[CHAR] Kingless Symphony: Emissary of Ascension

[Solace]

Rufus Santer

Information

Height: 5'10

Hair Color: Light brown

Eye Color: Malachite green

Complexion: Fair

Body Composition: Lean

Scars: Whip lashes prominent along the back, mostly spread across the upper and lower regions of the spine.

Name:

Rufus Santer

Age:

Twenty-one years of age.

Titles:

Squire

Origin:

Lower Cities, Caerleon

Allegiance:

House Ralei

Family

Farentus Santer - Father (Deceased)

Senna Santer - Mother (Deceased)

Castiel Santer - Brother (Older) (Missing)

Terryn Santer - Brother (Younger)

Personality:

A former thief with earnest intentions, Rufus is a colorful bunch of imperfections; while his years spent under the personal attention and care of House Ralei educated the young man in proper manners and the duties of a proper citizen, he enjoys lingering among his old set of friends from his childhood as opposed to the wealthy nobles of Caerleon Castle.

Growing up with nothing more than scorn from the common people and nobles of Caerleon, Rufus has earned his share of contempt through his quick tongue and independent nature. Though, in the more recent years, the young upstart has tempered his nerves moreso as he continues to be groomed for knighthood, and has shown more and actual care about redeeming his reputation.

Even though he is the very opposite of what the wealthy nobles of House Ralei are, Rufus holds a soft spot for his Lord and the family, as they had essentially taken him as one of their own when he could have simply been thrown into a dungeon or put to the sword for his crimes.

Background:

Rufus Santer was born in the Lower Cities of Caerleon, one of the portions of the city that the poorer population resided within. The boy was the second son out of three total, their parents lowborn by bloodline. As with all commoners, he dreamt of possessing the luxuries and commodities that their wealthier leaders held, and even though he expected disappointment from the dream that would never come true, the boy still found himself disappointed.

His contempt spurred when his oldest brother, coming of age and tiring of their poverty-stricken life, left their family behind to find opportunity elsewhere. While Rufus' father and mother grew too tired to work and provide for their family, the boy of twelve-years old found himself at a decision that many poor children had to make.

His family starved, and his mother ill; Rufus found no other choice, as money ruled everything in Caerleon. The boy ventured to the Higher Cities, finding success in stealing food for his family. However, his mother's condition worsened, and this drove the twelve-year old to attempt a theft from an apothecary. As expected, he was caught in the midst of the process, and so, House Ralei saw to punishing the little criminal.

Rufus was publicly flogged before the capital, receiving twenty lashes to the back for the value of golden crowns he had stolen in food and medicine. While asked on how to further punish the boy for his crime, the Lord of House Ralei shocked the crowd by announcing Rufus' service as a page to his family. Rufus would serve House Ralei for the remainder of his life as one of their attendants, and later on, would take the vows of a squire for the Lord's family.

Sigurd Lear

Information

Height: 5'9

Hair Color: Black

Eye Color: Alice blue

Complexion: Light

Body Composition: Muscular

Scars: None

Name:

Sigurd Lear

Age:

Eighteen-years of age.

Titles:

Heir Apparent

Origin:

Myrr Keep, the North

Allegiance:

House Lear

Family

Darion Lear - Grandfather (Deceased)
Illysa Lear - Grandmother (Deceased)
Ulfar Lear - Father
Emmaline Lear - Mother
Taron Lear - Uncle
Ildar Lear - Uncle
Isla Lear - Sister
Joane Lear - Sister

Personality:

An unwavering soul as stagnant as the snowy lands of the North, Sigurd dons the quiet strength within the words of House Lear. Unlike his siblings, the young man is a shy away from other people, preferring moments of solitude or among his family over the trivial matters of Estiala. He holds strict adherence to the laws of the Northmen, as his father did and his ancestors before him.

Sincere, genuine, and just, these qualities often betray Sigurd's stark and serious tendencies. The pressure of his birthright to, one day, inherit Penkarth and lead House Lear into the future does not bother the young man, as the sole son had been brought up and prepared for his whole life. To become the paragon of the North is his duty, and to tease his sisters, his family to protect.

