House Amaria

Banner of House Amaria, by @partbearpartnot

House Amaria, located in The Magewood, is a major Noble House in United Merion. As the home and seat of power of one of The Twelvescore Enobled, it is a major geo-political force in Merion, and an important contributor to the events prior to The Cataclysm and the resulting Merionese Succession Crisis.

## Geography and Climate

Like most of the Magewood, the lands controlled by House Amaria are almost entirely covered in trees. Due to how densely grown together they are, how similar they all are in appearance, and perhaps a small amount of unknown magic woven through the Magewood itself, it is very easy to get lost in House Amaria's lands if one is not familiar with the area. House Amaria also controls the south-easternmost coast of United Merion, not counting the island controlled by House Odean. The Torment Coast is visible from the lands of House Amaria, although it is not part of the house's lands itself.

Normal for a house in the Magewood, House Amaria typically enjoys warm summers and cold winters, though extremely hot days or snow are both rare for the region.

## History

During the later days of Candlebrook Unification, the lands now controlled by House Amaria were under the loose control of Rupert Amaria, a charismatic but serious son of a farmer who led a sizeable band of farmers and, when needed, militiamen. When Candlebrook forces learned of Rupert and his followers, they were surprised to learn that people with the same language and culture as their own not only lived so far from society but were thriving in the wilderness of the Magewood. Recognizing Rupert's natural talent for leadership and the strict code of honor he held himself to, as well as how devoted he was to his people even in the face of conflict, the Candlebrooks considered it easier and more beneficial for all parties involved for Rupert to be ennobled and granted the lands he and his people already occupied than to seize the lands by force and install a lord who was unfamiliar with the territory. Seeing this as a chance to better provide for and protect his people, Rupert agreed. Rupert, now Lord Rupert Amaria, would eventually marry a Magewood woman, Vestara, and have a child, Charles Amaria, the first heir of the newly created house.

## Leadership and Government

House Amaria's lords are known to take after Rupert in personality and action, frequently being serious and honorable men who put their subjects' needs before anything else. "Your people come first, the Throne comes second" is a phrase commonly taught to Amaria heirs, and this mentality is not kept secret, even from the Candlebrooks.

Similar to the Council of Graces and its Speaker, the peasants living under House Amaria have their own Council of Arrows and Speaker. The council, founded by the first subjects of the house under Lord Charles with his approval, draws its name from both House Amaria's sigil and the idea that like how an archer is nothing without his arrows, so too is the lord of House Amaria nothing without his people. The council typically meets twice a year, although extreme circumstances may lead to an emergency meeting, and discusses how the people feel about their current situation under House Amaria. The Speaker, elected each meeting by the members of the Council, then goes to the lord of the house and reports what was discussed. Both the Council meetings and the Speaker's report are typically formalities, as House Amaria's subjects are frequently quite happy with the house's leadership.

**Famous and Infamous Leaders of House Amaria include:**

* Lord Rupert "The Founder" Amaria

* Lord Charles "The Son" Amaria
	+ The son of Rupert, Lord Charles is recognized for shaping House Amaria into what it is today. Charles, supposedly extremely close to his father, is considered to have set the traditional traits and habits of the house, all modeled after Rupert's own personality. It was also during Charles's rule that the Council of Arrows was founded and that Moonrise, the house's castle and seat of power, finished its construction.

* Lord Michael "The Runaway" Amaria
	+ Lord Michael is frequently cited as being the second-worst leader in House Amaria's history. Taking the house's interest in the Ides to what many consider to be an unhealthy level, Lord Michael left Moonrise (as well as his responsibilities, wife, and newborn son) to travel east in the hopes of finding the Ides homeland or capital city, if one exists. Despite promising to return shortly after finding what he was looking for, he never returned, and it is assumed that he died in the unknown parts of the Magewood. To this day, when somebody exhibits a seemingly unhealthy obsession with the Ides, even for members of House Amaria, they are warned "Don't be a runaway!"
* Lady Lauren "The Lady" Everwoods Amaria
	+ A noble daughter of House Everwoods and the wife of Lord Michael, Lady Lauren unofficially ruled House Amaria until her newborn son Matthew came of age following her husband's disappearance. While Matthew was officially being counseled by his uncle Norman, a Knight of Earth and House Amaria's regent, it is known that Lauren was the one doing most of the work, both in ruling and in preparing Matthew to rule. Despite not having been born an Amaria, or even in House Amaria's lands, she was very serious about keeping alive the traditions of the house and passing them on to her son. She is remembered and honored as being as much of an Amaria as any other ruler of the house.
* Lord Joseph "The Ideless" Amaria
	+ Widely considered the worst leader of House Amaria, easily outdoing Lord Michael for the title, Joseph is notorious for his open disregard for the traditions of the house and selfish attitude towards his subjects. Known to scoff at the notion that subjects come before the monarch, he dissolved the Council of Arrows and frequently tried to curry favor with the Candlebrooks, with little success. Additionally, Joseph found the Ides to be, at best, a distraction and, at worst, a threat to the House and Merion, spending what little time they did garner his attention attempting to determine their military capabilities and any possible weaknesses. For these reasons, among others, as well as his general poor attitude, he was (posthumously) given the moniker "the Ideless," which to House Amaria and its subjects means something far worse than a simple lack of interest in the Ides. His son, Lord Harald, did not take after Joseph, and ruled the house as all previous Lords (and Lady) of House Amaria had, resetting the traditions Joseph had removed.

The current, living members of House Amaria include Lord Aedan Amaria, his teenage daughter Ivy Amaria, and his younger son and heir Korr Amaria, as well as a number of aunts, uncles, and cousins. Lord Aedan's wife, Lady Emily Ooroo Amaria, passed away giving birth to Korr.

