OOC | Avelina & Rowena
YAAAAAAY I’m sooo glad!!! Their family is soooo complicated!!!! I once tried to make a map of how all the ODR characters interconnect and I legit ran out of paper hahahahaha And the royal family is the biggest bit of that.
I’m not sure who you asked about that tbqh either bc I stalk all the comments on ODR HAHAHAHAH buuuuut I think it may have been Lizzy???? Either way, I remember that you more or less said Rowena would have her family over frequently to keep a close eye. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer - especially when they also double as your family, amirite ;DDDDD Anyway, Avelina would def show up to everything she’s invited to and put on a good face. I feel like, for one thing, you can’t really turn down the queen, but for another she doesn’t want to draw undue attention and she’s ~biding her time before she can consolidate her power and strike. I should also warn you that Avelina is paranoid and kinda borderline unhinged (what a family, I know) and I love her but…yeah. You’ve been warned ;DDDDD
Avelina is only a little older than Rowena. Avelina is 39 and Rowena’s 34, so yeah. I think Rowena’s mom, Elianora, also was the closest thing Avelina had to a mom (since her own mother died in childbirth) and I know she grew up as though she were a sibling to Arthur (Lizzy’s Sean Bean) so yeah I can see the three of them (and Rowena’s late twin brother, Theodoric, so four) all growing up like siblings or close cousins or such, potentially????? And yeah.
I think there was still weirdness and resentment, even back then when things were theoretically better hahahaha bc Avelina (39) was the eldest and technically the aunt to each of them. Then it was Arthur (37) followed by the twins (34). They were all of royal lineage and yet Theodoric (at the time) was destined to be king; Rowena was a princess; Arthur would be a Duke…and then there was Avelina. She’d be a lady, probably a Warden’s lady or, when they were kids, she was promised to Rowena’s Godiva uncle, Alexandir (38) which she RAILED AGAINST and yeahhhh Avelina’s been digging her own grave since she was a child I s2g.
Anyway, I think Avelina felt that inequality deeply, esp bc she ~wasn’t one of the cousins and she didn’t have a mom, she had a sister. Her father was TERRIBLE since the death of his wife and resented Avelina for killing her, so the closest she had to a real dad was Arthur’s father. And so she was kind of borrowing other people’s parents but she wasn’t really there’s and her destiny was so unsure and I basically think Avelina’s felt scared and alone all her life.
OKKKKKKKK, so now to take everything I’ve told you and blow it up ;DDDD Jk, jk. But now I’m gonna deal with Avelina as a threat.
So I told you know how I was just saying Avelina feels scared and alone? She’s like an animal backed into a corner, meaning she sees her only option as striking back. Now, Avelina Beaumont was born Avelina Arrington. Her father was the Duke of Fain and, according to the Old Ways, the rightful king. The Arringtons’ words are We Are the First bc they are the Kings of Old, so they have the most ancient claim on the throne.
According to the ~Old Ways, the Arringtons are the rightful rulers of Aragoth and, like the English throne (up until recently), the crown passes to the eldest male. So, after Avelina’s father, her brother, and then her brother’s son (Arthur) would rule. If they were all dead, it would go to Arthur’s sister, Cordelia. If Cordelia was dead, it would go to the Elianora’s (having exhausted the male line), meaning Rowena (since Theodoric is conveniently dead), then to Helena, and next to Avelina. That’s quite a few graves to dig, but Avelina still has a legitimate claim to the throne in her own right and that makes her a threat to anyone ahead of her.
So, right now, Rowena is ruling on her rights as a Godiva (ruling as her father’s heir, that is - not her mother’s - though there are those who might argue that Alexandir is Droyn’s rightful heir, which is part of why Rowena would probably sleep easier with him dead), since she passed the law permitting female inheritance, but there are still those who believe in the Old Ways and would like to see Arthur Arrington on the throne.
Now, Avelina secretly plans to dethrone Rowena is favor of Avelina’s firstborn, Lynessa - which is the goal of #TeamBeaumont (which consists of Avelina Beaumont, Lynessa Beaumont, Dmitrei Massard, and v recently Romayne Vitalis). Now, she ~could go through and off all those people (which I honestly wouldn’t put past her), or she could wed Lynessa to Arthur and pool all the interest in the various branches of the Arrington claim to rise up against Rowena.
Remember I mentioned that Cassius let Charles live, unaware that Charles had three dragon eggs? Well, one (of those eggs hatched for Charles’ nephew, Roran DeGrey; another) was spirited away by Dezod, who used dark magic to unnaturally bind the dragon inside to Rob Barret. Since Rob isn’t his ~true Rider, the dragon’s weak and sickly, but a dragon notwithstanding, and Avelina’s ally, Dmitrei Massard, has access to that dragon, given his connections in the South, etc. Avelina, herself, is also secretly learning dark magic for Rowena’s fellow student, Safira.
