House Damiani

House Damiani is the current pre-eminent house of the Grand Republic of Thasen. Its head is Praesens Althario Damiani. It has interests across the republic, but makes its home in the city of Caserta and its environs.

History
House Damiani, as with all houses in the Republic, was founded in the years after the Third Greytide, as people began to move back to the despoiled lands of Thasen. It gradually consolidated wealth in its home city of Caserta, and while it has long had interests all across Thasen, Caserta remains very much its home. It was firmly entrenched as the leading voice in the city council when Caserta first joined the new League of Thasen in the 100s, and had further solidified its position by the move from an alliance to a unified polity - the Grand Republic of Thasen - in the mid-200s.

Over the centuries, House Damiani has been a prominent presence in the republic, and has been the leading voice at various intervals, but not always. House Damiani, House Lavini and House Corti control so many votes in the senate between them that it is quite uncommon that one of them is not the leading house in the Republic, an arrangement which suits them all very well. House Corti was the dominant party for much of the early part of the 600s. However, it was ousted in the election of 619, two years after it took part in House Salfeld's campaign to seize the Duchy of Greenwood from the Realm of Intis. Many in the Republic are wary of it sponsoring such foreign adventurism, or otherwise publicly profess to prefer peaceful trade - it has not stopped such episodes over the years, but that was the most recent and the seizure of an entire duchy significant in scope. Houses Lavini and Damiani cooperated to place a Lavini as praesens in 619, and kept House Corti essentially shut out of the process for the ensuing decade. Matters mellowed from the late 620s onwards, and some of the usual competition has come back in.

Damiani won the election of 631 by a razor thin margin, based on personal ties more than policy - some matters are in flux, and everyone in the Republic knows it. Internally, it might be stable - or stagnant, depending on one's point of view - but for all that they desire peace, outside events have come uncomfortably close. The western part of the Republic borders the Realm of Intis and the expansion of the Dominion of Rin caused alarm, since it could bring war to the Republic's borders. Some worried about the prospect of civil war in the Realm of Hadash. Others still saw the wave of republicanism arising across the Duchy of the Great Green in the Realm of Dyria. held by House Mardas - the Grand Republic is an aristocratic republic, and those aristocrats are rather averse to what they see in the Great Green.

House Damiani's politics in recent years have not been built on any strong policy foundation. It is ambiguous in its pledges and mostly asserts that it will adhere to the status quo. This is in contrast to House Corti's outward-looking stance, which sees it wanting to expand the Republic's influence, and House Lavini, which is loath to spend resources beyond the Republic when it sees a host of internal problems to resolve.

Holdings
As with every aristocratic house in the Grand Republic, House Damiani has property all across Thasen. However, much of its property and wealth is in and around the city of Caserta, in northeastern Thasen, along the southern coast of the Encircled Sea, not far from Dyria. It dominates the city council there and owns numerous businesses across the city. It also owns considerable farmland, as well as interests in mines and other resource extraction operations.

As with all the large houses in the Republic, House Damiani has considerable property

Current Events
House Damiani has made a habit lately of being ambiguous in its policy promises and reacting to events as they come, but there is a growing sentiment in the house that it must begin to be more proactive, whatever issues might arise. Exactly which way it will go is anyone's guess - nobody in the house itself even knows either.

At the imperial court, some have begun to become aware of the crossroads which House Damiani finds itself at, and they frequently engage with Damianis to try to sway them towards one point of view or cause or another.