Van D'Evic

House Van D'Evic

"When a man organizes a group who's sole purpose is to proclaim his wonderfulness and worship him, it is a sure sign of narcissism, and I refuse to sully my hands with such filth."

     -Spoken by Deitri Van D'Evic in memory of the Nel'Fray

Heraldry

History

Founded in 1999 at Cuiviëdôr Amarth, the original group was made up of individuals who had left House Nel'Fray due to a disagreement over house fundamentals. Most of the members of this house are currently on hiatus.

Beginning

Deitri Van D'Evic (a former Nel’Fray Gan) was happy to be Khraal's right hand. He actively recruited in the name of Nel'Fray and worked to make the Nel'Fray great. The very banner the Nel'Fray display was made by Deitri. Unfortunately, the rest of the Nel'Fray inner circle had different ideas. When Deitri saw the changes that had been put in place, he didn’t like any of them, and voiced his opinion on every issue. He soon realized that this was an uphill battle. Several of the lower ranking Nel’Fray wanted him to assassinate Khraal and take over the House, but Deitri at that point still had misguided respect for a man whom he had considered to be a friend. Khraal at one point offered to give Deitri a formal division of House Nel’Fray which would answer directly to him. Khraal begged Deitri not to take his Acolytes and leave. Instead, Deitri who was tired of the arguments and childish plots, decided to form a new household, which stood for the ideals of friendship, common goals, protection, and of course honor. House Nel’Fray continuously grew away from these ideals.

Deitri planned to leave House Nel’Fray at the next meeting of the Gans and explain his decision. However, when Khraal heard about Deitri's new house, he was enraged by the insult, and refused Deitri the right to leave of his own free will. He immediately expelled Deitri from House Nel’Fray without so much as a “Thank you” for his support and leadership. Such is how they treated long standing members; those who had given their all to the household. It was no matter, the end result was the same. When Deitri left, kull Riff Raff, and Acolytes Taeryn, Breca, Einon, and Aurianna went with him. When the Nel’Fray exiled Deitri from their household, they lost more than half their numbers. All those who left had had enough of Khraal and Tyriss and their "we don't need you, we don't want you" policy toward lower ranking members.

Clan War

Because of the circumstances by which Deitri et al departed from House Nel’Fray, there was a bitter blood feud between the two houses from the start. By this time, Khraal had returned from Teague, and began recruiting new hellions. The Van D’Evics were the primary target of Nel'Fray aggression and intrigue, and responded with equal ferocity. There were several skirmishes at Mourningwood Glen over the course of that year, none of which were decisive.

At the Coronation of McFadden in December 2000, the Clan War reached its peak. The two houses had been ambushing each other during the course of the entire event. House Redhawk (a former ally of the Nel’Fray) got caught in the middle as both sides attempted to hire them to assassinate their rivals.

At court, the Van D’Evic House was seated at a table when they were approached by Larin. He leaned over Deitri’s shoulder and informed him that he and his entire house had been assassinated by poison. What Larin (and those who hired him) didn’t count on was that the Van D’Evic had anticipated this obvious tactic and taken precautions. Everyone at the table had either cast curative magic on their food before hand, or was immune to the effects of poison altogether. The so called "mass poisoning" which "killed everyone" affected no one. When his folly was pointed out, an embarressed Larin drew forth a dagger, and quickly stabbed Deitri a few times in the back before making his escape. The Nel'Fray will contest this account of events because it demonstrates their inadequacy and lack of foresight. They also claim that "fifty" odd people were witness, but ask any of them, none will remember, not even the hight table.

After Larin left, Deitri was resurrected as the Nel’Fray rose from their table and left court. This action did not go un-noticed by House Van D’Evic, who prepared for the coming assault. Suddenly the Nel’Fray rushed in to court from the shadows among the trees, and attacked. The Van D’Evic jumped from their seats and began to fight the Nel’Fray. Tyriss leaped onto the Van D'Evic table and made a real mess of it, clumsily knocking food to and fro. Perhaps the most memorable part of this fight was when Einon swung on Tyriss with a warrior improved red weapon, taking out Tyriss’ armor and a tiki-torch with a single stroke of his blade. This duel ended in a simo-kill. The Nel’Fray retreated and the Van D’Evic pursued them into the woods with some of the Redhawks. All in all, nearly half of court cleared out during this battle.

Later that night Khraal was walking through Tanglewood when he happened upon Deitri, Aurianna, and Einon. Words were exchanged between Einon and a very self righteous Khraal, who claimed that the attack had been his way of putting the disagreements behind him, and accepting House Van D'evic as his nemesis. He claimed that the animosity was entirely in game. Then he raised his head and turned his back on Einon, who didn't catch the intended insult (Deitri had to explain it to him).

PDV Federation

Following their memorable defeat at McFadden’s Coronation, the Nel’Fray were not seen at parks or events for nearly three years. During this time, House Van D’Evic gradually grew to include Shamus the Green, Alyssiandra, and Clio. It was at this point that an alliance was struck between Phule’s Company, Drunken Wyvern, and House Van D’Evic, called the PDV Federation. All three groups worked the required hours to obtain land grants at Tanglewood Forest, choosing to group their parcels adjacent to one another.

By 2003, Phules company had new leadership and its numbers were declining. House Van D’Evic could not maintain their land grant, as their numbers declined as well. Shamus and Alyssiandra left the household, Breca quit Amtgard altogether, Clio went her own direction, and Taeryn joined the army. The Federation was never officially dissolved, but rather passed quietly out of existence.

Truce

The Nel’Fray returned to Cuiviëdôr Amarth in late 2003. It was then that the truce was struck between House Nel’Fray and House Van D’Evic. Through a combined effort of attendance (the two houses as well as other individuals) Cuiviëdôr Amarth had attained the numbers required to be promoted to the status of Barony, which it was granted in March 2004 (reign XXXII) by King Martello Entropy.

Betrayed Alliance

In November 2005, there was a falling out between leaders of the two houses, and the truce was ended. Aurianna left House Van D'Evic and returned to House Nel'Fray, where she and Khrall began a campaign of slander against Deitri. There have been no fights at parks or events this time, because nearly all members of both houses went on hiatus or quit Amtgard. It is likely that in years to come, the discord will continue between these two houses.

Conclusion

We would like to thank Riff Raff for supplying us with the manuscript of his book "House Nel'Fray: Imbecility at it's Acme", on which much of the history described here and on House Nel'Fray's page is based.

For a different perspective see Nel'Fray.

Aditional Images

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

Current Leadership

• Lord: Deitri Van D'Evic
• Lady: Lenore

Current Members

• Riff Raff
• Brecca Van D'Evic
• Taeryn

Former Members

• Einon Dupre
• Aurianna Dupre
• Clio Ninetails
• Shamus the Green
• Alyssiandra