Morphia
The Gue'vesa wife of Baudouin d'Châtillon and the mother of Melisende, Haalis, Hodierna and Ioveta. She and her husband were killed by a T'au attack, but her daughters were saved by the intervention of Hugh and went on to rule the realms of Outremer, Antak'ya and The Three Cities within the Damocles Marches.
Mental characteristics
Personal history
Morphia's family were aristocrats of the Gue'vesa, claiming descent from an ancient lineage of Rogue Traders who founded the city of Malat'ya. Whether or not this is true, it is certainly the case her family came to the Damocles Marches long before the First Sphere Expansion, and were the masters of Malat'ya by the time of the Damocles Gulf Crusade. When crusaders were abandoned in T'au space by Kryptman's withdrawal many sued for peace and were incorporated into the T'au Empire as Gue'vesa. Others joined existing, pre-Crusade, Gue'vesa settlements such as Malat'ya and swelled their populations and power.
As eldest daughter Morphia was a shrewd businesswoman and exploited the relative peace and burgeoning trade network in the post-Crusade T'au Empire to expand her family's business exporting the pseudo-narcotic mel'i. She was frustrated, however, by her family's caution - afraid of antagonizing the T'au by exporting too much of the substance, they kept production low and shipped only small amounts. Some mel'i producers were thus unable to find a distributor and so sold directly to the T'au, which denied her family profit and prestige. Despite her best arguments her family remained (to her mind) overly cautious and so she plotted secretly to separate herself from them and establish her own business producing and selling mel'i on a larger scale.
It was at this time she encountered Baudouin d'Châtillon exiled from Outremer after his abortive coup against the clone of his brother Renaud. Morphia was drawn to the noble-but-suffering Baudouin, not only attracted to him but seeing him as someone who could assist her. For his part Baudouin was invigorated by the attentions of the beautiful and ambitious Morphia and was brought out of his depression and filled with new purpose. They were swiftly married; for his part Morphia's brother did not fully approve of the union but did not wish to upset his sister or antagonize the scion of the militarily-powerful Outremer.
Morphia used her dowry to establish her own mel'i distributor, buying and shipping freely. Baudouin applied his considerable intelligence and experience of Norman industry to mechanize and automate the process all the way from farming through harvesting and refinement to distribution. The result was industrial-agriculture in Nouveau Châtillon, the absorption of smaller farmers and producers into a larger business, and an explosion in the amount of mel'i being shipped to the T'au Empire.
Over the next few years, Morphia and Baudouin were happy - although they had begun their relationship based on superficial attraction and pragmatism they came to love each other deeply. She bore him four daughters; Melisende, Haalis, Hodierna and Ioveta. Their city grew in power and prestige as the T'au consumed more and more mel'i, and the Gue'vesa and others traded with it extensively.
When Hugh was exiled from Outremer he came to Ka'dheshe'a to seek Le Vrai Roi Baudouin and pledged himself to his service, a service which allowed the trade in mel'i to expand even further.
This the T'au could not countenance. The T'au had always disapproved of the narcotic condiment but pragmatically tolerated it; industrial production of a refined product distributed by a sophisticated trade network protected by elite warriors was impossible to ignore and a military campaign was mounted. Supported with intelligence and logistics by their Gue'vesa allies in Malat'ya, the Fire Warriors were irresistible and Nouveau Châtillon was destroyed and the mel'i refineries destroyed. Morphia and Baudouin were slain in the fighting and it was only due the actions of Hugh that their children survived.
Social
Family Ties
Religious Views
Raised as a cultural adherent to the Imperial Creed, her practice of the faith increased once married to Baudouin. Post-mortem is she regarded as a saint by the Ghibbeline Cult.
Relationships
Divine Classification
Saint
Church/Cult
Circumstances of Death
Killed with her husband Baudouin by the T'au
Birthplace
Place of Death
Spouses
Siblings
Eyes
Dark brown
Hair
Long black
Character Prototype
The above image is of Kim Kardashian, a model and socialite.
