https://starcrusade.fadingsuns.org/api.php?action=feedcontributions&feedformat=atom&user=AmberStar Crusade MUX - User contributions [en]2026-10-17T01:56:52ZUser contributionsMediaWiki 1.42.2https://starcrusade.fadingsuns.org/index.php?title=User:Amber&diff=2915User:Amber2013-10-09T13:52:25Z<p>Amber: Adding email, in case anyone wants to keep track of me... ;)</p>
<hr />
<div>* British<br />
* Chronically ill<br />
* Fan of Fading Suns from '96<br />
* MUSHing from the early 90s<br />
* Player of [[Amber|Amber van Gelder]]<br />
* Roleplaying since the mid 80s<br />
* Secondary character: Dominic Acco<br />
* If you want to find me OOC, you can get hold of me via (xmrcaitlin) at (gmail) dot (com)</div>Amberhttps://starcrusade.fadingsuns.org/index.php?title=Van_Gelder&diff=2703Van Gelder2013-06-02T11:14:30Z<p>Amber: /* History of the House */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{Infobox Noblehouse | image=Van Gelder Big.jpg|px 150 | fullname=House Van Gelder | mt= ?? |col= Silver (grey) and Black | hw= Urth / Malignatius / Yathrib |th= Zacharia Van Gelder |lh=[[Amber]] van Gelder}}<br />
<br />
<center>'''''DRAFT - NOT YET APPROVED BY STAFF'''''</center><br><br />
<br />
''<center>Nos melius quam nos aguntur.''</center><br />
<center>~~</center><br />
''<center>What we do ourselves, we do better.''</center><br><br />
<br />
An ancient house, long known for maintaining ties to industry and aristocracy alike, the Van Gelder of the Known Worlds fell from grace four and a half centuries ago... but their recently rediscovered kin on Yathrib, separated by 950 years of divergent history, never lost their status as one of the 'Great Houses' of the world, and are now radically different in culture to their kin beyond the jumpgate.<br />
<br />
== History of the House ==<br />
<br />
With their roots in a coalition of Dutch, Swiss, and Belgian zaibatsu that formed on Urth to send joint expeditions through the jumpgate during the early years of human star-travel, the Van Gelder lay claim to a history that spans more than two and a half millennia. It has not, however, tended to be a terribly ''exciting'' narrative - though for the great majority of the time, it was a tale of near-unbroken success. Quiet, steady accumulation yielded great dividends over a span of centuries.<br />
<br />
Seeing the writing on the wall for the First Republic, the coalition acquired several outlying planets, intermarried members of its leading families, and formed House Van Gelder (named for the Chief Executive Officer of the merged corporation) to set itself on the path to becoming one of the leading noble houses of the First Republic.<br />
<br />
It remained a Great House throughout the interregnum, the Second Republic, and into the Dark Ages - and it was in the wake of the Second Republic's collapse that the Yathribi jumpgate closed in 4093, sealing off the holy world of visions from the rest of human space.<br />
<br />
In the main part of the Known Worlds, the Van Gelder retained their prominent position into the 46th century, and were among those to ally with Vladimir as he became the first man to reunify those worlds still accessible through the jumpweb. The new Emperor, however, broke promises made to a number of his allies - including the Van Gelder, who were among those Houses to turn on their betrayer, seeking to bring him low.<br />
<br />
They failed, and only survived by surrendering to one of those Houses with whom Vladimir had not broken faith. As a result, for the past 450 years, the Van Gelder of the Known Worlds have been vassals of House Decados. Stripped of their old homeworlds, living only at the sufferance of their masters (though they are permitted to manage various holdings, including some valuable ones on Malignatius), and converted into a house of assassins and spies, they now bear little resemblance to their former selves. Only the blandly unremarkable facade remains.<br />
<br />
On Yathrib, however, the Van Gelder were among a number of Great Houses that not merely survived but thrived, even as their kin were falling elsewhere. Holding one of the original Seven Seigneuries, they have played an important (but not dominant) role throughout the post-separation history of the Shining Gulf, and they have more than once held one of the Great Offices of the Crusader State.<br />
<br />
Here, the van Gelder - the locals (like some of their offworld kin) customarily dropping the capital V in favour of an older form of the name - cemented a role for themselves as a guild- and commerce-friendly House, known for their stewardship of their lands, their close ties to the sea, and the great cattle and horse-breeding ranches of their hinterland in the veldt.<br />
<br />
== Local House Culture and Ways ==<br />
<br />
* '''''Blandly avaricious past'''''<br><br />
<br />
For much of its history, the House was known for little save an appreciation for wealth: its members were regarded by many of their peers as bland and uninteresting, and even more than the al-Malik they had a reputation for unfashionably commercial interests and connections. Still, straddling the worlds of industry and aristocracy certainly seemed to serve as a recipe for success for century after century.<br />
<br />
On Yathrib during its 95 decades of separation, the local van Gelder retained many of their connections to commerce and industry, and the greatest Guild stronghold on the planet is to be found in the Free City of Rotdam, which has prospered under the protection of the County of Johburg.<br />
<br />
* '''''What we do ourselves, we do better'''''<br />
<br />
The long decline of native industry and the loss of all interstellar commerce, however, wrought great changes upon the Yathribi van Gelder. Long associated with the neo-Boer movement that had settled the veldt of Johburg, the local van Gelder increasingly became agrarian aristocrats - their patronage of commerce and industry turning from shareholdings and seats on boards into a close relationship with the emergent guilds, especially with those that gradually took over Rotdam and with the technical experts who maintained the planet's links to near orbit and outer space.<br />
<br />
The change in role altered the familial image - and the manner in which it saw itself. The pursuit of wealth was no longer viable as a stand-alone measure of success, when wealth was increasingly tied up with land and land required power-plays and risky expenditure to acquire. Instead, the van Gelder increasingly promoted the distinctive qualities of the neo-Boer culture - independence, determination, and self-reliance - and sought to enhance their wealth by developing the lands they already held, acquiring new fiefs only cautiously.<br />
<br />
More interested in trade and internal investment than external expansion, the van Gelder have frequently been proponents of compromise and cautious ambition amidst the often-turbulent politics of the State: they believe in aspiring to change the world for the better, but commerce and fief-management are each so much more reliable in a stable environment, after all. In war, however, the van Gelder tend to take a 'never say die' attitude towards the defence of their estates, their trade networks, and their people: to allow undue harm to befall their interests would entail both a loss of status and a dire breach of honour. And should people be lost to the enemy, they are not to be forgotten - however long it might take to achieve, captives have a right to liberation, or to vengeance if it is too late for freedom.<br />
<br />
* '''''Play hard, but play fair'''''<br />
<br />
Some noble houses found themselves too small to survive after Yathrib's abrupt isolation. Among those absorbed by the prosperous van Gelder were elements of House Windsor, with results most visible in the unusual hobbies now beloved of the van Gelder: cricket is a County-wide obsession for many at all levels of society, while rugby predominates during the cooler months of the year. A preoccupation with such unusual interests (especially when leavened with maritime and commercial idioms) sometimes renders van Gelder conversation rather hard for others to understand.<br />
<br />
Windsor influence might also be detected in the van Gelder approach to honour: in addition to a firm expectation that one's word is one's bond there is a marked emphasis on noblesse oblige - to truly be a noble, one must act nobly, by honouring and assisting those above and below oneself in the hierarchy of society. Those for whom a noble is responsible merit her care and attention, as do those superiors to whom she owes feudal service; whether or not an explicit promise has been made to the individual in question, by accepting her privileged role in society a noble is deemed to have also accepted the responsibility of aiding and protecting her subjects and superiors alike. To some pragmatic van Gelder, those who are ''not'' directly a noble's responsibility are entirely unprotected, though others adopt a markedly altruistic attitude, drawing upon the Church's doctrine declaring nobles to be martyrs for society as a whole.<br />
<br />
As an extension of both noblesse oblige and their changed attitude to wealth, the van Gelder now take an unusually paternalistic and hands-on approach to rulership. An overflowing treasury is considered less a measure of success - and certainly a far inferior mark of culture and good taste - than a well-maintained estate housing a healthy and productive population, or a successful cultural event or work of fine art. Naturally, reserves must be maintained to deal with emergencies, but the simple accumulation of specie for its own sake is distastefully uncouth: after all, the true value of wealth multiplies when it is invested in fine art and the productive improvement of one's homeland.<br />
<br />
Similarly, proper comportment is an important element of honour: only if one is seen to adhere to 'the rules of the game' might one uphold one's good name and truly merit honourable treatment in return - whether in a sporting contest or a life-or-death crisis, honour matters. So, of course, does victory, but it is not the only consideration: "play hard, but play fair" might be a second family motto. Bounders and cads merit severe punishment for their dishonourable deeds; the mark of a gentleman, after all, is playing the game properly. Anything else just wouldn't be cricket.<br />
<br />
== Holdings ==<br />
<br />
Johburg, above all others - it's not 'merely' the County the van Gelder rule, but the region with which the house is most closely connected by culture and inclination. The House has been intimately associated with the area that now forms the County since the early days of human settlement on Yathrib. Formerly, the County also extended across the Gulf to the East, and there are still scattered van Gelder survivors among the taifa lordships beyond the County's frontiers.<br />
<br />
Long-standing mercantile ties led to van Gelder presence throughout the Pearl Cities and the Antipodes, though most such enclaves have been eliminated during the past century of warfare; survivals are most frequent where the al-Malik of Hydessos have helped to protect them, much as the van Gelder sheltered al-Malik within the bounds of Johburg.<br />
<br />
The centrepiece of the van Gelder presence is the Johburg itself, an ancient fortress dug into the heart of a hill overlooking the city of the same name, though the iconic Fisher Hall adjacent to Akko and the Summer Palace outside Margat are much more luxurious court centres than the subterranean base.<br />
<br />
== Local Septs ==<br />
<br />
* '''din Alt''': The most noteworthy local branch of the van Gelder are the din Alt, who have long been the pre-eminent sept of the House on the planet. Regarded as the senior line by both ancestry and by right of their title, they have held the County of Johburg for centuries.<br />
<br />
* '''Gant''': A van Gelder sept has long held the Sovereign Baronetcy of Gant. It has frequently been subject to rumours suggesting that it is intimately involved with the Board of Regulation - House van Gelder's security service on Yathrib. During the Betrayal and Wars, it was almost wiped out.<br />
<br />
* '''Margat''': One of the more senior lineages, closely associated with the din Alts - but, like many other Yathribi lines, they were all but exterminated during the Betrayal and subsequent years of fighting.<br />
<br />
* '''Riven''': Technically a minor house in its own right, the line of the Barons Riven of Lattakieh (now a taifa fief, South of Tyche) has long been closely allied with the van Gelder, and is now regarded by many as part of the larger house.<br />
<br />
== Personnel ==<br />
<br />
'''Leading Yathribi van Gelder:''' <br />
* [[Amber|Amber van Gelder]]: Countess of [[Johburg]], head of house<br />
** '''Nathalie van Gelder''': legitimised natural daughter, heiress<br />
* '''Valentijn van Gelder''': Baron of Teldam; Amber's younger brother<br />
** Wife and (adult) children<br />
** Legitimised natural son (also adult)<br />
* '''Ysbrandt van Gelder''': Sovereign Baronet of Gant; cousin to Amber and Valentijn<br />
* '''Seraphine de Moley''': nee van Gelder; dowager baroness and regent of Arvin; cousin to Amber and Valentijn<br />
* '''Sonja van Gelder''': (NPC) Baroness of Margat; heiress to the Margat line; wife of Arkady Decados<br />
<br />
'''Offworld Van Gelder'''<br />
* [[Agravain|Agravain Van Gelder]]: Inquisitor of Yathrib; Abbot of Saint Palamedes<br />
* '''Trisje Van Gelder''': Knight of the Phoenix (Imperial Questing Knight)<br />
<br />
'''NPC Baronets''' (incomplete list)<br />
* '''Aldert van Gelder''': Lord of Eisenborg (Helborg)<br />
* '''Sir Bors van Gelder''': Lord of Shaft VII (Helborg)<br />
* '''Noire van Gelder''': Lady of Great Bay (Johburg) and Blackwater (Teldam)<br />
* '''Otto van Gelder''': "Fat Lord Otto", Baronet of Vaal Crossing<br />
* '''Captain ?? van Gelder''': Baronet of Three Cliffs (Teldam)<br />
<br />
== Typical Yathribi van Gelder Traits ==<br />
<br />
* '''Characteristics:''' Wits, Ego, Calm<br />
* '''Natural Skills:''' Charm, Melee, Observe<br />
* '''Learned Skills:''' Ride, Sailor, Steward<br />
* '''Blessings/Curses:''' Condescending, Noblesse Oblige, Subtle<br />
* '''Benefices:''' Guild allies, technological artefacts</div>Amberhttps://starcrusade.fadingsuns.org/index.php?title=Van_Gelder&diff=2702Van Gelder2013-06-02T11:09:16Z<p>Amber: /* History of the House */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{Infobox Noblehouse | image=Van Gelder Big.jpg|px 150 | fullname=House Van Gelder | mt= ?? |col= Silver (grey) and Black | hw= Urth / Malignatius / Yathrib |th= Zacharia Van Gelder |lh=[[Amber]] van Gelder}}<br />
<br />
<center>'''''DRAFT - NOT YET APPROVED BY STAFF'''''</center><br><br />
<br />
''<center>Nos melius quam nos aguntur.''</center><br />
<center>~~</center><br />
''<center>What we do ourselves, we do better.''</center><br><br />
<br />
An ancient house, long known for maintaining ties to industry and aristocracy alike, the Van Gelder of the Known Worlds fell from grace four and a half centuries ago... but their recently rediscovered kin on Yathrib, separated by 950 years of divergent history, never lost their status as one of the 'Great Houses' of the world, and are now radically different in culture to their kin beyond the jumpgate.<br />
<br />
== History of the House ==<br />
<br />
With their roots in a coalition of Dutch, Swiss, and Belgian zaibatsu that formed on Urth to send joint expeditions through the jumpgate during the early years of human star-travel, the Van Gelder lay claim to a history that spans more than two and a half millennia. It has not, however, tended to be a terribly ''exciting'' narrative - though for the great majority of the time, it was a tale of near-unbroken success. Quiet, steady accumulation yielded great dividends over a span of centuries.<br />
<br />
Seeing the writing on the wall for the First Republic, the coalition acquired several outlying planets, intermarried members of its leading families, and formed House Van Gelder (named for the Chief Executive Officer of the merged corporation) to set itself on the path to becoming one of the leading noble houses of the First Republic.<br />
<br />
It remained a Great House throughout the interregnum, the Second Republic, and into the Dark Ages - and it was in the wake of the Second Republic's collapse that the Yathribi jumpgate closed in 4093, sealing off the holy world of visions from the rest of human space.<br />
<br />
In the main part of the Known Worlds, the Van Gelder retained their prominent position into the 46th century, and were among those to ally with Vladimir as he became the first man to reunify those worlds still accessible through the jumpweb. The new Emperor, however, broke promises made to a number of his allies - including the Van Gelder, who were among those Houses to turn on their betrayer, seeking to bring him low.<br />
<br />
They failed, and only survived by surrendering to one of those Houses with whom Vladimir had not broken faith. As a result, for the past 450 years, the Van Gelder of the Known Worlds have been vassals of House Decados - stripped of their old homeworlds, living only at the sufferance of their masters (though they are permitted to manage various holdings, including some valuable ones on Malignatius), and converted into a house of assassins and spies, they now bear little resemblance to their former selves. Only the blandly unremarkable facade remains.<br />
<br />
On Yathrib, however, the Van Gelder were among a number of Great Houses that not merely survived but thrived, even as their kin were falling elsewhere. Holding one of the original Seven Seigneuries, they have played an important (but not dominant) role throughout the post-separation history of the Shining Gulf, and they have more than once held one of the Great Offices of the Crusader State.<br />
<br />
Here, the van Gelder - the locals (like some of their offworld kin) customarily dropping the capital V in favour of an older form of the name - cemented a role for themselves as a guild- and commerce-friendly House, known for their stewardship of their lands, their close ties to the sea, and the great cattle and horse-breeding ranches of their hinterland in the veldt.<br />
<br />
== Local House Culture and Ways ==<br />
<br />
* '''''Blandly avaricious past'''''<br><br />
<br />
For much of its history, the House was known for little save an appreciation for wealth: its members were regarded by many of their peers as bland and uninteresting, and even more than the al-Malik they had a reputation for unfashionably commercial interests and connections. Still, straddling the worlds of industry and aristocracy certainly seemed to serve as a recipe for success for century after century.<br />
<br />
On Yathrib during its 95 decades of separation, the local van Gelder retained many of their connections to commerce and industry, and the greatest Guild stronghold on the planet is to be found in the Free City of Rotdam, which has prospered under the protection of the County of Johburg.<br />
<br />
* '''''What we do ourselves, we do better'''''<br />
<br />
The long decline of native industry and the loss of all interstellar commerce, however, wrought great changes upon the Yathribi van Gelder. Long associated with the neo-Boer movement that had settled the veldt of Johburg, the local van Gelder increasingly became agrarian aristocrats - their patronage of commerce and industry turning from shareholdings and seats on boards into a close relationship with the emergent guilds, especially with those that gradually took over Rotdam and with the technical experts who maintained the planet's links to near orbit and outer space.<br />
<br />
The change in role altered the familial image - and the manner in which it saw itself. The pursuit of wealth was no longer viable as a stand-alone measure of success, when wealth was increasingly tied up with land and land required power-plays and risky expenditure to acquire. Instead, the van Gelder increasingly promoted the distinctive qualities of the neo-Boer culture - independence, determination, and self-reliance - and sought to enhance their wealth by developing the lands they already held, acquiring new fiefs only cautiously.<br />
<br />
More interested in trade and internal investment than external expansion, the van Gelder have frequently been proponents of compromise and cautious ambition amidst the often-turbulent politics of the State: they believe in aspiring to change the world for the better, but commerce and fief-management are each so much more reliable in a stable environment, after all. In war, however, the van Gelder tend to take a 'never say die' attitude towards the defence of their estates, their trade networks, and their people: to allow undue harm to befall their interests would entail both a loss of status and a dire breach of honour. And should people be lost to the enemy, they are not to be forgotten - however long it might take to achieve, captives have a right to liberation, or to vengeance if it is too late for freedom.<br />
<br />
* '''''Play hard, but play fair'''''<br />
<br />
Some noble houses found themselves too small to survive after Yathrib's abrupt isolation. Among those absorbed by the prosperous van Gelder were elements of House Windsor, with results most visible in the unusual hobbies now beloved of the van Gelder: cricket is a County-wide obsession for many at all levels of society, while rugby predominates during the cooler months of the year. A preoccupation with such unusual interests (especially when leavened with maritime and commercial idioms) sometimes renders van Gelder conversation rather hard for others to understand.<br />
<br />
Windsor influence might also be detected in the van Gelder approach to honour: in addition to a firm expectation that one's word is one's bond there is a marked emphasis on noblesse oblige - to truly be a noble, one must act nobly, by honouring and assisting those above and below oneself in the hierarchy of society. Those for whom a noble is responsible merit her care and attention, as do those superiors to whom she owes feudal service; whether or not an explicit promise has been made to the individual in question, by accepting her privileged role in society a noble is deemed to have also accepted the responsibility of aiding and protecting her subjects and superiors alike. To some pragmatic van Gelder, those who are ''not'' directly a noble's responsibility are entirely unprotected, though others adopt a markedly altruistic attitude, drawing upon the Church's doctrine declaring nobles to be martyrs for society as a whole.<br />
<br />
As an extension of both noblesse oblige and their changed attitude to wealth, the van Gelder now take an unusually paternalistic and hands-on approach to rulership. An overflowing treasury is considered less a measure of success - and certainly a far inferior mark of culture and good taste - than a well-maintained estate housing a healthy and productive population, or a successful cultural event or work of fine art. Naturally, reserves must be maintained to deal with emergencies, but the simple accumulation of specie for its own sake is distastefully uncouth: after all, the true value of wealth multiplies when it is invested in fine art and the productive improvement of one's homeland.<br />
<br />
Similarly, proper comportment is an important element of honour: only if one is seen to adhere to 'the rules of the game' might one uphold one's good name and truly merit honourable treatment in return - whether in a sporting contest or a life-or-death crisis, honour matters. So, of course, does victory, but it is not the only consideration: "play hard, but play fair" might be a second family motto. Bounders and cads merit severe punishment for their dishonourable deeds; the mark of a gentleman, after all, is playing the game properly. Anything else just wouldn't be cricket.<br />
<br />
== Holdings ==<br />
<br />
Johburg, above all others - it's not 'merely' the County the van Gelder rule, but the region with which the house is most closely connected by culture and inclination. The House has been intimately associated with the area that now forms the County since the early days of human settlement on Yathrib. Formerly, the County also extended across the Gulf to the East, and there are still scattered van Gelder survivors among the taifa lordships beyond the County's frontiers.<br />
<br />
Long-standing mercantile ties led to van Gelder presence throughout the Pearl Cities and the Antipodes, though most such enclaves have been eliminated during the past century of warfare; survivals are most frequent where the al-Malik of Hydessos have helped to protect them, much as the van Gelder sheltered al-Malik within the bounds of Johburg.<br />
<br />
The centrepiece of the van Gelder presence is the Johburg itself, an ancient fortress dug into the heart of a hill overlooking the city of the same name, though the iconic Fisher Hall adjacent to Akko and the Summer Palace outside Margat are much more luxurious court centres than the subterranean base.<br />
<br />
== Local Septs ==<br />
<br />
* '''din Alt''': The most noteworthy local branch of the van Gelder are the din Alt, who have long been the pre-eminent sept of the House on the planet. Regarded as the senior line by both ancestry and by right of their title, they have held the County of Johburg for centuries.<br />
<br />
* '''Gant''': A van Gelder sept has long held the Sovereign Baronetcy of Gant. It has frequently been subject to rumours suggesting that it is intimately involved with the Board of Regulation - House van Gelder's security service on Yathrib. During the Betrayal and Wars, it was almost wiped out.<br />
<br />
* '''Margat''': One of the more senior lineages, closely associated with the din Alts - but, like many other Yathribi lines, they were all but exterminated during the Betrayal and subsequent years of fighting.<br />
<br />
* '''Riven''': Technically a minor house in its own right, the line of the Barons Riven of Lattakieh (now a taifa fief, South of Tyche) has long been closely allied with the van Gelder, and is now regarded by many as part of the larger house.<br />
<br />
== Personnel ==<br />
<br />
'''Leading Yathribi van Gelder:''' <br />
* [[Amber|Amber van Gelder]]: Countess of [[Johburg]], head of house<br />
** '''Nathalie van Gelder''': legitimised natural daughter, heiress<br />
* '''Valentijn van Gelder''': Baron of Teldam; Amber's younger brother<br />
** Wife and (adult) children<br />
** Legitimised natural son (also adult)<br />
* '''Ysbrandt van Gelder''': Sovereign Baronet of Gant; cousin to Amber and Valentijn<br />
* '''Seraphine de Moley''': nee van Gelder; dowager baroness and regent of Arvin; cousin to Amber and Valentijn<br />
* '''Sonja van Gelder''': (NPC) Baroness of Margat; heiress to the Margat line; wife of Arkady Decados<br />
<br />
'''Offworld Van Gelder'''<br />
* [[Agravain|Agravain Van Gelder]]: Inquisitor of Yathrib; Abbot of Saint Palamedes<br />
* '''Trisje Van Gelder''': Knight of the Phoenix (Imperial Questing Knight)<br />
<br />
'''NPC Baronets''' (incomplete list)<br />
* '''Aldert van Gelder''': Lord of Eisenborg (Helborg)<br />
* '''Sir Bors van Gelder''': Lord of Shaft VII (Helborg)<br />
