Do you descend from King Baltazar II? (Part 2 of 5 - Tredony and Crafthole)

(Year 234, Summer) Mazaloom kingdom's most important king back in the Medieval era was King Baltazar II, who reigned for 46 years. He has plenty of descendants all over the nation, and abroad, and in this series of 5 articles we'll reveal what residents that carry the DNA from this monarch.

In the first article the focus was regions Windenburg (Windenburg and Nordhaven) and Rossie (Britechester and Henford-on-Bagley). This time we'll take a look at regions Tredony (Del Sol Valley, Tredony and Tartosa) and Crafthole (Ravenwood, Copperdale, Glimmerbrook and Moonwood). So, this 2nd article covers today's royal House of Luxe-Hamper: Do they connect to King Baltazar II?

Gossips #17

(Year 234, Summer) Hello again! I'm ready with the 17th issue of my gossips column! Upcoming social season must wait until next issue, because there is so much in the line-up. Are you ready, too? Let's go!

As usual, we'll start with the royals.

Queen's Brother and Princess Splitting Up?

(Year 234, Summer) Are the rumors true? Is a divorce upcoming for Baron Sacariaz of Tartosa? Will he divorce from Princess Aleccandra? Any baron's divorce would go public with speculations, but in this case it's not just a regular baron, Sacariaz happens to be the brother of Queen Venezia.

We know nothing regarding what takes place behind closed doors, but there are numerous indicstors feeding such a rumor. Baron Sacariaz and Princess Aleccandra can not reproduce, at least not together. If it is the Baron himself to blame, a divorce would not help, but if it is Princess Aleccandra who is inferile, he might see finding another spouse as the only way to bring his peerage forward. This peerage was held by House de Mandrake for nearly 200 years, requiring a male heir, even. His sister, Queen Venezia, gave birth to no less than four children, so it makes it less likely that Sacariaz is the infertile part.

Baron Sacariaz and Princess Aleccandra used to be the ultimate celebrity couple, he being the Head of a House with the need for a son, and she being the jetzet princess, who, together with her scandal sister Princess Hortenzia, were stripped from their Highness style by the previous monarch, Queen Evez. The couple was often seen out and about, they were often photographed, and they were also a press favorite thanks to their relaxed, tad eccentric style.

Royal Estates Speculations

(Year 234, Spring) In Mazaloom kingdom there are eight royal estates, one for each of the nation's eight regions. According to recent strategies the total number of royal estates was reduced as a direct result of smaller budgets. Maintenance comes with a bill, and the size of the current royal family would probably not justify more than eight estates, anyway. Thanks to the recent regional reform, the Crown owns no estate in today's region 5 San Myshuno, but in former days this area included Del Sol Valley, where we find the royal palace. So, in a way region San Myshuno is well represented.

Top left to bottom right (numbers refer to region): 3 Royal palace Chateau Peak in Del Sol Valley, 1 Hafen Herrenhaus in Nordhaven, 2 Wyvern Hall in Britechester, 3 Villa Vigna in Tartosa, 4 Chateau Marigold in Ravenwood, 6 Sunneva Challet in San Sequoia, 7 Casa de Cha-cha in Ciudad Enamorada, 8 Queen's Stables in Newcrest.

All estates are listed with some details on the Royal Palace Office's webpage (RPO). Occasionally royals spend holidays away from the royal palace, or they might move for a couple weeks according to bigger events where they tend to engagements over numerous days. The additional estates can also be used for social events or accommodate stately guests. Basically each estate is operated by a live-in Tenant who might also work as the estate's butler, but for bigger occasions staff members might be borrowed from the royal palace.

New Royal Portraits

(Year 233, Fall) Royal Palace Office (RPO) has released four brand new portraits of central members of the royal family. It's been a while since the previopus updates, but with a new royal photographer on board, the future updates might get more frequent. Read more about the new photographer below. First we'll take a look at some of the new portraits.

They all come in multiple versions, all certified by the RPO. The most interesting to most Mazaloom residents is of course the portraits of HRM King Tarriot and HRH Queen Venezia.

Royal Teens observed in Chestnut Ridge

(Year 233, Fall) Guests at the local «Canter Dinery & Nectary» probably had to look twice to believe what they saw: The Crown Princess of Mazaloom walking in to place an order! No stylish outfit? Not even her hair properly done? No security? Or wait, was her bodyguards in disquis as regular restaurant guests? No wonder everyone stopped eating!

She placed her order and walked outside. And the guests were unsure whether the quick event actually took place at all.

Royal Chamber: Tax Day to affect All

(Year 232, Winter) Today a quick press meet-up took place at the Council House at Magnolia Promenade, San Myshuno. HRM King Tarriot had an announcement that was received with applause by all attendees.

Mazaloom kingdom has a system of extra taxes and tax reliefs, all to be summed up and charged on Tax Day. Tax Day occurs on 1st day of Spring every 5 years, 3 years after the election. Previously the royal family and the high nobility households were not affected by these extra taxes, but things are changing!

