Tiberius Faendryl

Tiberius Faendryl Storyline Lost Palestra Gender Male Race Dark Elf Culture Faendryl Status Alive Hometown New Ta'Faendryl Relationship(s) Treodhal (boss) Alias/Title Envoy Affiliation(s) Basilica, Legantine Chancellery / Foreign Ministry

Tiberius Faendryl is an envoy in the Legantine Chancellery, the foreign ministry of House Faendryl. He works under Ambassador Tredohal Hashier Faendryl with the Faendryl embassy and resides mostly in Ta'Illistim. In early 5126 Modern Era he was sent to the Darkstone Bay region to act as a liaison between Tredohal and Ambassador Vespasius Koryth Faendryl, so that Tredohal will be aware of anything he needs to know sooner rather than later. He was not assigned to be an envoy to Wehnimer's Landing. Tiberius is decidedly "old money" and comes from the lower upper class, but is more snobbish than arrogant. He has a convivial demeanor.

Tiberius has internationalist views on foreign policy, with a "royal politics" orientation of power brokering among elites, which some would criticize as antiquated and a relic of the "age of appeasement." He holds the "classical restorationism" variant of traditionalist views on the House system, supporting a "concert" system of international order based on balances of power. This is a minority view in the present age, but was prominent among the ruling class before the Sea Elf War, and in the modern era is over-represented in the Rachis.

Tiberius is a Faendryl nationalist who doubts the value of restoring the Faendryl Empire, regarding it as a major impediment toward the more important concern of restoring House Faendryl among the Elven Nations. He is a "Yshrythian" who believes the Houses must be restored first, and only afterwards should the Elven Empire be considered. But he also questions whether it is really necessary, as the supposed point of the Empire was to raise those other races to civilization. He is open to mannish self-governance, but doubts their stability or longevity. Thus skeptical of their holding equal standing in a concert system, he would most likely support imperial intervention in other territories, for the sake of enforcing the international social order. This prioritizes the sovereignty of the Houses. Tiberius holds comparatively tolerant views of other cultures and races, and has little filter or resentment owing to his social class.

Appearance

Faendryl Envoy Tiberius.

He has an extravagant dark waistcoat, some tailored pants, and a pair of fine suede shoes.

Ambients

In January and February 2026:

Tiberius pats around his waistcoast and remarks, "Now where did I put that gnomish contrivance?  Ah, right.  We have no need of them."

Tiberius says, "There is no need to wait around on my account.  I am not holding court."  He wryly adds, "I am not the Patriarch.  Yet."

Tiberius says, "Politics all too often suffers from sheer incoherence.  I was just asked, in all seriousness, 'Lord Tiberius, how could you not agree?'  To which I said, my dear fellow, you are not even wrong."

Tiberius says, "I was asked once by a Nalfein dignitary in Ta'Illistim, what would you even do if we let you return?  I told her we would be obliged to leave.  How could we stay with those, after all, who would court us as members?  Then I walked away."

In March 2026 in addition there was also:

Tiberius chortles, "Historical guilt is self-delusion.  Moral vanity pretending at progress.  One imagines one alone would have transcended one's own times.  As though their sanctimony now were anything other than contemporary prejudices, for which they would not have had held others entirely had they lived in the past."

Tiberius says, "There is no better apologist for the upper class than the middling careerist or merchant, who will tell the poor they must pay their dues, sludging through the muck until chancing upon some elevation.  Nevermind how many must remain in the mud.  Once one has theirs, and others do not, all hardships become proof of merit."

Tiberius rhetorically asks, "Vespasius did put them in a bind.  They surely do not want to empower the Darkstone Barony, at the very moment their Emperor was chastising it.  Nor do I imagine they wish to test whether we might make the Kingdom of Hendor a better offer.  What trouble are these most northern provinces worth?"

Tiberius mocks, "We all know the tales of great heroism when the Houses rallied together to fight for the Sea Elves.  Who could forget their great sacrifices and honor in that most just of causes?  The bards make it so, regaling their victories.  Condemnation unto those who abandoned House Ashrim to its Fate.  Surely we all agree."

