Editing Lineage:House Lineages (section)

=House of Anjou=

[[Image:Broomflower.jpg]]

Positive Stereotype:  Chivalrous warrior.

Negative Stereotype:  Violent destroyer.

Symbol:  Broom flower.

Signature Spell:  Permanent Madness.  “Oubliette”.

Magical Style:  French medieval.	

The House of Anjou is the oldest surviving House with a claim to the English throne, and on those grounds regard themselves as the rightful holders of the power now wielded on the world stage by the House of Stuart.  Though the Anjou’s medieval glory days are long past, they hold on as a formidable faction through courage, will and ingenuity, working towards the day when they will dominate the English speaking world and beyond.  Their fierce independence and proud defiance of the other English Houses has left them politically isolated and their romanticism has led them to adapt less well to the modern world than many of their rivals.  However, their tenacity is legendary as is their talent for violence, political or personal as the case may be.  Anjou possessions include the Hewlett-Packard corporation.  The House is heavily invested in the oil industry, especially American and French corporations.  Apprentices are expected to be able to handle themselves both in high society and in combat.  The Anjou have a reputation for their hot tempers.  Bloody actions and madness ran in the line long before they became famous for their magery.  Apprentice magical training is focused on the study of madness, due to fears that the Anjou have a tendency to degenerate into insanity.

The House of Anjou originated in the Anjou region of France in the 10th century.  Ambitious, they allied with the Roman House of Flavii to oppose the power of the French Houses Blois and Capet.  This only pushed Blois and Capet to ally with the Roman House of Julii, almost leading to Anjou’s destruction.  The House of Anjou only survived the purges by staging a brilliant takeover of the English throne in the 12th century, ousting the Capet puppet Harold Godwinson and making alliance with the native House of Wessex to keep the English Julii in line.  Once established in Britain, the Anjou allied with their old enemies the Julii and annihilated the House of Wessex.

The House of Anjou was so successful in establishing its power in England that internal rivalries began to be more important than external ones, leading to two breakaway Houses, Lancaster and York, each of which managed to wrest the throne in turn.  The rivalry for the crown between Anjou, Lancaster and York lasted until the upstart House of Stuart, taking advantage of the weakness that the three Houses were showing after so many years of conflict, took decisive control of the monarchy in the 17th century.  Anjou remained neutral in the English Civil War that same century, only too willing to see the House of Stuart overthrown.

The House of Anjou was among the first European Houses to establish a serious presence in North America, dreaming of building a new kingdom to replace that which they had lost.  Eager to make use of the abundance of land in the new world, they involved themselves heavily in agriculture, particularly cotton, tobacco and vineyards.  They openly supported the revolutionaries in the American Revolution, hoping to replace the Stuarts as the premier power on the North American continent.  However, they lost much of the political capital they had gained with American mages when they backed the South in the American Civil War, not wanting abolition to interfere with their rich plantations.  Anjou became further estranged from other mages in the U.S. when they remained neutral in the two world wars, hoping that German pressure on England would result in the final fall of the House of Stuart, leaving a power vacuum that they could exploit.  On the other hand, they were enthusiastic supporters of, and actively involved in, the conflicts in Korea and Vietnam, desiring new territories.  The House of Anjou has been dreaming of fiefdoms in the Middle East since the first crusade and were also firm supporters of western intervention in Kuwait, Afghanistan and Iraq.  They hope to see the state of Israel fall to the Palestinians so that they can more easily conquer it for their own use.

Mortal Politics:  The US needs to get tough in the middle east.  The resistance there could be crushed tomorrow if the government had the stomach to do it.  The oil would be nice, but the real treasure is ancient knowledge and that is the greatest treasure there is.  Israel has served its purpose as a beach-head and needs to be replaced with a nation we can take more direct control of.  After all, status is power and there is no greater status symbol than holding Jerusalem.  The government should do more to help agriculture, both the small farmers and the agricultural corporations.  It should also offer better incentives to the oil mining industry.

Cost:  16 points.

Advantages:  Language (French, Broken).

Disadvantages:  The Hunger.  The Anjou crave to consume human flesh and blood, an addiction that Richard the Lionheart is said to have brought back from the crusades with him.  They suffer from the Draining disadvantage, losing 2 HP at midnight if they do not consume either.  Flesh to eat is the greatest pleasure, but blood will suffice.  (5 points).