Background:

As a young child, Sigurd Lear often pondered upon the lives of the common folk in the West and the South, and how they were treated differently based on their wealth, compared to the North. He was a very attentive boy, often listening to the many illustrious stories that the crows of House Lear would tell him about the fallen Eastern Kingdom. In addition, he was a frail and weak child, once causing an overnight uproar within Penkarth when it was discovered that the only son of Ulfar Lear, only seven years old, was afflicted with the pox.

Fortunately, the gods heard the many prayers of the family and bannerman, and Sigurd survived. His weakened state remained for several years afterwards, and throughout this time, even his sisters could best him in a spar with swords. Instead, he stuck to the confide of books, becoming very studious at the young age under his mother's care.

On Sigurd's ninth birthday, the damage to his body had dissipated, and the boy found the ability to walk normally without the support of his family members. To this day, the young man believes this to be the only time where he witnessed his father shed tears. Sigurd immediately began the process of grooming himself to become the Lord of Penkarth, and armed with a developing sword hand as well as a mind of erudite intellect, a bright future was prophesied for him.

These days, Sigurd remains very well intrigued with the lost chapters of the world. The years were kind, as the boy had become strong in body and soul; with his capabilities tempered and his relationship to his family unmatched, Sigurd is all but the leader that the North will come to receive.

Soren Rathmore

Information

Height: 6'1

Hair Color: Black (young), Gray (current)

Eye Color: Brown (right eye), Colorless (left eye)

Complexion: Light

Body Composition: Slightly plump

Scars: Serrated cut from mid-forehead just above the left eye, running down to mid-cheek

Name:

Soren Rathmore

Age:

Sixty-eight years of age.

Titles:

King of the Andals and the First Men, Lord of the Three Regions, Protector of the Realm, Lord of the Windkeep, and Lord Paramount of the West.

Formal address is Soren of the House Rathmore, the first of His name, King of the Andals and the First Men, Lord of the Three Regions and Protector of the Realm.

Origin:

The Windkeep

Allegiance:

House Rathmore

Family

Validus Rathmore - Father (Deceased)

Lumara Rathmore - Mother (Deceased)

Armin Rathmore - Brother (Younger) (Deceased)

Elizabeth Rathmore - Wife

Soren Rathmore II - Son (Oldest) (Deceased)

Feye Rathmore - Daughter (Deceased)

Archer Rathmore - Son (Youngest)

Alexander Rathmore - Cousin

Personality:

Many stipulate that Soren Rathmore's stout and resilient nature pays homage to his time spent amongst the Northmen in his youth. As one of the few people who lived during the final years of the Eastern Kingdom's existence, his eyes seemingly have a haunted affinity beyond the scar on his face; slightly troubled from those past experiences, he is very reserved and against sharing stories from the times of the fallen kingdom.

In front of this, Soren is by all means a charming and charismatic individual, having always boasted wisdom beyond his years when he was a younger man. He has ruled Estiala just and well, opposite of his father's more treacherous term; he cares for each and every subject he has ever had, and cherishes what remaining family he has left. Soren is duly protective of his last son, Archer, and has fallen upon sadder days with Archer's sickness.

Background:

Childhood

Hidden underneath all of the grief and trepidation that Soren Rathmore has seen and experienced all throughout his sixty-eight years of living, the proud son of Validus and Lumara Rathmore stood at the pedestal of Estiala when the royal crown had produced a strong and healthy heir. Growing up, Soren was spoiled immensely for his status as the heir to the crown when it would come to be his time to rule, and so, he was properly groomed in the ways of House Rathmore.

However, the happy picture was nothing short of temporary. King Validus, who had ruled Estiala for a decade until Soren's birth, had become consumed within the greed that developed with inheriting the seat of the king. Soon, Validus grew to detest his two sons, as their existences were a daily reminder that Validus' rule would someday come to an end, and so, his power would be lost. The king abused his sons in secrecy, and when the council would question the status of the two boys, Validus would send the young Soren and Armin to the colder winds of the North.

Darion Lear, Lord of Penkarth and Lord Paramount of the North, was more than welcomed to receive the sons of House Rathmore. Initially, Soren felt trapped within the foreign borders, and the eight-year old feared the Northmen as much as he feared his father. Though, he found himself absorbed into the culture of the cold region, and while he prodded himself to remain true to the traditions of the Andals, Soren could not help but see the wrongs that King Validus exerted upon their own culture.

