Editing Lineage:House Lineages (section)

=House of Stuart=

[[Image:Thistle1.jpg]]

Positive Stereotype:  Principled statesman and leader on the world stage.

Negative Stereotype:  Pompous tyrant and oppressor.

Symbol:  Green thistle.

Signature Spell:  Detect Magic.  “Arcane Divination”

Magical Style:  Medieval French with Scottish influences.

The House of Stuart is the most powerful, richest, and most influential House of magi in the western world.  If any House can be said to rule, it is them.  Though they are an old line, the Stuarts have thoroughly embraced the modern world.  They were among the first to shift their power-base from crowns and lands to politicians and corporations and they seek always to be on the cutting edge of changing times.  Their power has won them many enemies, however.  Even those they work with most closely, such as the other great English Houses, regard them with jealousy and yearn for a taste of their power.  The House of Stuart still holds the crown of England, a symbol of its authority.  Stuart possessions include British Petroleum, ConocoPhillips, Wal-Mart Stores, IBM, and News Corporation.

Originally from Brittany, the House of Stuart fled to Britain in the 11th century to escape extermination at the hands of the House of Capet.  They seized the crown of Scotland in the 14th century, having “crushed the witches” and consolidated their power so effectively that in the 17th century, aided by the House of Flavii, they were able to conquer England from the eternally squabbling Houses of Lancaster and York.  After they were briefly removed from power by the English Civil War, the House of Stuart became more accommodating towards the Houses it had conquered, retaining ultimate power but “respecting the ancient freedoms” of the great English Houses and relying on them for support and advice.  British colonization of the Americas was a Stuart project and members of the House were stationed in every significant North American settlement.  For many mages, the American Revolution was less about democracy or taxation than it was about breaking Stuart power over North America.  While the revolution failed to strip the Stuarts of their premier position in North America, it forced important political concessions, including an end to the Stuarts monopoly on running North American governments.  The Stuarts sided with the North in the American Civil War, not on ideological grounds, but because they wanted to disrupt the supply of cotton to Lancaster’s factories back in England.  They also sided strongly with the Allies in the two world wars, fearing the loss of their British Empire to the Nazis and Japanese.

Mortal Politics:  The government needs to loosen regulations binding corporations for the good of the economy.  Taxes need to be slashed to support economic growth.  The government also needs to do more to support Americas ailing primary industries, because no nation is secure if it cannot farm, mine and raise meat for itself.  The US was quite right to invade Afghanistan and Iraq.  It is only natural for strong states to take charge over weak ones.  However, the US needs to understand that democracy is the antithesis of security and that a strong dictator needs to be placed over these regions or they will always be in rebellion against the foreigner.

Cost:  12 points.

Disadvantages:  Ban of the Stuart.  Mages of the House of Stuart are psychologically unable to make use of any weapon other than a sword or knife, even if their life depends on it.  The Stuarts shrug and say that such eccentricities are the mark of aristocracy.  Their enemies whisper that the House enchanted its own blood to make sure that a Stuart would never be a foot-soldier.  (10 points).

Skills:  Administration, Diplomacy, Economics, Fencing (Any), Law, Leadership, Occultism, Politics, Public Speaking, Savoir-Faire, Symbol Drawing (Western Hermetic), Thaumatology.

Spells:
Communication and Empathy:  Sense Life.
Earth:  Seek Earth.
Food:  Test Food.
Knowledge:  Detect Magic.
Light and Darkness:  Light.
Meta:  Counterspell.
Mind Control:  Keen Hearing.
Necromantic:  Death Vision.
Protection and Warning:  Shield.
Water:  Seek Water.


Relations

The Houses

House of Anjou:  They blame us for taking the English throne and think that our premier place in the world was stolen from them.  They will never be at peace with us and so we have no choice but to destroy them.

House of Cain:  They are an unnecessary complication of the political system.  Only a fool would rely on them instead of on their own agent.

House of Capet:  We won.  You lost.  Die now.

House of Carolus:  They are consolidating their power in Europe and must not be allowed to gain a foothold in the Americas.

House of Flavii:  Politics is a science with them, and betrayal is an art.

House of Hapsburg:  The want to take our place as supreme power.  They must be defeated or we will be.

House of Julii:  They infest the upper ranks of the world’s armies.  But what is the cure?  It is better to have them as friends than enemies but watch them closely.

House of Lancaster:  They resent us, plot against us, seek to take our place, yet political circumstance makes them our right arm.  They cannot be dispensed with so they must be reigned in and controlled.

Order of Lilith:  So very ancient.  So very mysterious.  What would we have to do to pry their secrets from them?

House of Medici:  Too powerful in the international markets, too powerful in the Catholic Church, but too useful to destroy.

House of Romanov:  They are a wild card and a destabilizing influence.  Nobody knows what they are plotting to do, but they must be trying to change the status quo.

House of Trastámara:  They are disliked and it is socially dangerous to associate with them.

House of Ummayad:  Whatever are we going to do with them?  We can’t just leave them be to plot away at whatever they are plotting.

House of Warwick:  We must retain our propaganda department, but they can never be fully trusted.

House of York:  Political power depends ultimately on the use of force and it is they who supply the force that keeps us in power.  Oh, but they are jealous of our power and position.  A ruler is no more secure than the loyalty of the army.

The Rebellion

Order of Boudicca:  These terrorist scum are too good for hanging.

Order of Copernicus:  Much that they learn out of curiosity has very serious applications to aeronautics, missile systems and information technology.

Order of Darwin:  They make good doctors and everyone needs good doctors.

Order of Eve:  As long as they are allowed to pose and posture freely, they are happy and of little concern.

Order of Jesus:  They are trouble, but suppressing them would only encourage them.

Order of Judas:  They must be stamped out.  Regicide sets a bad example.

Order of Siddhartha:  They retreat from the world, which is ideal in a Rebel.

Order of Solon:  They make a lot of disturbing speeches, but in the end it is harmless venting of steam that might otherwise build up dangerously.

Order of Spartacus:  They demonstrate the importance of not squeezing your local human assets too hard too blatantly.

Order of Thales:  The price of a thriving education system is that it fosters the occasional smug, self-indulgent, useless clique, like this.

Order of Utnapishtim:  They are proud of their lineage, but what have they done lately?