* '''Noire van Gelder''': Lady of Great Bay (Johburg) and Blackwater (Teldam)<br />
* '''Otto van Gelder''': "Fat Lord Otto", Baronet of Vaal Crossing<br />
* '''Captain ?? van Gelder''': Baronet of Three Cliffs (Teldam)<br />
<br />
== Typical Yathribi van Gelder Traits ==<br />
<br />
* '''Characteristics:''' Wits, Ego, Calm<br />
* '''Natural Skills:''' Charm, Melee, Observe<br />
* '''Learned Skills:''' Ride, Sailor, Steward<br />
* '''Blessings/Curses:''' Condescending, Noblesse Oblige, Subtle<br />
* '''Benefices:''' Guild allies, technological artefacts</div>Amberhttps://starcrusade.fadingsuns.org/index.php?title=Van_Gelder&diff=2701Van Gelder2013-06-01T23:31:31Z<p>Amber: /* Local Septs */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{Infobox Noblehouse | image=Van Gelder Big.jpg|px 150 | fullname=House Van Gelder | mt= ?? |col= Silver (grey) and Black | hw= Urth / Malignatius / Yathrib |th= Zacharia Van Gelder |lh=[[Amber]] van Gelder}}<br />
<br />
<center>'''''DRAFT - NOT YET APPROVED BY STAFF'''''</center><br><br />
<br />
''<center>Nos melius quam nos aguntur.''</center><br />
<center>~~</center><br />
''<center>What we do ourselves, we do better.''</center><br><br />
<br />
An ancient house, long known for maintaining ties to industry and aristocracy alike, the Van Gelder of the Known Worlds fell from grace four and a half centuries ago... but their recently rediscovered kin on Yathrib, separated by 950 years of divergent history, never lost their status as one of the 'Great Houses' of the world, and are now radically different in culture to their kin beyond the jumpgate.<br />
<br />
== History of the House ==<br />
<br />
With their roots in a coalition of Dutch, Swiss, and Belgian zaibatsu that formed on Urth to send joint expeditions through the jumpgate during the early years of human star-travel, the Van Gelder lay claim to a history that spans more than two and a half millennia. It has not, however, tended to be a terribly ''exciting'' narrative - though for the great majority of the time, it was a tale of near-unbroken success. Quiet, steady accumulation yielded great dividends over a span of centuries.<br />
<br />
Seeing the writing on the wall for the First Republic, the coalition acquired several outlying planets, intermarried members of its leading families, and formed House Van Gelder (named for the Chief Executive Officer of the merged corporation) to set itself on the path to becoming one of the leading noble houses of the First Republic.<br />
<br />
It remained a Great House throughout the interregnum, the Second Republic, and into the Dark Ages - and it was in the wake of the Second Republic's collapse that the Yathribi jumpgate closed in 4093, sealing off the holy world of visions from the rest of human space.<br />
<br />
In the main part of the Known Worlds, the Van Gelder retained their prominent position into the 46th century, and were among those to ally with Vladimir as he became the first man to reunify those worlds still accessible through the jumpweb. The new Emperor, however, broke promises made to a number of his allies - including the Van Gelder, who were among those Houses to turn on their betrayer, seeking to bring him low.<br />
<br />
They failed, and only survived by surrendering to one of those Houses with whom Vladimir had not broken faith. As a result, for the past 450 years, the Van Gelder of the Known Worlds have been vassals of House Decados - stripped of their old homeworlds, living only at the sufferance of their masters (though they are permitted to manage various holdings, including some valuable ones on Malignatius), and converted into a house of assassins and spies, they now bear little resemblance to their former selves. Only the blandly unremarkable facade remains.<br />
<br />
On Yathrib, however, the Van Gelder were among a number of Great Houses that not merely survived but thrived, even as their kin were falling elsewhere. Holding one of the original Seven Seigneuries, they have played an important (but not dominant) role throughout the post-separation history of the Shining Gulf, and they have more than once held one of the Great Offices of the Crusader State.<br />
<br />
Here, the van Gelder - the locals customarily dropping the capital V in favour of an older form of the name - cemented a role for themselves as a guild- and commerce-friendly House, known for their stewardship of their lands, their close ties to the sea, and the great cattle and horse-breeding ranches of their hinterland in the veldt.<br />
<br />
== Local House Culture and Ways ==<br />
<br />
* '''''Blandly avaricious past'''''<br><br />
<br />
For much of its history, the House was known for little save an appreciation for wealth: its members were regarded by many of their peers as bland and uninteresting, and even more than the al-Malik they had a reputation for unfashionably commercial interests and connections. Still, straddling the worlds of industry and aristocracy certainly seemed to serve as a recipe for success for century after century.<br />
<br />
On Yathrib during its 95 decades of separation, the local van Gelder retained many of their connections to commerce and industry, and the greatest Guild stronghold on the planet is to be found in the Free City of Rotdam, which has prospered under the protection of the County of Johburg.<br />
<br />
* '''''What we do ourselves, we do better'''''<br />
<br />
The long decline of native industry and the loss of all interstellar commerce, however, wrought great changes upon the Yathribi van Gelder. Long associated with the neo-Boer movement that had settled the veldt of Johburg, the local van Gelder increasingly became agrarian aristocrats - their patronage of commerce and industry turning from shareholdings and seats on boards into a close relationship with the emergent guilds, especially with those that gradually took over Rotdam and with the technical experts who maintained the planet's links to near orbit and outer space.<br />
<br />
The change in role altered the familial image - and the manner in which it saw itself. The pursuit of wealth was no longer viable as a stand-alone measure of success, when wealth was increasingly tied up with land and land required power-plays and risky expenditure to acquire. Instead, the van Gelder increasingly promoted the distinctive qualities of the neo-Boer culture - independence, determination, and self-reliance - and sought to enhance their wealth by developing the lands they already held, acquiring new fiefs only cautiously.<br />
<br />
More interested in trade and internal investment than external expansion, the van Gelder have frequently been proponents of compromise and cautious ambition amidst the often-turbulent politics of the State: they believe in aspiring to change the world for the better, but commerce and fief-management are each so much more reliable in a stable environment, after all. In war, however, the van Gelder tend to take a 'never say die' attitude towards the defence of their estates, their trade networks, and their people: to allow undue harm to befall their interests would entail both a loss of status and a dire breach of honour. And should people be lost to the enemy, they are not to be forgotten - however long it might take to achieve, captives have a right to liberation, or to vengeance if it is too late for freedom.<br />
<br />
* '''''Play hard, but play fair'''''<br />
<br />
Some noble houses found themselves too small to survive after Yathrib's abrupt isolation. Among those absorbed by the prosperous van Gelder were elements of House Windsor, with results most visible in the unusual hobbies now beloved of the van Gelder: cricket is a County-wide obsession for many at all levels of society, while rugby predominates during the cooler months of the year. A preoccupation with such unusual interests (especially when leavened with maritime and commercial idioms) sometimes renders van Gelder conversation rather hard for others to understand.<br />
<br />
Windsor influence might also be detected in the van Gelder approach to honour: in addition to a firm expectation that one's word is one's bond there is a marked emphasis on noblesse oblige - to truly be a noble, one must act nobly, by honouring and assisting those above and below oneself in the hierarchy of society. Those for whom a noble is responsible merit her care and attention, as do those superiors to whom she owes feudal service; whether or not an explicit promise has been made to the individual in question, by accepting her privileged role in society a noble is deemed to have also accepted the responsibility of aiding and protecting her subjects and superiors alike. To some pragmatic van Gelder, those who are ''not'' directly a noble's responsibility are entirely unprotected, though others adopt a markedly altruistic attitude, drawing upon the Church's doctrine declaring nobles to be martyrs for society as a whole.<br />
<br />
As an extension of both noblesse oblige and their changed attitude to wealth, the van Gelder now take an unusually paternalistic and hands-on approach to rulership. An overflowing treasury is considered less a measure of success - and certainly a far inferior mark of culture and good taste - than a well-maintained estate housing a healthy and productive population, or a successful cultural event or work of fine art. Naturally, reserves must be maintained to deal with emergencies, but the simple accumulation of specie for its own sake is distastefully uncouth: after all, the true value of wealth multiplies when it is invested in fine art and the productive improvement of one's homeland.<br />
<br />
Similarly, proper comportment is an important element of honour: only if one is seen to adhere to 'the rules of the game' might one uphold one's good name and truly merit honourable treatment in return - whether in a sporting contest or a life-or-death crisis, honour matters. So, of course, does victory, but it is not the only consideration: "play hard, but play fair" might be a second family motto. Bounders and cads merit severe punishment for their dishonourable deeds; the mark of a gentleman, after all, is playing the game properly. Anything else just wouldn't be cricket.<br />
<br />
== Holdings ==<br />
<br />
Johburg, above all others - it's not 'merely' the County the van Gelder rule, but the region with which the house is most closely connected by culture and inclination. The House has been intimately associated with the area that now forms the County since the early days of human settlement on Yathrib. Formerly, the County also extended across the Gulf to the East, and there are still scattered van Gelder survivors among the taifa lordships beyond the County's frontiers.<br />
<br />
Long-standing mercantile ties led to van Gelder presence throughout the Pearl Cities and the Antipodes, though most such enclaves have been eliminated during the past century of warfare; survivals are most frequent where the al-Malik of Hydessos have helped to protect them, much as the van Gelder sheltered al-Malik within the bounds of Johburg.<br />
<br />
The centrepiece of the van Gelder presence is the Johburg itself, an ancient fortress dug into the heart of a hill overlooking the city of the same name, though the iconic Fisher Hall adjacent to Akko and the Summer Palace outside Margat are much more luxurious court centres than the subterranean base.<br />
<br />
== Local Septs ==<br />
<br />
* '''din Alt''': The most noteworthy local branch of the van Gelder are the din Alt, who have long been the pre-eminent sept of the House on the planet. Regarded as the senior line by both ancestry and by right of their title, they have held the County of Johburg for centuries.<br />
<br />
* '''Gant''': A van Gelder sept has long held the Sovereign Baronetcy of Gant. It has frequently been subject to rumours suggesting that it is intimately involved with the Board of Regulation - House van Gelder's security service on Yathrib. During the Betrayal and Wars, it was almost wiped out.<br />
<br />
* '''Margat''': One of the more senior lineages, closely associated with the din Alts - but, like many other Yathribi lines, they were all but exterminated during the Betrayal and subsequent years of fighting.<br />
<br />
* '''Riven''': Technically a minor house in its own right, the line of the Barons Riven of Lattakieh (now a taifa fief, South of Tyche) has long been closely allied with the van Gelder, and is now regarded by many as part of the larger house.<br />
<br />
== Personnel ==<br />
<br />
'''Leading Yathribi van Gelder:''' <br />
* [[Amber|Amber van Gelder]]: Countess of [[Johburg]], head of house<br />
** '''Nathalie van Gelder''': legitimised natural daughter, heiress<br />
* '''Valentijn van Gelder''': Baron of Teldam; Amber's younger brother<br />
** Wife and (adult) children<br />
** Legitimised natural son (also adult)<br />
* '''Ysbrandt van Gelder''': Sovereign Baronet of Gant; cousin to Amber and Valentijn<br />
* '''Seraphine de Moley''': nee van Gelder; dowager baroness and regent of Arvin; cousin to Amber and Valentijn<br />
* '''Sonja van Gelder''': (NPC) Baroness of Margat; heiress to the Margat line; wife of Arkady Decados<br />
<br />
'''Offworld Van Gelder'''<br />
* [[Agravain|Agravain Van Gelder]]: Inquisitor of Yathrib; Abbot of Saint Palamedes<br />
* '''Trisje Van Gelder''': Knight of the Phoenix (Imperial Questing Knight)<br />
<br />
'''NPC Baronets''' (incomplete list)<br />
* '''Aldert van Gelder''': Lord of Eisenborg (Helborg)<br />
* '''Sir Bors van Gelder''': Lord of Shaft VII (Helborg)<br />
* '''Noire van Gelder''': Lady of Great Bay (Johburg) and Blackwater (Teldam)<br />
* '''Otto van Gelder''': "Fat Lord Otto", Baronet of Vaal Crossing<br />
* '''Captain ?? van Gelder''': Baronet of Three Cliffs (Teldam)<br />
<br />
== Typical Yathribi van Gelder Traits ==<br />
<br />
* '''Characteristics:''' Wits, Ego, Calm<br />
* '''Natural Skills:''' Charm, Melee, Observe<br />
* '''Learned Skills:''' Ride, Sailor, Steward<br />
* '''Blessings/Curses:''' Condescending, Noblesse Oblige, Subtle<br />
* '''Benefices:''' Guild allies, technological artefacts</div>Amberhttps://starcrusade.fadingsuns.org/index.php?title=Amber&diff=2663Amber2013-05-28T01:17:07Z<p>Amber: Adding links for recently-created character pages. :)</p>
<hr />
<div>__NOTOC__<br />
{| id="characterTable" width="100%"<br />
|-valign="top"<br />
| class="cell"|<br />
{| width="100%" cellspacing="5" cellpadding="2"<br />
|-<br />
| class="cell"|<br />
{| width="100%" cellspacing="5" cellpadding="2" style="font-family: Perpetua, Times New Roman;"<br />
| style="color: black; font-family: Perpetua, Times New Roman, serif; padding-right: 0px; vertical-align: top; text-align: center" |<br />
<font style="font-variant: small-caps; font-size: 36pt;">Eleanora 'Amber' van Gelder </font><br />
<br><br />
<font style="font-variant: small-caps; font-size: 18pt;">Castellan and Countess of Johburg, Standard Bearer of the Holy City, Lady of Gulf and Sea, Head of House <br>Former Chancellor of the Crusader State</font><br />
<br />
<center>[[Image:Van_Gelder.png|75px]]</center><br />
|-<br />
| class="cell"|<br />
{| width="100%" cellspacing="5" cellpadding="2" style="font-family: Perpetua, Times New Roman; font-size: 11pt; border: 1px solid black;" align="justify"<br />
|-<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
! <center><h1>Motto</h1></center><br />
|-<br />
| <br />
<center><i>He who does not stand firm on principles and has neither wide knowledge nor penetrating judgment is not worthy to be a companion</i><br></center><br />
<center>'''~~ Mo Tzu'''</center><br />
|-<br />
! <center><h1>Basic Information</h1></center><br />
|-<br />
| <br />
A former troubadour and privateer, who has risen to both the leadership of her House and to hold Great Office in the Crusader State - but her renown as a defender of her people's lives and traditions has put her at odds with the more radical, bloodthirsty, and land-hungry elements of the Crusade.<br />
<br />
During her disreputable youth a teenage marriage contract was terminated amidst a scandal, before she toured the Gulf as a troubadour. Comparative responsibility was achieved by undertaking one of the family professions and going to sea, though even there she served as a privateer rather than a 'conventional' naval officer. And her hedonism remained pronounced - her sole surviving child (and heiress), Nathalie, was born out of wedlock in 4985.<br />
<br />
Over time - and especially as more of her elders in the family died - she came to assume greater responsibility, participating in the failed defences of both Rabaq and Tyche (though in the latter, she helped to secure Taifa status for the Barony of Lattakieh), and the short-lived success of the Golden Season.<br />
<br />
Her current reputation is mixed: though a heroine to her people (and the participants of Count Joscelin's Crusade) for tying up a Kurgan army throughout 80 weeks of (unsuccessful) efforts to take the fortress of the Johburg from her, she is also known as a kinslayer - having killed one of her elder brothers after accusing him of treason and complicity in the Betrayal.<br />
<br />
Politically, she is a firm supporter of the Crusader State's laws and traditions, and is reputed to be devoted to her liege, Geoffrey de Moley. She also appears to have ties to the Imperial contingent on Yathrib (not least via the Imperial-administered refugee camp located on her land), and though she's been declared an enemy of the Chainer faction of the Muster (for supposedly opposing slavery) her family tends to have close relations to the guilds, especially in the Free City of Rotdam. Though she is at odds with the 'radical' wing of the Crusaders, she has been vocal in her support for the rights of the Inquisition - publicly clashing with both Sir William and his radical supporters over their efforts to usurp Inquisitorial powers.<br />
<br />
Personally, she has had great success in rebuilding her County from the results of years of occupation and combat, though it suffers continually from attacks from the two most potent Kurgan raiding fleets in the region, and the area of Teldam in particular remains an active target for renewed Kurgan expansion.<br />
<br />
* '''Full Name''': Eleanora Justine Amber Carlotta din Alt van Gelder<br />
* '''Social Traits''': ''Heroine''; ''Kinslayer''<br />
<br />
|-<br />
! <center><h1>Description</h1></center><br />
|-<br />
| <br />
Tall, elegant, and striking, she favours military uniforms, often wearing an anonymous grey one without insignia other than the House sigil, though formal dress uniforms are used for official occasions. Gowns are worn when she is acting solely as a social hostess, though with Johburg constantly under threat these instances of the Countess overtly setting aside her martial role are rare.<br />
<br />
Tanned, fit, and the beneficiary of at least a couple of anti-agathic treatments (rumoured to have been 'acquired' from an Hydessan al-Malik tribute shipment prior to their liberation from the Kurgans), she appears both much younger and more active than might be expected - by looks alone, she is far more likely to be taken for a thirty-something officer on active service rather than a mother in her late 40s.<br />
<br />
When she speaks, her voice is richly musical - a vibrant alto, only slightly roughened by years of command.<br />
<br />
* '''Physical Traits''': ''Striking Looks''; ''Beautiful Voice''<br />
<br />
|-<br />
! <center><h1>Contacts</h1></center><br />
|-<br />
| <br />
'''Active'''<br />
* [[Agravain|Agravain Van Gelder]]: cousin separated by a thousand years<br />
* Anja Torenson: personal aide and trusted deputy<br />
* Arkady Decados: entrusted with both her precious air force and her cousin Sonja<br />
* [[Caelwyn|Caelwyn Li Halan]]: talented general, trusted friend; sadly the vassal of a crude thug<br />
* Cephus Justinian: hero and comrade returned to life, frequent guest<br />
* Hugh Justinian: talented general, frequent guest, fellow veteran of the State's wars<br />
* [[Isabeau|Isabeau Meeks]]: seer, purveyor of warnings, conveyor of grief - holy and protected<br />
* Lysandra Justinian: fellow scholar, and admired participant in Joscelin's Crusade<br />
* [[Naima|Naima bint Justinian]]: admired Amalthean, frequent guest, moral preacher<br />
* Raoul: personal bodyguard, and project in civilisation and education<br />
* [[Renaud|Renaud de Moley]]: highest-profile ally and fellow supporter of Geoffrey<br />
* [[Samina|Samina al-Malik]]: fellow (and superior) musician, allied emissary<br />
* Seraphine de Moley: nee van Gelder; cousin, friend, ally<br />
* Valentijn van Gelder: sole surviving sibling, dear friend, and trusted deputy<br />
* Zakaria al-Malik: daughter-rescuing vagabond, headache, friend, kindred spirit, and ally<br />
<br />
'''Inactive'''<br />
* Abiku: Courtesan, in the Countess's employ<br />
* Anselm Morrot: master duellist, gentleman, Thana, long-term guest<br />
* Aureliana Harmon: protege, loyal friend, recently-deposed mayor of Rotdam<br />
* Linnea Torenson: moral and civilised diplomat; friend<br />
* Lucien LaGrange: war-colleague, friend, Prior of Saint Claude's<br />
* Roshan Keddah: writer, provider of precious offworld books<br />
* Sophie: beautiful Grimson; bodyguard to Nathalie and her guests<br />
* Zebediah Hawkins: friend, Prior of Saint Claude's<br />
<br />
'''NPC'''<br />
* Fredo Hawkwood: formal ally, fellow Count, admired participant in Joscelin's Crusade<br />
* Geoffrey de Moley: beloved liege<br />
* Godric de Moley: the heir who must be protected<br />
* JJ: a ward of Lysandra's, residing in the Johburg with Nathalie<br />
* Nathalie van Gelder: headache, daughter, heiress, hope<br />
|-<br />
! <center><h1>Logs</h1></center><br />
|-<br />
|<br />
<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|}<br />
|}<br />
| width="350px" class="cell" td valign="top"|<br />
{| width="350px" cellspacing="5" cellpadding="2" <br />
|- <br />
{{InfoboxChar<br />
|Image=[[image:Amber_02.jpg|300px]]<br />
|Concept=Reformed Buccaneer<br />
|Rank=Countess, Head of House<br />
|Faction=[[Van Gelder|van Gelder]]<br />
|DoB=1st of December, 4953<br />
|Homeworld=Yathrib<br />
|Home County=Johburg<br />
|Height=5'9"<br />
|Weight=135lb<br />
|Physical Effects=''Striking Looks''; ''Beautiful Voice''<br />
|Status=Unwed mother<br />
|}}<br />
|-<br />
! <center><h2>Gallery</h2></center><br />
|-<br />
| <br />
<gallery><br />
File:Amber01.jpg<br />
File:Amber_03.jpg<br />
</gallery><br />
|<br />
|-<br />
! <center><h2>Soundtrack</h2></center><br />
|-<br />
| <br />
<br />
<div align="center"><br />
<br />
On those who sing the lore of life: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxY47jh9owA&feature=feedf Killing Me Softly], by Lori Lieberman <br><br />
''He sang as if he knew me <br><br />
''In all my dark despair <br><br />
''And then he looked right through me <br><br />
''As if I wasn't there <br><br />
''But he was there, this stranger <br><br />
''Singing clear and strong <br><br />
''Strumming my pain with his fingers <br><br />
''Killing me softly with his song<br />
<br />
For Johburg and her people: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWyYh7_ubw4&NR=1&feature=fvwp The Greatest Flame], by Runrig <br><br />
''This is our life, and our time <br><br />
''And nothing is ever going to break us <br><br />
''Now we're on our own <br><br />
''This is our place, in our lives <br><br />
''And no one can ever change this moment <br><br />
''Or pull this mountain to the ground''<br />
<br />
For the pain and beauty of honour: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbTozgoj9OQ Nothing Else Matters], cello cover by Apocalyptica<br />
<br />
For Nathalie: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NndpFNMqbDo&feature=feedf Forever Eyes of Blue], by Runrig <br><br />
''Forever you'll be eyes of blue <br><br />
''In the circle of your youth <br><br />
''Picking every blade of truth <br><br />
''Down the new-town road <br><br />
<br />
For those she calls "friend": [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WId0WS48JgM Sit Down], by James <br><br />
''Those who feel the breath of sadness <br><br />
''Sit down next to me <br><br />
''Those who find they’re touched by madness <br><br />
''Sit down next to me <br><br />
''Those who find themselves ridiculous <br><br />
''Sit down next to me <br><br />
''In love, in fear, in hate, in tears <br><br />
<br />
For the rest of the world: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5okzOrTYGU Crazy], violin cover by Jimmy Chaos<br />
<br />
For herself: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICnlyNUt_0o Come Undone], by Duran Duran <br><br />
''We'll make it all right to come undone <br><br />
''Now we'll try to stay blind to the hope and fear outside <br><br />
''Hey child, stay wilder than the wind and blow me in to cry <br><br />
|-<br />
|}<br />
[[Category:PCs]][[Category:Active Characters]][[Category:Johburg]][[Category:Noble]]</div>Amberhttps://starcrusade.fadingsuns.org/index.php?title=Amber&diff=2592Amber2013-05-23T16:03:58Z<p>Amber: </p>
<hr />
<div>__NOTOC__<br />
{| id="characterTable" width="100%"<br />
|-valign="top"<br />
| class="cell"|<br />
{| width="100%" cellspacing="5" cellpadding="2"<br />
|-<br />
| class="cell"|<br />
{| width="100%" cellspacing="5" cellpadding="2" style="font-family: Perpetua, Times New Roman;"<br />
| style="color: black; font-family: Perpetua, Times New Roman, serif; padding-right: 0px; vertical-align: top; text-align: center" |<br />
<font style="font-variant: small-caps; font-size: 36pt;">Eleanora 'Amber' van Gelder </font><br />
<br><br />
<font style="font-variant: small-caps; font-size: 18pt;">Castellan and Countess of Johburg, Standard Bearer of the Holy City, Lady of Gulf and Sea, Head of House <br>Former Chancellor of the Crusader State</font><br />
<br />
<center>[[Image:Van_Gelder.png|75px]]</center><br />
|-<br />
| class="cell"|<br />
{| width="100%" cellspacing="5" cellpadding="2" style="font-family: Perpetua, Times New Roman; font-size: 11pt; border: 1px solid black;" align="justify"<br />
|-<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
! <center><h1>Motto</h1></center><br />
|-<br />
| <br />
<center><i>He who does not stand firm on principles and has neither wide knowledge nor penetrating judgment is not worthy to be a companion</i><br></center><br />
<center>'''~~ Mo Tzu'''</center><br />
|-<br />
! <center><h1>Basic Information</h1></center><br />
|-<br />
| <br />
A former troubadour and privateer, who has risen to both the leadership of her House and to hold Great Office in the Crusader State - but her renown as a defender of her people's lives and traditions has put her at odds with the more radical, bloodthirsty, and land-hungry elements of the Crusade.<br />
<br />
During her disreputable youth a teenage marriage contract was terminated amidst a scandal, before she toured the Gulf as a troubadour. Comparative responsibility was achieved by undertaking one of the family professions and going to sea, though even there she served as a privateer rather than a 'conventional' naval officer. And her hedonism remained pronounced - her sole surviving child (and heiress), Nathalie, was born out of wedlock in 4985.<br />
<br />
Over time - and especially as more of her elders in the family died - she came to assume greater responsibility, participating in the failed defences of both Rabaq and Tyche (though in the latter, she helped to secure Taifa status for the Barony of Lattakieh), and the short-lived success of the Golden Season.<br />