For five years, Soren and Armin floated between their birthright in the West and the home of their hearts in the North to visit their mother, finding ounces of a stronger character as they colloquially spent their time among the Northmen. At thirteen, the brothers were ordered to be returned to the possession of House Rathmore, as Queen Lumara had passed away in her sleep.

Young Years

But, Soren resisted his father's abuse, and while King Validus sneered at the boys for betraying the West through their favor of the Northern culture, the King truly had none to blame but himself. Without his wife at his side, King Validus began to grow in madness, his power-hungriness in continual starvation. When Soren turned the age of fifteen, the Master of Whispers revealed to the Rathmore brothers that King Validus had murdered Queen Lumara in her disagreement with his methods of rule.

The West was on the brink of economical collapse as sudden pleas from the Eastern Kingdom went ignored by King Validus. Their relations to the North and South deteriorated as the King looked upon his subjects with a tyrannical ideology. As Soren was nearing the age of sixteen, he was poised to come of age, as it was when he would become suitable for the crown. But, the boy's vengeance for the life of thousands, including his mother, flared uncontrollably.

Three months before his sixteenth name day, Soren Rathmore organized a coup d'état to overthrow his father from furthering the madness that was his rule. With support from the North and the council formerly loyal to Validus, they ousted the madman from his rule in the eye of the general public and denounced his titles. With no hesitation, Validus began to slander the name of House Rathmore, claiming that Soren was no claimant to the throne. Through this, the boy denied his father's allegations, and Soren Rathmore declared himself the new King of Estiala, his first royal decree to sentence his father to death for treason against the realm.

Through this, few considered Soren Rathmore a kinslayer, but in the eyes of the rest, considered him one of heroic qualities. With the royal council working closely under the new patriarch, Soren Rathmore spent the next two years attempting to revitalize the West's destroyed economy. When he finished mending relations with the Southern region, he turned his eyes to the Eastern Kingdom, of whom no word had come from its borders since his father's rule.

Growing worried, King Soren looked upon the Eastern Kingdom's last message, which had been a distress call. He organized an army and led a march to the eastern borders himself, but when they reached the other side of the mountains, no signs of civilization remained. Only a few miles into the east, skeletons both human and wildlife were found, and the castle of an Eastern house, Ogland's Summit, was abandoned. When Soren thought that invaders had come and sacked the Eastern Kingdoms, he was only-half correct; at Ogland's Summit, they were attacked.

But not by humans. Creatures of varying sizes, grotesque corpses reanimated from the rot, things from the tales of horror passed by the campfire. Soren ordered the retreat of his small army, but by the time they were out of the eastern borders, two-thirds of the small army had been eviscerated by the monsters. From that day, Soren ordered the construction of a wall that would span against the borders of the three regions, blocking off every Eastern waypoint.

Current

In the next four to five decades, Soren Rathmore continued to rule the nation where his father failed greatly. He loved his wife with all his heart, even in the discrepancies of their ages; he was a young romantic at heart, regardless. His attempts to father an heir failed when his first son, named after him, came ill and passed away at the age of three. No sooner, his next daughter, Feye, passed away at four years of age from a similar illness.

It was at this time, Soren Rathmore believed that he had been cursed for ordering the execution of his father, and that he had truly been a kinslayer. Though, this was temporarily disproved when his next son, Archer Rathmore, was born healthy and strong. They were happy for the years of his only son's good fortune, but fate was cruel, and intent on claiming another.

[Marlowe]

Jaelyn Ralei

Name: Jaelyn Ralei; likes to be called "Lyn" by those close to her.

Age: Nineteen years old.

Titles: Princess.

Origin: Caeleon.

Allegiance: House Ralei.

Family:

Click Me!

