Name: Viridiana Ralei

Age: Thirty-Eight Summers

Titles: Duchess of Andalia, Lady Viridiana of Caerleon.

Origin: Viridiana come from the House of Skyr, one of the second tier houses that always seemed to be in flux when it came to position in the games of houses. Her marriage into the Ralei family has help to secure it a more promenade place in the games.
Allegiance: House Ralei, and House Skyr
Family:

Appearance: The portrait you see is an old one, painted the day after she married Euric at age 19. Not much has changed as the years passed by. Her skin has become more lined and her hair has added a few strands of grey.

Personality: Viridiana was never given much opportunity to ...develop a personality as a child. As her suitors changed, her parents would train her to be what her husband found most attractive. Full of "He likes funny girls, be funny," or "He likes silent girls, be still and seen, but not heard." Later in her life she found that, on more than one occasion, the necklines on her dresses suddenly started plunging with one suitor and choking her when she met the next one.

After getting married, however, she found that she could be...whomever she wanted for the first time. She tried on many different roles with her husband, but found the one that suited them both best, was confident, mother to their children and political partner.

Background: Viridiana had been engaged more times then she cared to count starting from the day she was born and ending when she finally took Euric’s cloak. It was exciting, the first few times, everyone getting excited, sending for a wedding dress to be made. Occasionally the dress would be created before the wedding was called off, for one reason or another.

It was because of that, that she was virtually indifferent to her marriage to Euric, hardly bothering to meet the man, simply assuming it ‘wouldn’t’ work out. It took till after her wedding night to finally hit her, she was…married. After being let down so many times, she'd never given much thought to what happened after the wedding. That was perhaps for the best, as she was never let down by what she found.

Her husband was...dutiful, of which she was skeptical of even if she only listened to half the rumors that were said. It was also clear that he saw her a duty, if nothing else, so she aimed to make herself a duty that he would mind so much.
It was clear, on more than on occasion as they bedded, that it was always another who held his mind.

Things got happier, once her children were born. Each more wonderful than the next and the light in her world. And each fiercely protected from false betrothals.

Perhaps the only true negative was Viktor Summers. The bastard child that Euric constantly protected. Viridiana never saw him as a threat to her children, they were the true-born heirs and nothing could be changed about that. But she saw him as threat to her husband. The boy so clearly was able to play his father like a fiddle, yet Euric could not be convinced to see his eldest son in that light. Had Viridiana had it her way, they would have payed the boy, and his mother, a handsome sum to simply go away.

Yet that didn't happen. And the shadow remaind.

Name: Isla Lear

Age: Nineteen Summers (TBD, Waiting on her brother)

Titles: Princess Isla of House Lear.

Origin: Penkarth Castle

Allegiance: House Lear and The North
Family:
Appearance: Isla has the typical color of the house Lear. Dark hair, grey/blue eyes and pale skin.

Personality: Isla has all been a very cheerful, playful and mellow soul. When she was a baby, she hardly ever cried and was quick to smile. This carried on through to her adulthood. Hard to ruffle, quick to smile. However, she is also hard to convince and, some might say, lacks the ambition to play social games. She does what she is told, but is far to content in her life to ever take the initiative that many of the lower houses’ daughters might.

Background:

Isla was the first born child of Lord and Lady Lear. Although not the son they craved, she was a joy in her own right. A clever and pleasant child ,she hardly ever caused mischief out of lack of ambition to try and get herself out of trouble. Happy to always follow the rules. A little after her first birthday, she lost the title of 'heir' to her younger brother. As the story says, when she was told she was no longer going to rule the North, she laughed and then squished a bug.

Isla gets on well with both of her parents, always willing to hunt with her father or take tea with her mother. However, she is her father’s child in heart as soul. Always willing to listen to and sympathise with all of his plights. A step closer to friends then father and daughter. Her relationship with her mother as always been more formal, yet still loving.

Throughout her childhood, she doted on her younger siblings, occasionally calling them 'our children' when talking to her parents. Although, she wasn't spared the typically sibling mischief. To this day, she still jokingly refers to Siguard as her ‘less good looking replacement’ and Joane as her 'little copy cat'. Isla spend many sleepless nights staying as close to Siguard as her parents and nurses would allow. After, while he was still weak, she'd still try to take him outside or to various other place, willing or otherwise. Isla was also very fond of here sister and liked to think that she was the first one to know about her secret sword practice, but she could be sure.

