Maric, Duke of Vidaus
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Maric Lyov var Ruthern (1781-1831), known as “The Duelist” was the fifth Duke of Vidaus and the first born son of Count Aleksandr and Keldra of the Völiks. Maric served as the twenty-ninth Lord Palatine of Hanseti-Ruska during the controversial reign of Heinrik II and was noted to be a competent pick with his performance leading to the return of the Duchy of Vidaus title in 1825 to House Ruthern.
Contents
Early Life
Maric Lyov var Ruthern was born on the 29th of the Deep Cold, 1781, in Metterden as the elder twin between him and Alric Sigmar var Ruthern. Maric and Alric were famously close and confided in one another from the time they were children far into their adulthoods. The two inseparable brothers had a comfortable, if uneventful, upbringing with their parents remaining far from the sphere of politics and government within Haense and residing primarily in the County of Metterden with Maric and his siblings throughout their entire childhoods. During this carefree period in Maric’s life he was noted as spending the majority of his free time exploring hobbies of interest with his brother, Alric, such as hunting, riding and sparring.
Education
Maric received the entirety of his education within the County of his birth, progressing steadily and without any notable setbacks. An unorthodox part of his tutelage came from his own mother though, who was not born from a Haeseni noble family but instead was a Scyfling by birth, and stressed an importance on less academic teachings and instilled in the future Duke an importance on taking a physical stand for his beliefs and values as well as being authoritative, even if aggressively so.
Reign
Maric var Ruthern became Count of Metterden at the age of fifteen upon the abdication of his father, Count Aleksandr, in 1796 almost immediately following the descendant races landing on Almaris. Where his father had been content and, to some, idle, Maric was proactive and interested in the affairs of state and his own lands and titles.
Maric was set on making a name for House Ruthern within the Kingdom and its nobles again with his first chance coming a year later in the Duma of Haense. The Young Count represented the Lady Speaker, his aunt Irene of Metterden, and took up the role temporarily in her absence where Viscount Fiske Vanir began to berate Anabela Vilac and a Bill the Lady Vilac was defending on Lordship Reforms, which unknowingly to them had been primarily compiled by Count Maric himself. Whether out of respect for the Lady and Office he was representing or his Scyfling streak taking hold of the Count, Maric expelled Lord Vanir from the Duma which caused an eruption of outbursts from the nobles. In the ensuing chaos, a walkout occurred with the entirety of the Duma vacating the Palace into the square where a young Maric challenged Lord Vanir to a duel to first blood with the two agreeing to determine who was in the right with the consent of the King. Maric bested the Lord Vanir handily and was subsequently challenged by Stefan I, Baron of Astfield to another duel with the Ruthern defeating the Baron. This event, along with reforms to the laws of dueling in his later life, led the future Duke to be remembered as “The Duelist” and cemented himself as a worthy adversary and Count.
Some months after those series of events, and once Maric had found his footing definitively as Count and his place within Haeseni politics, family issues arose. A disagreement broke out between Erik var Ruthern, son of Siguine I Ruthern, and Maric pertaining to Erik wishing to live in and serve the Holy Orenian Empire rather than the nation of his birth, Hanseti-Ruska. Following the heated argument Erik did as Maric had strictly prohibited and moved to Oren which left an infuriated Maric with little options to maintain House Ruthern as Haeseni loyalists within Metterden. Maric’s swift answer came in the form of disowning his kin that had relocated to Oren which caused a rift between the two branches that persisted all the way through and following Maric’s life.
In the following years Maric was able to revitalise the Ruthern family name and bring them to the forefront of Haeseni politics, military and government with Maric and his siblings filling high up positions such as Knight Paramount and Royal Ambassador. Mindful of this resurgence of Ruthern prominence, King Josef I elevated Maric to Margrave of Greyspine[1] in 1803. Both an honour in of itself and a title of cultural importance to the Ruthern family that related to the Greyspine Mountains and, to a further extent, the significant Greyspine Rebellion which nearly two centuries earlier had seen House Ruthern be at the forefront of Haeseni history. This bequeathment was a sign that Ruthern was once more relevant and stood as a metaphor for the success Maric would have in his reign.
After another over two decades of service to the Kingdom of Hanseti-Ruska and fifteen years as Lord Palatine to King Heinrik II, Maric achieved his lifelong dream of being returned the Duchy of Vidaus in 1825 as issued and confirmed by His Majesty in “The Lords Edict of 378 ES”[2] after it had been revoked from the Ruthern family during the ruinous reign of Viktor I var Ruthern nearly a hundred years prior. Not only was this achievement down to Maric’s own competent performance as Lord Palatine but also to the Aulic appointments of his own children Ailred var Ruthern and Tatiana vas Ruthern to Lord Marshal and High Justiciar respectively. Moreover, his other children, nieces and nephews held other principal positions such as ambassadors to foreign nations, royal jurists, aldermen and women and Dames in the Marian Retinue.
Final Years and Death
With his life’s mission complete and the re-establishment of House Ruthern as a power vassal and competent contributors to the Kingdom, Maric tied up any loose strings and unfinished works in his Office as Lord Palatine before retiring to the Duchy of Vidaus for the last few remaining years of his life. He spent his last five years in a glad quiet after securing excellent marriages for the remainder of his children to other prominent Lords, Ladies and Princesses which strengthened the House further. It is rumoured the aging Duke even took up a fascination with cooking and the culinary arts. This theory was given further weight by Duke Maric’s death of a heart attack in 1831 where he was found dead in the kitchen of his Keep with a charred fish in the oven.