Questions and Answers

In January and February 2026:

ASHRIM: 
Tiberius says, "The Sea Elf War was a diplomatic failure more than anything, which I mean in a most general way.  It was the House system having broken down from its proper way of functioning with the exile of House Faendryl.  Without the checks on balances of power, the alliances made pursuing our restoration felt threatening, by various other factions harmed in their interests.  Then we had little recourse in that whole Chesylcha affair."

Tiberius goes on, "Certainly the annihilation of the Ashrim Isles was catastrophic.  But when the other Houses condemned us for it, what was left but a pure death struggle in total war?  They are loath to see it that way.  But, look.  Be reasonable.  The Ashrim were not innocent babes in the woods, they raided the coasts and tyrannized the seas.  Meachreasim himself concedes they were the most haughty of the Houses.  Which is truly saying something."

CHASTON:
Tiberius smirks, "What a cheeky question!  The Basilica, of course, deems all of that the lands of the Patriarch, so what was it but brigands chasing out squatters?  But do not forget that the Kingdom of Hendor was segregated, especially after that business in the fall of Gor'nustre.  It was sensible policy by Emperor Chaston Kestrel.  Certainly.  Now matters proceed afoot in the other direction.  Righting historical injustices, from a provincial view of things."

Tiberius says, "Of course, I cannot speak on behalf of authority, in matters of foreign policy.  But in spite of the rhetoric, imperialists like Vespasius are most pleased, with these liberalization reforms.  What is the Nalfein proverb?  Never correct your opponent when he is making unforced errors?  This will all accelerate the decline of Tamzyrr's hegemony and human supremacy in the West.  Meanwhile the thaw continues for ourselves in the East."

DARK ELF:
Tiberius chortles, "Dark Elves!  Hide your children!  Well, look.  There is a certain sense in grouping elves with ancestry in Rhoska-Tor, indeed, exiles of various kinds from the dim recesses of history.  There is a common 'Dark Elven' language, so you cannot terribly fault people for it.  But it is a geographic ancestry, rather than genealogical.  There are certain resemblances, owing to exposure to the wasteland.  Not so very long ago the other Houses did not consider us one of them."

Tiberius exclaims, "Depending on which language you are expressing 'Dark Elf', I suppose our complexions tend to be 'darker' as well.  There are certainly Faendryl with lighter skin than the typical Nalfein, but who would never 'pass' as Elves of the East.  But we're all Elves.  Sylvans, Faendryl, even Dhe'nar!"

EMPIRE:
Tiberius says, "That is really the rub, is it not?  Restoring the Patriarch to the council of monarchs is one thing.  Regaining our ancestral lands in the East.  Perhaps.  But why would the other Houses wish to return to a situation where House Faendryl lords over a vast empire?  You know, first among equals, and all that.  But it was always a lie.  The other Houses chaffed under it.  We need the House system with its balances, should there someday be a restored Elven Empire."

Tiberius continues, "But should there be, must there be?  The legacy of Yshryth was raising other races to civilization, so is it really such a thing, that we need an empire in this world?  Why not the humans lording over humans?  Is it not now vanity and entitlement, not relinquishing what is owed, rather than what is actually materially needed?  Is it not well enough to maintain economies of national self-sufficiency and trade in luxuries as in the East?"

ENVOY:
Tiberius says, "Yes, yes.  I am Tiberius.  Envoy of House Faendryl.  Pleased to make your acquaintance, or else know you now more than half as well as I had a moment ago.  I work in the Legantine chancellery.  I live mostly in Ta'Illistim, with the Faendryl embassy.  I am a liaison for Ambassador Tredohal.  Something of a go-between with Ambassador Vespasius and whatever it is he is up to out here in the West.  Best for Tredohal to know of any surprises sooner rather than later."

Tiberius jests, "Do not go getting me in trouble by calling me an Ambassador.  I most certainly am not!  Ambassadors hold the standing to represent the Basilica in embassies to the other Houses.  At the moment we have one in Ta'Illistim.  Did you forget?  There will be a test.  We grade with pain sticks."

