House Varnay

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House Varnay
Family Profile
Title(s) Prince of the Capellan March
Affiliation Federated Suns

House Varnay where an influential family within the Federated Suns, holding the title Prince of the Capellan March between 2462 and 2537.

Age of War

During the Age of War New Syrtis was the seat of the rulers of the Capellan March Principality of the Federated Suns. In 2462, five years into the reign of First Prince Ellen Davion, the position of Prince of the Capellan March Principality, and Ellen Davion used her rising authority to move Richard Varnay out of the senior posts he held on New Avalon and passed the vacant title to Richard and his heirs. New Syrtis became the seat of power for the Varnay family as a result.[1]

In 2523 David Varnay, grandson of Richard Varnay and Prince of the Capellan March and his wife, Cassandra Davion abducted Alexander Davion, son of the former First Prince of the Federated Suns and heir to the throne, and brought him to New Syrtis. While the pretext for the abduction was so that Alexander could tour the realm, there was no intention of allowing Alexander to leave the Capellan March capital, and in early 2524 Alexander was married to Cynthia Varnay, the daughter of David and Cassandra. The intention was that by marrying the 17-year old heir to their daughter, the Varnays would give Cynthia a solid claim to the throne of the Crucis March, and if a child was born out of the marriage, the Varnay claim would become even stronger.[2][3]

Unfortunately for the Varnays, Cynthia lacked their ambition, and she and Alexander discovered a love for each other, and with the discovery in August of 2524 that Cynthia was pregnant, the two began plotting to escape from the Varnays and New Syrtis.[2] When Laura Davion and her forces from the Draconis March Principality joined forces with Prince Nikolai Rostov of the Terran March Principality in late 2524 and announced that the Varnays had kidnapped Alexander and were no longer a part of the Regency Council, the Varnays formed their own rump Regency Council, based on New Syrtis.[4] The Varnays claimed that New Avalon was a world under occupation by an illegal government, and used their puppet council to make their own declarations of war, directed at Laura Davion.[3]

Alexander managed to escape from the Varnays while touring Nahoni with David Varnay, and having recruited troops loyal to himself in January 2527 he sent messangers to New Syrtis demanding the release of Cynthia and his son Vincent in exchange for the Varnay troops captured on Nahoni. Cassandra Varnay agreed, allowing Cynthia and Vincent to leave New Syrtis.[5][6]

With the death of David Varnay on Ashley in 2530 rule of New Syrtis and the Capellan March passed to Cassandra, but the Varnays would lose control of New Syrtis after being defeated by the combined military forces of Alexander Davion and Prince Dmitri Rostov, son of Nikolai Rostov, in 2537, and Cassandra Varnay fled to the Capellan Confederation along with her seven year old son.[7]

Prince Alexander abolished the positions of the Five Princes early in his reign, and with the Varnays removed from New Syrtis, a series of different noble rulers would come to rule New Syrtis and the Capellan March over the following decades. Very few of the nobles put in place to rule would last more than two or perhaps three generations; even during the relatively peaceful time of the Star League, personality conflicts and political infighting resulted in the leadership turning over relatively frequently.[8]

The Varnays would return to New Syrtis in 2565 in the form of Roger Varnay, son of David and Cassandra.[9] Cassandra and Roger had spent years funnelling funding to their supporters on and around New Syrtis as well as other covert aid, resources used to oppose the government of Prince Alexander.[9] Roger Varnay returned to Federated Suns space from the Capellan Confederation in 2565 and attempted to rally supporters to his cause, but his recruiting efforts ended after his supporting Capellan WarShips were destroyed in the Battle of Kigamboni late in the year, and Roger ended up fleeing back to Capellan space with the 8th Syrtis Fusiliers pursuing him. The Fusiliers destroyed most of Roger's forces, although Roger himself escaped to Confederation space.[10]

The Star League

Josip Varnay, the grandson of Roger Varnay, returned to New Syrtis in 2617, hoping to capitalize on the economic woes experienced by the Federated Suns by raising support for the Capellan Principality's reconstitution as an independent state and for the newborn Principality to reject membership of the Star League.[11] New Syrtis was one of a number of worlds on the verge of open rebellion as a result of the economics problems; while the planet hadn't been in outright rebellion, demonstrations and acts of civil disobedience were common on many worlds, and it didn't take much for Josip to persuade people to support him. With the planetary population tired of promises of money from the Star League that never arrived, businesses failing and taxes increasing, Josip was able to push the population into open rebellion.[12]

While Josip attracted a large band of followers, albeit followers of dubious quality, Josip had no support from the Capellan Confederation and was soon forced to flee approaching Federated Suns troops.[11] Josip's mistake was that he assumed that the people of New Syrtis were rebelling on his account; he didn't realize that while he had acted as a catalyst following discontent over other issues, and when the AFFS arrived to put down the rebellion most of Varnay's apparent support vanished. The few who genuinely supported him were captured or killed, and the Varnay name carried no weight with the remaining population.[12] After Josip's actions the Confederation found it expedient to expel the entire Varnay family, and the Varnay family direct claims to New Syrtis and the Capellan Principality died with the subsequent deaths of Josip and his brother, neither of whom had sired any children.[11]

Varnay Family Tree

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Emil Varney
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Roderick Varnay
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Richard Varnay
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
House Davion
 
 
 
Thomas Varnay
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Cassandra Davion
 
David Varnay
 
 
unknown
 
 
 
 
 
House DuVall
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Terril Davion
 
Roger Varnay
 
 
Cynthia Varnay
 
Alexander Davion
 
Veronique DuVall
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
unknown
 
Vincent Davion
 
Roger Davion II
 
Melinda Davion
 
House Davion
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Josip Varnay
 
Ian Davion
 
Davions of Victoria
 
House Sanromea-Davion


References

  1. House Davion (The Federated Suns), p. 38, "Against All Odds"
  2. 2.0 2.1 House Davion (The Federated Suns), p. 42, "Varnay vs Davion"
  3. 3.0 3.1 Handbook: House Davion, p. 32, "Hostage Prince"
  4. House Davion (The Federated Suns), p. 43, "Alexander Escapes"
  5. House Davion (The Federated Suns), p. 45, "Victor of Nahoni"
  6. Handbook: House Davion, p. 34, "General Alexander"
  7. House Davion (The Federated Suns), p. 47, "Rostov's Plan"
  8. Handbook: House Davion, p. 57, "The Hasek Legacy"
  9. 9.0 9.1 Handbook: House Davion, p. 40, "The Last Hurrah"
  10. House Davion (The Federated Suns), p. 49, "The Davions Supreme"
  11. 11.0 11.1 11.2 House Davion (The Federated Suns), p. 53, "Century of Peace"
  12. 12.0 12.1 Handbook: House Davion, p. 44, "Return of the Claimants"

Bibliography