<br />
Her current reputation is mixed: though a heroine to her people (and the participants of Count Joscelin's Crusade) for tying up a Kurgan army throughout 80 weeks of (unsuccessful) efforts to take the fortress of the Johburg from her, she is also known as a kinslayer - having killed one of her elder brothers after accusing him of treason and complicity in the Betrayal.<br />
<br />
Politically, she is a firm supporter of the Crusader State's laws and traditions, and is reputed to be devoted to her liege, Geoffrey de Moley. She also appears to have ties to the Imperial contingent on Yathrib (not least via the Imperial-administered refugee camp located on her land), and though she's been declared an enemy of the Chainer faction of the Muster (for supposedly opposing slavery) her family tends to have close relations to the guilds, especially in the Free City of Rotdam. Though she is at odds with the 'radical' wing of the Crusaders, she has been vocal in her support for the rights of the Inquisition - publicly clashing with both Sir William and his radical supporters over their efforts to usurp Inquisitorial powers.<br />
<br />
Personally, she has had great success in rebuilding her County from the results of years of occupation and combat, though it suffers continually from attacks from the two most potent Kurgan raiding fleets in the region, and the area of Teldam in particular remains an active target for renewed Kurgan expansion.<br />
<br />
* '''Full Name''': Eleanora Justine Amber Carlotta din Alt van Gelder<br />
* '''Social Traits''': ''Heroine''; ''Kinslayer''<br />
<br />
|-<br />
! <center><h1>Description</h1></center><br />
|-<br />
| <br />
Tall, elegant, and striking, she favours military uniforms, often wearing an anonymous grey one without insignia other than the House sigil, though formal dress uniforms are used for official occasions. Gowns are worn when she is acting solely as a social hostess, though with Johburg constantly under threat these instances of the Countess overtly setting aside her martial role are rare.<br />
<br />
Tanned, fit, and the beneficiary of at least a couple of anti-agathic treatments (rumoured to have been 'acquired' from an Hydessan al-Malik tribute shipment prior to their liberation from the Kurgans), she appears both much younger and more active than might be expected - by looks alone, she is far more likely to be taken for a thirty-something officer on active service rather than a mother in her late 40s.<br />
<br />
When she speaks, her voice is richly musical - a vibrant alto, only slightly roughened by years of command.<br />
<br />
* '''Physical Traits''': ''Striking Looks''; ''Beautiful Voice''<br />
<br />
|-<br />
! <center><h1>Contacts</h1></center><br />
|-<br />
| <br />
'''Active'''<br />
* Agravain Van Gelder: cousin separated by a thousand years<br />
* Anja Torenson: personal aide and trusted deputy<br />
* Arkady Decados: entrusted with both her precious air force and her cousin Sonja<br />
* Caelwyn Li Halan: talented general, trusted friend; sadly the vassal of a crude thug<br />
* Cephus Justinian: hero and comrade returned to life, frequent guest<br />
* Hugh Justinian: talented general, frequent guest, fellow veteran of the State's wars<br />
* [[Isabeau|Isabeau Meeks]]: seer, purveyor of warnings, conveyor of grief - holy and protected<br />
* Lysandra Justinian: fellow scholar, and admired participant in Joscelin's Crusade<br />
* Naima bint Justinian: admired Amalthean, frequent guest, moral preacher<br />
* Raoul: personal bodyguard, and project in civilisation and education<br />
* [[Renaud|Renaud de Moley]]: highest-profile ally and fellow supporter of Geoffrey<br />
* [[Samina|Samina al-Malik]]: fellow (and superior) musician, allied emissary<br />
* Seraphine de Moley: nee van Gelder; cousin, friend, ally<br />
* Valentijn van Gelder: sole surviving sibling, dear friend, and trusted deputy<br />
* Zakaria al-Malik: daughter-rescuing vagabond, headache, friend, kindred spirit, and ally<br />
<br />
'''Inactive'''<br />
* Abiku: Courtesan, in the Countess's employ<br />
* Anselm Morrot: master duellist, gentleman, Thana, long-term guest<br />
* Aureliana Harmon: protege, loyal friend, recently-deposed mayor of Rotdam<br />
* Linnea Torenson: moral and civilised diplomat; friend<br />
* Lucien LaGrange: war-colleague, friend, Prior of Saint Claude's<br />
* Roshan Keddah: writer, provider of precious offworld books<br />
* Sophie: beautiful Grimson; bodyguard to Nathalie and her guests<br />
* Zebediah Hawkins: friend, Prior of Saint Claude's<br />
<br />
'''NPC'''<br />
* Fredo Hawkwood: formal ally, fellow Count, admired participant in Joscelin's Crusade<br />
* Geoffrey de Moley: beloved liege<br />
* Godric de Moley: the heir who must be protected<br />
* JJ: a ward of Lysandra's, residing in the Johburg with Nathalie<br />
* Nathalie van Gelder: headache, daughter, heiress, hope<br />
|-<br />
! <center><h1>Logs</h1></center><br />
|-<br />
|<br />
<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|}<br />
|}<br />
| width="350px" class="cell" td valign="top"|<br />
{| width="350px" cellspacing="5" cellpadding="2" <br />
|- <br />
{{InfoboxChar<br />
|Image=[[image:Amber_02.jpg|300px]]<br />
|Concept=Reformed Buccaneer<br />
|Rank=Countess, Head of House<br />
|Faction=[[Van Gelder|van Gelder]]<br />
|DoB=1st of December, 4953<br />
|Homeworld=Yathrib<br />
|Home County=Johburg<br />
|Height=5'9"<br />
|Weight=135lb<br />
|Physical Effects=''Striking Looks''; ''Beautiful Voice''<br />
|Status=Unwed mother<br />
|}}<br />
|-<br />
! <center><h2>Gallery</h2></center><br />
|-<br />
| <br />
<gallery><br />
File:Amber01.jpg<br />
File:Amber_03.jpg<br />
</gallery><br />
|<br />
|-<br />
! <center><h2>Soundtrack</h2></center><br />
|-<br />
| <br />
<br />
<div align="center"><br />
<br />
On those who sing the lore of life: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxY47jh9owA&feature=feedf Killing Me Softly], by Lori Lieberman <br><br />
''He sang as if he knew me <br><br />
''In all my dark despair <br><br />
''And then he looked right through me <br><br />
''As if I wasn't there <br><br />
''But he was there, this stranger <br><br />
''Singing clear and strong <br><br />
''Strumming my pain with his fingers <br><br />
''Killing me softly with his song<br />
<br />
For Johburg and her people: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWyYh7_ubw4&NR=1&feature=fvwp The Greatest Flame], by Runrig <br><br />
''This is our life, and our time <br><br />
''And nothing is ever going to break us <br><br />
''Now we're on our own <br><br />
''This is our place, in our lives <br><br />
''And no one can ever change this moment <br><br />
''Or pull this mountain to the ground''<br />
<br />
For the pain and beauty of honour: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbTozgoj9OQ Nothing Else Matters], cello cover by Apocalyptica<br />
<br />
For Nathalie: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NndpFNMqbDo&feature=feedf Forever Eyes of Blue], by Runrig <br><br />
''Forever you'll be eyes of blue <br><br />
''In the circle of your youth <br><br />
''Picking every blade of truth <br><br />
''Down the new-town road <br><br />
<br />
For those she calls "friend": [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WId0WS48JgM Sit Down], by James <br><br />
''Those who feel the breath of sadness <br><br />
''Sit down next to me <br><br />
''Those who find they’re touched by madness <br><br />
''Sit down next to me <br><br />
''Those who find themselves ridiculous <br><br />
''Sit down next to me <br><br />
''In love, in fear, in hate, in tears <br><br />
<br />
For the rest of the world: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5okzOrTYGU Crazy], violin cover by Jimmy Chaos<br />
<br />
For herself: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICnlyNUt_0o Come Undone], by Duran Duran <br><br />
''We'll make it all right to come undone <br><br />
''Now we'll try to stay blind to the hope and fear outside <br><br />
''Hey child, stay wilder than the wind and blow me in to cry <br><br />
|-<br />
|}<br />
[[Category:PCs]][[Category:Active Characters]][[Category:Johburg]][[Category:Noble]]</div>Amberhttps://starcrusade.fadingsuns.org/index.php?title=Van_Gelder&diff=2448Van Gelder2013-05-21T17:10:41Z<p>Amber: /* Personnel */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{Infobox Noblehouse | image=Van Gelder Big.jpg|px 150 | fullname=House Van Gelder | mt= ?? |col= Silver (grey) and Black | hw= Urth / Malignatius / Yathrib |th= Zacharia Van Gelder |lh=[[Amber]] van Gelder}}<br />
<br />
<center>'''''DRAFT - NOT YET APPROVED BY STAFF'''''</center><br><br />
<br />
''<center>Nos melius quam nos aguntur.''</center><br />
<center>~~</center><br />
''<center>What we do ourselves, we do better.''</center><br><br />
<br />
An ancient house, long known for maintaining ties to industry and aristocracy alike, the Van Gelder of the Known Worlds fell from grace four and a half centuries ago... but their recently rediscovered kin on Yathrib, separated by 950 years of divergent history, never lost their status as one of the 'Great Houses' of the world, and are now radically different in culture to their kin beyond the jumpgate.<br />
<br />
== History of the House ==<br />
<br />
With their roots in a coalition of Dutch, Swiss, and Belgian zaibatsu that formed on Urth to send joint expeditions through the jumpgate during the early years of human star-travel, the Van Gelder lay claim to a history that spans more than two and a half millennia. It has not, however, tended to be a terribly ''exciting'' narrative - though for the great majority of the time, it was a tale of near-unbroken success. Quiet, steady accumulation yielded great dividends over a span of centuries.<br />
<br />
Seeing the writing on the wall for the First Republic, the coalition acquired several outlying planets, intermarried members of its leading families, and formed House Van Gelder (named for the Chief Executive Officer of the merged corporation) to set itself on the path to becoming one of the leading noble houses of the First Republic.<br />
<br />
It remained a Great House throughout the interregnum, the Second Republic, and into the Dark Ages - and it was in the wake of the Second Republic's collapse that the Yathribi jumpgate closed in 4093, sealing off the holy world of visions from the rest of human space.<br />
<br />
In the main part of the Known Worlds, the Van Gelder retained their prominent position into the 46th century, and were among those to ally with Vladimir as he became the first man to reunify those worlds still accessible through the jumpweb. The new Emperor, however, broke promises made to a number of his allies - including the Van Gelder, who were among those Houses to turn on their betrayer, seeking to bring him low.<br />
<br />
They failed, and only survived by surrendering to one of those Houses with whom Vladimir had not broken faith. As a result, for the past 450 years, the Van Gelder of the Known Worlds have been vassals of House Decados - stripped of their old homeworlds, living only at the sufferance of their masters (though they are permitted to manage various holdings, including some valuable ones on Malignatius), and converted into a house of assassins and spies, they now bear little resemblance to their former selves. Only the blandly unremarkable facade remains.<br />
<br />
On Yathrib, however, the Van Gelder were among a number of Great Houses that not merely survived but thrived, even as their kin were falling elsewhere. Holding one of the original Seven Seigneuries, they have played an important (but not dominant) role throughout the post-separation history of the Shining Gulf, and they have more than once held one of the Great Offices of the Crusader State.<br />
<br />
Here, the van Gelder - the locals customarily dropping the capital V in favour of an older form of the name - cemented a role for themselves as a guild- and commerce-friendly House, known for their stewardship of their lands, their close ties to the sea, and the great cattle and horse-breeding ranches of their hinterland in the veldt.<br />
<br />
== Local House Culture and Ways ==<br />
<br />
* '''''Blandly avaricious past'''''<br><br />
<br />
For much of its history, the House was known for little save an appreciation for wealth: its members were regarded by many of their peers as bland and uninteresting, and even more than the al-Malik they had a reputation for unfashionably commercial interests and connections. Still, straddling the worlds of industry and aristocracy certainly seemed to serve as a recipe for success for century after century.<br />
<br />
On Yathrib during its 95 decades of separation, the local van Gelder retained many of their connections to commerce and industry, and the greatest Guild stronghold on the planet is to be found in the Free City of Rotdam, which has prospered under the protection of the County of Johburg.<br />
<br />
* '''''What we do ourselves, we do better'''''<br />
<br />
The long decline of native industry and the loss of all interstellar commerce, however, wrought great changes upon the Yathribi van Gelder. Long associated with the neo-Boer movement that had settled the veldt of Johburg, the local van Gelder increasingly became agrarian aristocrats - their patronage of commerce and industry turning from shareholdings and seats on boards into a close relationship with the emergent guilds, especially with those that gradually took over Rotdam and with the technical experts who maintained the planet's links to near orbit and outer space.<br />
<br />
The change in role altered the familial image - and the manner in which it saw itself. The pursuit of wealth was no longer viable as a stand-alone measure of success, when wealth was increasingly tied up with land and land required power-plays and risky expenditure to acquire. Instead, the van Gelder increasingly promoted the distinctive qualities of the neo-Boer culture - independence, determination, and self-reliance - and sought to enhance their wealth by developing the lands they already held, acquiring new fiefs only cautiously.<br />
<br />
More interested in trade and internal investment than external expansion, the van Gelder have frequently been proponents of compromise and cautious ambition amidst the often-turbulent politics of the State: they believe in aspiring to change the world for the better, but commerce and fief-management are each so much more reliable in a stable environment, after all. In war, however, the van Gelder tend to take a 'never say die' attitude towards the defence of their estates, their trade networks, and their people: to allow undue harm to befall their interests would entail both a loss of status and a dire breach of honour. And should people be lost to the enemy, they are not to be forgotten - however long it might take to achieve, captives have a right to liberation, or to vengeance if it is too late for freedom.<br />
<br />
* '''''Play hard, but play fair'''''<br />
<br />
Some noble houses found themselves too small to survive after Yathrib's abrupt isolation. Among those absorbed by the prosperous van Gelder were elements of House Windsor, with results most visible in the unusual hobbies now beloved of the van Gelder: cricket is a County-wide obsession for many at all levels of society, while rugby predominates during the cooler months of the year. A preoccupation with such unusual interests (especially when leavened with maritime and commercial idioms) sometimes renders van Gelder conversation rather hard for others to understand.<br />
<br />
Windsor influence might also be detected in the van Gelder approach to honour: in addition to a firm expectation that one's word is one's bond there is a marked emphasis on noblesse oblige - to truly be a noble, one must act nobly, by honouring and assisting those above and below oneself in the hierarchy of society. Those for whom a noble is responsible merit her care and attention, as do those superiors to whom she owes feudal service; whether or not an explicit promise has been made to the individual in question, by accepting her privileged role in society a noble is deemed to have also accepted the responsibility of aiding and protecting her subjects and superiors alike. To some pragmatic van Gelder, those who are ''not'' directly a noble's responsibility are entirely unprotected, though others adopt a markedly altruistic attitude, drawing upon the Church's doctrine declaring nobles to be martyrs for society as a whole.<br />
<br />
As an extension of both noblesse oblige and their changed attitude to wealth, the van Gelder now take an unusually paternalistic and hands-on approach to rulership. An overflowing treasury is considered less a measure of success - and certainly a far inferior mark of culture and good taste - than a well-maintained estate housing a healthy and productive population, or a successful cultural event or work of fine art. Naturally, reserves must be maintained to deal with emergencies, but the simple accumulation of specie for its own sake is distastefully uncouth: after all, the true value of wealth multiplies when it is invested in fine art and the productive improvement of one's homeland.<br />
<br />
Similarly, proper comportment is an important element of honour: only if one is seen to adhere to 'the rules of the game' might one uphold one's good name and truly merit honourable treatment in return - whether in a sporting contest or a life-or-death crisis, honour matters. So, of course, does victory, but it is not the only consideration: "play hard, but play fair" might be a second family motto. Bounders and cads merit severe punishment for their dishonourable deeds; the mark of a gentleman, after all, is playing the game properly. Anything else just wouldn't be cricket.<br />
<br />
== Holdings ==<br />
<br />
Johburg, above all others - it's not 'merely' the County the van Gelder rule, but the region with which the house is most closely connected by culture and inclination. The House has been intimately associated with the area that now forms the County since the early days of human settlement on Yathrib. Formerly, the County also extended across the Gulf to the East, and there are still scattered van Gelder survivors among the taifa lordships beyond the County's frontiers.<br />
<br />
Long-standing mercantile ties led to van Gelder presence throughout the Pearl Cities and the Antipodes, though most such enclaves have been eliminated during the past century of warfare; survivals are most frequent where the al-Malik of Hydessos have helped to protect them, much as the van Gelder sheltered al-Malik within the bounds of Johburg.<br />
<br />
The centrepiece of the van Gelder presence is the Johburg itself, an ancient fortress dug into the heart of a hill overlooking the city of the same name, though the iconic Fisher Hall adjacent to Akko and the Summer Palace outside Margat are much more luxurious court centres than the subterranean base.<br />
<br />
== Local Septs ==<br />
<br />
* '''din Alt''': The most noteworthy local branch of the van Gelder are the din Alt, who have long been the pre-eminent sept of the House on the planet. Regarded as the senior line by both ancestry and by right of their title, they have held the County of Johburg for centuries.<br />
<br />
* '''Gant''': A van Gelder sept has long held the Sovereign Baronetcy of Gant. It has frequently been subject to rumours suggesting that it is intimately involved with the Board of Regulation - House van Gelder's security service on Yathrib. During the Betrayal and Wars, it was almost wiped out.<br />
<br />
* '''Margat''': One of the more senior lineages, closely associated with the din Alts - but, like many other Yatrhibi lines, they were all but exterminated during the Betrayal and subsequent years of fighting.<br />
<br />
* '''Riven''': Technically a minor house in its own right, the line of the Barons Riven of Lattakieh (now a taifa fief, South of Tyche) has long been closely allied with the van Gelder, and is now regarded by many as part of the larger house.<br />
<br />
== Personnel ==<br />
<br />
'''Leading Yathribi van Gelder:''' <br />
* [[Amber|Amber van Gelder]]: Countess of [[Johburg]], head of house<br />
** '''Nathalie van Gelder''': legitimised natural daughter, heiress<br />
* '''Valentijn van Gelder''': Baron of Teldam; Amber's younger brother<br />
** Wife and (adult) children<br />
** Legitimised natural son (also adult)<br />
* '''Ysbrandt van Gelder''': Sovereign Baronet of Gant; cousin to Amber and Valentijn<br />
* '''Seraphine de Moley''': nee van Gelder; dowager baroness and regent of Arvin; cousin to Amber and Valentijn<br />
* '''Sonja van Gelder''': (NPC) Baroness of Margat; heiress to the Margat line; wife of Arkady Decados<br />
<br />
'''Offworld Van Gelder'''<br />
* [[Agravain|Agravain Van Gelder]]: Inquisitor of Yathrib; Abbot of Saint Palamedes<br />
* '''Trisje Van Gelder''': Knight of the Phoenix (Imperial Questing Knight)<br />
<br />
'''NPC Baronets''' (incomplete list)<br />
* '''Aldert van Gelder''': Lord of Eisenborg (Helborg)<br />
* '''Sir Bors van Gelder''': Lord of Shaft VII (Helborg)<br />
* '''Noire van Gelder''': Lady of Great Bay (Johburg) and Blackwater (Teldam)<br />
* '''Otto van Gelder''': "Fat Lord Otto", Baronet of Vaal Crossing<br />
* '''Captain ?? van Gelder''': Baronet of Three Cliffs (Teldam)<br />
<br />
== Typical Yathribi van Gelder Traits ==<br />
<br />
* '''Characteristics:''' Wits, Ego, Calm<br />
* '''Natural Skills:''' Charm, Melee, Observe<br />
* '''Learned Skills:''' Ride, Sailor, Steward<br />
* '''Blessings/Curses:''' Condescending, Noblesse Oblige, Subtle<br />
* '''Benefices:''' Guild allies, technological artefacts</div>Amberhttps://starcrusade.fadingsuns.org/index.php?title=Van_Gelder&diff=2412Van Gelder2013-05-20T22:59:10Z<p>Amber: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{Infobox Noblehouse | image=Van Gelder Big.jpg|px 150 | fullname=House Van Gelder | mt= ?? |col= Silver (grey) and Black | hw= Urth / Malignatius / Yathrib |th= Zacharia Van Gelder |lh=[[Amber]] van Gelder}}<br />
<br />
<center>'''''DRAFT - NOT YET APPROVED BY STAFF'''''</center><br><br />
<br />
''<center>Nos melius quam nos aguntur.''</center><br />
<center>~~</center><br />
''<center>What we do ourselves, we do better.''</center><br><br />
<br />
An ancient house, long known for maintaining ties to industry and aristocracy alike, the Van Gelder of the Known Worlds fell from grace four and a half centuries ago... but their recently rediscovered kin on Yathrib, separated by 950 years of divergent history, never lost their status as one of the 'Great Houses' of the world, and are now radically different in culture to their kin beyond the jumpgate.<br />
<br />
== History of the House ==<br />
<br />
With their roots in a coalition of Dutch, Swiss, and Belgian zaibatsu that formed on Urth to send joint expeditions through the jumpgate during the early years of human star-travel, the Van Gelder lay claim to a history that spans more than two and a half millennia. It has not, however, tended to be a terribly ''exciting'' narrative - though for the great majority of the time, it was a tale of near-unbroken success. Quiet, steady accumulation yielded great dividends over a span of centuries.<br />
<br />
Seeing the writing on the wall for the First Republic, the coalition acquired several outlying planets, intermarried members of its leading families, and formed House Van Gelder (named for the Chief Executive Officer of the merged corporation) to set itself on the path to becoming one of the leading noble houses of the First Republic.<br />
<br />
It remained a Great House throughout the interregnum, the Second Republic, and into the Dark Ages - and it was in the wake of the Second Republic's collapse that the Yathribi jumpgate closed in 4093, sealing off the holy world of visions from the rest of human space.<br />
<br />
In the main part of the Known Worlds, the Van Gelder retained their prominent position into the 46th century, and were among those to ally with Vladimir as he became the first man to reunify those worlds still accessible through the jumpweb. The new Emperor, however, broke promises made to a number of his allies - including the Van Gelder, who were among those Houses to turn on their betrayer, seeking to bring him low.<br />
<br />
They failed, and only survived by surrendering to one of those Houses with whom Vladimir had not broken faith. As a result, for the past 450 years, the Van Gelder of the Known Worlds have been vassals of House Decados - stripped of their old homeworlds, living only at the sufferance of their masters (though they are permitted to manage various holdings, including some valuable ones on Malignatius), and converted into a house of assassins and spies, they now bear little resemblance to their former selves. Only the blandly unremarkable facade remains.<br />
<br />
On Yathrib, however, the Van Gelder were among a number of Great Houses that not merely survived but thrived, even as their kin were falling elsewhere. Holding one of the original Seven Seigneuries, they have played an important (but not dominant) role throughout the post-separation history of the Shining Gulf, and they have more than once held one of the Great Offices of the Crusader State.<br />
<br />
Here, the van Gelder - the locals customarily dropping the capital V in favour of an older form of the name - cemented a role for themselves as a guild- and commerce-friendly House, known for their stewardship of their lands, their close ties to the sea, and the great cattle and horse-breeding ranches of their hinterland in the veldt.<br />
<br />
== Local House Culture and Ways ==<br />
<br />
* '''''Blandly avaricious past'''''<br><br />
<br />
For much of its history, the House was known for little save an appreciation for wealth: its members were regarded by many of their peers as bland and uninteresting, and even more than the al-Malik they had a reputation for unfashionably commercial interests and connections. Still, straddling the worlds of industry and aristocracy certainly seemed to serve as a recipe for success for century after century.<br />
<br />
On Yathrib during its 95 decades of separation, the local van Gelder retained many of their connections to commerce and industry, and the greatest Guild stronghold on the planet is to be found in the Free City of Rotdam, which has prospered under the protection of the County of Johburg.<br />
<br />
* '''''What we do ourselves, we do better'''''<br />
<br />
The long decline of native industry and the loss of all interstellar commerce, however, wrought great changes upon the Yathribi van Gelder. Long associated with the neo-Boer movement that had settled the veldt of Johburg, the local van Gelder increasingly became agrarian aristocrats - their patronage of commerce and industry turning from shareholdings and seats on boards into a close relationship with the emergent guilds, especially with those that gradually took over Rotdam and with the technical experts who maintained the planet's links to near orbit and outer space.<br />
<br />
