Arete Family
Background
Originally from Riverholm, the former capital of Abington (on Atamara), the family also has members in Ibladesh (on the East Continent), Toren (on the South-East Island) and an adventurer in the Far East. The family's name "Arete", is derived from the Greek word ἀρετή, meaning "virtue," or more specifically, "the excellence that makes anything an outstanding specimen of its kind, especially well fitted to its ends". The family motto is
kratestho logon logoi kratousin humon
which translates from Greek as "Master your words, or your words will master you". The family's reputation has grown very quickly: Aeryn was appointed to lordship in only 47 days, the second fastest appointment in Abington's history, with Alendru and Averyll holding similar records in their realms. Averyll acquired many titles in addition to a region command, including Marshal, Banker and even Ruler. In fact, all three have served as Marshal. Only the peasant Aaliyah has not held a title, but even she is well known in her realm, being personally acquainted with the various generals and lords of her realm.
Family Members
The Arete Family currently has four siblings actively involved in the world. They are each unique in terms of both reputation and personality.
Aeryn
| Full Name: | Aeryn Arete |
| Age: | 25 |
| Class | Mentor |
| Realm/Island: | Abington, Atamara |
| Honour/Prestige: | 68 / 26 |
| Title(s): | Countess of Washford Prophet of Aristoi Atamarism Marshal of the Army of Suville |
| Former Title(s): | |
| History: | Began her career in Abington (06/25/06) Appointed as Countess of Washford (08/11/06) Founded Aristoi Atamarism (02/02/07) Appointed as Marshal of the Army of Suville (3/03/07) |
Aeryn was the first of the Arete family to accept the responsibilities of nobility, after which she swore an Oath of Fealty to Sir Phlex, the former Count of Washford. Phlex introduced Aeryn to Duchess Callisto, and the two became close friends. After Phlex was imprisoned by ASI for infiltration during the War of Dishonour, Callisto appointed Aeryn as the new Countess of Washford. Aeryn was only 18 at the time, and had not even been a noble for a full two months yet.
Aeryn spent most of her early career working as a bureaucrat; however, a few weeks after religions began to spread across the face of Atamara, Aeryn founded Aristoi Atamarism, the first religion within Abington's borders. After the Aristoi had spread to several regions and acquired a few priests, Aeryn changed careers again and become a mentor. She was reappointed as Countess of Washford, and shortly afterwards was appointed as the Marshal of the newly created Army of Suville, though the latter may have more to do with the military success of her sister, Averyll, than anything she has done herself.
Aeryn is often mistaken to be cold and heartless, but this is because she shows very little emotion in either her speech or her expression. Despite her studious personality, she seems to have developed a relationship with Count Damian. It has taken a long time and a lot of effort on his part in order to win Aeryn's affections, but he is in her thoughts more than she thinks he ought to be, which is a compliment coming from her.
Averyll
| Full Name: | Averyll Arete |
| Age: | 25 |
| Class | Cavalier |
| Realm/Island: | Toren, South-East |
| Honour/Prestige: | 109 / 31 |
| Title(s): | Pontifex of Toren |
| Former Title(s): | Countess of Jerelin Marshal of the Army of Tor Fiduciary of Toren |
| History: | Began her career in Toren (07/06/06) Appointed as Countess of Jerelin (09/08/06) Appointed as Marshall of the Army of Tor (11/29/06) Elected as Fiduciary of Toren (12/27/06) Elected as Pontifex of Toren (3/17/07) |
Averyll began her career on the South-East Islands in Toren, far away from her family in Abington. Like Aeryn, Averyll is very studious, but whereas Aeryn is passionate about the religious affairs of her realm, Averyll is passionate about military affairs, and so, on the recommendation of Sir Phear, Averyll decided to leave her ancestral home for more war-torn realms. In Toren, she met Pontifex Phear, the brother of Sir Phlex, and he appointed Averyll to the command of Jerelin after only two months in Toren. Shortly afterwards, Averyll became Toren's one and only mentor. Many of her students later became very successful in Toren, and eventually Averyll's lessons became the canonical texts of Aristoi Academy.
