The Woodlander Royal Family

There is no formal hierarchy within the structure of the Woodlander Royals. In practice, their House Leaders take the lead, but all the House Leaders are considered co-equals with one another. They also tend to automatically assume the lead when a situation calls for their particular strengths, and mutual respect assures the others will follow them. For example, Princess ShyRedFox tends to lead the activities of the family when it comes to creating mutual social opportunities or infrastructure projects; Archon The Bard with Many Names tends to take the lead on cultural celebrations and exchanges, and is usually the life of the party once it has broken out; and Queen Sable Aradia tends to lead when the family itself, or their Protectorates, are under threat.   It is a point of note that unlike with many other royal families, the formality of title and position is a matter strictly for their public facing. Behind closed doors, the family is as "normal" a family as could be imagined. Members freely speak their opinions and criticize their House Leadership or even mock them affectionately, and family quarrels and misunderstandings exist. They address each other, even the monarchs among them, by their family relationship or first names, or even gently mocking nicknames (such as "Lite Brite" and "Sarlaac.") This is not unknown by their people, but in formal and public settings, they observe the expected rituals and codes of conduct, and address each other by title. Nor do the members of the family publicly criticize each other.

The Woodlander Royal Family culture is an odd mixture of social backgrounds and compromises. Two of the three Houses which are connected by the family are old literomantic families, and one is brand new. However, even those old families were not exactly raised "royal." Lapin had completely lost connection to their roots when Queen Sable's grandmother, the previous Chief Rabbit, fled the Nazi invasion of Poland, so Queen Sable was raised in a fairly typical working-class environment. And while Meles had not lost those connections, any previous formal titles had been lost, so they were raised in an environment of poor nobility, looking to the better days behind them.   Since The Bard with Many Names has assumed the House Leadership, along with the members of his polycule, House Ailurus has been strongly influenced by fae culture. Since the Archon came from poverty in the fae realms, and was elevated to participation in the royal fae court due to the influence of his mentor and sibling Lady Xalafan, this combination of "commoner" and "noble" also influences Ailurus' actions and behaviour.   One of his partners, HappyHappySad, has taken on the official duties of the Seneschal or second in command; in public, they strictly adhere to this hierarchy, but behind the scenes, they share many of the duties of House Leadership, evening out each other's strengths and weaknesses. Seneschal Happy also came from a fairly poor background as a Roadfolk. Between the two, their mutual background with experience of commoner community solidarity vs. nobility games gave them the view that power should be decentralized into the Council of Ailurus.   It is also significant that, unlike many royal families in history, the Woodlanders give no less respect to found family and adoptions than they do to genetics. Archon Bard's partners are accepted as his official spouses, never mind if there was a legal wedding or not, because that's not important. Foxx is Princess ShyRedFox's sibling and Queen Sable's child because they say so. And Queen Sable went to war against her own Parliament until Prince Jean was accepted as her Heir.   The combination can be difficult for outsiders to navigate. Among friends and family, the Woodlander Royals are a messy clan of equals, with all the love, silliness, and conflict one would expect of such a group. In public, the Woodlanders are careful to observe the formalities, and those formalities are not mere window dressings. When the House Leaders act as House Leaders, making diplomatic decisions or planning battle strategies, they are respected in their positions and their orders are obeyed.   The key to understanding this is that universally, the Woodlander Royals view their titles as jobs. They will do their jobs to the best of their abilities. But being jobs, they are no more, nor less, important in their eyes than any of the other "jobs" assumed by their other House Members or the people they rule, from Head of Intelligence to janitor.

The Woodlander Royal Family supports The Treaty of the Great Houses. Universally, they are Tome Knights, and may arguably be said to be the modern founders of that ideal, so they take their oaths to defend their people against supernatural threats very seriously. As the rulers of their Protectorates, they are also deeply concerned about the welfare of their peoples. While all three Houses have different solutions, none are absolute monarchies, and all have varying systems of representational government, particularly in the day-to-day management of the needs of their Protectorates.   While they have often been accused of power-grabbing, the truth is that they are genuinely, and fully, committed to the public agenda they claim to have. This puts a strain on their internal family dynamics, due to the high stakes of their cause, and the resulting trauma. Especially since several members of the family have also been Night Monarchs.

