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feredarStory: Legacy
Year: 1490 FY/445 I.C.
Characters: N/A
Warnings: References to historical genocide/torture and apologists for it, cancer, and character death.
It is certain, according to a team of scientists and anthropologists, that the skeleton found in the mountains along the border of Heartwood six months ago belongs to Princess Tana, the youngest daughter of King Sorell IV.
The search was funded by a historical group in the Empire, one dedicated to reclaiming the legacy of the long-dead princess and her oldest brother. Tana played a key role in Kellom II's Purge of mages within the confines of Feredar, serving as a torturer and executioner, but some now believe that the princess was tragically misunderstood and misrepresented by King Andrell's propaganda machine. However, this is not the accepted belief of most academics or the Imperial family, as Kellom II kept detailed records of the Purge and Princess Tana's name comes up frequently in them.
The find itself was a landmark, as it provides numerous clues to the Princess's life and death. She, along with her older sister Keta, vanished from the then-capital city of Feredar in the last days of the Feredar War, never again turning up in any sort of historical record.
The skeleton was exhumed in March, and determined to be that of a woman, who died sometime in her fifties, and lived in the tenth century FY. Speculation that it was either Princess Tana or Princess Keta immediately began, given the age and location of the find--the ruins of a mountain fortress long suspected to be their postwar home.
After further examination, the skeleton was determined to not be Princess Keta. Part of the determination came from the somewhat disputable evidence that she lived into her nineties, and partly from the fact that the woman found had never given birth. Keta was known to have had a single son, Prince Denill, who died when he was in his early teens. Tana, however, had never married and was never known to have produced a child.
Extensive research located a descendent through the female line, a retired sailor living in Sanru. She declined to comment or release her name, but a sample of her mtDNA matched that of the skeleton. That, together with a preliminary facial reconstruction and an estimate of the height of the woman proved as conclusively as humanly possible that the skeleton found was that of the missing princess.
Aside from proving Princess Tana's identity, the skeleton indicates that she suffered from bone cancer, likely the cause of death, though, as the team pointed out, that could not be conclusively proven. There was a large, distinct primary tumor in her femur, which, even if not killing her, would have caused her significant pain, as would the two accompanying pathologic hairline fractures.
The skeleton will be turned over to the Imperial family, and will be reburied in the crypt which holds the last independent Kings of Feredar. "Princess Tana," Grand Duchess Solanu told the Post, "for better or for worse, is a part of our history. King Andrell, her brother, was quoted as saying that it is impossible to move forward if you ignore the horrors in your past. Princess Tana was, almost certainly, a horror, but she is still a part of who we are now."
No details have been released as to when the reinterment will take place, or whether a full funeral will be held.
Year: 1490 FY/445 I.C.
Characters: N/A
Warnings: References to historical genocide/torture and apologists for it, cancer, and character death.
It is certain, according to a team of scientists and anthropologists, that the skeleton found in the mountains along the border of Heartwood six months ago belongs to Princess Tana, the youngest daughter of King Sorell IV.
The search was funded by a historical group in the Empire, one dedicated to reclaiming the legacy of the long-dead princess and her oldest brother. Tana played a key role in Kellom II's Purge of mages within the confines of Feredar, serving as a torturer and executioner, but some now believe that the princess was tragically misunderstood and misrepresented by King Andrell's propaganda machine. However, this is not the accepted belief of most academics or the Imperial family, as Kellom II kept detailed records of the Purge and Princess Tana's name comes up frequently in them.
The find itself was a landmark, as it provides numerous clues to the Princess's life and death. She, along with her older sister Keta, vanished from the then-capital city of Feredar in the last days of the Feredar War, never again turning up in any sort of historical record.
The skeleton was exhumed in March, and determined to be that of a woman, who died sometime in her fifties, and lived in the tenth century FY. Speculation that it was either Princess Tana or Princess Keta immediately began, given the age and location of the find--the ruins of a mountain fortress long suspected to be their postwar home.
After further examination, the skeleton was determined to not be Princess Keta. Part of the determination came from the somewhat disputable evidence that she lived into her nineties, and partly from the fact that the woman found had never given birth. Keta was known to have had a single son, Prince Denill, who died when he was in his early teens. Tana, however, had never married and was never known to have produced a child.
Extensive research located a descendent through the female line, a retired sailor living in Sanru. She declined to comment or release her name, but a sample of her mtDNA matched that of the skeleton. That, together with a preliminary facial reconstruction and an estimate of the height of the woman proved as conclusively as humanly possible that the skeleton found was that of the missing princess.
Aside from proving Princess Tana's identity, the skeleton indicates that she suffered from bone cancer, likely the cause of death, though, as the team pointed out, that could not be conclusively proven. There was a large, distinct primary tumor in her femur, which, even if not killing her, would have caused her significant pain, as would the two accompanying pathologic hairline fractures.
The skeleton will be turned over to the Imperial family, and will be reburied in the crypt which holds the last independent Kings of Feredar. "Princess Tana," Grand Duchess Solanu told the Post, "for better or for worse, is a part of our history. King Andrell, her brother, was quoted as saying that it is impossible to move forward if you ignore the horrors in your past. Princess Tana was, almost certainly, a horror, but she is still a part of who we are now."
No details have been released as to when the reinterment will take place, or whether a full funeral will be held.