Averyll's reputation grew quickly. She was appointed as the Marshal of the Army of Tor, and thus became part of Toren's Military Council. Later, she was elected as Fiduciary of Toren, and thus became part of Toren's Advisory Council. Through the combination of these two titles simultaneously, Averyll became intimately familiar with the effects of takeover strategies, and successfully coordinated several takeovers of her own. Her most famous victory, or rather infamous, was the takeover of Lesthem, which earned her the reputation of being a brilliant military strategist, but the unprecedented brutality she demonstrated there also earned her the nickname "The Butcher of Lesthem". But the infamy she earned in the takeover of Lesthem was not only due to her brutality, but also due to the outcome of the final battle, for it was the battle that ended the life of the heroic Pontifex Phear, and thus brought an end to a glorious era.
Despite her infamous reputation, or perhaps because of it, Averyll was immediately elected as the new Pontifex by the extremely narrow margin of only 3 votes (over Cyperus, Duke of Toren Stronghold), and shortly thereafter retired from her positions as Countess of Jerelin, Marshal of the Army of Tor and Fiduciary of Toren, citing a conflict of interest in both writing policy and implementing policy at the same time. Doing so also created new leadership opportunities for other nobles in the realm. However, the legitimacy of her rule was immediately questioned by a member of Averyll's own Advisory Council, who pointed out the fact that Cyperus was imprisoned, along with most of his supporters, during the same battle that left the throne empty, and thus he was unable to effectively campaign for the position. Gheros, serving as Haruspex Maximus, initiated a referendum calling for a re-election. The referendum closed in Averyll's favour, thus concluding the debate over her legitimacy, but opposition to her rule continued to grow nonetheless. One noble even called Averyll a "wretched whore", and eventually this discontent grew into a rebellion, which came to be know as The Toren Civil War.
When Averyll was elected as Pontifex on March 17th, it was obvious to everyone on SEI that Averyll, with all her titles, was an extremely influential person in Toren, but no one outside of Toren had every heard of her, let alone had become familiar with her policies. This caused a great deal of stress in foreign realms, particular the rulers of those realms. When Averyll made it clear that she would honour the precedent set by Phear to support the treaty with Ikalak, King Cronos of Taselak began to coordinate his efforts with the underground rebellion that had been growing in Toren. On April 14th, less than one month after Averyll's election as ruler, the Seperatists declared rebellion. The declaration was timed with the onset of two takeover attempts by Taselak, thus forcing Averyll to choose between defending her realm and defending her crown. To make matters worse, despite Averyll's proclamation of her commitment to the Treaty, even in the face of open-rebellion, Prime Minister Maximus of Ikalak doubted her commitment and so he ordered his troops to cease-fire for the during of the rebellion. This forced Averyll to defend not only her realm against two takeovers and herself against open-rebellion, but also to do so without the assistance of allies as promised by the Treaty she supported.
Out-numbered with fewer resources and diminished morale among peasants and nobles alike, Averyll choose to defend the realm before herself, and she ordered the troops to defend the regions being taken over by Taselak. Fortunately, enough Loyalists returned from the battlefront in time to overcome the rebellion. Unfortunately, both takeovers were successful, in part due to the absence of allied forces, in part due to all of the rebels in the capital instead of on the battlefield. Moreover, two dozen nobles were lost from the ranks of Toren, some for being rebels, others left because they were convinced Toren was going to lose. Even though the rebellion was over, Maximus did not lift the cease-fire. A referendum was called in Ikalak encouraging Maximus to take advantage of Toren's weakened state, betray the Treaty, and end the "boredom" by conquering the island without delay. Averyll convinced Maximus to at least enter into negotiations first.
