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The della Riva are one of the most prominent and long-lived aristocratic households of Petrana. Currently, three generations of della Riva live and work side by side, and are active both as feudal landlords (on their substantial land holdings 80 miles northeast of the city walls) and as key figures in the city's political conflicts. Count Tybalt is the patriarch of the family; though in his seventies, he still plays an active role in family decision making. Tybalt has four surviving children living in the area: Luchas, the eldest son, who has managed the family's land holdings, the county of della Riva; Sir Bernardo, a career military man; daughter Poluccia; and Morgano, a minor officer in the Citadel Guard. All are married and (except for Poluccia) have children of their own. Luchas's eldest son, Paul, established a growing reputation for himself during the Six Duchy War as one of the fiery leaders of the younger nobility who despise the growing power of the Guildsmen, as well as any who deal with them (such as the Duke's son Leonardo).

There is considerable dissension within this family. Tybalt, Luchas, and Paul are continually at one another's throats, arguing over the question of how the della Riva should use their remaining political influence in the power struggle between the nobility and the Guildsmen. A second source of controversy has recently arisen, when Bernardo returned to the city after an absence of many years with a new bride, a commoner gypsy woman almost half his age.

Category Nobility

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