House Celestine

House Celestine is one of the noble houses within the Lorentish Kingdom. House Celestine is best known in the southern regions of Lorent, though it also has influence in the northern portions of the kingdom as well. Founded by Nuggets Celestine, daughter of Faern Luth and Jayant, this house has strong connections to the royal family of Lorent as well as to House Arden and House Kolasares. This house is most notable for its history with the Lorentish military as well as its connections to other nations in the south of Rathnir including Frostmarch, Savernia, and the Greatwhite Isles.

History
On April 9, 2022, the Lorentish Kingdom revamped its backbone of leadership. This sudden change in how the leadership was structured sparked a rush for town owners to create Houses under the improved House system. The next day, House Celestine was born.

Originally a senator in the Jarldom of Ato in Frostmarch, Nuggets Celestine (originally known as Nuggets Havardr-Luth) moved to the Lorent in the hopes of starting a new life and family after her quiet marriage to Ghoul Kolasares. Her husband Ghoul was owner of the town of Decesmont in Savernia as well as the leader of the Lorentish Military. Though located in Savernia, Decesmont has very strong cultural ties to Lorent. Through marriage, Nuggets became a part of House Kolasares, which was based in Helona, a nearby city. She bore two children - Zeus and Cwoude - through her marriage to Ghoul. Unfortunately, Nuggets soon became a widow for the second time in her life upon the death of her husband. At this time, she had to choose how best to move forward. Though she had made progress in Decesmont, she thought it best to leave the town ownership to Loppi, Ghoul's right-hand duck-chicken in Decesmont. She was offered the town of Et-Loire, a small Island town, and she jumped at the chance to revive it.

She decided that this was the time to start her own legacy, as she had constantly followed the legacies of others in the past. As such, she created House Celestine with her sons Zeus and Cwoude as founding members and began to make plans.

Influence
One main tenet of House Celestine is to constantly expand their influence. Zeus Celestine and Cwoude Celestine are no strangers to this. Zeus, the firstborn son of Nuggets and Ghoul is extremely ambitious. He is constantly finding new ways to increase his wealth, and as a result was able to buy and become mayor of Tolomar, a city in the north of Lorent. Additionally, Zeus initially was the leader of the city Serrurier, now known as Victoria. He is using this land to expand his sphere of influence in the north. Following in his father's footsteps, he has worked to improve his fighting skills and is becoming one of the higher-tier fighters in the Lorent Military. Zeus created ties to House Arden of Lorent through his marriage to Matcha Arden. Cwoude, the second-born son of Nuggets and Ghoul is currently the co-owner of Lily in Lorent. He is the more peaceful of the two brothers and likes to spend his days honing his blacksmithing skills and working in the fields of Lily. He is also a published author and is known for his autobiographical writing. He focuses much of his efforts on the revival and reconstruction of Lily and is always looking for ways in which he can help other towns owned under the Celestine name.

One of Nugget's first moves upon the creation of the house was to invite Loppi, the mayor/duck-chicken of Decesmont to the family. This move strengthened not only House Celestine's influence in the south, but also created a connection between them and the Kingdom of Savernia, which is where Decesmont is located. Nugget's second move was to invite Gem Balde to her house through marriage. Gem is the mayor of Verdune and co-owner of Helona in the absence of its original leader, BossTyrant. This marriage possibly brings Helona under the influence of House Celestine, though this is contested by House Kolasares, of which Boss is a part. Additionally, this increased House Celestine's influence in the East of Lorent due to Gem's acquisition of Verdune. In addition to his leadership roles, Gem is a very high-tier fighter in the Lorentish military and was noted by Ghoul, the previous leader of the military, as a possible successor. Upon their marriage, Gem will become co-leader of House Celestine with Nuggets and inherit the Celestine name.

Due to Nugget's previous life and positions of power as Senator and Mayor in the Jarldom of Ato, House Celestine has positive relationships with Frostmarch and specifically the Jarldom of Ato. Their former leader, Shark Greatwhite, is a close friend of Nuggets and though he was not always a friend of Lorent, he is a friend of the House and as such the Greatwhite Isles have a positive relationship with House Celestine as well.

Appearance
Members of House Celestine have several defining characteristics. Nuggets was born to a human father and a human/serpent mother, and as such has red eyes as a remnant of her mother's serpent blood. Her late husband Ghoul was a ghoul, and had two different colored eyes which ultimately were covered by a blindfold to suppress an unknown power. He had characteristically grey skin. As a result of this, blood members of House Celestine can be noted by their red eyes and greyish skin. One may note the occasional serpent scale or need for a blindfold in some members of the House. Cwoude, in particular, is left-handed. This is important.

Culture
It is very important to members of House Celestine to support one another and keep close ties. They often have events for members of the towns of which their house is a part in order to foster a sense of community. As mentioned previously, House Celestine is constantly looking to expand their influence. To help with this, they have a centralized House fund which goes towards helping with land acquisition and other necessary purchases. Stemming from Ghoul, Zeus, and Gem's love of fighting as well as Nugget's roots in Atoan culture, members of House Celestine can often be found practicing fighting strategies and methods, with other members of the house looking on and supporting.

The flag of House Celestine includes a moon, a sun, and three stars. The moon is representative of the family's strong dedication to Lorent, while the Sun is callback to Nugget's time spent under the Atoan sun in Frostmarch, which was the beginning of her path to creating House Celestine. The three stars in the center are representative of Nuggets and her two sons, the very first members of House Celestine.

While House Celestine seeks to be kind and accepting to all, they are particular about who they allow into the house. An individual's strength of character is most important to them, and one must demonstrate this before they will be officially allowed into the house. They look to see that an individual has set goals for themself and is making steps to achieve those goals. While they do believe the universe will conspire to help one achieve their dreams, they also believe that one must have dreams and plans in order to receive that help.

Members
Nuggets Celestine - Head of House

Gem Celestine - Head of House

Zeus Raphaël Ferdinand Marcel Celestine Arden de Tolomar - Founding House Member

Cwoude Celestine - Founding House Member

Loppi Celestine- Founding House Duck-Chicken