Name: Vesa Svensson Nylund
Alias(es): The Peasant Knight
Title(s): Markgreve (Margrave) of Västergötland
Allegiance(s): The Kingdom of Sweden, Kalmar Union (By obligation)
Gender: Male
Age: 26
Family:
- Sven Nylund (Father, deceased)
- Vuokko Nylund-Virtanen (Mother, alive)
- Annika Svensdotter Nylund (Younger sister, alive)

Appearance:
- Stands at roughly 1.78 meters tall
- Slender build; slim appearance belies physical strength
- Angular face; looks as if he has constant, minute grin on his face.
- Pale skin
- Chestnut brown hair; cut just short enough to not be a nuisance. Still licks at the collar of his shirt and his ears. Fringe falls just shy of touching his eyebrows.
- Bright blue eyes

Bio: Unlike most nobles, Vesa and his sister do not boast any noble blood in their veins. Their father had been a regular footman in the Kalmar army, and their mother was a Finnish seamstress. Neither were they considered to be among the upper echelons of the common people; they lived in a small house situated in an out-of-the-way village in the southern regions of Swedish Finland, along the border with the Grand Duchy of Moscow. Vesa was first exposed to the realities of warfare at the tender age of three, when the Swedish-Russian war of 1497 broke out. His father had been sent to the front to defend the Finnish frontier, but the Muscovite armies, striking first, were able to penetrate deep into Swedish Finland. Thankfully, Vesa and the rest of his family had managed to secure passage further north and away from the rampage of the Muscovites.

It was when he saw his village being burned to the ground by the Russians did Vesa decide that he wanted to be a soldier like his father when he grew up. Of course, being only three when came up with that idea, his dream to be a soldier was fully linked with his desire for revenge against the Russian troops, but over the years, that would soon morph into a general dislike for both the Grand Duchy of Moscow - for being the ones directly responsible for the destruction of his home - and the Kalmar Union, for having instigated the war in the first place.

While Vesa did not know the exact details of his father's exploits during the war, he simply believed that they must have been extraordinary, as a representative of the Swedish Privy Council approached his mother soon after the war to inform them that she had inherited a sizeable patch of land and the title of Markgrevinna as a result of his father's death during the war. Even the representative of the Council did not know what Vesa's father had done to earn such a hefty reward, but the name 'Svante Nilsson' had come up a few times during the conversation, and Vesa knew enough to know that Svante Nilsson had been the one to capture Ivangorod during the war.

With no home to go back to, and with their March being located in the Swedish heartland of Götaland, Vesa's mother accepted the title of Markgrevinna despite having absolutely no experience in leading anything. However, it did help that their march was located in Västergötland, on the border between Denmark and Sweden but far from any international borders. From 1500 to 1513, Vesa's mother ruled as Markgrevinna while he and his sister lived as normally as they could, though Vesa had made good on his promise to become a soldier; he trained with the sword incessantly, and when news reached Sweden of a new weapon - the musket - he begged his mother to acquire one for him to practice with. While Vesa focused heavily on the soldierly arts, his sister had devoted more of her time to learning how to govern and lead, using their mother's successes and failures as learning points.

Thus, when their mother stepped down as Markgrevinna in 1513, citing the stresses of leading as the reason, Vesa and his sister decided that they would split the responsibilities among themselves. As the elder sibling, Vesa was the one who would inherit the title of Markgreve, but he was content with simply forming and leading the army of their march while his sister did all of the actual ruling. It was around this time when he earned his moniker, 'The Peasant Knight' for his general friendliness towards even the lowest ranking soldiers and his own humble beginnings. He fought alongside them and earned their respect through his fair judgement and his policy of promoting people for their skill and not their blood.

However, it was also when he was the Markgreve of Västergötland did he see the fracturing of the Kalmar Union for himself. For years, the Danish crown had waged wars on the European mainland without considering the desires of the other members of the Union. Swedish trade was disrupted by the wars and the Swedish Privy Council was thus greatly dissatisfied with the Danish crown. The Danes, wanting to reiterate their control over Sweden, routinely sent their own forces into Swedish territory to remind the population that they were under the rule of the Danish Royal Family. Västergötland, being on the border, was a frequent target for such expeditions. While there was no official declaration of war, there were often plenty of skirmishes with losses on both sides. Vesa, having realized the importance of the musket and the necessity of a powerful army, drilled his men incessantly and made sure they were always ready to respond to a Danish incursion at a moment's notice.

This carried on for years, and Vesa and his sister were on the verge of requesting that the Swedish Privy Council do something about the Danish incursions when the Council decided to send a message to the Danes. News had reached Scandinavia of some sort of royal even happening in England and it was almost a dead certainty that the Danes would have someone from their own royal family there, no doubt claiming to represent the Kalmar Union as a whole. Perhaps Norway was too cowed by the Danes, but Sweden was going to remind Denmark that the Kalmar Union was just that: A union. Not the subjugation of Sweden and Norway by the Danes, but a unification of three equal states under a common royal family.

Thus, it was originally decided by the council that Vesa's sister would be sent, but after being informed of her duties by Vesa himself, they changed their minds and ordered Vesa to England. It might even look better; he would be there as a Markgreve of Västergötland, not a major noble by any means, but definitely one in control of a region considered to be part of the Swedish heartland and on the frontier with Denmark. The message would be clear: Either treat Sweden as an equal or Sweden will treat itself as an equal.

Personality: While Vesa is a friendly, affable person who has a predisposition towards witty remarks, his lack of social grace often ensures that he is left out of most conversations between nobles. His preference of using what is considered 'less-than-gentlemanly' language and the occasional slips into Finnish often made him a merely tolerated presence in the Swedish court, though few could disagree with the fact that he commanded one of the most well-trained and loyal armies of Sweden. As such, he is often seen as more of a General than an actual noble, and Vesa is quick to capitalize on this. His sister had once attempted to teach him the intricacies of political intrigue, and though she had failed in making him a proper noble, Vesa had picked up enough to know how to listen out for useful information.

Having spent most of his life as a peasant, one of the easiest ways to earn his ire would be to witness a noble mistreating their servant or any peasant, for that matter. While Vesa knows enough about social grace to keep his swords sheathed and his mouth shut when seeing minor grievances, more serious ones would see him challenging the offending noble to a duel at worst, and letting loose a string of Finnish and Swedish expletives at best.

Vesa is also a rather humble person, always more than willing to speak to anyone as an equal, rank be damned. This can also be somewhat attributed to his own relatively low rank, being only roughly on par with a Count, if not just ever-so-slightly higher.

Skills:
- Skilled swordsman
- Good shot with the matchlock musket
- Plays the violin