The Londyr were a noble family of Londerhome, on Balebu, during the Ochebana Empire.

History

Mercantile Origins, 569 - 566 b. OW

Harnfeldt Merker was a successful landowner and military cadre: he owned several fields, 50 slaves, knew Emperor Londer, and was the son of a Swordswinger Order member.

The young empire, which had recently grown at dazzling speed from a single village to a small state, found itself decidedly short on metals, which did not bode well for Londer's expansionist ambitions. Harnfeldt offered a solution: build a mine in the Rathgaunt mountains. Fred Tarneck, a rival cadre, decided to perform the expedition, gathering a force of 100 slaves, sending out scouts, and borrowing 12 soldiers from the emperor. He set up Shortstone, a very rich mine.

Meanwhile, with financial support from Tommen Frauentyk, Harnfeldt spent everything he owned on a ferry and a small forge. When Shortstone ore reached the Nagaflow, only Harnfeldt was able to transport and process it. The plentiful government and other contracts quickly made Harnfeldt very rich and allowed him to buy up the businesses of most artisans in Londerhome. In this way, his clan transformed from one of several landowners into the first mercantile elite, with full control over the young capital's economy. For the occasion, Harnfeldt merged the Merker and Frauentyk families under the name of Londyr.

Lords of War, 566 - 537 b. OW

Emperor Londer began his campaign of conquest in 565 b. OW. When he rallied his army, 200 of its soldiers were men levied by Londyr, and all 500 were equipped with Londyr gear. This allowed Tenner Londyr, Harnfeldt's son, to become Londer's first general. During the fight against the Lespen Alliance, Tenner and two other Londyrs stood out for their bravery.

Londer consolidated his newly conquered land, and Londyr aid proved invaluable for this. Their soldiers helped maintain order, and their money participated to the construction of the bridge over the Nagaflow, while new Nagwell's military governor was a Londyr. A sizeable loan to the emperor also allowed him to raise his new, larger army; its command fell to General Tommen Londyr.

Londyr officers further distinguished themselves in the campaign against Brimmer, in the tense diplomacy leading up to the Drummir-Fjor Treaties, and the wars against the Marcher Lords. Soon after, when Londer raised two legions to march south and invade the cling-clang in 561, Tommen Londyr was the army's field general, and Tenner Londyr had command over the Marcher regiments.

At the end of the campaigning, Londyr had consolidated its economic control over Londerhome greatly, and three other cities were ruled by Londyr family members.

Competition within Londyr. Though the Londyr family was virtually uncontested in the empire, it did have some internal trouble. The Merkers, who formed the larger part of the Londyr family and controlled Londerhome, sought to wipe out the Frauentyks. One daughter was married to them; one son died in a tragic accident; and one son was heavily in debt to them. This left only Tommen Londyr and his sister Caety as a threat. The Merkers attempted to get him killed during the Marcher campaign in 525 b. OW, but failed. However, he was far away as Warden of the Marches and Caety Londyr married over there as well, so the Londyrs were confident their rule was secure where it counted: Londer's Land.

Urban Magnates, 565 - 522 b. OW

In parallel to the wars, Londer began focusing his attention on strengthening the large empire he now ruled. Londyr's assistance was key to the success of his reforms: all Imperial coins were minted in Londerhomian mints, Londyr funded much of the capital's new city walls, and soldiers from Londyr's own regiments were used to fill the ranks of Londerhome's city guard. When Londer decided to appoint a military officer to rule Londerhome, the proven officer Taren Londyr, who had fought in the Brimmer campaign, was appointed to this role.

In exchange for rich contracts in urban development, and the transfer of 4'000 slaves from a dishonored noble, the emperor took direct control over Londyr's soldiers in the Imperial Army and made them into the 1st, 2nd and 4th Londerhome Regiments in 557 b. OW. This was good for Londyr: their key to power no longer lay in the martial sphere (paying and equipping soldiers was expensive), but by controlling entire production chains and the construction of cities.

The Military Infrastructure Guild, a puppet of Londyr, grew very rich building roads in conquered orcish territory in 543, and large fortresses on the border some years later.

