Emigliana Sofia of Napoliza
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Emigliana Sofia di Montelliano y Kavietsby, (9th of Sun's Smile, 1690- 1721) was Baronetess of Napoliza from 1704-1721, as the recognized head of the House of Montelliano in the Duchy of Adria. She was additionally briefly styled as Duchess-consort of Adria from 1707-1708 as a result of her marriage to Paul Varoche, though omitting the title succeeding Paul's political abdication to the King of Haense.
Contents
Early Life & Adolescence
Emigliana Sofia Valentia di Montelliano y Kavietsby was born on the 9th of the Sun’s Smile, 1690, within Commodus Castle, Aldenburg, to Lady Reina Kavietsby and Niccolo Vittorio di Montelliano prior to the former’s appointment as Countess of Aldenburg under the Imperium Renatum. After moving to the Golden City of Ves to live beside her father and two elder brothers, she lost all the graces of a lady and instead adapted to a liberal Adrian upbringing, with a characteristic temper yet licentious charisma. She enjoyed dancing, comedy, the theater performances of the revered Timeo de la Baltas, and tavern games.
After her father’s death, Emigliana’s mother joined them under the Adrian banner, marrying Timeo de la Baltas. Her brother Demetrio became a polarizing figure in Adrian politics after his election as Mayor, when he implemented a local bill of indentured servitude for criminals despite its unpopularity with the encroaching imperial diet- in this, Emigliana was fully a participant, being the scrivener of a pamphlet introducing the bill and its constituent clauses. The bill exacerbated existing dissent between Adria and the imperial leadership. Due to Montelliano’s influence over Ves, Demetrio was made Baronet of Napoliza, elevating Montelliano to a patrician house.
Marriage & Scandals
Casual political dinners introduced teenage Emigliana to the young Duke Paul, betrothed to Vesna Valic at the time, though they later ended their engagement for reasons unknown. Emigliana and Paul were betrothed swiftly after their introduction, and were known to be a publicly amorous couple, with Emigliana even nestling upon his lap for the duration of a noble’s feast in the imperial palace during a time in which she was wheelchaired due to an injury sustained after an imperial mage attack. After Demetrio’s ousting from Ves, Paul awarded her with Napoliza to ensure she remained at a rank eligible for their marriage. They married during the peak of renatian dissent against Adria, though many vassal lords attended their wedding, held in Varoche Palace.
Just a year after their union, the tensions erupted into the threat of Ves’s destruction at the hands of Crown Prince Antonius Horen. Paul signed the Duchy over into the hands of King Marius II of Haense to ensure that his subjects would gain a shield from Renatus. In the Duchies’ stead, Paul and Emigliana took on titles as Count and Countess of Varoche, named for the Vessian Palace. Emigliana hosted several diplomats and important figures in Varoche Palace, notably imperial privy seal Princess Amelia of Alstion, and the contemporary High Pontiff.
When Emperor Augustus died, his final words revealed that Paul had actually been the product of his and his sister Alexandria’s (Paul’s mother, married to the former Duke Ratibor) love affair. The scandal was an ordeal for Emigliana, who now held to it that the marriage prospects of the four children she’d mothered with Paul would be ruined. When King Marius II turned around and torched the city of Ves alongside Emperor Antonius, Emigliana was devastated and lost all admiration for her husband and the empire both.
Death & Legacy; The Murder of Paul Varoche
The Count and Countess presided over Varoche Palace in silence for the next few years, though their lack of agency was rumored to be another tear in their relationship. Emigliana was said to have blamed Paul and their children for all of her problems, and would often beat both whenever they failed to impress her. Her journals describe a hope to plot Paul’s murder and escape to the imperial capital, though this plan went awry, as she instead grew so vexed during an argument that she withdrew a silver knife and stabbed it into his gut without thought for their surroundings. She was instantly swarmed and killed by the Vessian Guard in the heat of the moment. Her daughters relocated to the imperial capital, where they would both become titular princess consorts despite Emigliana’s aforementioned cynicism, whereas the youngest, Paul ‘the Roach’, continued the line of Varoche.
Issue
| Name | Birth | Death | Marriage | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nikoletta Sofia Varoche | 1708 | N/A | William Alstion, Prince of Aanen | First born daughter of Paul and Emigliana. |
| Paul II, Count of Varoche | 1709 | 1721 | N/A | First born son of Paul and Emigliana. Becomes Count of Varoche upon Paul's death, but dies just a few months later. |
| Julietta Maria Varoche | 1710 | N/A | Janos, Margrave of Staf | Second born daughter of Paul and Emigliana. Princess-Consort of Vilachia. |
| Paul John Victor, Count of Varoche | 1712 | N/A | N/A | Second born son of Paul and Emigliana. Becomes Count of Varoche upon Paul II's death.
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