When I sat down to build the noble house Herald, I knew that I wanted a noble family who basically built an empire on information, and information control. That they would essentially control news organizations in this fantasy world, but also the mail system. The benefit of having this being that the players get to deal with public perception of them, and worry about what the broader public knows. And I also knew that I wanted a noble family that were tieflings. And part of the reason is that so many players want to play tieflings, and this tired old troupe of “tiefling are hated for their fiendish heritage” is getting really old. I will steal a quote from B.Dave Walters I heard once is to paraphrase “I don’t want my fantasy worlds to have racism, because I want them to be better than the real world.” And I really do agree with that statement at my core. I find that racism-based stories are part of what caused a lot of controversy with Dungeons and Dragons a few years ago, and I want to avoid it.
Now does that mean that there should be no racist characters in any games, not necessarily. But at the societal level, I don’t think it makes sense. There was another comment I heard once where someone asked Mike Mignola why Hellboy fights Nazis, and the answer was something to the effect that it makes it really easy to get the audience against the villains.
For a great description on tieflings, PointyHat did a great video:
The Herald Empire:
So, for the Herald Family, like I said above, their empire is built on information, and that can mean a lot of things. With the city of Zenith, I really wanted to make a “Magic Punk” world, that isn’t necessarily high magic, but magic prevalent. Because for myself and my players, magic is part of the fun of TTRPGs. So in Zenith, lower level magic is very prevalent, and common magic items are very common, and I imagined this would mean a world where an information empire is possible. And for the public, the Herald Family’s empire is built on the following:
- The Herald’s Beacon: This is the equivalent of the newspaper, or your favorite news channel in a fantasy world. The Herald’s Beacon has reporters everywhere who cover the news in Zenith, but also the world beyond, and they perform the service of keeping the public informed.
- Messaging Services: If you look back at our history, part of what helped make the United States become stronger in the early days was the creation of a government postal system, which made it possible to reliably get correspondence from one part of the country to another. And the same idea is true here, the Herald Family manages offices where you can pay money to have sending spells coordinate messages across great distances.
- Private Messaging Services: This is how the Herald family supports the other noble houses, by enabling their ability to coordinate their operations globally across the World.
- Archive and Research: Given that the Herald’s Beacon is gathering the current news everyday, it became logical that the Herald Family would provide support for tracking things historically and making that information available to people. When Alexander the Great set out to build his empire, one of the cornerstones of it was the Library of Alexandria, because enabling a society that can grow and learn creates power.
Now, does that mean that everything the Herald family does is on the noble side? Absolutely not. Just like any other house, they have just as much of a propensity to leverage their powers for societal good, as selfish endeavors. To that end, they are a family that seems to know everything, and part of that comes from the hooks they have into the Ledger system used by Zenith citizens for their everyday lives.
Key Family Members and the Noble Family:
The key leaders of the family are the following:
- Karnon Herald: The patriarch Karnon is the leader of the family and manages their broader empire across the world. And is the face of the empire. Karnon doesn’t seem to have a strong relationship with many of his children as his work is all consuming and he spends his days being the face of the family. He is a powerful mage. He cares about his children and his family but is very focused on his work and maintaining the legacy of their family.
- Crehala Herald: Crehala is the matriarch of the family. And she is a woman of elegance and station. She is very much modeled Queen Victoria, and she holds a lot of sway within the family and among the social circles. Karnon is very much the business head of the family, but Crehala is very much the one responsible for their social status and maintaining their standing. And this gossip lifestyle eats most of her time.
Their children are the following:
- Ozmeros Herald: Ozmeros is very much the golden boy of the family. Being the oldest of the herald family, Ozmeros is a celebrity around the city, known for his “wild lifestyle” and his position in social circles helps the family.
- Yuza Herald: Yuza is the oldest girl in the family, and very much is a celebrity like her brother. But unlike her brother she is seen as a bit of wild child.
- Alexi Herald: Alexi is the youngest boy, and younger than Velfarus. Part of this is the fact that he has devoted himself to the church and the virtues associated. Alexi is a follower of Nanophx, the Morning Bringer and a strong believer in the truth and in bringing light and truth to the world.
- Cassandra Herald: Cassandra is the youngest member of the family, and still learning and growing in the family, but she very much believes in the hype of the family and is passionate about art and that the family help the people of Zenith to see “all that this world has to offer.”
Key People in the Family’s Employ:
The Herald Family is one of the larger members of the upper crust and tends to have a true “celebrity” status among the “gossip” columns, which they own. Some key people in their employee are the following:
- Gideon Luminaris: Gideon is the face of the Herald’s Beacon, and as such works very closely with the family. He very much feels a family level sense of loyalty to the Herald family as they are responsible for the life he lives. Gideon is a changeling and when he is showing “his form”, he has porcelain white skin, with hair as white as snow. He is usually dressed in bright robes that are organize, yellow, and red in color.
- Balthasar Stillwater: Balthasar is an older triton who has lived in Zenith for most of his life. He is Karnon and Crehala’s bodyguard, and has been with the family for most of the children’s life. He rarely speaks but when he does he can be quite intimidating.
- Lionel Smith: Lionel is the personal assistant of Karnon Herald, and works closely to help manage the family affairs. He is a small and thin human being with light brown hair and usually dresses in a black turtleneck.
What are their relationships with other families?
When it comes to the other families the relationships with the Herald Family are:
- House Zaphresz: When it comes to house Zaphresz there is actually a pretty strong relationship and it’s largely due to a mutual relationship around marketing the resorts and the lifestyle experiences. But what many don’t know is that they have a blackmail business together as well.
- House Embersong: There is actually a strong relationship between Embersong and Herald because they work together to accomplish goals and control the narrative. So at times their relationship is really strong.
- House Azerath: There isn’t really a strong relationship between Azerath and Herald as their industries don’t fully align. They work together out of necessity for communications and that’s about where it ends.
- House Karidark: Much like Azerath, Karidark and Herald work together out of necessity but don’t have much need for each other besides that.
- House Remmington: Herald and House Remington get along, primarily out of necessity as Remington is responsible for building out the items needed to support their networks.
How can you use House Herald in your games?
House Herald is an interesting one to include in your games as they can either be in the background or front and center.
How can you use them as a Quest Giver?
The Herald family is honestly likely to send players on adventures to deal with situations that threaten their information network. So mainly people who are threatening secrets they want to keep.
How can you use them as a villain?
The Herald Family is a great villain for your campaign if they are blackmailing a person the party is trying to help or even the party themselves.
Finally Thoughts?
Although this is the first noble house that I’m sharing there are others. It’s important to remember that these families and their influence is as foundational to the city of Zenith as the stones that the city is built upon. They are never to be trifled with, and are deadly. Like any Noble House, they can get away with everything.