## Personality and Atmosphere

Due to their remote location and insular nature, House Amaria, its subjects, and especially Moonrise, the family's castle, are considered by many outsiders to be off-putting and disturbing, if not outright scary. While the members of the house do nothing to cultivate this image, they also do little to assuage visitors, frequently citing a lack of care for what other Merionese think of them.

Lords of House Amaria are also frequently insomniacs, although many believe this to be a side effect of the lord's bedroom window facing the east, and thus the nightly moonrise (from which the castle gets its name). Looking to make the best of the situation, the lords of House Amaria typically spend their nights reading or writing in Moonrise's library. Additionally, many lords of the house pick up astronomy as a hobby, enough to the point that the house's book of various lords' astronomical research is considered a worthy and reputable collection of information about the night sky, though Knights of Water and other scholars would still prefer a book written by dedicated astronomers as opposed to noble lords with a serious but ultimately less focused interest.

## Traditions and Culture

### Education

Every child in House Amaria's lands is educated, regardless of social standing or wealth. This has led the house and its people to developing a reputation for being fairly intelligent.

### The Ides

Perhaps more than any other house in United Merion, House Amaria is fascinated by the Ides. Traceable back to the house's founder, Rupert, this quasi-obsession has been held by every lord in the history of the house. As such, every lord has done everything in their power (short of treason) to learn more about their elf-like neighbors to the east. From building an airy solarium within Moonrise in the hopes that it would attract Ide diplomats, to volunteering for every official mission put forward by the Candlebrooks that somehow involve the Ides or their lands, House Amaria is well known for its intense Ide interest. The Candlebrooks, well aware even in Rupert's time of the House's views on the Ides, have frequently purposely left House Amaria out of matters involving them for fear of bias.

The Ides themselves seem to view House Amaria's constant attempts to learn more about them as mildly amusing, and while they are as polite and friendly to the house as they are to any other, they have never shown any particular favor to House Amaria.

### Notable Buildings and Monuments

* **Moonrise**: The grand castle and seat of power of House Amaria. A town, the largest in House Amaria's lands, surrounds the castle and shares its name.
	+ The Moon-Tower: The tallest tower of the castle, the Moon-Tower is used by the lords of House Amaria for astronomical research.
* **The Lunar Library**: House Amaria's World-Class Library within Moonrise. Despite the library's name, books of any and all topics, both fictional and non-fictional, are kept.
	+ The most significant book in the library, as far as the house is concerned, is the Amaria Almanac. Originally created by Charles Amaria, son of house founder Rupert, the book is an encyclopedia about the Ides. Any and all public information known by the Merionese regarding the Ides, as well as any private information gathered by House Amaria itself, is written and documented in the Almanac. However, due to the Ides secretive nature, most of the book is still blank, despite the centuries since its creation. Despite this, it is considered one of the best sources of information on the Ides in the known world.
	+ Second only to the Amaria Almanac, the Astronomical Anthology of Amaria is a collection of any and all astronomy research put down by the various lords of the house. While it is not considered a formal text on the subject, and would be passed over by scholars looking to research the topic themselves, it is considered a top-quality amateur collection.
* **Rupert's Glade**: A small clearing in the heavily wooded garden of Moonrise. Designed to recreate the supposed forest clearing where Lord Rupert first met Ides during his youth, the Glade serves as a place for the lords of the house to seek a quiet place to think on serious matters and reflect on the house's history.
* **Quiver**: The second-largest town in Amaria-held lands. Quiver is the seat of the Council of Arrows, when it meets, and serves as a kind of "junior capital" of House Amaria's lands. The town is jointly ruled by a mayor, elected by the townspeople, and the heir of House Amaria when they come of age (when an heir is yet to exist or reach adulthood, a regent is chosen by Lord Amaria to send in his place, typically an uncle or cousin). Both leaders of Quiver have equal power, and any disagreement that cannot be settled is sent to the lord. While many outsiders view this as unfair and corrupt, as they expect the lord to always side with the heir, in practice the opposite is often the case; the lord, more often than not, will side with the mayor in an attempt to teach the heir how to better listen to his subjects and form compromises.

## Relationships and Diplomacy

### Relationships with The Crown

Due to House Amaria's openness about putting their subjects needs before anything else, including the monarch, the house has a strained relationship with the Candlebrooks. This strain is lessened by the fact that House Amaria is also known for taking its role in the kingdom extremely seriously and serving to the best of its abilities at all times (excluding when such service conflicts with the needs of their peasants).

### Relationships with The Twelvescore Enobled

* House Amaria has a good relationship with many other houses in the Magewood, especially House Everwoods due to both houses' focus on education and learning.
* House Amaria tends to dislike houses that do not put the needs of their peasants before everything else. They especially distrust more economically focused houses as they believe that the lords and ladies of these houses are more interested in lining their own pockets than actually ruling. However, House Amaria will continue to be polite to these, and all, houses until there is sufficient evidence of peasant neglect.

## Trivia

* House Amaria is written and played by Discord user Ser Parzival.
* The general aesthetic of House Amaria is based on the stereotypes present in castles, towns, and lands of Gothic Horror literature, also referred to as Überwald.

* The player of House Amaria wrote a short story detailing a young Rupert Amaria's interactions with some Ides when he ran away from home as a boy, sparking his, and by extension the house's, fascination with the Ides. This story would eventually become a fairy tale canonically told to children in House Amaria's lands, although whether the fairy tale itself is a true story that canonically occurred to Rupert is unknown.
* The idea for the Amaria Almanac came from the player of House Whitmore.