Nel'Fray

House Nel'Fray

"The mass of Hellions that Deitri has tried to induct into our beloved House Nel'Fray is a sure sign of his hunger for leadership. Full membership must be earned slowly, not given away as a vie for political power. Me thinks it is time for our herd to be culled"

     Spoken by Khraal Nel'Fray to Tyriss when asked about House Van'Devic

Heraldry

History

Founded in 1998 at Cuiviëdôr Amarth, House Nel'Fray began as a close-knit group of friends who's only stated goal was to start trouble, but quickly became infamous. In 1999 there was a falling out within the house over Deitri's desire to form an offshoot house., the direction the house was taking, and a conflict with the Corsairs. The resulting offshoot group became House Van D'Evic. The remaining members of House Nel'Fray slowly regrouped as the house became more millitant. Today, it is rare to see any Nel'Frays at all, as the members of this house are mostly on hiatus.

Beginning

Khraal and Niles first formed the Nel’Fray Household with elven personas in RPG chatrooms on the internet. From there they moved their ideas into the realm of Amtgard. Their first Amtgard appearance was at the foundation of the Shire of Cuiviëdôr Amarth in January of 1998. Tyiss was the first person in Amtgard to be accepted into House Nel’Fray, shortly followed by Deitri Van D'Evic. The next to join the house was Gabriel (October 1998).

In late 1998, Khraal moved to Teague, leaving Tyriss, Niles, and Deitri to tend to the household locally. He expected them to be his eyes and ears giving him full reports as he emailed them instructions. It was at this point that Khraal instituted the rank structure, and set up unspoken policies to be extremely secretive, however being suspected of insurrection, Deitri was often left out of the loop. At the top of the hierarchy structure is Khraal. Below Khraal are the Gans, or inner circle. They are his closest advisors. Below the Gans are the Bars, or outer circle, and then the Kuls (or Hellions). Acolytes (Initiates) are naturally at the bottom. The majority of the Nel’Fray were Acolytes, and never full members.

By February 1999, Taeryn had become an acolyte along with Riff Raff, Tormentaarii, Breca, Osgiliath, Finn, Tatter, and Pandora. Things were going well for the household. Nel’Fray had developed a reputation for intrigue, and it had achieved one of its main goals in the political conquest of the EH. It had achieved a major presence in the Barony of Ironcloud to match its presence in Cuiviëdôr Amarth. Pandora was at that time the Baroness of Ironcloud.

Conflict with the Corsairs

At Forest’s Coronation in December of 1998, Niles had a rubber chicken hanging by its foot from the lattice work at the Nel'Fray cabin, jokingly picking on the Corsairs. Fytakin got wind of this and took the chicken forcefully just before dawn, leaving its dismembered foot stuck in the lattice work. The Nel’Fray had to barter a twelve-pack of Dr. Pepper to get their now one-footed rubber chicken back. Later, Niles wore the rubber chicken foot on a necklace as a trophy.

At that same event, the Drunken Wyvern captured the Corsair banner, wrote “The Drunken Wyvern” on the back of it with electrical tape, and hung it up above the bar at their tavern backwards with a light behind it so the Corsair device could be seen plainly through the cloth. The Corsair Company felt it had something to do with House Nel’Fray because the Drunken Wyvern were not well known at the time, and there was already animosity over the rubber chicken.

At the March 1999 EH event, the banner of Cuiviëdôr Amarth went missing, but was eventually re-acquired by Larin and returned on the condition that no questions be asked. The populace of CA, who were mostly Nel’Fray, felt that Larin himself was responsible.

In the summer of 1999, some of the Nel’Fray showed up at Ironcloud sporting a new rubber chicken dressed in a Corsair tabard hanging by a noose from their banner. On the back of the chicken’s tabard were written the words: “I’d rather be a Nel’Fray.” This was meant as a joke. Nevron however, took offense. He removed the tabard from the chicken, and refused to return it. His logic was that if it bore the Corsair device, it was property of the Corsairs.

The name Nel’Fray was on everyone’s lips, and the EH list was ablaze with heated discussion. Much of the kingdom was behind the Nel’Fray, if not in word than in spirit. Post upon post to the EH list continually proclaimed how many had a strong dislike for the Corsair Company. The Nel’Fray had wit, it had members, and it had a backbone. Off the list, the Corsairs and their sympathizers would see a Nel’Fray and say “Nel’Fray, run away!” or make it a point to kill any Nel’Fray they saw at Mourningwood Glen.