While they are monarchs, the primary assets that can be claimed by the Woodlander Royals, and not their Protectorates, are their literomantic ones. Meles and Lapin have literomantic libraries full of ancient knowledge collected by their ancestors over centuries, and Ailurus has the collective wisdom of fae magic and the recently restablished, and much respected, Penwall Academy of the Arts.

Prior to 2020

Literomantologists agree that the founding of the Woodlander Royal Family began with the relationship of future Lapin Queen Sable Aradia and Meles noble Erin Righ in the mid-1990s. Their first child, Princess Becca, was born in 1996, and they adopted an orphan boy, Prince Jean, not long afterwards. Their eldest son, Daniel, was Erin's son from a previous marriage, and Sable Lapin adopted him as well. They lived with Sable Lapin's half-sister, future Princess Rowean, and her children to mitigate expenses.   In 2004, Erin's half-brother Realm of Music, and his partner Great Badger Darth Nikolas, wished to become parents, and they asked Sable Lapin if she would be their egg donor. She agreed, and became the biological mother of all six Meles children. To them, she was "Auntie Sable," and the family agreed the truth of their biological origins would be told to them when they turned 16. The two families remained involved with each other and often spent holidays together. Sable Lapin and Erin Meles did not officially marry until 2008, however. Darth Nikolas and Realm of Music were formally married as soon as this became legal in the United States in 2015.  

2020

The outbreak of The First Word War is what propelled the dramatic changes that thrust the family into the spotlight, and world-wide prominence. Erin Meles became the first Night Monarch when he was "possessed" by a dark spirit known as The Nite Qing, and Sable Lapin, future Badger Royals ShyRedFox and Purpleheart and the Meles family found themselves among the Literomancers, writers who had suddenly gained magical powers, trying to save the world from a Zombie apocalypse. When the dust settled, the Meles and Lapin families both found themselves leading nations in the wreckage of North America's political and social landscape, and Erin Meles wandered in self-imposed exile. Daniel Meles had been killed in the disaster, and Becca Lapin had disappeared.  

2021

The truth of the origin of the Meles children, known as the Forgelings, came to light when exposed in the media, resulting in heightened tension within the family and a lawsuit that was settled out of court over the invasion of privacy.  

2022

In early 2022, two assassination attempts against Queen Sable, who was carrying The Iron Tome at the time, significantly impacted the family. Queen Sable survived both attempts, and the love story of how is remembered in a highly-popular and influential musical called "Nite Will Fear". Afterwards, Erin Righ came out of exile, returned to The Warren, and assumed his position as Prince Consort.   Sometime in 2022, a number of new family members emerged, although the details remain, for some reason, classified as a national security secret in all three Protectorates. However the mystery developed, Queen Sable acknowledged Mykola Lapin-Void and Senna Nightshade as the children of herself and Erin Righ, and Princess Sunny and Prinx Tempest Kwake as her siblings. Mykola and Senna formed a new House, House Ailurus, and following the loss of The Missing House in late 2022, they were ceded Washington State and Oregon, which had originally been Lapin territory and had previously been ceded to the Missing House.     In November of 2022, Prince Galakrond, eldest of the Forgelings, became one of the Night Monarchs. Many details of this remain classified as well. During The Third Word War that year, the Woodland Family Alliance was officially formed, when the Woodlander Royals realized that "Lord GalaWight" was hunting them specifically as a method of increasing his own power.   This goal was thwarted when Senna Nightshade made a deal with the other Night Monarch, ICC DeadPeople, to join "his Horde" instead. Since this saved vital food supplies for the living, she was awarded the Lapin Star of Valour for this after her Resurrection.    

