House Dunamai

Revision as of 16:47, 25 April 2012

Formed after Korbin the Mad began his life in Arnor, House Dunamai is a relatively small but tightly-knit sect formed around the Dunamai family. Although some members of what is considered the family are not related, Korbin believes they are related in their madness; he professes that madness is a blessed disease, and that all the world must be infected to be righteous. He has made his mission, as well as the mission of House Dunamai, to spread madness across the world through various means.

Dunamai Heraldry

Family Heraldry

The Dunamai name is known for its heritage of faring the sea. The family crest is three sea scallops on a background of black, sometimes adorned with a chevron to indicate military service. When the Dunamai name was made noble, with Korbin Dunamai made lord of a small territory soon thereafter made known as "the Madlands", the crest was altered. The new coat of arms was quartered, with the old crest in the upper right. The lower left square was made the iron cross, a symbol which Korbin once chose to fly as a flag on the seas to show his allegiance was to his faith rather than to any one man. The remaining squares were filled with his colors, a scarlet crimson and a royal purple, in equal alternating checkers. Such was made the Dunamai family crest.

House Dunamai Coat of Arms

The House crest differs. It is simply the iron cross, in the purest of white, beset on a black square atop a vertical split of black and white. It shows the balance of all things valued-- virtue, honesty, dignity, honor-- with all that compromised those things for practicality, which Korbin believed to sometimes be necessary, without forsaking faith in one another, in one's self, or in one's god.

Prerequisites

All members of House Dunamai must have the following:

1. A connection to the Dunamai Family or an appointed emmissary
2. Proper garb as to represent themselves as proud Belegrim
3. A personal symbol, presented in the spirit of heraldry or a coat of arms, with a complete first and last fighting name
4. Their own armaments, or the means with which to acquire it
5. A proper offering for the initiation ritual, which must consist of the following:
   1. Yarn
   2. Cheese or Lettuce
   3. A stone worthy of housing one's soul

Only once these things are managed may one begin the initiation into House Dunamai.

Initiation Ritual

The initiation into House Dunamai takes place in three phases.

Acceptance of the Offering

The offering is taken from the initiate, and is destroyed or consumed in a way that is seen appropriate with respect to the members present and the initiate himself. The stone is taken by the ritual master and held until the end of the ritual, at which point the initiate's soul will be metaphorically set into the stone.

Initiation Games

Throught the trials of initiation, the initiate will be tested against the rest of House Dunamai. The games will always be different, and there is no static list of possible games for new initiates. Each game must be a sound test of the initiate's skills and resolve, and there must be no less than three games. Initiates seeking to become Ordinators will be tested in combat, while initiates seeking to become Charges will be tested by other means tailored to their abilities.

The initiate is not required to prevail in each game, but must show valor, wisdom, wit, and perseverance throughout.

Kinship Feast

After the initiate has made the offering and has performed acceptably in the games, a feast is held. Sometime during this feast, the ritual master will present to the initiate two things: the stone used as the offering, and a belt flag bearing the banner of House Dunamai. Once this is done, the initiate will become either an Ordinator or a Charge.

Members

The members of House Dunamai are seperated into three categories. The family, which is the core of the House; the Ordinators, who are the warriors that fly the House banner; and the Charges, who are non-combatant members that serve in other facets of life. Emmisaries are members who have been granted the ability to gather other members under the banner of House Dunamai without the recruits knowing the Family.

Dunamai Family

• Lord Korbin Arhantas Dunamai the Mad "The Mad Lord"
• Lady Karma Nicolette Dunamai
• Gabriel Ashborne, advisorate and tactician to the House
• Ancilla Ignis, slave to the Lord

Ordinators

• Croc, understudy to the Lord

Charges

Emmisaries

Allegience

Currently, as per the decision of Lord Korbin the Mad, House Dunamai is committed to Arnor under fealty of High King Angmarth. But Korbin does not forget his roots, and also feels loyalty to Peregrine and Muxlovia.