House Blueduck
House Blueduck is a family on ennobled gnomes. They control a handful of Baronies in the land of Fumaya, most of their subjects are gnomes.
They are respected by their subjects for taking care of their basic needs while keeping taxes and oversight minimal. They are respected by their human noble peers because they don't make waves and always meet their feudal obligations promptly and without complaint.
by me with Hero Forge
Structure
The Blueduck family follows the same basic feudal structure and norms of the human dominated Kingdom of Fumaya.
One exception is that they put less emphasis on social class and arranged marriages. With only three or four gnomish Fumayan noble families, they would get hopelessly inbred very fast if they only married highborn gnomes. They want their sons and daughters to marry for love but elder families will still screen potential mates very thoroughly. They want to make sure that anyone who marries into the family is respectable and well-educated.
Culture
The Blueduck family is polite and formal with their feudal superiors but they are usually casual with their peers and subjects. They value humor and humility a lot.
by me with Midjourney
They certainly play up the duck motiff. Every year they sponsor several ice sculptures for the Hay Day festivals and while the ice garden statues vary from year to year, the central piece is already a duck. When they give alms to the poor, it's often duck eggs. When they host feasts for their noble peers, the main dish is usually roast duck.
They also value education. They are among the most highly literate mortals in Fumaya and the Blueduck Lords and Ladies that cannot inherit or marry into a title usually find a comfortable living as a sage, clergyman, or courtier somewhere.
Public Agenda
To serve their king and their subjects.
History
Most of the rural gnomes in the land of Fumaya live in villages that are either all-gnomes or majority gnomes.
The Blueducks grew numbers and influence, controlling a handful of gnome-dominated baronies. While the Blueducks haven't produced a lot of famous heroes worthy of story and song, the Blueduck Barons pay their taxes on time and make sure their subjects are well taken care of, so their human feudal lieges never have reason to complain about them.
Not long after the Kingdom of Fumaya was founded, a few human dukes and counts established baronies and rewarded the loyaly of their core supporters by making them Barons. Some of these supporters were gnomes, so some gnomes were made into barons.
The first gnome Barons got to choose their family surnames and most opted to pick non-threatening names and standards. Baron Kelwin opted to take the name Blueduck. Blue in honor of the goddess Mera and duck because his land had a lot of duck ponds.
Military
The Blueduck family requires their sons to take some basic military training and they allow their daughters to take the same training if they choose. But this training is pretty light compared what Fumayan human nobles make their children do.
Many Blueducks complete their basic training in their youth and then never don a suit of armor for the rest of their lives. The Blueducks fight with books and words and admittedly rely heavily on human soldiers to defend their lands.
Religion
The Blueducks "Keep the Nonagon", but they lean heavily towards worshiping Mera above the rest of the the Nine.
The Blueducks are pious enough to be respectable but relatively few of their family members end up joining the Fumaya's Nonagon. A majority of the few Blueducks that do end up taking priestly often are non-conformists who join one of the priesthoods apart from the Fumayan Tenders.
Type
Political, Family
Ruling Organization
Family Leader
Power Structure
Feudal state
Official State Religion
Parent Organization
Location
Related Traditions
Related Species
Related Ethnicities
Awesome! \o/