Lorelei family

House Lorelei is a noble family from the Dwendalian Empire. Secretly, the members of this lineage bear the curse of werewolf lycanthropy.

History

The Lorelei bloodline stretches back about three centuries, and rose to prominence during the Marrow War between the Dwendalian Empire and the Julous Dominion. The Loreleis proved their worth in that conflict and were gifted with a stretch of land in the Cyrengreen Forest upon which Castle Lorelei was built.

Alfarr Lorelei was the first family member to become a lycanthrope, passing this trait down through the generations. Early on, the family considered lycanthropy a curse, but gradually younger generations saw it as a gift to be wielded responsibly. They created a ritual known as "The Taming" to control the inner beast and used it to help the family. Whilst there had been dark periods in the family history and members who sought to use their power for evil, the Lorelei family always returned to the good and righteous in the end.

At some point in their recent history, Geneviève Lorelei became the heir of the family. She was wild and unbridled, spurning the Taming and instead embracing the animal inside which placed her at odds with her family. Her nature brought her into a whirlwind romance with a drow from Xhorhas, a man the family did not approve of. They had one son - Haldur Lorelei - out of wedlock.

When Haldur was still very young, Lady Geneviève "was murdered not far from Castle Lorelei's grounds and found in a wolven heap." Her lover was taken back to Xhorhas, where he was punished and reintegrated in their society, leaving the young Lord Lorelei abandoned. However, Geneviève's younger sister, Katerine, took the child under her wing, and became his regent, raising him to be a good man who eventually married a woman named Rosalind, who gave him five children. Six years after the birth of their first-born, Lord and Lady Lorelei had Haldur's drow father as a guest in the castle for at least a portion of the summer, although the dark elf spent part of that time disguised.

After Rosalind died after giving birth to the twins Lawrence and Benicio, Lord Haldur, now a widow, raised his children with Aunt Katerine's help, and although the two eldest, Aurra and Lucius, were wild and didn't accept all the family traditions (leaving Portia, the middle child, as heir), the five Lorelei siblings maintained respect for their father, answering his call when he summoned them to Castle Lorelei in 835 PD.

By then the conflict between the Dwendalian Empire and the Kryn Dynasty had already started, and House Lorelei suffered an attack: Haldur's drow father returned seeking revenge for the death of his lover. The Xhorhasian attacked Castle Lorelei with a small army of undead, killing everyone in the keep, including Hal's aunt, Katerine, and mutilating Lord Lorelei (cutting his hand) before taking him to the mausoleum as captive, waiting there for his grandchildren to arrihe. Once in place, the drow reanimated his loved one's remains using necromancy and turned Lady Geneviève Lorelei's corpse into a dark undead entity, the Iron Woe. Eventually the five Lorelei siblings arrived to their ancestral home and discovered what happened; they defeated three criminals from Deastok who had been waiting for them (although due to the magic released in that battle some of the corpses of deceased Loreleis ran away to the Cyrengreen Forest as undead) and they finally went to confront their father's captor (not knowing he was their grandfather). In their battle Lord Lorelei nearly died but was healed by Aurra. The siblings managed to destroy the Iron Woe, and they killed the Kryn soldier as he was trying to flee.

After all that chaos Lord Lorelei finally got the chance to explain the whole situation and the truth behind his own mother's death to his children, as well as the identity of the drow they had just killed, telling them to learn from such a dark incident in their family history, asking them to help him seal the tomb again in the coming weeks, and expressing how much he loved his children. Those intense events left House Lorelei weakened, but also reunited the five Lorelei siblings for the first time in years, with the future of their family before them.

Known members

• Alfarr Lorelei: First Lorelei to become a lycanthrope.
  • Grenya Lorelei: Daughter of Alfarr, and first Lorelei to be born as a lycanthrope.
    • At least two sons: They were born as werewolves, just like their mother.
• Unnamed Lorelei relatives: Brothers or cousins of Geneviève's predecessor, they disapproved her behavior and buried her apart from the rest of the family.
• Katerine Lorelei: Younger sister to Genevieve, and referred to as 'Aunt Kat'.
• Geneviève Lorelei: Older sister to Katerine, mother of Haldur.
  • Haldur Lorelei: Father of the siblings.
    • Rosalind Lorelei: Haldur's late wife, mother of the siblings.
      • Aurra Lorelei: Haldur's former heir. She ran to the woods and became a druid.
      • Lucius Lorelei: A devout follower of Sehanine, he became a cleric, renouncing his claim in the succession.
      • Portia Lorelei: Haldur's heir presumptive. She is a blood hunter who mastered the Taming sooner than expected.
      • Lawrence Lorelei: Benicio's twin. He's a blood hunter and the most academic sibling.
      • Benicio Lorelei: Lawrence's twin. He's a blood hunter and the most impulsive sibling.

Family tree

Bold borders denote those with lycanthropy.