Discipline, Duty, Service. Ask any Delaney and they will tell you: Delaney blood runs blue. Nevermeran blue. For centuries, Delaneys have stood watch over the kingdom’s borders, guarding the people of Nevermere against all threats—both foreign and domestic. There are those in Nevermere who still balk at the thought, calling the Delaneys traitors for allying their forces with Julius Rainecourt when he marched against the Ellis throne, but any Delaney alive—then or now—would tell you: Urion Ellis was a threat to the realm. His complacency and naivety left the kingdom weak, vulnerable. Julius Rainecourt promised a new way, a stronger Nevermere and, with that promise, he earned the allegiance of both the Delaneys and the armies they commanded. In the years following the Rainecourt Coup, nothing has changed. Delaneys remain ardent defenders of the realm who value disciple, duty, and service to their kingdom above all else.

As the firstborn son and eldest child of Connor Delaney, Mason Delaney serves as the formal head of House Delaney. In practice, however, it is Brenna Delaney—second born child and eldest daughter of Connor Delaney—who heads the House. Despite his penchant for leading men on the battlefield, Mason was never suited to—or interested in—governing his House. That is a task he handed off decades ago to his younger sister, whose early attachment to King Julius continues to serve the family favorably under Rainecourt rule. Upon Brenna's unexpected death in Hiems 828, Mason, now the only remaining living sibling, has taken up his his mantle to serve as formal and acting head of the house. 

Delaneys are bred to lead and taught to serve. Toddlers are not an uncommon sight on the practice fields of the Hollow’s courtyard, as children born to the name Delaney are taught how to hold a sword even before they are taught to read. Familial affection is predicated on success, and Delaney children enter their period of mandatory military training knowing it is expected that they not only continue the family tradition of serving in the military but that they distinguish themselves as soldiers, tacticians, and leaders worthy of their family’s name.

Like the rest of Nevermere, Delaneys are considered adults at the age of eighteen, though the family expects those bearing the name Delaney to comport themselves as responsible, respectable young adults long before the formal age of maturity.

Marriage is a sort of battlefield of its own, and—as in any arena—Delaneys play to win. While most Delaneys are free to pursue their own matches, no Delaney would ever dare propose a union to the Head of the House that did not involve a family with a good name and exemplary social standing. Marriage is, first and foremost, a business transaction. Love is a secondary luxury.

The head of the house is Mason Delaney though he has deferred matchmaking responsibilities to his wife, Katerina, with Mason having the final say on a match.

It is said you can’t hock a spit in the castle courtyard without hitting a Delaney. Soldiers all, the Delaneys live and breathe to serve. From guard posts to captain’s quarters to practice fields, Delaneys fill every rung of the kingdom’s military rank and file.

An old name in Nevermere, Delaneys are of noble birth.

The Hollow is a looming fortress that stands between the kingdom’s capital and the mountains to the east. At one time, the Hollow was considered Nevermere’s last line of defense against the threat of foreign invasion. Today, it remains the family home of the Delaneys. With peaked turrets and cold stone halls, the Hollow was never built for comfort and the family has made no effort to change that design, preferring the spartan aesthetic and the message it conveys to all those who enter their halls. Delaney wealth is tied to the family’s trade in weapons and armor, while their social capital and strength remains tied up in the sheer number of soldiers they have trained and groomed over the centuries.



Under Ellis rule, Delaneys served as Nevermere’s first and last line of defense. Delaneys were not the only family to maintain a standing army, but they did maintain the largest. Not a season passed without petition to the Crown for more resources to support their numbers, and not a season passed without the issuance of the king’s formal rejection. Nevermere, Urion Ellis maintained, was not a violent kingdom bent on war. They were not Lorendale or Coheed or Cambria. They looked inward. Not out.

The Ellis king would ultimately live to regret that perspective. When Julius Rainecourt left Lorendale with an army of loyal soldiers at his back, Urion Ellis welcomed his foreign compatriot. Urion might have be wont to spend his own kingdom’s capital on men and arms, but he would not turn away the aid and security Julius so freely offered. For over a year, Julius Rainecourt sat at the king’s side, but it was Connor Delaney whose ear he held. Nevermere was weak. Vulnerable. A shadow of what it could be. Julius saw it, and Connor agreed. Only Urion refused to seize the reins of change. It was a decision that ultimately cost the king his life.

When Julius marched on the Crown, the Delaneys marched at his side. Though it was not a bloodless revolution, it was close. No force in Nevermere could match the armies of Rainecourt and Delaney turned to a single purpose. Even today, the word ‘traitor’ is sneered behind Delaney backs, but there is not a Delaney alive who would fail to defend the choice Connor Delaney made. To forge a stronger, more capable Nevermere, the likes of which would never again bow down to foreign threat or invasion. Urion Ellis, Delaneys maintain, was the true traitor, for leading his kingdom to the slaughter. A fool under the crown, the Delaney saying goes, is just as dangerous as the barbarians at the gate.


All remaining OPEN Delaneys should be in some way involved in the military, and should have the dark hair that is traditional to Nevermere. Ages of opening characters is subject to some wiggle room, however!