The Underhand

Throughout history, few clans have been as reviled as the Pin Oak. Founded by the wily and manipulative Pan-loki, the Pin Oak was tasked by the Bangor to ensure that the Kingdoms never turned against the each other. Pan-loki and his followers accomplished this most sacred task by providing the other Oaks with a villain they could despise, in order to ensure that they never turned their thoughts to claiming the throne for themselves. Toward this purpose, the Pin Oak embraced all manner of tactics and customs considered disgraceful by the other kingdoms, and were generally regarded as dishonorable in all cases. The one true virtue espoused by the Pin Oak, however, was that of loyalty; just as the Pin Oak were loyal to Bangor, each individual serf was undyingly loyal to his superiors. It was only through this method that the clan could survive.

The Pin Oak have sacrificed a great deal in the fulfillment of their duties. The clan’s Champion succumbed to supernatural influences and assassinated four kings in an attempt to save the Kingdom, and the Pin was disbanded for it, although later restored by the Druids. They were later banished from the Kingdoms for suspicion of complicity in the disappearance of another King. Most recently, the kingdoms homeland was the scene of the most fearsome and violent fighting during the final months of the Fey War, and not only were many provinces utterly razed, but a permanent portal to the Realm of the Underworld was torn open in their lands, requiring them to build many safeguards around it to ensure that the demons within could not escape. Despite these hardships, the clan’s loyalty has never wavered, and the current families in service to the Pin Oak include the following:

The Lyle are the lords, the soldiers, and the courtiers of the kingdom.
The Roveri are the scouts, assassins, and infiltrators of the kingdom.
The Taplin are the magistrates and magi in service of the Pin Oak.
The Gabarro are the inquisitors and the second magi of the kingdom.

Little else delights the Pin Oak quite the way that discord does, and the past two years of upheaval and chaos in the Colonies has afforded them unprecedented opportunities to gain leverage on their enemies and to deceive their way into alliances with previously unfriendly rivals. Even now, with the chaos subsided, the continuing capriciousness of the apponted Governor is very much to the Pin Oak’s liking.

A thin layer of the finest silk draped across a bloodied blade. That is the closest comparison to the sinister Corriban Lyle, Pin Oak Champion, that any might ever truly come. Renowned in court for his handsomeness and his wit, Corriban has never married, and most who would seek his hand find themselves discouraged by the cold, dead quality found in his eyes.