

Looking forward to seeing how this plays out!

Thanks, great!  Yeah, probably just the current head of the family and a link to where to find the rest would be enough - you know, I'll just do that for you, I think    Also, good idea to specify which characters you've got reservations about - saves me from having to guess, so that's definitely a good thing 

So - hmhmm - if anybody else has got some particular characters you'd like to make some reservations about/liked to be asked about before they ________ (fill in with anything bad ), mentioning it here is probably a good idea!  I'll use my discretion as to when we ought to make sure beforehand anyways, but it'd help to know for sure.  I'll do it myself when I finish my family vigs 

[mccoyed]

Sorry, been busy with Halloween prep and kind of inactive around here! I'll cross-post my stuff:



Abelia D'Gatto is the head of the D'Gatto family, which traditionally passes power down matrilineally (common practice among Varlyrian Catfolk). Her mother left her with the family business: artifacts and antiquities and her father left her with vexing familial connections out west, including various debts, secrets, and obligations. She married an artist, seeking to expand the family business into art collection, patronage, and sales but so far this has been an uphill battle. Abelia is refined, but ruthless and has a famous temper. She makes it a point to attend major social events in Illaryian and the more important eastern Varlyrian cities and maintains a reputation for cold poise and withering wit, though she must also pretend not to hear the japes and judgments offered behind her back, or a half a moment before she is fully out of earshot. Abelia is the kind of mother that presents a different face, a different style of mothering, to each of her three children. Who she really is remains a mystery even to those closest to her, though Fel suspects it is reserved for herself --not that she appreciates it. Fel is Abelia's heir and she saves her greatest reserves of attention and disapproval for her.

Link to the rest of the D'Gatto immediate family:

Link to the D'Gatto immediate family's Known Associates: (COMING SOON)

Link to the extended D'Gatto and Sivaelurus Families: (COMING SOON)

Expendable Family Members:

Currently NONE. This will change soon, but for now bad things can happen to the characters I've introduced though I do not want them killed or maimed incurably. Because Fel D'Gatto is traveling with her own group of companions, she is effectively outside of the wider Varlyrian family intrigue for the time being.

 

[Wiltar]

I'll be adding pictures as I take them and editing this post as I figure out how to insert pictures between lines, but consider this the official entry for House Sforza.

 

Isabella Sforza is the current head of her household. As a child, she was forced to flee from Varlyrio, far across the sea to distant lands. There, she worked hard to establish herself as a merchant - selling various wares - and as a sellsword. Over time and benefiting from a combination of skill, brilliance, and the finest education her family could buy, Isabella became an expert at pairing mercenary companies with employers. She built up a small organization devoted to this purpose until she was able to raise companies of condotierri (well-armed and trained soldiers) on her own and then sell their services to local merchant princes. Finally, after a decade of hard work and at the age of 24, Isabella hired the finest mercenary captain in the region, Bayl of Keldemmar, and set sail to reclaim her homeland.

 

The first step to rebuilding her family is to retake their villa from the treacherous Falizi, their supposed allies who had betrayed and murdered her parents, as well as most of her immediate family. After that, eliminating the Falizi was of paramount importance, lest they rise up from the shadows and strike the Sforza's once more. Never again would Isabella let her guard down. Once her hated enemies were dealt with, Isabella would establish relations with old allies and other families in order to sell her condotierri to the highest bidder.

 

While Isabella has no grand designs to rule Varlyrio, she does see the need to amass enough power to protect herself and her new family. It will also put her in a better position to secure wealth and status for future generations of House Sforza, as well as find gainful employment for her loyal soldiers.

[Garmadon]

Alrighty, updated Varlyrian family rankings for you all!  Nothing of much consequence has occurred in Varlyrian politics in the last few months, but a few new families have come into the picture, so everyone had better watch their backs...

Leading Family (Rego): Amancio, Rego of Varlyrio, shipmasters (@Rogue Angel)
Secondary Families: De Fiori, sword-makers (@Garmadon), Chiaro, merchants (unclaimed family)
Third rank: Lords of Baiamonte, soldiery (unclaimed family), Khaor, cloth and leather merchants, tailors (@narbilu)
Fourth rank: Cioto (unclaimed family)
Fifth rank: Conzaga, wine-makers (@Basiliscus), di Carlo, merchants (@ZlatanXVIGustaf)
Sixth rank: D'Gatto, artists and antiquarians (@mccoyed), Waythe, judge and mercenary (@Judge of the Wastelands), Di Cioto, profession unknown (@W Navarre)

(Note that the higher ranks don't really move - not up, at least - unless they've done something directly related to plots and scheming, and also that if you've been building a lot and haven't moved recently, a couple of family or political builds is all that'll be needed to do the trick )

[mccoyed]

So how do the ranks work again? Just wondering about how placement was determined with these updates. It can't be based on output of builds, right?