Although Isla in nearing the age of marriage, she doesn’t have her heart set on one particular lord or even a particular house. Knowing that, thanks to her rank, she could generally have her choice of houses. She also trusted her father to select someone who would bring her contentment and that her Lord father would respect any…misgivings she’d have about an individual to save herself from marry someone she found distasteful.

Name: Euric Ralei

Age: Forty-Two

Titles: Duke of Andalia, Protector of the South, Lord of Caerleon

Origin: Caerleon

Allegiance: House Ralei

Family:
­

Personality:
The duke can sometimes seem harsh, but the truth is that what he values the most is empathy, the ability to place yourself in other people's shoes before making a decision, especially when its relating to the law, making him a forgiving person with those who's crime is a mere mistake or was brought out of necessity, but less so for others who simply sought to gain without any thought or consideration to others. Likewise however, he believes that one must always solve the root cause of the problem before moving on to something else, as a hungry man who steals to feed himself will still be hungry tomorrow and a man who made a mistake but was not told how to do things properly can only repeat it.

Background:
Euric was born second son to Duke Alaric the Strong, a man who believed that the south, as the richest territory of the kingdom, bore the responsibility to raise the most swords under its banner, a man as well who had little patience for trivialties and incompetence. As a second son, Euric was considered trivial and to make the matter worst, he showed very little competence in anything but spending money and flirting with women, especially those of a status beneath his.

If he was destined to be the second son with no use whatsoever to the family, then Euric would take fun in the position that allowed him to do as he pleased with an essentially unlimited amount of funds. His favorite crowd to hand out with were of course the merchants who enjoyed his company and that of his money. From one woman to the other however, Euric landed on the loveliest Olivia. He truly believed he was in love, but then again he did so with a different woman once every month or so, though he did stand with her for almost a year.

At the end of that year however, what a lot of second sons secretly hope for happened, and his brother Maximilian was slain in a jousting tournament. It fell on him, as the second son... the only son left, to take the Lordship. He didn't want to and told so to his dearest Olivia, wanting to sever ties to a family that would not allow him to love a simple merchant's daughter and live his own life.

He told so to his father, in private as not to humiliate him in front of his vassals and subjects. Alaric took exception to that. In the hour his father took to beat him senseless, he told his son more words than he ever did before in his entire life about duty and how his one and only duty in life, the reason he was kept around and allowed to do as he pleased with no consequence, was so he could stand up to the task should a worst case scenario happen, and it just did. Euric meekly protested, but was received with a torrent of kicks and insults along with menaces that the only way to walk out of his duty was in a coffin, so he'd have to leave his peasant mistress behind if he didn't want his father to have her executed and work the hardest he ever did to become an acceptable ruler.

And so, Euric did as he was asked, begrudgingly. The separation was not an easy one and it left an even sour taste in his mouth when he learned a few months later that Olivia had a child that could only be his, one he hid the existence well until a few years later Alaric passed away. Now Duke, Alaric's first order of business was to send a generous pension to Olivia and his bastard. Even today, this remains a sensible topic as everyone knows of Euric's bastard, including his wife and while he didn't acknowledge him as his, he never denied that he was either.

Ultimately, the things he learned and the connections he made while he hung out with merchants served him well, as today the friends of yesterday are now the heads of the merchant families of today. This makes him radically different from his father, a very martial man, Euric indeed sees prosperity as the best hope for peace in the realm and concentrates on making the south... everything that the north isn't. Clean roads, beautiful architecture, work for everyone and a focus on freedom along with less taxes on the peasantry, even if it makes him rather unpopular with his vassals and the king himself, as Euric tries his damnest to dodge the taxes he's asked to pay and oftens puts the blame on anything unpopular he might do on the king.

Ultimately however, he keeps his role minimal, serving much more as a judge than a governor, believing in a sense that what his father said about how 'One should just leave the merchants do their things' to hold mostly true, even if the good old 'Invisible hand' sometimes guides things the right way and prevents the worst from happening.

Name: Viktor Summers

Age: Twenty two

Titles: Honorable Representative of the Caerleon Merchant Guild.

