The House di Orazio was one of modest foundation, with earliest records of the family being noted upon a self-made landowner, duly known as Orazio di Toreno. By his death in 199 A.C, Orazio di Toreno maintained a humble collection of land and properties under his belt, and with these he would establish a dynasty that'd eventually go on to manage much of the Vultaro peninsula's coal supply, and even eventually dabble in the likes of Regalian politics.
Name
- di Orazio.
Social Standing
- Military-oriented Nobility.
Political Alignment
- Economic Centralists.
Colors
- Green, White, and Gold..
Anthem
Religion
- Vultar & Sancella Unionists.
Culture
- Dressolini.
Values
- Culture, Respect, Dignity.
Business & Trades
- Coal Mining.
Origins
- The city of Toreno, Vultaro.
Orazio dei Toreno was a simple man, as Orazio family histories would dictate. Born the son of a simple merchant in the city of Toreno, Orazio dei Toreno was recorded to have received a practical education in basic arithmetic and accounting/trade. Being the designated heir for this small-time company of trade, Orazio dei Toreno was lead into something of a linear life. However, recent re-delegation of the territories north of the earldom of Toreno begged settlement in the desolate mountain. cliffs, and hills. Conveniently, ducal beckons for re-settlement coincided perfectly with Orazio dei Toreno's maturity into adulthood. A marriage arranged by Orazio's father with another small merchant family brought forth a sizable dowry, a sum of Regals that would spark a rather extravagant scheme.
The urbanized regions of Toreno hardly had a problem in administration. Local mayors, burghers, and municipal delegates delivered and enacted ducal order with efficiency. However, in the northern territories of Lucino, matters were contrasted. Taxes from the various villages and small towns were hardly collected, and when they were, they were never sufficient in amount. Ducal authority of the House de Morra waned so easily northwards, and the ever-present need for ever tax coin prompted the search for solution. By ducal decree, land boundaries were redrawn and further divided into plots of land available for cheap purchase, a prospect that greatly interested the young, flamboyant Orazio dei Toreno. With his marital dowry passed to him by his father, Orazio made the risky gamble of purchasing swaths of land in Lucino, namely the northern mountain sides and cliffs. Inhabited by a few vineyard tenants, the lands and their attached properties barely made a profit, as was so haughtily pointed out by Orazio's father and in-laws. In the end, Orazio dei Toreno inherited his father's business fortunes and was able to support himself, his wife, and 3 sons.
By law, all assets held by Orazio die Toreno were passed to his first son, Francesco dei Toreno, as primogeniture inheritance demanded. It was Francesco dei Toreno who would give proper rise to the House di Orazio. In a display of his grandiose ambition, Francesco di Toreno transformed the commoner surname shared by many of Toreno to a bold, aristocrat-styled name. Any and all legal identification of Orazio dei Toreno's family was duly changed to di Orazio in remembrance of the beloved father. Thus, the House di Orazio was born with Francesco di Orazio at the helm.
Francesco di Orazio's blazing ambition to expand what little profit he had and improve his familial position drove him to investigate this seemingly worthless land his father had purchased on a whim. With the assistance of a few stewards and even some contractors, the land's overall value was assessed along with its attached properties and tenants. However, along this analysis came the discovery of copious coal veins within caves, ravines, and even exposed cliffside. The Vultaro peninsula had been a producer of coal for the empire since its rise, however, the business mostly found root in northern Vultaro, where the dukes of Dressolini and Vultaro made their fortune. The prospect of coal in the southern end of the peninsula had been an endeavor well sought after, though many patrician and noble families found their due in mercantile trade instead. The rich amount of coal set upon the lands possessed by the House di Orazio would spark their sudden rise to prominence amongst their peers, export and sale of this black gold competing with the shaky monopolies of the north.
