APPENDIX

THE HOUSES AND THEIR HISTORIES

House of Perl

Est. 1822

At Hartsboro Estate

Territory: East and Northeast

Hartsboro Estate, located in Connecticut, was originally the operating Headquarters of the Order’s governing body: the Upper Cabinet. In 1822, on the heel of the Sorting Years, to support the development of the Order’s growing member numbers, Upper established a formalized magic-studying system using a boarding school model. Members would continue in the débutant tradition, which had been in practice since the onset of the Industrial Revolution, but be organized into Houses and territories. Houses would be overseen by a Headmistress.

The Upper Cabinet relocated their Headquarters and commissioned its first House: House of Perl, naming Beatrice Perl inaugural Headmistress. At the time, Beatrice had been serving in the Cabinet. Before agreeing to sign on, she insisted that the seat of the House pass down in family lineage by the matriarch. Upper agreed, and so it remains. The House of Perl sigil is a cracked column.

House of Marionne

Est. 1874

At Chateau Soleil

Territory: Southern

House of Marionne was the second established House of the Order as their numbers swelled, with more and more showing a propensity for magic. The origins of the philosophies that shaped House of Marionne are rooted in the Era of Indulgence.

After the fall of Yaäuper Rea Universitas, the Silent Years followed. Formal magical education had come to a screeching halt as it was forced to shift to underground. It is said generations of magical people lost their magic because of sparse access to training, study, and development until a lowly but studious Order member, Loken Delosu, was sought out by King George I of England. He was courting Loken’s affections, as he’d heard rumors his family dabbled in sun magic. George was in a long-standing war with the French and wanted any edge he could get. Around that same time, King Louis XIV, the “Sun King,” heard of George’s interest in Loken and sent his own parties to sway Loken. Louis, being a man of abundance, showered gifts and hospitality at the feet of Loken and his family, his friends, anyone he knew, in exchange for one thing—his company.

King Louis XIV was incredibly ambitious and eventually pressed Loken directly to know more about magic, but Loken refused. He held to the age-old tenet that magic should be kept far away from government. Louis beheaded him. The Order was divided on how to feel about the French and English years of courtship. But the years dabbling in French culture had left its mark evident in House of Marionne’s architecture, culture, traditions, and art. The Upper Cabinet commissioned Claudette Marionne as inaugural Headmistress. The House of Marionne sigil is a fleur-de-lis.

House of Duncan

Est. 1875

At Wigonshire Estate

Territory: West and Midwest*

House of Duncan was established on the heels of House of Marionne at the urging of Upper Cabinet members who were rumored to favor House of Perl’s Dysiian influences. The House was intended to be a replica in culture and architecture of House of Perl but located in Colorado. The estate’s inaugural Headmistress was Maisie Duncan. In 1938, an explosion in the Midwest killed thousands of Unmarked. The news reported that the accident was the result of an industrial explosion. However, House of Duncan, whose new Headmistress was experimenting with using toushana to mine gold, was behind the tragedy. The dark magic she’d been illegally using spiraled out of control, and twenty-three hundred barrels of kor elixir leaked into an oil shipment being transported west. The result was catastrophic. The Upper Cabinet shut down the House immediately and required each member within its territories to reapply. Most were denied on grounds of distrust. The then Headmistress, Beil Duncan, was publicly beheaded, a rare but symbolically vicious act at the time. The House of Duncan sigil was a scale and darkened sun.

*The Midwest territory, formerly under House of Duncan, was initially moved to House of Ambrose. In later years the Midwest was split, its northern side under Ambrose territory and its southern side under Oralia.

House of Ambrose

Est. 1877

At Dlaminaugh Estate

Territory: Northwest and parts of the Midwest

House of Ambrose, nestled in the tallest peaks of central Idaho, was the fourth established House of the Order. Its inaugural Headmistress was Caera Ambrose, a well-known member of the Order who had built her reputation on leading efforts to push the bounds of understood magic. Her views were seen as outlandish, but she received the votes needed from the Upper Cabinet. Caera’s ancestors were immigrants to America with a strained and hostile history with Europeans. Thus, Dlaminaugh Estate was erected as a neo-Gothic replica of Yaäuper Rea Universitas and commissioned to be the first House in the Order that defined itself as distinctly separate from European influence. Caera desired to usher forward a generation of débutants who would be known for their supreme intellect, not ostentatious shows of wealth. The House of Ambrose sigil is three yew leaves intertwined.

