House Ricol

Description

House Ricol was an influential noble house from the Draconis Combine, holding the title of Duke of Chekaar. Rule over several worlds in the Rasalhague Military District gave the ruling duke the actual power of an archduke (whereas dukes generally had responsibility for only a single world).

The best known scion of House Ricol is arguable Hassid Ricol, also known as the "Red Duke" or "The Red Hunter".
As of ca. 3025, one General Voren Ricol, Duke of Kirchbach, was named as the CO of seven regiments in the Rasalhague Military District's Kirchbach Prefecture

House Ricol apparently lost most if not all of its holdings to the House Steiner invasion in the Fourth Succession War and what remained was lost shortly afterwards in the formation of the Free Rasalhague Republic in 3034. In that year, Duke Hassid Ricol used his copy of the Helm Memory Core as a bargaining chip to become governor of the newly formed Alshain Military District (which was formed from what remained of the Rasalhague Military District and ten worlds of the Buckminster Prefecture).

The later fate of House Ricol is not well documented. The Alshain Military District fell to the Clans in the Clan Invasion, and by the 3070s Duke Ricol had apparently fallen on hard times, having lost his vast wealth and the infrastructure of House Ricol. He died during the Jihad, but apparently left a son behind to inherit what was left of House Ricol.

Assets

House Ricol, or at least Duke Hassid Ricol, were considered to possess a vast wealth and resources.

Duke Ricol was known for owning the only privately operated Behemoth-class DropShip in existence. Beyond that, he used his private DropShip Alpha as a command/HQ vessel during military ventures abroad; although the class of the Alpha is indeterminate, it is not a Behemoth as it is shown to be capable of landing on standard gravity planets, something the Behemoth class is incapable of. It is implied that Ricol had several additional DropShips at his disposal; he brought six DropShips to Helm in 3028 on two JumpShips, though it is ultimately unknown if they really belonged to him or were merely rented.

Ricol also owned at least one private JumpShip, the Huntress.

Military

Although technically a civilian administrator position, the noble title of duke allowed House Ricol to maintain what seems to have been a sizeable private army including BattleMechs but also professional interrogation teams. They had their own uniforms sporting a characteristic piping and kana symbols spelling out "Kurita" and "Duke Ricol" and displaying the House Kurita symbol. Duke Hassid Ricol also commanded House Kurita forces on occasion, including at least one DEST unit, although there is no clear indication that he ever served in the regular Draconis Combine military.

Duke Hassid Ricol was a renowned MechWarrior in his red Marauder with black legs and trim, both the pilot and the 'Mech known as "The Red Hunter". He maintained a "Red Hunter Special Operations Group". House Ricol warleader Captain Lord Harimandir Singh, who had been serving under Ricol for fifteen years as of 3024 (i.e. since 3019), commanded the unit from a Crusader painted in a similar red-and-black scheme but he was killed in action on Trell I in 3024 and the unit was not mentioned again afterwards.

At an unspecified time in ca. 3027, several years after Duke Hassid Ricol had lost several 'Mechs in his private service in an adventure across the border in House Steiner space (implicitly referring to the abortive invasion of Trell I in 3024), he recruited dispossessed MechWarrior Salvadore Tyrell and charged him with creating a new private BattleMech company that Tyrell would name Tyrell's Terrors. They were garrisoning the unruly world of Verthandi in the aftermath of the Gray Death Legion-supported uprising there, but were ordered to meet Duke Ricol at Kajikazawa upon his return from the Free Worlds League where he had recovered the Helm Memory Core.

Crest

House Ricol does have a crest or flag, but it is never described in detail beyond a "red chevron".

Background information

Apocryphal Content Starts

The information after this notice comes from apocryphal sources; the canonicity of such information is uncertain.
Please view the reference page for information regarding their canonicity.

Author William H. Keith, who had created the character of Hassid Ricol, provided a detailed (but technically apocryphal) writeup on Hassid Ricol and House Ricol in BattleTechnology magazine, issue #0102 (Hiring Hall: The Red Duke). The magazine is written as an in-universe magazine from October 3027.

According to this writeup, the Ricols are an old and established family on Rodigo dating back to when the world was first settled in the 23rd century. In 2785 one General Henri Ricol became the first Duke of Rodigo. The 3rd Duke of Ricol, Stefani Ricol, was the first to adopt the descriptive honorific "Red Duke" that would be revived by Hassid Ricol in the 31st century.

Beyond Rodigo, thirteen Lyran Commonwealth worlds (several formerly belonging to the Tamar Pact) were annexed for the Draconis Combine in three separate campaigns since ca. 2997 and put under the administrative jurisdiction of the Duchy of Rodigo.

Hassid Ricol was 34 years old when he inherited the Duchy of Rodigo from his father in 3011 and became the 12th ruling Duke of Rodigo in his line. The ducal seat is in Alexis on Rodigo. Duke Hassid Ricol is described as the de-facto lord of 14 worlds within the Rasalhague Military District from Kufstein's World to The Edge; other named worlds include Verthandi, New Caledonia, Basiliano,Dahlgren, and Auric II (Harvest).

It was noted that the double setbacks at Trell I and Verthandi had seriously jeopardized Duke Ricol's political standing.

Apocryphal Content Ends

Bibliography

• BattleTechnology issue #0102
• Decision at Thunder Rift
• Mercenary's Star (novel)
• Shrapnel anthology (Dance of Vengeance)
• The Price of Glory