House of Kovachev

House of Kovachev Country: Oren, Ruska, Hanseti Parent House: House of Carrion Title(s): Duke of Carnatia Count of Kovachgrad Count of Turov Count of Kvaz Baron of Valwyk Lords of the Stones Founder: Kovac Karovic Current Head: Jozsef, Baron of Kovgorod Ethnicity: Hanso-Raevir House Motto: By Right of Flame

The House of Kovachev (Common: Kovacs; Raevir: Kovachev; High Imperial: Kovacs) is a human noble house of Raevir origins, a branch of the Carrion dynasty.

History

During the time of old Raev, the Carrion Vochna had firmly cemented its rule over the surrounding provinces and all of the area inhabited by the Raevir people from their newfound capital of Khazav. However over the generations, there had been a single, unrelenting thorn in the side of House Carrion - that was to say House Nzech, who Barbov the Black had originally rebelled against and deposed, claiming Raev for himself, his sons and grandsons until the end of time. The present line of House Nzech was in fact descended from a lesser first cousin of the monarch who Barbov had deposed, who had bent the knee to the rebel forces in return for his head and his family’s castle, Ralich, and all its attendant lands.

Barbov did reluctantly spare his line, however as a consequence of this, after generations had passed and Barbov had become a cold corpse in the ground, House Nzech began to speak once more about their ‘ancient rights’ to Raev and their supposed superior claim to the realm. This talk eventually took root in the courts of a number of feudal lords and slowly gained leverage in the realm until it culminated in a rebellion from House Nzech, whose lord proclaimed himself the Stone King from the mountainous border territories surrounding Ralich.

This was not the first instance of House Nzech’s defiance, and would, as any learned Raevir historian knows, sadly not be the last. King Timov I, himself the great-grandsire of the ‘Old Crow’ Emperor Siegmund, sent his young and brazen nephew Kovac to raise a cohort from across the realm and put down the Stone King’s rebellion. The young lord did just that and marched through the mountain passes to the stronghold of Ralich, laying siege to the fortress. Ralich was reputed as being unconquerable and highly defensible, and the Stone King’s forces merely hid behind their walls avoiding all combat, endeavoring to sap their assailants' reinforcements. Unfortunately, Kovac had a similar idea, and while his own forces could be consistently replenished and supplied by King Timov’s host, the Stone King had no such luxury and was to be starved out of his castle.

The lengthy siege lasted for ten and a half months after which the Stone King, trapped in his castle, decided he would sally forth and see what damage he could do to his besiegers. His cohort was utterly destroyed by Kovac’s forces and he himself was slain by Kovac in single combat, who was said to have cut him in twain with a single arc of his bardiche. His sole child and heir, Lyudmila, crowned herself from within the halls of Ralich the Stone Queen. The Stone Queen’s servants, incited by her castellan, were less than loyal to her and understood from past example what became of those who continued to oppose the dynasty of the Crow. They yielded the fortress and delivered her to Kovac trussed and hooded.

As a reward for his exceptional service in the Siege of Ralich, King Timov granted his nephew Ralich and its surrounding territories which became known as Kovachgrad or Kovac’s Hold. Taking up a role as warden of the mountain passes, Kovac firmly entrenched himself within the Stone King’s old fortress, marrying Lyudmila the Stone Queen and subsequently creating House Kovachev, a cadet branch of House Carrion, taking for his sigil a feral red griffin on a black field, one of the many hardy beasts that resided in the mountains surrounding Ralich. House Nzech may have been dispossessed and presumed to be extinct, but while the Stone King’s line was absorbed into House Kovachev when its patriarch wed the Stone Queen, many more and lesser lines of the house existed. Like a weed, House Nzech is known for being very difficult to eradicate, as while treasonous their roots ran deep. Descendants of the Nzechonovic dynasty are rumored to still exist to this day.

From their position in the ore-rich mountains, House Kovachev had become a house of industrious repute with famed metalwork and jewelry, their smiths and furnaces producing fine artisan works. Despite this, however, the house remained poor due to the almost complete lack of arable land in the mountains, preventing Kovachgrad from growing its own food with the exception of a few sparse berries in the boreal forests. As a result of this, fire had become a more integral part than usual in the life of the communities ruled over by Kovachev, allowing their livelihood of metals and weaponry to be produced and providing them with warmth and the hearth fire that sustained them.

Notable Members

• Jan Kovachev, known regally as Duke John of Carnatia. Famed military general and war hero. Son of King Varon.
• King Varon of Akovia, originally Imperial Marshal underneath both Emperor Tobias I and Emperor Alexander I. He declared independence after the disastrous Battle of Kaer Angren and bestowed upon himself the title King of Akovia.
• Henrik Kovachev, Duke of Carnatia and served as Chancellor of the Kingdom of Hanseti-Ruska. Responsible for the restoration of the ducal coronet. Son of Sergius I.