Euric Ralei -- Father
Viridiana Ralei -- Mother
Arthur Ralei -- Little brother
Cassiopeia Ralei -- Little sister
Viktor Summers -- Half-brother

Appearance: Jaelyn is a normally sized woman, at least, for her age. She stands at 5'6" and has a healthy figure. Her hair is perhaps the most important part of her body; Jaelyn styles it constantly, whether keeping it straight for it to fall upon her shoulders or picking it up in wonderfully done buns and braids. Her eyes are a light green color, much like her siblings.

Personality: Being the oldest sibling, Jaelyn has always tried her hardest to make herself an acceptable role-model to both her brother and sister. She has become the epitome of her father's wishes; after he trained her to have acceptable behavior for her gender, Jaelyn has learned the proper etiquette of a Ralei noblewoman. Even though she knows how to behave herself well, there are times where her temper gets the best of her-- however, these instances are rather rare.

Background: Born in the midst of one of the hottest days of summer, all of the south celebrated the first child of Lord Ralei. While Jaelyn would not be able to take her father's place, she was treated well all throughout her childhood. Her father spoiled her greatly, giving her whatever she wished as long as she behaved accordingly. And thus, her father and her grew rather close, and it was Jaelyn's greatest pleasure to see her own father smile.

Jaelyn's childhood was spent around her younger siblings, laughing and playing with them as her father and mother went off to do their own things. Years passed, and she liked to think that she was a good sibling to both Arthur and Cassiopeia. As she grew older, however, a common question was passed between her relatives. When was she going to be wed? And to who?

Unfortunately, she still hasn't found a proper suitor, even at her age. Jaelyn is thankful for her father's wishes to find someone that would treat her well, other than simply offering her up to forge stronger allegiances with other Houses.

[smarty0114]

Arthur Ralei

Name: Arthur Ralei

Age: Seventeen

Titles: Heir Apparent

Origin: Caerleon

Allegiance: House Ralei

Family:

House Ralei

Euric Ralei - Father
Viridiana Ralei - Mother
Jaelyn Ralei - Older Sister
Cassiopeia Ralei - Twin Sister
Viktor Summers - Half-brother

Appearance: Arthur has golden hair that hangs just over his eyes, short enough that it doesn't obscure his vision, but long enough so that some might call it shaggy. His eyes are a deep dark blue, and sparkle with youth. They're constantly darting from one thing to the next, trying to take in as much of the world as he can. He dresses as most of those in his position would, and his suit of armor is a splendid thing that was gifted to him on his seventeenth name day. It is a gilded set, with a helm that has been fashioned with a fox's visage, a homage to his house.

Personality: At his core, Arthur is still a young boy who's fascinated by the world around him. He's very noble, growing up on tales of gallant knights, and he considers loyalty to be one of the most important traits. His youth has kept him curious, and he loves to read the books that are in the Caerleon library. This curiosity and naivety keep him from seeing any bad in people however, and he is not one for schemes in this regard, and some often call him simple for this, although he is in fact rather intelligent.

Background:Seventeen years has not given Arthur a wealth of experiences. Born the eldest son to the Lord of Caerleon, he was always the apple of his father's eye. He has fond memories of being nothing more than a toddling child, in his fathers arms being paraded around to all the courtiers, his father raving about how he'd been trying to pick up a sword.

As he grew older, he was trained by the Master at Arms of Caerleon to fight, and taught to wield a sword, and shoot a bow. He excelled at these things, much to his father's delight, and he was often entered in contests at the festivals that were held each year. He took home his first win when he was thirteen, competing against other children his age, and it instilled in him a desire to always be the best, after seeing the pride in his father's eyes.

While his father was an ever prominent figure in his life, his mother, it could be argued, was even more important. She taught him to be kind to all of those around them, and to be thankful for what she had. She herself had witnessed the greed that could infect the wealthy southerners and made it her duty to steer her son away from such treachery. She made it a point to bring him out on charity runs to the peasants of the land, charity runs which he came to enjoy.

Now, at the age of seventeen, Arthur longs to see the rest of Estiala, and even be granted a knighthood by the king himself, although he knows that such dreams are to great to pursue, seeing as how his position as heir leaves him with duties that he can't just abandon. But still, he hopes for the chance to see greater things than the festivals of the South, and the spires of Caerleon.