-{House di Orazio is known for horizontally integrating other coal companies in pursuit of a monopoly}-
Generations onward, the House di Orazio steadily grew in wealth and numbers. Cousins sired more children, and mainline di Orazio's were strategically married among other land-owning families in Lucino, leading to dowries in land absorption, bankruptcy bailouts, and general expansion. By the year 231 A.C. the House di Orazio was on par with their liege lords, the House de Morra. Their amassed wealth would prompt the attention of the House de Morra, a small series of marriages and loans and favors thrown back and forth.In the year 235 A.C., the House di Orazio was "gifted" the earldom of Lucino in a dowry exchange with the suddenly less-than-prosperous de Morra. Thus brought the House di Orazio's step into peerage, and with their acquisition of the earldom, the House's ambition and vigor only sharpened.
Whilst the House di Orazio duly maintained their title, the House de Morra only began to sink lower and lower. Inter-family conflict over succession, inheritance, and other such vendettas tore the family apart in a tragic series of assassinations, murder attempts, and other such scarring acts of blood against blood. This time of familial chaos is dubbed,"L'orrore", or,"The Horror". While The Horror ravaged the ducal house, the House di Orazio stepped in for the decade of chaos, managing the duchy from behind the curtains while they allowed the House de Morra to eat away at itself.
By the turn of the century in 300 A.C., the House de Morra was extinguished to just one mainline male, Bernardo Gabriel de Morra, nephew to the current Regentess Georgiana di Orazio. Being the only mainline male heir and having not sired any sons, Bernardo's sudden death prompted an immediate emergency flag for succession. It from from here judicial professionals were employed by Georgiana di Orazio, elder sister of Bernardo Gabriel de Morra's father and thereby aunt of Bernardo. Georgiana's lawyers cited that the nearest male heir, while not legally of he House de Morra, was the son of her passed son, her grandson Francesco Rauol di Orazio, a boy of 11. Citing her weak, thin claims on the ducal seat, she managed the position of regent until her grandson came of age, and thus the House di Orazio came to ascend into their ducal position. However, the Qadir war sucked these titles away from the Family. The di Orazios failed to betray the state and take an oath to the Sultanate, and their lands were redistributed to new families. Them Georgiana and Francesco were captured and kept in Greygate Prison, where they both caught a deadly disease and died.
The crises at hand sent the family into turmoil. The family went into retreat or hiding around the archipelago. In Toreno, the family retreated to living in the Scolgiera estate, which was essentially transformed into a fort sitting in the Vultarian mountains. In the city proper, Piero took over the head of the family, and retreated into a small safehouse in the city. The revolution ensued, and the city was returned to Ailor control. However, the di Orazio family has been formally hurt and and removed from its former glory days.
After the Qadir Occupation, Piero di Orazio and his younger sons continued to run the family from the Regalian city proper, rather than the mountainous cliffs of their homeland, Toreno. At this time, the rest of the family stayed in Toreno, managing the di Orazio coal business which had a sudden boom as Regalia prepared with its next war on Arlora.
The di Orazio's seemed to disappear from the city proper as the Bone Horror Apocalypse began, a slew of family deaths, city-wide troubles, and Piero's advancing age sending them packing back to Toreno with their heads hanging low. They quietly endured Lo Occupation from their homelands, only able to offer meager financial support as they too took a massive hit as the economy plummeted. Despite the Emperor's successful retaking of the city proper, things would not begin to look bright for the di Orazio's until the coronation of Emperor Cedromar I; the militant Emperor spelled out fortune and glory in bright neon letters for the new generation of di Orazio's, who had just come to age. One by one, Piero's oldest son Giovanni and all of his children came back to the Crown Island, looking to bring up the name and legacy of the di Orazio's once again.