The change in role altered the familial image - and the manner in which it saw itself. The pursuit of wealth was no longer viable as a stand-alone measure of success, when wealth was increasingly tied up with land and land required power-plays and risky expenditure to acquire. Instead, the van Gelder increasingly promoted the distinctive qualities of the neo-Boer culture - independence, determination, and self-reliance - and sought to enhance their wealth by developing the lands they already held, acquiring new fiefs only cautiously.<br />
<br />
More interested in trade and internal investment than external expansion, the van Gelder have frequently been proponents of compromise and cautious ambition amidst the often-turbulent politics of the State: they believe in aspiring to change the world for the better, but commerce and fief-management are each so much more reliable in a stable environment, after all. In war, however, the van Gelder tend to take a 'never say die' attitude towards the defence of their estates, their trade networks, and their people: to allow undue harm to befall their interests would entail both a loss of status and a dire breach of honour. And should people be lost to the enemy, they are not to be forgotten - however long it might take to achieve, captives have a right to liberation, or to vengeance if it is too late for freedom.<br />
<br />
* '''''Play hard, but play fair'''''<br />
<br />
Some noble houses found themselves too small to survive after Yathrib's abrupt isolation. Among those absorbed by the prosperous van Gelder were elements of House Windsor, with results most visible in the unusual hobbies now beloved of the van Gelder: cricket is a County-wide obsession for many at all levels of society, while rugby predominates during the cooler months of the year. A preoccupation with such unusual interests (especially when leavened with maritime and commercial idioms) sometimes renders van Gelder conversation rather hard for others to understand.<br />
<br />
Windsor influence might also be detected in the van Gelder approach to honour: in addition to a firm expectation that one's word is one's bond there is a marked emphasis on noblesse oblige - to truly be a noble, one must act nobly, by honouring and assisting those above and below oneself in the hierarchy of society. Those for whom a noble is responsible merit her care and attention, as do those superiors to whom she owes feudal service; whether or not an explicit promise has been made to the individual in question, by accepting her privileged role in society a noble is deemed to have also accepted the responsibility of aiding and protecting her subjects and superiors alike. To some pragmatic van Gelder, those who are ''not'' directly a noble's responsibility are entirely unprotected, though others adopt a markedly altruistic attitude, drawing upon the Church's doctrine declaring nobles to be martyrs for society as a whole.<br />
<br />
As an extension of both noblesse oblige and their changed attitude to wealth, the van Gelder now take an unusually paternalistic and hands-on approach to rulership. An overflowing treasury is considered less a measure of success - and certainly a far inferior mark of culture and good taste - than a well-maintained estate housing a healthy and productive population, or a successful cultural event or work of fine art. Naturally, reserves must be maintained to deal with emergencies, but the simple accumulation of specie for its own sake is distastefully uncouth: after all, the true value of wealth multiplies when it is invested in fine art and the productive improvement of one's homeland.<br />
<br />
Similarly, proper comportment is an important element of honour: only if one is seen to adhere to 'the rules of the game' might one uphold one's good name and truly merit honourable treatment in return - whether in a sporting contest or a life-or-death crisis, honour matters. So, of course, does victory, but it is not the only consideration: "play hard, but play fair" might be a second family motto. Bounders and cads merit severe punishment for their dishonourable deeds; the mark of a gentleman, after all, is playing the game properly. Anything else just wouldn't be cricket.<br />
<br />
== Holdings ==<br />
<br />
Johburg, above all others - it's not 'merely' the County the van Gelder rule, but the region with which the house is most closely connected by culture and inclination. The House has been intimately associated with the area that now forms the County since the early days of human settlement on Yathrib. Formerly, the County also extended across the Gulf to the East, and there are still scattered van Gelder survivors among the taifa lordships beyond the County's frontiers.<br />
<br />
Long-standing mercantile ties led to van Gelder presence throughout the Pearl Cities and the Antipodes, though most such enclaves have been eliminated during the past century of warfare; survivals are most frequent where the al-Malik of Hydessos have helped to protect them, much as the van Gelder sheltered al-Malik within the bounds of Johburg.<br />
<br />
The centrepiece of the van Gelder presence is the Johburg itself, an ancient fortress dug into the heart of a hill overlooking the city of the same name, though the iconic Fisher Hall adjacent to Akko and the Summer Palace outside Margat are much more luxurious court centres than the subterranean base.<br />
<br />
== Local Septs ==<br />
<br />
* '''din Alt''': The most noteworthy local branch of the van Gelder are the din Alt, who have long been the pre-eminent sept of the House on the planet. Regarded as the senior line by both ancestry and by right of their title, they have held the County of Johburg for centuries.<br />
<br />
* '''Gant''': A van Gelder sept has long held the Sovereign Baronetcy of Gant. It has frequently been subject to rumours suggesting that it is intimately involved with the Board of Regulation - House van Gelder's security service on Yathrib. During the Betrayal and Wars, it was almost wiped out.<br />
<br />
* '''Margat''': One of the more senior lineages, closely associated with the din Alts - but, like many other Yatrhibi lines, they were all but exterminated during the Betrayal and subsequent years of fighting.<br />
<br />
* '''Riven''': Technically a minor house in its own right, the line of the Barons Riven of Lattakieh (now a taifa fief, South of Tyche) has long been closely allied with the van Gelder, and is now regarded by many as part of the larger house.<br />
<br />
== Personnel ==<br />
<br />
'''Leading Yathribi van Gelder:''' <br />
* [[Amber|Amber van Gelder]]: Countess of [[Johburg]], head of house<br />
** '''Nathalie van Gelder''': legitimised natural daughter, heiress<br />
* '''Valentijn van Gelder''': Baron of Teldam; Amber's younger brother<br />
** Wife and (adult) children<br />
** Legitimised natural son (also adult)<br />
* '''Ysbrandt van Gelder''': Sovereign Baronet of Gant; cousin to Amber and Valentijn<br />
* '''Seraphine de Moley''': nee van Gelder; dowager baroness and regent of Arvin; cousin to Amber and Valentijn<br />
* '''Sonja van Gelder''': (NPC) Baroness of Margat; heiress to the Margat line; wife of Arkady Decados<br />
<br />
'''Offworld Van Gelder'''<br />
* '''Agravain Van Gelder''': Inquisitor of Yathrib; Abbot of Saint Palamedes<br />
* '''Trisje Van Gelder''': Knight of the Phoenix (Imperial Questing Knight)<br />
<br />
'''NPC Baronets''' (incomplete list)<br />
* '''Aldert van Gelder''': Lord of Eisenborg (Helborg)<br />
* '''Sir Bors van Gelder''': Lord of Shaft VII (Helborg)<br />
* '''Noire van Gelder''': Lady of Great Bay (Johburg) and Blackwater (Teldam)<br />
* '''Otto van Gelder''': "Fat Lord Otto", Baronet of Vaal Crossing<br />
* '''Captain ?? van Gelder''': Baronet of Three Cliffs (Teldam)<br />
<br />
== Typical Yathribi van Gelder Traits ==<br />
<br />
* '''Characteristics:''' Wits, Ego, Calm<br />
* '''Natural Skills:''' Charm, Melee, Observe<br />
* '''Learned Skills:''' Ride, Sailor, Steward<br />
* '''Blessings/Curses:''' Condescending, Noblesse Oblige, Subtle<br />
* '''Benefices:''' Guild allies, technological artefacts</div>Amberhttps://starcrusade.fadingsuns.org/index.php?title=User:Amber&diff=2387User:Amber2013-05-20T13:19:24Z<p>Amber: </p>
<hr />
<div>* British<br />
* Chronically ill<br />
* Fan of Fading Suns from '96<br />
* MUSHing from the early 90s<br />
* Player of [[Amber|Amber van Gelder]]<br />
* Roleplaying since the mid 80s<br />
* Secondary character: Dominic Acco</div>Amberhttps://starcrusade.fadingsuns.org/index.php?title=Amber&diff=2385Amber2013-05-19T19:28:03Z<p>Amber: </p>
<hr />
<div>__NOTOC__<br />
{| id="characterTable" width="100%"<br />
|-valign="top"<br />
| class="cell"|<br />
{| width="100%" cellspacing="5" cellpadding="2"<br />
|-<br />
| class="cell"|<br />
{| width="100%" cellspacing="5" cellpadding="2" style="font-family: Perpetua, Times New Roman;"<br />
| style="color: black; font-family: Perpetua, Times New Roman, serif; padding-right: 0px; vertical-align: top; text-align: center" |<br />
<font style="font-variant: small-caps; font-size: 36pt;">Eleanora 'Amber' van Gelder </font><br />
<br><br />
<font style="font-variant: small-caps; font-size: 18pt;">Castellan and Countess of Johburg, Standard Bearer of the Holy City, Lady of Gulf and Sea, Head of House <br>Former Chancellor of the Crusader State</font><br />
<br />
<center>[[Image:Van_Gelder.png|75px]]</center><br />
|-<br />
| class="cell"|<br />
{| width="100%" cellspacing="5" cellpadding="2" style="font-family: Perpetua, Times New Roman; font-size: 11pt; border: 1px solid black;" align="justify"<br />
|-<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
! <center><h1>Motto</h1></center><br />
|-<br />
| <br />
<center><i>He who does not stand firm on principles and has neither wide knowledge nor penetrating judgment is not worthy to be a companion</i><br></center><br />
<center>'''~~ Mo Tzu'''</center><br />
|-<br />
! <center><h1>Basic Information</h1></center><br />
|-<br />
| <br />
A former troubadour and privateer, who has risen to both the leadership of her House and to hold Great Office in the Crusader State - but her renown as a defender of her people's lives and traditions has put her at odds with the more radical, bloodthirsty, and land-hungry elements of the Crusade.<br />
<br />
During her disreputable youth a teenage marriage contract was terminated amidst a scandal, before she toured the Gulf as a troubadour. Comparative responsibility was achieved by undertaking one of the family professions and going to sea, though even there she served as a privateer rather than a 'conventional' naval officer. And her hedonism remained pronounced - her sole surviving child (and heiress), Nathalie, was born out of wedlock in 4985.<br />
<br />
Over time - and especially as more of her elders in the family died - she came to assume greater responsibility, participating in the failed defences of both Rabaq and Tyche (though in the latter, she helped to secure Taifa status for the Barony of Lattakieh), and the short-lived success of the Golden Season.<br />
<br />
Her current reputation is mixed: though a heroine to her people (and the participants of Count Joscelin's Crusade) for tying up a Kurgan army throughout 80 weeks of (unsuccessful) efforts to take the fortress of the Johburg from her, she is also known as a kinslayer - having killed one of her elder brothers after accusing him of treason and complicity in the Betrayal.<br />
<br />
Politically, she is a firm supporter of the Crusader State's laws and traditions, and is reputed to be devoted to her liege, Geoffrey de Moley. She also appears to have ties to the Imperial contingent on Yathrib (not least via the Imperial-administered refugee camp located on her land), and though she's been declared an enemy of the Chainer faction of the Muster (for supposedly opposing slavery) her family tends to have close relations to the guilds, especially in the Free City of Rotdam. Though she is at odds with the 'radical' wing of the Crusaders, she has been vocal in her support for the rights of the Inquisition - publicly clashing with both Sir William and his radical supporters over their efforts to usurp Inquisitorial powers.<br />
<br />
Personally, she has had great success in rebuilding her County from the results of years of occupation and combat, though it suffers continually from attacks from the two most potent Kurgan raiding fleets in the region, and the area of Teldam in particular remains an active target for renewed Kurgan expansion.<br />
<br />
* '''Full Name''': Eleanora Justine Amber Carlotta din Alt van Gelder<br />
* '''Social Traits''': ''Heroine''; ''Kinslayer''<br />
<br />
|-<br />
! <center><h1>Description</h1></center><br />
|-<br />
| <br />
Tall, elegant, and striking, she favours military uniforms, often wearing an anonymous grey one without insignia other than the House sigil, though formal dress uniforms are used for official occasions. Gowns are worn when she is acting solely as a social hostess, though with Johburg constantly under threat these instances of the Countess overtly setting aside her martial role are rare.<br />
<br />
Tanned, fit, and the beneficiary of at least a couple of anti-agathic treatments (rumoured to have been 'acquired' from an Hydessan al-Malik tribute shipment prior to their liberation from the Kurgans), she appears both much younger and more active than might be expected - by looks alone, she is far more likely to be taken for a thirty-something officer on active service rather than a mother in her late 40s.<br />
<br />
When she speaks, her voice is richly musical - a vibrant alto, only slightly roughened by years of command.<br />
<br />
* '''Physical Traits''': ''Striking Looks''; ''Beautiful Voice''<br />
<br />
|-<br />
! <center><h1>Contacts</h1></center><br />
|-<br />
| <br />
'''Active'''<br />
* Agravain Van Gelder: cousin separated by a thousand years<br />
* Anja Torenson: personal aide and trusted deputy<br />
* Arkady Decados: entrusted with both her precious air force and her cousin Sonja<br />
* Caelwyn Li Halan: talented general, trusted friend; sadly the vassal of a crude thug<br />
* Cephus Justinian: hero and comrade returned to life, frequent guest<br />
* Hugh Justinian: talented general, frequent guest, fellow veteran of the State's wars<br />
* [[Isabeau|Isabeau Meeks]]: seer, purveyor of warnings, conveyor of grief - holy and protected<br />
* Lysandra Justinian: fellow scholar, and admired participant in Joscelin's Crusade<br />
* Naima bint Justinian: admired Amalthean, frequent guest, moral preacher<br />
* Raoul: personal bodyguard, and project in civilisation and education<br />
* [[Renaud|Renaud de Moley]]: highest-profile ally and fellow supporter of Geoffrey<br />
* [[Samina|Samina al-Malik]]: fellow (and superior) musician, allied emissary<br />
* Seraphine de Moley: nee van Gelder; cousin, friend, ally<br />
* Valentijn van Gelder: sole surviving sibling, dear friend, and trusted deputy<br />
* Zakaria al-Malik: daughter-rescuing vagabond, headache, friend, kindred spirit, and ally<br />
<br />
'''Inactive'''<br />
* Abiku: Courtesan, in the Countess's employ<br />
* Anselm Morrot: master duellist, gentleman, Thana, long-term guest<br />
* Aureliana Harmon: protege, loyal friend, recently-deposed mayor of Rotdam<br />
* Linnea Torenson: moral and civilised diplomat; friend<br />
* Lucien LaGrange: war-colleague, friend, Prior of Saint Claude's<br />
* Roshan Keddah: writer, provider of precious offworld books<br />
* Sophie: beautiful Grimson; bodyguard to Nathalie and her guests<br />
* Zebediah Hawkins: friend, Prior of Saint Claude's<br />
<br />
'''NPC'''<br />
* Fredo Hawkwood: formal ally, fellow Count, admired participant in Joscelin's Crusade<br />
* Geoffrey de Moley: beloved liege<br />
* Godric de Moley: the heir who must be protected<br />
* JJ: a ward of Lysandra's, residing in the Johburg with Nathalie<br />
* Nathalie van Gelder: headache, daughter, heiress, hope<br />
|-<br />
! <center><h1>Logs</h1></center><br />
|-<br />
|<br />
<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|}<br />
|}<br />
| width="350px" class="cell" td valign="top"|<br />
{| width="350px" cellspacing="5" cellpadding="2" <br />
|- <br />
{{InfoboxChar<br />
|Image=[[image:Amber_02.jpg|300px]]<br />
|Concept=Reformed Buccaneer<br />
|Rank=Countess, Head of House<br />
|Faction=[[Van Gelder|van Gelder]]<br />
|DoB=1st of December, 4953<br />
|Homeworld=Yathrib<br />
|Home County=Johburg<br />
|Height=5'9"<br />
|Weight=135lb<br />
|Physical Effects=''Striking Looks''; ''Beautiful Voice''<br />
|}}<br />
|-<br />
! <center><h2>Gallery</h2></center><br />
|-<br />
| <br />
<gallery><br />
File:Amber01.jpg<br />
File:Amber_03.jpg<br />
</gallery><br />
|<br />
|-<br />
! <center><h2>Soundtrack</h2></center><br />
|-<br />
| <br />
<br />
<div align="center"><br />
<br />
On those who sing the lore of life: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxY47jh9owA&feature=feedf Killing Me Softly], by Lori Lieberman <br><br />
''He sang as if he knew me <br><br />
''In all my dark despair <br><br />
''And then he looked right through me <br><br />
''As if I wasn't there <br><br />
''But he was there, this stranger <br><br />
''Singing clear and strong <br><br />
''Strumming my pain with his fingers <br><br />
''Killing me softly with his song<br />
<br />
For Johburg and her people: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWyYh7_ubw4&NR=1&feature=fvwp The Greatest Flame], by Runrig <br><br />
''This is our life, and our time <br><br />
''And nothing is ever going to break us <br><br />
''Now we're on our own <br><br />
''This is our place, in our lives <br><br />
''And no one can ever change this moment <br><br />
''Or pull this mountain to the ground''<br />
<br />
For the pain and beauty of honour: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbTozgoj9OQ Nothing Else Matters], cello cover by Apocalyptica<br />
<br />
For Nathalie: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NndpFNMqbDo&feature=feedf Forever Eyes of Blue], by Runrig <br><br />
''Forever you'll be eyes of blue <br><br />
''In the circle of your youth <br><br />
''Picking every blade of truth <br><br />
''Down the new-town road <br><br />
<br />
For those she calls "friend": [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WId0WS48JgM Sit Down], by James <br><br />
''Those who feel the breath of sadness <br><br />
''Sit down next to me <br><br />
''Those who find they’re touched by madness <br><br />
''Sit down next to me <br><br />
''Those who find themselves ridiculous <br><br />
''Sit down next to me <br><br />
''In love, in fear, in hate, in tears <br><br />
<br />
For the rest of the world: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5okzOrTYGU Crazy], violin cover by Jimmy Chaos<br />
<br />
For herself: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICnlyNUt_0o Come Undone], by Duran Duran <br><br />
''We'll make it all right to come undone <br><br />
''Now we'll try to stay blind to the hope and fear outside <br><br />
''Hey child, stay wilder than the wind and blow me in to cry <br><br />
|-<br />
|}<br />
[[Category:PCs]][[Category:Active Characters]][[Category:Johburg]][[Category:Noble]]</div>Amberhttps://starcrusade.fadingsuns.org/index.php?title=Van_Gelder&diff=2384Van Gelder2013-05-19T17:12:36Z<p>Amber: /* House Culture and Ways */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{Infobox Noblehouse | image=Van Gelder Big.jpg|px 150 | fullname=House Van Gelder | mt= ?? |col= Silver (grey) and Black | hw= Urth / Malignatius / Yathrib |th= Zacharia Van Gelder |lh=[[Amber]] van Gelder}}<br />
<br />
<center>'''''DRAFT - NOT YET APPROVED BY STAFF'''''</center><br><br />
<br />
''<center>Nos melius quam nos aguntur.''</center><br />
<center>~~</center><br />
''<center>What we do ourselves, we do better.''</center><br><br />
<br />
An ancient house, long known for maintaining ties to industry and aristocracy alike, the Van Gelder of the Known Worlds fell from grace four and a half centuries ago... but their recently rediscovered kin on Yathrib, separated by 950 years of divergent history, never lost their status as one of the 'Great Houses' of the world, and are now radically different in culture to their kin beyond the jumpgate.<br />
<br />
== History of the House ==<br />
<br />
With their roots in a coalition of Dutch, Swiss, and Belgian zaibatsu that formed on Urth to send joint expeditions through the jumpgate during the early years of human star-travel, the Van Gelder lay claim to a history that spans more than two and a half millennia. It has not, however, tended to be a terribly ''exciting'' narrative - though for the great majority of the time, it was a tale of near-unbroken success. Quiet, steady accumulation yielded great dividends over a span of centuries.<br />
<br />
Seeing the writing on the wall for the First Republic, the coalition acquired several outlying planets, intermarried members of its leading families, and formed House Van Gelder (named for the Chief Executive Officer of the merged corporation) to set itself on the path to becoming one of the leading noble houses of the First Republic.<br />
<br />
It remained a Great House throughout the interregnum, the Second Republic, and into the Dark Ages - and it was in the wake of the Second Republic's collapse that the Yathribi jumpgate closed in 4093, sealing off the holy world of visions from the rest of human space.<br />
<br />
In the main part of the Known Worlds, the Van Gelder retained their prominent position into the 46th century, and were among those to ally with Vladimir as he became the first man to reunify those worlds still accessible through the jumpweb. The new Emperor, however, broke promises made to a number of his allies - including the Van Gelder, who were among those Houses to turn on their betrayer, seeking to bring him low.<br />
<br />
They failed, and only survived by surrendering to one of those Houses with whom Vladimir had not broken faith. As a result, for the past 450 years, the Van Gelder of the Known Worlds have been vassals of House Decados - stripped of their old homeworlds, living only at the sufferance of their masters (though they are permitted to manage various holdings, including some valuable ones on Malignatius), and converted into a house of assassins and spies, they now bear little resemblance to their former selves. Only the blandly unremarkable facade remains.<br />
<br />
On Yathrib, however, the Van Gelder were among a number of Great Houses that not merely survived but thrived, even as their kin were falling elsewhere. Holding one of the original Seven Seigneuries, they have played an important (but not dominant) role throughout the post-separation history of the Shining Gulf, and they have more than once held one of the Great Offices of the Crusader State.<br />
<br />
Here, the van Gelder - the locals customarily dropping the capital V in favour of an older, Flemish form of the name - cemented a role for themselves as a guild- and commerce-friendly House, known for their stewardship of their lands, their close ties to the sea, and the great cattle and horse-breeding ranches of their hinterland in the veldt.<br />
<br />
== Local House Culture and Ways ==<br />
<br />
* '''''Blandly avaricious past'''''<br><br />
<br />
For much of its history, the House was known for little save an appreciation for wealth: its members were regarded by many of their peers as bland and uninteresting, and even more than the al-Malik they had a reputation for unfashionably commercial interests and connections. Still, straddling the worlds of industry and aristocracy certainly seemed to serve as a recipe for success for century after century.<br />
<br />
On Yathrib during its 95 decades of separation, the local van Gelder retained many of their connections to commerce and industry, and the greatest Guild stronghold on the planet is to be found in the Free City of Rotdam, which has prospered under the protection of the County of Johburg.<br />
<br />
* '''''What we do ourselves, we do better'''''<br />
<br />
The long decline of native industry and the loss of all interstellar commerce, however, wrought great changes upon the Yathribi van Gelder. Long associated with the neo-Boer movement that had settled the veldt of Johburg, the local van Gelder increasingly became an agrarian nobility - their patronage of commerce and industry turning from shareholdings and seats on boards into a close relationship with the emergent guilds, especially those that gradually took over Rotdam and the technical experts who maintained the planet's links to near orbit and outer space.<br />
<br />
The change in role altered the familial image - and the manner in which it saw itself. The pursuit of wealth was no longer viable as a measure of success, when wealth was increasingly tied up with land and land required power-plays and risky expenditure to acquire. Instead, the van Gelder increasingly promoted the distinctive qualities of the neo-Boer culture - independence, determination, and self-reliance - and sought to develop their wealth by developing the lands they already held, acquiring new fiefs only cautiously.<br />
<br />
More interested in trade and internal investment than external expansion, the van Gelder have often been proponents of compromise and cautious ambition amidst the often-turbulent politics of the State: they believe in aspiring to change the world for the better, but commerce and fief-management are each so much more reliable during peace, after all. In war, however, the van Gelder tend to take a 'never say die' attitude towards the defence of their estates, their trade networks, and their people: to allow undue harm to befall their interests would entail both a loss of status and a dire breach of honour. And should people be lost to the enemy, they are not to be forgotten - however long it might take to achieve they have a right to liberation, or vengeance if that cannot be accomplished.<br />
<br />
* '''''Play hard, but play fair'''''<br />
<br />
Some noble houses found themselves too small to survive after Yathrib's abrupt isolation. Among those absorbed by the prosperous van Gelder were elements of House Windsor, with results most visible in the unusual hobbies now beloved of the van Gelder: cricket is a County-wide obsession for many at all levels of society, while rugby predominates during the cooler months of the year. A preoccupation with such unusual interests (especially when leavened with maritime and commercial idioms) sometimes renders van Gelder conversation rather hard for others to understand.<br />
<br />
Windsor influence might also be detected in the van Gelder approach to honour: in addition to a firm expectation that one's word is one's bond there is a marked emphasis on noblesse oblige - to truly be a noble, one must act nobly, by honouring and assisting those above and below oneself in the hierarchy of society. Those for whom a noble is responsible merit her care and attention, as do those superiors to whom she owes feudal service; whether or not an explicit promise has been made to the individual in question, by accepting her privileged role in society a noble is deemed to have also accepted the responsibility of aiding and protecting her subjects and superiors alike. To some pragmatic van Gelder, those who are ''not'' directly a noble's responsibility are entirely fair game, though others adopt a markedly altruistic attitude, drawing upon the Church's doctrine declaring nobles to be martyrs for society as a whole.<br />