[Ellion]

Viridiana Ralei

Picture

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:

Family

Cygnas Skyr- Father
Ellinora Skyr-Mother
Edgar Skyr- Brother and Lord of Skyr
Euric Ralei -- Husband
Jaelyn Ralei- Eldest child and Daughter
Arthur Ralei -- Eldest Son
Cassiopeia Ralei -- Youngest Daughter
Viktor Summers – Step Son

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.

Isla Lear

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:

family

Ulfar Lear- Father
Emmaline Lear - Mother
Sigurd Lear- younger brother
Joane Lear- Little sister

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.

[Hippocamp]

Ar Rathmore

Ar

“Ar” Alexander Rathmore. Ar is pronounced like the letter.

Age forty and one years.

Ser. Spymaster of the King.

Loyalty - Rathmore.

Family

Armin Rathmore - Father
Terrion Ingrahm - Mother (both parents retired to a cottage in the woody outskirts of the Windkeep)
To be declared - Spouse, children.

PERSONALITY
Ar is a calculating man primarily, but not cold. Some coldness is necessitated by the trade of Spymaster sure, but Ar does a good job of not letting his work become who he is entirely. He cherishes the finer things in life such as good wine and good drink, and fast horses. He spends a lot of time at the stables recreationally when he is not with his family or conducting espionage. He attends every meeting in House Rathmore, being privy to the most information of anyone there. He also has never been sick on an occasion like a feast or celebration, he’s a man of perfect attendance.
The reason perhaps that Alexander was chosen to be Spymaster of the House of the King is his ability to be enigmatic. He personally holds many cards for the kingdom, tokens of information and facts and seeds of lies. He is not above manipulation and using people in his work as Spymaster, and many of his spies are children and whores, though this fact is one he guards closely so as to not chance bringing any shame upon his proud huntsman family. He maintains almost two separate personalities, one in which he allows himself to be human and amicable and another in which he arms himself with brutality and deceit professionally crafted and almost mechanically executed.

HISTORY
Ar was born to a respected branch of the Rathmore family. He was the only child of his parents, which although they did not reveal this to him was to their dismay. His mother wanted more heirs for his father but for whatever reason it didn’t happen. He was trained as any Rathmore should be in the arts of hunting, foraging and farming. He memorized the facets of the land surrounding the Windkeep for many miles, such that every footstep is now a familiar one to him.
The most significant detail of Alexander’s past is an event of retaliation for which he became infamous. Once there were many more smugglers in a port city among the beaches of the South, and they had become such a nuisance that the Spymaster was required to dismantle their operation. Upon arrival in the city, Ar found many of his associates dead. The smugglers three leaders had caught wind of him before he made his first move, a rare occurrence for the Spymaster, and one he would not forget since it cost him eleven friends. After the burials transpired, and Ar had finished paying his respects to fellow comrades among them six children the smugglers had murdered, Ar turned his attention to formulating a bloody counterattack. One night, the three leaders of the smuggling band each woke up to over a dozen assassins at their bedside, with their families and ship mates bound and gagged to watch what would unfold. Alexander only took three lives in exchange for eleven, but it was justice in his eyes. Smuggling has been reduced to a fraction of what it once was in that city to this day.

[Wernher]

Euric Ralei

Name: Euric Ralei

Age: Forty-Two

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

Origin: Caerleon

Allegiance: House Ralei

Family:
­

Hider

-Alaric Relai (Father)
-Maximilian Relai (Brother)
-Viridiana Ralei
-Jaelyn Ralei
-Arthur Ralei
-Cassiopeia Ralei
-Viktor Summers

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.

Viktor Summers

Name: Viktor Summers

Age: Twenty two

Titles: Honorable Representative of the Caerleon Merchant Guild.

Origin: Caerleon

Allegiance: House Ralei (Nominally)

Family:

Hider

-Alaric Relai (Grand Father)
-Maximilian Relai (Uncle)
-Euric Relai (Father)
-Olivia Margolis (Mother)
-Jaelyn Ralei (Half Sister)
-Arthur Ralei (Half Brother)
-Cassiopeia Ralei (Half Sister)

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.

Veronika Tolstoi

Name: Veronika Tolstoi

Age: Nineteen

Titles: None

Origin: Village near the Barony of Mork, North.