Winner announced: Mazaloom Achievement Award Year 232

(Year 232, Winter) For the second time the Mazaloom Achievement Award was given to a resident who reached the top level of a skill. Last year jazz singer Olivia Clump was the very first to be honored. Speculations have been flying all over this year, because there are so many candidates. Media has been assuming that certain criteria would not repeat two following years, especially not this early in the routine. So, it was expected that this year's honoree would not be female, not from Newcrest, and not being awarded for Cooking, Painting or Singing skills.

Crown Princess Emireza and Count Vladislaus IV Straud met at the graveyard.

Yesterday, in the very early morning hour, HRH Crown Princess Emireza met up at the Henford-on-Bagley graveyard - location and hour picked by the winner, to hand out this year's award. And, the press was there, too!

Royal Palace Office Announcement

(Year 232, Winter) Early this week Royal Palace Office (RPO) called for an important press announcement in three days. Speculations have been going all over the place. Someone even suggested that an early engagement involving HRH Crown Princess Emireza could be the issue. But no, it turned out to be about the ongoing cultural conflict between Mazaloom kingdom and Empire of Snorthia.

HRM King Tarriot and Royal Chief Attendant Ms Maiden in the King's office.

HRM King Tarriot (64) and Royal Chief Attendant Miss Patrica Maiden (51) met the press. Maiden opened by giving a brief introduction to the well known conflict. Talking about the innocent event where she was seeing the exhibited painting "Moon Liza", just to reveal that the portrayed woman was indeed Miss Maiden's own late mother, Limia (Oceanus) Maiden. Emperor Orchor of Snorthia got furious as the painting was their very old heirloom seen as a national treasure, now exposed to be only one generation old. He claimed that the entire empire was deeply offended. It did not help much that Limia turned out to be a Princess of Sea, actually sister of their current King. At young age she broke with her royal family to rather dedicate her life to acting.

- My mother was a very shy actress not wanting any attention to her own person, and she died from embarrasment when papparazzis noticed her, drowning her with their blitz rain. Unfortunately, she dragged even more unwanted attention to herself by falling to the ground right on Judith Ward's fame brick at Starlight Boulevard.

Miss Maiden then introduced King Tarriot. He explained that Grand Marshal Robert Calves, Prime Minister Rob Wilder and himself have been searching a peaceful end to the two years long splitting conflict. The King has reached out to Emperor Orchor of Snorthia on multiple occasions, and now there has finally been some response!

Gossips #14

(Year 232, Winter) I'm back with he 14th issue of my wonderful gossips column! Welcome!

This time I tried to restrict myself, but you get a lengthy read anyway! Rest assured there is juicy stuff waiting - including the nude photo of a mature princess! You might notice that I will no longer use each district name for the heading graphics, instead we'll just have one graphical heading for each region. And - if you are like me, you are quite fed up with those eight regional numbers, so in the future I'll just stick with the regions' names. This issue will be the last where those numbers are included in the text - we got so much more important stuff to focus on than numbers, right!

Rewind: Queen Evez Coronation

(Year 232, Fall) It's time for another rewind! This is a photo taken in Year 179 at Queen Evez' coronation. That is 53 years ago and mainly the children are still alive. The photo is currently on the wall in the Throne Room at the Royal Palace.

Let's see who were present, and also look for fun facts regarding their lives and connections, like two of the children are actually married today.

From the Throne Room at the Royal Palace Chateau Peak. Click image for a bigger version.

When Queen Evez got crowned, she had already married Lord Clempus Ross of House of Ross, son of the Duke of Rossie. They had two sons, Tarriot and Blaise. All four are centered on this photo. Crown Prince Tarriot got the Crown when Queen Evez died suddenly in Year 198.

Unique Display: Fragments of the Achilles Set

(Year 232, Fall) Earlier this year HRM King Tarriot brought home a couple pieces of the ancient Achilles set, from a royal expedition into the Selvadoradian jungle. The items have now been cleansed and this week the Royal Palace exposed them in the Mazaloom Grand Hall, that is open to public most days of the year.

Archaeologist were ecstatic when learning that these items had been discovered by the royal expedition, as the Achilles set has been seen as a long gone treasure. Now a nectar pitch and a cup can be admired at the palace by everyone, until the items will visit at least two galleries elsewhere in the nation, organized by the National Museum. A third item was gifted to King Salomar of Sea, as a thank you for hosting the expedition.

The 15th Queen Evez Championship

(Year 232, Summer) Every other year Mazaloom's society enjoys a day with show jumping, and mingling along with some punch and cake in hand. This is the 15th competition, and a new Champion is to be found!

Queen Evez Championship is originally intended for the finer families. All Houses gets invited, and some of them will even participate in the show jumping contest. Check back a couple blog posts for more details on preparations.

King Tarriot's Jungle Expedition

(Year 232, Spring) This week HRM King Tarriot traveled to Selvadorada in Sea kingdom. Joining him is his younger brother, HRH Prince Blaise. It's no secret that the two royalties enjoyed Archaeology ever since they were teenagers. However, recently his majesty did not find much time for his dedication to ancient history.

