House Rhugandy of Sharpan
(last update 04-26-06)

History:
Rhugandy is the largest of fifteen vassals to the Imal of Great House Sharpan.  The Great House is not a separate and distinct entity - there is no Fazzik of Sharpan.  The title "Imal" describes the individual to whom Sharpan's Lesser Houses swear fealty.  For the last several hundred years Rhugandy has been the House of the Sharpan Imals.  This has not always been the case.  The original House Sharpan was decimated during the Nomad War, and was deposed by the Fazzik of a vassal House.  This lead to a brief and bloody civil war among the Lesser Houses that resulted in the extinction of Sharpan's ruling bloodline and the rise to power of House Rhugandy.

The Fazzik of Rhugandy claimed to hold the lands of Sharpan as regent for the lost heirs.  When Rhugandy's leadership proved successful against the Nomads, Arronius Joranthir himself offered the lands and titles of House Sharpan to Rhugandy.  Knowing that his power would not hold without the claim of regency, Rhugandy declined to accept the Sharpan Fazziks' oath of fealty.  Instead, he created the title of "Imaltola" or "Noble Steward" which has since been shortened to "Imal".  In a grand ceremony, he cut his ties to Rhugandy and accepted their renewed oaths to Great House Sharpan.

Over the next two centuries, Rhugandy has made several attempts to dispense with the fiction of stewardship.  Each time, these desires were thwarted. Still, the dream that the heirs of Sharpan might be rediscovered is all but lost.  The last attempt to abolish Sharpan was attempted by Aidontas' father, and was nearly successful.  Since that time, the Lesser Houses have avoided the issue except at the Sacred Time renewal of their oaths of fealty.  Only a tiny few of Sharpan's Fazziks have renounced their oaths to the Imal and kneeled before the Fazzik of Rhugandy.

House Rhugandy occupies a series of casirs situated along the upper Solinor River.  The land includes a number of towns and villages culminating in Derios Bridge - a town directly across the Solinor from the small city of Rafelios.  Being on the northern shore of the Solinor, Rafelios falls under the rule of the "Count" (Satrap) of Spol.  This has proven a difficult right for the Spolites to assert.  The northern Jhor Hills are rife with Houses loyal to the Satraps of Jhor, who have always been high in the favor of the Provincial Governor.  The road to the capitol of the Western Reaches, Kitor, follows the southern bank of the Solinor from Rafelios west.  Thus, any caravans from Rafelios bound for Kitor must travel through Derios Bridge and the Satrapy of Jhor.

This inconvenient situation resulted in heavy tolls levied by House Sharpan on the Spolite tax caravans.  Now the situation has devolved into the reality of Rafelios taxes being collected by House Sharpan, thinly covered by a ceremonial delivery of these taxes by a representative of the Satrap of Spol.  Since the Spolite nobles typically refuse to participate in this charade, the representative is traditionally the Head of the Rafelios City Council.

Fiefs:
House Rhugandy holds the titles to four fiefs, the largest of which is Daukmein.  Two of the other fiefs are currently held by nephews of Aidontas - Burian (Kaunven) and Tomas (Arampult).  The last (Jaunyn) is held by Bogdan, a loyal retainer.  These estates are not contiguous.  While Daukmein is in the extreme north of Jhor, the others are scattered throughout the Satrapy.  Daukmein is a long thin strip of land and has many neighboring fiefs.  Most of these fiefs are controlled by vassal Houses of Sharpan, although several of Sharpan's vassal Houses are located elsewhere.

Sirdarcie of Arampult:  Sirdar Tomas Rhugandy rules the forested Sirdarcie of Arampult, which lies in central Jhor near the city of Osthens.  The western most of its three manors rests firmly in the hills, but the other two are located further east in the Oronin Valley.  A dense forest of deciduous trees covers the area, and is widely known for its beauty and excellent hunting.  Sirdar Tomas is a loyal and good-natured nephew of Fazzik Aidontas and Devotee of Turos the Father.  His personal manor is the town of Taulstyn, the easternmost of his three holdings.  Sirdar Tomas is looks to the East for inspiration, and has close ties with several of the Dara Happan plantation owners in the Oronin Valley.  He also boasts an Irippi Ontor Visir and is a frequent and welcome visitor to several Pelorian bureaucrats in Kitor. None of this has endeared him to his fellow countrymen, most of who view him as decadent and sacrilegious. Despite this, Fazzik Aidontas of Sharpan has steadfastly supported Tomas due to the stellar productivity of Arampult and Tomas' unwavering loyalty, support, and assistance in all matters Lunar and Imperial.

