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I have discovered, in the brief time since I and my twin, Zaxx (a curse on our mother for carrying him to term!), were taken in by Rexophel, Dark Lord of the Guilded Talon, details as to the history of this Kabal and from whence it came. I put it down now, as is my custom, in the thick, uncultured tongue of the monkeigh and their crude, simple little symbols which my bretheren find of no worth to learn.

Dusk had fallen on the first era of the great city of Commorragh and one of the Great Houses (I've yet to discover which one) was in the midst of its first civil war. An Incubi by the name of Ashteroth had renounced the House and was leaving - with nearly a third of the House following him. This Ashteroth was known to be a cunning strategist and, it was said, a fighter without equal - dangerous qualities for the servant of a failing lord to have. Disgusted with the decline into which the House was falling, he left with his followers to start his own Kabal.

Obviously, this did not sit well with the his former lord and master (why Ashteroth did not simply kill him and take over the House is a mystery to all, even to this day), who sent all who remained loyal to him to wipe out Ashteroth and any who followed him. Having planned for this eventuality, even before he left, Ashertoth and his followers ambushed and nearly wiped out the pursuers, despite being outnumbered nearly two-to-one. It was on the eve of this victory that he proclaimed the formation of a new entity within the city: Har Falkus'avel Drukh. The House of the Steel Talon. His banner is the same one still used by the House today.

It was presumptuous to for Ashteroth to refer to his little group as a House and it roused the ire of the other Great Houses in the city. But rather than openly confront Ashteroth in battle, especially after the decisive victory over his former lord, plots were conducted against him in the normal manner of our people. Again, Ashteroth was prepared and soon corpses of assassins decorated the walls of his newly erected palace - many slain by his own hand.

As reckoned by our kin, Ashteroth ruled the Steel Talon for a long time. During his leadership, many flocked to his banner and his military might grew until his claim of the Talon's status as a House became a reality and he was granted a seat on the city's council with the other heads of Houses. It is something of a suprise then, that his untimely death would come as it has come to countless others in the city of Commorragh - he trusted someone.

Shara Nyx was believed to be a young Dracon who came to Ashteroth from another Kabal where, she claimed, the lord of the Kabal demanded of her services that she refused to provide. Ashteroth, fearing nothing and no one, agreed to shelter her. Shara swore fealty to Ashteroth and began to serve him. When the inevitable confrontation between the two Kabals occured, he slaughtered them to a man - the Kabal was no more and its name lost to the ages.

Time passed and Shara moved within the Steel Talon, becoming popular with everyone in the House. In addition to being beautiful, she was a skilled chemist and often concocted some recreatonal potion or other for her House. Ashteroth, blinded by his trust in her (or perhaps it was simply her beauty?), missed the fact that she was an even better poisoner and was found dead in his chambers one morning by causes that could never be identified - just as the House happened to reach the peak of its power and influence within the city. Having been made House Dracon by Ashteroth, and being favored for various reasons within the House, it was a simple matter for Shara Nyx to assume the role of Archon. Upon her ascension to the Dark Throne, she announced that the House would now be known as Har Falkus'avel Maisan. The House of the Poison Talon.

Every Great House and Kabal has its own character. Until now, the character of the Har Falkus'avel Drukh was that of military cunning and might. However, Shara was not accomplished onthe battlefield, nor did she devote much of her time to military strategy. She was a . . . (how do the monkeigh say it?) "business" person and politician, spending much time making contacts and buyers for an amazing new chemical of her own devisement - Sarokael Maisan . . . (curse this primative tongue!) what might be known as "Venom." Not only was this a powerful drug with random performance-altering effects (always popular with the Wyches), but it could also be crystalized and bombarded with dark matter particles to produce energy - it doubled as a fuel source!

The coffers of the Har Falkus'avel Maisan filled overnight, it seemed. The sale of Sarokael Maisan, of Venom, made Shara Nyx rich beyond belief. She became consumed with the production and distribution of Venom, unaware (or perhaps, unconcerned?) of the many little schemes and alliances that were being forged against the Har Falkus'avel Drukh.
Before long, small raids were being conducted against the House, carrying off slaves and wealth a little bit at a time. Some of the House Warriors even left of their own accord, unconcerned with retribution as their lord continued her obsessive quest for wealth. Though the House was still wealthy beyond the reckoning of any of Commorragh's Kabals, it had lost much of its former glory.

Nothing speaks to the sensibilites of the "Dark" Kin quite like irony. In fact, much of our current culture may be considered ironic, in light of our past. It would be of interest to many of our race, then, that Shara Nyx met her inevitable end at the hands of her lieutenant, Rexophel, who used the same poison on her that she used so many years before on Ashteroth (Or, more accurately, it was the sharp blade coated in the aforementioned poison that deposed her).

Lord Rexophel is neither as cunning and mighty as Lord Ashteroth, nor as intelligent and persuasive as shara Nyx. But he is shrewd, ruthless, and has no fear of taking action. He is not liked, but he is respected, if only for the sheer depth of the paranoia that has kept him alive up to this point and his amusing little obsession with gold trim and the way he uses it to decorate all of the armour and armourment of our House. (May "She Who Thrists" drink my spirit if he finds this record - for surely he will, otherwise! Still, I have little worry of that. For in his arrogance, Rexophel deems cultures and languages alien to his own unworthy of his attention. His ignorance shall be my shield.) It would seem natural, then, that one of his early acts as lord of the House be to change the name to Har Falkus'avel Arath. The House of the Guilded Talon.

His face has not been seen since he ascended the dark throne of the House. Indeed, it is rumored that the figure that bears his armor into battle is not him, but a Incubus posing in his stead (though how he "persuaded" one of their number out of their dark, cumbersome shells I'll never know). This hyposthesis has been corraborated by some of our Warriors, interrogated thoroughly
by both myself and my accursed brother (ah, the screams . . .), who claim to have seen him fall in battle - only to return and find him back on his throne.

I do not know what Rexophel has in store for the House, nor what dark destiny has in store for our Dark Lord. But know this, the tale of the Har Falkus'avel Arath has only just begun - great and terrible things are coming for the Guilded Talon, and I, Zazz, shall be there in the midst of them, smiling from the shadows.