House Mardas
holds the Duchy of the Great Green, an archipelago in the eastern Encircled Sea. Its head is Duke Evander Mardas. It counts among its vassals.
History
The settlements of the islands of the Great Green are reckoned to be some of the oldest in eastern Elthos and some of the buildings may be a millennium old. They suffered during the First and Second but were not destroyed entirely. When the Third Greytide came, the people of the Great Green, apparently to a person, travelled to , and ever since, have felt a strong kinship with the people of Sanctuary and Adanans more broadly.
The Great Green has a strong maritime tradition, both civil and military. It has depended on this over the centuries, as the key to supplying its various islands, none of which are self-sufficient, and to protect it from invasion. Ships flying the flags of House Mardas and its vassals are a common sight across the Encircled Sea.
House Mardas joined the coalition which saw take power in . It has seen decades of stability since. Mardas and its vassals thrive, as do the people of the Great Green. The common folk of the islands enjoy a level of prosperity rarely matched elsewhere in the empire.
Holdings
House Mardas' seat of power is in Cyrene, the largest of the islands of the Great Green. The harbour in Cyrene is remarkably capacious, being both a trading hub and a naval base. The city's shipyards are fine indeed, though Cyrene has very little wood available, and most must be imported. The island of Cyrene beyond the city is largely given over to growing as many crops as can fit, with the city tucked away on its western edge.
As a land-based house might have a number of smaller holdings, so too does House Mardas, spread out over a few smaller islands which it controls directly, while the remainder of the Great Green is parcelled out to its vassals.
The name "The Great Green" derives from the term Dyrian mariners use for the sea.
Current Events
House Mardas flourishes. The Great Green is prosperous and stable. Its wealthy burghers look ever-farther afield, seeking trade even far beyond their traditional area of influence in the Encircled Sea. Mercantile concerns operating from Cyrene are among the very largest and wealthiest in the empire, not counting the . Factors of Cyrene companies are a frequent sight in Sanctuary. The fine fleet maintained by House Mardas is a point of pride.