<br />
As an extension of both noblesse oblige and their changed attitude to wealth, the van Gelder now take an unusually paternalistic and hands-on approach to rulership. An overflowing treasury is considered less a measure of success - and certainly a far inferior mark of culture and good taste - than a well-maintained estate housing a healthy and productive population, or a successful cultural event or work of fine art. Naturally, reserves must be maintained to deal with emergencies, but the simple accumulation of specie for its own sake is distastefully uncouth: after all, the true value of wealth multiplies when it is invested in fine art and the productive improvement of one's homeland.<br />
<br />
Similarly, proper comportment is an important element of honour: only if one is seen to adhere to 'the rules of the game' might one uphold one's good name and truly merit honourable treatment in return - whether in a sporting contest or a life-or-death crisis, honour matters. So, of course, does victory, but it is not the only consideration: "play hard, but play fair" might be a second family motto. Bounders and cads merit severe punishment for their dishonourable deeds; the mark of a gentleman, after all, is playing the game properly. Anything else just wouldn't be cricket.<br />
<br />
== Holdings ==<br />
<br />
Johburg, above all others - it's not 'merely' the van Gelder County, but the region with which the house is most closely connected by culture and inclination. The House has been intimately associated with the area that now forms the County since the early days of human settlement on Yathrib. Formerly, the County also extended across the Gulf to the East, and there are still scattered van Gelder survivors among the taifa lordships beyond the County's frontiers.<br />
<br />
Long-standing mercantile ties led to van Gelder presence throughout the Pearl Cities and the Antipodes, though most such enclaves have been eliminated during the past century of warfare; survivals are most frequent where the al-Malik of Hydessos have helped to protect them, much as the van Gelder sheltered al-Malik within the bounds of Johburg.<br />
<br />
The centrepiece of the van Gelder presence is the Johburg itself, an ancient fortress dug into the heart of a hill overlooking the city of the same name, though the iconic Fisher Hall adjacent to Akko and the Summer Palace outside Margat are much more luxurious court centres than the subterranean base.<br />
<br />
== Personnel ==<br />
<br />
'''Leading Yathribi van Gelder:''' <br />
* [[Amber|Amber van Gelder]]: Countess of [[Johburg]], head of house<br />
** '''Nathalie van Gelder''': legitimised natural daughter, heiress<br />
* '''Valentijn van Gelder''': baron of Teldam; Amber's younger brother<br />
** Wife and (adult) children<br />
* '''Ysbrandt van Gelder''': baronet of Gant; cousin to Amber and Valentijn<br />
* '''Seraphine de Moley''': nee van Gelder; dowager baroness and regent of Arvin; cousin to Amber and Valentijn<br />
<br />
'''Offworld Van Gelder'''<br />
* '''Agravain Van Gelder''': Inquisitor of Yathrib; Abbot of Saint Palamedes<br />
* '''Trisje Van Gelder''': Knight of the Phoenix (Imperial Questing Knight)<br />
<br />
== Typical Yathribi van Gelder Traits ==<br />
<br />
* '''Characteristics:''' Wits, Ego, Calm<br />
* '''Natural Skills:''' Charm, Melee, Observe<br />
* '''Learned Skills:''' Ride, Sailor, Steward<br />
* '''Blessings/Curses:''' Condescending, Noblesse Oblige, Subtle<br />
* '''Benefices:''' Guild allies, technological artefacts</div>Amberhttps://starcrusade.fadingsuns.org/index.php?title=Skills&diff=2368Skills2013-05-19T01:46:02Z<p>Amber: /* Beastcraft */</p>
<hr />
<div>Characters have access to a variety of skills.<br />
<br />
<br />
== Natural Skills ==<br />
<br />
=== Charm ===<br />
<br />
Charm is the ability to come off as friendly and appealing.<br />
=== Fight ===<br />
<br />
Fight is the skill of unarmed combat.<br />
=== Impress ===<br />
<br />
Impress is the ability to convey oneself with gravity and import.<br />
=== Melee ===<br />
<br />
Melee is the skill of armed close-quarter combat.<br />
=== Observe ===<br />
<br />
Observe is the ability to notice elements of the environment.<br />
=== Shoot ===<br />
<br />
Shoot is the skill of firing ranged weapons.<br />
=== Sneak ===<br />
<br />
Sneak is the ability to move and hide with stealth.<br />
=== Vigor ===<br />
<br />
Vigor is the skill for purely physical endeavors, like running, and playing sports.<br />
<br />
== Learned Skills ==<br />
<br />
=== Academia ===<br />
<br />
Academia is general historical and academic knowledge, as well as the skill of being able to research topics in a library or other repository of information. Characters skilled in academia can do math, recall historic facts, be conversant with the basics of literature and the Omega Gospels and all the other parts of a general education.<br />
<br />
=== Arts ===<br />
<br />
The arts skill represents facility in the visual arts; the character can paint, draw, or sculpt. The skill does not take specialties, but if a character is working in a new medium she may take familiarity penalties.<br />
<br />
==== Writing ====<br />
<br />
While arts does not have specialties per se, the Writing skill is an arts-related skill used for writing poetry or prose in a pleasing manner. While bureaucracy or academia or commerce may give the character the ability to write in some professional fashion, the writing skill is what determines the aesthetic quality of a character's work.<br />
<br />
==== Magic Lantern ====<br />
<br />
Like the writing skill, Magic Lantern is an arts-related skill that allows a character to take moving video - Magic Lantern shows. It is mostly practiced by the Masque guild.<br />
<br />
=== Beastcraft ===<br />
<br />
Control of beast-powered vehicles: chariots, wagons, carriages, etc.<br />
<br />
=== Bureaucracy ===<br />
<br />
=== Commerce ===<br />
<br />
The knowledge and practice of selling and trading goods.<br />
<br />
=== Command ===<br />
<br />
Command is the skill of tactics and leadership of a single unit, anywhere from a few soldiers to a company or whole starship. It is the professional skill of non-commissioned officers and company officers. For larger questions of strategy, use the Warfare skill.<br />
<br />
=== Courtier ===<br />
<br />
A person who attends a royal court as a companion or adviser. A courtier's skills include but are not limited to forms of diplomacy.<br />
<br />
=== Craft (Specialty) ===<br />
<br />
=== Doctrine (Speciality) ===<br />
<br />
=== Drive ===<br />
<br />
This skill allows a character the ability to operate vehicles other than spaceships. See 'Pilot' for flying spacecrafts.<br />
<br />
=== Espionage ===<br />
<br />
A skill reserved the Mastermind behind a spy related plot. For physical involvement in spying see "Sneak".<br />
<br />
=== Focus ===<br />
<br />
Focus is dedicated training in meditation and self-discipline. Possessed usually by mystics and contemplatives, it allows a character to focus his or her mind and ward off pain or mental distraction.<br />
<br />
=== Gaming ===<br />
<br />
<br />
=== Gunnery ===<br />
<br />
=== Inquiry ===<br />
<br />
=== Knavery ===<br />
<br />
Knavery is the skill of lying and deceiving others; it can be used to disguise one's self as something one is not, for fast-talking, impersonation, and con artistry, and for convincingly appearing as someone one is not. (The Perform skill can also be used in some acting situations, though it is more focused on the theatrical.)<br />
<br />
=== Lockpicking ===<br />
<br />
=== Lore (Specialty) ===<br />
<br />
;Professional<br />
:Jumproad Lore, Seafaring Lore, Law, Herb Lore, Poisons, Banking Lore<br />
<br />
;People & Places<br />
:Obun Lore, Ukar Lore, Vau Lore, Kurgan Lore, Vuldrok Lore, Oro'ym Lore, Hironem Lore<br />
<br />
;Scholar<br />
:Second Republic Lore, Occult Lore, Military Lore<br />
<br />
=== Performer ===<br />
<br />
=== Physick ===<br />
<br />
=== Pilot ===<br />
<br />
=== Remedy ===<br />
<br />
=== Ride ===<br />
<br />
===Sabotage===<br />
<br />
=== Sailor ===<br />
<br />
=== Science (Specialty) ===<br />
<br />
Engineering, Biology, Chemistry, Terraforming, Archaeology, Occult Science<br />
<br />
=== Sleight of Hand ===<br />
<br />
=== Spacer ===<br />
<br />
=== Steward ===<br />
<br />
=== Streetwise ===<br />
<br />
=== Survival ===<br />
<br />
=== Tech Redemption ===<br />
<br />
=== Think Machine ===<br />
<br />
===Throwing===<br />
<br />
=== Torture ===<br />
<br />
=== Warfare ===<br />
<br />
Warfare is the professional skill of field and general officers; characters use it to plot strategy for a campaign, manage logistics, or command an army or fleet of ships in the field.<br />
<br />
== People & Places (Specialty) ==<br />
<br />
;Empire<br />
:Known Worlds, Kurgan, Vuldrok<br />
<br />
;Alien<br />
:Obun, Ur-Ukar, Vau, Gannock, Vorox, Oro'ym, Hironem, Ascorbite, Etyri<br />
<br />
;Noble House<br />
:Hawkwood, al-Malik, Li Halan, Hazat, Decados, Justinian, De Moley, Xanthippe, Thana, Torenson, Masseri, Van Gelder, Keddah, Juandaastas, Trusnikron<br />
<br />
;Church<br />
:Church, Amalthean, Brother Battle, Avesti, Eskatonic<br />
<br />
;Guild<br />
:Muster, Charioteers, Reeves, Scravers, Engineers<br />
<br />
;Planet<br />
:Yathrib, Aylon, Istakhr, Criticorum, Shaprut, Byzantium Secundus, Nowhere, Stigmata, Tethys, Severus, Cadiz, Cadavus, Malignatius, Pandemonium, Iver, Icon, Kish, Midian, Rampart, Leagueheim, Madoc, Bannockburn, Delphi, Gwynneth, Leminkainen, Ravenna, Vera Cruz, Aragon, Sutek, Hira, Holy Terra, Pentateuch, Pyre, De Moley, Artemis, Hargard, Apshai, Manitou, Vril-Ya, Grail</div>Amberhttps://starcrusade.fadingsuns.org/index.php?title=Van_Gelder&diff=2367Van Gelder2013-05-19T01:44:00Z<p>Amber: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{Infobox Noblehouse | image=Van Gelder Big.jpg|px 150 | fullname=House Van Gelder | mt= ?? |col= Silver (grey) and Black | hw= Urth / Malignatius / Yathrib |th= Zacharia Van Gelder |lh=[[Amber]] van Gelder}}<br />
<br />
<center>'''''DRAFT - NOT YET APPROVED BY STAFF'''''</center><br><br />
<br />
''<center>Nos melius quam nos aguntur.''</center><br />
<center>~~</center><br />
''<center>What we do ourselves, we do better.''</center><br><br />
<br />
An ancient house, long known for maintaining ties to industry and aristocracy alike, the Van Gelder of the Known Worlds fell from grace four and a half centuries ago... but their recently rediscovered kin on Yathrib, separated by 950 years of divergent history, never lost their status as one of the 'Great Houses' of the world, and are now radically different in culture to their kin beyond the jumpgate.<br />
<br />
== History of the House ==<br />
<br />
With their roots in a coalition of Dutch, Swiss, and Belgian zaibatsu that formed on Urth to send joint expeditions through the jumpgate during the early years of human star-travel, the Van Gelder lay claim to a history that spans more than two and a half millennia. It has not, however, tended to be a terribly ''exciting'' narrative - though for the great majority of the time, it was a tale of near-unbroken success. Quiet, steady accumulation yielded great dividends over a span of centuries.<br />
<br />
Seeing the writing on the wall for the First Republic, the coalition acquired several outlying planets, intermarried members of its leading families, and formed House Van Gelder (named for the Chief Executive Officer of the merged corporation) to set itself on the path to becoming one of the leading noble houses of the First Republic.<br />
<br />
It remained a Great House throughout the interregnum, the Second Republic, and into the Dark Ages - and it was in the wake of the Second Republic's collapse that the Yathribi jumpgate closed in 4093, sealing off the holy world of visions from the rest of human space.<br />
<br />
In the main part of the Known Worlds, the Van Gelder retained their prominent position into the 46th century, and were among those to ally with Vladimir as he became the first man to reunify those worlds still accessible through the jumpweb. The new Emperor, however, broke promises made to a number of his allies - including the Van Gelder, who were among those Houses to turn on their betrayer, seeking to bring him low.<br />
<br />
They failed, and only survived by surrendering to one of those Houses with whom Vladimir had not broken faith. As a result, for the past 450 years, the Van Gelder of the Known Worlds have been vassals of House Decados - stripped of their old homeworlds, living only at the sufferance of their masters (though they are permitted to manage various holdings, including some valuable ones on Malignatius), and converted into a house of assassins and spies, they now bear little resemblance to their former selves. Only the blandly unremarkable facade remains.<br />
<br />
On Yathrib, however, the Van Gelder were among a number of Great Houses that not merely survived but thrived, even as their kin were falling elsewhere. Holding one of the original Seven Seigneuries, they have played an important (but not dominant) role throughout the post-separation history of the Shining Gulf, and they have more than once held one of the Great Offices of the Crusader State.<br />
<br />
Here, the van Gelder - the locals customarily dropping the capital V in favour of an older, Flemish form of the name - cemented a role for themselves as a guild- and commerce-friendly House, known for their stewardship of their lands, their close ties to the sea, and the great cattle and horse-breeding ranches of their hinterland in the veldt.<br />
<br />
== House Culture and Ways ==<br />
<br />
For much of its history, the House was known for little save a lust for wealth: its members were regarded by many of their peers as bland and uninteresting, and even more than the al-Malik they had a reputation for unfashionably mercantile interests and connections. Still, straddling the worlds of industry and aristocracy certainly seemed to serve as a recipe for success for century after century.<br />
<br />
On Yathrib during its 95 decades of separation, the van Gelder retained many of their connections to commerce and industry, and the greatest Guild stronghold on the planet is to be found in the Free City of Rotdam, which has prospered under the protection of the County of Johburg.<br />
<br />
The long decline of native industry and the loss of all interstellar commerce, however, wrought great changes upon the Yathribi van Gelder. Long associated with the neo-Boer movement that had settled the veldt of Johburg, the local van Gelder increasingly became an agrarian nobility - their patronage of commerce and industry turning from shareholdings and seats on boards into a close relationship with the guilds that gradually took over Rotdam, and with the technical experts who maintained the planet's links to near orbit and outer space.<br />
<br />
The change in role, however, altered the familial image - and the manner in which it saw itself. The pursuit of wealth was no longer especially viable as a measure of success, when wealth was increasingly tied up with land and land required power and expenditure to control. Instead, the van Gelder increasingly identified themselves with (and promoted) the distinctive qualities of the neo-Boer culture - independence, determination, and self-reliance - and sought to develop their wealth by developing their land.<br />
<br />
Cut off from their offworld kin, some noble houses found themselves too small to survive independently, and among those absorbed by the prosperous van Gelder were many of the local members of House Windsor. The results are most visible in the unusual hobbies now beloved of the van Gelder, with cricket a County-wide obsession for many at all levels of society, while rugby rises to prominence during the cooler months of the year.<br />
<br />
The Windsor influence, however, can also be seen in the van Gelder tradition of caring for their subjects: having cemented their power in Johburg by close identification with the region's distinctive culture, and converted their association of wealth with success into a desire to compete for status via the prosperity of their estates, they have come to exercise an unusually paternalistic attitude towards their subjects. An overflowing treasury is considered less a measure of success - and certainly a far inferior mark of culture and good taste - than a well-maintained estate, with a healthy population properly housed and well-fed so that it can provide productive workers.<br />
<br />
A mingling of influences might be detected in the van Gelder approach to honour: there is a marked tendency to regard one's word as one's bond, but it is particularly focused upon those above and below any given noble in the hierarchy of society. Those beneath him for whom a noble is responsible merit his care and attention, as do those to whom he owes feudal service. To some van Gelder, those who are not directly a noble's to care for are entirely fair game, though others adopt a markedly altruistic attitude, in line with the Church's teachings upon nobles as martyrs for society as a whole.<br />
<br />
More interested in trade and internal investment than external expansion, the van Gelder have often been proponents of compromise and cautious ambition amidst the often-turbulent politics of the State: trade and fief-management are each so much more reliable in peace, after all. In war, however, the van Gelder ferociously defend their investments in their estates, their trade networks, and their people.<br />
<br />
== Holdings ==<br />
<br />
Johburg, above all others - it's not 'merely' the van Gelder County, but the region with which the house is most closely connected by culture and inclination. The House has been intimately associated with the area that now forms the County since the early days of human settlement on Yathrib. Formerly, the County also extended across the Gulf to the East, and there are still scattered van Gelder survivors among the taifa lordships beyond the County's frontiers.<br />
<br />
Long-standing mercantile ties led to van Gelder presence throughout the Pearl Cities and the Antipodes, though most such enclaves have been eliminated during the past century of warfare; survivals are most frequent where the al-Malik of Hydessos have helped to protect them, much as the van Gelder sheltered al-Malik within the bounds of Johburg.<br />
<br />
The centrepiece of the van Gelder presence is the Johburg itself, an ancient fortress dug into the heart of a hill overlooking the city of the same name, though the iconic Fisher Hall adjacent to Akko and the Summer Palace outside Margat are much more luxurious court centres than the subterranean base.<br />
<br />
== Personnel ==<br />
<br />
'''Leading Yathribi van Gelder:''' <br />
* [[Amber|Amber van Gelder]]: Countess of [[Johburg]], head of house<br />
** '''Nathalie van Gelder''': legitimised natural daughter, heiress<br />
* '''Valentijn van Gelder''': baron of Teldam; Amber's younger brother<br />
** Wife and (adult) children<br />
* '''Ysbrandt van Gelder''': baronet of Gant; cousin to Amber and Valentijn<br />
* '''Seraphine de Moley''': nee van Gelder; dowager baroness and regent of Arvin; cousin to Amber and Valentijn<br />
<br />
'''Offworld Van Gelder'''<br />
* '''Agravain Van Gelder''': Inquisitor of Yathrib; Abbot of Saint Palamedes<br />
* '''Trisje Van Gelder''': Knight of the Phoenix (Imperial Questing Knight)<br />
<br />
== Typical Yathribi van Gelder Traits ==<br />
<br />
* '''Characteristics:''' Wits, Ego, Calm<br />
* '''Natural Skills:''' Charm, Melee, Observe<br />
* '''Learned Skills:''' Ride, Sailor, Steward<br />
* '''Blessings/Curses:''' Condescending, Noblesse Oblige, Subtle<br />
* '''Benefices:''' Guild allies, technological artefacts</div>Amberhttps://starcrusade.fadingsuns.org/index.php?title=Van_Gelder&diff=2366Van Gelder2013-05-19T01:43:21Z<p>Amber: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{Infobox Noblehouse | image=Van Gelder Big.jpg|px 150 | fullname=House Van Gelder | mt= ?? |col= Silver (grey) and Black | hw= Urth / Malignatius / Yathrib |th= Zacharia Van Gelder |lh=[[Amber]] Van Gelder}}<br />
<br />
<center>'''''DRAFT - NOT YET APPROVED BY STAFF'''''</center><br><br />
<br />
''<center>Nos melius quam nos aguntur.''</center><br />
<center>~~</center><br />
''<center>What we do ourselves, we do better.''</center><br><br />
<br />
An ancient house, long known for maintaining ties to industry and aristocracy alike, the Van Gelder of the Known Worlds fell from grace four and a half centuries ago... but their recently rediscovered kin on Yathrib, separated by 950 years of divergent history, never lost their status as one of the 'Great Houses' of the world, and are now radically different in culture to their kin beyond the jumpgate.<br />
<br />
== History of the House ==<br />
<br />
With their roots in a coalition of Dutch, Swiss, and Belgian zaibatsu that formed on Urth to send joint expeditions through the jumpgate during the early years of human star-travel, the Van Gelder lay claim to a history that spans more than two and a half millennia. It has not, however, tended to be a terribly ''exciting'' narrative - though for the great majority of the time, it was a tale of near-unbroken success. Quiet, steady accumulation yielded great dividends over a span of centuries.<br />
<br />
Seeing the writing on the wall for the First Republic, the coalition acquired several outlying planets, intermarried members of its leading families, and formed House Van Gelder (named for the Chief Executive Officer of the merged corporation) to set itself on the path to becoming one of the leading noble houses of the First Republic.<br />
<br />
It remained a Great House throughout the interregnum, the Second Republic, and into the Dark Ages - and it was in the wake of the Second Republic's collapse that the Yathribi jumpgate closed in 4093, sealing off the holy world of visions from the rest of human space.<br />
<br />
In the main part of the Known Worlds, the Van Gelder retained their prominent position into the 46th century, and were among those to ally with Vladimir as he became the first man to reunify those worlds still accessible through the jumpweb. The new Emperor, however, broke promises made to a number of his allies - including the Van Gelder, who were among those Houses to turn on their betrayer, seeking to bring him low.<br />
<br />
They failed, and only survived by surrendering to one of those Houses with whom Vladimir had not broken faith. As a result, for the past 450 years, the Van Gelder of the Known Worlds have been vassals of House Decados - stripped of their old homeworlds, living only at the sufferance of their masters (though they are permitted to manage various holdings, including some valuable ones on Malignatius), and converted into a house of assassins and spies, they now bear little resemblance to their former selves. Only the blandly unremarkable facade remains.<br />
<br />
On Yathrib, however, the Van Gelder were among a number of Great Houses that not merely survived but thrived, even as their kin were falling elsewhere. Holding one of the original Seven Seigneuries, they have played an important (but not dominant) role throughout the post-separation history of the Shining Gulf, and they have more than once held one of the Great Offices of the Crusader State.<br />
<br />
Here, the van Gelder - the locals customarily dropping the capital V in favour of an older, Flemish form of the name - cemented a role for themselves as a guild- and commerce-friendly House, known for their stewardship of their lands, their close ties to the sea, and the great cattle and horse-breeding ranches of their hinterland in the veldt.<br />
<br />
== House Culture and Ways ==<br />
<br />
For much of its history, the House was known for little save a lust for wealth: its members were regarded by many of their peers as bland and uninteresting, and even more than the al-Malik they had a reputation for unfashionably mercantile interests and connections. Still, straddling the worlds of industry and aristocracy certainly seemed to serve as a recipe for success for century after century.<br />
<br />
On Yathrib during its 95 decades of separation, the van Gelder retained many of their connections to commerce and industry, and the greatest Guild stronghold on the planet is to be found in the Free City of Rotdam, which has prospered under the protection of the County of Johburg.<br />
<br />
The long decline of native industry and the loss of all interstellar commerce, however, wrought great changes upon the Yathribi van Gelder. Long associated with the neo-Boer movement that had settled the veldt of Johburg, the local van Gelder increasingly became an agrarian nobility - their patronage of commerce and industry turning from shareholdings and seats on boards into a close relationship with the guilds that gradually took over Rotdam, and with the technical experts who maintained the planet's links to near orbit and outer space.<br />
<br />
The change in role, however, altered the familial image - and the manner in which it saw itself. The pursuit of wealth was no longer especially viable as a measure of success, when wealth was increasingly tied up with land and land required power and expenditure to control. Instead, the van Gelder increasingly identified themselves with (and promoted) the distinctive qualities of the neo-Boer culture - independence, determination, and self-reliance - and sought to develop their wealth by developing their land.<br />
<br />
Cut off from their offworld kin, some noble houses found themselves too small to survive independently, and among those absorbed by the prosperous van Gelder were many of the local members of House Windsor. The results are most visible in the unusual hobbies now beloved of the van Gelder, with cricket a County-wide obsession for many at all levels of society, while rugby rises to prominence during the cooler months of the year.<br />
<br />
The Windsor influence, however, can also be seen in the van Gelder tradition of caring for their subjects: having cemented their power in Johburg by close identification with the region's distinctive culture, and converted their association of wealth with success into a desire to compete for status via the prosperity of their estates, they have come to exercise an unusually paternalistic attitude towards their subjects. An overflowing treasury is considered less a measure of success - and certainly a far inferior mark of culture and good taste - than a well-maintained estate, with a healthy population properly housed and well-fed so that it can provide productive workers.<br />
<br />
A mingling of influences might be detected in the van Gelder approach to honour: there is a marked tendency to regard one's word as one's bond, but it is particularly focused upon those above and below any given noble in the hierarchy of society. Those beneath him for whom a noble is responsible merit his care and attention, as do those to whom he owes feudal service. To some van Gelder, those who are not directly a noble's to care for are entirely fair game, though others adopt a markedly altruistic attitude, in line with the Church's teachings upon nobles as martyrs for society as a whole.<br />
