House Members:
Justin, Lord Creoni
Traxis, his half brother
Lucia Matisse, his mistress
Sasha, Justin and Lucia's daughter
Lady Perimede Creoni, Justin's adopted sister
Lord Salvatore Creoni, Justin's grandfather (previously Lord Creoni)
Lady Jocasta Creoni, Justin's adopted aunt and Perimede's mother
Leonardo di Creoni
Tiresias
Matteo Matisse, Lucia's father

About the House
Emblem: Torre (the Tower)
Heraldic symbol: an elephant bearing a crown and a red caparison with a white cross, standing on a lawn. On its back is a fortified tower flying a red pennant with a silver cross.
Responsibility: Construction
Colours: red with white and cobalt blue
Motto: Power as well as might
Symbolizes: Strength

History of the House

Justin, Lord Creoni
Born: 3472

When he ascended to the Head of his House, following his father's murder, Justin Creoni was still young, unmarried, and a visionary of great intellect and intense stubbornness and pride. Like all the scions of the Creoni, he was educated offworld - a principle which the family has clung to stubbornly ever since their arrival on Aquila , and Justin has spent enough time in places where his title has no meaning to have little concern for many of the privileges of rank. Ambitious, charismatic, and daring, he speaks with a passion, fervour and wisdom that belies his age.

As a young man, he spent a lot of time on Gehenna and SENDI 4, studying degrees in politics, history and sciences, as well as simply gaining experience in the galaxy as a whole, whether as merchant, adventurer, student, diplomat or even tourist, before returning to Aquila about a year before his father's death. Throughout all that time, he was in the constant company of his half-brother Traxidos, and the two are still close friends.

At first, the responsibilities of rule have weighed heavily upon him, and he took them very seriously indeed, a fact that did not help to lighten their burden. Still, he felt very much that he had a lot of expectations and destiny to fulfil, and, driven as he is, he felt that there was little to stop him doing whatever is necessary. This has continued over the years, although the severity of his life was somewhat eased by the entrance of Lucia Matisse, at first his ward and now, for nearly twenty-five years, his mistress - and the mother of his daughter Sasha.

Unknown to anyone on Aquila save his half-brother Traxidos (and possibly Tiresias), Justin has an affiliation beyond House, planet, and even Church. Justin is a Knight Templar, not one of the watered-down and much-mocked organisation barely distinguishable from Freemasonry, but a member of that ancient secret society outlawed by the Catholic Church in the 13th century and aggressively hounded into secrecy, its leaders tortured and executed. Guardians of secret knowledge for over three thousand years, the Templars consider themselves the guardians of the true identity of Christ, and many of their views would be seen as completely heretical by the Church.

Traxidos Creoni
Born: 3472

Although he retains the Creoni name, Traxidos is never referred to as a noble. This is because his mother was a serving girl, and he the result of one of Lord Tryon's affairs. The Lady Leto, his wife, could not contain her anger at Tryon's constant indiscretions, and had an affair of her own ten years ago, for which the Lord executed her lover and banished her to the convent of St Catherine, recognising his bastard son Traxidos with his surname in the process. All of this came as a surprise to the son in question, known as Trax to his friends, for he was offworld at the time. As a convenience to Lord Tryon to avoid embarrassment, Traxidos was sent offworld as Justin's companion when both left to continue their educations, and they have been constant partners in crime, companions and friends ever since they were very young. There is only months between them in age (Lord Tryon's affair occurred while Lady Leto was pregnant with Justin), and even their appearances are similar, with Traxidos appearing slightly heavier-set and with a broader jaw, as well as longer hair. Despite not having his brother's charisma or flair for leadership, Trax is nonetheless possessed of a keen wit and an incorrigible disposition, and appears to know everyone, not only on Aquila , but throughout the various worlds, pubs and places he's been thrown out of. He prefers not to use his surname, but nonetheless his connection to the young Lord is well known. Currently, among his many interests and fingers in various pies, he also runs a club in Torre, which serves as restaurant, nightclub, brothel, and meeting place for many.

Lucia Matisse
Born: 3482

More information about Lucia Matisse will appear here shortly.

Sasha Matisse
Born: 3480

More information about Sasha Matisse will appear here shortly.

Lady Perimede Creoni
Born: 3478

The daughter of Jocasta and her late husband Alessandro, Perimede is a beautiful dark-haired girl who is much more of a woman than she appears. In keeping with family tradition, she studied at university on the planet Beowulf, with Master's degrees in Biology and Chemistry and a reputation as an extremely intelligent young woman. She returned to Aquila at her own insistence; her mother believed that she would better served by remaining offworld and pursuing her opportunities there. Nonetheless, she has always been a firm believer in the betterment of her homeworld, and seeks to bring enlightenment to the populace in whatever way she can, mostly through technology, but also spirituality (somewhat incongruously with her scientific background, she is also quite devout). At times she can still be very naive, particularly with regards to how set in their ways people can be, but she tries to mean well, even though her temper can be legendary at times, fit to match her mother's.

