House Ligonier

HOUSE STATISTICS

Planet:	Imperius
Region:	The Vale
Seat:	Honor's Keep
Motto:	Paradise is in the Blade
Colors:	White, Green, and Blue
Liege:	House Leonnida
Vassals:	None

LEADERSHIP

MILITARY STATISTICS

Head of House:	Lord Sir Stefan Guillaume Ligonier	Emphasis:	Swordsmanship
Predecessor:	Lady Marie Esmerelda Ligonier	Footmen:	1,000
Heir:	Young Lady Sir Ines Preble Ligonier	Cavalry:	75
		Bowmen:	500

Table of Contents

Overview

History

Sir Honoria Marie Preble Ligonier

Honoria Marie Preble and Alphonse Phillipe Ligonier came from a long line of soldiers even before the First System War. Their parents had also trained extensively in the martial arts, to hone their skills and reflexes for battle.

Honoria and Alphonse met as children, in the training camp where their parents were teaching their skills to the soldiers of Haven's army. Both of them learned from their parents practically as soon as they were able to walk, and played at sparring as children. As the Reversion took hold and was put into place, their young dreams very quickly turned to becoming knights to serve Matthias Saveur and the royal line. On the day they both attained their knight hood, Alphonse asked Honoria to marry him. She accepted almost before he finished asking.

Their children were encouraged to follow in their parents' footsteps. They had little wooden polearms and swords and would spar with each other all day. When the children were in their early teens, and squired off to become knights themselves, Honoria accepted a position among House Saveur's personal guard. She was three years in service when she foiled an assassination attempt on the Regnant. She was wounded by a crossbow bolt meant for the Regnant, a bolt tipped with a slow-acting and lethal poison. As a reward for her bravery and an apology for the slow death ahead of her, the Regnant ennobled her and her husband, creating House Ligonier as a vassal of House Leonnida based on a several islands in the southwestern corner of the Vale.

Alphonse became the first Lord Ligonier, holding seat from Honor's Keep. As the Reversion took hold, House Ligonier was at the forefront of spreading the lessons of the First System War. As the feudal structure solidified, however, the Houses took the training back in-House. Still, House Ligonier is known for skill of their knights with the sword, and many knights travel to Honor's Keep to hone their skills.

Culture & Traditions

Within House Ligonier, there is always a member of the House with the title Blademaster, who is known as the most skilled swordsman or swordswoman in the House. The Blademaster is in charge of training at Honor's Keep, and — like the Heir — never marries out of the family.

Since the Reversion took much of their formalized training business away, many of the bungalows outside of Honor's Keep have been turned over to tourism, bringing people from all across the Haven System to see the clear blue waters and white sand beaches.

The House of the Albatross

Recently, one wing of the training facilities has been turned over to rehabilitation purposes. These barracks focus on helping injured soldiers and knights regain their ability to fight, whether by rehabilitating their own limbs, learning to adapt to fighting with a new cybernetic limb, or simply to heal their souls.

Members of House Ligonier tend toward Francophone names.

Location

Honor's Keep

Honor's Keep sits at the edge of a tropical lagoon, with an extinct volcano rising high above it from the midst of the jungles. The defenses of the Keep are almost entirely emplaced around The Barrier, which encircles the lagoon except at one point where tourist ships come and go. The town is made up of bungalows that rise up from the water to the edge of the jungle, with the stone villa of House Ligonier nestled up on the side of the volcano to take advantage of the views. It rains once a day without fail (although of course sometimes more often), just before sunset, cooling the air for the evening.