<br />
More interested in trade and internal investment than external expansion, the van Gelder have often been proponents of compromise and cautious ambition amidst the often-turbulent politics of the State: trade and fief-management are each so much more reliable in peace, after all. In war, however, the van Gelder ferociously defend their investments in their estates, their trade networks, and their people.<br />
<br />
== Holdings ==<br />
<br />
Johburg, above all others - it's not 'merely' the van Gelder County, but the region with which the house is most closely connected by culture and inclination. The House has been intimately associated with the area that now forms the County since the early days of human settlement on Yathrib. Formerly, the County also extended across the Gulf to the East, and there are still scattered van Gelder survivors among the taifa lordships beyond the County's frontiers.<br />
<br />
Long-standing mercantile ties led to van Gelder presence throughout the Pearl Cities and the Antipodes, though most such enclaves have been eliminated during the past century of warfare; survivals are most frequent where the al-Malik of Hydessos have helped to protect them, much as the van Gelder sheltered al-Malik within the bounds of Johburg.<br />
<br />
The centrepiece of the van Gelder presence is the Johburg itself, an ancient fortress dug into the heart of a hill overlooking the city of the same name, though the iconic Fisher Hall adjacent to Akko and the Summer Palace outside Margat are much more luxurious court centres than the subterranean base.<br />
<br />
== Personnel ==<br />
<br />
'''Leading Yathribi van Gelder:''' <br />
* [[Amber|Amber van Gelder]]: Countess of [[Johburg]], head of house<br />
** '''Nathalie van Gelder''': legitimised natural daughter, heiress<br />
* '''Valentijn van Gelder''': baron of Teldam; Amber's younger brother<br />
** Wife and (adult) children<br />
* '''Ysbrandt van Gelder''': baronet of Gant; cousin to Amber and Valentijn<br />
* '''Seraphine de Moley''': nee van Gelder; dowager baroness and regent of Arvin; cousin to Amber and Valentijn<br />
<br />
'''Offworld Van Gelder'''<br />
* '''Agravain Van Gelder''': Inquisitor of Yathrib; Abbot of Saint Palamedes<br />
* '''Trisje Van Gelder''': Knight of the Phoenix (Imperial Questing Knight)<br />
<br />
== Typical Yathribi van Gelder Traits ==<br />
<br />
* '''Characteristics:''' Wits, Ego, Calm<br />
* '''Natural Skills:''' Charm, Melee, Observe<br />
* '''Learned Skills:''' Ride, Sailor, Steward<br />
* '''Blessings/Curses:''' Condescending, Noblesse Oblige, Subtle<br />
* '''Benefices:''' Guild allies, technological artefacts</div>Amberhttps://starcrusade.fadingsuns.org/index.php?title=Van_Gelder&diff=2365Van Gelder2013-05-19T01:28:20Z<p>Amber: Addition of first draft of text; Empire-side history is directly canonical</p>
<hr />
<div>{{Infobox Noblehouse | image=Van Gelder Big.jpg|px 150 | fullname=House Van Gelder | mt= ?? |col= Silver (grey) and Black | hw= Urth / Malignatius / Yathrib |th= ?? |lh=[[Amber]] Van Gelder}}<br />
<br />
<center>'''''DRAFT - NOT YET APPROVED BY STAFF'''''</center><br><br />
<br />
''<center>Nos melius quam nos aguntur.''</center><br />
<center>~~</center><br />
''<center>What we do ourselves, we do better.''</center><br><br />
<br />
An ancient house, long known for maintaining ties to industry and aristocracy alike, the Van Gelder of the Known Worlds fell from grace four and a half centuries ago... but their recently rediscovered kin on Yathrib, separated by 950 years of divergent history, never lost their status as one of the 'Great Houses' of the world, and are now radically different in culture to their kin beyond the jumpgate.<br />
<br />
== History of the House ==<br />
<br />
With their roots in a coalition of Dutch, Swiss, and Belgian zaibatsu that formed on Urth to send joint expeditions through the jumpgate during the early years of human star-travel, the Van Gelder lay claim to a history that spans more than two and a half millennia. It has not, however, tended to be a terribly ''exciting'' narrative - though for the great majority of the time, it was a tale of near-unbroken success. Quiet, steady accumulation yielded great dividends over a span of centuries.<br />
<br />
Seeing the writing on the wall for the First Republic, the coalition acquired several outlying planets, intermarried members of its leading families, and formed House Van Gelder (named for the Chief Executive Officer of the merged corporation) to set itself on the path to becoming one of the leading noble houses of the First Republic.<br />
<br />
It remained a Great House throughout the interregnum, the Second Republic, and into the Dark Ages - and it was in the wake of the Second Republic's collapse that the Yathribi jumpgate closed in 4093, sealing off the holy world of visions from the rest of human space.<br />
<br />
In the main part of the Known Worlds, the Van Gelder retained their prominent position into the 46th century, and were among those to ally with Vladimir as he became the first man to reunify those worlds still accessible through the jumpweb. The new Emperor, however, broke promises made to a number of his allies - including the Van Gelder, who were among those Houses to turn on their betrayer, seeking to bring him low.<br />
<br />
They failed, and only survived by surrendering to one of those Houses with whom Vladimir had not broken faith. As a result, for the past 450 years, the Van Gelder of the Known Worlds have been vassals of House Decados - stripped of their old homeworlds, living only at the sufferance of their masters (though they are permitted to manage various holdings, including some valuable ones on Malignatius), and converted into a house of assassins and spies, they now bear little resemblance to their former selves. Only the blandly unremarkable facade remains.<br />
<br />
On Yathrib, however, the Van Gelder were among a number of Great Houses that not merely survived but thrived, even as their kin were falling elsewhere. Holding one of the original Seven Seigneuries, they have played an important (but not dominant) role throughout the post-separation history of the Shining Gulf, and they have more than once held one of the Great Offices of the Crusader State.<br />
<br />
Here, the van Gelder - the locals customarily dropping the capital V in favour of an older, Flemish form of the name - cemented a role for themselves as a guild- and commerce-friendly House, known for their stewardship of their lands, their close ties to the sea, and the great cattle and horse-breeding ranches of their hinterland in the veldt.<br />
<br />
== House Culture and Ways ==<br />
<br />
For much of its history, the House was known for little save a lust for wealth: its members were regarded by many of their peers as bland and uninteresting, and even more than the al-Malik they had a reputation for unfashionably mercantile interests and connections. Still, straddling the worlds of industry and aristocracy certainly seemed to serve as a recipe for success for century after century.<br />
<br />
On Yathrib during its 95 decades of separation, the van Gelder retained many of their connections to commerce and industry, and the greatest Guild stronghold on the planet is to be found in the Free City of Rotdam, which has prospered under the protection of the County of Johburg.<br />
<br />
The long decline of native industry and the loss of all interstellar commerce, however, wrought great changes upon the Yathribi van Gelder. Long associated with the neo-Boer movement that had settled the veldt of Johburg, the local van Gelder increasingly became an agrarian nobility - their patronage of commerce and industry turning from shareholdings and seats on boards into a close relationship with the guilds that gradually took over Rotdam, and with the technical experts who maintained the planet's links to near orbit and outer space.<br />
<br />
The change in role, however, altered the familial image - and the manner in which it saw itself. The pursuit of wealth was no longer especially viable as a measure of success, when wealth was increasingly tied up with land and land required power and expenditure to control. Instead, the van Gelder increasingly identified themselves with (and promoted) the distinctive qualities of the neo-Boer culture - independence, determination, and self-reliance - and sought to develop their wealth by developing their land.<br />
<br />
Cut off from their offworld kin, some noble houses found themselves too small to survive independently, and among those absorbed by the prosperous van Gelder were many of the local members of House Windsor. The results are most visible in the unusual hobbies now beloved of the van Gelder, with cricket a County-wide obsession for many at all levels of society, while rugby rises to prominence during the cooler months of the year.<br />
<br />
The Windsor influence, however, can also be seen in the van Gelder tradition of caring for their subjects: having cemented their power in Johburg by close identification with the region's distinctive culture, and converted their association of wealth with success into a desire to compete for status via the prosperity of their estates, they have come to exercise an unusually paternalistic attitude towards their subjects. An overflowing treasury is considered less a measure of success - and certainly a far inferior mark of culture and good taste - than a well-maintained estate, with a healthy population properly housed and well-fed so that it can provide productive workers.<br />
<br />
A mingling of influences might be detected in the van Gelder approach to honour: there is a marked tendency to regard one's word as one's bond, but it is particularly focused upon those above and below any given noble in the hierarchy of society. Those beneath him for whom a noble is responsible merit his care and attention, as do those to whom he owes feudal service. To some van Gelder, those who are not directly a noble's to care for are entirely fair game, though others adopt a markedly altruistic attitude, in line with the Church's teachings upon nobles as martyrs for society as a whole.<br />
<br />
More interested in trade and internal investment than external expansion, the van Gelder have often been proponents of compromise and cautious ambition amidst the often-turbulent politics of the State: trade and fief-management are each so much more reliable in peace, after all. In war, however, the van Gelder ferociously defend their investments in their estates, their trade networks, and their people.<br />
<br />
== Holdings ==<br />
<br />
Johburg, above all others - it's not 'merely' the van Gelder County, but the region with which the house is most closely connected by culture and inclination. The House has been intimately associated with the area that now forms the County since the early days of human settlement on Yathrib. Formerly, the County also extended across the Gulf to the East, and there are still scattered van Gelder survivors among the taifa lordships beyond the County's frontiers.<br />
<br />
Long-standing mercantile ties led to van Gelder presence throughout the Pearl Cities and the Antipodes, though most such enclaves have been eliminated during the past century of warfare; survivals are most frequent where the al-Malik of Hydessos have helped to protect them, much as the van Gelder sheltered al-Malik within the bounds of Johburg.<br />
<br />
The centrepiece of the van Gelder presence is the Johburg itself, an ancient fortress dug into the heart of a hill overlooking the city of the same name, though the iconic Fisher Hall adjacent to Akko and the Summer Palace outside Margat are much more luxurious court centres than the subterranean base.<br />
<br />
== Personnel ==<br />
<br />
'''Leading Yathribi van Gelder:''' <br />
* [[Amber|Amber van Gelder]]: Countess of [[Johburg]], head of house<br />
** '''Nathalie van Gelder''': legitimised natural daughter, heiress<br />
* '''Valentijn van Gelder''': baron of Teldam; Amber's younger brother<br />
** Wife and (adult) children<br />
* '''Ysbrandt van Gelder''': baronet of Gant; cousin to Amber and Valentijn<br />
* '''Seraphine de Moley''': nee van Gelder; dowager baroness and regent of Arvin; cousin to Amber and Valentijn<br />
<br />
'''Offworld Van Gelder'''<br />
* '''Agravain Van Gelder''': Inquisitor of Yathrib; Abbot of Saint Palamedes<br />
* '''Trisje Van Gelder''': Knight of the Phoenix (Imperial Questing Knight)<br />
<br />
== Typical Yathribi van Gelder Traits ==<br />
<br />
* '''Characteristics:''' Wits, Ego, Calm<br />
* '''Natural Skills:''' Charm, Melee, Observe<br />
* '''Learned Skills:''' Ride, Sailor, Steward<br />
* '''Blessings/Curses:''' Condescending, Noblesse Oblige, Subtle<br />
* '''Benefices:''' Guild allies, technological artefacts</div>Amberhttps://starcrusade.fadingsuns.org/index.php?title=Amber&diff=2346Amber2013-05-18T13:12:58Z<p>Amber: </p>
<hr />
<div>__NOTOC__<br />
{| id="characterTable" width="100%"<br />
|-valign="top"<br />
| class="cell"|<br />
{| width="100%" cellspacing="5" cellpadding="2"<br />
|-<br />
| class="cell"|<br />
{| width="100%" cellspacing="5" cellpadding="2" style="font-family: Perpetua, Times New Roman;"<br />
| style="color: black; font-family: Perpetua, Times New Roman, serif; padding-right: 0px; vertical-align: top; text-align: center" |<br />
<font style="font-variant: small-caps; font-size: 36pt;">Eleanora 'Amber' Van Gelder </font><br />
<br><br />
<font style="font-variant: small-caps; font-size: 18pt;">Castellan and Countess of Johburg, Standard Bearer of the Holy City, Lady of Gulf and Sea, Head of House</font><br />
<br />
<center>[[Image:Van_Gelder.png|75px]]</center><br />
|-<br />
| class="cell"|<br />
{| width="100%" cellspacing="5" cellpadding="2" style="font-family: Perpetua, Times New Roman; font-size: 11pt; border: 1px solid black;" align="justify"<br />
|-<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
! <center><h1>Motto</h1></center><br />
|-<br />
| <br />
<center><i>He who does not stand firm on principles and has neither wide knowledge nor penetrating judgment is not worthy to be a companion</i><br></center><br />
<center>'''~~ Mo Tzu'''</center><br />
|-<br />
! <center><h1>Basic Information</h1></center><br />
|-<br />
| <br />
A former troubadour and privateer, who has risen to both the leadership of her House and to hold Great Office in the Crusader State - but her renown as a defender of her people's lives and traditions has put her at odds with the more radical, bloodthirsty, and land-hungry elements of the Crusade.<br />
<br />
During her disreputable youth a teenage marriage contract was terminated amidst a scandal, before she toured the Gulf as a troubadour. Comparative responsibility was achieved by undertaking one of the family professions and going to sea, though even there she served as a privateer rather than a 'conventional' naval officer. And her hedonism remained pronounced - her sole surviving child (and heiress), Nathalie, was born out of wedlock in 4985.<br />
<br />
Over time - and especially as more of her elders in the family died - she came to assume greater responsibility, participating in the failed defences of both Rabaq and Tyche (though in the latter, she helped to secure Taifa status for the Barony of Lattakieh), and the short-lived success of the Golden Season.<br />
<br />
Her current reputation is mixed: though a heroine to her people (and the participants of Count Joscelin's Crusade) for tying up a Kurgan army throughout 80 weeks of (unsuccessful) efforts to take the fortress of the Johburg from her, she is also known as a kinslayer - having killed one of her elder brothers after accusing him of treason and complicity in the Betrayal.<br />
<br />
Politically, she is a firm supporter of the Crusader State's laws and traditions, and is reputed to be devoted to her liege, Geoffrey de Moley. She also appears to have ties to the Imperial contingent on Yathrib, and though she's been declared an enemy of the Chainer faction of the Muster (for supposedly opposing slavery) her family tends to have close relations to the guilds, especially in the Free City of Rotdam. And though she is at odds with the 'radical' wing of the Crusaders, she has been vocal in her support for the rights of the Inquisition - clashing with both Sir William and his radical supporters over their efforts to usurp Inquisitorial powers.<br />
<br />
Personally, she has had great success in rebuilding her County from the results of years of occupation and combat, though it suffers continually from attacks from the two most potent Kurgan raiding fleets in the region, and the area of Teldam in particular remains an active target for renewed Kurgan expansion.<br />
<br />
* '''Full Name''': Eleanora Justine Amber Carlotta din Alt van Gelder<br />
* '''Social Traits''': ''Heroine''; ''Kinslayer''<br />
<br />
|-<br />
! <center><h1>Description</h1></center><br />
|-<br />
| <br />
Tall, elegant, and striking, she favours military uniforms, often wearing an anonymous grey one without insignia, though formal dress uniforms are used for official occasions. Tanned, fit, and the beneficiary of at least a couple of anti-agathic treatments (rumoured to have been 'acquired' from an Hydessan al-Malik tribute shipment prior to their liberation from the Kurgans), she appears both much younger and more active than might be expected - by looks alone, she is far more likely to be taken for a thirty-something officer on active service rather than a mother in her late 40s.<br />
<br />
When she speaks, her voice is richly musical - a vibrant alto, only slightly roughened by years of command.<br />
<br />
* '''Physical Traits''': ''Striking Looks''; ''Beautiful Voice''<br />
<br />
|-<br />
! <center><h1>Contacts</h1></center><br />
|-<br />
| <br />
'''Active'''<br />
* Agravain Van Gelder: cousin separated by a thousand years<br />
* Anja Torenson: personal aide and trusted deputy<br />
* Arkady Decados: entrusted with both her precious air force and her cousin Sonja<br />
* Caelwyn Li Halan: talented general, trusted friend; sadly the vassal of a crude thug<br />
* Cephus Justinian: hero and comrade returned to life, frequent guest<br />
* Hugh Justinian: talented general, frequent guest, fellow veteran of the State's wars<br />
* [[Isabeau|Isabeau Meeks]]: seer, purveyor of warnings, conveyor of grief - holy and protected<br />
* Lysandra Justinian: fellow scholar, and admired participant in Joscelin's Crusade<br />
* Naima bint Justinian: admired Amalthean, frequent guest, moral preacher<br />
* Raoul: personal bodyguard, and project in civilisation and education<br />
* [[Renaud|Renaud de Moley]]: highest-profile ally and fellow supporter of Geoffrey<br />
* [[Samina|Samina al-Malik]]: fellow (and superior) musician, allied emissary<br />
* Seraphine de Moley: nee van Gelder; cousin, friend, ally<br />
* Valentijn van Gelder: sole surviving sibling, dear friend, and trusted deputy<br />
* Zakaria al-Malik: daughter-rescuing vagabond, headache, friend, kindred spirit, and ally<br />
<br />
'''Inactive'''<br />
* Abiku: Courtesan, in the Countess's employ<br />
* Anselm Morrot: master duellist, gentleman, Thana, long-term guest<br />
* Aureliana Harmon: protege, loyal friend, recently-deposed mayor of Rotdam<br />
* Linnea Torenson: moral and civilised diplomat; friend<br />
* Lucien LaGrange: war-colleague, friend, Prior of Saint Claude's<br />
* Roshan Keddah: writer, provider of precious offworld books<br />
* Sophie: beautiful Grimson; bodyguard to Nathalie and her guests<br />
* Zebediah Hawkins: friend, Prior of Saint Claude's<br />
<br />
'''NPC'''<br />
* Fredo Hawkwood: formal ally, fellow Count, admired participant in Joscelin's Crusade<br />
* Geoffrey de Moley: beloved liege<br />
* Godric de Moley: the heir who must be protected<br />
* JJ: a ward of Lysandra's, residing in the Johburg with Nathalie<br />
* Nathalie van Gelder: headache, daughter, heiress, hope<br />
|-<br />
! <center><h1>Logs</h1></center><br />
|-<br />
|<br />
<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|}<br />
|}<br />
| width="350px" class="cell" td valign="top"|<br />
{| width="350px" cellspacing="5" cellpadding="2" <br />
|- <br />
{{InfoboxChar<br />
|Image=[[image:Amber_02.jpg|300px]]<br />
|Concept=Reformed Buccaneer<br />
|Rank=Countess, Head of House<br />
|Faction=[[Van Gelder]]<br />
|DoB=1st of December, 4953<br />
|Homeworld=Yathrib<br />
|Home County=Johburg<br />
|Height=5'9"<br />
|Weight=135lb<br />
|Physical Effects=''Striking Looks''; ''Beautiful Voice''<br />
|}}<br />
|-<br />
! <center><h2>Gallery</h2></center><br />
|-<br />
| <br />
<gallery><br />
File:Amber01.jpg<br />
File:Amber_03.jpg<br />
</gallery><br />
|<br />
|-<br />
! <center><h2>Soundtrack</h2></center><br />
|-<br />
| <br />
<br />
<div align="center"><br />
<br />
On those who sing the lore of life: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxY47jh9owA&feature=feedf Killing Me Softly], by Lori Lieberman <br><br />
''He sang as if he knew me <br><br />
''In all my dark despair <br><br />
''And then he looked right through me <br><br />
''As if I wasn't there <br><br />
''But he was there, this stranger <br><br />
''Singing clear and strong <br><br />
''Strumming my pain with his fingers <br><br />
''Killing me softly with his song<br />
<br />
For Johburg and her people: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWyYh7_ubw4&NR=1&feature=fvwp The Greatest Flame], by Runrig <br><br />
''This is our life, and our time <br><br />
''And nothing is ever going to break us <br><br />
''Now we're on our own <br><br />
''This is our place, in our lives <br><br />
''And no one can ever change this moment <br><br />
''Or pull this mountain to the ground''<br />
<br />
For the pain and beauty of honour: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbTozgoj9OQ Nothing Else Matters], cello cover by Apocalyptica<br />
<br />
For Nathalie: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NndpFNMqbDo&feature=feedf Forever Eyes of Blue], by Runrig <br><br />
''Forever you'll be eyes of blue <br><br />
''In the circle of your youth <br><br />
''Picking every blade of truth <br><br />
''Down the new-town road <br><br />
<br />
For those she calls "friend": [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WId0WS48JgM Sit Down], by James <br><br />
''Those who feel the breath of sadness <br><br />
''Sit down next to me <br><br />
''Those who find they’re touched by madness <br><br />
''Sit down next to me <br><br />
''Those who find themselves ridiculous <br><br />
''Sit down next to me <br><br />
''In love, in fear, in hate, in tears <br><br />
<br />
For the rest of the world: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5okzOrTYGU Crazy], violin cover by Jimmy Chaos<br />
<br />
For Herself: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICnlyNUt_0o Come Undone], by Duran Duran <br><br />
''We'll make it all right to come undone <br><br />
''Now we'll try to stay blind to the hope and fear outside <br><br />
''Hey child, stay wilder than the wind and blow me in to cry <br><br />
|-<br />
|}<br />
[[Category:PCs]][[Category:Active Characters]][[Category:Johburg]][[Category:Noble]]</div>Amberhttps://starcrusade.fadingsuns.org/index.php?title=Amber&diff=2345Amber2013-05-18T12:55:33Z<p>Amber: </p>
<hr />
<div>__NOTOC__<br />
{| id="characterTable" width="100%"<br />
|-valign="top"<br />
| class="cell"|<br />
{| width="100%" cellspacing="5" cellpadding="2"<br />
|-<br />
| class="cell"|<br />
{| width="100%" cellspacing="5" cellpadding="2" style="font-family: Perpetua, Times New Roman;"<br />
| style="color: black; font-family: Perpetua, Times New Roman, serif; padding-right: 0px; vertical-align: top; text-align: center" |<br />
<font style="font-variant: small-caps; font-size: 36pt;">Eleanora 'Amber' Van Gelder </font><br />
<br><br />
<font style="font-variant: small-caps; font-size: 18pt;">Castellan and Countess of Johburg, Standard Bearer of the Holy City, Lady of Gulf and Sea, Head of House</font><br />
<br />
<center>[[Image:Van_Gelder.png|75px]]</center><br />
|-<br />
| class="cell"|<br />
{| width="100%" cellspacing="5" cellpadding="2" style="font-family: Perpetua, Times New Roman; font-size: 11pt; border: 1px solid black;" align="justify"<br />
|-<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
! <center><h1>Motto</h1></center><br />
|-<br />
| <br />
<center><i>He who does not stand firm on principles and has neither wide knowledge nor penetrating judgment is not worthy to be a companion</i><br></center><br />
<center>'''~~ Mo Tzu'''</center><br />
|-<br />
! <center><h1>Basic Information</h1></center><br />
|-<br />
| <br />
A former troubadour and privateer, who has risen to both the leadership of her House and to hold Great Office in the Crusader State - but her renown as a defender of her people's lives and traditions has put her at odds with the more radical, bloodthirsty, and land-hungry elements of the Crusade.<br />
<br />
A disreputable youth, a teenage marriage contract was terminated amidst a scandal, before she toured the Gulf as a troubadour. Comparative responsibility was achieved by undertaking one of the family professions and going to sea, though even there she served as a privateer rather than a 'conventional' naval officer. And her hedonism remained pronounced - her sole surviving child (and heiress), Nathalie, was born out of wedlock in 4985.<br />
<br />
Over time - and especially as more of her elders in the family died - she came to assume greater responsibility, participating in the failed defences of both Rabaq and Tyche (though in the latter, she helped to secure Taifa status for the Barony of Lattakieh), and the short-lived success of the Golden Season.<br />
<br />
Her current reputation is mixed: though a heroine to her people (and the participants of Count Joscelin's Crusade) for tying up a Kurgan army throughout 80 weeks of (unsuccessful) efforts to take the fortress of the Johburg from her, she is also known as a kinslayer - having killed one of her elder brothers after accusing him of treason and complicity in the Betrayal.<br />
<br />
Politically, she is a firm supporter of the Crusader State's laws and traditions, and is reputed to be devoted to her liege, Geoffrey de Moley. She also appears to have ties to the Imperial contingent on Yathrib, and though she's been declared an enemy of the Chainer faction of the Muster (for supposedly opposing slavery) her family tends to have close relations to the guilds, especially in the Free City of Rotdam. And though she is at odds with the 'radical' wing of the Crusaders, she has been vocal in her support for the rights of the Inquisition - clashing with both Sir William and his radical supporters on their efforts to usurp Inquisitorial powers.<br />
<br />
Personally, she has had great success in rebuilding her County from the results of years of occupation and combat, though it suffers continually from attacks from the two most potent Kurgan raiding fleets in the region, and the area of Teldam in particular remains an active target for renewed Kurgan expansion.<br />
<br />
* '''Full Name''': Eleanora Justine Amber Carlotta din Alt van Gelder<br />
* '''Social Traits''': ''Heroine''; ''Kinslayer''<br />
<br />
|-<br />
! <center><h1>Description</h1></center><br />
|-<br />
