The Noble House of Margul

Background

The Noble House of Margul is one of the older notable Core World human noble families. Like other nobles houses, such as the House of Tagge, Valorum, or Motti, House Margul claims its progenitors played a key role in the founding of the Republic. However, these claims remain unconfirmed. Like other houses, House Margul supplements its status with a series of private ventures, all incorporated under the family-controlled umbrella company, Margul Industries. It is estimated that the personal wealth of House Margul is somewhere over 1.5 trillion credits, making House Margul probably the wealthiest of the major noble houses. However, this is counter-balanced by the rather notable absence of the House from the political scene. Unlike most noble houses, House Margul does not claim a single prior Supreme Chancellor.

Indeed, House Margul has met with little political success outside of their native Chandrila, although even here they have traditionally met stiff competition from the far more poltically savvy Mothma family. This relative imbalance between personal wealth and political power has actually stigmatized House Margul in the view of other noble houses. Many other nobles tend to view the members of House Margul as overly concerned with money and generally less than noble in stature. These rifts were even further exacerbated by House Margul's cautious neutrality during the rise of the Empire, as opposed to most human noble houses who sided with the Emperor and his xenophobic policies. Another point of contention is members of House Margul continue to practice The Sacred Way religion, while most other noble houses are practicioners of the Order of the Sacred Circle, following Palpatine's edict banning the Sacred Way, which House Margul continued to practice in secret.

Pre-Classic Era

Before the coming of the Galactic Empire, House Margul is notable for being perhaps the most economically successful noble house. Under the Margul Industries conglomerate, House Margul operated a variety of brands, producing everything from cheap, synth-leather shoes to high-end luxury skiffs, to providing accounting and management consulting services. MMDD, or Margul Military and Defense Dynamics, enjoyed favorable status as a munitions contractor under much of the Old Republic, famed particularly for their defensive products such as shield generators, body armor and combat med kits. House Margul, relative to other noble houses, is rarely mentioned in the political annals of the Old Republic. House Margul's political affiliation was generally limited to its rather large lobbying arm, which was primarily concerned with issues of trade and inter-planetary tariffs. However, members of House Margul were often elected to the post of Governor-General of Chandrila or as it's Galactic Senator, although they rarely showed any interest in larger galactic politics, outside of trade issues. During the Clone Wars, House Margul remained steadfastly allied to the Republic, severing relationships with many Separatist-allied companies at great financial cost.

During the Rise of the Empire, House Margul was one of the few houses to politely decline to swear a public loyalty oath to Palpatine. This grave decision was the last major act of Duke Claude Friedrich Margul, about three months prior to his death by natural causes. House Margul would later become a strong, albeit covert, supporter of the Rebellion to Restore the Republic. However, many theorize the actual impetus for this public break with the Empire was religious in nature. Emperor Palpatine had recently outlawed the practice of the Sacred Way religion, which members of the House had devoutly practiced for thousands of years. There were even muffled reports of detentions, torture and killing of Sacred Way clergy and activists. While House Margul had, like most other noble houses, publicly declared its conversion to the Order of the Sacred Circle, it was an open secret that most members of the family still devoutly practiced the Sacred Way. This public embarrasment to the Empire, while not resulting in direct retaliation on the House, led to a gradual economic campaign against Margul Industries. MMDD suddenly found itself freezed out of military contracts, probably due as much to Imperial disregard for the safety of their troops as much as specific action against House Margul. Other House Margul companies suddenly found themselves at the mercy of "special tariffs" and other forms of economic harassment.

