CODEX: The Lion’s Curse
Should you wander at will through the great city of Lenvard, you will doubtless find strange statuary lurking in forgotten corners, or adorning the roof lines of certain buildings. These fearsome beasts resemble lions with curving horns and serpentine tails. Locals will tell you in low voices that such creatures are effigies of the mythical chimaera, possessed of the ram’s tenacity, a serpent’s guile, and the bold heart of the lion, King of Beasts.
These statues are a relic of times past, when Idria was ruled by the formidable House of Rochas, known by their chimaera sigil. A bloody revolution ended the line of Rochas kings and ushered in a new era -- that of the Grand Dukes and Duchesses of the House of Verlais.
While this revolution occurred nigh on three generations ago, it is still only spoken of in whispers. Many believe that the dying words of the last de’Rochas king continue to cast their spell: one of heartbreak and betrayal, sorrow and vengeance. For a legend persists that a curse was laid on the House of Verlais, a curse that causes their line to wither, each generation dwindling little by little. They die young, or go to their graves without issue, leaving no heirs to inherit the ducal throne.
“It is the Lion’s curse,” some will tell you, careful not to be overheard. The whispers have grown louder of late, what with Grand Duchess Sybella in ill health, without a direct successor.
Does that last king, named by history as the Lion of Rochas, cast his shadow upon the White Palace even now?
-- From Aviano: A History by Lady Emilie Rhodes-Burgess