House of Oralia

Est. 1942

At Begonia Terrace

Territory: West and parts of the Midwest

House of Oralia was the fifth and final established House, located in northern California. Donya Oralia was its inaugural Headmistress. Her grandmother had been a candidate for Uppership but was ultimately passed over because of her progressive views on women’s rights at the time. In 1942, House of Oralia was commissioned by a slim majority vote, as the world was engrossed in World War II. They are known for using magic as a means of artistic expression and enjoyment, believing magic serves the wielder and not the other way around. The House of Oralia sigil is two smudged dollops of paint.

The Dragun Brotherhood

Est. Late nineteenth century

Headquarters: Wexton MidCenter Hotel

Dysiis was a student of Yaäuper Rea Universitas who believed that to understand the full breadth of magic’s capacity to be a positive influence, one had to understand the full intricacies of its darker parts. He studied toushana until he died. His studies were stored in the university library, despite much concern at the time that they could inflame if they fell into the wrong hands. Several decades later, a faction grew among magic pupils who were fascinated by Dysiis’s teachings. Dysiisians took his teachings further, believing there was a place for the destructive magic in their world. Since so little was understood about the dark, powerful magic, the faculty at Yaäuper Rea Universitas forbid the study. Groups continued to meet about toushana in secret, and for a century, Darkbearers, a rebel group of toushana-users, used the destructive magic to terrorize villages, amass their own power, and infiltrate the highest levels of Church and State. This era is known as the Second Coming, referring to the Age of Vultures returned. It persisted until a group of Yaäuper Rea alumni banded together (referring to themselves as “Sunbringers”) to bring Darkbearers to justice. Sunbringers used toushana, but only as needed to apprehend Darkbearers. They found burning the rebellious dark-magic users was the only way to ensure they and their toxic magic were dead, earning them the nickname Draguns.

When the city of Misa fell, the Order began building the House system. The next century was called the Sorting Years, when safe houses were illicitly erected to harbor toushana-users who’d fled Misa. The Upper Cabinet recruited descendants of Sunbringers, or “Draguns,” to serve in an official capacity as a security, protection, and intelligence force: the brotherhood. In the early years, Houses were allowed to nominate débutants for the brotherhood before it shifted to by invite only. Some Draguns can trace their lineage to original Sunbringers.

Lexicon

Binding—the process of joining the enhanced magic, now held within the dagger’s blade, with the magic user by plunging the magical dagger into the user’s heart.

Cotillion—a formal ball at which débutants are presented for membership into the Order, a ceremony which includes completing Third Rite in front of an audience of members and publicly agreeing to the membership oath.

Darkbearer—a group of magical persons in the thirteenth century who bound to toushana.

Dragun—a nickname for a Sunbringer, a uniquely skilled member of the Order trained to hunt and eradicate threats from the Order, primarily those with forbidden magic.

Dragun Brotherhood—the community of Draguns across Houses, which collectively makes up the law enforcement and security force of the Order.

Dragunhead—the senior member of the Dragun brotherhood, a rank equal to the Headmistresses in authority, but with a separate and autonomous jurisdiction over all Draguns.

Dragunheart—the senior understudy to the Dragunhead, a rank with second-in-command authority over all Draguns.

Electus—a neophyte débutant who has not yet completed First Rite.

Emerging—the manifestation of one’s magic as either a jeweled mask across the top half of the face or a diadem arced above the head, proving one’s magic is strong enough to be molded and used. Each person’s magic is unique, and how it manifests will vary according to the magical heritage, skills, and talents of the magic user.

Essence—the translucent aroma temporarily left behind where a magical person dies.

First Rite—emerging a diadem from one’s head or a mask on one’s face.

Headmistress—the lady in charge of a magical training school.

Honing—the process of refining a dagger by forging it with gems to enhance its magical effectiveness.

Marked—a person with a demonstrated capacity for proper magic use.

Primus—a débutant who has passed First Rite and is actively working on Second Rite.

Second Rite—honing a dagger by folding specified enhancers into a blade to infuse one’s own magic with added power.

Secundus—a seasoned débutant who has passed Second Rite and is actively working on Third Rite.

Sigil—an inscribed or painted symbol that represents a particular House and its set of values.

The Sphere—a magically encased orb that houses a connection between ancient magic and all magical people.

The Upper Cabinet—established in the early eighteenth century, the Upper Cabinet was the original governing body of the Prestigious Order of Highest Mysteries, consisting of twelve all-male members.

Third Rite—binding with one’s magic by plunging a fully honed dagger into one’s heart in front of an audience of members at a Cotillion ceremony.

Toushana—a forbidden, destructive magic.

Unmarked—a person without magic.