Ch'mazi

* 202 AG
* 200 AG
* 198 AG
* 180 AG

## Overview

Duchess *Ch'mazi* was the Duchess of C'thardjia from 183 AG - 202 AG. She was married to Duke Ch'arvo and had a son, Ch'matrin. Though her rule saw a great improvement in C'thardji living conditions, she was most notable for leading C’thardjia in the Uprootings conflict. Mazi was a popular ruler, though her involvement in the war was often criticised within C’thardjia. As Duchess she was bold, assertive and self assured but those close to her would describe her as compassionate, selfless and warm-hearted. And, that her duty as a wife and mother forever held prescient to being Duchess. She was killed during the Siege of Chaesterlyn following a duel with Caldon Witcher and was succeeded by her niece, Tr'cyllia.

## Biography

### Early Life

Ch'mazi was born at the Alosso Estate to Regia Ch'matria and Regior Ch'edro on the 14th of December, 159 AG, following her parent's wedding earlier that year. At birth, as a member of Ch'clan, she was awarded the title of Regia of Ch'clan. 4 years later, Mazi's younger sister, Lyna was born. With the birth of Matria's second child, her mother, Duchess Ch'trellia, abdicated in favour of her daughter. Growing up, Mazi was protective of her sister and the pair shared a close bond.

As heir apparent to the throne, Mazi was put through rigorous training in social etiquette and was taught in statecraft at an early age. She was quickly identified as a gifted learner and a new Pedagogue, Orgill Drifton, from the Capital was brought in to give her a higher level of education. She was described as very mature by her parents and mentors and seemed prepared for the intense responsibilities she would face in her future.

As she got older, Edro began training Mazi in the art of sword-dancing. Following the ascension of Ch'clan, C'thardjia had turned to pacifism, and so adapted their sword fighting into the defence driven sword-dancing. Edro was a master sword-dancer and wished for both his daughters to follow suit. Years of training made Mazi a fierce opponent to face who could use her short stature to her advantage in a fight.

### Relationship with Arvo

In late 178 AG, an 18 year old Ch'mazi had entered into a relationship with Sir Estan, a young member of Ch'matria's guard and protégé of Ch'edro - then Captain of the Guard. Whilst Mazi found the knight very attractive it was really her father's suggestion that the pair get to know one another better. In truth after just a couple dinners together, Mazi was beginning to tire of Estan, finding little in common to talk about.

That December, attending the funeral of Sir Go'beira, Mazi and her parents met with Arvo, Beira's young mentee and close friend. The recently turned 19 year old Mazi found herself taken by Arvo, captivated by his good looks and charm. Later that day, the pair met in private, where Mazi made her interest known to Arvo. Whilst conscious of the age difference, being 27 at the time, Arvo couldn't deny he was intrigued by the young Regia's advances. The two agreed to meet again under different circumstances though would attempt to keep their relationship a secret for the time being.

As the year turned, Mazi broke things off with Estan, much to his dismay. Having told his mentor, Edro soon began to suspect Mazi was seeing someone else and made attempts to keep an eye on her. Though only knowing each other for something shy of 2 months, Mazi was infatuated with Arvo - a feeling she hadn't felt with any other partner. One night, during a visit to Naral, Regia Ol'nattel, Regia of Naral'tala and Edro's half sister, spotted Mazi and Arvo in a tavern. Her report quickly reached Ch'caselle and the following day, Mazi and Arvo were summoned home by Ch'matria. Mazi knew her father was still disappointed in her dismissal of Estan and she had been warned by her mother about rushing into relationships she might regret (Speaking from both her sister's and her own experience). However, her parent's beliefs only strengthened Mazi's urge to rebel and she ignored the summon and fled Naral.

