The Van Vichten League

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A Brief Overview

House van Vichten is divided into two legal entities: House van Vichten and House Vautour, which are known together as the Van Vichten League. Membership in one house does not automatically confer membership in the other house. However, both houses recognize a shared history with the other and typically use the plain name of van Vichten to refer to themselves in casual settings where the technical distinction could be perceived as excessive.

However, the Van Vichten League maintains its political unity through the Van Vichten Coven. This is because Alais vampirism is fairly common across all van Vichten houses. Though vampirism is not a mandatory aspect of family membership, house patriarchs, matriarchs, and other van Vichten political figures are recruited to be members of the Van Vichten Coven. Vampirism is considered a high honor, so it is often not shared with family members deemed unworthy.

This social arrangement between the different van Vichten houses has resulted in a sort of federated structure in which the leader of the Coven is the symbolic face of the Van Vichten League. Membership in the Van Vichten Coven is not exclusive to members of the Van Vichten League, however. Non-relatives who are turned into Alais vampires by a member of the Van Vichten Coven are essentially considered members of the Van Vichten Court, although it is not unheard of for a non-van Vichten member of the Van Vichten Coven to become the coven's leader. When this happens, the new Coven leader is married or adopted into the most prestigious van Vichten house.

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Introduction to House van Vichten

The fully Anglian van Vichten family is extinct. Instead, the family consists of a half-Anglian, half-Ithanian Akkadian bloodline. This cross-pollination is ultimately what led to the establishment of House Vautour as a separate legal entity, due to their incompatible economic activities. Economic activity is incredibly important to Van Vichten houses, as those who do not participate in the family business usually become disinherited.

House van Vichten's family business has always been education. Due to its Anglian culture, this education took the form of teaching local farmers how to grow crops more effectively. The family has been able to effectively communicate how to treat the soil for weeds and parasites, how to fertilize and irrigate mass plantations of wheat, and much more, due to a lot of trial and error over many generations of practice.

Under the patriarchy of Leuthar van Vichten, the family has maintained its scholarly ambitions. However, they have been made more flexible to include other disciplines. Therefore, the family remains non-combatant in nature, instead preferring more intellectual ambitions such as alchemy and history. While agricultural sciences remain an important part of the van Vichten identity, maintaining other hobbies will no longer result in a family member becoming disinherited.

Introduction to House Vautour van Vichten

House Vautour was born from Leuthar van Vichten's sister. Though House van Vichten had always been Akkadian, Leuthar's mother was an Ithanian Medavinti. While Leuthar was born as an Akkadian, Leuthar's sister was born a Medavinti. This ultimately resulted Leuthar's sister becoming drawn to Ithanian culture due to her artful Medavinti inclinations. She eventually married into an Ithanian family and produced Ithanian Medavinti children.

Though House Vautour has become a distinct entity both legally and culturally, they have maintained their intellectualism. However, instead of a general drive towards knowledge, House Vautour emphasizes the learning of arts. These may range anywhere in between music, writing, cooking, painting, and so on.

It is not uncommon for House Vautour to forgo cooperation with House van Vichten in pursuit of its own interests, usually maintaining an attitude of friendly competition against House van Vichten. This is the remnant of the tensions that resulted from an Anglian and Ithanian marriage, which have led House Vautour to try and prove to House van Vichten that Ithanian culture is superior to Anglian culture. This clashes with House van Vichten's patronizing and protective attitude towards House Vautour, who they perceive as feminine and weak, thus leading to a lot of intrigue between the two families.

Introduction to the Van Vichten Coven

Despite the rivalries between House van Vichten and House Vautour, a sense of unity has been maintained through the Van Vichten Coven. The Coven acts as a double-edged sword in the sense that while it has helped maintain Van Vichten unity, it is also the source of conspiracies against the two houses. This is because while whoever is the Coven leader is recognized as the ultimate Van Vichten authority across all Van Vichten branches, which keeps the family together, the two families will always try to unseat each other as the Coven leader so that they can take control of both families.

Membership in the Van Vichten Coven is not limited to House van Vichten or House Vautour members. However, it consists exclusively of Alais that were infected by a member of the Van Vichten League. This is because the Van Vichten Coven is essentially the extended "vampire family" of either house of the Van Vichten League. Members of the Van Vichten Coven who are not members of the Van Vichten League typically pose as Van Vichten courtiers, employees, and more until they eventually marry into the family or are adopted. However, this is rare, and it typically only happens when a non-Van Vichten League member somehow manages to outsmart everyone else to become the Van Vichten Coven leader.

Over the decades, the Van Vichten Coven has remained a convenient way to run the Van Vichten League. Due to the vampiric quasi-immortality of its members, the Coven is revered for its wisdom and experience. Therefore, decisions by the Coven apply across all houses of the Van Vichten League, which is why House van Vichten and House Vautour often struggle for leadership of the Coven. The member-houses of the Van Vichten League have agreed to concede some of their autonomy to the League in exchange for access to their expansive experience, so whoever controls the Coven essentially controls both families.

Recruitment into the Van Vichten Coven is exclusively in-character!

These are functionally different families, so applications will be reviewed by the corresponding family owners!
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House van Vichten Application

In-Game Name:
Discord Username:
Link to main character sheet:
Reason for Joining:
Goals as a Family Member:
Timezone:

Finally, tag @Mad_Gadfly

House Vautour van Vichten Application

In-Game Name:
Discord Username:
Link to main character sheet:
Reason for Joining:
Goals as a Family Member:
Timezone:

Finally, tag @SimplyTriumphant

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House Staff Application.

In-Game Name:
Discord Username:
Link to Character Sheet:
House Role: (alchemist, musician, historian, medic, etc.)
Timezone:
Letter to the family you wish to serve:

Finally, tag @Mad_Gadfly (if serving House van Vichten) or @SimplyTriumphant (if serving House Vautour)

 

Reserved!

 

Tagging @SimplyTriumphant for you.