Name:
Ciríaco Moreno

Age:
43

Gender:
Male

Birthplace:
Sintra

Religious Affiliation:
Catholic

Secular Affiliation:
- His business, a trading enterprise, which is based in Lisbon and Tangiers. It is connected to local trading guilds in Lisbon, Porto, Brest and Tangiers, them in turn connected to an unnamed merchants guild, usually simply called Ligue d'Marseille (or The Marseillan League, in English), consisting of loosely connected local, city-based guilds along the Mediterrean coast. In reality, it's more of a network for information regarding trade than anything else. Ciríaco makes use of these connections in favour both for his other affiliations, as well as expanding his wealth.

- The Mayor and council of Sintra. As a reputable merchant born in Sintra, Ciríaco has rather easily made his way to the rulers of Sintra. He merely serves as an advisor on the council, is rarely present and even more rarely called upon, but nevertheless takes advantage of his influence in his criminal ongoings.

- The House of Braganza. Ciríaco is part of the Lisbon court, and has served the Portuguese royalty for decades. He was a trusted friend of João IV, the late king, and his wife Luisa de Guzmán. Officially, Ciríaco's only affiliation to the crown is as one of many, many individuals at court hoping to gain political and/or financial gain through it. Unofficially, and in reality, Ciríaco served as a spy directly under Luisa de Guzmán, queen consort of Portugal and regent of the same until her death six months ago. Ciríaco was mainly used in counter-espionage, infiltrating, identifying and (in secrecy) arresting foreign agents as well as criminal elements or people who opposed the Braganzas. Among other things, he helped thwart a conspiracy on Luisa's life headed by the Count of Castelo Melhor. Since Luisa's death, Ciríaco has instead served her mentally unstable son, the current king of Portugal - Afonso VI. Ciríaco dislikes the current king however (a mutual feeling), and feel less and less obliged to risk his life for the royalty, as his favored parts of it are now dead. In fact, he has not been used by the reigning king a single time, his career as a spy possibly ended.

- Ciríaco heads his own criminal organization, based in his hometown of Sintra and to a lesser extent Lisbon. It serves as a purse-cutter, extorting, bribing, threatening, stealing, kidnapping, murdering and anything else to put the profits the town of Sintra makes in the pockets of Ciríaco and his underlings. Ciríaco uses his influence, skills and knowledge gained as a spy to distance himself from the activities, leaving little else but a trail of money linking him to the worst scum of Sintra. His organization does the same thing in Lisbon, but isn't nearly as well-established there, not to mention the fact that the competition is rather stifling.

Level of education:
Ciríaco has decades of practical and theoretical training and practice in the subtle arts of subterfuge and espionage. He knows the basics of art, culture and history, and has been taught much in retrospect thanks Luis Varela and João IV. He can read, write and count, though his knowledge in mathematics is limited to counting coins.

Social status:
Reputable burgher. Most know him as a successful merchant part of the royal court. A few - both friend and foe - know about his criminality. Most of these live in Sintra, whereas a couple are friends of Ciríaco living elsewhere, helping him to line his pockets. Even fewer know about his history as a spy, at least as far as Ciríaco is aware.

Occupation:
Travelling merchant, a criminal (mastermind, according to himself) and a (former?) spy.

Appearance:
A bit overweight, naturally unattractive or simply plain - depending on who you ask - but impeccably dressed and groomed. Ciríaco was never a womanizer, nor did he care to be one, but is very vain and self-absorbed. As such, he always tries to look his best, keeping his hair in check and his facial hair non-existent. He wears expensive clothing and jewelry, gladly showing off his wealth. Measuring at roughly six feet tall and 210 pounds, Ciríaco makes for an imposing figure to the lesser man. A scar across his face is his only tell of the ugly that hides beneath his polished appearance.

Personality:
Cunning, conniving, ambitious and selfish. Ciríaco was destined for great things from the day he was born, of that he is certain. He is a natural talker, has a penchant for knowing what people want to hear and, crucially, who the most interesting figure in a room is. Despite putting himself above others, Ciríaco loves to engage in conversation and figure his verbal opponent out. He wants to know what makes people tick, if only because he wishes to use it against them. This is one of the main reasons (the other being his occupations) for his interest in language, causing him to learn a number of useful ones apart from his native tongue.

Regardless of his selfish and downright dark personality, Ciríaco is far from a sociopath. He has loved - even married - and is capable of both empathy and sympathy. He does, however, usually consider these symptoms of a weak character as opposed to a strong one, and actively represses them. Ciríaco is mentally hardened and tough, hard to scare unless facing a superior adversary - something yet to happen. Until the burning of Sintra, that is.