In addition, Avelina has three daughters. She’s marrying Lynessa, first, to Jon Valles, who has a large standing army and has just inherited Fontaine, as well, making him both powerful and wealthy, and also has holdings in the North. In addition, she’s sent Celia to the South to marry the Warden of the South there. Not to mention the support of the Southern Isles, courtesy Romayne to whom she’s promised Evie. In the East, as Arringtons, they have both Fain and Beaumont. In the West, Lynessa’s paternal cousin is the Warden and would, hopefully, side with his cousin rather than Rowena. Plus, there are other lords, such as the Warden in the North, who are v dedicated to the Old Ways and could probably be counted on to rise up in support, as well, of an Arrington cause.
tl;dr: Rowena has a royal claim; Rowena has a dragon; Rowena has dark magic; Rowena has wealth; Rowena has an army Team Beaumont has a royal claim; Team Beaumont has a dragon; Team Beaumont has dark magic; Team Beaumont has wealth; Team Beaumont has an army
Granted, Team Beaumont still has an uphill battle ahead, given that Rowena’s been queen for fifteen years and there’s a solidity that comes with that; her dragon is paired with his true Rider and is also full grown; and she has natural magic whereas Avelina’s is purely learned magic. But, still, Avelina/Team Beaumont could potentially pose a threat. Sooo, that’s the threat of which I spoke hahahaha
AHAHAHA. well at least you saw it?? BUT THAT’S IT EXACTLY. keep your enemies sooooo close. mostly because i think it’s avelina she most doesn’t trust?? and ya’ll have said that the younger beaumonts are teamrowena so i think it would totes help ~keep up with those relationships as well. because as long as they’re clueless and blindly love rowena, she’s going to keep that up. .... also she wants to spy on the older relatives because whY CAN’T THEY ALL JUST DIE?!?!?! so family times at the palace and totes fun time, haha. (also the dinner conversations between avelina and rowena. THOSE ARE PROBABLY ACTUAL GOLD.)
SHE WAS ENGAGED TO ALEX?!?!?! WELL THAT WOULD’VE BEEN A FUN TIME. (don’t the play sibs in game of thrones? ahahaha. well that’s fun times.) but oh man. i kind of need a childhood fic of those four BECAUSE WOW THAT SOUNDS SO INTERESTING. i think rowena was starting to be dark even then?? so maybe as a child she decided she was “better than all these people” and decided then and there that she wanted to be queen because none of the rest of them were ~worthy?? *snorts* rowena godiva, actually spoiled brat child princess. ... those words aren’t in the right order but you get the idea??
AND AVELINA BORROWING FAMILY FROM OTHER PEOPLE. I HAVE NEVER WANTED TO HUG HER MORE??? LIKE ACTUAL OW. and probs none of the cousins even helped?? wow. so it’s like you people brought your terrible family relationships on yourselves. *points finger at entire royal family* (not that half of them care but still, haha)
anyway, so rowena basically stole the throne??? and if rowena weren’t queen then after helena, it would be avelina? (did i read that right??) so basically avelina is kind of traveling the same type of road that rowena traveled to obtain the throne? except avelina is doing it for lynessa? wow that’s interesting.
and now moving on to riders. so did dezod tie the dragon to rob for avelina (or maybe not her specifically but her uses in mind?)?? or did it just conveniently happen that way so now avelina has a ~kind of rider at her disposal? (and wouldn’t the dragon being sick be, um, a huge problem?? O.O)
EVIE WAS PROMISED TO ROMAYNE?!?! ahahaha. well that’s going to work out?? but oh wow. so avelina is basically marrying off everyone in her family to gain power, status and property?? ahhhh. well that’s super interesting. good plan, avelina. rowena probs wouldn’t even notice. she doesn’t much care about the marriages of peasants (even if they are family).
anyway, wow. that is quite a threat. though most of this hasn’t come to pass yet?? all the marriages are still in the works and has avelina started her training with safira yet?? but wow. teambeaumont be going places, haha. so hmm. i honestly think rowena has never trusted avelina but i don’t think she believes she’s *too much* of a threat. otherwise she’d probably be trying to actively kill her off like she does alex?? though, actually, rowena actively tries to kill off alex because he’s a much bigger threat, right?? whereas avelina would basically have to overthrow rowena and kill helena to be next in line, right?
(also love the family trees. HUGE FAMILY, WOAH. AND THANKS FOR EXPLAINING ALL OF THIS *hugs tightly*)