Sirdarcie of Daukmein: The largest of House Rhugandy's holdings, Daukmein is controlled directly by the Fazzik of House Rhugandy. The sirdarcie begins with the town of Derios Bridge and follows the Shah's Way along the Solinor River west for about twenty miles to the town of Naranin.  Sharpandash, the traditional seat of Great House Sharpan, is a massive stone fortress built upon the side of a mountain overlooking Naranin - the last town on the navigable portion of the Solinor.  From Naranin, the sirdarcie separates from the Shah's Way and follows the Solinor into the high hills for another five miles where the river enters the lands of House Vhemazdy.

Cassir Staltola is the palace from which House Rhugandy and Great House Sharpan currently rule. It is a large comfortable walled mansion residing just outside the town of Darios Bridge - well appointed but not particularly defensible.  The great manor is surrounded by stately gardens, flowing fountains, and wooded paths. Derios Bridge lies across the Solinor River from Rafelios, which historically provided its defense. The town is clean and prosperous, with a large statue and fountain in the town square.  The North Way is a wide cobblestone street leading to a long gradually arching bridge which crosses the Solinor River to Rafelios.  The Shah's Way leads west through Daukmein and eventually to the capitol, Kitor.  To the east, it leads down into the Oronin Valley and the Pelandan city of Ulwar - the city of Love.

Sharpandash rests upon a high cliff overlooking Naranin Town.  Its walls are thick and heavy, carved out of massive blocks of granite.  There is nothing ornate or comfortable about this purely military structure.  A single narrow road, often washed out, winds its way down to the valley which hugs the Solinor River. The fortress has not been occupied since the time of the previous Imal over sixty years ago. Even then it was sparsely inhabited, some claimed more by ghosts than men. The fortress is empty now, sealed with preservation magic maintained through rituals renewed yearly by the Sharpan Viziers. The town of Naranin is split into two areas, high in the west and low in the east.  Most of the well to do (mostly carmanian) townsmen live in High Town, while the commoners work the docks and tend flocks of sheep and garden plots outside of the town's low walls.  Outside the city there are the scattered ruins of a much larger city that was abandoned during the Blood Kings War over 350 years ago. The day is short here, with the sun setting behind Mt Destoro (upon which sits Sharpandash) and the high Brass Mountains beyond.

Between Naranin and Derios Bridge are seven villages of modest size, each protected by a small carmanian manor.  Above Naranin are three smaller villages protected by a single cassir which watches the border between Daukmein and Daumonsurel, a sirdarcie of House Vhemazdy.

Sirdarcie of Jaunyn:  Sirdar Bogdan Hamash, formerly a Sirdar of House Hamash of Sharpan, was adopted into House Rhugandy by Aidontas. He was granted this land as a reward for his loyalty during the difficult period following Aidontas' rise to the Imalship.  It consists of one town, Ijenkhurp, which sits on a road linking Naranin to Osthens.  He is surrounded by the lands of other Sharpan Houses who still resent his defection to Rhugandy.  Thus, Bogdan has tried to foster a close relationship with both Imal Aidontas and Sirdar Burian.  Bogdan despises Sirdar Tomas of Arampult for his liberal morals and devotion to a peasant caste god.  Technically, Bogdan still holds the Sirdarship to a small fief in House Hamash which he rules through a Tola (steward).  His claim is very weak, and would have been severed long ago if not for the patronage of the Imal Aidontas.  When he dies it will no doubt revert to the Fazzik of Hamash.  Aidontas has vowed that Jaunyn will be granted to Bogdan's eldest son on upon his death.