Things continued thus, until Empress Shaylen’s Midreign in September 1999. There had been a fund raiser that reign called “Pie in the face,” in which anyone could donate a penny per point to nominate someone to get pied in the face, and two cents per point to have the points removed. When the fundraiser closed, the top five people with the most points would get pied, and their pies were auctioned off to the highest bidder. One of the top five was Sir Falamar, a Corsair. House Nel’Fray won the bid for his pie and pied him. Later, at court, the kingdom Herald called all members of house Nel’Fray to approach. When they all kneeled, the Corsairs came at them from behind and pied them all. As it so happened, this attack didn’t hurt the inner-circle one bit. At that time they were safe at their campsite preparing for a night around the campfire. In the end, the Nel’Fray were embarrassed by a mass pieing in court. Yet the Lord and the Inner-Circle were conveniently absent. The rest of the house accepted the embarrassment for the upper levels lack of action. The leadership was unconcerned as only three Acolytes were pied.

After court, Fytakin (a Corsair Maggot at the time) began his “marker assassinations” on Breca, in which he used a permanent marker to draw a line across his victim’s throat, symbolic of cutting the throat. This was done by force or surprise, and was often painful for the victim. The practice of “marker assassinations” was ruled to be unsafe and illegal, and was banned by the kingdom. Fytakin was expelled from an event for this some years later.

The Rift

After the attacks, all of Nel’Fray gathered around their campfire to discuss the matters at hand. The Acolytes felt that the Inner Circle somehow knew the pieing was coming and skipped out on court because of this. Lack of leadership, betrayal, and injustice were the topics of the meeting. Finn, Draeven, Breca, Kyrie, and Riff Raff explained their problems to Khraal and the Inner-Circle who accepted and commended them. It soon became obvious though that much of what Khraal claimed to have taken as good advice, he shunned as pitiful drivel.

Certain petitioning members believed that now was the time to strike the Corsairs. Instead Khraal decided that the fun with the Corsairs had been played out, and that it was time to move on to target other companies. (The fact that Tyriss and Khraal were often seen in Corsair camp drinking with their "enemies" probably had something to do with this.) Within the house, arguments raged out of control, accusations were made, and insults were sworn. Unwilling to take time away from their own concerns, The leadership began to withdraw away from the Acolytes refusing to keep them in the know about house dealings.

After the mass pieing incident, the primary governing members of the house seemed to be making improvement. After much haranguing from the household, they atoned for their fallacies and proclaimed amends. However, it soon became apparent that a rift was beginning to form between two separate factions within the house. What had begun as a very small fighting company under the guise of a household had by this time grown into a very well known group. A group whose sole original purpose had been to sow discord. It is only natural that when such a group grows so rapidly in size as well as in infamy, internal conflict will begin to surface. Or in more common terms, "You reap what you sow." On one side stood the original members of House Nel'Fray, and on the other side stood Deitri and most of the currently petitioning Acotyles. Khraal and his Inner Circle (with the exception of Deitri) maintained that Acolytes had no say over household matters and felt that Deitri had enlisted their aid in an attempt to wrestle control away. The Acolytes felt that their opinions should be heard and given just as much weight as any full member. It became clear that Khraal and the Inner-Circle had no intention of kneeling to the Acolytes. The break between House Nel'Fray and House Van D'evic (as Deitri and his Acolytes had begun to call themselves)became wider.

The Nel’Fray email list was frequently ablaze with conjecture while the Inner-Circle was conspicuously silent. Khraal’s only appearance on the list was to shut everyone up. Numerous meetings were held by the Acolytes to discuss the problems dwelling within the upper levels of the Nel’Fray, all of which failed. All of the members loved being Nel’Fray, but desired more say in the house instead of the totalitarian government on which House Nel'Fray was founded.

Factions were divided, arguments raged, and leadership waned. Tormentaarii moved to Australia. She continued to claim Nel’Fray membership, but was too far away to be of any use to the Nel’Fray and vice versa. Pandora and Aurianna left the household because they didn’t like the treatment of women by Khraal. They felt that he was demeaning, insulting, and far too arrogant and egotistical, though Aurriana now claims that this was caused by a slew of misinformation that had been fed to her by Deitri. Tatter was not far behind Pandora, for they are Amt-related. Osgiliath left the household because he felt the ideals that the Nel’Fray came to symbolize no longer suited his persona. Finn left the house as well for similar reasons.

Deitri by this time had officially formed his own household, and in a secrete meeting between Deitri and Khraal, Deitri begged Khraal to give him control over his own household while allowing him to remain a Gan under the protective wing of the Nel'Fray. Tired of the arguments and childish plots Khraal expelled Deitri from the house, by default dissolving the status of all of Deitri's Acolytes: Riff Raff, Tormentaarii, Taeryn, Einon, Dragos, and Breca.