 

Lord Salvatore Creoni
Born: 3418

At the age of eighty, Salvatore's sight has gone, as well as his mobility, both victims of a stroke, but his mind remains sharp. Incapacitated as he is, he abdicated the position of Head of his House to his only son, Tryon, some forty years ago, and has remained as active as possible within the House estates, which he never leaves. It was Salvatore's father, Remus, who began to rigorously enforce the Creoni practice of educating all of its sons and daughters offworld for a period, and both Salvatore and his brother spent some time on Enyo, closer to the heart of the Empire. Wise and cautious, if not necessarily ambitious, the old Lord remains revered by his family, for his gentle and careful advice in all matters, from schoolgirl crushes to interplanetary economics. His nurse, Constanza, is his most constant companion; she is a shy and gentle girl who was sold into slavery by her family to pay off a debt. Salvatore's half-grandson, Traxidos, bought her from a Lasse merchant and she has stayed at Kadmeia for the last fifteen years.

Salvatore is a white-haired old man with a gaunt, wrinkled face from years of smiling. Though he is not balding, his hair is thin nonetheless, and he keeps it slightly longer than in his younger days out of vanity. His eyes are still clear and bright blue, but obviously unseeing, and his body is frail from enforced inactivity. He is kindly, but not very ambitious, and the hard line his father often took with regard to discipline and law rarely sat easy on him. He fears for his grandsons and daughters; many of them seem to echo the ghosts of his past in their ambitions.

Lady Jocasta Creoni
Born: 3466

Now seen as the younger 'sister' of Lord Tryon, Lady Jocasta was elevated to the House Creoni from the commoners thirty years ago, when her husband, Alessandro, captain of the Sparti, the Creoni household guard, was killed by an assassin while saving the life of Lord Tryon. As a reward for this ultimate sacrifice, Alessandro's widow and his daughter were taken into the House. Jocasta is a handsome woman in her early forties, with auburn hair which she generally ties back in a neat bun, making her appearance somewhat unnecessarily severe. Her eyes are grey and cool, and she is very perceptive; originally, she wanted to go to law school, but such was made impossible when her father could not afford the Acciaio fees, particularly with the added consideration that came from the fact that he came from Creoni lands. She is often somewhat bitter, feeling that life has been unfair to her, all because of low birth originally and the restrictive caste system of Aquila , and she is equally determined that her own daughter shall not have the same difficulties. Nonetheless, she is seen as the matriarch of the family now, after Lord Tryon's divorce and the removal of Lady Leto, his wife, to the convent of St Catherine.

Leonardo di Creoni
Born: 3452

The master architect of the House, Leonardo is a commoner whose vision often mirrors that of his famous namesake from the Renaissance. Recognised as 'di Creoni' (a commoner who is attached to the House), Leonardo is one of the most famed artisans on Aquila, and his designs for buildings, inventions, machines and tools are based not only on Aquilan practicality, but also the wonders of science not found on this planet. He is an old man, bearded and frail, but his reedy voice is often bright and enthusiastic and filled with absent-minded prattle, and his eyes flash with constant energy.

Tiresias
Born: Unknown

Although his name is unpronouncable with our biology, the alien Tiresias has taken his name from the ancient seer of Thebes , adviser to the semi-historical founder of the House of Creoni. He refers to his race as the Maenads, which are a nomadic race of plasmatic entities, able to move from biological body to biological body. However, in the past, Maenads have only attempted this with lower creatures, such as plants, reptiles, fish, birds and some lower mammals. As the first of his kind to enter a sentient, thinking creature such as a human, Tiresias found that he was unable to leave. As such, though his race are generally immortal, Tiresias fears what will happen if his body dies. He may be freed, or it may mean oblivion. The identity of the human body has been long lost, for Tiresias' energy has kept this body alive for far longer than its regular span. Some eighty years ago, Haemon, the elder brother of Salvatore, then heir to the House of Creoni, was a close friend of Tiresias when both were terribly wounded in a freak accident on Gehenna. Haemon's brain was damaged, and he slipped in and out of a comatose state, as doctors fought to repair the brain haemorrhage that was killing him, while Tiresias suffered major damage to several internal organs, most notably the heart. During one of his last lucid moments, Haemon declared that he would not survive this, and that his heart should be transplanted to Tiresias' body, such that his friend might live.

Tiresias has never forgotten this, and his gratitude to Haemon's family is great. Currently, he resides within Kadmeia, and is often found in its lower reaches, libraries and laboratories, learning, studying, and expanding his massive knowledge. He appears as a human male, hairless, of indeterminate age, somewhere between thirty and fifty. His skin is highly translucent, and seems to glow white from within, as the energy entity that is Tiresias manifests. Tiresias is mysterious and obscure, often difficult to understand, but he finds humans terribly amusing and interesting, even as he fears his own mortality above all. He has the power of prophecy, but his visions are difficult to interpret and even more difficult to communicate to humans. On occasion, Tiresias has demonstrated the ability to interface directly with machines, even computers, understanding their electronic signals as primitive versions of his own plasmatic mind. His presence is unknown to even some members of the Creoni family, and he is perhaps their best kept secret.

Matteo Matisse
Born: 3452

More information about Lucia's father will appear shortly.

 

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