Two Londyr officers served in the Imperial Army's high command during Jonas's border wars. Both were defeated in battle and imprisoned by Rownor, dishonoring their family. After peace with Rownor in 537, Jonas used his huge army to build infrastructure and modernize the border fortresses, stealing the Guild's primary source of income. Londyr was weakened when it defaulted on several promises, and parts of the family in smaller settlements broke away, forming their own noble families.

Jonesdays Crisis, 522 - 516 b. OW

Though they lost most of their nationwide influence, the Londyrs nevertheless maintained strong control over Londerhome, constantly expanding their economic, executive, and even judiciary control.

By 522, Emperor Jonas realized that he was on the verge of losing all power to decentralization. To remedy this issue, he wrote the Jonesday Book and engaged in radical measures. Londyr's main source of funding, urban taxes, was stripped from them: all taxes were now collected nationally by the military. Though Londyr managed to keep the emperor from installing an appointed mayor in Londerhome, they also received little money from the government for city maintenance, and had to contend with two regiments of the Imperial Army being stationed in the city to "assist" the city guard.

Financial shortcomings for Londyr increased, and the Emperor gave all his efforts to further worsen these problems. In 521, Londer engaged in a campaign to stem the power of the rising urban nobility. Londyr was in a vulnerable position: the emperor profited of its weakness to reform the noble family's sizeable militia into the Londerhome Guard regiment, stripping it of its immediate military strength.

This spelled disaster for House Londyr. Sensing their weakness, many guilds and small businesses tore away from the family's grip, going independent or even forming small noble families of their own. Londyr's landed holdings were virtually taken away as the Forken Plains District Command took over administration of the land. And the remaining cities under Londyr broke away, forming their own independent nobilities.

After the death of Londyr's house ruler in 517, his four children inherited the weakened family's holdings: three brothers and a sister. Due to personal interests, plotting by other nobles and imperial officials, and bad relations between the siblings, two of the brothers decided to break away and found their own Londerhomian nobility. The oldest brother, and his sister, held on to the weak remains of Londyr. The family lost its mardus title and was now largely restricted to the industrial area around the Nagaflow: wharves and forges. The title of Mayor of Londerhome now fell to the local military commander.

Small Londyr, 516 - 422 b. OW

Londyr continued existing as one of Londerhome's several powerful noble families.

Around 430, the Featherflow family arose in the vast plains around Londerhome. Featherflow was a very rich landowner family, with 9'000 slaves and 14'000 peasants to their name, but it did not have much political relevance: the roads and cities were strongly in military and urban noble hands, and few cared about the farms. In order to gain influence in the capital itself, Featherflow decided to ally with Londyr, offering funds and sale goods (including slaves) in exchange for access to the elite. For a decade, Featherflow-Londyr's influence in Londerhome grew, to the point where the alliance and the families loyal to it dominated the city. To secure their alliance, the two families married among each other four times.

In 422, there was a scandal involving some prominent Londyrs and allegations of relationships with slaves, including nonhuman ones. To cover their disgrace, the Londyrs adopted Featherflow's name, thereby ending their line.

Heraldry

The Merker sigil was a flying dove; the Frauentyk one was a cormorant. Because Merker was the larger family, and because it had venerable roots in the original Swordswinger order - the Frauentyks were Balebian natives, and Tommen created the family sigil himself - the dove was chosen as Londyr's primary animal, and thus featured on its sigil. A little three-spiked crown was added: this symbolized both Londyr's importance under Tempus and its power, and bordered on treason by making Londyr appear like a royal family. The colors light blue on grey were also taken from Merker's ancestral colors.

The family emblem was designed by Harnfeldt Londyr in 557 b. OW. It was, as custom demanded, a shield, though Londyr's was of unusual shape. It was divided into three sections. The top strip was the Swordswinger sigil; Londyr could use it because both the Harkens and the Frauentyks had members in the Swordswinger Order. The right half displayed the family sigil. The left half displayed Londerhome's emblem; after all, house Londyr was based in Londerhome, and Taren Londyr was its governor.

The family crest featured its emblem in the center, flanked by a crowned dove and a cormorant. The two birds stood on the shields of great enemies vanquished by the Londyrs: they displayed the emblems of Brimmer and the Free Marches. The crest also featured contemporary weapons, displaying the family's martial prowess, as well as the imperial banner and Londerhome's war banner. Londyr allowed itself to display these because its family members had carried both to battle and victory.