tothequeen | info | setting and character

IN SHORT
In the capital of the country, Cavel, Moriann Moss has been appointed the Queen’s Advisor to the king’s third wife, Leila, the two previous queens both perishing on the chopping block when they lost the Game, an ancient tradition in Cavel where the king and queen fight for influence through a competition of court intrigue and political trickery. Can she keep the new queen alive for longer than a couple of years and can she avoid falling for her games as much as King Ferdan is trying to?

WORLD INFO
Cavel is a peninsular nation, creating the border line between the Eastern Seas and the rest of the continent. It neighbours two countries, Torill in the north and Eather in the south, the latter being the country where the new queen heralds from. The capital of Cavel is called Cal and is a large, fortified city at the northern end of the country where the king and his family have resided for centuries. Cavel is monotheistic, dedicated to a religion called the Union, a belief in the perfect balance between all contrasts and the work of the Unifier, their deity, represented by the king. Court is a system of old, noble families as well as individuals appointed to high rank for exceptional work by the king himself, though “new nobles” are looked down on by many.

CHARACTER INFO
The Moss family has been appointed noble for three generations, including Moriann and her two sisters. Her father works in trade like his father before him, specialising in metals for weapon-making, a field that was highly sought after during the wars at her grandfather’s time and it earned him the title of “count”. After that, the family moved from one of the mining cities in central Cavel to the capital and settled there. As a lady, Moriann was made part of the Queen’s Council at age 17 and has over the last seven years been one of the minor advisors to the two first wives of King Ferdan, though neither was able to obtain the influence that would, according to beliefs, create balance at court and therefore, they were both eventually executed in sacrifice. For a longer period between age 22 and 23, Moriann was engaged to Jaxen Gount-Hall, Major General with the army, but when the first queen was killed, Moriann decided to call off the engagement to pursue her advisory role one hundred percent, though she and Jaxen retain a good relationship and she attended his wedding to his new wife. Later, when the new queen-to-be, Leila of Gaard, arrived at Cal, the Eather native quickly made the decision that if the former Queen’s Advisor, Siph, a lady of a highly ranked, old family, couldn’t keep the other two queens alive, she would need another for herself. Completely unheard of, she appointed Moriann her advisor on the spot, a rank she has held since and managed to advise the queen well.

At least, they’ve both survived thus far.

PERSONALITY
Reserved, observant, calculated, intelligent, sharp, well-spoken, ambitious, direct, dedicated(…)

CHARACTER GALLERY
Aren Moss, Moriann's father
Haile Moss, Moriann's mother
Autumn Moss, Moriann's younger sister
Kiele Moss, Moriann's younger sister
Jaxen Gount-Hall, Moriann's former fiance
King Ferdan, Moriann's and Leila's political opponent
Queen Leila, the woman whose faction Moriann works for
Siph Trawl-Harringer, former Queen's Advisor, now serves in a minor function
Sammas Orbinger, King's Advisor and notorious Wisen, Moriann's political opponent

TERMINOLOGY
Queen's/King's Advisor, the queen's or king's right-hand-woman or man and leader of his or her council of advisors.
Wisen, contraction of "wise men", a gender neutral term for witches who possess various abilities such as divination, spell-casting and the creation of what's known as "blessings", magical gifts that can even out the recipient's "balance", that is their luck and good fortune. Wisen can be common people, but also nobles. King Ferdan's leading advisor is a Wisen.