The Tender Tempests
Welcome to the lore page for House Quivara, one of the five magical factions at the Academy of Carnal Arcana.
Below, you’ll step into the common room with Astrid and meet some of the House’s most iconic members. This page explores the House’s personality, magical focus, and overall aesthetic for readers who love fantasy academies and romantasy worldbuilding.
Soft but powerful. Vulnerable but volcanic.
Your magic is connection. Your heart is your spellbook.
Strengths: empathy, intuition, emotional amplification
Weaknesses: crying in inappropriate places
Familiar: a sensitive bunny rabbit
Astrid meets Quivara House
Pepper threaded our fingers together and yanked me through a carved archway draped in pale curtains and floating candles. Soft pink light glowed from the walls like the stone itself had feelings.
“Welcome home, babe.” She gestured dramatically. “Quivara’s lounge. The emotional support uterus of the Academy.”
Home. Right. I’d been sorted here. Into the house of people who could probably sense I hadn’t orgasmed in nineteen years just by looking at me.
A cluster of students lounged on oversized velvet pillows, a pile of limbs and journals and half-finished charm bracelets. Someone was crying softly into a cup of tea while two others petted their hair. The air smelled like honey and nervous crushes.
One student sat up as we approached—a boy with soft curls, a knit sweater, and eyes that shimmered with actual empathy magic.
“Hi,” he said gently, like he thought I might shatter if he spoke too loud. “I’m Rowan. Are you new? You look overwhelmed. Do you need water? A hug? A guided meditation?”
“I—what? No? Maybe?”
He smiled like my confusion was adorable. A sphere of warm golden light materialized above his palm, pulsing in time with my heartbeat. My actual heartbeat.
My cat familiar, Cricket, hopped onto a velvet pouf and immediately began grooming herself. “Darling, this room is saturated with feelings. I’m developing allergies.”
Rowan’s glow brightened. “We channel emotional resonance into our magic. It’s powerful. Intimate.” He paused, cheeks pinking. “If you ever want to practice, I’m very good at grounding exercises. And… cuddling. Therapeutic cuddling.”
“He means it,” Pepper stage-whispered. “Boy’s a living weighted blanket. Half the second-years come here just to cry on him.”
“That’s not—” Rowan started, then sighed. “Okay, that’s accurate.”
Something in my chest loosened. The room seemed to hum around me, warm and welcoming, like it recognized something in my magic I hadn’t found yet.
“This might be my safe place,” I admitted.
Rowan’s smile went soft. “That’s what Quivara’s for. Feeling things isn’t weakness here. It’s fuel.”
Cricket yawned. “How exhausting.”
But even she didn’t move from her pillow.
What do you want to do next?
Astrid meets another house
Astrid continues her tour of the Academy
Get book one, Professor Ravish & His Carnal Curriculum