[en_zoo]

5 hours ago, mccoyed said:

So how do the ranks work again? Just wondering about how placement was determined with these updates. It can't be based on output of builds, right?

I wanted to ask that too. Of course I'm a kind of outsider here, yet I really enjoy following all of the Varlyrian stuff (though I still haven't learnt how to spell the name 'Varlyrio' and need to check every time... ).

[Garmadon]

On 2/28/2019 at 3:09 AM, mccoyed said:

So how do the ranks work again? Just wondering about how placement was determined with these updates. It can't be based on output of builds, right?

Correct.  I meant/am working towards ranks reflecting primarily what's going on in each person's stories and how that interacts with the larger scheme of Varlyrian politics - so basically, to change in rank you either have to form an alliance, strike a deal, get rid of opposition, bribe your way up, or something like that.  Right now, I'm kind of just trying to get people onto the lists so we can get going, as we haven't really seen anything much politics-wise.  Building for the guild will help you not fall in rank even if your builds are totally un-politically related, but people who don't get involved will only move up the ranks very slowly, and rarely if ever get to the top few ranks.  That certainly doesn't mean that leadership doesn't like and appreciate non-intrigue related builds - those really help form and flesh out the guild, so  to you and everyone who's doing that too!  The one exception to the general rule is winning a challenge, which will almost always get you an instant promotion - which obviously is the reason ZlatanXVI moved.

And for what it's worth, you're at the top of the list for promotions currently - the only reason I didn't bump you up to the next level is that while you've built a good deal (keep it up!) nothing was related to your family or politics/scheming.  This was put in just for you, really  :

On 2/27/2019 at 3:08 PM, Garmadon said:

(Note that... if you've been building a lot and haven't moved recently, a couple of family or political builds is all that'll be needed to do the trick )

As far as political builds affect your score, nothing's really set in stone - there's no "murder_____ and you move up one rank, murder somebody else and you move up two, marry _____ and... etc. - there it just depends on how well you've done your thing and how popular opinion and power politics would likely go in a real society like Varlyrio (think sixteenth century Venice or something like that).  But getting involved in politics will almost undoubtedly get anyone moving, either up or down!

On 2/28/2019 at 8:46 AM, en_zoo said:

I wanted to ask that too. Of course I'm a kind of outsider here, yet I really enjoy following all of the Varlyrian stuff (though I still haven't learnt how to spell the name 'Varlyrio' and need to check every time... ).

Yep, check above.  Haha, the name does take some time to get down right! 

[mccoyed]

Honestly, I think the D'Gattos are perfectly placed so I would actually be more worried about being moved around based on too many builds. I shot myself in the foot for the political side of Varlyrio by focusing on a more classic quest storyline. I'm sure I'll figure out an angle someday.

[Garmadon]

Oyez, oyez!  The De Fiori, di Carlo, and Conzaga families have just struck a political alliance - check out all that there is to know about it (until some spy figures out more or something... happens ) here!

[Basiliscus]

So what does this alliance mean for our families? What actions or benefits does this confer?

I like the idea of the intrigue thread but I'm not sure exactly how it works!

[W Navarre]

I think that any alliance will get you higher up in the family rank, unless somehow it's really botched,  and with a little bit of control with your own story could lead you're family to be the Rego.

[Garmadon]

12 hours ago, Basiliscus said:

So what does this alliance mean for our families? What actions or benefits does this confer?

I like the idea of the intrigue thread but I'm not sure exactly how it works!

Hmm - well, it's hard to say at the moment, since it depends at least in part if there is any reaction to the alliance (e.g., a counter-alliance, spy infiltration, etc.).  So basically it's kinda played by ear by what seems like it would be the most likely/natural result in such a scenario, plus a little game-mastering randomness and hopefully epicness from the guild leaders (i.e., not everything will always be directly cause and effect - we're free to throw in a curve ball or two if it's judged to be fair and a good idea to spice stuff up).  

That said, if there is no reaction in a week or two you can expect the Conzaga's and di Carlo's to move up to the fourth rank (it would not be enough to affect the De Fiori's significantly without further developments, though), but unless they (the alliance) follow it up with something or other in the next month or so their hold on the rank would be tenuous at best.  If there is a reaction of some sort within a few weeks... well, we'll have to wait and see what happens!