Allegiance: Viktor Summers, always.

Family:

Hider

-Justine Tolstoi (Mother, Unknown)
-Clair Tolstoi (Sister, Unknown)

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.

Porthos Condorierri

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:

Hider

-Maria Condotierri (Daughter)

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.

Maria Condotierri

Name: Maria Condotierri

Age: Twelve

Titles: None

Origin: Somewhere on the roads in the North.

Allegiance: None

Family:

Hider

-Porthos Condotierri (Father)

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.

[POOHEAD189]

Geldyr Snow

Name: Geldyr Snow

Age: Thirty Winters old.

Titles: N/A

Origin: Small town a few miles east of Penkarth.

Allegiance: Lear

Family:

Hider

• Brannon KarLear 57 (lord)
• Josaphene KarLear 48 (lady)
• Robert KarLear 29 (heir)
• Gerti KarLear 27 (Heiress)
• Talden KarLear 17 (youngest son)
• Salleh KarLear 15 (youngest daughter)

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.

[Silent Whispers]

Queen Elizabeth

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| Name |
Elizabeth Rathmore.

| Age |
Forty-Eight.

| Titles |
Queen, Lady of House Rathmore.

| Origin |
Estiala.

| Allegiance |
House Yaran. House Rathmore.

| Family |

Family

King Phillip I- Father (deceased)
Queen Morganna - Mother (deceased)
Soren Rathmore - Husband (alive)
Alexander Rathmore - Cousin (alive)
Soren Rathmore II - First son (deceased)
Feye Rathmore - Daughter (deceased)
Archer Rathmore - Second son (alive)

| Appearance |
Elizabeth has a remarkable appearance for her age as most people tell her that she doesn't even look like she is close to her fifties. She still has that same smooth, milky white skin when she was a little bit younger. She has no wrinkles or age lines on her face or body. She has long locks of raven colored hair that cascades down well past the middle of her back. Depending on the occasion, she usually keeps it straightened. Elizabeth stands about five foot seven and weighs about one-hundred and twenty-two pounds.

| Personality |
Elizabeth is a soft-hearted person as she has seen things that another person especially a Queen shouldn't witness. Elizabeth is somewhat nice towards others as long as they show her respect and treat her like they want to be treated. She has been known to have a couple of people killed due to them disrespecting her and that is something she will not tolerate from anybody. She is very motherly towards people close to her as she sometimes puts them before herself. She tends to their needs with the best of her abilities and make sure that they are safe and okay before doing anything else. Elizabeth tries not to be mean but she is sometimes very blunt towards people especially if they ask her for her honest opinion but she is always honest, all the time. She is very loyal towards people that are loyal to her and hopes that they are not plotting her demise behind her back. Overall, Elizabeth is the perfect fit for a Queen, still as she has all of the natural qualities of one.

| Background |
Being born into a royal family isn't such an easy feat but Elizabeth preserved through it all. Ever since her birth, her mother and father knew that she'd be Queen one day and they even betrothed her to many potential Kings, two of which she actually married but they left her for their mistresses. Elizabeth didn't mind it at all as she knew that there was someone, a great King out there for her. Her mother prepped her on how to be Queen, one that doesn't get tossed to the side for a mistress. She enjoyed her mother wits and even got a few insight details from her father, too on how to keep a King entertained and by her side. It was weird learning that from her father but it was all worth it.

Growing up over the years, she had been betrothed to many more suitors but none of them were the right fit for her as she told her mother and father countless of times. It wasn't until a ball was thrown and she meant someone about twenty years older than her but he was captivating and she couldn't help but pick him as her suitor. Throughout the ball, they introduced themselves to each other, he was a King - King Soren, to be exact, they danced, laughed and gazed passionately into each others eyes as she went up to her mother and father and introduced him to them. They were a little bit skeptical of this arrangement because of the age difference but then again, as long as their daughter was happy, so were they.

Elizabeth was going on thirty-three when she finally married King Soren and became his Queen. She kept the insights from her mother and father with her and near her heart. Elizabeth's reign has been successful as Queen as all of the advice her mother and father gave her worked. About a year later, she bore a daughter and just knew that she was done as Queen but the King wasn't like that though day and night, she just worried about the King banishing her from his court. She was relieved but then their daughter grew ill and eventually died. Elizabeth mourned for days but her and the King tried again but all of the heirs kept on dying, most of them not making it past their fifth name day. It was tragic and right then and there, Elizabeth just knew she was done.

