Name:
Stefano Morosini
Age:
39
Gender:
Male
Birthplace:
Candia, Crete
Religious Affiliation:
Partially Hellenic
Secular Affiliation:
None
Level of Education:
High. Learned reader and writer, speaker of Modern Greek [Native], Italian, French, Portuguese, Spanish and Latin. Heavily educated by various tutors employed by his noble family in literature, geography, history and mathematics.
Social Status:
Long lost son of a noble in the Morisini family of Venetian Crete.
Occupation:
Freelance artist, trained in Post-Byzantine art but aware and respectful of foreign art styles.
Appearance:
Stefano is of an average height and is slightly overweight. He is reasonably tanned due to living in warm climates throughout his life. His coal black hair is commonly found hanging down behind his neck in a ponytail, kept together by a jewel-encrusted band of leather. Stefano goes to great lengths to maintain a pleasant state of hygiene, washing his hair sometimes thrice a day, provided an acceptable quality of water is available.
His eyes are small and coloured hazel, and there are rarely any marks underneath them designating signs of fatigue. His eyebrows are large and bushy though limited in width, and they are commonly moving vigorously due to Stefano's naturally interested state. His nose is verging on large facing outward, though it is short, leaving a large area between his nostrils and his upper lip. His lips are small and lacklustre, but the interior of his mouth is lively and prone to laughter. Stefano keeps a controlled amount of stubble between his upper lip and nose and his lower lip and neck, yet it is embellished a strong black like his hair.
Stefano likes to dress exquisitely, keeping a selection of vividly coloured waistcoats and doublets, with fashionable cravats and ruffled shirts, petticoat breeches with decorated boothose. His signature item of clothing is a white-washed cloak over the left shoulder, bordered with gold linen in circular designs.
Personality:
Stefano is a loud, boisterous and pompous man. He has never had any regard for the suffering and unfortunate people in the world, and his views on others is limited to the small groups of royals that he grew up with to the companies of rich merchants and eccentrics in Spain, Portugal and Italy. On the other hand, Stefano is also passionate, friendly to those he acknowledges, well meaning and humorous. He can make a friend just faster than he can eat a vine of grapes or the carvings of a suckling pig, though there is little time between them. Stefano has in several cities grown around him an entourage of lesser nobles - an action other high-borns might find insulting, but the lost Morisini is seldom as cheerful without a listening body in which to tell his many stories to. Even when taking part in artistry, where many in the market would find solace in peace and quiet, Stefano would chatter away to anyone attending him while skilfully painting renditions of joyous banquets or lively social scenes.
The downside to Stefano's openness is his inability to judge characters. He defaults to looking on at people as amused and happy, as that is how his childhood accomplices were when around him, and sometimes this results in a budding pickpocket getting a little too close to him. Thus, Stefano has taken action always to hire a watchful bodyguard when dealing with strangers. When travelling in cities through streets too dirty for Stefano to walk on, he hires a carriage or takes to his steed and attempts to avoid the serfs and common folk milling about.
Stefano is an able conversationalist and he rarely shuts up when engaged with a worthy opponent in a diplomatic or social encounter. He can speak fluently in a handful of widely spoken dialects and is always looking to expand his language knowledge. He is quite proficient in the art of persuasion and business dealings and has urged out many a bonus when selling his paintings or received discounts when buying materials. It does not take long for the cheerful artist to become renowned in a city or region, and some are even excited to deal with the man despite his impressive work. Sometimes Stefano receives money for being his amusing self instead of the pieces intended to be traded.
Skill Set:
Fluent in six languages.
Expert businessman, good at persuasion techniques.
Gives off a cheerful aura and is easy to trust people and for people to trust him.
Skilled artist.
Able to read and write well.
A natural-born leader.
Rich.
Languages:
Modern Greek, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Latin and French.
Bio:
Stefano was born in the mid 1620s to one Robert Morisini and French wife Emma. Robert was a cousin of Donato Morisini whom was once the Duke of Candia, which meant Robert had a comfortable life with plenty of money and a luxurious estate in which to reside. By extension, Stefano had an unsullied upbringing, and as the only descendant of the wealthy royal - Emma had tragically died in childbirth and so could not bear any further children - Stefano was prized and spoilt to no end. Robert was an honourable man and he repeatedly refused the option of remarriage, choosing to pledge the estate to Stefano when he was still at a very early age and leaving everything he had to him in his will.
Stefano's childhood was idealistic, beautiful sceneries to explore, ample reserves of high quality food and drink, access to great amounts of money - meaning the best educational tutors, private staff and attendees around were already on the Morisini payroll. In regard to the royal family, Stefano never saw much of most of them - his father held an estate in an enclosed area on the coast and the government held their bases further inland. Robert was not the best at diplomacy not ingenuity so he was largely left to his own devices and rarely consulted in matters of state.
When Stefano turned twenty, Robert died peacefully, from natural causes. As stated by Stefano's father, everything was passed down to the young man - the estate, with it's resources, staff and Robert's considerable conservation of wealth.
However, it was not Stefano's wish at this point to live a life of tranquillity and isolation. Having had only limited contact with the household staff in Robert's estate, it was instead his desire to live with a monastic group of Hellenists, devotees to a religion worshipping the ancient Greek Gods and Goddesses. His childhood friends were largely of this religion, as their families were predominantly Greek traditionalists who were partially separate from the secular Venetian rulers, especially in matters of faith and sociality.
Stefano took great interest in the fascinating religion, and it was also at this time that his artist hobby began to flourish. He took a great deal of inspiration from the visual representations of the Greek ascendants and their worshipper's culture. His other main influence was the Post-Byzantine art styles of Venetian Crete that he had been trained in by one of his creative tutors.
However, not all things last, and ten years after Stefano's induction into the religious group he left - having permanently adopted various beliefs and inspirations from Hellenism, although he did not believe wholeheartedly all the stories that it wove. Stefano's art was now widely recognised in Candia and he was beginning to erect a business from the foundations of a fundamental hobby. Despite the large amount of wealth Stefano was still in possession of, he partly lusted for more and he partly desired to travel the continent, developing his languages and spreading himself into foreigner's knowledge.
He departed the Greek island, not long before the decades-long oppression from the Ottomans was about to begin, and travelled to Italy, then France and England, then Spain, and finally Portugal.
Stefano's habits were largely the same in the large cities of each country, he would set up his business and form or join a group of intelligent wealth-bearers or noblemen within the city, selling his prestigious paintings and learning histories and geographies of the unexplored areas. It was an enjoyable life, one forged from the rich and pompous lifestyle Stefano had been born into.
That all changed in a coastal town by the name of Sintra, in the intriguing country of Portugal.
Stefano was painting a new intuitive portrait at the time, looking out over the picturesque rooftops of the quiet town. His painting was foiled when a surge of flame leapt over a building opposite him and scorched the beautiful woman black that Stefano had paid to model for him, in a balcony across the street. The rich artist never caught a glimpse of the creature, yet he knew that it was beautiful - a new being, never recorded by visual or hand-written notes. Stefano became obsessed with an idea from the initiation of the attack of Sintra - a history he could start for himself, a series of paintings of the like the world had never seen. He would be famous beyond belief, and rich too besides. If only he could see the majestic creature. Stefano cared not for the danger he had seen it display, if any concern was held it was only for himself, yet this yearning was almost - almost - more than his own self regard. Not long after the Sintra incident, Stefano sat in a plush red armchair, pondering. The town was still recovering from the unbelievable event, and it was here that Stefano made his decision - he was going to find the creature and start a foundation of art, stories - and perhaps even a religion - associated with it.
Notes: None.