After a time of success, with the family holding two counties and a lofty position in the Admiralty. However this fortune was not meant to last, with the family drifting on the fringes of relevancy later as time passed, to the point where the family lost their titles during the New Model Noble programme started under the reign of Emperor Cedromar I, and the family slowly filed out of Regalia proper back home, seemingly content with their wealth as coal magnates. With the return of Pellegrino into the fold after renouncing his family and striking it out on his own after disagreements with Piero, the former artilleryman began rebuilding the former glory of the family by investing in new mines, better infrastructure in Toreno, and improving living standards. He then went about wresting control of the family from Giovanni through means not dissimilar to the former regentess Georgiana's methods of taking House de Morra's titles. Legal paperwork and numerous affidavits and what seemed to be Piero's will all but anointed Pellegrino as the new Patriarch of the family, who immediately set about regaining his family's status as members of the peerage, and ensuring careful relations with the Iron Duke of Vultaro. Present day, the family has returned to the Holy City of Lights to strike it out for themselves as people worthy of being remembered.
After a time of success, with the family holding two counties and a lofty position in the Admiralty. However this fortune was not meant to last, with the family drifting on the fringes of relevancy later as time passed, to the point where the family lost their titles during the New Model Noble programme started under the reign of Emperor Cedromar I, and the family slowly filed out of Regalia proper back home, seemingly content with their wealth as coal magnates. With the return of Pellegrino into the fold after renouncing his family and striking it out on his own after disagreements with Piero, the former artilleryman began rebuilding the former glory of the family by investing in new mines, better infrastructure in Toreno, and improving living standards. He then went about wresting control of the family from Giovanni through means not dissimilar to the former regentess Georgiana's methods of taking House de Morra's titles. Legal paperwork and numerous affidavits and what seemed to be Piero's will all but anointed Pellegrino as the new Patriarch of the family, who immediately set about regaining his family's status as members of the peerage, and ensuring careful relations with the Iron Duke of Vultaro. Present day, the family has returned to the Holy City of Lights to strike it out for themselves as people worthy of being remembered.
Piero di Orazio - 71 - Former Patriarch, senile tactician - Deceased
Simona di Orazio - 76 - Piero's wife, loving grandmother - Available
- Giovanni di Orazio - 47 - Former Patriarch - NPC
- Aurelia di Orazio - Deceased - Giovanni's first wife - NPC
- Valentino di Orazio - 29 - Military Career man, Smooth talker - Available
- Carlotta di Orazio - 45 - Giovanni's second wife, Political schemer, Gossip - Available
- Gaspar di Orazio - 25 - Protective Brother, Skilled warrior - Available
- Siena di Orazio - 22 - Natural business woman - Available
- Luca di Orazio - 19 - Curate - Available
- Stefano di Orazio - 19 - Bookworm - Available
- Luigi di Orazio - 45 - Tactician, Power-seeker - Available
- Sabrina di Orazio - 39 - Luigi's wife, Family finance manager - Available
- Sonia di Orazio - 30 - Bright and Polite - Available
Vicenza di Orazio - 76 - Bitter old lady - Available
Angelo di Orazio - 69 - Instroduzione & Head of the Istituzione di Scherma - Available
- Pellegrino di Orazio - 47 - Caffeine addicted artillery officer, Patriarch - @BirdieSanders_
- Alessandro di Orazio - 43 - Helerian Guard - Deceased
- Teodora di Orazio - 23 - Alessandro's legitimized bastard daughter/Alchemist - Available
- Edoardo di Orazio - 34 - Glory hunter - Available
- Capriana di Orazio - 29 - Courtly lady - Available
- Isabella di Orazio - 27 - Kind hearted, youngest daughter - Available
The jewel of the House di Orazio. A large manor opulently decorated with fine woods, stones, and other precious luxuries, the property also maintains wide swaths of land. With the Scolgiera is the seat of the House di Orazio, it goes without saying it is their most prized possession. Sitting comfortably on the mountain ranges between the earldoms of Lucino and Tureno, the Scolgiera finds itself atop the centuries old mines owned by Orazio di Tureno. Though the property lacks any coal or valuable mineral below it, it still serves as a symbol of the House di Orazio's power and innate pride.
