Ooc

Backstory

The House
House Chabardieu is old, its origins revolving around botany and quick thinking. The founder of the house, Ursulin, was a man who spent his days wandering the land, much to the chagrin of his wife. He was meticulous, documenting the properties of every plant and animal and noteworthy phenomena he ran across.One afternoon, he stumbled across several injured knights, fleeing an ambush that had claimed the lives of their brethren. With the enemy hot on their heels and their wounds threatening to send them to Halone's halls, Ursulin realized that the knights had dragged themselves to a field full of Dragonlungs--a (now extinct) type of bulb that was prone to exploding when disturbed. Thinking quickly, he picked up the heaviest rocks he could find and launched them at the Dragonlungs. His plan worked; the explosions confused and repelled the Dravanians, if only temporarily. But it was enough to help the knights find safety.In recognition of his cleverness and bravery, House Chabardieu was born.
And in exchange? A contract to survey the land and bring back samples of flora and fauna that could help the war effort.In the modern day, however, the house would come to be known more for its fine silverwork than its explosive start. And after that, it would become even better known for its efforts to stay standing amidst scandal, tragedy, and financial ruin.
It was a house that Ameline never expected to be in charge of.

A broken engagement, a family that learned to tremble under the Fury's fist, death and the raging winters of the calamity—Ameline's world was never an entirely calm or predictable one.When her husband died, it felt like the end of Ameline's world; a second calamity to compliment the first. Aibertain was a good man, driven by the need to protect his family. It was a drive that only grew stronger after the birth of their daughter, Sophine. The war called and he answered, only to leave behind the wife and daughter he so cherished when he ended up on the wrong end of a dragon's maw.Her grief, however, was interrupted by shock when she was given the news that House Chabardieu was hers. Her youngest brother, Oldaric, was missing and presumed dead. Their second brother had died years prior in the line of duty and their father and grandfather long before that. As the last Chabardieu, the inheritance had fallen to her.Why Halone traded tragedy for hope was anyone's guess, but the Fury had clearly offered her a challenge and she intended to rise to it. This house would be hers and then it would be her daughter's and no one was ever going to tell either of them no.That hope briefly faltered, however, when she stared down the next of the Fury's challenges: Financial problems.When Aibertain died, his parents were all too happy to tell anyone who would listen that their youngest son was a disappointment to the very end. Hearing this, Ameline snapped entirely and struck her father-in-law across the face in front of his shocked house guests. In response, he threw her out of his house while her child was still inside and ordered the doors barred. It was only after she leveraged the profits of the familial silver trade in exchange that he finally agreed to return her daughter to her.To make matters worse, Oldaric had already left the house finances a mess when he left. The accountants he'd hired had walked off with far more than their pay. Their family heirlooms were sold or re-gifted. The coffers were emptied for whatever flight of fancy Oldaric had had at the time.Not one to back down from her birthright or the chance to make something of this mess, she works tirelessly to keep House Chabardieu standing strong. She can constantly be found pouring over ledgers, befriending the other ladies of high society to keep tabs on the gossip, and looking for new economic opportunities wherever she can find them.
Life is stubborn and cruel, but so is she.
And she fully intends to beat life at its own game if it's the last thing she ever does.