Origin: Caerleon

Allegiance: House Ralei (Nominally)

Family:


Personality:
On his good side, people see him as a generous and intelligent individual that built his own fortune on cunning and on giving a chance to those who had nothing but the will to work hard, the anti-thesis of the nobles and even lots of merchants who only see in someone their parents or the place he was raised, that he studied in. This hides a darker truth however, the fact that he is extremely cynical and paranoid. He places his trust only in people who's life and career he made because they tend to be fanatically devoted to him rather than others who would normally have this post because of their birth... who would be entitled to it and would owe nothing to Viktor.

Background:
Viktor realized very young that his was an abnormal family. He could only very rarely see his father and everyone seemed to dislike him and his mother for it. It wasn't long until the bitterness his mother had about the whole situation made its way into his heart. It was useless to bring up that he was half of a duke as that was too little, and that still made him half a merchant, which was also nothing of use to him.

He grew lonesome, both because of the will of each side of his family who wanted to keep his existence hidden and because of his own who found himself to fit nowhere. With nothing to do he read, he drew, he studied and ultimately grew up to be quite the socialite, knowing from an early age he had everything to gain from concealing and hiding his true nature. When he reached his majority, he decided it was time to cash in as much as he could on life and decided to go meet his daddy. From what little encounter he had with him, Viktor was acutely aware of how guilt ridden Euric was and merely played on his heart strings to have a sizable stipend to start in life.

It was easy, and easier still to have an edge in his business. Euric was convinced to bend the rules a little in favor of his son, here and there, to be more receptive to his plight and that meant, to the plight of those who worked with Viktor. The bastard, now known as Viktor Summers as to drop the heritage of both his mother and father, scoured the land in search for opportunities to exploit and people to discover. Or was it the contrary? No matter, it didn't take long for the Caerleon merchant guild to take interest in him, in the fact that he had the ear of the Duke and what it took days to have a short meeting to others, Viktor could discuss privately. He was thus made Representative of the guild. His words being that of the merchants of the south, mostly.

That of course made him enter in contact with his siblings. Of course he hates Arthur and Viridiana with passion, believing, hard as iron, that they were the impostors, the responsible for any and all of his woes. He does not however, hold particular grudges against his sisters. Travels made him an open minded person who can appreciate the powers a woman can hold, and how they can to compare to any men in the intellectual department. Though he still hates it when they order him around.

Name: Veronika Tolstoi

Age: Nineteen

Titles: None

Origin: Village near the Barony of Mork, North.

Allegiance: Viktor Summers, always.

Family:


Personality:
It was early that Veronika was harshly thought that one should not speak if one didn't have something to say. This, along with the punishment for even hinting at an insult with your facial expression made for a very quiet and rarely expressive girl. Ultimately she didn't need to spend any time with Viktor for life to rot her to the core with cynicism. As someone who known the worst of misery life can bring, her own belief is that no one else matters. They can die, they can starve, as long as it isn't her then its a victory. As long as it isn't Viktor... The man gave her a life worth living and even if it was just to give himself a useful servant, fact remained he chose her and no one else, and that she'd be dead or worst, still where she was when he found her without him. There is no god or king to her, only Viktor.

Background:
The angular face with sharp lines... the distinctive feature of the Liber people. Some say a subgroup of the Estalian northern folks that would eventually go to the south, some say something else entirely. No matter, these people tend to be marginalized, living only in a handful of villages in the most isolated parts of the north. Veronika's childhood was only one of survival with her mother and older sister. She had other siblings as well but she hardly remembers them, winter took them when she was young.

It seemed they would all fall victim to it when the Caravan of Miracles was in town. The caravan was a group of entertainer, popular on every corner of the kingdom for its breath taking shows. Known as well for its incredible talents. There was a reason of course, they were trained from a young age under the idea that if you couldn't tame a bear, then you would feed the bear. Veronika made her way in that circus like everyone there did: Her mother sold her to the circus master. Not as a slave no, but merely Veronika would gain a salary that she'd never see, it'd be sent to her mother. One mouth less to feed, and a little more income.

Veronika trained to be an acrobat and was a pretty damn good one, though the training was impossibly hard. A lot fell in their act and were left on the side of the road as beggars with broken limbs if they were lucky enough for the stage not being burning coal or something like that. Veronika however never fell.

It was a few years ago that a particular merchant from the South assisted to one of her shows. An important man she understood, as he was in the loge with the circus master and the local noble. Viktor. She had attracted his eye due to his own 'special' tastes in women. He didn't like traditional nobles and their anorexic figures and neither did he like the fatter ones. No, it was and still is one of his quirks, he likes the more trained women, the rare warriors, some farmer girls... an acrobat like Veronika fell exactly in his tastes.

