The Zériessiens

Table of Contents

The Zériessiens are the inhabitants of the Estate of Zériesse, one of the federal regions of the Empire of the Covenant.

Among them are:

The Zériesses: the members of House Zériesse (see the Light mages) who rule the Estate. Includes Lord Hippolyte Zériesse, Lord-Consort Quentin Zériesse, and Heir Jérôme Zériesse.

Those Sheltered by House Zériesse: individuals who fled their own Estate and placed themselves under the protection of House Zériesse. Includes Scieur Cyril Blissenne.

Low nobility: members of the Houses that used to rule their own Estate but have been driven away from it.

Commoners. Including Rosalie Gauthier

The Zériesses

Lord Hippolyte Zériesse

Lord Hippolyte Zériesse is a perfect example of his House's value of respecting commoners and giving up political power to the local elected assembly. Indeed, Hippolyte fell in love and bonded with a commoner and never hesitate to let his husband order him around, while he focuses on having fun with his friend and training his duelling skills to be ready to defend the Estate.
Hippolyte was extremely closed to Justinien Alyssenne (see the Alyssenniens) before he was murdered, and this event only convinced him of the imminence and necessity of going to war against the Dark faction, and this is one of his very few political convictions.
Personally, Hyppolyte is a carefree and informal man, easy to be around and have fun with, but hard to pin down to have any serious conversations—he leaves those to his husbands.

Age: 40-60;
Skin: dark;
Eyes: blue;
Hair: dark;
Appearance: ?;
Politics: Light;
Line-gift: battle magic;
Power level: high nobility, low upper-end of the power range.

Lord-Consort Quentin Zériesse

Lord-Consort Quentin Zériesse is a commoner and the leader of the Zériesse elected assembly. His bonding with Lord Zériesse has given him prestige and legitimacy above his political rivals and allowed him to become the true political leader of the Zériesse Estate. He is close to Lord-Consul Ylucianie (see The Light mages), the leader of the Light faction, but their relationship seems to be based more on duty on both side than on true affinity.
Quentin is devoted to making the Estate a better place for all of its inhabitants, regardless of their magic levels. He also rules based on pragmatism and does not consider himself or the Estate to be bound by previous alliances and agreement made by House Zériesse. This means that he is reluctant to resume their relationships with the Alyssenne (see the Light mages) when they are so weakened and there is little the Zériesse Estate would gain from this. However, his relationship with his husband appears to be based in true love rather than politics.

Age: 40-60;
Skin: dark;
Eyes: grey;
Hair: dark;
Appearance: ?;
Politics: Light;
Line-gift: unknown;
Power level: master crafter.

Heir Jérôme Zériesse

Heir Jérôme Zériesse is the son of Hippolyte and Quentin and the heir to the lordship of the Estate, if not of Quenitn's politics. Jérôme's was conceived thanks to a fertility ritual and the help of a surrogate mother. This choice has created tension between the Zériesses and the rest of the Light faction who disapprove of rituals. This has reduced the influence of the House in the faction despite them being the second larger and most powerful Light House.
Nevertheless, the Zériesses do not regret the decision and it has been extremely popular with the population of their Estate. So far Jérôme has shown himself to be the perfect son his parents and people could wish.

Individuals Sheltered by House Zériesse

Sieur Cyril Blissenne

Sieur Cyril Blissenne is unofficially under the protection of House Zériesse. He was born as the son of one of the leading lords of the Dark faction, Lord Blissenne (see the Dark mages). However, he ran away when he was a teenager and placed himself under the protection of the Alyssennes. He was Justinien Alyssenne's closest friend (see the Alyssenniens), and together with Hippolyte Zériesse, they were known as the little terror of the Light faction.
After Justinien's murder, Cyril lost the protection of House of Alyssenne. Many believed this would make him submit to his father and beg to be allowed back him, however this just reinforced his hatred of anything linked to the Dark, and instead he joined his other friend Hyppolyte. However, he had to beg the Zériesse assembly to allow him to live in the Estate, and the assembly only did so if he agreed to submit to an enormous list of conditions, and especially if he never got involved in politics. Cyril agreed, and now both he and Hyppolyte spend a lot of time having fun and mock duelling. Once Jérôme was born, Cyril started spending a lot of time helping raise and train him.
Cyril dislikes politics because he has always been powerless in that field, first submitted to his father's will, then as an outcast in the Light faction without a House to back him up. Even after several decades among them, few Light mages trust him and so what he can do, politically or otherwise, is rather limited. Cyril started by hiding his frustration under the guise of a careless and fun-loving young man, but by now this has become his true nature.

Age: 40-60;
Skin: dark;
Eyes: dark;
Hair: long, dark;
Appearance: ?;
Politics: Light;
Line-gift: unknown;
Power level: high.

Commoners

Goodwoman Rosalie Gauthier

Goodwoman Rosalie Gauthier is a commoner living in the Estate of Zériesse. She was born the same year as Heir Jérôme Zériesse but quickly become an orphan. Soon afterwards, Jérôme's parents chose her as one of his childhood companions, which meant that they grew up and were educated together. Both of them consider themselves sibling and are very close together.
Because of this relationship, Rosalie has rubbed elbows with a lot of important people, both at the Estate and the empire level. This meant that despite her very privileged childhood, she has been constantly put down and insulted and very much identify with her commoner background and hates the nobility. This has given her a strong drive to dive into politics and continue to make the Estate a better place. The lord-consort approves of this and has chosen Rosalie as his political protégée and heir.
Rosalie has a strong character and never hesitate to fight to make her voice heard and to defend the people around her against injustice. This means that she can often appears tactless at best and rude at worst, but since the people telling her that are all nobles, it's hard for her to take their critics seriously.

Age: 34;
Skin: dark;
Eyes: green;
Hair: brown with ginger highlights;
Appearance: often wears an open and earnest expression;
Politics: Light;
Line-gift: unknown;
Power level: master crafter, medium levels of power.