House of Secrets

Secluded geographically and reclusive politically, most "common knowledge" about House Ordonne and its dominion in the far north is deeply rooted in hearsay and myth. Most of these myths attempt to untangle aspects of the Ordonne Dynasty viewed as confusing or threatening by outsiders, with plenty of additional embellishment and artistic license thrown in. Some rumours likely originated from within the house itself, but who is brave enough to call the bluff of a society of wizards?

Overall the climate in this domain is cold and inhospitable to a southern goblinoid such as myself, but I cannot deny the allure of Ordonne's tranquil white snowscapes and quiet, mystical woods. Add to this their patient, thoughtful, and respectful-to-a-fault culture and this domain becomes a rather charming destination for those seeking escape, solitude, or academic pursuits in the arcane arts.

The Crystal Castle

One constant source of paranoia among the other houses is the mystery of Castle Ordonne's construction. Castle Ordonne's sea-facing walls rise directly from the ocean near the border with House Velpyrus. The architecture and engineering of the castle's massive, terraced sea wall is said by many to be impossible by all known methods, including magical.

Rumours spiral from the merely impossible to the otherwordly and utterly insane: It is said that the section of the castle visible above the ocean's surface is less than a tenth of its total size. That massive underwater sections of castle were constructed in such a way that they could be raised from the sea to blockade the gulf at a moment's notice. That thousands of miles of underground tunnels and halls somehow connect Castle Ordonne to Lake Notten in the far south. These rumours are mostly unsubstantiated, save for a handful of reports by sailors of strange phenomena around the castle itself, as well as curiously consistent sightings of structures in the unmistakeable carved-crystalline style of the castle appearing in lakes, ponds, swamps and rivers all over Istolaire, only to disappear before any witnesses can investigate further.

Governed by Shadows

Perhaps the most-discussed enigma of House Ordonne is their secretive mode of governance itself. The identity of lords and public officials are not public record, and those with titles or charges must adhere to strict masking and go by only their title(s) when engaging with the public in order to keep their positions. Certain private offices that do not engage directly with the public will only be known through their official writs and decrees. It may become apparent that certain individuals work in public service, but beyond that officials are to keep their role within the House to themselves. This level of privacy eventually feels quite natural after spending some time in the Ordonnic domain, as most citizens seem to ask little of of those around them, and tell even less.

Unity Without Trust

House Ordonne's baffling obsession with privacy begs the question: How is forum maintained when no one actually knows who wields what powers? The answer lies in the intricate and brilliant combination of two magical technologies: Idempotent Ink and The Black-Eyed Box.

Idempotent ink imbues two magical signatures into anything written using it. The first is specific to the formulation and batch of the ink itself. The second is unique to the writer. This alone allows titles and offices to be assigned to these magical signatures rather than personal identities, allowing for anonymous but verified forum.

The Black-Eyed Box was developed later to accomodate the growing desire for democratic voting practices made popular by House Velpyrus. These enchanted boxes can read the magical signatures of idempotent ink and reveal the titles held by the writer(s), alleviating the tedious manual divination process that made voting a rare occurence due its reliance on the court's wizards, who are possibly the least amenable to manual labour of any office of the House. The information revealed about anything inserted into the box is presented in the observer's native language as text in the obsidian looking-glass embedded in the box, or read aloud by a conjured voice in more sophisticated models.

The Magic Circle

House Ordonne's invisible yet powerful political backbone could be argued to be the secretive council of mages that facilitate and regulate the use of the black-eyed box system. Known as The Magic Circle, by all accounts its membership is essentially randomly allocated to registered magic users - mostly wizards - through the use of a specially-designed model of black-eyed box. This layer of Ordonnic governance is inherently draped in mystery and only its annually selected members are privy to their proceedings. Public perception of The Magic Circle seems surprisingly high among regular folk, who view the Circle's oversight as a balancing force against overreach by both local and Imperial interests. Almost every town and some villages I visited had a Magic Circle Office where requests and complaints could be sent for review and possible intervention by this year's members, once again made possible by those glossy obsidian boxes...

The Oathbreaker

There is exactly one exception to the strict secrecy of The Magic Circle: The special position of Oathbreaker of The Magic Circle was carved out for the Imperatrice during assimilation negotiations, whereby she may hold special counsel with the circle while maintaining her public identity. Even still, not even the sole ruler of Istolaire may know the identity of any other member of the circle. If not obvious by now, House Ordonne and its people view anonymity and privacy as synonymous with personal safety and societal order. For the most part, the empire respects Ordonnic traditions of secrecy to maintain their allegiance with few exceptions. One only has to pass by the dazzling Castle Ordonne, looming over the gulf and humming with magical power to remind us that House Ordonne is afforded its relative sovereignty by more than simple charity.