The compliment he said about Veronika's grace and abilities however was taken in an entirely inappropriate way by the circus master who ordered Veronika to meet the merchant in his chambers during the night. It wasn't the first time Veronika was ordered such a thing and she knew better than to disobey. It was, however, quite the first for Viktor and he was extremely surprised to see her, even more so when she calmly explained the situation to him.

Viktor actually almost went through with it but ultimately, to Veronika's surprise, decided he could not go with it, and blamed his lack of enthusiasm with humor on Veronika not being able to smile to him. Still, they stayed together and spoke with interest to each other all night.

It would have seemed their encounter would have ended there if it wasn't for the fact that Viktor had negotiations with the circus master the next day. The deal wasn't bad, but it wasn't good either and Viktor wanted to squeeze a little extra from the circus, but the circus master didn't want any of it. He then decided however to offer Viktor the girl he had slept with last night. She, after all, had only left early in the morning and he took that as a sign of interest. Viktor was taken aback but decided to accept. Like that, on a whim.

Veronika was now under the service of a new master. One that fed her, clothed her, hell, even paid her. The first person, the first man, to pay such attention to her. Although he was very insistent she was anything but that, Veronika still served him like the most devout of slave from that moment on, placing her wide range of skills, from acrobatics to knife throwing, to his use, even learning some more to help her master and ultimately, the love of her life, in any ways she could.

Name: Porthos Condotierri

Age: Thirty two

Titles: Captain of the Lion Company

Origin: Barony of Langvale, West.

Allegiance: Whomever signs a contract with him.

Family:


Personality:
He is a loud man that likes nothing more than a barrel of wine and a couple of women to keep him company. This all tends to make him seem like a simple and even stupid man, though he is nothing but. While he's willing to admit there is more intelligent than him and that he has a lot of focus on direct charges and attacks, he'll underline the fact that no matter how simple what he does seems, it works. He indeed is a brave leader of man that knows himself and his soldiers. Along with that, he's maybe a little smarter than people give him credit for.

Background:
Porthos' father was actually a minor Baron in the west at the employ of the king, that is until when Porthos was very young and his family had to go bankrupt, selling their title to scrape enough to live. He however had the 'luck' to serve as a page to nobles, destined to eventually become a squire. He quickly abandonned this idea however when he noticed how much boot licking was involved. He wouldn't treat his master like light shined out of his ass when he was the best of his age and yet the last to become a squire. And so, he decided to leave and sell his sword arm instead.

He did good, quickly banding with others to form a small company to dispatch of brigands and serve as hired thugs to beat up other hired thugs in the south. His career really started however when he joined a minor claiment to the title of count. By all rights he was probably the real count, but his uncle had the knights on his side and the castle as well, so pushing him out, even for the king, would just be an annoying chore. The claiment only had peasants to which he had promised to lower the taxes but Porthos took the contract non the less.

By all odds, one would call this suicidal. Sure, they had the advantage of the number but peasants historically were all mowed down like grass in front of trained knights and mercenaries never fared much better. They laid siege to the castle of the count and surely, he decided he'd rather deal with this quickly and went to the field with his fully armoured knights.

That the Lion Company proceeded to massacre.

To be fair the count was an imbecile and decided to charge a line of pikemen, but that was still exceptional and Porthos was now known as a knight slayer, a man with people willing and able to dispatch of the most elite fighters of the kingdom. A step higher from bigger companies that refused any such contract, always fighting against criminals or other mercenaries in mock battles where they crushed the enemy with no challenge.

Right now, Porthos is wise enough to see that a dying king with a dying heir makes for a very bad combo to keep the peace and so is expending, in prevision of what is to come. He, however, does not aim to get financial gain from the crisis to come. No, his family was noble once, and he intends to make it again.

Name: Maria Condotierri

Age: Twelve

Titles: None

Origin: Somewhere on the roads in the North.

Allegiance: None

Family:


Personality:
The nature of a mercenary company made Maria into a girl that has a hard time forming relations and getting attached to things since after all, no one knows when the time will come where someone might die or she herself will have to get up in the middle of the night and run for her life, leaving everything behind. Maria is thus also extremely mature for her age, understanding the random nature of life where bad things happen to bad people and vice versa, thus she doesn't expect to be entitled to anything and despises those that think they are.