At the following event Lord Khraal organized a massive assassination of House Van D'Evic. The games began with several poisonings that killed every house member except Aurianna (who, unknown to the Nel'Fray, had been to sick to eat). At this point Lord Khraal stood and left the court. No sooner had Khraal walked away, than Breca was marker assassinated by hired thugs. Breca gave chase, and in the confusion that ensued Khraal's personal assassin, Gan Tyriss, stepped over a table and proceeded to slaughter all the members of house Van D'Evic single handedly. The final fight between Einon and Tyriss spanned a wide area of ground upsetting nearby tiki-torches. In the end Tyriss died in a simo-kill with Einon. While Deitri and most of his household contest the authenticity of these events, the fact remains that it was witnessed by no less than fifty people including the entire high table.

When questioned, the Nel'Fray claimed that the attack had been their way of putting the disagreements behind them, and accepting House Van D'evic as their new nemesis. They claimed that the animosity was entirely in game only. This proved not to be the case. Later that night Khraal was confronted while walking through Tanglewood by Deitri, Aurianna, and Einon. Words were exchanged between Khraal and Deitri and a very self righteous Khraal raised his head and turned his back on them. Deitri enraged by both the insult, and the terrible treatment he had received at the hands of Khraal, began a campaign of slander against the Nel'Fray. This had the effect of helping to instill the name of Nel'Fray into the history of EH for better or worse.

Conclusion

The true nature of the Inner-Circle and Lord of House Nel’Fray had been seen by the whole of the household and the Kingdom. Breca stood before the Kingdom court and issued a challenge to any Nel’Fray who had a problem with him. Though, as they had just assassinated an entire household, there were no Nel'Fray at court left to respond. The Nel’Fray couldn’t care less how the rest of Amtgard feels about them. Advice was given but blatantly and quite loudly refused. Nel’Fray at one time had such intelligence it easily could have become a lasting organization if properly lead. Not anymore. No longer do they have their power base in Cuiviëdôr Amarth, and they have long since lost their foot hold in Ironcloud. In fact, the name Nel’Fray is the punch line of many amtgard related jokes. Khraal and the current members of the Inner-Circle managed to bumble everything good that household had going for it. It doesn’t matter who you are or how big you are, you can only overcome an adversary with your only real weapon, your mind. That was the founding principal that Nel’Fray was created upon. As that changed, so did the household, which was never the same, nor will it ever be the same again.

(While editing this for accuracy, Lord Khraal, and the rest of the remaining Nel'Fray chose to leave this last portion intact despite it's negative view of us. Mostly due to the fact that we feel that hearing our goals described so blatantly falsely by people who never gained full membership into House Nel'Fray speaks for itself. Well that, and it makes us laugh)

For a different perspective (Which looks suspiciously close to the content you've just read only with a more pro-Van D'Evic spin... and a few more fight scenes thrown in to make it interesting.)see Van D'Evic

Additional Images

Druss Nel'Fray and Deitri Van D'Evic at Cuiviëdôr Amarth in 2004

Drawing of Khraal, Lord of the Nel'Fray

Tasks

The Tasks were a game that House Nel'Fray played in which each member of the house had their own task to fulfill. These tasks were assigned by Khraal mostly but could be assigned by the Gans with Khraal’s approval. The tasks had to remain secret even from other house members. They included things like "obtain a lock of Mouse’s hair," (while she was bald) "steal the Drunken Wyvern’s banner," "find out what the other members’ tasks are," or "assassinate three highly reputable people each time leaving a calling card in the name of the Harlequin Church" (an anti-bard house).

Common Nel’Fray Joke

How many Nel'Fray does it take to screw in a light bulb?

A. 30, One to do it, and 29 to plot out all the contingency plans.

B. Just one, but it takes all of them and half the morning to get the light bulb back from the Corsairs.

Current Leadership

• Lord Khraal Nel'Fray
• Lady Aurianna Nel'Fray

Gans (Inner-Circle)

• Tyriss Nel'Fray
• Niles Nel'Fray

Bars (Outer Circle)

• Collin Nel'Fray

Hellions

• Druss Nel'Fray
• Gazmack Nel'Fray
• Token Nel'Fray

Former Members

• Deitri Van D'Evic
• Gabriel (Gabriel was never officially expelled, and never officially left, however Gabriel does not currently claim the name Nel'Fray, and so is listed here. We wish him the best.)

Former Acolytes (Petitioners)

• Tatter Demallion
• Pandora Demallion
• Larin Moonstar
• Taeryn
• Tormentaarii
• Einon Dupre
• Finn
• Brecca Van D'Evic
• Osgiliath Vesper
• Draeven
• Dragos