The House of Caernavir
"From life comes light,"
Head of House: King Aethlar VI 'The Green', also known as The Green King.
House Specialty: The Caernavir have always fancied themselves as paragons of the middle path. Traditionally seen as caretakers of sensibility, they have used their position as one of the breadbaskets of the kingdom and a major exporter of both grain and fruit to leverage themselves into a position where their intervention and carefully constructed diplomatic web has averted dangerously volatile situations on a kingdom-wide but also on an imperial level.
Many a crisis has had the soothing input of a member of this family. Arbiters of peace, the main motivation of the Caernavir is to avert war at all costs. The reason for this is simple; in times of war, the breadbaskets of the empire become increasingly valuable targets. After all, if one side can cut off the supply of bread from the other, then the war is essentially finished. The ransacking, looting and rape involved in this sort of behaviour is something that the inhabitants of this pastoral kingdom feel is best avoided at all costs. Some see this as cowardice, the Caernavir see it as sensibility.
House Ancestral Artifact: The Lute of the Verdant Wanderer
This instrument has been recorded as an artefact belonging to the Caernavir since time immemorial. A simple device at first sight, on closer inspection one will notice that the lute is still warm to the touch, and the wood which it is made from feels slightly moist and is unvarnished, with small veins of moss running through its somewhat soft body. All of this adds to the impression that the instrument is a living and breathing entity.
All members of the Caernavir family are taught to play the lute expertly, as this particular instrument, coupled with a particular set of notes only known to select members of the royal household, is rumoured to be capable of reversing the effects of a devastating drought, flood or other crop-ruining happenstance and allowing fresh shoots of grain to come from otherwise malnourished ground. As somewhat banal as this might seem compared to a flaming sword or a bracelet that summons a dragon, the lute has been absolutely instrumental three times in reversing the fortunes of the kingdom in times of uncertain weather.
Important Members:King Aethlar VI 'The Green' (aged 23) - Nicknamed the 'The Green King' by an affectionate people for his interest in riding out in the pastures that surround his Royal Palace, Aethlar is everything one could hope for in a young king. He is handsome, charismatic, tall, athletic, and fundamentally uninterested in the necessities of his role. The people adore him, but there are concerned whispers amongst the nobility of the kingdom as to who really holds the reigns of power while the King cavorts around and organises sumptuous jousts and games for him and his other young friends. He has dazzling blue eyes and sandy hair.
Queen Eadrith of Red Roost (aged 16) - Quite why the King personally chose the exceptionally plain daughter of the Lord of Red Roost, the most northerly city of the kingdom, is a mystery to most of those 'in the know' in the kingdom. Placid, pious, timid and generally assumed to be uninteresting, Eadrith is pregnant with the first child of her husband. Is she quite as much of a wallflower as she seems?
Queen Hiltruda, the Queen-Mother (aged 48) - Hiltruda is assumed by many to be the real power behind the throne. Her husband Aethlar V was famously profligate and uninterested in the affairs of trade and diplomacy, but unlike his eldest son he was fundamentally less easy to control. It is rumoured that his mysterious death in a riding accident was organised at least in part by Hiltruda, whose son is more than happy to let his doting mother take on some of the most mundane aspects of government. Hiltruda is much more physically imposing than her meek daughter-in-law, and though age has begun to round and sag her figure, her icy gaze and raven black hair continue to inspire intimidation in all but the most foolhardy noble. She holds an enormously influential position at court.
Prince Lethlin di Caernavir (aged 20) - The second son Aethlar V and Hiltruda, Prince Lethlin is decidedly more governmental than his brother, and is somehow even further under her influence. Joked about as her 'chief henchman', Lethlin is highly educated and dangerously diplomatic, often acting as the chief trade envoy of his family when his brother is otherwise indisposed or when foreign dignitaries have trouble treating with a woman. He is swarthier and shorter than his elder brother, with a willowy figure and a slow, loping manner of speech.
Princess Alissera di Caernavir (aged 55) - The eldest sister of the deceased Aethlar V, Alissera was set for a profitable marriage with her father's most influential vassal the Count of Ygris, but she was struck down at age seventeen with the Red Pox. This left her with a curved spine and a pock-marked face, to the point where she was considered unmarriageable and left to reside at her brother's court. Never seen in public without a heavy black veil and attended by her sombre ladies-in-waiting, Alissera has gained something of a reputation amongst the poorest citizens of the nation as a mysterious and fearsome figure. Privately, she is perhaps the most educated member of the family, reading extensively on an enormous variety of subjects and writing a large amount of philosophical and religious works.
Princess Haldetrude di Caernavir (aged 18) - The third and youngest legitimate child of Aethlar V, Haldetrude is known to be closest to her sister-in-law Queen Eadrith. She is tall, with an elegant disposition, and is an accomplished musician and dancer. Considered the most eligible virgin in the kingdom, suggestions for her marriage are mooted constantly. Like Eadrith, she is not considered exceptionally political by the wider nobility.
Lord Gaewin di Faz-Caernavir 'the Blackheart' (aged 23) - Technically the eldest son of King Aethlar V, Gaewin is a bastard born between the King and Alysandra di Recksmanworth, an attendant to Queen Hiltruda. He is nicknamed 'the Blackheart' somewhat incongruously by his enemies, mainly because of his unsociable disposition. He is employed as the captain of the Royal Guard, and was ennobled in a rare act of amiability by his half-brother after his father's demise. He is known to be close to his aunt Alissera but estranged from the Queen-Mother and his other half-brother Prince Lethlin.
Lady Eadgifu di Faz-Caernavir (aged 20) - Sister to Lord Gaewin, second bastard child of King Aethlar V.
Princess Gerberga, Countess of Ygris (aged 49) - Second sister of King Aethlar V, married the Count of Ygris in the place of her sister.