So, it must have been easy accepting the invitation from the King of Sea. This is a return visit, as three members of the Sea kingdom's royal family visited Mazaloom last year. There have been speculations ever since, regarding their youngest son, Prince Weever, being shortlisted as a possible match for our own Crown Princess. Crown Princess Emireza did not join her father on this trip, though.

Duke Merlin von Windenburg turns 80

(Year 232, Spring) The Duke von Windenburg celebrated his 80th birthday last weekend! A grand banquet was hosted at Estate von Windenburg and topping the guest list were HRM King Tarriot and HRH Queen Venezia!

Left to right: HRH Queen Venezia, HRM King Tarriot, His Grace Duke Merlin von Windenburg, and Duchess Mandy. 

After the serving, which included local seafood and more, there was plenty of dancing and fun. The reports say nothing about what parts of the celebration the royals took part in.

The Royal Family - Titles and Payroll

(Year 232, Spring) It takes quite some rules, traditions and routines to make the nation work well. One part of this is how the royal family is organized, including their titles and allowances. A system that might seem a bit overwhelming at first, but when we break it down a bit, most rules make perfect sense.

Below is a fresh family photo released right after the Crown Princess' 20th birthday last year. All of them are related somehow, but not necessarily a member of the Royal Family or the Royal House of Luxe-Hamper. You might wonder why the children were not joining, but at the moment the minors counted only 3 infants. 6 teenagers are featured, though.

Photo from the celebration of HRH Crown Princess Emireza's 20th birthday. Front: HRH Queen Venezia and HRM King Tarriot. Standing left to right: Baroness Suzi de Portefino, Prince Ace, Countess Bequeenie de Tredony, Prince Jerome, Lord Millaus de Luminosa, Prince Bazil, Baroness Amalia de Vert, Baron P. de Vert, Crown Princess Emireza, Princess Duella, Prince Cecil, Lord Nicham de Luminosa, Prince Marcuz, Princess Evendice, Prince Royal Blaise, and Prince Marquis.

Seeing Mazaloom's Monarch in light of the administration of a nation, the Monarch is head of the Royal Chamber, which according to our Institution is one of three chambers sharing the power. Because of this the royals did not exactly choose their position, just as much as they can not just decide that enough is enough - let's become plumbers instead! No, they happen to be one of those three major fundaments forming the platform of our community. The Royal Family is there to assist the Monarch and to serve the nation, but also to secure future heirs. Luckily for the Monarch, there is a bunch of individual persons who can help, but only some of them will get paid by being on the royal payroll.

King Tarriot receives Family Tree

(Year 232, Spring) Yesterday HRM King Tarriot held a special audience for the Historical Society's leader, Mila Munch. The occasion was the society's first print of the new series of family trees honoring a few of our most important houses.

HRM King Tarriot received the first framed family tree; tree of the House of Luxe-Hamper. 

The series involves most of the high nobility Houses, but Munch states there will also be a few no longer existing houses. Starting with the royal House of Luxe-Hamper felt natural.

Royal palace: Stately visit

(Year 231, Winter) This week the royal family of Mazaloom is hosting a state visit, as the royals of Sea kingdom spent a full three days at the royal palace in Del Sol Valley. If there were political maters to be discussed between the two monarchs, they were easily overshadowed by Crown Princess Emireza's 20th birthday.

Left to right: HRH Crown Princess Emireza of Mazaloom, HRH Queen Venezia and HRM King Tarriot of Mazaloom, HRM King Salomar and HRH Queen Medaka of Sea, HRH Prince Weever.

The royal guests counted HRM King Salomar with Queen Medaka, and their youngest son Prince Weever (31). Our royals visited Sea kingdom for Crown Prince Longjav's grand wedding earlier this year.

Jubilee Lunch at Royal Palace

(Year 231, Fall) Just before Fall greets Winter, HRM King Tarriot hosted this year's Jubilee Lunch at the royal palace. This is a tradition where a select of members of the great peerage get invited, allowing the Monarch to show them some honor regarding their anniversaries. Every year each region's high nobility Peer will send a list of upcoming anniversaries to the royal palace office, suggesting for them to either get a royal visit or to be invited for the next lunch. The Jubilee Lunch takes place most years, but is skipped or postponed if there are too few persons on that guest list.

Left to right: HRM King Tarriot, Baroness Elvira de Sür-Blyth with husband Baron Hugo, High Priest Ansgar Profedius of the Church of Similius, Diego Lobo, Raspoutin Honeydew with wife Elvira.

When your House or your Peerage celebrates an anniversary, you might find yourself drinking tea next to the King! Some years the Queen will participate, also.

HRH Crown Princess Emireza turns 20

(Year 231, Fall) This morning The Royal Palace Office shared a couple pictures on their Simstagram account. In case you forgot: HRH Crown Princess Emireza is now twenty yeas old!

There's still five more years until she is no longer a teenager, but twenty is still some sort of a milestone in these circles. She is now old enough to handle any official tasks on her own, and she can even speak up at the Royal Chamber meetings, that she attended since she turned 15, but just to observe and learn. CP Emireza will now probably get on the payroll, and we expect her to take on more community engagements from next year.