Return to the Courts of ChaosChance is a member of the Major House Thareston, son of Reys and his 5th wife Chareen (supposedly--this 'fact' is obviously incorrect, based off some things Reys has intimated to Chance and the rather glaring fact that Chance walked Corwyn's Pattern without imploding.) He has two brothers (one is missing) and four sisters, and here they are, in his own loving words.
Vare is the oldest of the kids and thus the heir of the House, something that she never lets the rest of the family forget. She's a powerful sorceress and displays advanced shape shifting abilities, but has never assayed the Logrus. Vare is a lot like Father in that to the outside world she appears charming and roguish--to those of us who know her better she is a pretty snake. It's pretty likely she was behind the disappearance of Lanton, the rest of the family secretly agrees on this, but we have no proof.
Lanton: I didn't know him very well, he spent most of his time in experimentation with the Logrus. He had developed a couple of interesting twists, minor things but with possible potential for greater uses, and his ambitions mostly lay that way, but he also had an eye on the household seat and thought he'd make a better head than Vare--now he's gone... go figure.
Ska: A true bubble head, this sister of mine, and a major slut. She's an embarrassment to most of the family, though she and I get along all right. Her only interests lie in feeding her base desires. She drinks like a sailor and word around the courts is that she has ... entertained men to the point of complete exhaustion. Theirs. And usually more than one at a time. Ahem. If there is a drug in Shadow or Chaos that she hasn't at least tried it is because of some side effect that might mar her beauty, her only saving grace. She's perhaps the most beautiful woman in all the chaos courts. Ska's about 5'4" and has a willowy, slender build, slim arms, long shapely legs and small, firm breasts. You could bounce silver pieces off her butt (and no doubt someone has). Her features are waifish and innocent, but her eyes give her away: they're eyes that have seen every enlightenment and degradation of the flesh that can be imagined and then some. She's not very bright but she has the cunning of a person who knows what she and nearly everyone else wants and how to get--and give--it. She sets a lot of the fashions of the younger people in the Court and spends most of her time working her way through the members of the House of Doom, person by person, or throwing 'parties'. Her only gift is Shape Shifting--something she has taken beyond normal limitations--she may be one of the best at this Power in the Courts, and I'm sure you can understand what she uses it for. We had a brief affair some 200 years ago, broken off for reasons we do not discuss.
Maximillian: No one calls him Max. No one. He's the only one in the family that follows the way of the sword rather than magic and he's gotten fairly good at it. He fought in the PatternFall Wars as a Knight Errant under someone, I don't know who and never cared enough to find out.
Maximillian and I have an understanding: whichever of us gets the opportunity to kill the other and get away with it will do so with the gleeful laugh and a dull knife. Or a big rock. A heavy hair brush would do in a pinch. It seems that he has tormented me from the day of my birth and has only stopped recently because my retaliations were taking time away from his war studies. He's my complete opposite: huge and thickly muscled, handsome and well-liked by everyone but moi. He stands almost 7' tall and weighs around 325 or so and the only fat in the weight is in his head. He's thick as a brick and doesn't give a damn as long as he's got a mace in his hand (his weapon of choice). During our most recent bout of playful assassination attempts I managed to give him a thin scar over his right eye (schrapnel from a bomb). I haven't seen him since but from what I hear his temper tantrum was of legendary proportions. Even Father was wary of him during that time... it took Ska to calm him down and again, you don't want to know the details.
Zellaran: There's not much to say about Zella. During her birth a particularly ruthless enemy of the family killed her mother (by poisoning the water the midwife used to wash her hands in) and Zella's mind was affected by this. She's got the mentality of a six year old and can barely speak, barely understand anything said to her. The only reason I can think of that Father has kept her around is that she has this... quality. She's the absolute picture of wonder and innocence. You can show her a pretty bauble and she'll be completely entranced with it, her delight is almost a tangible thing. Sitting with her is like revisiting your childhood, like remembering what it felt like when everything was fresh and new and full of beauty and awe. Even complete bastards like Maximillian (and, admittedly, myself) don't think about hurting her, it'd be like kicking a newborn puppy. Lanton did some experiments on her, thinking that she had some sort of innate Logrus power that caused her affect on people but Father put an immediate stop to it. Zella doesn't leave the Ways much, and always travels in the company of Father.
Imelya: Imelya is the youngest of the girls and quite a bit like me. Not much to look at, she's kind of scraggly and usually wears the same clothes for weeks at a time. She spends a lot of time studying magic, Logrus and Pattern -- most of this is done in Shadow, as Father disapproves of her ambitions. She wants to become the Queen of Chaos and nothing else really matters to her. Oddly enough, we get along so well because that's my goal as well... to rule, not become Queen. We've made a pact to the effect that we'll help each other along until an agreed upon point at which time we become official rivals. It's an unusual arrangement but both of us are creatures of our word and neither of us would think of breaking the pact, if for no other reason than the fact that there would be... unpleasant sorcerous consequences. She has assayed the Logrus, has heavily researched broken patterns and is a fair sorceress. She was also interested in trump artistry, but she has absolutely no artistic grace and Trumps can't be made with stick figures.