House Sorn of Crowhold

Century 1: The founding by Tarae Sorn created a hybrid culture of scavengers and scholars who profited from war and ruined sites. Century 2: The House formalized hereditary titles and established Crowhold as a power base. They negotiated trade rights with a riverbaron and began to sponsor expeditions into the dry steppes. Watershed moment: The Shattered Archive Incident, 162 years ago. An expedition into a collapsed temple unearthed a cache of skyglass plates known as the Sky Archivum fragments. Competing houses sought the plates. The House used guile to smuggle the fragments into Crowhold, then faked their destruction and publicly returned a worthless set. The deception allowed the House to quietly amass influence through blackmail and rare knowledge gleaned from the fragments. Century 3: The House expanded under dynamic leaders who privatized archaeological operations, creating lucrative networks of smugglers and scholars to supply treasures to foreign collectors. Relations with the capital soured as House influence reached into provincial governance. Current era: The House is a national power with branches in major cities. Their influence is visible in trade, law courts, and academia, yet they are accused of undermining royal authority. A recent scandal involving ritual thefts and the exposure of a governor's forged lineage threatens to provoke open war with the Crown.