Leidenschaft Amazons

A.K.A.: "Leidenschaft Twins"; "Daughters of the Red Widow"

Distinctive Characteristics: Red hair, freckled pale skin and fiery personalities. Leidenschaft Amazons are always born in pairs.

Cultural Traits: Strong sense of honour and duty, though a Leidenschaft is always loyal first to her kin, and only then to any other power. Be it a local ruler or the Queen of Arandolia herself, no authority is above their clan's matriarch, Cassie Leidenschaft.

Aside from the vivid red hair that is predominantly carried on from generation to generation amongst them, there is one really easy way to identify a Leidenschaft: they always come in identical pairs. Nearly all of them have a twin sister (in some cases they might be even triplets), and they are simply inseparable. By cultural standards and traditions within their ever growing clan, they never leave their twin sibling's side, often even sharing the same spouse, the same house and literally everything in their lives.

Those who by a cruel fate lose their respective twins usually die not too long after, either by crippling depression or by taking their own lives. Few are the Leidenschaft Amazons who manage to survive alone, but they become distinctive members within the clan whenever they are strong enough to endure the unfathomable grief of losing someone who literally shared a womb with them. Such is the case of their current Matriarch, Cassandra Leidenschaft, who lost her twin sister Cassidy centuries ago. Fueled by rage and thirsty for revenge, she became a legendary swordmaiden who fought in every major war of the Amazon Nation, being acclaimed as the Leidenschaft Clan's matriarch not only for being one of the oldest and most successfull Leidenschafts ever born, but also because she is the amazon with the highest number of bastard children in the entire Arandolian Islands.

But you may be considering one little detail: "How can the Leidenschaft Clan be so numerous, if they are a relatively new clan and most of them descend from the same matriarch?" Indeed this is quite a feat, but 3 facts contributed a lot for that to happen. Firstly, the Leidenschafts are very prolific. Their fertility rate is astonishing, with remarkably high pregnancy chances. Secondly, they are all very passionate and very lusty, so they simply make love way more frequently than ordinary women. And last but not least, as every pregnancy within their big family originates twice as many children, they literally reproduce twice as fast as any average person.

Some amazons from other races for a long time saw this rapid growth in numbers as a "pestilence", witnessing entire neighborhoods of freckled twin redheads appear in the span of decades at random cities across the nation. Although the clan's humble and rather recent origin is traced back to the region of Alendra, the Leidenschaft remained a scattered minority throughout Arandolia for countless centuries, until the majority of them migrated en masse towards the Theravalley Highlands once Matriarch Cassandra was named the countess of an uncharted region she called "the Redlands". The Leidenschaft Amazons now have their own self-ruled county as their new home near Lake Blue, where they peacefully farm a lot wheat and flax, becoming famous for the delicious pastries and the beautiful clothing they make in their settlements.

Small isolated communities of Leidenschafts still exist in other corners of the Amazon Islands, though no matter where they are born or live, a Leidenschaft always see herself not as a local citizen, but as a member of a clan that transcends any boundary. They might submit, work or even fight for other rulers, but the bond of blood is way stronger for them than any other bond. They are very passionate and fiery with their emotions, so if they ever have to choose in between their kin or anything else, their kin always comes first. No matter what.