Onterey

The Queendom of Onterey is a sovereign nation in the Clarkwoods Literary Universe. It is governed by an absolute monarchy, with its head of state being addressed as Her Royal Majesty or The Queen. And the ruler of Onterey is always a queen, its rule of matrilineal primogeniture being absolute.

Location

The precise location of Onterey is unknown at this time, though the short story “House of Thrones, Game of Cards” describes its capital as a walled city surrounded by a rank and festering marketplace. The walls were erected to protect Her Royal Majesty’s orange groves from being ravaged by the commoners, the oranges being the queendom’s most prized export.

The Oranges

The roots of the orange trees in Onterey burrow deep and drink from the waters of an underground branch of The River Without End. As a result, the fragrance of these trees is nearly as potent and intoxicating as one of Ada Coffin’s potions. And while neither a whiff nor a taste of these fruits is enough to unstick a person in time, the oranges are famed for inducing a powerful sense of calm and clarity.

In the early days of Onterey, The First Queen was able to grow enough oranges for all comers. But as word spread about the fruits of her labors, demand exhausted supply. It was then that The First Queen wooed and married a poor stonemason’s son and charged him and his six brothers with building a castle and walls to protect the grove. When her first husband fell ill from the effort, she married one of his brothers. And when that man fell, she married the next brother. And so on, and so forth until the job was done.

Or, well, until it was nearly done. The Queen, now a widow seven times over, laid the stones for the final rampart herself—along with her seven daughters.

Now the oranges are doled out strategically—and with a hefty price tag—each day at the crowded market that has sprung up outside of the castle’s walls.

The Queendom’s Position in Universal Politics

The queendom is held in high enough esteem that it is one of only seven invited to The Game Room each year by the House of Thrones to decide the fate of the universe in a game of five-card draw. And one of Queen Yona’s children, Nasha, serves as the current dealer for The House.