| <br />
Tall, elegant, and striking, she favours military uniforms, often wearing an anonymous grey one without insignia, though formal dress uniforms are used for official occasions. Tanned, fit, and the beneficiary of at least a couple of anti-agathic treatments (rumoured to have been 'acquired' from an Hydessan al-Malik tribute shipment prior to their liberation from the Kurgans), she looks both much younger and more active than might be fashionable - by looks alone, she is far more likely to be taken for a thirty-something officer on active service rather than a mother in her late 40s.<br />
<br />
When she speaks, her voice is richly musical - a vibrant alto, only slightly roughened by years of command.<br />
<br />
* '''Physical Traits''': ''Striking Looks''; ''Beautiful Voice''<br />
<br />
|-<br />
! <center><h1>Contacts</h1></center><br />
|-<br />
| <br />
'''Active'''<br />
* Agravain Van Gelder: cousin separated by a thousand years<br />
* Anja Torenson: personal aide and trusted deputy<br />
* Arkady Decados: entrusted with both her precious air force and her cousin Sonja<br />
* Caelwyn Li Halan: talented general, trusted friend; sadly the vassal of a crude thug<br />
* Cephus Justinian: hero and comrade returned to life, frequent guest<br />
* Hugh Justinian: talented general, frequent guest, fellow veteran of the State's wars<br />
* [[Isabeau|Isabeau Meeks]]: seer, purveyor of warnings, conveyor of grief - holy and protected<br />
* Lysandra Justinian: fellow scholar, and admired participant in Joscelin's Crusade<br />
* Naima bint Justinian: admired Amalthean, frequent guest, moral preacher<br />
* Raoul: personal bodyguard, and project in civilisation and education<br />
* [[Renaud|Renaud de Moley]]: highest-profile ally and fellow supporter of Geoffrey<br />
* [[Samina|Samina al-Malik]]: fellow (and superior) musician, allied emissary<br />
* Seraphine de Moley: nee van Gelder; cousin, friend, ally<br />
* Valentijn van Gelder: sole surviving sibling, dear friend, and trusted deputy<br />
* Zakaria al-Malik: daughter-rescuing vagabond, headache, friend, kindred spirit, and ally<br />
<br />
'''Inactive'''<br />
* Abiku: Courtesan, in the Countess's employ<br />
* Anselm Morrot: master duellist, gentleman, Thana, long-term guest<br />
* Aureliana Harmon: protege, loyal friend, recently-deposed mayor of Rotdam<br />
* Linnea Torenson: moral and civilised diplomat; friend<br />
* Lucien LaGrange: war-colleague, friend, Prior of Saint Claude's<br />
* Roshan Keddah: writer, provider of precious offworld books<br />
* Sophie: beautiful Grimson; bodyguard to Nathalie and her guests<br />
* Zebediah Hawkins: friend, Prior of Saint Claude's<br />
<br />
'''NPC'''<br />
* Fredo Hawkwood: formal ally, fellow Count, admired participant in Joscelin's Crusade<br />
* Geoffrey de Moley: beloved liege<br />
* Godric de Moley: the heir who must be protected<br />
* JJ: a ward of Lysandra's, residing in the Johburg with Nathalie<br />
* Nathalie van Gelder: headache, daughter, heiress, hope<br />
|-<br />
! <center><h1>Logs</h1></center><br />
|-<br />
|<br />
<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|}<br />
|}<br />
| width="350px" class="cell" td valign="top"|<br />
{| width="350px" cellspacing="5" cellpadding="2" <br />
|- <br />
{{InfoboxChar<br />
|Image=[[image:Amber_02.jpg|300px]]<br />
|Concept=Reformed Buccaneer<br />
|Rank=Countess, Head of House<br />
|Faction=[[Van Gelder]]<br />
|DoB=1st of December, 4953<br />
|Homeworld=Yathrib<br />
|Home County=Johburg<br />
|Height=5'9"<br />
|Weight=135lb<br />
|Physical Effects=''Striking Looks''; ''Beautiful Voice''<br />
|}}<br />
|-<br />
! <center><h2>Gallery</h2></center><br />
|-<br />
| <br />
<gallery><br />
File:Amber01.jpg<br />
File:Amber_03.jpg<br />
</gallery><br />
|<br />
|-<br />
! <center><h2>Soundtrack</h2></center><br />
|-<br />
| <br />
<br />
<div align="center"><br />
<br />
On those who sing the lore of life: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxY47jh9owA&feature=feedf Killing Me Softly], by Lori Lieberman <br><br />
''He sang as if he knew me <br><br />
''In all my dark despair <br><br />
''And then he looked right through me <br><br />
''As if I wasn't there <br><br />
''But he was there, this stranger <br><br />
''Singing clear and strong <br><br />
''Strumming my pain with his fingers <br><br />
''Killing me softly with his song<br />
<br />
For Johburg and her people: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWyYh7_ubw4&NR=1&feature=fvwp The Greatest Flame], by Runrig <br><br />
''This is our life, and our time <br><br />
''And nothing is ever going to break us <br><br />
''Now we're on our own <br><br />
''This is our place, in our lives <br><br />
''And no one can ever change this moment <br><br />
''Or pull this mountain to the ground''<br />
<br />
For the pain and beauty of honour: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbTozgoj9OQ Nothing Else Matters], cello cover by Apocalyptica<br />
<br />
For Nathalie: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NndpFNMqbDo&feature=feedf Forever Eyes of Blue], by Runrig <br><br />
''Forever you'll be eyes of blue <br><br />
''In the circle of your youth <br><br />
''Picking every blade of truth <br><br />
''Down the new-town road <br><br />
<br />
For those she calls "friend": [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WId0WS48JgM Sit Down], by James <br><br />
''Those who feel the breath of sadness <br><br />
''Sit down next to me <br><br />
''Those who find they’re touched by madness <br><br />
''Sit down next to me <br><br />
''Those who find themselves ridiculous <br><br />
''Sit down next to me <br><br />
''In love, in fear, in hate, in tears <br><br />
<br />
For the rest of the world: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5okzOrTYGU Crazy], violin cover by Jimmy Chaos<br />
<br />
For Herself: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICnlyNUt_0o Come Undone], by Duran Duran <br><br />
''We'll make it all right to come undone <br><br />
''Now we'll try to stay blind to the hope and fear outside <br><br />
''Hey child, stay wilder than the wind and blow me in to cry <br><br />
|-<br />
|}<br />
[[Category:PCs]][[Category:Active Characters]][[Category:Johburg]][[Category:Noble]]</div>Amberhttps://starcrusade.fadingsuns.org/index.php?title=Amber&diff=2329Amber2013-05-18T02:04:00Z<p>Amber: </p>
<hr />
<div>__NOTOC__<br />
{| id="characterTable" width="100%"<br />
|-valign="top"<br />
| class="cell"|<br />
{| width="100%" cellspacing="5" cellpadding="2"<br />
|-<br />
| class="cell"|<br />
{| width="100%" cellspacing="5" cellpadding="2" style="font-family: Perpetua, Times New Roman;"<br />
| style="color: black; font-family: Perpetua, Times New Roman, serif; padding-right: 0px; vertical-align: top; text-align: center" |<br />
<font style="font-variant: small-caps; font-size: 36pt;">Eleanora 'Amber' Van Gelder </font><br />
<br><br />
<font style="font-variant: small-caps; font-size: 18pt;">Castellan and Countess of Johburg, Standard Bearer of the Holy City, Lady of Gulf and Sea, Head of House</font><br />
<br />
<center>[[Image:Van_Gelder.png|75px]]</center><br />
|-<br />
| class="cell"|<br />
{| width="100%" cellspacing="5" cellpadding="2" style="font-family: Perpetua, Times New Roman; font-size: 11pt; border: 1px solid black;" align="justify"<br />
|-<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
! <center><h1>Quote</h1></center><br />
|-<br />
| <br />
<center><i>He who does not stand firm on principles and has neither wide knowledge nor penetrating judgment is not worthy to be a companion</i><br></center><br />
<center>'''~~ Mo Tzu'''</center><br />
|-<br />
! <center><h1>Basic Information</h1></center><br />
|-<br />
| <br />
A former troubadour and privateer, who has risen to both the leadership of her House and to hold Great Office in the Crusader State - but her renown as a defender of her people's lives and traditions has put her at odds with the more radical, bloodthirsty, and land-hungry elements of the Crusade.<br />
<br />
A disreputable youth, a teenage marriage contract was terminated amidst a scandal, before she toured the Gulf as a troubadour. Comparative responsibility was achieved by undertaking one of the family professions and going to sea, though even there she served as a privateer rather than a 'conventional' naval officer. And her hedonism remained pronounced - her sole surviving child (and heiress), Nathalie, was born out of wedlock in 4985.<br />
<br />
Over time - and especially as more of her elders in the family died - she came to assume greater responsibility, participating in the failed defences of both Rabaq and Tyche (though in the latter, she helped to secure Taifa status for the Barony of Lattakieh), and the short-lived success of the Golden Season.<br />
<br />
Her current reputation is mixed: though a heroine to her people (and the participants of Count Joscelin's Crusade) for tying up a Kurgan army throughout 80 weeks of (unsuccessful) efforts to take the fortress of the Johburg from her, she is also known as a kinslayer - having killed one of her elder brothers after accusing him of treason and complicity in the Betrayal.<br />
<br />
Politically, she is a firm supporter of the Crusader State's laws and traditions, and is reputed to be devoted to her liege, Geoffrey de Moley. She also appears to have ties to the Imperial contingent on Yathrib, and though she's been declared an enemy of the Chainer faction of the Muster (for supposedly opposing slavery) her family tends to have close relations to the guilds, especially in the Free City of Rotdam. And though she is at odds with the 'radical' wing of the Crusaders, she has been vocal in her support for the rights of the Inquisition - clashing with both Sir William and his radical supporters on their efforts to usurp Inquisitorial powers.<br />
<br />
Personally, she has had great success in rebuilding her County from the results of years of occupation and combat, though it suffers continually from attacks from the two most potent Kurgan raiding fleets in the region, and the area of Teldam in particular remains an active target for renewed Kurgan expansion.<br />
<br />
* '''Full Name''': Eleanora Justine Amber Carlotta din Alt van Gelder<br />
* '''Social Traits''': ''Heroine''; ''Kinslayer''<br />
<br />
|-<br />
! <center><h1>Description</h1></center><br />
|-<br />
| <br />
Tall, elegant, and striking, she favours military uniforms, often wearing an anonymous grey one without insignia, though formal dress uniforms are used for official occasions. Tanned, fit, and the beneficiary of at least a couple of anti-agathic treatments (rumoured to have been 'acquired' from an Hydessan al-Malik tribute shipment prior to their liberation from the Kurgans), she looks both much younger and more active than might be fashionable - by looks alone, she is far more likely to be taken for a thirty-something officer on active service rather than a mother in her late 40s.<br />
<br />
When she speaks, her voice is richly musical - a vibrant alto, only slightly roughened by years of command.<br />
<br />
* '''Physical Traits''': ''Striking Looks''; ''Beautiful Voice''<br />
<br />
|-<br />
! <center><h1>Contacts</h1></center><br />
|-<br />
| <br />
'''Active'''<br />
* Agravain van Gelder: cousin separated by a thousand years<br />
* Anja Torenson: personal aide and trusted deputy<br />
* Arkady Decados: entrusted with both her precious air force and her cousin Sonja<br />
* Caelwyn Li Halan: talented general, trusted friend; sadly the vassal of a crude thug<br />
* Cephus Justinian: hero and comrade returned to life, frequent guest<br />
* Hugh Justinian: talented general, frequent guest, fellow veteran of the State's wars<br />
* [[Isabeau|Isabeau Meeks]]: seer, purveyor of warnings, conveyor of grief - holy and protected<br />
* Lysandra Justinian: fellow scholar, and admired participant in Joscelin's Crusade<br />
* Raoul: personal bodyguard, and project in civilisation and education<br />
* [[Renaud|Renaud de Moley]]: highest-profile ally and fellow supporter of Geoffrey<br />
* [[Samina|Samina al-Malik]]: fellow (and superior) musician, allied emissary<br />
* Seraphine de Moley: nee van Gelder; cousin, friend, ally<br />
* Valentijn van Gelder: sole surviving sibling, dear friend, and trusted deputy<br />
* Zakaria al-Malik: vagabond, headache, friend, kindred spirit, and ally<br />
<br />
'''Inactive'''<br />
* Abiku: Courtesan, in the Countess's employ<br />
* Anton Thana: master duellist, gentleman, long-term guest<br />
* Aureliana Harmon: protege, loyal friend, recently deposed mayor of Rotdam<br />
* Linnea Torenson: moral, civilised diplomat and friend<br />
* Lucien LaGrange: war-colleague, friend, Prior of Saint Claude's<br />
* Roshan Keddah: writer, provider of precious offworld books<br />
* Zebediah Hawkins: friend, Prior of Saint Claude's<br />
<br />
'''NPC'''<br />
* Fredo Hawkwood: formal ally, fellow Count, admired participant in Joscelin's Crusade<br />
* Geoffrey de Moley: beloved liege<br />
* Godric de Moley: the heir who must be protected<br />
* Nathalie van Gelder: headache, daughter, heiress, hope<br />
|-<br />
! <center><h1>Logs</h1></center><br />
|-<br />
|<br />
<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|}<br />
|}<br />
| width="350px" class="cell" td valign="top"|<br />
{| width="350px" cellspacing="5" cellpadding="2" <br />
|- <br />
{{InfoboxChar<br />
|Image=[[image:Amber_02.jpg|300px]]<br />
|Concept=Reformed buccaneer<br />
|Rank=Countess, Head of House<br />
|Faction=[[Van Gelder]]<br />
|DoB=1st of December, 4953<br />
|Homeworld=Yathrib<br />
|Home County=Johburg<br />
|Height=5'9"<br />
|Weight=135lb<br />
|Physical Effects=''Striking Looks''; ''Beautiful Voice''<br />
|}}<br />
|-<br />
! <center><h2>Gallery</h2></center><br />
|-<br />
| <br />
<gallery><br />
File:Amber01.jpg<br />
File:Amber_03.jpg<br />
</gallery><br />
|<br />
|-<br />
! <center><h2>Soundtrack</h2></center><br />
|-<br />
| <br />
<br />
<div align="center"><br />
<br />
On those who sing the lore of life: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxY47jh9owA&feature=feedf Killing Me Softly], by Lori Lieberman <br><br />
''He sang as if he knew me <br><br />
''In all my dark despair <br><br />
''And then he looked right through me <br><br />
''As if I wasn't there <br><br />
''But he was there, this stranger <br><br />
''Singing clear and strong <br><br />
''Strumming my pain with his fingers <br><br />
''Killing me softly with his song<br />
<br />
For Johburg and her people: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWyYh7_ubw4&NR=1&feature=fvwp The Greatest Flame], by Runrig <br><br />
''This is our life, and our time <br><br />
''And nothing is ever going to break us <br><br />
''Now we're on our own <br><br />
''This is our place, in our lives <br><br />
''And no one can ever change this moment <br><br />
''Or pull this mountain to the ground''<br />
<br />
For the pain and beauty of honour: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbTozgoj9OQ Nothing Else Matters], cello cover by Apocalyptica<br />
<br />
For Nathalie: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NndpFNMqbDo&feature=feedf Forever Eyes of Blue], by Runrig <br><br />
''Forever you'll be eyes of blue <br><br />
''In the circle of your youth <br><br />
''Picking every blade of truth <br><br />
''Down the new-town road <br><br />
<br />
For those she calls "friend": [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WId0WS48JgM Sit Down], by James <br><br />
''Those who feel the breath of sadness <br><br />
''Sit down next to me <br><br />
''Those who find they’re touched by madness <br><br />
''Sit down next to me <br><br />
''Those who find themselves ridiculous <br><br />
''Sit down next to me <br><br />
''In love, in fear, in hate, in tears <br><br />
<br />
For the rest of the world: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5okzOrTYGU Crazy], violin cover by Jimmy Chaos<br />
<br />
For Herself: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICnlyNUt_0o Come Undone], by Duran Duran <br><br />
''We'll make it all right to come undone <br><br />
''Now we'll try to stay blind to the hope and fear outside <br><br />
''Hey child, stay wilder than the wind and blow me in to cry <br><br />
|-<br />
|}<br />
[[Category:PCs]][[Category:Active PCs]][[Category:Johburg]][[Category:Noble]]</div>Amberhttps://starcrusade.fadingsuns.org/index.php?title=User:Amber&diff=2291User:Amber2013-05-17T22:14:11Z<p>Amber: </p>
<hr />
<div>* British<br />
* Chronically ill<br />
* Fan of Fading Suns from '96<br />
* MUSHing from the early 90s<br />
* Player of [[Amber|Amber van Gelder]]<br />
* Roleplaying since the mid 80s</div>Amberhttps://starcrusade.fadingsuns.org/index.php?title=Amber&diff=2281Amber2013-05-17T21:52:53Z<p>Amber: </p>
<hr />
<div>__NOTOC__<br />
{| id="characterTable" width="100%"<br />
|-valign="top"<br />
| class="cell"|<br />
{| width="100%" cellspacing="5" cellpadding="2"<br />
|-<br />
| class="cell"|<br />
{| width="100%" cellspacing="5" cellpadding="2" style="font-family: Perpetua, Times New Roman;"<br />
| style="color: black; font-family: Perpetua, Times New Roman, serif; padding-right: 0px; vertical-align: top; text-align: center" |<br />
<font style="font-variant: small-caps; font-size: 36pt;">Eleanora 'Amber' Van Gelder </font><br />
<br><br />
<font style="font-variant: small-caps; font-size: 18pt;">Castellan and Countess of Johburg, Standard Bearer of the Holy City, Lady of Gulf and Sea, Head of House</font><br />
<br />
<center>[[Image:Van_Gelder.png|75px]]</center><br />
|-<br />
| class="cell"|<br />
{| width="100%" cellspacing="5" cellpadding="2" style="font-family: Perpetua, Times New Roman; font-size: 11pt; border: 1px solid black;" align="justify"<br />
|-<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
! <center><h1>Quote</h1></center><br />
|-<br />
| <br />
<center><i>He who does not stand firm on principles and has neither wide knowledge nor penetrating judgment is not worthy to be a companion</i><br></center><br />
<center>'''~~ Mo Tzu'''</center><br />
|-<br />
! <center><h1>Basic Information</h1></center><br />
|-<br />
| <br />
A former troubadour and privateer, who has risen to both the leadership of her House and to hold Great Office in the Crusader State - but her renown as a defender of her people's lives and traditions has put her at odds with the more radical, bloodthirsty, and land-hungry elements of the Crusade.<br />
<br />
A disreputable youth, a teenage marriage contract was terminated amidst a scandal, before she toured the Gulf as a troubadour. Comparative responsibility was achieved by undertaking one of the family professions and going to sea, though even there she served as a privateer rather than a 'conventional' naval officer. And her hedonism remained pronounced - her sole surviving child (and heiress), Nathalie, was born out of wedlock in 4985.<br />
<br />
Over time - and especially as more of her elders in the family died - she came to assume greater responsibility, participating in the failed defences of both Rabaq and Tyche (though in the latter, she helped to secure Taifa status for the Barony of Lattakieh), and the short-lived success of the Golden Season.<br />
<br />
Her current reputation is mixed: though a heroine to her people (and the participants of Count Joscelin's Crusade) for tying up a Kurgan army throughout 80 weeks of (unsuccessful) efforts to take the fortress of the Johburg from her, she is also known as a kinslayer - having killed one of her elder brothers after accusing him of treason and complicity in the Betrayal.<br />
<br />
Politically, she is a firm supporter of the Crusader State's laws and traditions, and is reputed to be devoted to her liege, Geoffrey de Moley. She also appears to have ties to the Imperial contingent on Yathrib, and though she's been declared an enemy of the Chainer faction of the Muster (for supposedly opposing slavery) her family tends to have close relations to the guilds, especially in the Free City of Rotdam. And though she is at odds with the 'radical' wing of the Crusaders, she has been vocal in her support for the rights of the Inquisition - clashing with both Sir William and his radical supporters on their efforts to usurp Inquisitorial powers.<br />
<br />
Personally, she has had great success in rebuilding her County from the results of years of occupation and combat, though it suffers continually from attacks from the two most potent Kurgan raiding fleets in the region, and the area of Teldam in particular remains an active target for renewed Kurgan expansion.<br />
<br />
* '''Full Name''': Eleanora Justine Amber Carlotta din Alt van Gelder<br />
* '''Social Traits''': ''Heroine''; ''Kinslayer''<br />
<br />
|-<br />
! <center><h1>Description</h1></center><br />
|-<br />
| <br />
Tall, elegant, and striking, she favours military uniforms, often wearing an anonymous grey one without insignia, though formal dress uniforms are used for official occasions. Tanned, fit, and the beneficiary of at least a couple of anti-agathic treatments (rumoured to have been 'acquired' from an Hydessan al-Malik tribute shipment prior to their liberation from the Kurgans), she looks both much younger and more active than might be fashionable - by looks alone, she is far more likely to be taken for a thirty-something officer on active service rather than a mother in her late 40s.<br />
<br />
When she speaks, her voice is richly musical - a vibrant alto, only slightly roughened by years of command.<br />
<br />
* '''Physical Traits''': ''Striking Looks''; ''Beautiful Voice''<br />
<br />
|-<br />
! <center><h1>Contacts</h1></center><br />
|-<br />
| <br />
'''Active'''<br />
* Agravain van Gelder: cousin separated by a thousand years<br />
* Anja Torenson: personal aide and trusted deputy<br />
* Arkady Decados: entrusted with both her precious air force and her cousin Sonja<br />
* Caelwyn Li Halan: talented general, trusted friend; sadly the vassal of a crude thug<br />
* Cephus Justinian: hero and comrade returned to life, frequent guest<br />
* Hugh Justinian: talented general, frequent guest, fellow veteran of the State's wars<br />
* [[Isabeau|Isabeau Meeks]]: seer, purveyor of warnings, conveyor of grief - holy and protected<br />
* Lysandra Justinian: fellow scholar, and admired participant in Joscelin's Crusade<br />
* Raoul: personal bodyguard, and project in civilisation and education<br />
* [[Renaud|Renaud de Moley]]: highest-profile ally and fellow supporter of Geoffrey<br />
* [[Samina|Samina al-Malik]]: fellow (and superior) musician, allied emissary<br />
* Seraphine de Moley: nee van Gelder; cousin, friend, ally<br />
* Valentijn van Gelder: sole surviving sibling, dear friend, and trusted deputy<br />
* Zakaria al-Malik: vagabond, headache, friend, kindred spirit, and ally<br />
<br />
'''Inactive'''<br />
* Abiku: Courtesan, in the Countess's employ<br />
* Anton Thana: master duellist, gentleman, long-term guest<br />
* Aureliana Harmon: protege, loyal friend, recently deposed mayor of Rotdam<br />
* Linnea Torenson: moral, civilised diplomat and friend<br />
* Lucien LaGrange: war-colleague, friend, Prior of Saint Claude's<br />
* Roshan Keddah: writer, provider of precious offworld books<br />
* Zebediah Hawkins: friend, Prior of Saint Claude's<br />
<br />
'''NPC'''<br />
* Fredo Hawkwood: formal ally, fellow Count, admired participant in Joscelin's Crusade<br />
* Geoffrey de Moley: beloved liege<br />
* Godric de Moley: the heir who must be protected<br />
* Nathalie van Gelder: headache, daughter, heiress, hope<br />
|-<br />
! <center><h1>Logs</h1></center><br />
|-<br />
|<br />
<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|}<br />
|}<br />
| width="350px" class="cell" td valign="top"|<br />
{| width="350px" cellspacing="5" cellpadding="2" <br />
|- <br />
{{InfoboxChar<br />
|Image=[[image:Amber_02.jpg|300px]]<br />
|Concept=Reformed buccaneer<br />
|Rank=Countess, Head of House<br />
|Faction=[[Van Gelder]]<br />
|DoB=1st of December, 4953<br />
|Homeworld=Yathrib<br />
|Home County=Johburg<br />
|Height=5'9"<br />
|Weight=135lb<br />
|Physical Effects=''Striking Looks''; ''Beautiful Voice''<br />
|}}<br />
|-<br />
! <center><h2>Gallery</h2></center><br />
|-<br />
| <br />
<gallery><br />
File:Amber01.jpg<br />
File:Amber_03.jpg<br />
</gallery><br />
|<br />
|-<br />
! <center><h2>Soundtrack</h2></center><br />
|-<br />
| <br />
<br />
|-<br />
|}<br />
[[Category:PCs]][[Category:Active PCs]][[Category:Johburg]][[Category:Noble]]</div>Amberhttps://starcrusade.fadingsuns.org/index.php?title=Amber&diff=2221Amber2013-05-17T11:30:57Z<p>Amber: </p>
<hr />
<div>__NOTOC__<br />
{| id="characterTable" width="100%"<br />
|-valign="top"<br />
| class="cell"|<br />
{| width="100%" cellspacing="5" cellpadding="2"<br />
|-<br />
| class="cell"|<br />
{| width="100%" cellspacing="5" cellpadding="2" style="font-family: Perpetua, Times New Roman;"<br />
| style="color: black; font-family: Perpetua, Times New Roman, serif; padding-right: 0px; vertical-align: top; text-align: center" |<br />
<font style="font-variant: small-caps; font-size: 36pt;">Eleanora 'Amber' Van Gelder </font><br />
<br><br />
<font style="font-variant: small-caps; font-size: 18pt;">Castellan and Countess of Johburg, Standard Bearer of the Holy City, Lady of Gulf and Sea, Head of House</font><br />
<br />
<center>[[Image:Van_Gelder.png|75px]]</center><br />
|-<br />
| class="cell"|<br />
{| width="100%" cellspacing="5" cellpadding="2" style="font-family: Perpetua, Times New Roman; font-size: 11pt; border: 1px solid black;" align="justify"<br />
|-<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
! <center><h1>Quote</h1></center><br />
|-<br />
| <br />
<center><i>He who does not stand firm on principles and has neither wide knowledge nor penetrating judgment is not worthy to be a companion</i><br></center><br />
<center>'''~~ Mo Tzu'''</center><br />
|-<br />
! <center><h1>Basic Information</h1></center><br />
|-<br />
| <br />
A former troubadour and privateer, who has risen to both the leadership of her House and to hold Great Office in the Crusader State - but her renown as a defender of her people's lives and traditions has put her at odds with the more radical, bloodthirsty, and land-hungry elements of the Crusade.<br />
<br />
A disreputable youth, a teenage marriage contract was terminated amidst a scandal, before she toured the Gulf as a troubadour. Comparative responsibility was achieved by undertaking one of the family professions and going to sea, though even there she served as a privateer rather than a 'conventional' naval officer. And her hedonism remained pronounced - her sole surviving child (and heiress), Nathalie, was born out of wedlock in 4985.<br />
<br />
Over time - and especially as more of her elders in the family died - she came to assume greater responsibility, participating in the failed defences of both Rabaq and Tyche (though in the latter, she helped to secure Taifa status for the Barony of Lattakieh), and the short-lived success of the Golden Season.<br />
<br />
Her current reputation is mixed: though a heroine to her people (and the participants of Count Joscelin's Crusade) for tying up a Kurgan army throughout 80 weeks of (unsuccessful) efforts to take the fortress of the Johburg from her, she is also known as a kinslayer - having killed one of her elder brothers after accusing him of treason and complicity in the Betrayal.<br />