Classic Era

Given the economic and religious hostility that House Margul experienced under the Empire, it was almost a foregone conclusion that the House would support the Rebellion. In this regard, House Margul was in an extreme minority, joined by the Mothmas, the Organas, and very few others. House Margul, under the leadership of Duke Taren Margul, divised an ingenious scheme with which to supply Rebel forces. Middlemen sub-contracted by a House Margul affiliate would contact known Rebel spies, giving them routes for Margul Industries convoys. The Rebels would then intercept these convoys, "stealing" the goods. Margul Industries received almost no direct payment during the Galactic Civil War. Rather, the House was content to receive IOU credit to be redeemed after the re-establishment of the Galactic Republic. For much of the war, House Margul was seemingly successful in their activities. Only a few employees and affiliates of House Margul were ever arrested by the Empire, and Imperial law enforcement was never able to conclusively tie House leadership to any ilicit actions. However, only with the fall of Coruscant and the opening of the Imperial Archives was it discovered that Imperial Intelligence had actually obtained a great deal of information on the House's dealings. In fact, the Emperor had personally signed a death warrant on several high-ranking members of the House, notably Duke Taren Margul and Petr Tagge Margul. However, these warrants were never officially processed before the Empire was thrown into chaos with the death of the Emperor.

Crisis in the House

During the Galactic Civil War, there was a little seen internal drama within the ruling Margul family. Duke Toren Margul, titular head of House Margul, had married Carilia Tagge, of the House of Tagge, perhaps the most Imperial loyalist of all the noble houses. While considerably more moderate in her beliefs than many of her relatives, Carilia was still very much an Imperial supporter. She knew of her husband's sympathies, as well as he and his family's continued practice of the Sacred Way, which had been passed on to all four of their children. Over the course of the war, only one of their children, Stefan Margul (later an Imperial Colonel), would come around to share her viewpoint, joining the Empire and converting from the Sacred Way. The other three children, Petr, Renaud and Malevia are all Republic loyalists, much like their father. The crisis came to a head around a year after the Battle of Yavin. Petr, who had recently graduated the Imperial Academy and was now Executive Officer on a Victory-Class Star Destroyer, abruptly lead a mutiny, murdering the Captain and taking effective control of the vessel. Covertly supported by his father, Petr Margul and his crew jumped between various Margul Industries supply depots for several months until finally defecting to the Rebellion. This event triggered Stefan's decision to enroll at the Imperial Academy, and effectively ended Carilia and Toren's marriage. They remain married (divorce is strongly discouraged both under the Sacred Way and the Order of the Sacred Circle), but in effect lead separate lives. As well, Petr, with his Republic-sympathies, is largely estranged from his mother, while Stefan hasn't spoken to his father in years.

New Republic Era

House Margul entered the dawn of the New Republic with its prestige and standing greatly enhanced, being one of the few noble houses to support the Rebellion. The House's economic standing has largely been restored, although many of the IOUs issued during the war remain unpaid. Unlike in past eras, several of House Margul's more prominent members are firmly involved with the Republic, most notably Petr, a General with a New Republic Task Force known as the Rebel Squadrons. The House of Margul seeks to rebuild its economic holdings, maintaining its healthy relationship with the New Republic.

Connections to the RS

The heir apparent of House Margul, Petr Margul, Duke Toren's firstborn son, currently serves in the Rebel Squadrons. Entitled to a large share of House Margul's income, Petr's personal wealth has often been a topic of hot discussion. While not given to ostentatious displays of wealth, Petr has often personally paid for spare parts and equipment repair for units in which he has served. He is also famous for making "-100% interest loans", essentially free gifts, to close friends and associates for a variety of purposes. Several other RS members, notably Chandrila native Slyder McGrath, Trate Daxson and Gavin Phalon have been employed as "advisors" by Margul Industries, most likely on Petr's behalf. Petr sometimes also acts as a liaison between the New Republic and Margul Industries, helping in the negotiation of various military contracts.

Recent Geneaology (Circa Approx. 30 BrS- 40 GrS)

Non-fiction background

There are a wealth of real-life inspirations behind the House of Margul. The religious issue, specifically Palpatine's oppression of the Sacred Way, is analagous to Hitler's persecution of the Jewish and Catholic faiths. Although House Margul's economic and mercantile primacy is meant to establish the House as more Jewish in identity. A strong historical influence for House Margul is the Rothschild family in England. Interestingly enough, despite the frequency of Jewish influence in establishing the House's identity, many in House Margul possess Germanic-sounding names.