Career
Once Lord Ruthern had reached the age of majority he quickly took position as a Palatial Kommissar to, then Lord Palatine, Konstantin Wick. Following this and Lord Konstantin’s retirement Maric was appointed as Deputy Palatine underneath Lady Marcella’s palatinal administration. With the unforeseen resignation of his predecessor, King Heinrik II quickly appointed the future Duke to ascend to the Palatial office.
Lord Palatine of Hanseti-Ruska
As the third Ruthern to occupy the Palatial office, he quickly took command as he led the Aulic government through a strenuous time during both the Rimetroll War and the expedition to the Attenlund province. Throughout his tenure in office, Lord Ruthern; the Stephanian-Centralist, placed a distinct emphasis on both solving domestic issues and issues abroad, while keeping the interests of the Kingdom at a forefront. Many of these issues including; The Greyspine Convention, The Eftenbach Edict, the reallocation of funds to the Northern Geographical Society and reforms to dueling and nobility laws were all measures that were assisted by the purview of the Ducal Ruthern. As is the case with every Palatine, conflict is inevitable to occur, Lord Ruthern’s tenure was no exception. Immediately after the Royal Academy operated for eight years (specifically, the Royal Academy of St. Charles), Lord Ruthern was delegated responsibility of the Academy after Hauchdragus Sir Viktor Kortrevich’s resignation, which quickly led to the institution’s collapse. Although it is to be noted that later on in his tenure, the return of the formerly used ‘Haeseni Civil Service Exam’ came to fruition after the founding of the University of Saint Otto in 1823.
In his latter years as Palatine, he also assumed responsibility of High Justiciar briefly for three years following the vacancy left after High Justicar Matyas Baruch was suddenly murdered. During his time as High Justiciar, he presided as the prosecutor of two major trials; the Baruch, et al. vs. Surgeon General of Hanseti-Ruska trial and the Ruthern vs. Wick trial. As the head of the Aulic Council, Lord Palatine Maric var Ruthern was someone who aided in keeping the peace during the incursion of the Rimeveld and helped mend relations between vassals and neighboring states. After sixteen long years as an occupant of the Palatial office, the elder Duke willingly resigned to his estate in Vidaus wherein he lived a life focused on family. As a result of such a decision, Attenlund expeditioner Adrian Colborn ascended to the Palatial office.
Marriages
Maric var Ruthern married Anabela Vilac in 1799, two years after their initial meeting at a sitting of the Royal Duma. It was reported as a marriage of love however alongside being a Dame of the Order of the Crow Dame Anabela boasted an impressive ancestry, being a descendant of the Princes of Vilachia. Despite the two’s enamour with one another that persisted for the decade of their marriage, Anabela struggled with alcoholism and subsequently died of her lifestyle in 1809 which left Maric low-spirited for a number of months and unwilling to remarry for a number of years.
Maric remarried in 1819 to Caroline de Selm, an Imperial Lady. The two had met on an Orenian diplomatic mission to Karosgrad and quickly grew close to one another. Some months after their first contact, Maric convinced Lady de Selm to move from Oren, where she had little prospects, to Haense where the two would be wed. Caroline was regarded as a reserved, home-body who spent little time in the public eye and bore Maric one daughter. Little else is known about their relationship outside of that she outlived the older Duke.
Titles, Styles and Honors
- 1796-1803: The Right Honorable, Maric var Ruthern, Count of Metterden
- 1803-1810: The Right Honorable, Maric var Ruthern, Margrave of Greyspine
- 1810-1825: His Excellency, Maric var Ruthern, Lord Palatine of Hanseti-Ruska, Margrave of Greyspine
- 1825-1826: His Excellency, Maric var Ruthern, Lord Palatine of Hanseti-Ruska, Duke of Vidaus
- 1826-1831: His Grace, Maric var Ruthern, Duke of Vidaus
Full title as Duke of Vidaus
The titles of Maric were: His Grace, Maric II Lyov of House Ruthern, Duke of Vidaus, Count of Metterden, Viscount of Greyspine, Baron of Rostig, Protector of the South, Lord of Helmholtz, Lord of Ivans Hall
Issue
| Name | Birth | Death | Marriage | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ailred Joren var Ruthern | 1801 | 1854 | (1) Fenika Morovar (2) Madalene Halcourt | Firstborn son of Maric, successor to the Duchy of Vidaus. |
| Antonina Valera vas Ruthern | 1801 | 1838 | Wilhelm, Baron of Carrington | Firstborn daughter of Maric. |
| Tatiana Lorina vas Ruthern | 1802 | Alive | (1) Antonius, Prince of Vilachia (2) Jan, Count of Jerovitz | Secondborn daughter of Maric. Twin to Harren. |
| Harren Anastasyus var Ruthern | 1802 | Alive | Adalia Maria de Astrea | Secondborn son of Maric. Twin to Tatiana. |
| Mikhail Dmitry var Ruthern | 1804 | Presumed Dead | Unwed | Thirdborn son of Maric. |
| Marjorie Helaine vas Ruthern | 1805 | Alive | Ruslan, Duke of Valwyck | Thirdborn daughter of Maric. |
| Alexandria Marie vas Ruthern | 1822 | Alive | Unwed | Fourthborn daughter of Maric. |