Background:
The Captain of the Lions probably has left a long trail of bastards in his wake, considering his womanizing habits, it is thus extremely ironic that one of the woman she spent the most time with, a member of his own company who died in child birth, left him with a child he painfully obviously isn't the father of. What goes around, comes around as they say. Still, it didn't prevent him to love Maria like she was his only child.

Though that didn't mean he treated her especially well. Porthos after all had and still has no idea what a normal childhood is supposed to look like and he's always just working between instinct and his experience training men to become the best they can be. Which is probably why today Maria acts like a boy and kinda looks like one too. While Maria at 12 years of age isn't sure what she wants to be, she guesses its probably not a mercenary. She tires of the constant walking, fighting and death, and dreams of maybe a little house.

Porthos however dreams of more than that and what little special attention she gives to her is to groom her into being slightly more respectable than he is. She can at least look and act the part, though it also kind of encourages to become kind of a sneaky liar as she needs to do sneaking or lying to get him off her back at times. She loves her father, but sometimes he can be a little bit... too much.

Name: Geldyr Snow

Age: Thirty Winters old.

Titles: N/A

Origin: Small town a few miles east of Penkarth.

Allegiance: Lear

Family:


Appearance:
His hair is black and worn in an unkempt fashion, pulled into a ponytail at the back of his head. His skin is fair but ruddy. He has a noticeable fit and trim body, with practiced hard muscle, though lean. His face is not unhandsome, in a half commoner sort of way. He has a small scar on his left cheek, as well as 4 scars along his back, 2 criss crossing on his right bicep and one on the back of his left hand. He wears a torn wool vest over a grey-tan shirt. He wears a sarashi over both of his hands and forearms, leaving his fingers unwrapped. His feet are covered with sturdy traveling shoes. He wears halfplate armor, compromising of a breastplate, pauldrons, bracers, and thigh guards made of plate mail.

Personality: Determined, skilled, and passionate are the three words that can describe Meldyr. He is introverted, but confident. Meldyr has a compassionate heart, but a strong sense of justice. He's bound by an honor code, and he tends to follow his feelings instead of his logic. Or more like, he follows his rational thought that has been transformed by his ideals. It's worked so far, however. He enjoys learning new things, and he expresses himself through his sword play.

Background:

• Born to a commoner woman who died in child birth. Was taken by Brannon as his bastard son.
• Grew up as his first born. Raised as his own, and even cared for by his Wife, though begrudgingly.
• Became a page at age 7, and quickly had a single minded determination to prove himself as a true heir of the house, practicing and training hard. Became a Squire age 13, and a fully fledged Knight age 19.
• Lost his virginity at age 21 to a common female story teller. Little did he know she was a thief and gypsy, and apparently she was executed later for being captured.
• Led a company of men against well armed bandits at age 22, hunting them for 3 years and fighting skirmish after skirmish.
• Won the Lear sword dueling tournament age 27, and came 3rd in the joust, and 2nd in Archery.
• Halted an assassination attempt on one of his father age 28.
• Trains Knights, patrols the Lear lands, and gives justice until this day.

Ulfar Lear - Father
Taron Lear - Younger Uncle
Ildar Lear - Youngest Uncle
Emmaline Lear - Mother
Isla Lear - Eldest Sister
Sigurd Lear - Older Brother

Name:

Corvo Rathmore (Woods formerly)

Age:

Twenty Nine

Titles:

N/A

Origin:

Unknown; presumed from some slum or likewise of Windkeep.

Allegiance:

House Rathmore

Family:

Personality:

Background:

Euric Ralei(Father)
Viridiana Ralei (Mother)
Jaelyn Ralei(Older Sister)
Arthur Ralei(Brother)

Name: Wyeth Mallory

Age: Forty two

Titles: Ser

Origin: Village near Penkarth, the North

Allegiance: House Lear



Appearance: Standing at 5'11", it is obvious that Wyeth is a strong individual. Even his features show his strength, with a pronounced jawline and fierce, brown eyes. His wavy black hair reaches the nape of his neck, and most of the time, it is nicely styled. A black cape almost always rests upon his broad shoulders. His armor heavily resembles the one seen in the picture, with the crow of House Lear forged onto his pauldrons.

Personality: A humble and diligent knight, Wyeth strictly adheres to the virtues of the Northmen. He makes sure to show that he is a loyal man serving under the colors of House Lear. Even though he appears to be the epitome of a man in his knighthood, he hides away his ego rather well. He secretly believes that he deserves more than he has and will be given. His pride mostly shows on the battlefield, as he cares more about the wounds to his name rather than the ones on his body.

