House Dornkirk
Blazon: Vert, a raptor under globus or.
Motto: “Proudly, without gods, I conquer”
Notoriety: Famous.
History: The House of Dornkirk was founded in 88 Steel by Melchior Dornkirk upon his marriage to the Lady Sylana Falkanos of Geleros. Melchior was born in obscurity to a family of labourers in the Grungeworks zone of Zaichaer. As a child he worked on the factory floor of an aeronautics manufacturer, where he learned how airships worked from the inside. When he was old enough to enlist in the ZADC, he did so and was sent into basic training where it was quickly discovered that his keen mind for engineering exceeded his martial prowess. A young officer took note of a few of his sketches of speculative aircraft and other feats of engineering, and saw potential. That officer was Leir Angevin, who would go on to patronise Melchior’s early work, after discharging him from the ZADC to pursue a more productive life in the private sector than he would have in the military.
The brilliant young aeronautical engineer and inventor became something of a novelty amongst the old families, when Officer Angevin would invite him to speak about his latest endeavours. Though Melchior was tolerated to a point, he wasn’t accepted by the Old Guard- which bred resentment in the lowborn inventor. It was at one such soiree, however, that he met another novelty act who was doing a better job of captivating Zaichaer’s elite: Sylana Falkanos, an exotic vamp who claimed to be a daughter of Gelerian nobility. They married in 88 Steel and, with Sylana’s dowry, Melchior was able to set off on his own by founding Dornkirk Windworks, a commercial design and construction business specialising in airship manufacturing, but eventually branching into a number of other disciplines.
As Dornkirk vessels became the standard of excellence in Zaichaer, Melchior found that the young Grand Marshal who’d wrested power from his predecessor was more interested in loyalty and productivity than pedigree. At least enough so that he formally recognised The House of Dornkirk as a wedding gift to Melchior.
The Dornkirk Dynasty has, to date, only entered its second generation upon the birth of Stefan Klaus, and later Brenner Stahl Dornkirk. Their rise has been meteoric and, though their beginnings on the paternal side are humble, their wealth, influence and favour with the powers-that-be make them a force to be reckoned with. Though the Old Guard may grumble about them behind closed doors, few would dare openly mock the Dornkirks given the State’s reliance upon their technology and the rabble’s glorification of a family that rose in the way they would like to.
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Melchior
“As in everything, nature is the best instructor.”
Name: Melchior Stefan Dornkirk
Birthdate: 3 Wither 64
Location: Zaichaer, Karnor
Status: Alive
Skills: Gadjeteering, Business, Clockwork, Physics, Leadership.
Biography:Born to obscurity, Melchior Dornkirk clawed his way to the top through ingenuity and sacrifice. Like most men in Zaichaer who rose to power through mercantile means, Melchior was not always scrupulous on his journey toward significance, but he has succeeding in legitimising his family and establishing his legacy in an unprecedented way in just one generation.
Sylana
“If an injury has to be done to a man it should be so severe that his vengeance need not be feared.”
Name: LADY SYLANA DORNKIRK (née FALKANOS)
Birthdate: 17th of Sundered Rise 56
Location: Gel’grandal, Geleros
Status: Alive
Skills: Deception, Spycraft, Politics, Diplomacy, Intimidation
Biography:
Lady Sylana is shrouded in mystique, even within her own family. That which is known about her past prior to Zaichaer is what she’s elected to share. She arrived in Karnor at the age of thirty two with one chest of treasure and another of Gelerian finery. She was attended by two bodyguards (Albrekt and Ander) and a lady’s maid (Klaudya Vlahos) who trekked Northeast with her from the Imperium.
She claims to have migrated to Zaichaer because she saw great, untapped potential in the Northern City-State. She has never stated her reasoning more explicitly than that, but there are many rumours abounding on the subject. Some believe that she was merely a minor noble in Geleros who believed she could ascend to greater heights in a smaller pond, some believe she is an active agent of the Imperium on a long-term recon mission, others that she is a fugitive pariah, and on and on.
Upon arriving in Zaichaer, she took a modest townhouse on the West End and took on a staff of locals who were trained under the harsh scrutiny of Klaudya Vlahos, who took the role of housekeeper.
The elites of her corner of the West End were naturally curious about their new neighbour, and Lady Sylana was invited to a soiree at the home of an admiral who had a townhouse a few doors down from her own. With her exotically modish fashion and her talent as a raconteuse, Sylana soon found herself with many more invitations and, ere long, suitors.
To the shock of Zaichaeri society, she shirked the courtship of the many well-heeled sons of old and established families who fancied the notion of a Gelerian match with an exquisite beauty blessed with a clever tongue. Instead, she favoured the suit of a young upstart a few years her junior, who had risen from poverty up to the middle class.
Melchior Dornkirk had been a favourite, or at least a charity case, under the wing of the Admiral Angevin. Angevin was amongst the most reputable of the old houses, and boasted some marginal tie to the bloodline that once ruled as kings in this land. Melchior was a guest of this stories admiral when Sylana met him, and saw his potential. Not only his potential to rise higher amongst the ranks of Zaichaeri society, but also his potential to be moulded. He was not like one of the soft pampered dandies, nor did he resemble the career officers with their boastful bravado and guileless advances. He was subtle and, most importantly, ambitious. By and by, Sylana decided to invest not only her time with Melchior, but also a significant sum of her fortune, when she provided capital to help Dornkirk transition from working as a micromanaged designer for a middling aeronautics conglomerate to the founder of an altogether original enterprise: Dornkirk Windworks.
