by Rowan Morealis on August 24th, 2013, 9:52 am
Here is some of my understanding of the Morealis standpoint. Long ago, Ivan Morealis was a traveling merchant who got lost on the sea of grass. His caravan, harried by Glassbeaks and other predators, would have been lost if he had not stumbled upon the lush lands of Kenash and was sheltered by the Askaras living there. Ivan fell in love with the land and settled with his family, taking a daughter of Askara to marry into his blood. Since then, one Morealis of each generation has taken an Askara as a bride. It is a continued contract, through the blood, of alliance and family.
While not all of the Askara eccentricities can be mimicked, understood, or even tolerated by the Morealis...they recognize their old debt to the progenitor of the line and so long as the Morealis have lived, they have yet to be anything but allied with the Askara.
Now, their hatred of the Radacke is easy enough. The Morealis consider the Radacke an inferior family, much like the Rajor and Zulaca. Although they provide a much needed service for the plantations, in the delivery and breaking of slaves...the Morealis line has long considered them unfit of the word 'dynasty'. The straw that broke the camel's back between them was that before, Radacke consultation was always at least considered for new buildings of note in Kenash. It was considered a show of good faith and a smart move as the Radacke were well renowned for their construction skills.
Morealis only hired a Radacke surveyor to find the place where they would build and rather than invite the Radacke to begin planning and building, thus honoring a large and lucrative contract, Morealis brought in designers and architects from several different cities instead. It would have been less costly to use the Radacke, but the Morealis went out of their way to insult the family. Along with rarely inviting them to their social events, the Radacke and Morealis feud has long since been an issue. However, to the Morealis, they aren't in a feud. To be in a feud, they'd have to recognize the Radacke as an equal...and they don't.
Some time ago, a small slave uprising occurred on the Sitai plantation. While the Sitai would have ordinarily been able to quell the rebellion, the slaves were aided by a number of Rujaro that had been preparing for the chance to overthrow a dynasty. Fire was set in one of the fields and the Morealis in charge at the time saw the flames. Now, this is considered a secret of the family, but this had all been planned. As the Sitai plantation grounds had recently overtaken the Kabrin road between the Morealis plantation and the city commons, the Morealis were concerned that poor relations with Sitai and Radacke on either side could force their land holdings into jeopardy. The 'Rujaro' were really hired freeborn dressed to look and act the part of the runaways and meant to get things rolling on a rebellion.
What they didn't know is that Morealis was prepared and sent their own security into Sitai land to help turn the tide of the small uprising. Every freeborn was executed for their crimes before being interrogated. Although Sitai was suspicious of the Morealis involvement, they had lost a number of their own in the battle, including the life of Sander Morealis, a willful dynasty brat who dreamed of being a soldier. His death was not expected, but the loss seemed to convince the Sitai of the Morealis' sincerity and thus far they've existed on somewhat friendly, if not neutral terms. (If this is alright, I'm just making stuff up)
Ackina's favorable relationship with Morealis originated during the burning of The Majesty, the Morealis' first plantation house almost fifty years ago. Before, their relationship had been tenuous, at best.
One of the Ackina dynasty brats overheard a freeborn talking with another about a deal that had gone awry due to the Morealis. The man was angry, bitter, and vowed 'to take what was most precious' to them. He revealed this information to the head of his family who sent some of his enslaved kelvics, in animal form, to watch over the Morealis house. At the time, they were in negotiation for a significant sale and Ackina was remiss to let some foul play by a freeborn sour those plans.
It was the timely intervention of a hawk Kelvic who saw the paid off servant set fire to the house. The hawk claimed his eyes and warned the family of the event. Unfortunately, they had not been adequately prepared for the attack and lost the house...but without the intervention of the Ackina Kelvic, they would have lost their lineage as well.
I want to say it was a surprising donation by the Paille's to the construction of a new plantation house that cemented their friendly interaction. If it's alright, the Paille head of house was impressed with the way the Morealis head of house had handled the Magistrate position the season before and he had passed some favorable laws for the Paille family. While Morealis did not expect help, they were happy to receive it and consider themselves in debt to the Paille family to this day.
The Draer family, when they pushed up the river from the Suvan, were initially met with distrust. However, rather than regard them as an enemy, the Morealis invited the pod to their home to enjoy the fruits and labors of Kenash. The eldest Morealis at the time had a vested interest in the sea and sea going vessels and took a fancy to the Draer. Their willingness to settle down and begin a plantation of their own was met with uncharacteristic support from the Morealis.
The current head of household gifted the Draer with some money to begin their settling and invited them to share their borders with the Morealis plantation, especially in the spirit of good trade. The motivations for this are largely unknown today, although there is some speculation that one of the Draer's was a hypnotist...and another rumor exists that Morealis wanted a firm ally near the Radacke and a whole plantation that separated them from the Rajor.
I'll come up with more later on why the family doesn't get along with people...I just wanted to suggest these possible interactions between the families.
