Vivienne de Ardennes

This page contains information about a character that has been or is still played by a member of the LotC community. Please keep this in mind as you proceed reading.

Vivienne Françoise Vivienne, Princess of Alstion, by Eleanore de Morvelyn-Louvain (c.1721). Princess-Consort of Alstion Predecessor: Aloisia Horen Successor: Magdalena Helane Born: 13th of Owyn's Flame, 1692 Ardennes, Man Died: 13th of The First Seed, 1725 (aged: 33) Spouse: John Alexander, Prince of Alstion (m. 1705) House: d'Amaury Father: Francis I, Margrave of Ardennes Mother: Aileen of Daelands

Vivienne Françoise (High Imperial: Vivianna), of the House of d'Amaury was a noblewoman of House d'Amaury and later Princess of Alstion by marriage to John Alexander, Prince of Alstion. She was later monikered the Princess-Mother as the mother of Adeline of Alstion and Charles I, both whom assumed a regnal or regency position in the Orenian Court. In actuality, the Princess held little to no influence on the state matters and shied from politics, resigning herself to the ongoings of the Imperial Court. Notably, however, she assumed a diplomatic role as an Imperial Envoy on several occasions and was a certified officiant of the Horenic Court of the Dragonsblood. To others, she was known as Vivienne of Ardennes, Vivienne d'Amaury, and Vivienne Horen.

Family & Childhood

Vivienne Françoise d’Amaury was born in the short-lived Margraviate, Ardennes. She was the only child to Francis I d'Amaury and Aileen Margrethe, his Daelish Consort. Shortly after her birth, her family's noble standing was relinquished by the erratic sovereign.

After the renunciation, Francis set off on a pilgrimage, leaving both his wife and daughter penniless. On the date 7th of the Sun's Smile, 1697, Several years after from having fallen from grace, Lady Aileen opted to leave her daughter before the Gates of Carolustadt on her lonesome. It is attested by civilians that when Vivienne entered the capital city, she bore a broad smile and walked with a determined gait, despite the public upheaval of her family's various attempts to rise throughout society's strata.

After arriving at the doorstep of the Imperial Palace, the girl received a surprise greeting from the Princess of Alstion, Amelia Horen, who informed her that her father requested that she'd be her ward. Astonished, Vivienne's only recorded retort to such was embracing Amelia. From thereon, Vivienne grew a fondness for both the pianoforte and Amelia's son, Prince Hadrian of Man. Many were convinced a courtship would take place between the two once they were of age, as they would spend many hours of the day together composing songs in the city's tavern. However, at the young age of ten, Vivienne was abruptly summoned to the courts of Banardia in Aeldin.

Vivienne d'Amaury by Queen Marguerite I of Banardia (c. 1702)

Marriage

Vivienne spent three years in the Banardian Court of Velling, and during her stay was described as a jovial and beauteous child; She was often compared to her ancestress, Claude of Lotharingia in her mannerisms when she herself stayed in the city. She grew close with Queen Anna-Maria and even suspected she'd be betrothed to the King's eldest son and heir, Louis-Auguste Anion. Despite her assumptions, Louise was wed and upon her first flowering, an Imperial writ of betrothal was delivered to the Banardian Courts. When the announcement was made amongst the crowd, courtiers writ that the girl mirthfully ran across the hall, calling out the name of her beloved Hadrian, to only fall to her knees and sob as she found out it wasn't to him.

In the early hours of the morning of the Snow's Maiden, Vivienne arrived to Walden, the Duchy of Alba's cosmopolitan capital, where she was carelessly stripped of her garments in front of the Imperial Guard and made to wear an ashen dress in the colors of the House of Horen, bearing 2 feet panniers and a chiffon headdress. But thirteen years of age, Vivienne was ushered into a new carriage where she promptly arrived at Pronce, the Agathorian holding of Benda Chivay. Once the citizens caught sight of the young bride, most stopped what they were doing to bow or curtsy to her, murmuring of the rumoured granddaughter of Lothaire. Still hopeful for her future, Vivienne waltzed into the cathedral, greeted by rows filled with people unfamiliar to her. Upon reaching the dais, she could make out the faces of both Amelia and a somber Hadrian, his arms feld over his chest. She was wed to her foreign husband, Prince John Alexander, in a formal ceremony before being forcibly dragged away into his family keep.

Family friends to the Duke of Furnestock surmised that Vivienne initually refused to consummate the marriage, the once bright and cheery girl locking herself away within the furthest reaches of their keep, inattentive to her firstborn twins, born the same year as her matrimony. The princess only evacuated her chambers upon the eventual birth of her daughter, Princess Adeline Margaret; it is said that Vivienne would insist on raising her daughter herself, much to her husband's dismay. Her marriage with John was a rocky one, with a venomous conflict between the two often keeping them apart; the palace staff once noted that after John told Vivienne that she'd be nothing if it weren't for her marriage to him, she let out a shrill scream and set off to throw her wedding dress into a lit fireplace. Nevertheless, the pair did not fail to produce hearty heirs, producing four children in total.