With the loss of the legendary Phear, as well as two dozen other nobles, having suffered a rebellion and the withdrawal of their ally from the conflict, these were truly the darkest days yet seen in the history of Toren, and yet the darkest had yet to come. Eventually, Maximus agreed to abide by the treaty and even signed an amendment requiring a greater involvement of his forces in the war against Taselak, and so Averyll managed to retain the spirit of the retain and keep Toren alive for another day. She than declared martial law (i.e. she dictated military strategy instead of the general), retook the lost regions, as well as a couple new regions, and even raised morale, loyalty, and production from the single digits to the mid-nineties in all of the regions that had been decimated by the brutality of the volley between Taselak. Things were starting to turn around for Toren. Than, on June 15th, Maximus announced that he intended to break the Treaty a second time
Alendru
| Full Name: | Alendru Arete |
| Age: | 26 |
| Class | Trader |
| Realm/Island: | Ibladesh, East Continent |
| Honour/Prestige: | 29 / 11 |
| Title(s): | Baron of Ar Raqqah |
| Former Title(s): | Marshal of the Army of Sartan |
| History: | Began his career in Ibladesh (08/20/06) Appointed as Baron of Ar Raqqah (10/05/06) Founded the guild "The Order of Tersea" (11/12/06, now closed) |
Aaliyah
| Full Name: | Aaliyah Arete |
| Age: | 24 |
| Class | Adventurer |
| Realm/Island: | Grand Lodge of Lunaria, Far East |
| Honour/Prestige: | 7 / 5 |
| Title(s): | |
| Former Title(s): | |
| History: | Began her career in the Grand Lodge of Lunaria (2006-12-18) |
The family also suffers the name of Aaliyah Arete, who was disowned by the family for having relations with a commoner. She was subsequently sent to the Far East "to be the commoner she pretends to be." At first Aaliyah was defiant, but she has learned to appreciate her noble heritage and strives to regain her honour and her family's respect. Alendru is sympathetic towards Aaliyah's circumstances, as he himself would prefer a life beyond "the petty etiquette of nobility." Averyll is disdainful towards Aaliyah, as she believes that "nothing is more important than serving the realm." Aeryn is indifferent towards Aaliyah, as she is concerned only for "the general good and welfare of the people of Abington."
Aaliyah came to be familiar with Excalibur, the former Paladin Primus of the Grand Lodge of Lunaria, as well as Sir San, the region lord and marshal famous for his skills with a sword, during the war against Soliferum. In fact, she was personally asked by Excalibur to join the Guardians of Twilight, the official state religion of Lunaria. She did so and was quickly promoted to "Scholar of Dawn". But Victore, the judge of Soliferum, became suspicious of Aaliyah's activities in his realm, and had her arrested many many times, eventually threatening her life if she ever were to return. However, hostilities between the two realms have ended, and many of Aaliyah's noble friends have retired, so her life has returned to ebb-and-flow of everyday adventuring.
Family Fame
The fame of the Arete family grew remarkable fast during its first year: a total 20 points, with 3 more following within days of their one year anniversary. Most of the family's fame was the result of Averyll, who was not only the first member of the family to sit on a realm's council (by being elected as banker), but also served as her realm's ruler for over 100 days. She also acquired the greatest amount of prestige in that time, first by serving in the realm's military through many battles over many months, and than having published numerous books on military strategy, one of which was so well read that it also increased the families fame. Aeryn has also contributed a great deal to the fame of the Arete family, being the first member of the family to be appointed to the command of a region, but even more so by becoming the prophet of a successful religion. She also invested in a region, further increasing the families fame, but she was only to do because of the efforts of Alendru. Almost every piece of gold that the family enjoys came from Alendru, whose wealth has not only contributed to the careers of both Aeryn and Averyll, but has also increased the families wealth well beyond the point required to earn the reputation of being wealthy. He has also used his wealth to be the first in his family to found a guild and sponsor an army. Neither have proven to be very successful, in fact, the guild eventually closed, but his efforts were recognized regardless.
The family expects their fame to grow more slowly in their second year, but steadily with a few new fame points just around the corner. Averyll's career seems to be coming to an end, but if she were to die, few would doubt she would die as a legendary hero. Aaliyah is only a commoner, but her skill with the sword is quite impressive and growing quickly, and so a fame point for exceptional skill, death duel prevalence (and in the process, probably become an outcast), and after she becomes a noble, tournament champion. And Aeryn hopes to be elected as the judge and appointed as a duchess in her realm (at which point she would become a tournament host in celebration), while Alendru continues to improve the family wealth and the family prestige. Should all of this occur, the fame of the Arete family would rise by 15 points to a total of 38 points, becoming one of the most famous families in the world.
Below is a table of all the fame points the family has received, along with the name of the family member credited with first completing the criteria for it.
The Arete Family
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