Though, she is still around with the King of the Windkeep and still residing, as well. She is just counting down the days for when the King comes in and tell her that she is banished from court. That's one of Elizabeth's biggest flaws, always thinking the worst when there is really nothing to worry about. Just about a few months ago, she had a raven fly in the night to let her know that her father had past away from an illness. A year ago, she had lost her mother to natural causes. So now, her home Kingdom is ran by their heirs, whom she hopes to go and see soon. Elizabeth is still Queen of the Windkeep and the House of Rathmore and hopes it stays that way for awhile longer.

Emmaline

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| Name |
Emmaline Lear.

| Age |
Thirty-nine.

| Titles |
Lady of House Lear.

| Origin |
Myrr Keep, The North.

| Allegiance |
House Isles. House Lear.

Family

Father: Petyr Isle – Alive
Mother: Emilia Isle – Terminally Ill
Lord: Ulfar Lear – Husband - Alive
Daughter: Isla Lear – Oldest Daughter - Alive
Son: Sigurd Lear – Oldest Son - Alive
Daughter: Joane Lear – Youngest Daughter - Alive

| Appearance |
Emmaline is a somewhat tall female for her age. She is about five foot six with a weight of one-hundred and twenty-eight pounds. She has delicate features all aligning her perfect form and frame. Her luscious locks of brunette strands of hair cascade down, reaching well past her lower back. She has a light complexion to her skin tone with her hazel eyes to match.

| Personality |
Emmaline isn’t a mischievous person at all though; she is a very cunning individual and will step over and on anyone that may get in her way. If she befriends you that mean that she trusts you enough with her secrets. She is loyal to those that she befriends along with make alliances with and hope that they are to her, as well. If she deems them not to be loyal to her, she stop at nothing to make sure they go down. Emmaline is also creative when it comes to certain things such as planning and plotting. Most people think that Emmaline doesn't have any feelings and they are wrong, she has feelings just for no other people but for her husband and her family. She is blunt towards others and knows how to tear a person down with just a few choice words. She can be a bitch but chooses not to be and just be herself.

| Background |
Emmaline’s life hasn’t really been interesting in her young, teenaged years because her mother was pampering a little bit too much. Her life didn’t get interesting until she was engaged to Ulfar, her husband. It seemed like their marriage had caused a slight rebellion along with other reasons so they haven’t been married long before Ulfar, Lord of the North, had to go to rode his banners to war. While she was up, day and night, worried about him and even his men.

Emmaline had given birth to their first daughter upon his return. Emmaline was happy to have given birth to a child with someone of Ulfar’s caliber. Emmaline kind of spoiled her first child just a little bit but then again, which parent wouldn’t. It wasn’t too long after that she had given birth that Old Lear had past. She was completely devastated along with everyone else within the North. She had grown a little closer to him as the months went by.

Now that Ulfar was Warden of the North, she had bared two more children and their lives were as a peaceful as any – Nothing but smiles coming from them. Emmaline had adored the way Ulfar had raised the kids and the way that they were close to her, as well. It was like the perfect combination as any family within the North. She’s very happy with her life, of course and things couldn’t be better for her, the kids and even Ulfar.

[RainDash]

"Those that cannot do anything by their own hands are ultimately worthless."

Name:
Joane Lear, "Night Princess" also sometimes called the "Knight Princess"

Age:
Seventeen years of age.

Titles:
Daughter of Lear, Princess of Lear, Princess

Origin:
Penkarth

Allegiance:
House Lear

Family:

Family

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

Appearance:
The silver eyed princess of Lear is 5' 4", and often her hair is up and tied away, only sincerely styled when expected to for guests or potential suitors. When not in formal wear, she is in an easy to move in riding dress or trousers. She is easily described as beautiful and has an unearthly air about her. While she stares straight ahead, it seems that her eyes see through anyone before her, and any potential lies they may try to give her.