Does that answer your questions?  Basically, if the alliance holds together and remains operative, the group will continue to advance faster that single families - but this is Varlyrio; nothing is totally predictable!  You never know what might happen next...

[Garmadon]

Erm - so what exactly happened to Monday this week??  Sorry about that, guys, yesterday totally slipped by me   Anyways, for that update I promised:

Leading Family (Rego): Amancio, Rego of Varlyrio, shipmasters (@Rogue Angel)
Secondary Families: De Fiori, sword-makers (@Garmadon)
Third rank: Lords of Baiamonte, soldiery (unclaimed family), Chiaro, merchants (unclaimed family), Khaor, cloth and leather merchants, tailors (@narbilu)
Fourth rank: Cioto (unclaimed family), Conzaga, wine-makers (@Basiliscus), di Carlo, merchants (@ZlatanXVIGustaf)
Fifth rank: D'Gatto, artists and antiquarians (@mccoyed), Di Cioto, profession unknown (@W Navarre)
Sixth rank: Waythe, judge and mercenary (@Judge of the Wastelands)

The first post will be updated accordingly.  Be warned, though - a lot of you are holding on to your rank (or your new rank) by a thread - you may have to get going if you want to hold on to it!

Spoiler

Yes, I know you're probably wondering about a couple of those new ranks, and the answer is - I feel like it   The perks of being me   IC, the state of Varlyrio is the following:

The De Fiori, Conzaga, and di Cioto, all strong families in their own right, have just formed an alliance which has served to strengthen their positions and weaken that of the Rego, who, still complacently enjoying his position, so far appears oblivious to the possible threat.  The Khaors busily pursue their trade in Kashgar, but are slowly being left behind by the political scheming, and the D'Gattos and Di Ciotos have currently risen in favor by the whims of the people, though whether they take advantage of the situation or not remains to be seen. A general tension and subdued excitement is currently flowing through the guild, especially given the news from the continent, which is not calculated to be reassuring.  

P.s. From now on I'll be adding a paragraph or two like this to go along with every update, and I'll probably place it above the new rankings in the future.  

 

 

[W Navarre]

14 hours ago, Garmadon said:

Be warned, though - a lot of you are holding on to your rank (or your new rank) by a thread - you may have to get going if you want to hold on to it!

Right you are! The higher you are the farther you fall!  Tread carefully...

[Basiliscus]

Yeah that just about makes sense! 

Thanks for the explanation.

[Grover]

A link to the collab between @Basiliscus and I, dealing with a member of the Conzaga family.

 

Edited September 13, 2019 by Grover

[Garmadon]

Just a few of the important family figures of Varlyrio - from left to right, Zusto Finollo, Lord of Baiamonte, Bjarke de Fiori, Giusta Chiaro, and Rego Supano Amancio.

---

And I've compiled descriptions for the unclaimed families, for anybody interested in using them for the new Challenge in Varlyrio or otherwise! 

 

Baiamonte Family

Characteristically cruel, tyrannical, and domineering, the Lords of Baiamonte, powerful and haughty, are the heads of a family one would hardly want as a friend, but less still as an enemy.  While there may be some rare gentler spirits in the family, the populace in general still views them with suspicion and often with a shudder, and though mortified and disgraced, the leading members do not seem to have been much humbled by their loss of the throne.  The family originally rose to prominence through the soldiery, and still has a large presence in the army and command of Varlyrio, but since they were ousted by the Amancios they have mostly retired from the social life of the guild to their huge and gloomy fortress at the foot of the mountains.  It is said that they are in good standing with the dwarves above, but otherwise they have few allies outside their own clan.

 

Cioto Family

Legendarily the founding dynasty of the realm, the Cioto’s to this day still enjoy a fair amount of favor with the public, and with the alliance formed with the Rego through the queen (she having been a Cioto herself), they currently sit in relative ease and tranquility in their own rank.  The Cioto’s are often to be seen mingling with the other main families in Illyrian, and seem to be on good terms with both great and small, with the sole exception of the Baiamonte’s, who have long hated them out of jealousy of their popularity. 

 

Chiaro Family

Diligent and hardworking merchants and builders, and in their time the best and most fair-minded of the rulers of the guild, the Chiaro’s are, of the principle families, by far the most honest, generous, and sincere to be found in Varlyrio.  Disaster, however, seems to dog their footsteps, and has repeatedly shaken the family to its core, and all of the guild with it.  But the troubles which have distressed the family have only served to bring it closer together, and they look forward to the day when they will again see Varlyrio in peace.