The forbidden lovers made for Cemdalla, seeking out Mazi's close friend, Alenya, a student at the University of C'thardjia. For the next few weeks, Mazi and Arvo remained In Cemdalla, staying with Alenya at the university residences. Fearing her parents would find her if she remained in C'thardjia, Mazi sent a letter to her aunt, Esmyn Grenthyx, pleading for help leaving the Duchy for the Capital. Unfortunately for Mazi, Esmyn immediately alerted her sister to Mazi's whereabouts. Not long after, Matria and Edro arrived in Cemdalla and found their daughter. They pleaded with her to see sense and return home but refused to accept her relationship with a man they saw as a low born opportunist that held little significance following his mentor's death. The critiques of Arvo's character came mostly from Edro but their own unsteady relationship meant Matria struggled to accept her daughter falling so quickly for someone she barely knew. Mazi dismissed her parents and announced that her and Arvo would be leaving tomorrow for Regia'iyla and would remain there until her parents come to terms with her relationship. Matria thought back to her own controversy when she fell for Edro and understood her daughter was just as stubborn as she was and allowed the pair to leave freely; only hoping she would take time to consider her choice in partner.

### Life at Regia'iyla

For the next few months Mazi and Arvo resided at the Royal Island Estate, a second home for Ch'clan on the island of Regia'iyla. Mazi did not wish to fall out with her parents but as time went on her love for Arvo only grew and, just 8 months into their relationship, Arvo proposed. Born a peasant with no family and nothing to his name, he had worked hard in life to get to where he was and saw the same determination and eagerness in Mazi. Not only that, but he saw a woman wise beyond her years, intelligent and with whom he forsaw never experiencing a dull moment. He wanted to spend the rest of his life with Mazi, regardless of the consequences. And just so, desptie not yet leaving her teenage years, Mazi was mature enough to see past her juvenile enchantment of Arvo and found a deep connection with him. She saw a future with him - as clear as day - as a husband, father to her children and Duke to C'thardjia.

The pair wished to marry as soon as possible and, most importantly, in private.

to be completed: wedding, matrins birth, reconcile, abdication and ascensikon

### Duchess of C'thardjia

As Duchess, Mazi made an effort to prove she could inflict real change on her duchy. Mazi held a great deal of respect for her parents, however they primarily focused on strengthening relationships with other dukedoms and the Grenthyx Dynasty, potentially forgetting about C'thardjia in the process. Though, before she could act, the ambitious young Duchess first had to appoint a council of advisors. Mazi surrounded herself with those she could trust, but was still aware of the need for skilled advisors.

Her first move was to appoint Arvo as Her Advisor of Diplomacy. Having worked with Go'beira, advisor to Duchess Ch'trellia and even Duke Mazu before her, Arvo was certainty qualified for the role. As Her Personal Advisor, Mazi selected the person she trusted most in the world, her sister, Lyna. As Advisor of Resource, Mazi retained Sir Trimnny, the founder of the C'thardji Crystal and Resource Advisor to Matria. Just the same, as Her Advisor of Strategy and Defence, Mazi's father Edro, remained in place. With her plans to improve C'thardjia, Mazi made an effort to find the best possible candidate for Her Advisor of Development. After a lengthy search, Mazi discovered Manven, an advisor to Rh'clan with a keen interest in improving the quality of life in C'thardjia. Mazi also invited her mother to be a special advisor on her council, though she accepted, Matria didn't attend meetings often but rather met with Mazi privately.

Mazi's plans to make C'thardjia a better place to live proved successful. Her trust in her advisors allowed them to work to the best of their abilities to reach her goals. Mazi was keen to regularly visit the major cities and towns of C'thardjia to see for herself what needed done and how her work was progressing. However, this did mean she had less time to travel the Continent and meet with other rulers. Despite this, within the first 5 years of her rule she had met with each leader of every dukedom, save for Soulhaven.

### Matrin's early life

By the time Matrin was 5 years old, Mazi and Arvo had had no success having any other children. It was known that some men and women were unable to have children and it seemed Mazi or Arvo had a similar issue, and that they were incredibly lucky to have Matrin. Following the Dark Decades, the new C'thardjia considered only women suitable to rule C'thardjia and so Matrin was born heir presumptive. Now knowing he was to be Mazi's only child, concern arose over who would succeed the Duchess. Mazi elected not to worry about the distant future and turned her focus to raising her only child the best she could.

