House Chantris is a Noble House of Amber in the world of Road To Amber, a MUSH based on Roger Zelazny's Amber novels. This wiki expands on a brief overview of House Chantris that can also be found on the main Road To Amber wiki about noble houses.
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Reputation
House Chantris is one of the four major Duchies in Amber (the other three are Feldane, Karm, and Mandrake). Its crest is a green shield bearing a golden eagle as shown above.
Chantris is a house of scholars, known for its intellectual pursuits and patronage of music. On the practical end, Chantris has their hands in the length and breadth of the shipbuilding business: Chantris wood goes to Chantris mills which produce lumber sent to Chantris shipyards where they are worked on by Chantris shipwrights. There is some rivalry as to whether the finest ships on the sea are made by House Chantris or in the Golden Circle shadow Minos.
Like most of the great houses, Chantris is as old as Amber, and its rich history and traditions of scholarship extends back to those roots.
Magic
The magic of Chantris is the magic of language, of words upon the wind. Their gifts include great understanding and communication, but are also rumored to include words of dark power.
Many members of the house are reluctant to speak of these things.
Cadet Houses
Karanis
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House Karanis is a cadet house of Chantris which is known to produce the finest glass-work in Amber (a title challenged only by the mirror-makers of Remba) holding the secrets for many exotic formulae for distinct blends of color, texture and style. The quality of Karanis glass-work is instantly recognizable by its quality and by its distinctive tone when struck. Karanis maintains close ties of blood and alliance with Chantris and hold their magic as a tightly held family secret; however those with reason to know say their power comes from sound.
Solaris
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House Solaris a cadet house of Chantris which, while being is its own entity, is closely related to and allied with Chantris; Baron Otto Solaris, cousin of Duke Harold Chantris, was created roughly 1,000 years ago. Currently, the house has fallen on hard times so, unlike Karanis, is effectively managed by Chantris directly, with the Baron or Baroness serving in an advisory role to the larger House.
Solaris is renown for producing the finest luthiers (makers of stringed instruments) in the Golden Circle, with a Solaris violin or guitar considered a mark of pride for any musician who knows his business. They are also known to be somewhat more militant than their Chantris cousins, and Solaris training and fostering has produced some of the the finest army, navy and diplomatic officers of the Golden Circle. They have also produced a number of eminent bards and historians, as befits their roots in Chantris. It is rumored that their magic is no different from that of Chantris, perhaps with some element which gives the house a leg up in military affairs.