2023

In early 2023, two new royal infants appeared: Princess Luna and Duke Uri Kwake, the children of Queen Sable and Erin Righ, and Prinx Tempest and Duke Buddha, respectively. This was a bit of a surprise because there had been no official announcement that they were pregnant. They claimed to have been keeping the babies, who were born Voidtouched, in a Void Pocket, to protect them during the war. This choice, considering the events of 3WW, was received by the general public with deep sympathy.     Queen Sable appointed Prinx Tempest The Rabbit's Paw in early 2023, and the Woodlanders, along with allies in the other Great Houses, turned their attention to evacuating the 1337 Speak Reality, which was the native reality of Buddha Kwake, the Prinx's husband. Known as Operation GTFO, this effort cost the Prinx their life and significantly injured the Bunny Queen, who spent several months in recovery.   Lapin Librarian AttorraRu became the Night Monarch in 2024, launching The Fourth Word War.   Sparked by all the conflict, the Badger Kings went in search of knowledge about the Iron Tome and The Undead Horde. Details of their journey remain sketchy, but it ultimately resulted in the loss of King Consort Realm of Music, and King Badger Darth Nikolas returned a widower.  

2024

In July 2024, documents were discovered that named ShyRedFox and Purpleheart as illegitimate daughters of the Late Great Badger. They assumed roles in the Meles Triumvirate, and upon King Darth Nikolas' abdication, Purpleheart was crowned Queen Badger in June of 2025.   During The Fifth Word War in 2024, it was discovered that Archon Mykola was suffering from a new, fatal illness which has since been given the name Voidhollow, and she passed away in early 2025. This illness was a significant impetus in the development of 5WW, and The Bard with Many Names becoming a new Night Monarch. Feral Major Barbarossa the Wayfinder provided interim leadership of Ailurus during Archon Mykola's illness while future-Archon Bard was Night Monarch (and the rest of his not-actually-dating-yet-but-soon polycule was also undead.) Mykola's sister Senna dissipated into an information dimension she had a link to. Queen Sable became the first person known to have held the Iron Tome twice.   At Tomesmas 2024, Princess Becca and her family re-emerged. The Princess had been transported into the 1337 Speak Reality in 2020 by a "magical anomaly," and she and her family had joined the 1337 Speak exodus. They had hesitated to make themselves known to the Lapin Crown, however, until they were sure that these were the same Sable Lapin and Erin Meles who were Becca's parents, and not some alternate equivalent from another dimension. The Lapin Monarchs were delighted to discover that they were now grandparents.  

2025

Following the loss of Archon Mykola, Feral Major Barbarossa again provided interim leadership of Ailurus in 2025 through April, while the Ailurus Tome Knights held an internal election to decide on their new House Leadership. Archon The Bard with Many Names assumed the role in May of 2025, and the Council of Ailurus was formed.   Also in April of 2025, the Iron Tome spoke directly to Princess ShyRedFox and Queen Sable, declaring them the Great Librarians, and commanded them to form the Order of Royal Librarians and undertake the care and maintenance of the Great Library for the good of all literomancers.   Faced with the threat of an old enemy from her home dimension, ShyRedFox fell to darkness and became one of the Night Monarchs in The Sixth Word War, as did family friend Foxx. During the war, it was discovered that Mykola Lapin-Void was still alive, just trapped in The Void. The Woodlander Houses supported House Ailurus in a ritual to bring about her return to known reality.   During the war, ShyDeadFox and Deathwriter (Foxx) exchanged multiple letters with their family members, explaining their motivations and apologizing for their actions. Queen Sable later said it went a long way towards bringing the healing she desperately needed.   Following the conflict, Princess Shy adopted The Bard with Many Names, Librarian AttorraRu, and Foxx as siblings, and Queen Sable adopted Foxx as her child, further solidifying the ties between the families.  

2026

However, in mid-2026, Princess Shy and Queen Purpleheart formally left the Woodland Family Alliance. The cause for the rift remains in question, but it is believed to have something to do with the ongoing tension between Queen Sable and Archon Bard over the role of the undead. Despite news outlets trying to sensationalize the end of the alliance, the Houses remain congenial and refuse any further comment to fuel speculation.