All throughout, he is a homely man. After taking care of the Lear children throughout their younger years, Wyeth is almost motherly towards them. He dotes on them constantly and keeps an eye out for them, even if they are older.

Background: Ever since Wyeth's birth, his father had given him nothing but disdain and contempt. He blamed him for the death of his mother, who had died in childbirth, and his twin sister, who died along with her. While both his father and him lived in the same household, it was as if the boy didn't exist. Wyeth had to fend for himself; as time went on, he learned where and how to get food and cook it. His father sometimes helped him with the more trivial things, but even then, it was as if he were tossing about a sack of potatoes.

His father found another woman when he was but ten years old. When Wyeth was twelve, his new mother gave birth to another son. They named him Danire, and Danire took whatever inheritance he had away from him. He would be granted his father's farmland when he was of age, and Wyeth would have nothing. His father said that he would be lucky if he was gifted pig shit instead of an inheritance. After that, it wasn't long until he was kicked out of his home.

Luckily, Wyeth found himself in the hands of a knight who had sworn himself to House Lear. He brought him to the castle, and with that, he became a page for the lord at the age of thirteen. It was then that he grew close to the heir of Penkarth, Ulfar Lear. The two became as close as brothers, sparring and joking in their youth. To him, they were basically alike. It was only when they grew older that Wyeth knew that they were different. Ulfar was the heir to House Lear, while he had just become a squire.

Years passed by and Wyeth remained by Ulfar's side. Even when there was the beginnings of a rebellion in the north, Wyeth made sure that his Lord and sworn friend, and his wife, of course, were safe. When the young lord rode into battle, he rode with him, fighting alongside the knights themselves, even if he was a squire. After Ulfar's cousin was defeated and the remaining embers of rebellion were snuffed out, Wyeth was named a sworn knight of House Lear.

When Ulfar produced three children, Wyeth was there to take care of them when neither he nor his wife couldn't. He became rather close to Sigurd, the new heir of House Lear. Even when he became sick with the pox, he always hovered close, making sure that he was well nourished and clean. Fortunately, the heir became healthy, and once again roamed the halls of Castle Penkarth.

Ever since, Wyeth has been making sure that the lands and children of Ulfar Lear have been well protected.

Saren Fisher - Father
Cliera Fisher - Mother
Clara - Sister

"I have too often found greedy to be a word that the jealous thrust upon the successful to protect their fragile egos."

Name: Edwin Lysander

Age: Twenty eight

Titles: Lord of Whitehill, Master of Coin

Origin: Locksley Town, the West

Allegiance: House Rathmore

Family: (Sister)

Personality: Ambitious and avaricious, Edwin is a man who is extremely diligent and is always looking for days to enhance his fortune... And ways to spend it, for if there is one thing he has it is a love of wealth; It is sweeter than honey and stronger than the sword, for any blade can be turned aside with a gold coin. His greed has become nearly as widely known as his ability, having acquired him the nickname "Magpie" for his efforts. He embraced it fully and went so far as to use a Magpie for the sigil of his house.

Edwin is a proud, or arrogant as some would say, man who does not forget slights easily, even if it was never meant as one in the first place. For example, he is quick to become defensive and brazen if one should suggest that his success can be attributed to divine blessing; in his own words, he did not toil tirelessly forging business partnerships and clawing his way from the dirt to have the success attributed to a magical sky fairy.

Edwin is manipulative and cunning, with a silver tongue and a talent for 'enhancing' the truth. He is capable of donning different personalities in order to get what he wants and is good at discerning what other people want.
For all his faults however he is quite a philanthropist; There are a number of orphanages in the capital which rely upon the generous donations and the tax breaks to charities that were given by the Master of Coin, though he would never admit his softness. Likewise, despite his lack of piety he remembers quite clearly that it was men of the church who taught him the skills he needed to have gone so far. Indeed, the few places where a poor man can rely on any form of charity are the churches. Though the upper clergy have found themselves hit much harder by their taxes, the poorer rural parishes have found themselves relatively secure and with occasional donation.

Background: Edwin was born in the town of Locksley some five miles from Caelorn, land belonging to Sir Richard of House Blackfly. His family were freemen who owned a moderately sized farm outside of the town and mostly made their living through herding sheep and selling the wool to the local clothier, Robert. As freemen, they were in a much better position than many of the peasants however they still lived poorly compared to the merchants and lords of the land.