Perched precariously on a cliff near the roaring waters of southern Tureno, the Diamante della Costa is a more recent acquisition of the House di Orazio, having been purchased not a decade ago. Being but a liege away from the city of Tureno, the Diamante della Costa tends to serve as the place of residence for the Orazio lineage who wish to escape their personal townhouses in the city proper. Boasting small tracts of land around it, there are a few gardens and even a small forest of sorts nearby, prompting a lovely sport of hunt or perhaps just a brief appreciation of nature.
Perched precariously on a cliff near the roaring waters of southern Tureno, the Diamante della Costa is a more recent acquisition of the House di Orazio, having been purchased not a decade ago. Being but a liege away from the city of Tureno, the Diamante della Costa tends to serve as the place of residence for the Orazio lineage who wish to escape their personal townhouses in the city proper. Boasting small tracts of land around it, there are a few gardens and even a small forest of sorts nearby, prompting a lovely sport of hunt or perhaps just a brief appreciation of nature.
Having stood as prominent miners of the mineral since the end of the first century of the empire, the House di Orazio's hold on the coal industry and tightened to an iron grip with the fall of the House Lampero. Having bought out their bankrupt mines and companies, the House di Orazio stands as one of the only significant producers of coal in the Regalian Empire.
Advocates of the leisure sport since it's rise in popularity during the Bella Agitazione period, the House di Orazio founded an institution of Dressolini Fencing after their own Angelo di Orazio reached the rank of Instroduzione in his earlier years. While it does provide a steady source of income for the family, it also is a source of pride for the di Orazio's to see their students win Vultarin tournaments and bring fame to their school.
Previously held by Giovanni di Orazio
Previously held by Valentino di Orazio
Previously held by Francesco Raoul di Orazio & Piero di Orazio
"Cunning slyness" A di Orazio values the cunning of an individual above all else. A good di Orazio is a cunning di Orazio. To them, it is the peak of culture, that a society goes from fighting each other with sticks and stones and begins using words, schemes, and politics. And as such they believe to survive in a modern world one must be cunning.
Despite the above a di Orazio will always stick to a word or agreement they made. They will reward those under them and those who aid them. And while they keep a careful eye on their underlings, expecting a power grab, they in turn show them the respect due. After all, if you can not rely on your agreements then you can't be trusted to act in a logical way, and are useless the family.
Politically, the di Orazio align themselves with centralism due to their value in trade and the merchant class. They see the merchant class as the most cunning, and the most useful. Their ideal Regalian Empire would be a competitive economic powerhouse. They support policies that encourage the merchant class, and are firmly against restrictions on them.
The di Orazio family has a liking for for art and culture. They have given patronage to a small handful of musicians and sculptors. In the past they also offered it to playwrights, but have not done so recently. Several members know how to play an instrument.
OOC Information
IGN:
IRL Age: (If comfortable telling, of course)
Timezone:
How Active are You?: (Are you on daily or once a week? For how many hours?)
References? Experiences with Nobility?: (Do you have anyone who would be willing to vouch for you? Be sure to ask them before tagging them! What are your experiences with nobility? Have you been part of plotlines or have you been in a noble family before?)
Why join the House dei Orazio?:
IC Information
Character Name: (Insert the name of one of the selected presets, or the name of your own conceptualized character)
Character Relation: (This section is more for those who are creating their own character. Who are they closest related to in the current selection of presets/in the family tree?)
Character Age:
Personality: (Please provide a paragraph or two of what you interpreted or conceptualized as the personality for your character with the given information. If you're making your own character, simply write out their personality as dictated above).
OOC Information
IGN:
How Active are You?: (Are you on daily or once a week? For how many hours?)
Role-playing Strengths:
Role-playing Weaknesses:
References: (Recommended to have good standing members of community. Ask them first)
IC Information
Character name:
Age:
Prefered Positions: (Guard - Servant/Butler - Cook - Other
Race/Culture:
IC Letter: (Address to either Luca or Gaspar dei Orazio)
Character Sheet?: (link if exists)
BabaManga, OldManJ98, HobblingHobbit.
Last edited:
