Queen
"There are those who believe the tale that Antiva owes its independence to the looming threat of the Crows. Yet this story—largely spread by the Crows themselves—is no more credible than the promises of a market-stall huckster. For the truth of the matter, we look instead to the Palace of the Kings in Antiva City. A grand statue of a woman in Antivan royal garb towers over the entrance, her watchful eyes keeping sight of everything happening within those walls: Luciana Subira Bahadur Castille, Queen Mother of Thedas.
When the matriarchs of Antiva arranged the marriage of a simple hand-maiden, Lady Castille, to King Alonzo of Antiva, it went unnoticed and unremarked by their contemporaries; the eyes of Thedas were instead on the wars of Orlais and Nevarra. The marriage was surprising considering Castille's lesser status, but Alonzo claimed captivation by her after their first meeting. Ultimately this marriage ended up ultimately being beneath the consideration of most at the time. Yet this wedding was, in retrospect, perhaps the most important event in Thedas's history since the death of Andraste.
Lady Castille was incredibly well-read and saw the military ambitions of Tevinter, Nevarra, and Orlais. With this in mind, she concocted a plan. Antiva was too prosperous to escape its neighbors' avarice, yet had no means of raising an army capable of fending off both Tevinter and Orlais without impoverishing the kingdom. If she was to safeguard her people, it would have to be through measures stronger than steel.
The queen spent decades making alliances in a way usually reserved by the Rivaini: marriage. She wed her many children and grandchildren strategically into noble houses across the continent. Within thirty years, Antiva was so well-connected that any hostile action against it would force half the nations of Thedas into war.
It's said that the blood of Queen Luciana runs in the veins of the Empress of Orlais, the Prince of Starkhaven, and the Pentaghasts of Nevarra. It's believed that prior to the fall of the Imperium, Queen Luciana's blood even ran in the veins of their leaders. Even wilder speculation would claim that her blood even flows through parts of those living in the Anderfels. That's almost certainly myth, or at least that's what I tell myself to sleep well at night.
With all these ties to Antiva, Luciana's web of blood ties forces most of the continent to remain at peace with Antiva, or risk terrible consequences at family dinners."
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