GNOMES:
Tiberius laughs, "Gnomes!  Oh!  Our cousins act so pious about the valence creatures we indenture for menial labor, then they shamelessly exploit these poor, exceedingly generous little sycophants.  Gods, no.  There is a Patriarchal decree that bans the burghal gnomes from, well, I will not call it 'infesting' the city, that is needlessly harsh and hostile about it.  It is just not something that ever could have been allowed.  For many reasons."

Tiberius says, "It is a tremendous liability to our security.  Ta'Faendryl is much too close to the ruins of Maelshyve.  The Basilica keeps its most valuable knowledge and artifacts below ground.  Nor can we have unregulated labor wildly sabotaging the Emporion and Agrestis.  Make whatever class aspersions you wish.  Housekeepers might easily do well in profits, making more than the salary of a mundane Clerisy scholar."

HALF-ELVES:
Tiberius smirks, "Ah, yes.  Our famous intolerance of half-elves.  Slow down.  Might I remind you that we engage in the gems trade with the Erithians?  Many believe they are some kind of stable breeding variety of half-elves.  No one cares, with the Erithians.  So it is more nuanced than you likely wish to make it out."

Tiberius says, "You know, I spend a lot of time around other races and cultures, since Myasara made Ta'Illistim more open in the past few decades.  Half-elves are not that common, anywhere, but they are just people.  You could even think of them as improved humans.  But I do not begrudge them wishing to embrace Faendryl heritage.  In the Second Age there was that saying, after all, given all of the cross-marriages between Houses:  Faendryl blood makes the Faendryl, whether in whole or part."

KASENDRA ACCORDS:
Tiberius says, "There is no denying the Nalfein-Tamzyrr treaties are especially hostile to Faendryl imperial interests.  Only someone illiterate at reading maps could be blind to it.  But matters are more subtle than you might think.  They also sabotage Nalfein imperial interests if they hold.  It is actually a boon to people like Vespasius, as the popular backlash is enabling him, allowing more intervention in the West.  He has been most reined in since the so-called Third Elven War."

Tiberius says, "The Basilica is not lashing out, torching its embassy in Ta'Illistim, as the Nalfein might have hoped.  Meanwhile the Illistim liberalization plays into our hands, in the long run, as it gradually mollifies the animosities and normalizes our presence in the East.  Keep things in perspective.  Aelotoi and gnomes do not have the baggage we do with our cousins.  Our difficulties in the East are not racial.  They are political, cultural, historical, and ideological."

NALFEIN:
Tiberius says, "It is fair to say the bad blood is felt more intensely on our end, which has much to do with why Korvath's predecessors held a lengthy period of isolationism.  The Nalfein do not have grounds to complain.  It is the price of their own actions.  But House Nalfein is just another House, with its own interests, which are simply not in alignment with a Faendryl Empire.  There is all of that other antipathy involving demonic summoning.  But we will eventually win that argument through converts."

Tiberius says, "I am not spending my days skulking around, circling with my counterparts, daggers in hand and with poison in every drink.  House Faendryl still has a path to classical restoration, as was wished before the Sea Elf War.  If it does not antagonize the East with trying to reconstruct a Faendryl dominated land empire in the West.  Accuse me of 'appeasement' all you want.  That is how you play strategy in the long run, not through rattling sabers."

VALLEY OF GOLD:
Tiberius says, "It is too much to ask that House Faendryl actually support such a thing.  The Basilica is not going to recognize the sovereignty of the Sun Throne, and the Turamzzyrian Empire is not going to agree to be a vassal to the Patriarch.  But this is not as simple as you might think.  Yes.  Narrowly we would have preferred the Vaalorian sphere of influence in the northwest.  But that was never going to last.  It was merely ended much too early by Myasara undermining Qalinor.  That is, ultimately, at its root."

Tiberius says, "When you consider the antipathy she brought toward Illistim involvement in the Darkstone Bay region, followed by the actions so blatantly contrary to our own interests in the Kasendra Accords, this is all allowing Faendryl intervention in the northwest without diplomatic backlash.  So, you see.  We are not so very helpless against Nalfein games. We just need to not be ruled by our passions.  Which is what the Pentact prevents."