Sirdarcie of Kaunven:  Sirdar Burian Rhugandy, a Devotee of Yanafal Tarnilis and nephew of Fazzik Aidontas, holds four manors deep in the hills of Jhor.  The sirdarcie is a few miles south-west of Daukmein, partly along the Shah's Way.  Burian rules from his cassir outside of the town of Emelpult, which lies near the center of Kaunven.  He is steadfastly loyal to his uncle but deeply distrusts Rhugandy's other to vassal Sirdars, neither of whom he feels are honorable men.  Burian regards Tomas as a weak and decadent man, undeserving of his Sirdarship.  Despite the larger size of Kaunven, it is the poorer of the two Sirdarcies because Arampult possesses richer farmland.  Kaunven once possessed a rich sliver mine but it was lost to House Vhemadzy over two decades ago.  When his Fazzik, then Kustavas of Rhugandy, attempted to retake the possession, Burian was instrumental in the success of the campaign - and much of the destruction which lead to the Provincial Governor's direct intervention.  Burian views Sirdar Bogdan as a traitor to his former house - if they couldn't trust him, why should anyone else?

Neighbors:
Across the Solinor river are several Spolite fiefs controlled by the Fazzik of Colnadzy, ruling family of Great House Aran.  Although Aran and Sharpan have a long history of conflict, the current Fazzik of Aran is an ally.  This has resulted in lower tolls at the various ferries connecting Aran's villages with the Shah's Way.  Fazzik Havastin Colnadzy recently began referring to himself as the "Imaldralzy" (Noble Ruler) of Aran in imitation of the "Imaltolas" of Sharpan - much to the alarm of his vassals.  As with the rulers of Sharpan, he often neglects to add the suffix "-dralzy" except in the most formal of situations. Over the last thirty years or so House Aran and House Sharpan have fostered children and arranged marriages between each other, including members of the ruling family lines.

The southern border of Daukmein is mostly guarded by sirdarcies loyal to House Sharpan.  There are two places along its border where the lands of rival Great Houses touch Daukmein.  The most important of these are the lands of House Vhemadzy of Sarat.  Vhemadzy has a long and bitter rivalry with House Rhugandy which has occasionally erupted into out-right war.  The Fazzik of Sarat, Vhemazdy's lord, frequently expresses shock and dismay at the activities of his vassal, but never quite gets around to dealing with the problem.  This is not the case when the situation is reversed.  When Kustavas lead House Rhugandy's hazars against Vhemadzy in 1599 the Lord of Sarat complained bitterly to the Satrap and Provincial Governor.  Although Sarat is a smaller House than Sharpan, several other Houses with lands near Rhugandy's holdings lent their (moral) support against the "power-mad and unstable" Fazzik of Rhugandy.

Another of Rhugandy's difficult neighbors is House Vanoor of Tylo.  Great House Tylo is comprised mostly of Pelorian nobles rewarded with land by the Red Emperor through the office of the Provincial Governor.  The "baron" Vanoor holds the western most fief of the "Marquis" Tylo's scattered holdings, as well as several "Imperial Freeholds" for which he reports directly to the Provincial Governor.  Two of these freehold cassirs border Rhugandy, and Vanoor's principal holding is just east of Darios Bridge in the Oronin Valley.  Vanoor and his liege are both devoted patrons of the Lunar way, and are host to many visiting and resident priests of that pantheon.  These priests have a disturbing tendency to wander into neighboring lands, like Daukmein, and preach the Lunar Way to the "oppressed" pelandan peasantry.

Surrounding Arampult, Jaunyn, and Kaunven are a dizzying array of Houses.  Some are vassal Houses of Sharpan, but many are not.  Some of these "foreign" Houses are friendly to Sharpan, but just as often they are enemies.  As with most Carmanian Houses, "ally" and "enemy" are but momentary labels that change often as the political and economic winds shift.  Lately, the Great Houses of Jhor have been consolidating their power by transferring disloyal vassals to the Charg Frontier in Bindle or Worion.  This has produced a temporarily lull in the Great Game, as the Houses tend to their own internal affairs.  How long this will last is anyone's guess.

Men of Rhugandy:

The Caram:

1) Jedziel is Aidontas' only daughter, and was married off to an up-and-comming House in Bindle (Harandash).  Her daughter would be the traditional choice for Kustavas' heir's First Wife.

2) Nalanda Ulrandzy is Aidantos' paternal half-sister.

3) The mother of Borlivan's children was a lovely peasant girl from Rafelios.  He ignores his daughters completely in favor of Jhan, and this has allowed them to fall under the influence of Ishasta.

Statistics:
Fazzik: Kustavas (absent).  Acting Fazzik: Aidontas, Sirdar of Daukmein, Imal of Sharpan.
Satrapy: Jhor
Sirdarcies: Arampult, Daukmein, Jaunyn, and Kaunven.

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