Taking after his mother, Matrin exhibited a willingness to learn and proved to be a quick-thinker. He trained with Edro in the art of sword-dancing and demonstrated he had great potential in the art. Mazi was very proud of her son, seeing him pick up all the best traits she had as a girl. With this, her advisors agreed to leave the matter of her heir to rest for now. If something were to happen to Mazi, Matrin seemed to be a suitable successor.

### A New Heir

With the untimely death of Trimnny in 187 AG, Mazi asked his son, Willum to become Her Advisor of Resource. Arriving on the council, Willum met Lyna and the pair grew close. Later that year, Lyna fell pregnant and the two got married. To her family's surprise, Lyna took Willum's name and became a Regia of Tr'clan. Lyna gave birth to a healthy young girl and named her Cyllia. Despite Matrin's promising future, Edro spoke with other advisors about the potential for Cyllia to be Mazi's successor. Though she was not Mazi's daughter, nor a member of Ch'clan, she was of noble blood and, most importantly, female. These discussions were kept from Mazi.

By 194 AG, a 14 year old Matrin became interested in his mother's work and began sitting in on council meetings. It was around this time that Matrin was becoming especially proficient with a sword. However, a rift had formed between Matrin and his grandfather as Edro remarked that his style was far too aggressive and focused on offense, conflicting with what sword-dancing was meant to represent. After their falling out, Mazi began training Matrin herself. She became aware of his intense style but had no heart to criticise her son and, in truth, was rather impressed.

During a council meeting that Matrin was sitting in on, Edro explicitly referred to Matrin as the heir presumptive and subtly made the implication he had just as much right to the throne as his cousin Cyllia. Matrin excused himself from the meeting and spoke on the matter to his mother later that day. As she always had, Mazi suggested there was no use in arguing over who'll take her place if she is alive and well. Whilst she never said it, Matrin believed Mazi was happy with him succeeding her. In actuality Mazi foresaw Matrin being a strong ruler but feared what the public and her advisors might think and so pushed the worries to the back of her mind.

### Death of Arvo

In 198 AG, Arvo fell ill with a deadly disease. After weeks of being bedridden, Arvo passed away at just 47 years old. Mazi was heartbroken and refused to see anyone, besides Matrin, for nearly a week following. Mazi tried to remain strong for her son, but at 18 years old now, Matrin felt he was capable of allowing his mother the freedom to grieve with him. Following Arvo's funeral, Mazi announced that Matrin was to succeed his father as Her Advisor of Diplomacy. A man now, she saw much of Arvo in Matrin and trusted he had the skills and intelligence to advice her. However, her advisors disagreed. Edro in particular was very open about his issues with granting Matrin power. As his grandson matured, he saw in him a desire to rule and knew he was expecting to be Duke one day but could not convince Mazi to change her mind. From that point on, Edro stepped away from attending council meetings and met with Mazi privately if there was a discussion to be had pertaining to strategy and defence. Though not as troubled by Matrin as Edro, Willum and Lyna saw the advantage of promoting Cyllia as heir and they also became reserved around Matrin.

Despite Edro, Willum and Lyna's tensions with Matrin, Manven made it clear to Mazi he supported any decision she had to make. After growing close for some time, the pair then seemed to distance again. Matrin's own observations led him to believe the pair became intimate but not long after, Mazi broke things off.

### Prelude to War

In late 198 AG, Matrin suggested Mazi travel to the Capital to meet the recently crowned King Barren II Grenthyx. Mazi was unsure of meeting the King, after hearing of his blockade and later his response to the protests. Matrin, however, believed it was important the King believed he had C'thardjia's support to ensure trade remained uninterrupted. Their trip appeared to be a success, though word began to spread that Mazi's visit defended the recent actions carried out by the King. Matrin was fortunately able to promote C'thardjia as being neutral to the tensions and that they were merely making their first acquaintance with the King.