In March 2026:

CHASTON:
Tiberius raises an eyebrow, "That again?  Its relevance is greatly exaggerated.  It was a particular edict concerning land and property, but it was not the embodiment of all racial law.  It was enforced, here and there, at times and not others.  The Turamzzyrian law on the rights of citizenship is the Rysus Codex.  It made no clarification on whether non-humans were 'men' or holding no rights at all.  The effect of the Edict was merely to deny, even for the liberal, that Elves may be high-class."

Tiberius goes on, "The peasant is to be trodden upon whatever his blood.  Well, then!  What of it?  That the law shall ignore descent is not at all the same as abolishing inequity.  Will they force humans to not deny Elves commerce?  Shall they admit Elves to their highest echelons, hoarding offices for a thousand years?  The proclamation itself was incoherent.  Aurmont speaks in confusion of 'nation' and 'Empire', failing to grasp nations are the death of Empire."

CONCERT:
Tiberius says, "Concert politics is the only sensible way to order half a dozen sovereign Houses.  It is imperative that House Faendryl be restored.  Only with this mutual binding, the need to heed the interests of other Houses, will politics be forced to actually resolve our issues.  With the Elven Nations as little more than a dissolute confederation, one House may freely subvert the avowed interests of others, hiding behind the impoliteness if one dared protest the insults of anarchy."

Tiberius says, "As for the West, this is dubious.  There is no precedent for thinking these mannish kingdoms have the longevity to be nations of stable and limited interests in a conservative international order.  They wantonly expand and fragment or collapse over the span of mere centuries.  We cannot trust their policy to outlive the few decades of any given ruler.  Perhaps men might rule themselves.  But only if great powers in concert enforce eternal borders between them."

EMPIRE:
Tiberius says, "The essential question is not, in the end, even a matter of ruling over lands.  It is what it means to be Elvenkind.  Look only to the East to see the depravity of civilization without meaning for itself.  Limping on in a lame pantomime of its past.  House Faendryl suffered in the Exile.  But I speak not of the mundane, petty suffering of the impoverished.  What I mean is the soul of House Faendryl was ripped from it in the destruction of our Empire."

Tiberius continues, "Which was, indeed, destroyed not by Despana, but pointlessly, by our own cousins.  That the Empire is at the core of our national identity is the heart of our discontent. When a nation has its myths stolen from it, its legends and heroes debased, its reason for being sundered, it is plunged into resentments and nihilism.  What comes of such darkness is retribution.  House Faendryl is restoring meaning itself.  So it is we must save the others.  First Elvenkind, then the world."

IMMIGRATION:
Tiberius says, "This open borders nonsense is the Illistim taking too far the gesture made a quarter century ago toward Western commerce.  Consider how many times Myasara was nearly killed, indeed assassinated, by her own people for rushing jarring shifts upon them.  If one wishes to achieve an ideal, one must heed the constraints of reality.  House Faendryl is making the world Faendryl, by spreading our soft power.  Fashioning others to our own image and converting them on the major questions."

Tiberius says, "We shall welcome them as fellow travelers, if they become as us from without.  But they are not us.  The Mirror made the mistake of thinking this is accomplished by flooding her own court with foreigners.  The Basilica will not subvert its own agenda by inciting a reactionary backlash.  What the East is really doing is sacrificing the nation, making an inverted Empire, having invited in the hordes rather than civilizing them through conquest."

ISOLATIONISM:
Tiberius says, "The irony of isolationism is that it is merely an expression of futility at the impossibility of Empire.  It is not, as Tredohal frames it, that one does not dwell on vengeance, as it is an 'entirely wasteful way' to spend one's time.  Nor that it is beneath us to pay attention to what happens all around us.  The isolationist is instead the impotent imperialist who hates that he is not the lord and master."  He argues, "This is self-sabotaging poison.  One must play the game if one wishes to rightly order the world.  Or else one will inevitably discover at terrible cost that those very isolationists are now, as they always have been, the most ruthless and brutal of imperialists."