A devout believer, Ciríaco cherry picks which values and sentiments are worth following and adhere to, disregarding the others. He is sure there is a God, and he knows He created Ciríaco to accomplish great deeds. Indeed, what just happened in Sintra might very well be why Ciríaco was brought to life - he knows it.

Skill set:
Well trained and experienced in the arts of espionage. Especially information gathering and networking. Sees straight through people, generally spotting lies and deception with ease. While trained in how to handle firearms and smallswords, Ciríaco is an average fighter at best. A self-assured and experienced strategist.

Languages:
Portuguese (native), Spanish (fluently), Berber (fluently), English (fluently), French (conversational), Arabic (some), Latin (some).

Bio:
Aloisio Guerra was a laborer, and his wife Cecilia a simple housewife. They gave birth to five children - four sons (Abílio, Eusebío, Felipe, Ciríaco) and one daughter (Gracília). Cecilia died giving birth to her fifth child, Ciríaco, and Aloisio promptly placed the blame on the child. His lover and future wife Joana managed to convince him not to murder the child or leave it out in the wild, and as such Ciríaco grew up under constant verbal and physical abuse from his father, more so than his brothers and sister. Following one especially brutal beating, leaving Ciríaco incapable of getting out of his bed for six months, the then nine-year-old boy ran away.

He ended up at an orphanage, were he would spend the next four years. During his stay, Ciríaco stood out from the other children as a bright, motivated and fearless little boy. So much, in fact, that the owner (Guálter) of the orphanage recommended a couple he knew to adopt the child as they moved to town. The couple, Iago and Isaura Moreno, had tried to conceive for a long time without result, and Guálter came up with the idea, gaining a large fee in return, essentially selling the boy.

As luck would have it, Ciríaco's new family was a considerably more affectionate one than his first, and gave him the attention he craved. Iago was a merchant from Lisbon, his wife helping him in his business. They had far more money than the Guerras, yet less than that of the most successful burghers. Ciríaco's intelligence impressed Iago, and he soon sent the boy to start an apprenticeship in Lisbon, working as an assistant for Iago's sister's husband Luis Varela - a scholar and gentleman at the royal court. This was Ciríaco's ticket to the world of refined deceit and lies, as Luis also happened to be a local informant and spy for the Braganzas. Luis originally kept this as a secret from Ciríaco, but when the latter managed to find out the truth on his own, Luis was impressed rather than upset. It didn't take long for Cirïaco to be used as an errand boy and to spy on local businesses and people.

On his seventeenth birthday, while visiting his foster parents in Sintra, Ciríaco decided it was time to live up to a promise he had made himself a long time ago - to kill Aloisio Moreno when he was strong enough. He knew the Guerras lived in the same shit stain of a house they had always done. That night, he made his way over there with Iago's smallsword and knocked on the door, trusting his father to insist on opening it himself like he always used to. The man did as obliged, appearing half-naked and in a drunken daze. Ciríaco asked if his father recognized him. He did not, causing Ciríaco to push the smaller Aloisio to the ground and shouting out exactly who he were and why he was there. Realizing his mistake, Ciríaco promptly started swinging his sword against his siblings that had awoken, coming to aid their father. A few minutes later, the entire family was killed, Ciríaco foregoing his wish to make his father beg for forgiveness in favor of getting out of there before the neighbors arrived.

As the years went on, Ciríaco took over the business as Iago passed and saw it flourish using his ever-increasing influence working for Luis. Eventually, he was hired by a nobleman at court whom Varela knew, and through good work and fortune he was introduced to Luisa de Guzmán, the queen consort. He managed to woo her, lending his services to her. He would then use his occupation as a merchant as an excuse to travel around the country as well as abroad, building his network of contacts while trading for profit. He befriended Luisa and her husband, and fell in love with a noblewoman named Amélia at court. They married in 1652, effectively making Ciríaco a noble until Amélia died of consumption a mere year later, before they had any offspring, leaving Ciríaco without a noble title once more - not that he cared about that particular fact.

Deciding not to risk going through something as tragic as the loss of your beloved once again, Ciríaco turned his focus entirely to work. By this point, he had already began to involve himself in the criminal dealings in Sintra, and now he escalated them fast. Using trusted henchmen in Sintra, periodically ordering them through letters, Ciríaco saw the organization rise as he himself traveled around Portugal and Spain, engaging in espionage and countering the same, focusing on the Spanish. Meanwhile, his mercantile business continued sailing and trading along the coasts of Portugal, Spain and Morocco, with the occasional voyage to France.

And so it has went on, with Ciríaco performing more and more vile acts, more and more often. He has managed to gain a lot of friends and enemies along the years, sticking his nose both here and there - whether it belongs or not. He has a ton of dealings and connections, his life essentially being an iceberg to the onlooker.