<br />
Politically, she is a firm supporter of the Crusader State's laws and traditions, and is reputed to be devoted to her liege, Geoffrey de Moley. She also appears to have ties to the Imperial contingent on Yathrib, and though she's been declared an enemy of the Chainer faction of the Muster (for supposedly opposing slavery) her family tends to have close relations to the guilds, especially in the Free City of Rotdam. And though she is at odds with the 'radical' wing of the Crusaders, she has been vocal in her support for the rights of the Inquisition - clashing with both Sir William and his radical supporters on their efforts to usurp Inquisitorial powers.<br />
<br />
Personally, she has had great success in rebuilding her County from the results of years of occupation and combat, though it suffers continually from attacks from the two most potent Kurgan raiding fleets in the region, and the area of Teldam in particular remains an active target for renewed Kurgan expansion.<br />
<br />
* '''Full Name''': Eleanora Justine Amber Carlotta din Alt van Gelder<br />
* '''Social Traits''': ''Heroine''; ''Kinslayer''<br />
<br />
|-<br />
! <center><h1>Description</h1></center><br />
|-<br />
| <br />
Tall, elegant, and striking, she favours military uniforms, often wearing an anonymous grey one without insignia, though formal dress uniforms are used for official occasions. Tanned, fit, and the beneficiary of at least a couple of anti-agathic treatments (rumoured to have been 'acquired' from an Hydessan al-Malik tribute shipment prior to their liberation from the Kurgans), she looks both much younger and more active than might be fashionable - by looks alone, she is far more likely to be taken for a thirty-something officer on active service rather than a mother in her late 40s.<br />
<br />
When she speaks, her voice is richly musical - a vibrant alto, only slightly roughened by years of command.<br />
<br />
* '''Physical Traits''': ''Striking Looks''; ''Beautiful Voice''<br />
<br />
|-<br />
! <center><h1>Contacts</h1></center><br />
|-<br />
| <br />
'''Active'''<br />
* Agravain van Gelder: cousin separated by a thousand years<br />
* Anja Torenson: personal aide and trusted deputy<br />
* Arkady Decados: entrusted with her precious air force and her cousin Sonja<br />
* Caelwyn Li Halan: talented general, trusted friend; sadly the vassal of a crude thug<br />
* Cephus Justinian: hero and comrade returned to life, frequent guest<br />
* Hugh Justinian: talented general, frequent guest, fellow veteran of the State's wars<br />
* Lysandra Justinian: fellow scholar, and admired participant in Joscelin's Crusade<br />
* Raoul: personal bodyguard, and project in civilisation and education<br />
* Renaud de Moley: highest-profile ally and fellow supporter of Geoffrey<br />
* [[Samina|Samina al-Malik]]: fellow (and superior) musician, allied emissary<br />
* Seraphine de Moley: nee van Gelder; cousin, friend, ally<br />
* Valentijn van Gelder: sole surviving sibling, dear friend, and trusted deputy<br />
* Zakaria al-Malik: vagabond, headache, friend, kindred spirit, and ally<br />
<br />
'''Inactive'''<br />
* Abiku: Courtesan, in the Countess's employ<br />
* Anton Thana: Duellist, gentleman, long-term guest<br />
* Aureliana Harmon: Protege, loyal friend, recently deposed mayor of Rotdam<br />
* Linnea Torenson: moral, civilised diplomat and friend<br />
* Lucien LaGrange: War-colleague, friend, Prior of Saint Claude's<br />
* Roshan Keddah: writer, provider of precious offworld books<br />
* Zebediah Hawkins: Friend, Prior of Saint Claude's<br />
<br />
'''NPC'''<br />
* Fredo Hawkwood: Formal ally, fellow Count, admired participant in Joscelin's Crusade<br />
* Geoffrey de Moley: beloved liege<br />
* Godric de Moley: the heir who must be protected<br />
* Nathalie van Gelder: headache, daughter, heiress, hope<br />
|-<br />
! <center><h1>Logs</h1></center><br />
|-<br />
|<br />
<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|}<br />
|}<br />
| width="350px" class="cell" td valign="top"|<br />
{| width="350px" cellspacing="5" cellpadding="2" <br />
|- <br />
{{InfoboxChar<br />
|Image=[[image:Amber_02.jpg|300px]]<br />
|Concept=Reformed buccaneer<br />
|Rank=Countess, Head of House<br />
|Faction=[[Van Gelder]]<br />
|DoB=1st of December, 4953<br />
|Homeworld=Yathrib<br />
|Home County=Johburg<br />
|Height=5'9"<br />
|Weight=135lb<br />
|Physical Effects=''Striking Looks''; ''Beautiful Voice''<br />
|}}<br />
|-<br />
! <center><h2>Gallery</h2></center><br />
|-<br />
| <br />
<gallery><br />
File:Amber01.jpg<br />
File:Amber_03.jpg<br />
</gallery><br />
|<br />
|-<br />
! <center><h2>Soundtrack</h2></center><br />
|-<br />
| <br />
<br />
|-<br />
|}<br />
[[Category:PCs]][[Category:Active PCs]][[Category:Johburg]][[Category:Noble]]</div>Amberhttps://starcrusade.fadingsuns.org/index.php?title=Amber&diff=2220Amber2013-05-17T11:29:16Z<p>Amber: </p>
<hr />
<div>__NOTOC__<br />
{| id="characterTable" width="100%"<br />
|-valign="top"<br />
| class="cell"|<br />
{| width="100%" cellspacing="5" cellpadding="2"<br />
|-<br />
| class="cell"|<br />
{| width="100%" cellspacing="5" cellpadding="2" style="font-family: Perpetua, Times New Roman;"<br />
| style="color: black; font-family: Perpetua, Times New Roman, serif; padding-right: 0px; vertical-align: top; text-align: center" |<br />
<font style="font-variant: small-caps; font-size: 36pt;">Eleanora 'Amber' Van Gelder </font><br />
<br><br />
<font style="font-variant: small-caps; font-size: 18pt;">Castellan and Countess of Johburg, Standard Bearer of the Holy City, Lady of Gulf and Sea, Head of House</font><br />
<br />
<center>[[Image:Van_Gelder.png|75px]]</center><br />
|-<br />
| class="cell"|<br />
{| width="100%" cellspacing="5" cellpadding="2" style="font-family: Perpetua, Times New Roman; font-size: 11pt; border: 1px solid black;" align="justify"<br />
|-<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
! <center><h1>Quote</h1></center><br />
|-<br />
| <br />
<center><i>He who does not stand firm on principles and has neither wide knowledge nor penetrating judgment is not worthy to be a companion</i><br></center><br />
<center>'''~~ Mo Tzu'''</center><br />
|-<br />
! <center><h1>Basic Information</h1></center><br />
|-<br />
| <br />
A former troubadour and privateer, who has risen to both the leadership of her House and to hold Great Office in the Crusader State - but her renown as a defender of her people's lives and traditions has put her at odds with the more radical, bloodthirsty, and land-hungry elements of the Crusade.<br />
<br />
A disreputable youth, a teenage marriage contract was terminated amidst a scandal, before she toured the Gulf as a troubadour. Comparative responsibility was achieved by undertaking one of the family professions and going to sea, though even there she served as a privateer rather than a 'conventional' naval officer. And her hedonism remained pronounced - her sole surviving child (and heiress), Nathalie, was born out of wedlock in 4985.<br />
<br />
Over time - and especially as more of her elders in the family died - she came to assume greater responsibility, participating in the failed defences of both Rabaq and Tyche (though in the latter, she helped to secure Taifa status for the Barony of Lattakieh), and the short-lived success of the Golden Season.<br />
<br />
Her current reputation is mixed: though a heroine to her people (and the participants of Count Joscelin's Crusade) for tying up a Kurgan army throughout 80 weeks of (unsuccessful) efforts to take the fortress of the Johburg from her, she is also known as a kinslayer - having killed one of her elder brothers after accusing him of treason and complicity in the Betrayal.<br />
<br />
Politically, she is a firm supporter of the Crusader State's laws and traditions, and is reputed to be devoted to her liege, Geoffrey de Moley. She also appears to have ties to the Imperial contingent on Yathrib, and though she's been declared an enemy of the Chainer faction of the Muster (for supposedly opposing slavery) her family tends to have close relations to the guilds, especially in the Free City of Rotdam. And though she is at odds with the 'radical' wing of the Crusaders, she has been vocal in her support for the rights of the Inquisition - clashing with both Sir William and his radical supporters on their efforts to usurp Inquisitorial powers.<br />
<br />
Personally, she has had great success in rebuilding her County from the results of years of occupation and combat, though it suffers continually from attacks from the two most potent Kurgan raiding fleets in the region, and the area of Teldam in particular remains an active target for renewed Kurgan expansion.<br />
<br />
* '''Full Name''': Eleanora Justine Amber Carlotta din Alt van Gelder<br />
* '''Social Traits''': ''Heroine''; ''Kinslayer''<br />
<br />
|-<br />
! <center><h1>Description</h1></center><br />
|-<br />
| <br />
Tall, elegant, and striking, she favours military uniforms, often wearing an anonymous grey one without insignia, though formal dress uniforms are used for official occasions. Tanned, fit, and the beneficiary of at least a couple of anti-agathic treatments (rumoured to have been 'acquired' from an Hydessan al-Malik tribute shipment prior to their liberation from the Kurgans), she looks both much younger and more active than might be fashionable - by looks alone, she is far more likely to be taken for a thirty-something officer on active service rather than a mother in her late 40s.<br />
<br />
When she speaks, her voice is richly musical - a vibrant alto, only slightly roughened by years of command.<br />
<br />
* '''Physical Traits''': ''Striking Looks''; ''Beautiful Voice''<br />
<br />
|-<br />
! <center><h1>Contacts</h1></center><br />
|-<br />
| <br />
'''Active'''<br />
* Agravain van Gelder: cousin separated by a thousand years<br />
* Anja Torenson: personal aide and trusted deputy<br />
* Arkady Decados: entrusted with her precious air force and her cousin Sonja<br />
* Caelwyn Li Halan: talented general, trusted friend; sadly the vassal of a crude thug<br />
* Cephus Justinian: hero and comrade returned to life, frequent guest<br />
* Hugh Justinian: talented general, frequent guest, fellow veteran of the State's wars<br />
* Lysandra Justinian: fellow scholar, and admired participant in Joscelin's Crusade<br />
* Raoul: personal bodyguard, and project in civilisation and education<br />
* Renaud de Moley: highest-profile ally and fellow supporter of Geoffrey<br />
* [[Samina|Samina al-Malik]]: fellow (and superior) musician, allied emissary<br />
* Seraphine de Moley: nee van Gelder; cousin, friend, ally<br />
* Valentijn van Gelder: sole surviving sibling, dear friend, and trusted deputy<br />
* Zakaria al-Malik: vagabond, headache, friend, kindred spirit, and ally<br />
<br />
'''Inactive'''<br />
* Abiku: Courtesan, in the Countess's employ<br />
* Anton Thana: Duellist, gentleman, long-term guest<br />
* Aureliana Harmon: Protege, loyal friend, recently deposed mayor of Rotdam<br />
* Linnea Torenson: moral, civilised diplomat and friend<br />
* Lucien LaGrange: War-colleague, friend, Prior of Saint Claude's<br />
* Roshan Keddah: writer, provider of precious offworld books<br />
* Zebediah Hawkins: Friend, Prior of Saint Claude's<br />
<br />
'''NPC'''<br />
* Fredo Hawkwood: Formal ally, fellow Count, admired participant in Joscelin's Crusade<br />
* Geoffrey de Moley: beloved liege<br />
* Godric de Moley: the heir who must be protected<br />
* Nathalie van Gelder: headache, daughter, heiress, hope<br />
|-<br />
! <center><h1>Logs</h1></center><br />
|-<br />
|<br />
<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|}<br />
|}<br />
| width="350px" class="cell" td valign="top"|<br />
{| width="350px" cellspacing="5" cellpadding="2" <br />
|- <br />
{{InfoboxChar<br />
|Image=[[image:Amber_02.jpg|300px]]<br />
|Concept=Reformed buccaneer<br />
|Rank=Countess, Head of House<br />
|Faction=[[Van Gelder]]<br />
|DoB=1st of December, 4963<br />
|Homeworld=Yathrib<br />
|Home County=Johburg<br />
|Height=5'9"<br />
|Weight=135lb<br />
|Physical Effects=''Striking Looks''; ''Beautiful Voice''<br />
|}}<br />
|-<br />
! <center><h2>Gallery</h2></center><br />
|-<br />
| <br />
<gallery><br />
File:Amber01.jpg<br />
File:Amber_03.jpg<br />
</gallery><br />
|<br />
|-<br />
! <center><h2>Soundtrack</h2></center><br />
|-<br />
| <br />
<br />
|-<br />
|}<br />
[[Category:PCs]][[Category:Active PCs]][[Category:Johburg]][[Category:Noble]]</div>Amberhttps://starcrusade.fadingsuns.org/index.php?title=Amber&diff=2219Amber2013-05-17T11:14:40Z<p>Amber: </p>
<hr />
<div>__NOTOC__<br />
{| id="characterTable" width="100%"<br />
|-valign="top"<br />
| class="cell"|<br />
{| width="100%" cellspacing="5" cellpadding="2"<br />
|-<br />
| class="cell"|<br />
{| width="100%" cellspacing="5" cellpadding="2" style="font-family: Perpetua, Times New Roman;"<br />
| style="color: black; font-family: Perpetua, Times New Roman, serif; padding-right: 0px; vertical-align: top; text-align: center" |<br />
<font style="font-variant: small-caps; font-size: 36pt;">Eleanora 'Amber' Van Gelder </font><br />
<br><br />
<font style="font-variant: small-caps; font-size: 18pt;">Castellan and Countess of Johburg, Standard Bearer of the Holy City, Lady of Gulf and Sea, Head of House</font><br />
<br />
<center>[[Image:Van_Gelder.png|75px]]</center><br />
|-<br />
| class="cell"|<br />
{| width="100%" cellspacing="5" cellpadding="2" style="font-family: Perpetua, Times New Roman; font-size: 11pt; border: 1px solid black;" align="justify"<br />
|-<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
! <center><h1>Quote</h1></center><br />
|-<br />
| <br />
<center><i>He who does not stand firm on principles and has neither wide knowledge nor penetrating judgment is not worthy to be a companion</i><br></center><br />
<center>'''~~ Mo Tzu'''</center><br />
|-<br />
! <center><h1>Basic Information</h1></center><br />
|-<br />
| <br />
A former troubadour and privateer, who has risen to both the leadership of her House and to hold Great Office in the Crusader State - but her renown as a defender of her people's lives and traditions has put her at odds with the more radical, bloodthirsty, and land-hungry elements of the Crusade.<br />
<br />
A disreputable youth, a teenage marriage contract was terminated amidst a scandal, before she toured the Gulf as a troubadour. Comparative responsibility was achieved by undertaking one of the family professions and going to sea, though even there she served as a privateer rather than a 'conventional' naval officer. And her hedonism remained pronounced - her sole surviving child (and heiress), Nathalie, was born out of wedlock in 4985.<br />
<br />
Over time - and especially as more of her elders in the family died - she came to assume greater responsibility, participating in the failed defences of both Rabaq and Tyche (though in the latter, she helped to secure Taifa status for the Barony of Lattakieh), and the short-lived success of the Golden Season.<br />
<br />
Her current reputation is mixed: though a heroine to her people (and the participants of Count Joscelin's Crusade) for tying up a Kurgan army throughout 80 weeks of (unsuccessful) efforts to take the fortress of the Johburg from her, she is also known as a kinslayer - having killed one of her elder brothers after accusing him of treason and complicity in the Betrayal.<br />
<br />
Politically, she is a firm supporter of the Crusader State's laws and traditions, and is reputed to be devoted to her liege, Geoffrey de Moley. She also appears to have ties to the Imperial contingent on Yathrib, and though she's been declared an enemy of the Chainer faction of the Muster (for supposedly opposing slavery) her family tends to have close relations to the guilds, especially in the Free City of Rotdam. And though she is at odds with the 'radical' wing of the Crusaders, she has been vocal in her support for the rights of the Inquisition - clashing with both Sir William and his radical supporters on their efforts to usurp Inquisitorial powers.<br />
<br />
Personally, she has had great success in rebuilding her County from the results of years of occupation and combat, though it suffers continually from attacks from the two most potent Kurgan raiding fleets in the region, and the area of Teldam in particular remains an active target for renewed Kurgan expansion.<br />
<br />
* '''Full Name''': Eleanora Justine Amber Carlotta din Alt van Gelder<br />
* '''Social Traits''': ''Heroine''; ''Kinslayer''<br />
<br />
|-<br />
! <center><h1>Description</h1></center><br />
|-<br />
| <br />
Tall, elegant, and striking, she favours military uniforms, often wearing an anonymous grey one without insignia, though formal dress uniforms are used for official occasions. Tanned, fit, and the beneficiary of at least a couple of anti-agathic treatments (rumoured to have been 'acquired' from an Hydessan al-Malik tribute shipment prior to their liberation from the Kurgans), she looks both much younger and more active than might be fashionable - by looks alone, she is far more likely to be taken for a thirty-something officer on active service rather than a mother in her late 40s.<br />
<br />
When she speaks, her voice is richly musical - a vibrant alto, only slightly roughened by years of command.<br />
<br />
* '''Physical Traits''': ''Striking Looks''; ''Beautiful Voice''<br />
<br />
|-<br />
! <center><h1>Contacts</h1></center><br />
|-<br />
| <br />
'''Active'''<br />
* Agravain van Gelder: cousin separated by a thousand years<br />
* Anja Torenson: personal aide and trusted deputy<br />
* Arkady Decados: entrusted with her precious air force and her cousin Sonja<br />
* Caelwyn Li Halan: talented general, trusted friend; sadly the vassal of a crude thug<br />
* Cephus Justinian: hero and comrade returned to life, frequent guest<br />
* Hugh Justinian: talented general, frequent guest, fellow veteran of the State's wars<br />
* Lysandra Justinian: fellow scholar, and participant in Joscelin's Crusade<br />
* Raoul: personal bodyguard, and project in civilisation and education<br />
* Renaud de Moley: highest-profile ally and fellow supporter of Geoffrey<br />
* [[Samina|Samina al-Malik]]: fellow (and superior) musician, allied emissary<br />
* Seraphine de Moley: nee van Gelder; cousin, friend, ally<br />
* Valentijn van Gelder: sole surviving sibling, dear friend, and trusted deputy<br />
* Zakaria al-Malik: vagabond, headache, friend, kindred spirit, and ally<br />
<br />
'''Inactive'''<br />
* Abiku: Courtesan, in the Countess's employ<br />
* Anton Thana: Duellist, gentleman, long-term guest<br />
* Aureliana Harmon: Protege, loyal friend, recently deposed mayor of Rotdam<br />
* Linnea Torenson: moral, civilised diplomat and friend<br />
* Lucien LaGrange: War-colleague, friend, Prior of Saint Claude's<br />
* Roshan Keddah: writer, provider of precious offworld books<br />
* Zebediah Hawkins: Friend, Prior of Saint Claude's<br />
<br />
'''NPC'''<br />
* Fredo Hawkwood: Formal ally, fellow Count, participant in Joscelin's Crusade<br />
* Geoffrey de Moley: beloved liege<br />
* Godric de Moley: the heir who must be protected<br />
* Nathalie van Gelder: headache, daughter, heiress, hope<br />
|-<br />
! <center><h1>Logs</h1></center><br />
|-<br />
|<br />
<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|}<br />
|}<br />
| width="350px" class="cell" td valign="top"|<br />
{| width="350px" cellspacing="5" cellpadding="2" <br />
|- <br />
{{InfoboxChar<br />
|Image=[[image:Amber_02.jpg|300px]]<br />
|Concept=Reformed buccaneer<br />
|Rank=Countess, Head of House<br />
|Faction=[[Van Gelder]]<br />
|DoB=1st of December, 4963<br />
|Homeworld=Yathrib<br />
|Home County=Johburg<br />
|Height=5'9"<br />
|Weight=135lb<br />
|Physical Effects=''Striking Looks''; ''Beautiful Voice''<br />
|}}<br />
|-<br />
! <center><h2>Gallery</h2></center><br />
|-<br />
| <br />
<gallery><br />
File:Amber01.jpg<br />
File:Amber_03.jpg<br />
</gallery><br />
|<br />
|-<br />
! <center><h2>Soundtrack</h2></center><br />
|-<br />
| <br />
<br />
|-<br />
|}<br />
[[Category:PCs]][[Category:Active PCs]][[Category:Johburg]][[Category:Noble]]</div>Amberhttps://starcrusade.fadingsuns.org/index.php?title=Amber&diff=2207Amber2013-05-17T01:34:43Z<p>Amber: Creation</p>
<hr />
<div>__NOTOC__<br />
{| id="characterTable" width="100%"<br />
|-valign="top"<br />
| class="cell"|<br />
{| width="100%" cellspacing="5" cellpadding="2"<br />
|-<br />
| class="cell"|<br />
{| width="100%" cellspacing="5" cellpadding="2" style="font-family: Perpetua, Times New Roman;"<br />
| style="color: black; font-family: Perpetua, Times New Roman, serif; padding-right: 0px; vertical-align: top; text-align: center" |<br />
<font style="font-variant: small-caps; font-size: 36pt;">Eleanora 'Amber' Van Gelder </font><br />
<br><br />
<font style="font-variant: small-caps; font-size: 18pt;">Castellan and Countess of Johburg, Standard Bearer of the Holy City, Lady of Gulf and Sea, Head of House</font><br />
<br />
<center>[[Image:Van_Gelder.png|100px]]</center><br />
|-<br />
| class="cell"|<br />
{| width="100%" cellspacing="5" cellpadding="2" style="font-family: Perpetua, Times New Roman; font-size: 11pt; border: 1px solid black;" align="justify"<br />
|-<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
! <center><h1>Quote</h1></center><br />
|-<br />
| <br />
<center><i>He who does not stand firm on principles and has neither wide knowledge nor penetrating judgment is not worthy to be a companion</i><br></center><br />
<center>'''~~ Mo Tzu'''</center><br />
|-<br />
! <center><h1>Basic Information</h1></center><br />
|-<br />
| <br />
A former troubadour and privateer, who has risen to both the leadership of her House and to hold Great Office in the Crusader State - but her renown as a defender of her people's lives and traditions has put her at odds with the more radical, bloodthirsty, and land-hungry elements of the Crusade.<br />
<br />
A disreputable youth, a teenage marriage contract was terminated amidst a scandal, before she toured the Gulf as a troubadour. Comparative responsibility was achieved by undertaking one of the family professions and going to sea, though even there she served as a privateer rather than a 'conventional' naval officer. And her hedonism remained pronounced - her sole surviving child (and heiress), Nathalie, was born out of wedlock in 4985.<br />
<br />
Over time - and especially as more of her elders in the family died - she came to assume greater responsibility, participating in the failed defences of both Rabaq and Tyche (though in the latter, she helped to secure Taifa status for the Barony of Lattakieh), and the short-lived success of the Golden Season.<br />
<br />
Her current reputation is mixed: though a heroine to her people (and the participants of Count Joscelin's Crusade) for tying up a Kurgan army throughout 80 weeks of (unsuccessful) efforts to take the fortress of the Johburg from her, she is also known as a kinslayer - having killed one of her elder brothers after accusing him of treason and complicity in the Betrayal.<br />
<br />
Politically, she is a firm supporter of the Crusader State's laws and traditions, and is reputed to be devoted to her liege, Geoffrey de Moley. She also appears to have ties to the Imperial contingent on Yathrib, and though she's been declared an enemy of the Chainer faction of the Muster (for supposedly opposing slavery) her family tends to have close relations to the guilds, especially in the Free City of Rotdam.<br />
<br />
Personally, she has had great success in rebuilding her County from the results of years of occupation and combat, though it suffers continually from attacks from the two most potent Kurgan raiding fleets in the region, and the region of Teldam in particular remains an active target for renewed Kurgan expansion.<br />
<br />
* Full Name: Eleanora Justine Amber Carlotta din Alt van Gelder<br />
* Social Traits: ''Heroine''; ''Kinslayer''<br />
<br />
|-<br />
! <center><h1>Description</h1></center><br />
|-<br />
| <br />
Tall, elegant, and striking, she favours military uniforms, often wearing an anonymous grey one without insignia, though formal dress uniforms are used for official occasions. Tanned, fit, and the beneficiary of at least a couple of anti-agathic treatments (rumoured to have been 'acquired' from an Hydessan al-Malik tribute shipment prior to their liberation from the Kurgans), she looks both much younger and more active than might be fashionable - by looks alone, she is far more likely to be taken for a thirty-something officer on active service rather than a mother in her late 40s.<br />
<br />
When she speaks, her voice is richly musical - a vibrant alto, only slightly roughened by years of command.<br />
<br />
* Physical Traits: ''Striking Looks''; ''Beautiful Voice''<br />
<br />
|-<br />
! <center><h1>Contacts</h1></center><br />
|-<br />
| <br />
* Abiku: Courtesan, in the Countess's employ<br />
* Agravain van Gelder: cousin separated by a thousand years<br />
* Anja Torenson: personal aide and trusted deputy<br />
* Cephus Justinian: hero and comrade returned to life<br />
* Fredo Hawkwood: Formal ally, fellow Count, participant in Joscelin's Crusade<br />
* Geoffrey de Moley: beloved liege<br />
* Lysandra Justinian: fellow scholar, and participant in Joscelin's Crusade<br />
* Nathalie: headache, daughter, heiress, hope<br />
* Raoul: personal bodyguard, and project in civilisation and education<br />
* Valentijn van Gelder: sole surviving sibling, dear friend, and trusted deputy<br />
|-<br />
! <center><h1>Logs</h1></center><br />
|-<br />
|<br />
<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|}<br />
|}<br />
| width="350px" class="cell" td valign="top"|<br />
{| width="350px" cellspacing="5" cellpadding="2" <br />
|- <br />
{{InfoboxChar<br />
|Image=[[image:Amber_02.jpg|300px]]<br />
|Concept=Reformed buccaneer<br />
|Rank=Countess, Head of House<br />
|Faction=[[Van Gelder]]<br />
|DoB=1st of December, 4963<br />
|Homeworld=Yathrib<br />
|Home County=Johburg<br />
|Height=5'9"<br />
|Weight=135lb<br />
|Physical Effects=''Striking Looks''; ''Beautiful Voice''<br />
|}}<br />
|-<br />
! <center><h2>Gallery</h2></center><br />
|-<br />
| <br />
<gallery><br />
File:Amber01.jpg<br />
File:Amber_03.jpg<br />
</gallery><br />
|<br />
|-<br />
! <center><h2>Soundtrack</h2></center><br />
|-<br />
| <br />
<br />
|-<br />
|}<br />
[[Category:Templates]]</div>Amberhttps://starcrusade.fadingsuns.org/index.php?title=File:Amber_03.jpg&diff=2206File:Amber 03.jpg2013-05-17T01:19:12Z<p>Amber: </p>
<hr />
<div></div>Amberhttps://starcrusade.fadingsuns.org/index.php?title=File:Amber_02.jpg&diff=2205File:Amber 02.jpg2013-05-17T01:18:43Z<p>Amber: </p>
<hr />
<div></div>Amberhttps://starcrusade.fadingsuns.org/index.php?title=File:Amber01.jpg&diff=2204File:Amber01.jpg2013-05-17T01:18:12Z<p>Amber: </p>
<hr />
<div></div>Amberhttps://starcrusade.fadingsuns.org/index.php?title=User:Amber&diff=2203User:Amber2013-05-16T23:19:41Z<p>Amber: Created page with "* British * Chronically ill * Fan of Fading Suns from '96 * MUSHing from the early 90s * Roleplaying since the mid 80s"</p>
<hr />
<div>* British<br />
* Chronically ill<br />
* Fan of Fading Suns from '96<br />
* MUSHing from the early 90s<br />
* Roleplaying since the mid 80s</div>Amber