The children were taught to the rudimentary aspects of literacy  by the monks of the nearby monastery in exchange for them acting as servants for the monastery. As a result of this upbringing, Edwin was raised with a strong faith however this was shattered around his twelth birthday

Edwin and his siblings often went to play around the abandoned watchtower in their youth. Tragedy struck however when his brother Aidan tripped and fell for the tower during one of their games, breaking his young body upon the rocks below. Edwin lost his faith and never regained it.

Robert was married to Edwin's aunt Lynne and it was through her that an apprenticeship was acquired for Edwin at the young age of 13 with the hopes that Edwin would eventually be able to use his training to pull the family up towards the middle classes.
To say Robert was an immoral man was to put it lightly; He often travelled to the capital on business and while there he would whore and gamble. Edwin found Robert in bed with a whore one day during one of his visits to the capital and was quick to turn the opportunity to his advantage; The young apprentice blackmailed his master and in doing so became an equal partner in the business which was characterised to the village as being part of a strong master-student relationship. In truth, Edwin held the cards and played then to his advantage.

The boy might have remained a comfortably off if unnoteworthy clothier if not for a twist of fate. The Lady Blackfly cared greatly for fashion and appearances and as fate would have it she passed through the town of Locksley on her way to the capital and was drawn to one of the display dresses that were kept in the window. Edwin was more than willing to oblige her ladyship and managed to ingratiate himself with her through discussing the various designs and fabrics and Lady Blackfly requested that a dress be made for her. 

Lady Blackfly became a frequent visitor to the clothiers and became a major patron of the business, ordering many extravagant garments be produced. Before too long Edwin had built up a trust and friendship between himself and the impressionable noble woman and had manoeuvred his sister Elizabeth into being a handmaiden to Lady Blackfly.

Six months later Sir Blackfly was rendered incapable from an injury sustained in a drunken duel and thus Lady Blackfly took over his duties as his regent; Elizabeth convinced Lady Blackfly to allow Edwin to become the treasurer of the Blackfly's estate and although there was a great deal of opposition to it amongst the landed gentry Lady Blackfly appointed Edwin to the position of treasurer.

Edwin was illiterate save for being able to recognise a few select words from memory, however he was capable of using numbers and quickly proved competent as treasurer and forged many trade links and connections. The young treasurer returned to many of his old tricks and as he handled taxation and trade, his business partners and allies found themselves subject to far better deals and his rivals found themselves strapped for cash. Before too long, Edwin had accrued an outrageous amount of money and expanded his businesses across the entire Blackfly holdings.

Edwin did not cease there however and used his new found fortune to invest in business ventures throughout the entire west and became a major banker in the realm.

In doing so he developed a reputation as a financial wizard who could seemingly draw money from thin air; Edwin could squeeze blood from a stone if need be and as such caught the attention of the crown and his appointment as Master of Coin coincided with a massive donation to the royal treasury. The self made man was considered to be a very controversial appointment by the crown and was granted a noble title and a barony as part of the arrangement in order to prevent a commoner from holding such an important position. Having ascended from being the son of a shepard to being one of the richest and important men in the realm, it was inevitable that Edwin and the newly established House Lysander would be seen as social climbers and tricksters; a reputation which is not entirely undeserved.

Edwin has spent the past three years running the affairs of the royal treasury and doing an admirable job: the crown is in surplus and has access to cheap loans through Edwin's banking connections when required. While he may never have been particularly popular among the upper echelons of society, his ability is not in question and he is well known for looking after his friends; This has given him a number of allies and secured what would be an otherwise precarious position.

"Rising with the wind."

A white Magpie carrying a golden chain, emblazoned on a field of black.

The families seat is Whitehill Castle, a moderately sized castle sitting atop a hill in the West with the town of Whitehill built around the base of the hill. Although they are not a powerful family in the sense of owning a lot of land and holding a number of vassals, they are a rich family and are capable of using their wealth to exert political influence. They are often seen as social climbers by members of the older noble dynasty's at court though they are powerful allies.

Arthur Lysander
Mary Lysander
Lynne Tailor
Edwin Lysander, Lord of Whitehill and Master of Coin
Sir Peter Lysander
Elizabeth Lysander
Amelia Blackfly
Jasmine Woodvile