Saturday 20 March 2021

House Deritan

I have been working on an essay on the history and customs of the Khanid. This will be a pedagogical work. I agreed to make it for a Gallente woman with Khanid roots that I met at the Auction for Literature, miss Aselin-Duvaul. She is marrying into a Khanid noble house and wants to prepare herself for her future station. 
 
She told me that she will become a member of House Deritan. The Deritans are important Holders in the Kingdom as they are ninth in succession to the Khanid throne. 
 
House Deritan has not been spared of controversy. There are awful rumors of drug dealing, Sani Sabik sympathies, orgies, and forced ceremonial suicides of family members. But then again, slanderers often say the above list of vices are the very definition of Khanid nobility.
 
There is a bit of mystery I would like to figure out. My Gallente acquaintance mentioned that her  engagement was with lady Ithiria Deritan. I did not make much of it at the time, but now I wonder if there are several ladies with that name? The lady Ithiria Deritan I know of was the former Holder and Matriarch of the Deritan clan, but according to the news she has passed away.  
 
Interestingly, I found in the civil service records that a new corporation "Disciples of Night" was founded just over a month ago by an "Ithi Deritan". It operates in highsec Khanid space and part of the Duchy of Sib. 
 
This gets the wheels in my mind turning. Could this Ithiria Deritan be the duchess mentioned by lord Lok'ri? And, the corporation's name suggests devotion to the darkness, that doesn't sound very good, quite the opposite of Khimi Harar. Moreover, miss Aselin-Duvaul mentioned that the Deritans are part of a "cult" that she is trying to figure out more about. She seemed worried about that, and did not want to ask a priest aligned with house Deritan.

Luckily, as I went over the personnel roster of the Disciples of Night, I stumbled upon the name of a friend.