Chương 42: New!! Character Chart! A Quick Spin Into Laws!

Duccanes Duchy Name Maiden Family Duties General Description Duke Eligia Duccanes Duccanes Duchy Head of Household. Lobbies political issues on account of title, decides on external family matters, gives orders to the military, included in war talks, handles the inheritance of family property. Temple: Hades Appearance: Black hair, pale skin, and crimson eyes. Age Group: Hundreds Likes: Some of his spouses. Vegan cuisine, making gold, spending gold, cigars, being praised, and dark rooms.

Dislikes: Arguing with family, boredom, surprises, all things small and dirty. Reputation: Renowned. Duchess (Principal Wife to the Duke) Dorothea Heart Helga and Geo (Commoners so no surname) The Other Head of Household. Manager of internal affairs; lobbies for political and economic agendas through socialization; in charge of the education of children; oversees the salaries of her husband's wives; manages the family property and budgeting for the estates. (At least on paper) Temple: Leto.

Appearance: Brunette, caramel eyes, and tan skin. Age Group: Fifties. Likes: Gardening, flower appreciation, charity, socializing, and family events. Dislikes: Discord. Reputation: Altruistic. Secondary Wife Druvis Whidbey The Baron and Baroness Whidbey Decides her children's education within the confines of Dorothea's rules. And fawns over her husband Temple: Epione Appearance: Blonde, green eyes, and pale skin. Age Group: Hundreds Likes: Her husband. Tea. Healing the sick. Music. Dislikes: Failure. Humiliation.

Reputation: Inept. Secondary Wife Meng Jialin The Count and Countess Meng Plays a deep role as Advisor and trainer to the Mercenary Army alongside handling the family importing business. She also educates her children by throwing them in the army. Character building, or so we're told. Temple: Jiutian Xuannü Appearance: Black hair, black eyes, pale skin. Age Group: Fifties Likes: Weaponsmiths, traveling, breaking recruits, dungeon exploration. Dislikes: Cowards. Being indoors. Reputation: Enigmatic.

Secondary Wife Hadrian Solomon Solomon Duchess and Consort Occasionally helps in accounting for family expenses when she's not teaching Harley and collecting her salary. Temple: Athena Appearance: Redhead. Golden eyes with red hues and pale skin. Age Group: Fifties Likes: Money. Wine. Sunbathing. Annoying Miseria. Teaching Harleen to make money hand over fist while sitting down. Her friends. Dislikes: Everything but her likes. Reputation: Notorious.

Secondary Wife Niathe Noctiluca Lark Queen Illyria and her King Consort (Bio father N/A) The secret manager of internal affairs. Manager of internal affairs, in charge of the education of children, salaries of her husband's wives, manages the family property and budgeting for the estates. Acts as the go-between for the nobles and the royal family. Holds weight among the Temples and manages the Eye. Holds the title of Queen of the territory Sunless Forest.

Temple: Nyx Appearance: White hair, lilac skin prone to changes in shade based on mood, discolored mauve/white irises. Age Group: Fifties Likes: Traveling. Wine. Pulling a fast one over others' heads. Using Imperial Law to tax people she doesn't like. Entertaining herself with her offspring. Dislikes: Sitting still, the cold, everyone. Crying. Hearing certain people chew or breathe. Incompetence. Bad liars. Reputation: Inviolable.

Duccanes Duchy Rank Name Paternal/ Maternal Family General Description The First Son Of The Principal Wife Erichean Duccanes Duccanes/Heart Temple: Helios Appearance: Dark Blonde, crimson eyes, tan skin. Age Group: Twenties Likes: Painting. Small cute things. Nature. Good food and wine. Being clean. Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. Dislikes: Hunting. Swordsmanship. Reputation: Notorious.

The Second Daughter Harleen Duccanes Duccanes/Solomon Temple: N/A Appearance: Flaming red hair, crimson eyes, pale skin. Age Group: Teens Likes: Gold. The color and the currency. Gambling. Luxury trends. Boating. Winning. Being praised. Dislikes: Being lied to. Losing. The cold. Etiquette. Reputation: Irreproachable. The Third Son Meng Yuchen Duccanes/Meng Temple: N/A Appearance: Black hair, red eyes, pale skin. Age Group: Teens Likes: Switching with his brothers to confuse others. Hunting. Eating his prey.

Dislikes: N/A Reputation: Notorious. The Fourth Son Meng Yucheng Duccanes/Meng Temple: N/A Appearance: Black hair, black eyes, pale skin. Age Group: Teens Likes: Switching with his brothers to confuse others. Hiding in the walls and making ghostly sounds. Food. Dislikes: Being caught. Reputation: Tyrannical. The Fifth Son Meng Yusheng Duccanes/Meng Temple: N/A Appearance: Black hair, black eyes, pale skin. Age Group: Teens Likes: Switching with his brothers to confuse others. Sneaking out.

Can sometimes change his eye color, hair color, and voice to confuse others. Dislikes: Being inside. Reputation: Insidious. The Sixth Son Derrick Duccanes Duccanes/Whidbey Temple: Poseidon Appearance: Black hair, red eyes, pale skin. Age Group: Toddlers Likes: His father. Swordsmanship. Dislikes: His sisters. All of them. Being slighted or embarrassed Reputation: Poor. The Seventh Daughter Eris Duccanes Duccanes/Whidbey Temple: Hemera Appearance: Blonde, green eyes, pale skin. Age Group: Toddlers.

