House Soleil

House Soleil is an Ancient House, and the ancestral ruling dynasty of modern Aodh. Although dethroned in 1700 after the death of King Amadeus without an heir, the House lives on.

According to legend and Aodh tradition, Soleils descend from the last kirin King, Soleil, who bore a single non-kirin foal. This single bloodline connecting modern and historic Aodh has been used by Soleils through the ages to legitimize and stabilize their rule.

## House

House Soleil has, throughout history, been the most influential and wealthy of all Houses. Although some Kings have squandered wealth or political power, the overall trajectory has been that of more power, and more wealth.

Even now, when the House is weakest it has ever been, the name of Soleil still carries great weight - potential, and danger. The currently living line of Soleil's all descend from Emin Lilith, who was displaced from inheriting the Crown or the House due to her actions.

## Home

Until recently, Soleil’s owned two major properties: The Hearthstone Palace, and the Soleil Villa. The Hearthstone Palace was owned by the crown and housed the royal family, while Soleil Villa was a private property. With the House being dethroned, Hearthstone Palace went to the new King, Isador, and may no longer be used as a residence by the Soleils.

### Soleil Villa

The Soleil Villa was built sometime during the 11th century on an island near the Sol District, connected to the main district by a beautiful old stone bridge. Otherwise completely disconnected and accessible only by boat, the Villa and its auxiliary buildings are completely isolated from the rest of New Valore outside these two modes of access. This makes the Villa both surprisingly defendable and safe, and an easy place to quarantine someone off at.

The Villa is a beautiful, manor style building. It is quite large, but small in comparison to Hearthstone Palace. Standing alone on the island with just a few garden huts and familiar stables, the Villa is surrounded by an exquisite, sprawling garden.

Unlike the Hearthstone Palace, the Villa is, and has always been, a completely private residence. Over the years it has been used to house lovers, children and lesser branches of the royal family tree. It serves as a retreat and a more private meeting place. In recent years, it has been home to Emin Lilith, and her numerous children.

After the loss of Hearthstone Palace, the Soleil Villa serves as their ancestral home.

## Wealth

Unlike other noble families, the Soleil's wealth does not come from business or land ownership, but taxation. Having enjoyed the position of royal family since the birth of modern Aodh, they had grown extremely wealthy, their Head of the House also the head of state. Although many Soleils also chose to own and keep private property, such as various business enterprises, these were rarely notable and monetary benefits from them a mere trickle compared to the great wealth given to them by taxation and revenue streams from public buildings, such as the Crucible. Some of these private enterprises came under House ownership after their owner died, while others went to be inherited by non-Soleil descendants.

Members of the House have generally been given allowances for luxuries or starting their own businesses, the generosity of these allowances varying with the preferences of the Heads.

When Amadeus died, Isador moved the remaining members of the Soleil House out of the way, using this time to not only take control of the government revenue streams, but also some that might have been considered private property. Although the House is still wealthy, it is now far outranked by many other Great Houses, as so much of their money was the government's money, and most of their revenue streams have dried up with their removal from royalty. They also lost the mass of furnishings and art that was housed at the Hearthstone Palace was a further blow to their esteem and wealth.

## Looks & Traits

Soleils, being the ruling family, have always been trendsetters. The looks and traits of the current King and their nearest family have always inspired other nobles to mimic them. As such, it could be said that all Soleils throughout history have been known to be fair and beautiful, perfectly fitting the beauty standards of their time.

Despite seemingly mixing with the Talori royal lineage since the late 15th century, the Soleil line has gained neither a heavy hippocampus influence, nor the sturdier, well-muscled builds that the Talori consider beautiful. This is due to the fact that despite honoring the letter of the agreement, the Talori import bride or groom has never been afforded the place of First Consort, and rarely have the Kings had children with their Talori spouses, much less considered making these children King.

The House’s main lineage predominantly consists of pegasi, with a good amount of unicorns mixed in. Historically common horses have been infrequent, especially as monarchs, while Edna is the only hippocampus King to ever have reigned thus far.

Soleils have no consistent traits within their personality - some would say they are often big personalities, but this is likely mostly a question of perception, as their position makes them so easy to observe and their decisions so vital.

There’s a belief of sorts among the people of Aodh that “no two of the same will ever follow each other to the throne”, being a more polite way of saying that the good kings tend to be followed by less remarkable ones, although even a mediocre student of history could tell you that this is not actually true… And that the goodness of a King can be wildly subjective depending on who you ask.

## Values & Beliefs

The values held by the Soleils have never been consistent. Where recent years have seen slave rights reforms and general concern for the commoners, previous Kings have held wildly differing values, such as the haughty elitism of Remiel, religious zealotry of Mishal or the decadent love of art of Azar. Most Soleils have their own personal passions and interests. Almost all Soleils have been staunch supporters of the classist society and slavery, and have generally heavily favored Great Houses in their decision making and appointments.

The first few Soleils were devout to Alya, but it was a Soleil king who led the herd to worship the then silent kirin god, Ignacio. Since then the royal family has always shown varying degrees of devotion to the fire god - if they were all big believers personally is hard to say, but all of them worshipped him at least in public. Solaris was known to favor Kaia, but this was a recent development, and even she had the touch of Ignacio on her soul.

## Current Trueborn Members

**Prince Marcellus Soleil** - true heir, born 1680 (19 due to resurrection).

**Prince Amadeus Soleil** - former King, born 1683 (18 years old). In hiding after an assassination attempt, presumed dead.

**Eminent Lilith Soleil** - displaced Prince, born 1665 (36 years old). Mother to numerous children, most of them bastardborn.

**Eminent Iscah Soleil** - former Envoy, born 1682 (19 years old). Daughter of Lilith. Disinherited.

**Eminent Geremia Soleil** - former Envoy, born 1682 (18 years old). Son of Lilith and Emin Ron

**Eminent Ingrid Soleil** - current Head of House (Geremia abdicated), born 1700 (aging potioned to 18). Son of Lilith. First kirin born in a millenia.

## Past Soleil Monarchs

### Azar; Reigned 1510-1539

Notable achievements: Founding of the Artisan District. Rebuilding Hearthstone Palace. Funding the arts, creation of the modern Artisan class. Renaming Azar Sanctum after herself.

### Ursula & Kai; Reigned 1473-1510

Notable achievements: A golden age. Completely restructuring Aodh’s bureaucracy. Global trade, alliances with Onean clans. Marriage deal with the Talori royals. Tax reforms allow for an empowered merchant class.

### Brenton; Reigned 1435-1473

Notable achievements: Modernizing the army. War with Onea 1441-1442. Founding Opulence’s Military Academy.