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| History of the House of Kiln
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| The House of Kiln traces it's origins to the beginning of the empire. Kiln, son of Q'eplach, was a warrior of little repute and mediocre skill but possessed of a singular wit. He was a minor hanger-on at the court of Molor and was always known to poke fun at some of Molor's courtiers and war-chiefs. Consequently he made more than his share of enemies. On one occasion he made the mistake of commenting,in what he thought was confidence, that Molor was " living in a humor impaired zone". Those words found their way to Molor who, since he truly was
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| humorless, ordered " ...this turbulent jester " to appear before him. Fearing for his life, Kiln disappeared into the wilderness with only his sword and what meager possessions he could carry on a "borrowed" S'tarak. |
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| One day a warrior entered Kiln's camp. The warrior was a stout man who Kiln recognized as one of Molor's warchiefs, Kahless son of Kanjis. Kiln was tired of running, on the edge
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| of starvation, and ready for death. If Kahless would oblige |
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| him,so be it. But he would not go down without venting his |
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| hate of Molor and his ilk. Kiln then released a torrent of |
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| insults on Molor, his courtiers, and Kahless himself, |
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| mimicking their speech and mannerisms in a most grotesque manner. But Kahless did the unexpected. He threw his weapon in the dust and broke out in the loudest,gut-busting laugh Kiln had ever heard. Perplexed, Kiln watched the greatest of Molor's warchiefs overcome by laughter. The sight of Kahless the Powerful rolling in the dust like a wallowing targ and laughing was too much for Kiln. He broke down laughing himself. |
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| After they regained their composure, Kahless told Kiln of his own emnity with Molor and of his own exile. He told Kiln of the band of outlaws he commanded and bid Kiln to join them, for his men were all in need of a good laugh. Kiln accepted saying " the enemy of my enemy is my friend." From that moment Kiln became a member of Kahless' outlaw band.
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| Kiln became popular with the outlaws; his parodies of court behavior and his humorous nicknames for the most powerful of Molor's warchiefs were particular favorites. He kept the mood light on the long rides singing well known songs with the his own singularly twisted lyrics. When Kahless the Unforgetable ascended to the throne he named Kiln son of Kreplach as First Jester to the Empire. Kiln responded by growling at the new Emperor in a parody of a mating sound, shocking many of those assembled. Kahless, however, just stood laughing and announced " reH Saghbe' yIthlap'egh" (never take yourself seriously). Those words of Kahless have since become the motto of the House of Kiln.
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| The House of Kiln served the Emperors as Jesters until the end of the Second Dynasty. The epetai, Q'arlIn, made a jest about one of Emperor R'qlaw's recent edicts. R'qlaw failed to find humor in his jester's remarks and had him summarily executed, and his family stripped of their lands and titles. Shortly thereafter, in an unrelated event, a popular uprising succeeded in deposing Emperor R'qlaw and ended in the deaths of the entire royal house .
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| When the "Dark Times" ended, and the Royal line of the Third Dynasty was installed, the House of Kiln was restored to it's former prominence. Even though the Second Dynasty was overthrown due to matters unrelated to Q'arlIn's execution it has become popular legend ( which we nurture) that it is ill fortune to kill a Jester.
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| This continues to the present day, with the present epetai, Kaolin son of Kiln . Kaolin served as HolQeDpIn (language officer) aboard the IKV Raptor with honor and distinction until he made jest of his commander, Kuradon sutai-Kozak.
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| Kuradon ( like Emperor R'qlaw before him) failed to see the humor and a situation arose which could have resulted in civil war. Kaolin honorably chose self-imposed exile rather than see the empire subjected to the stress forces. When allies of Kaolin appealed to the fleet for what they perceived as an injustice, they were met with recrimination. Kaolin's sacrifice , and Kuradon's actions resulted in the mutiny of two ships of Kuradon's squadron and the restoration of Kaolin to his former post (Again,history repeats itself .) |
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| The House of Kiln remains strong and united; gleefully skewering the self-important and playing mirthful tricks upon all. The only thing we take seriously is our motto, handed down from Kahless himself: " Never Take Yourself Seriously" |
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