volgin

While the Grimmore family is known for often assigning their spying services to their jurors, some minor houses also delve in the same field as them. In the Volgin's case, they take that to the extreme. Jurors are available only to the main branch of the Grimmore, so their distant relationships only allow for a few being 'borrowed' eventually. Yet, they are still bound by the same duties, but their methods differentiate. Preferring to take matters into their own hands, they deal with issues in a way that "rabble could not". That is more often than not, their public excuse - It is not rare that their involvement would give some sort of personal reward.

Specializing in espionage, the house Volgin is a last resort kept for when any morality would mean failure, with an unrelenting hand needed to push things back into order properly. They have a wide array of informants, from beggars to the best bartenders in the city, kept on their paycheck so any rumors would be picked up before they even began spreading, notably those that would threaten the noble's status, although at first they were most often in action when there were any threats to Grimmore rule.

However, even if they prove to be an invaluable asset, their very specific position is kept a secret to most in order to not hurt their own purposes; It would be harder to know what goes on the inmost circles of nobility if they knew to be under an ever-watchful eye of the Volgin. Of course, their loose ties to nobility itself allows them to engage in interactions that are not perfectly fitting as far as law and decorum are concerned, often dealing with potential enemies of the government themselves.

Every single individual of house Volgin had to go through a stern, harsh upbringing to prepare them both physically and mentally, ensuring they are capable enough to carry out tasks smoothly, as well as enforcing resistance to make sure they do not crack under torture should they end up captives, or perhaps more importantly, make sure they do not feel pity when doing the torture themselves. A family that raises spies, assassins, and all sorts of undercover operators, yet often used as a tool for the Grimmore's causes - The only ones that know what they do.

Not less importantly, their very rise to the position of nobles is important by itself. Unlike most noble families, their House was non-existant only seven generations ago, until a particularly rich merchant, Samuel Volgin, managed to wed his daughter into the Grimmore family. Afterwards, using his newly acquired influence among the noble houses and the contacts he had on the outside, he started making services... Until finally, at the day his grandson was born, he made his first and last demand to the house.

That his daughter and her husband are treated as if two different noble houses married. As sometimes it happened, two strong families married and formed a new lineage, patronized by the largest one. Instead of having his grandson become another Grimmore and have the name of his family forgotten, he pulled whatever strings he could - Not afraid to blackmail or bribe any nobles - and soon enough, his objective was gained. Instead, his daughter and her husband kept their surnames intact, while the kid only had his mother's: Volgin. This not only made them their own house, but it also locked them in a bloodline's pact of servitude: A minor branch was then born, one made up by distant cousins that each time distanced themselves even further from the other house, but always disciplined to become examples.

Seven generations went by, and while their servitude to the Grimmore was lost to time, their loyalty to the kingdom wasn't. Their de facto work was kept in secret from all except the ones cunning enough to find out, often just associated only with their penchant for always knowing everything, often attributed to how they simply had meddlesome genes in their bloodline by those that did not know the extent of their influence.