Wine, Waves and War

House V'neef: The youngest of the Dynastic Houses of the Blessed Isle.

V'neef herself is a Dragon-Blooded of exceptional bloodline, a Wood-aspected matriarch at the age of sixty. Her house, made up of six Exalted children, their spouses and the few grandchildren sired so far, is tiny but influential. V'neef had the favor of the Scarlet Empress, and was clearly being groomed for something major before the Empress disappeared without a trace.

But V'neef has no illusions: the Scarlet Throne is beyond her grasp. She simply wishes to make sure that she rides the tide well, and maintains the prosperity of her growing house, a sure thing considering its interests. V'neef owns the only vineyards in the Blessed Isle, and the vintage they craft is in high demand. They also have managed to hold on to their Satrapies in the South, and their coffers continue to fill from those endeavors.

But the biggest point of power for the V'neef is also the biggest source of contention among the Great Houses. In effort to shake up the status quo a bit, the Scarlet Empress granted House V'neef control over the Imperial Merchant Navy, a massive trading fleet that oversees the huge majority of commerce between the Blessed Isle and the Threshold. As a result, V'neef coffers overflow dramatically...and the jealousy of the other Great Houses burns brightly.