The House of Kamorta

"'How does a low-ranking scribe backed with only dubious familial connections to the Prophet's half-sister's son take the throne of the kingdom of man, keep said 30-year-old kingdom from falling apart, and reign until his death while eliminating pretenders so efficiently they aren't even remembered by the history books? How do his successors not only preserve said sprawling kingdom, but actively expand it, for 500 years, all the while keeping themselves its undisputed masters without a single piece of Azurite canon to back up their claims? ""'It is an insult to the genius of the Kamorta line to say they are simply descendants of the Prophet - indeed, their name is not Azuria, but Kamorta, so weak the blood connection (if one exists at all) and so brazenly did they declare themselves king of all men. It was not the guiding hand of the Goddess, nor the sacred laws of man that kept these people in power, but sheer ambition, ruthlessness and guile.""'So be this upstart a true Kamorta: it gives them no sacred claim to my throne or any other, speaks nothing to the holy society we constructed, guided by Azur, in the wake of the rebellion. No indeed; you'll find none who respects the legendary Kamortas more than I, and indeed, this respect must warrant special treatment. That is why I have a rule of thumb - every time I encounter some peasant, layman or minor noble who claims that heritage, whatever the strength of their claim, I lock them up in my deepest, darkest dungeon, and when everyone has quite forgotten about them, I kill them. See to it that the same is done in this case.'""Queen Hesta Valiant, discussing an arrest warrant with her Guard Captain for an adventurer raising troops in Valia"Officially established after the death of Queen Ida Azuria, the house of Kamorta, translating literally as "King of Men" in Old Mortaani, dominated Mortanite politics in the half-millennia following the Azurite Rebellion. Due to the lack of strong noble families within Tor Morta'an following the purge of the Elvish Kings and the execution or impoverishment of their human followers, the Kamorta line never grew large or widespread, since marriages and child-bearing were both done at the discretion of the current ruling Kamorta (a fair number took same-sex partners as well, leaving the business of heir-rearing to their siblings or cousins). This led to the disintegration of Tor Morta'an following the childless death of Queen Carlin "the Chaste" Kamorta in 480 AL, since only disputed lines of succession and cadet houses survived of the original line.

The Kamortas are widely considered the most successful rulers of men to ever exist, and despite mostly being ancient history now, the deeds of many individuals of their line are remembered in substantial detail:

King Beohtric Kamorta

King Cyneric Kamorta

Queen Fleta Kamorta

King Harley Kamorta

Queen Kestral Kamorta

King Leofrik Kamorta

King Jop Kamorta

Queen Carlin Kamorta

Meriel Kamorta

Additionally, most important houses in Fimbria and many in Nivena claim descendance from the Kamorta line, as well as a number of house-less individuals, including: