Ever since the great split between Apricus and Fideli roughly 200 years ago the ruling houses of Apricus have remained some of the most stable in the isles. Or rather, lacked the infighting a lot of the other nobili families across the isles display. This is usually credited to the fact that the oldest child of the current head of the family is always legally assumed to be the heir at birth instead of the normal electoral system seen in other great Sorori families. It has its drawbacks as it can be very hard to challenge an heir that may not be suitable for the job.
As for their actual powers, they are considered a mouthpiece and protector for their territory. They do not get a hereditary seat in their parliament, instead they have a counsel that is more of an advisory committee for the "civilian” government. They are also expected to use whatever wealth generation they get from their production deals with the temple system to support social programs within their territories (which is the same in Viridis). There’s probably more to this I’m forgetting but this is enough. Anyway, let’s meet these folks.
Crown Prince Esai Arman Ramone Aguilar Medani, Comi of Aurori
So yeah you know this guy. The Crown Prince of Apricus is usually invested as Comi of Aurori as soon as they reach their majority. It’s supposed to help them get used to holding a ceremonial office under the close eye of the other heads of house and the monarch. At 28 years old Esai has held the position now for about 11 years and his term is considered to be generally unremarkable (partially because his grandma and older members of the counsel think his ideas are a bit extreme).
Maxima Edassi, Comi of Silvestri
Xima came to her position as comi two years ago after the death of her father. Before that happened there were a number of rumors that she and Esai were going to eventually go under contract and her sister would end up inheriting the seat instead but that never came to pass. Before taking her position, she studied ecology at the International School in Viridis and now spends most of her time working to strengthen the protections on her sections of the Aprici Wildlands.
Livan “Van” Violeti, Comi of Margarilla
The hereditary “Lord of Pearls” is easily one of the most influential leaders in the country. His family not only controls the majority of the chain’s main high luxury export - pearls, but also the multimedia company known as The Deluge Network. Pretty much all news media, print, digital, or televised goes through this company in some way. Diluvio (the main newspaper), and Diluvinunci! (a daily news program) are directly and openly funded by him but Salve Sorori receives support through back door funding. He is rumored to be the richest man in the isles but as a lot of his holdings are private no one knows for sure.
On top of all this he is very close with the Queen, his wife Cira (lovingly called “Queen of Pearls” by the media) is one of her many noble companions, and their three daughters (including Onora) grew up in Esai’s highly cultivated childhood circle.
Since these guys have a lot going on I’m stopping here so this won’t be overwhelming. There are four more but they have less story behind them so it probably won’t be as long.