Perk:  Flowers of the Anjou.  Flowers are a common element in Anjou magic.  Any Anjou who casts a spell on a flower does so at +2, +3 if the flower is a broom.

Skills:  Drive (Automobile), Guns (Rifle), History (English, Medieval), Karate, Riding (Horse), Savoir-Faire, Symbol Drawing (Western Hermetic), Tactics.

Spells:
Body Control:  Clumsiness, Grace, Itch, Spasm.
Mind Control:  Foolishness, Forgetfulness, Madness, Permanent Madness.
Movement:  Great Haste, Haste.

Relations

The Houses

House of Cain:  A true warrior kills to make conquest, or to defend what is his.  A mage of Cain kills because he loves murder.

House of Capet:  Our oldest enemies and rivals.  It was they who ordered our extermination, forcing us to flee France for England.  The war between us may be long, but in the end, only one of us can be left standing.

House of Carolus:  They are lost in a fantasy world of past glories, but they hate the Capet as we do and that makes them our friends.

House of Flavii:  The Roman necromancers helped us to conquer England and survive the Capet extermination.  If we are to rise to power in the United States, we will need the advice of the Flavii again.

House of Hapsburg:  Only the House of Hapsburg is strong enough to stand against the House of Stuart.  We must make alliance with them.

House of Julii:  Generals and kings a thousand years before our House was born, what they don’t know about power isn’t worth knowing.

House of Lancaster:  Spawn of our House, they are the ungrateful child who betrayed us for power and stole the crown of England from us.  They have become so lost in their own lies that they have gone mad.

Order of Lilith:  Those who serve no-one shall be prey to all.

House of Medici:  The bankers have no honor, but we need them and their credit.  If we succeed in our ambitions, we can repay them on our own terms.

House of Romanov:  The princes and princesses of old Russia are down on their luck, but they are gifted mages and they fight hard and dirty.  If you can put up with their wounded pride, they can make useful, even loyal, allies.

House of Stuart:  The usurpers who hold the wealth and power that belongs to us by right.  The House of Stuart reigns as first among the Houses, taking first pick of whatever is taxed from the mortals.

House of Trastámara:  They may be bad at making themselves loved but they are oh so very good at making themselves feared.  Everyone respects them, even if few will admit it.

House of Ummayad:  The mages of the east are wise and have always had a thing or two to teach us, but making them talk is neither easy nor safe.  Don’t assume that they are weaklings just because they are skulkers.

House of Warwick:  Who would have thought that the little illusionists of Warwick would last so long?  They have enough cunning and duplicy to be a useful tool or a dangerous one.

House of York:  Twin of Lancaster, they spawned from us and then betrayed us.  Now they infect the armies of the world to keep illigitimate governments in power.  Their corruption makes them feral.

The Revolution

Order of Boudicca:  What are the peasants complaining about now?  It may be necessary to crush them every now and again.

Order of Copernicus:  Don’t underestimate the scientists’ contribution to battle.  Their studies have some very practical and deadly applications.

Order of Darwin:  More scientists!  These animal mages haven’t learned to fight yet, but they will.  Then they are going to be interesting.

Order of Eve:  They are an old, old order and have seen a great deal.  Cowardly they may be but they are also deceptive and cunning.  Keep an eye on them.

Order of Jesus:  Surely they are just looking to be put to death by calling themselves that.

Order of Judas:  The bastards turned the Houses of York and Lancaster against us and cost us Britain and the empire that was to come.

Order of Siddhartha:  As if we didn’t have enough trouble with religion, they had to import Buddhist mysticism.

Order of Solon:  The eternal political malcontents, all complaints and no understanding of the real world.  There’s nothing wrong with them that a good hanging wouldn’t cure.

Order of Spartacus:  The proud, unruly warriors love to fight and die and they do it so very well.  They cause trouble, but they give such a great show before they are squashed.

Order of Thales:  The philosophers are too lost in their theories to see anything of the real world.  Their very uselessness makes owning one a status symbol.

Order of Utnapishtim:  Dirty, violent, dim-witted and without honor.  They love the wilderness because they are no better than animals.