Name: Bento Belo
Age: 25
Gender: Male
Birthplace: Lisbon

Religious Affiliation: Pagan/Heathen

Secular Affiliation:
His bar/inn. He and it act as a medium between the classes and The Marseillan League. It serves any customers, so it is only partially a front for Ben's criminal affiliations.

His aforementioned connections to The Marseillan League, as almost required by someone in his position.

Bento himself remains in a perpetual state of neutrality, and while this means that he's not made any particularly loyal allies, it also means he has many connections and few enemies. His dealings with the criminal side of the world is one of balance; he gives people the means, or the connections, for what they need. In more succinct and metaphorical terms, Bento has pitched his tent in the middle of the battlefield.

Level of education: Mostly street-smart, but learned his letters from a country priest.
Social status: Lowest.
Occupation: Bartender/Business Owner, Frontman, Contact, Etc

Appearance: Bento is a man in his twenties who sports dark hair and boringly brown eyes. He was handsome, once, but now a somewhat crooked and scarred nose draws most of the attention away from his wispy hair or delicate chin or high cheekbones. His body is a commoner's; short in height, darkened skin, and small feet. Bento shies away from normal 17th century fashion, trying his best to wear darker and more trimmed attire, to better format himself as a man without a class; a man who connects people.

Personality: Bento is a somewhat jovial man; his line of work forces him to always smile and act unfazed, no matter what emotions are pulling at him on the inside. He has the air of someone with a lot to hide, but really, what he hides are not his own secrets. He has nothing but his work in his life, and so as contrary as it sounds, he is a very honest man. He knows what he is, and he accepts it. Despite his lesser education in fields like science or mathematics or history, he knows his letters, and likes to read when he can; he is quite interested in the different religions of the world. Ben, perhaps in an unwitting self-deprecation, has not interacted much with females (romantically). While his line of work is morally ambiguous, he considers that separate from his own morals as a human being. As such, he is a very independent man and follows his own versions of what is or isn't right. He is very interested in philosophy since he cannot understand the more pressing studies of the world, and tries to compensate for it with a studious knowledge of religions and philosophies.

Skill set: Street smart. Literate in some places. Has many connections. Well known. Learned basic daggerplay.
Languages: English, Portuguese, basic Spanish.

Bio: Bento, actually Ben Jr, was born the son of Bento Belo and Adelina Belo. His father was born in Sintra, where he eventually moved away from to Lisbon in order to find more work. There, he met Ben's mother, a Pagan woman who somewhere deep in her ancestry was a little bit French. Both of his parents no longer had connections with either of their families, forcing them to survive with only each other. His mother had no work or profitable skills, instead turning into an escort to help support the family. Bento didn't know why or when it happened, but he guessed some few years after his father met Adelina he had lost his faith, because soon enough Ben was forbidden any teachings of Catholicism.

It was a drab life diagnosed early on with a terminal case of poverty. It was a life that balanced itself, as the proverb goes, "on thin ice", and Ben knew this from an early age. His father was drafted to the shadier parts of lowborn society, doing things that even now his son hasn’t found out about.

Soon enough, things caught up with him. His mother, spreading her legs more dangerously for more dangerous men, fell through the ever-thin ice after she was used by a man too close to the count. Ben has blocked the day away from memory, but it's still there buried deep, the clanking of steel manacles and the gentle sobs of a middle-aged mother. Too close to the count indeed. She had been impregnated with his seed.

Ben never felt a large amount of love for his mother, but from what he remembered of the old religious teachings (for these, the world decreed, were proper), he was supposed to. The question of whether or not she was still rotting away in a cell or buried near the Sintra mountains still sits within Bento’s mind, like a sore blister on his lip that he can’t stop tonguing.

After that, his father decided it was time to move back to Sintra, and they did. There, they lived just as they had before, in poverty and silence, except Ben now without a mother. The years turned him from boy to man, and it was during that time that a country-priest (one that loved travel, it seems) taught Ben his first letters. His father, as Ben grew with the years and became self-sufficient, slowly stopped working altogether, metamorphosing into a street beggar, using his money now on liquor and alcohol. He became a vegetable in Ben's eyes, and he would take care of him as such for the years to come. He never understood his father's love for Adelina, as he had taken to calling her, but it had existed and leveled him to what he was now. Ben wouldn't judge it.

Taken care of by his son as if their roles were reversed, his father only goes out when the drinking is particularly bad, to yell out blasphemy and gibberish to passerby. It's a wonder he has yet to be taken away like poor Adelina, but then again, not many see him as human anymore. Ben sometimes wonders if his father understands what he does. Sometimes he wonders if cares.

Notes: Nothing of note.