The Kianos

[Leokrates]

The Kianos are the most regal with the strongest connection to the ancient royalty. They have military might, but are lacking in some other places – they import more than they export, and they don’t have the best relations with others, although they can use very forceful and effective forms of negotiation to attain their ends. Their family color is purple and family animal is the lion.

Especially compared to the other families, they are very militaristic and very proud of their military conquests – which they attempt quite a bit. It is not undeserved, though, as they have the strongest land army of the families, coupled with an above average navy as well (though it is not the most powerful navy). They are flashy and show off their splendor and wealth sometimes in grossly lavish ways. They are somewhat politically lazy, though, and do not like being the first ones to go to war or to strike up a diplomatic measure. They often wait to strike, but once they do, they go out of their way to make the kill quick, but then stomp and stomp and stomp and shred the enemy and just commit barbaric overkill. Even though the Kianos do not often go first, they are among the most ambitious of the families with the most drive for greatness.

Their biggest economic gains for the Kianos are from the slave trade, wine, and grapes. Very influential members of the Kianos family have very influential friends who just happen to capture and sell people as products. There are investments involved and money exchanged so that everyone profits and comes out happy (except, usually, for the slave). In fact, when a slave tries to be freed from a Kianos citizen, there is a law that it must be trained and join the army under top commanders to ensure loyalty. The wine and grapes exports are very valuable luxuries from which the Kianos profit greatly, as well as allowing them to have a lovely fruit. Purple dye is another valuable export of theirs, though they keep most of it for themselves as it is their family color.

The family appearance is mostly light and fair. The eyes are almost always blue, the hair almost always blonde, the skin almost always on the paler side. They are the lightest colored of the families, followed closely by the Kitrinos.

Claim to the throne: The Kianos have perhaps the strongest claim to the throne of Alithra. First, as the king of the time had his own family line and was not part of the generals’ families and thus the family lines now, the queen was very important in that. She happened to be the sister of the general who went on to found the Kianos line; she herself was a Kianos, which connects her son to the Kianos as well. These are supported by contemporary documents placing her in the Kianos line. Furthermore, ten years after the prince disappeared, the Kianos adopted a ten year old boy who grew up and became head of the family. Lastly, and the weakest diplomatically and lore-wise but perhaps the strongest in regards to real life, is that, after the king died and his family disappeared, the royal army split up into a number of different groups as the five generals began to disagree with each other. The largest chunk of the military went under the command of the Kianos general, thus giving them more real, visible, tangible control.

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