Andromeda Canthor van Alumark
Born 1262, Duchess Andromeda Canthor was married to the late Tancred Bheuren, with whom she had four adult children: daughters Phemonoe, Soteria, and Callidora, and a son, Euchenor. The eldest of the Matriarchs, Duchess Andromeda Canthor is an extremely divisive figure; some view her as a war hero and the saviour of Aldernord, whilst others have denounced her as a cruel tyrant who will stop at nothing to hold onto power. A scholar of the Collegium Coniuratio at Kalamak, her Adept thesis of 1283 (“Hrenisha’s Roads: Mapping the Katari Portal Networks”) won her the acclaim of many magicians and paved the way to the reopening of the portal between Ket Azel and Ket Brezi in 1301 that almost turned the course of the Long War against Balthas. As High-Captain of the Ninth Grand Regiment for much of the reign of Queen Margaretha, she was for a long time the preeminent authority in the use of military magic; under her leadership, the Cohorts Arcane grew in prominence and had a great deal of resources diverted for their use - to the extent that some have suggested that their existence was a major contributing factor to the economic turbulence of the late 1320’s that ultimately led to the Savuran Revolution. Her use of military magic could at best be described as heavy handed; “indiscriminate” may be a more accurate word; this was particularly the case when the war began to turn against Aldernord in the 1330’s, when she became notorious for issuing orders to destroy infrastructure and lay curses upon the lands from which the Alderni were forced to retreat. There are many rumours - unsubstantiated, but too numerous to dismiss - that she went as far as authorising the reanimation of the dead and the summoning and binding of demonic entities as last-ditch weapons against the Balthan advance. Though once one of Queen Margaretha's closest allies, her relationship with the Queen soured over the 1330’s, and reached breaking point after the signing of the Zallenkirk Accords, which Andromenda denounced as nothing less than a betrayal of the Eastern Houses. She went as far as to outright refuse to give up her claim to the Duchy of Alumark as the Accords required; for this she was relieved of her command of the Ninth Grand Regiment and placed under house arrest for several months on a charge of treason until the Queen eventually relented under mounting political pressure. Though elderly and increasingly frail, it would be a fatal error to underestimate Andromeda Canthor; with iron-fisted authority over her House and the backing of an influential faction of political hardliners, she is perhaps the most politically dangerous individual in the nation - and an extremely powerful magician too.
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1262
82 Years old
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Children
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