House Amaris

(Author:S.gage, Status:incomplete)

House Amaris was the dynastic ruling house of the Rim Worlds Republic.

Quote

The universal scholar would be hard pressed to find a worse collection of self-involved, sadistic tyrants than those of House Amaris. Not only did they damn themselves by their collective hatred of Humanity, but by their actions, they damned us as well.

--passage from Black Eagles Stained with Blood: A History of the Amaris Family, by Gordon Ballantre, Decameron Press, Lackhove, 2955.

The Periphery (sourcebook), p. 52

Traits

Like the previous dynastic ruling house of the Periphery realm, the Rowe/Durant line, House Amaris is noteworthy for its terrible villains and its progressive heroes. Yet all Amaris lords (on record) between approximately 2550 and 2780, both enlightened and treacherous, tend towards some (or all) of the following personality traits (listed most common to least common):

More Common

• arrogance
• pragmatism
• paranoia
• two-faced behavior
• cunning
• ambition

Less Common

• sadism
• Machiavellian intrigue

With the Amaris ties to the Terran Hegemony, Amaris rulers always maintained (at least a facade of) cordial relations with the Director-General of the Terran court. It seems implicit that the dual Terran/Apollonian citizenship of Amaris Lords may well have contributed to the problem; the Amaris arrogance may stem from a belief the line is "better" than other Periphery lords and denizens, on equal footing with Lords of the Inner Sphere.

Another trait of the history of the house is violence and instability. After the Reunification War, only three Republican governments were able to transition bloodlessly or without political intrigue, and to of these governments, two were essentially regencies. For example, before the Amaris Civil War, Stefan "The Usurper's" safety was only insured by the cowardice of his contemporaries.

Ability to Wage War

Of the Amaris traits, ambition, paranoia and cunning were the deadly combination that led to the Succession Wars. With large expanses of space, and colonization efforts underway in the unexplored Periphery, the armies of the Rim Worlds Republic were able to build and train away from the surveillance of the Inner Sphere. After the Reunification War, the Amaris line never fully returned property rights to their citizens. Therefore, the average subject of House Amaris had:

• moderate education
• moderate standard of living
• little freedom

House Amaris also gave lucrative deals to newcomers to the Periphery and, in effect, forced their subjects to into fields of moderately skilled labor required to operate a large arms industry, and the clerical workers who either worked for the Star League, or covered up the Republican military build-up. Further, the Rim Royal Guard Act - implemented by Rim Royal Army commanding officer Fiona Amaris during the Selanta regime - required all citizens of the Republic to serve the military. Once retired after a 3-year tour, all citizens were kept in a obligatory military reserve. The Act was implemented after the Cameron Act of 2650, at least tripling the size of the fighting force the Rims World Republic could field (given short advanced notice). These factors gave the Republic:

• a very large, moderately trained, technologically sophisticated army
• the ability to maintain a facade of compliance with the Star League
• infiltration of the Star League administration, easing the eventual transition required by Stefan Amaris's coup d'etat

Sources

• The Periphery (sourcebook)