Category:Mousel Family

This section contains canon info from officially published sources

The Mousel family, as it is known in relation to the d'Honaire family tree, are the descendants of Hugues Mousel and Bernadette d'Honaire^[1]. Together their descendants represent one of the two main branches of the d'Honaire family^[2]. Considerable bad blood between the Mousels and the d'Honaires of Dementlieu goes back decades and ultimately resulted in the assassination of Bernadette and Hugues as well as the murder of bystander Gerard d'Honaire in 733 BC^[3].

Unlike most of the d'Honaire family, the descendants of Bernadette have mostly resided in Mordent rather than Dementlieu. Dr. James Mousel is the preeminently known member of the Mousels^[2]; he operates the Mousel Sanitarium for Mental Health in Mordentshire^[4].

Family Roster

Together Hugues and Bernadette had two children, Francois Mousel and Madeline Mousel. In adulthood, Francois married Joelle Fountaine and had a single child^[1], the aforementioned James Mousel. Madeline married [Raymond Bioume]] and had two children of unspecified names. In his adulthood, James Mousel married Marie Chirac and had two children^[5].

Family History

Little has been revealed of Hugue Mousel's past before meeting Bernadette d'Honaire, save that he was a mystic with both Richemuloise and Vistani ancestry. From the beginning, Germain d'Honaire, Bernadette's father, bitterly objected to his daughter marrying Hugues, as Germain's plans were for Bernadette to marry into the Weathermay Family and thus lift the d'Honaire family into the nobility of Mordent. Regardless, Hugues and Bernadette became wed in 698 BC, leading to their estrangement from Germain. Germain passed his rancor onto his other two offspring, Claude d'Honaire and Maurice d'Honaire, so the estrangement therefore lasted well past Germain's death in 707 BC.

Shortly after marrying, Bernadette and Hugues moved to a hamlet on the border with Valachan, where they would remain for a number of years. Here Bernadette encountered and joined with the witches of Hala. Bernadette applied some of her father's scientific perspectives to the local coven's operations, most notably in healing and pathology regarding mind-body interactions. Francois (b. 699 BC) and Madeline (b. 702 BC) were both born during this time period.

After Bernadette's siblings withdrew from Mordent to Dementlieu following Germain's death in 707 BC, the Mousels moved back to Mordentshire and lived in the now abandoned d'Honaire ancestral mansion. Matters in Dementlieu kept Claude and Maurice too occupied for them to express concern at Bernadette and Hugues moving into the old family mansion. Ensconced in Mordentshire, Bernadette treated patients as her father had in the years gone by. Francois and Madeline became accomplished in the healing arts in their own right, the former becoming a skilled alienist and the latter joining her mother's old coven of Halan witches down south. In 720 BC, Bernadette bequeathed upon Francois the d'Honaire mansion, and he subsquently turned it into the Mousel Sanitarium for Mental Health. In the ensuing years, the Mousel Sanitarium gathered acclaim for the humane and innovative treatment of those with mental illness.
In 733 BC, the acclaim won by the Mousel Sanitarium garnished enough from Gerard d'Honaire that he wanted to visit it before entering medical school. (Although the d'Honaire family tree claims Gerard was only seven circa 733 BC having been born in 728 BC, Gerard was actually sixteen by 733 BC.) Although poised to enter the most renown medical college in Dementlieu, Gerard became so impressed with the Mousels and the nearby environs of Mordentshire convinced him to study there instead. Gerard's change of plans flew in the face of Dominic d'Honaire's plans. Gerard's uncle, who secretly pulled the strings of the Dementlieuse d'Honaires and even the rest of Dementlieu itself, had desired for Gerard to receive training in the prestigious schools of Dementlieu, thereby winning fame such that the boy could become like a second Germain.

In retaliation for Gerard's disobedience, Dominic instructed his Obedients to send assassins to eliminate Gerard along with the Mousels. The assassins attacked on the eve of the new year, and they successfully eliminated Gerard, Bernadette, and Hugues. However, Francois escaped thanks to the intercession of his son James. Despite Francois' attempts to smooth things over, James came to believe Maurice d'Honaire was to blame for the attacks, revenge against Bernadette for her earlier disobedience to Germain and then further encouraging Gerard's disobedience.

Over the following few decades, the Mousels and the d'Honaires broke off virtually all communication. During this period, Francois and James became a father-son team in treating mental illness, developing a new paradigm called the analytical method. Despite their theories becoming the subject of mockery by other medical professionals - something James believed was the influence of Maurice and Claude - both the older and younger Dr. Mousel garnered respect from medical specialists in the maladies of the mind. Since Francois' retirement in 752 BC, James has become a rising star in the field.

James' rising fame is not without its downsides, for the past threatens to repeat itself. Celeste d'Honaire-Loverde, the rebellious niece of Dominic, became enamored with the Mousels' theories on the mind and showed up one day asking James to study under him. Fearing another wave of retaliation, James referred her to Dr. Vilhelm Mikki of Chateaufaux to study under. Having been manipulated into believing in Dominic's trustworthiness, James also informed Dominic of Celeste's rebellious interests. With this act, James has put Celeste at risk not just at the hands of Dominic's Obedients but also perhaps at the hands of agents serving the Brain, an infamous crimelord and rival in power to Dominic.

References