House Hulce

in nocte consilium

Based: Shrewsbury
(in the County of Chester and the Duchy
of Gloucester)
Heraldry: The raven of House Corvidae upon the black shield and green field of the Hunters.
Leader: William Randolph Hulce, Earl of Chester

The Origins Of The House

 

House Hulce trace their lineage not to Albion’s
ancient tribes or imperial nobility but to a single
soldier in the service of The Hunter. Knighted
for his deeds, his family became a vassal house
of The Hunter and were charged with the defence
of our kingdom’s western borders from the Cymrijan
tribes beyond. This duty they fulfilled for generations,
neither demanding nor receiving much recognition
until a chance encounter around 914AF.

A young son of the house, newly come to his manhood,
came to the attention of court when he rescued
a bridal procession from goblin raiders that beset
it. The bride was the eldest daughter of House
Corvidae her foremost attendant, her younger sister,
was most impressed with the handsome young knight.
At his youngest daughter’s request Lord Corvidae
not only agreed to a marriage between the two
houses but also granted the Hulce family the right
to add the Corvidae symbol to their own heraldry
in recognition of the blood tie now forged between
the two houses.

Recent History

In the Spring of 1064AF Lord General Corvus Corvidae
married Lady Inogen Hulce, who was to bear him
3 sons and a daughter. After the birth of her
fourth child however Inogen fell ill and died
and in the years that followed her her death Corvus
fell under the spell of the demon Roxanne. By
1084 not a single child of Inogen’s blood could
be found and Roxanne was busy populating the household
with her own bloodline. Fearing Roxanne’s hatred
might fall upon their own young families, Inogen’s
younger brothers and sister fled Albion.

Thomas Hulce, the eldest surviving brother, took
his wife & children and went into hiding in
Italija, using the name Eremore. He was able to
take a military post there but was later killed
in action. His wife Iseult survived him by only
a few months, for whilst nursing her fatally wounded
husband in a field hospital she caught a fever
that – despite what medical attention the family’s
last coin could buy – proved too much for her.
These events left Thomas and Isuelt’s children
penniless and in a foreign land however their
eldest daughter Isobel refused to accept the family’s
apparent fate and laboured hard to re-establish
their fortune amongst the merchant houses of Milan.
Her success was not only the salvation of her
lineage, but also granted her younger siblings
a pragmatic view of the world denied to most Albione
nobles.

It was not however Thomas’s offspring that were
to make the house’s name, but instead his nephew
Alexander … who was already returned to Albion,
newly married to Lady Jasmine of House Charenten and earning a great deal of respect as an officer
in Albion’s military. In 1101AF Alexander Hulce
was appointed Lord Protector of Albion and Duke
of Gloucester. Thomas’s eldest son Miles returned
to Albion shortly after and rose rapidly in influence
to become Foreign Minister. In an agreement between
them Miles assumed leadership of the fledgling
household, freeing Alexander to concentrate his
attentions on the welfare of Albion as a whole.
Only months later however Alexander was struck
down by a wasting disease, inflicted upon him
through the oath that bound him to the land and
people.

To this day Alexander Hulce remains Duke Of
Gloucester, a stauch and vocal supporter of the
crown, and House Hulce’s most honoured son. Miles
Hulce was slain in the first battle of Dunwich
Vale in the spring of 1104AF and his youngest
brother William assumed leadership of the house
under Alexander’s authority.

sources at the request of William Randolph
Hulce
Autumn 1105