User:Truthwatch3r/House Ladrian
{{noble house|name=Ladrian
|home=[[Elendel]]
|era=Post [[Catacendre]]
|world=Scadrial
|universe=[[Cosmere]]
|books=[[Mistborn Era 2]]
}}
House Ladrian is a major socio-political entity on Scadrial after the ascension of Harmony.[1] It is built by the descendants of Breeze.[2] Notable members include Breeze, Waxillium, and Edwarn.
History[edit]
Following the Catacendre, Breeze Ladrian established House Ladrian with Allrianne Cett.[3][4] The house grew in size over the next three hundred years from a few thousand people to some twenty thousand as of 341 PC. It was historically a powerful house, though the actions of Edwarn Ladrian as the fifteenth High Lord brought the house to near destitution.[5] He sullied the reputation of the house by his personal actions towards the other houses of Elendel and wasted money by mismanaging the house's business dealings while he was focused on gambling.[6][1] Edward raised his brother's children to inherit the house after him, as he had no heir himself.[7] When his son Hinston was born, Edward began laying plans to hand the house over to him. However, Hinston died of a disease, and Edward was forced to choose Waxillium Ladrian as the next High Lord after all.[8] Edwarn faked his death around 341 PC, causing Wax to return to Elendel and take up the mantle of the sixteenth High Lord of House Ladrian.[5]
Waxillium inherited a house on very shaky financial footing, but although his uncle's actions had offended many of the other houses in the city, House Ladrian still retained some notoriety. Because of these factors, Wax allied himself with House Harms by entering into an engagement with Steris Harms.[6] During the period of their engagement, despite some of the house's steel shipments falling prey to the Vanishers, Wax utilized the funds provided by House Harms to pay off many of his house's debts and turned the house once again into one of the wealthiest in the city.[6][9] Even after that, the house maintained immaculate accounting reports in order to show lenders that it was solvent.[10] Wax conducted business solely with those of an honest reputation, meaning that House Ladrian and its business partners remained unscathed during Claude Aradel's mass detention of nobles following his arrest of Governor Replar Innate.[11]
Holdings[edit]
House Ladrian consists not only of direct descendants of Edgard Ladrian but also of anyone who works on the house's properties or in its foundries. These people depend on the house's high lord to set their wages and to determine other factors of their lifestyle. They are considered members of the house with full rights only after a generation or two and include mostly forge workers and seamstresses.[6][1] The house either directly pays these workers or oversees a manager who pays them.[12] The foundries regularly ship steel and other products via railway.[6] In total, the house owns between two and three percent of the land in the city.[13] It does somewhere around five million boxings' worth of financial dealings per quarter.[10]
During the era of Replar Innate's governorship, Waxillium investigates working conditions at some of House Ladrian's factories and finds them unacceptable. He fires the overseers and replaces them with new men willing to hire more workers for shorter shifts, but then finds that he must raise wages so the new employees can live on their salary. This in turn causes the price of their goods to increase. The situation among House Ladrian's holdings are an indication of the broader issues of the city of Elendel during this time.[12]
Ladrian Mansion[edit]
House Ladrian owns and operates out of the Ladrian Mansion, which is in the Fourth Octant of Elendel.[14] Located at Sixteen Ladrian Place,[13] the mansion is an imposing four-story building sporting several balconies and surrounded by a gated metal fence.[5] It is built of ivy-covered stone and brick with large windows.[13] Despite lacking expansive grounds, the mansion employs a grounds staff to care for both a front and a back garden, the latter of which has a patio.[5][13]
![[14]](#cite_note-Elendel.jpg-14){kind=link}
The entryway of the mansion has a marble floor with silver inlays. The study, where Waxillium spends much of his time while in residence, lies on the western side of the upper floor.[13][15] The part of the mansion centered on the study is damaged in an explosion in 341 PC and is subsequently rebuilt; afterwards, the study is located such that its doorway opens onto a balcony on the top level of the entryway.[16][7] The mansion is decorated in a classical style with dark wood, stone sculptures, and lavish frames around the artwork. However, many of the portraits and paintings are sold during Edwarn's stint as High Lord, leaving blank spaces on the walls.[6][13]
The house also owns a ballroom, suitable for large events entertaining some three to four hundred people, in a separate location of the octant for a period of time before selling it off during Edwarn's stint as head of the house.[17][18]
Servants[edit]
Servants employed in various positions related to service to the mansion or the High Lord include:
Politics[edit]
The High Lord of the house has a seat on the city Senate, where he represents all of the citizens of Elendel who either work for his house or live on his house's property.[12] House Ladrian keeps a close eye on the business dealings of the other houses of Elendel, they being largely competitors.[1]
As a result of Edwarn Ladrian's actions as High Lord which greatly impoverish the house, Waxillium Ladrian initiates talks with Lord Jackstom Harms with the intent of marrying his daughter, Steris. In uniting the houses, House Ladrian would receive badly needed funds while House Harms would gain an increase in notoriety and the possibility of a male heir.[6] After their engagement, Wax successfully uses Steris' funds to get the house out of most of its debts. He is able to avoid foreclosures, which allows him time to wait for other investments to pay off. As a result, the house once again becomes one of the wealthiest in Elendel and regains much of its influence.[9]
In addition to this, when Claude Aradel publicly arrests Governor Replar Innate and then goes after the various city lords with whom the governor had conducted shady deals, House Ladrian and its allies remain untouched due to Wax's policy of only conducting business with people of repute. Many consider this a major political victory.[11]
Family Tree[edit]
| Breeze | Allrianne | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Vwafendal | Unknown | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Unknown | Edwarn | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Jackstom Harms | Unknown | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hinston | Telsin | Wax | Steris Harms | Marasi Colms | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Key | Parents/Children | Siblings | Ancestors/Descendants | Marriage | Partnership/relationship | |||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Deceased | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Notes[edit]
- ↑ a b c d The Alloy of Law chapter 3#
- ↑ The Final Empire chapter 17#
- ↑ Shadows of Self chapter 19#
- ↑ The Bands of Mourning chapter 19#
- ↑ a b c d The Alloy of Law chapter 1#
- ↑ a b c d e f g The Alloy of Law chapter 2#
- ↑ a b Shadows of Self chapter 5#
- ↑ The Alloy of Law epilogue#
- ↑ a b Shadows of Self chapter 9#
- ↑ a b The Bands of Mourning chapter 5#
- ↑ a b Shadows of Self epilogue#
- ↑ a b c Shadows of Self chapter 6#
- ↑ a b c d e f The Alloy of Law chapter 7#
- ↑ Map of Elendel
- ↑ Shadows of Self chapter 2#
- ↑ The Alloy of Law chapter 9#
- ↑ The Alloy of Law chapter 4#
- ↑ The Alloy of Law chapter 5#
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{{Mistborn|Era 2}}