As Mother to the Empress

Right after her pregnancy with Adeline, John took on the mantle of the Principality of Alstion, making Vivienne the Princess-Consort. During this time, it is said she became merry once again, playing the pianoforte for the underprivileged children at the orphanage and spending an abundance of money on dresses for herself and her growing daughter.

When Adeline turned six, a betrothal was sent to the Prince of Alstion by the young Emperor, Godfrey II, Holy Orenian Emperor. Prince John hastily accepted without the council of his wife, something that Vivienne would resent him for the years to come. But a Saint's Week after, her young daughter was wed and became the Empress.

During the earliest stages of her daughter's tenure as Empress, Vivienne grew distant, having never truly come to terms with Adeline's newfound position. She took to practising the pianoforte, as she so frequently did in her youth, and left the upbringing of her youngest daughter, Princess Julia, to John.

As Adeline breached the vestiges of her childhood and entered the realm of adolescence as the War of Two Emperors came to its conclusion, the two began to speak of frivolities. It was during this time that both mother and daughter found comfort in each other, and when Vivienne would finally show an earnest interest in her daughter's life. On one occasion, the Princess of Alstion held a hearing in the belated Empress's proxy, which led to the vicious defamation of one Sabir de Savin, a claimant to the Kingdom of Santegia.

Vivienne gradually succumbed to a depressive state, her only confidants being her eldest daughter and the Empress-Mother, Princess Anabel Devereux. After Adeline's husband had been presumed deceased after a prolonged absence, and she, therefore, became an Empress-Dowager at the young age of sixteen, the two remained in their quarters, conversing of their musings.

Death

They had been in their privies when tumult erupted in the Rubrummagnus Palace, word of John VII's abdication spreading swiftly amongst the court. . An aghast Vivienne urged her daughter to rise, prompting word for a ship to an idle servant. The pair hastily left the Palace, embarking upon their familial ship, the SS Elizabeth. On the 13th of the First Seed, 1725, the two Imperials perished amidst their voyage to the Duchy of Alba. The remains of their ship, which was led astray from its intended course by a tempest, is yet to be found—and in turn, as are the remains of the Empress and the Princess of Alstion.

Titles, Styles, and Honors

Titles and Styles

• 1692-1705: Lady Vivienne d'Amaury
• 1705-1709: Her Imperial Highness, The Duchess of Furnestock
• 1709-1721: Her Imperial Highness, The Princess of Alstion
• 1721-1725: Her Serene Highness, The Princess of Alstion

Full title as Princess of Alstion

Her Imperial Highness, Vivienne of the Ardennes, Princess consort of Alstion, Duchess-Consort of Balemena and Alba.

Issue

Name	Birth	Death	Marriage	Notes
Charles Edward, Prince of Alstion	13th of Horen's Calling, 1705	Alive	Magdalena Helane	N/A
Henry Stephen, Duke of Furnestock	13th of Horen's Calling, 1705	Alive	Margaret of Renatus	N/A
Empress-Consort Adeline Alstion	4th of Owyn's Flame, 1709	13th of The First Seed, 1725	Godfrey II, Holy Orenian Emperor	Empress-Consort of Oren.
Julia Adelaide of Alba	5th of Sigismund's End, 1718	Alive	Unwed	Duchess of Alba. Abbess of Saint Jude.

Ancestors of Vivienne de Ardennes

16. King John of Lotharingia               8. Hughes d'Amaury, King of Lotharingia                       17. Charlotte Horen, Queen-Consort of Lotharingia               4. Lothar III, Archduke of Lorraine                             18. Warwick Horen-Rothesay, Duke of Leon               9. Mary Horen-Rothesay, Queen-Consort of Lotharingia                       19. Princess Eleanor of Oren               2. Francis d'Amaury, Margrave of Ardennes                                   20.               10. Fergus Gromach                       21.               5. Jessalin Gromach                             22. Francis de Morvelyn, Duke of Alba               11. Isabella de Morvelyn-Horen                       23. Princess Eleanor of Oren               1. Vivienne de Ardennes                                         24.               12. Fergus Gromach                       25.               6. Owen Gromach, Baron of Herborn                             26. Francis de Morvelyn, Duke of Alba               13. Isabella de Morvelyn-Horen                       27. Princess Eleanor of Oren               3. Aileen Gromach                                   28.               14.                       29.               7. Mairi Guthri                             30.               15.                       31.