Likes: N/A Dislikes: N/A Reputation: Inconspicuous. The Eighth Daughter Miseria Duccanes Duccanes/Lark Temple: Nyx Appearance: Curly silver hair, heterochromia purple/red eyes, pale skin with lilac hues. Age Group: Toddlers. Likes: Food. Money. Lying down. Books. Escaping. Dislikes: Running. The Patriarchy. Lady Anne. Reputation: Slippery or Greedy. The reason as to why there are so many polyamorous or polygamous marriages under imperial rule is simple.

In the past, men and women would step out of their marriage and have plenty of illegitimate children to amuse themselves with since contraception had not been widely introduced yet. This complicates matters of succession, especially in noble families where the difference between having more or less is tantamount to rising from the earth to the heavens. Who gets what and who loved me most; kind of questions.

The parents themselves would watch the disputes and chaos originating from that infidelity helplessly, since previous laws protected bloodline inheritance. People would get hurt, die, commit crimes, or even harm unrelated parties in the process. A complete mess. Addressing these headaches was difficult enough, but on top of that, childbirth is a very laborious and dangerous process for some.

Childbearing men and women would die in droves due to inadequate care, hygiene issues, or plain run-of-the-mill complications. Never forget, as prosperous as this era seems, they still rely on home remedies and magical instruments to alleviate pain. Hand sanitizer, regular bathing habits, and disinfectants have not been introduced in the present day. Kelpies, or those of the water clan, often have men carry young through the gestational period. In other words, men get pregnant and give birth to children.

So this revision in law applies to both genders and affects them greatly. Queen Illyria removed the previous draconian law and inserted her own as a pillar of her campaign. In layman's terms. Men and women are allowed to marry whomever they choose with imperial permission. They can marry one official partner who has rights to all inheritance and may decide to distribute it to their partner's other children. However, only children of the principal spouse are solely entitled by law to inheritance. Sole.

Sole being that each wife or husband is only responsible for bearing one child as part of their contract.

"It is cruel to assume or punish those who bear children to visit Hades Door multiple times needlessly."

"If the Husband or Wife requires more children to pass inheritance to or a spouse to share property and power with, they may go through official channels to open their marriage again through imperial permission with a legitimate reason." A political alliance of some sort to fill the coffers or push an agenda. Once the second marriage is established, they may also have but one child with that person.

If you're worried about these secondary spouses, rest assured that only in the most dire straits will they ever need the financial support of their spouse and are completely within their rights to start businesses, receive salaries, and more. Even without a share of the spouse's estate, every person and child within the union should have personal assets. Women often have dowries, and men have winnings from the national competitions required by law to be competed in, as well as inheritance if it applies.

Illegitimate children or children born outside of a marriage have no right to petition for inheritance as of now. Only child support in rare occasions. To ensure this law holds weight, every marriage must be contractually binding through Horkus, taxes keep track of every citizen like a census, and proper documentation is kept on every person. Meaning if a certain noble were to secretly have a child with someone and then hide it from the temple or through other means.

That person grows to be an adult, tries to get a job, and cannot. Runs into a guard checking identification, and this person cannot provide documentation that they live there and unfortunately gets kicked out of the capital. Tries to get married. Pay taxes. Get a house. All of their paths in life are cut off due to their elusive lineage. For the most part, this law works. Most Nobles have had and now will have many spouses due to many being blood drinkers or long-lived.

However, the mortality rate related to childbirth has remained low for the past two hundred years since the law came into effect. The disputes can be settled through proper means like court settlements instead of bloody debacles. But more on that word I just used a little while ago. Blood Drinkers: Vampires, Dark Elves, Wendigos, etc. Those who drink blood out of necessity. Most of them have this to solve that mortal urge: Spouses, Paramours, Bonded Souls or Imprints, Ichor, or, in the past, a camp of their choice.

Camps are now illegal and always have been immoral. It's all a personal choice requiring consent or an appetite for the cup instead of the jugular. Paramours: Lovers who appeal to each other's tastes. Literally. Could be another vampire, but usually is a person of a different race from the vampire. Probably not married to one another and can become married or already be married to another person. A boyfriend or girlfriend, if you will. Bonded Souls: An imprint. The Imprint is a phenomenon shared by many.

It does not mean Soulmate or an automatic romantic connection. It means when a person (could even be a werewolf or a fairy) meets another person with the capacity to become their twin soul. Their blood appeals to them, personality clashes or meshes with their own, etc. The Imprint can be born from a slew of reasons, but once it takes hold, it's one in a lifetime. You could have a platonic relationship or romantic relationship with this person. It can be completely one-sided or reciprocated.

There's no stated reason in the literature about how or why this happens. It just does. Nature at work. HOWEVER, under imperial rule, this person cannot be your mother, father, sister, brother, cousin; you get the gist. Not between blood relatives ever. There is no officially disclosed reason, but it is an offense and will be dealt with by imperial law if discovered. Unfortunately, bonds formed before this law's implementation cannot be changed or broken unless a plea is made by an imprint or imprinter.

Nowadays everyone is expected to mainly diet on Ichor, but not everyone can inevitably be a goody two-shoes. Especially with the force of Imprints. Thankfully, that's a one-in-a-lifetime bond, so it's protected by imperial law as long as it's mutual.