MERIT:
Tiberius remarks "What is a system of merit but gloss and window dressing for 'my wealth is my virtue' and thus your hardship is your failure?  Is that nothing other than the morality of the feudal lord?  With respect to Tredohal, our social order is owed more credit, it is more than the self-abjecting ideology of the middle class.  The Pentact was made to impose obligations on the powerful.  It is not the high aspiration of the Faendryl to raise the gutter to the curule seat.  It is ours to bend all power to the will of the Patriarch."

MONARCHY:
Tiberius says, "The Emperor owes obligations to the populace and nobilities in their Rysus Codex.  The monarchs of the East are beholden to the vanity of their courts.  Indeed.  They are shackled by noble councils, reigns put in reins, lest a monarch truly rise above his inferiors.  One might hear Elves speak of rulers not worthy of the ideals of their House.  'The Mirror is a reflection of her people,' as they say, with all reverence, without forgetting the menacing postscript, 'and she best not forget it.'"

Tiberius says, "This is the way of madness, of chaos, assassins and usurpers.  The Faendryl do not speak this way.  All of us live to honor the Patriarch.  It is our obligation to achieve his will, and in so doing, the greatness of House Faendryl.  The Patriarch is not the mere pallbearer for an ideal, nor for the embalming of a dynasty.  He bears the burden of civilization itself, whether it will be restored or perish."

PALESTRA:
Tiberius says, "The Palestra are assuming the role held by the guards of the old Empire.  It is a deforming of their institution, truly, gradually transforming them for the will of the Patriarch.  They have become the Basilica's reach throughout society, which is ever expanding, with the use of sorcery to justify such intrusions.  Their academies were founded after the Sea Elf War to bring the upper class to heel.  But the way of the old Palestra is incompatible with it.  Insular elite cadres cannot have such powers."

Tiberius says, "There is danger to the throne in excessive unity under a Prefect.  Thus, one sees 'greater' and 'lesser' Palestra, resentments downwards and upwards, rivalries between the prestige of occupations.  Whilst those who lose nothing in foregoing their family names seek to rub elbows with power.  Ever their resistance is overcome, so they become more vast.  They are the countervailing force for sorcery writ large of a whole society."

TRESVIRI:
Tiberius wryly says, "In the early years of House Faendryl, immensely wealthy patricians would let buildings burn, for the improvement of both society and their own estates.  There was a particularly famous plutocrat who had his own force of fire fighters, who would stand by the conflagration, watching as it burned and threatened to spread.  He would make very low offers on the property, which were imminently to become worth nothing.  The neighbors would throw money at him."

Tiberius says, "Whether they put out the fire or not, the derelict was built over with the new.  It is said the Tresviri originate in Yshryth Silvius putting an end to this enterprising spirit.  That they would take the blame, if he allowed all the city to burn.  But that is only half right.  The point of it is that the Patriarch was to be the only landlord who matters.  And so it is, now, as it was in history."

VESPASIUS:
Tiberius airily says, "Vespasius is losing some ground in the Basilica, with this whole affair in the north, owing to the lack of Turamzzyrian aggression.  Without the backlash it undermines his position of imposing hard power in the provinces as a necessity for rule of law.  This Northern Sentinel must have learned from his Faendryl tutors.  I imagine they will not make a show of flexing and posturing until after our forces pull out.  One might go so far as to say Vespasius is a victim of his own success."

Tiberius smugly adds, "The irony is that his favoring of the army is what most inhibits those imperialists who would fully restore our naval armada in escalation.  Which is becoming ever less the taboo and stigma, as it has been since the Sea Elf War, and the far more dangerous proposition.  Amidst these provocations by House Nalfein."

See Also

The following were other bolded NPCs in the same period that at times provided automated interaction:

• Vorenus Faendryl (praetorian guard)
• Titus Faendryl (praetorian guard)
• Severina Faendryl (praetorian guard)
• Quintus Faendryl (praetorian guard)
• Caius Faendryl (Agrestis mining surveyor)
• Faustina Faendryl (Emporion trader)
• Viselda Faendryl (Palestra Blade)
• Moravius Faendryl (Harrower of the Extrachthonic Cartographer's Guild)
• Thagoria Vespiria Faendryl (Basilican liaison to the sorcerer guilds)