Wine, Waves and War

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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.

The characters will begin on the Threshold, tending to the needs of the Satrapies and the Merchant Fleet.

Player Characters

There will be three factors to character creation: Age, Aspect and Relationships.

• Age: Half of the PCs will be young Exalts of starting player character age, reflecting the younger children and grandchildren of V'neef.
  • The other half will be older, with more beginning Experience, reflecting the older children of V'neef and their spouses. These characters have been Exalts for roughly 20 years, granting them 80 xp for use in buying Charms and Combos, 60 xp for purchasing Abilities, Specialties and Backgrounds, 40 xp for purchasing Attributes and Virtues, and 20 xp for purchasing Essence and Willpower.
• Aspect: Half of the PCs will be direct descendants of V'neef (and as such, Wood-aspected). The other half can be spouses or grandchildren with different Aspects.
  • Those who are descendants of V'neef must take a minimum of 3 dots in the Breeding Background.
• Relationships: Relationships between the PCs should be established, as well. Siblings, spouses, nieces and nephews, children - these are all potential roles that PCs can play relative to one another.

Setting

The game begins in the Threshold, in the Varang City-States, one of the V'neef Satrapies. There may be a variety of reasons why the PCs are there:

• Satrap: An Exalt of sufficient influence may occupy the position of Satrap.
• Merchant Fleetsman: Others may be tied to the V'neef Merchant Fleet.
• Vintner: Yet others of the House may be in the Threshold overseeing one of the many vast wineries owned by House V'neef.
• Vacation: Whether enjoying a honeymoon, a well-deserved vacation from the Blessed Isle's intrigues, an extended healing rest or a tour through the Threshold just after graduation from one of the major academies of the Dragon-Blooded, the PC is here to enjoy him or herself.
• Banishment: Scandal sometimes builds up a little too much on the Blessed Isle, where everyone knows what everyone else is doing. Times like those call for a bit of a retreat from society, and the Threshold is perfect for that.
• Official Business: Exalts tied to certain organizations in the Empire may be in the Threshold tending to their duties in that capacity, whether as spies and operatives, missionaries or factotums.