Eris Family
The Eris family is a withered branch of Borca’s once-thriving aristocracy—a name that lingers like the fading scent of a long-dead flower. Once counted among the esteemed houses of the domain, the Eris line has dwindled into obscurity, its legacy eroded by scandal, misfortune, and slow, quiet ruin. Only Tolashara Eris, an austere and sharp-eyed dowager well past her prime, remains to defend the family’s name from oblivion.
Whether Tolashara is truly the final Eris is a matter of conjecture. Some say she keeps a child hidden in the west wing. Others believe she is not the last Eris at all, but something else wearing an Eris name like a mask. And others whisper that the family’s legacy lies not in heirs or holdings, but in whispers left in forbidden books, and in debts not yet paid.
One thing is certain: while the Eris name may die in the world of lords and ledgers, in the shadows of Borca, it is far from forgotten.
Structure
Lady Tolashara Eris, a steely woman of unreadable age and immaculate mourning dress, presides over the remains of her family with cold dignity and precise venom. She lives alone in the Eris manse, a decaying stone mansion surrounded by a twisted hedge maze and overgrown gardens. The home is filled with dust-covered tomes, sealed cabinets, and portraits whose eyes seem to follow guests down the hall.
Tolashara claims to be the last of her line, though Borcan gossips speculate on unnamed heirs, vanished siblings, or dark pacts that may have extended her life. She rarely leaves her estate except to attend key political functions—always clad in shadowy hues, always silent until her cutting voice slices through the conversation.
Her political power is negligible, but her knowledge is not. Nobles come to her in secret to ask about family curses, untraceable poisons, or ancient treaties. She answers them in riddles and implications—and always remembers what she is owed.
Public Agenda
The Eris name is now more warning than invitation. To be “Eris-born” is to be whispered about as strange, unstable, or ill-starred. Their ancestral lands, long untended, are overgrown and avoided. Children tell tales of spirits in the Eris gardens; nobles joke (uneasily) that even the Boritsi won’t sip tea brewed in an Eris kettle.
And yet, despite it all, the Eris family retains a certain grim allure. Their fall from grace is the stuff of operas and scandal sheets, and their secrets—whatever they may be—still have weight in the hidden corners of Borcan society.
History
In centuries past, the Eris family was known for esoteric scholarship, alchemy, and occult patronage. They were collectors of rare books, relics, and forbidden knowledge, often acting as advisers to wealthier houses or hosting intellectual salons attended by mystics, theologians, and sorcerers. But their aloof nature, secretive habits, and tendency to consort with fringe scholars earned them a reputation for madness and misfortune.
Whispers of tainted bloodlines, cursed estates, and ritual misdeeds dogged the family across generations. Servants vanished. Windows were bricked up. Distant cousins turned on each other in inheritance feuds that sometimes ended in death—or simply disappearance. Over time, their holdings crumbled, their influence waned, and their name became one spoken with either disdain or fear, depending on the audience.
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