There was much to celebrate in First Bloom of 89 Steel. The ribbon was cut on the inaugural factory that would serve as headquarters for the newly minted Windworks, and Lady Sylana Dornkirk announced that she was with child, or rather with children. The doctors bade them to prepare their home for twins. Sadly, when Cinderfall fell, the first of the boys was pronounced stillborn. The second, Stefan Klaus, became heir apparent to the salient Dornkirk name. A year to the month later another son, Brenner Stahl, was born hale and healthy.
Sylana is an attentive, if not warm, mother to her sons. During their upbringing, she spoke Kathalan to them in the home and encouraged Albrekt, Ander and Klaudya to do the same. Thus, the boys received their early martial training with the two Gelerian guards in lessons that were conducted entirely in the relatively obscure tongue of their mother’s fancy. Melchior proved far more attentive to Stefan, as it was upon the elder brother’s shoulders that his mantle was to fall. Perhaps because of this, or perhaps merely because he was the baby, Sylana seemed to favour Brenner, or ‘Brynn’ as she dubbed him for short. Whilst Melchior might have been content to let Brenner’s education fall by the wayside, Sylana saw the potential for the spare to elevate the heir and the family as a whole. It was her notion to put him on a military track that seemed to align with the precociously imperious personality that began to present itself in his earliest days.
To this day, the Dornkirks have never met a member of Sylana’s family nor anyone from her past life in Geleros. Although they have frequently inquired about her youth, she demurrs with cryptic aplomb granting enough information to answer most questions, but not enough to provide any useful insight into her upbringing or maidenhood.
Stefan
“The limited circle is pure.”
Name: Stefan Klaus Dornkirk
Birthdate: 27th of Cinderfall, 90
Location: Zaichaer, Karnor
Status: Alive
Skills: Engineering, Business, House Management, Leadership, Politics
Biography: As the eldest son of an illustrious father, Stefan was raised in the exacting manner of unforgiving expectation. For reasons that none of the family understood, Stefan chaffed at the discipline and rigors of his education and upbringing more than his younger brother, Brenner did. The younger Dornkirk son came not even a full year after Stefan's birth and despite their differences in personality, they were close throughout their childhoods.
Luckily for the boy, he excelled in the family business, Dornkirk Windworks, in nearly every aspect. His nursery was covered in drawings of airships, and later, detailed schematics. As he grew toward adulthood he was introduced to many influential people, and while he never failed to impress he found the constant pull to perform exhausting.
When he turned eighteen his father insisted that he join the Air Defense Corps to get a feel for the real lives of the men who depended on the ships the family business provided. He served five years and attained the rank of Luitenant before being honorably released back into civilian life. His education as both future-head-of-house and owner of the business was now put into practice as he took over the design department of Dornkirk Windworks. He was expected to learn every aspect of the business, from suppliers to final rollout, and here, he excelled.
In his role as socialite and eligible bachelor, less so. Stefan proved to be better at avoiding his societal duties than performing them. Not exactly shy, he finds spending time in the company of mostly strangers uncomfortable at best. He puts on a good face when needed, does his duty like a good soldier, which is how he appears when in public.
His parents, Melchior and Sylana, expected him to marry well, do honor to the family name and produce heirs worthy of it. For the first five years after leaving the Air Defence he made the excuse that he had to concentrate on learning the business. Now, at thirty, his grasp of the business often outstrips that of his father, and his excuses are growing thin.
Brenner
“I have set my life upon a cast,
And I will stand the hazard of the die.”
Name: Brenner Stahl Dornkirk
Birthdate: 5th of Cinderfall, 91
Location: Zaichaer, Karnor
Status: Alive
Skills: Leadership, Politics, Tactics, Singing, Hand-to-Hand and Air Combat
Biography: Brenner was born the second son of Melchior Dornkirk, one of Zaichaer’s premier airship-building magnates, and his wife Sylana Dornkirk née Falkanos originally of the Gelerian Imperium,
The Brothers Dornkirk were raised under the exacting eye of their ambitious father, whose ingenuity had brought him from working as a child on the factory floor of a now-defunct shipping enterprise in the Siegeworks to founding one of the most influential design and construction companies in present-day Zaichaer. Dornkirk Windworks boasted multiple contracts with the city’s military, and placed Melchior amongst the elite of the city.
Having grown up in squalor on the East End, Melchior’s legacy was all-important, and his children were expected to advance the Dornkirk name to new heights that would span countless generations. Melchior wished to be remembered as the founder of a potent, prestigious line and, until it was firmly established, he expected his sons to struggle and sacrifice throughout their lives as an investment toward that glorious future. His eldest son, Stefan, was to succeed him as head of Dornkirk Windworks. He was educated in ship design and construction, economics and stewardship. His second son, Brenner, was to advance their name through a martial cursus honorum.Whilst Stefan was at his science books, Brenner was at his military strategy texts. Whilst Stefan built model ships to gain a grasp on engineering principles, Brenner was at target practice with his rifle, or sparring with his swordmaster.
Both brothers were socialised from a young age amongst the elite of Zaichaer’s military industrial complex. They were coddled by neither parent, but disciplined harshly if they did anything to bring the slightest shame to the Dornkirk name. They were expected to be seen and not heard, but ever watchful- Ever diligent as they learned the customs and practices of Zaichaer’s most powerful people, whom they would learn to emulate.
Brenner enlisted in the Zaichaer Air Defence Corps directly out of the Battle Academy, at the age of seventeen. His intimate knowledge of airships, from having grown up amongst one of the Corps primary suppliers, proved incalculably beneficial. Brenner has been moving up the ranks ever since, and currently serves as second-in-command on the Searing Victory, a Firestorm-Class dirigible dreadnought designed by his elder brother and constructed by Dornkirk Windworks.