Personality:
Seeing the bad first in people, Joane prefers to keep her safe distance from attachments that she deems fruitless and potentially deadly. Her only solace is in riding and training in weapons and fighting. She tends to ward people off due to her cold nature, but amongst guests and royalty she is cheerful and seems polite enough. Joane is a social chameleon, often seeming to change depending on the situation. However, this has only been to her benefit thanks to the games other kingdoms like to play. Joan is still utilitarian at heart, using the game to try and destroy it through their own rules. She enjoys making others fulfill their deadly promises themselves.

Background:
Compared to her sister Isla, Joane was more distant from her father. She wished to be closer, but never dared to voice her desires to spend more time with him. She measured her time and waited. When that didn't work, Joane decided one day to try and follow in her father's wild footsteps, opting to practice with the sword in secret. The mild winters and bright summers made her ache, wishing deeply for the cold winters that the visitors to the North claim exist.

Joane was a quick study, opting to learn about the history of the kingdom and how to best be of use to the kingdom outside of looking pretty. She learned the art of deception from the outsiders and their mannerisms, often following them and observing how they would act differently from situation to situation. Her silence, she learned, could be a tool. However, she needed to speak as well, and though she wasn't interested in pretending to like strangers, she did so anyway.

Eventually her father realized that his daughter had been training with the sword. Through it, they have grown closer. She has no suitor due to her tendency to keep people at arm's -or sword's- length. It has become apparent that she's not interested in marrying for the kingdom, claiming that her sisters can do that, and that if someone were to win her heart, it would be by action, not words, and that no prince with a honey tongue can do so.

[ClocktowerEchos]

Corvo Rathmore

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"Nothing Sacred, Everything Permitted."

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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:

Relations

Adoptive Father - Ar Rathmore
Any biological relations - Unknown

Personality:

Trained and raised a loyal servant of the House of Rathmore, Corvo is a shadowy, mysterious man like his adoptive father before him, enigmatic and hard to read. His stoic and blunt nature lends himself the ability to have a very thick hide against any insults and a stiff upper lip to do whatever is needed in the name of the House. His rare fit of rage however, are said to be hell raising in ways that even demons stir.

"Nothing Sacred, Everything Permitted" are words he often goes and seemingly lives by as he sullies his hands so that the noble lords and ladies need not worry about the dirty, disdainful dealings with less then reputable persons, leaving the "Underlord" to such tasks.

Some say that Corvo is less human than he is a possessed spirit or machine in his work, tirelessly and faithfully carrying out the orders of his superiors with failure not an option. The "Lapdog of Rathmores" is as silent as he is efficient, preferring to stick to himself and keep faceless masks on while in public view. As he goes to parties, he might not be the one dancing but he will certainly be the one watching.

Background:

Corvo remembers little of his youth, the faintest and oldest of his childhood memories involve him going around asking people what a name scribbled onto a piece of parchment with some faded old emblem on it that he bore since youth, the name of "Corvo". Growing up on the streets, everyday was a game of survival amongst those in a similar state as he was, forced to make hard choices and play in shadows to scrap by another day. Such an environment eventually lead young Corvo down a path begging, then pickpocketing and finally thievery.

Before the boy was even 10 years old, Corvo had a knack of getting into places where he shouldn't have been. Back doors to stores, windows into home, gates into gardens and such. The boy's skill of getting in trouble was only matched by his skill of getting out of it, dashing and weaving his way up and down dark alley ways, tight corridors and even across balconies to escape angry homeowners and guards.

It would be when he had tried to go and break into some big wig's house that he would be caught, and have a change of fate. Gathering up his nerves and supplies, he tried to break into the house of one Alexander "Ar" Rathmore. Being caught upon entry, the spymaster was impressed with Corvo's ability to pick locks and sneak past guards and offered the boy an offer, an offer to stop playing a game of beggars and join a game of nobles.

From that day forth, Corvo was trained as a spymaster's agent, stalking targets, sewing misinformation, remembering names and occasionally, slitting throats or shooting heads. The former orphan had proven himself to be quite the outstanding subject, preforming very well in any of the trial tasks assigned by him. After some more lessons of how a nobleman should conduct himself, Corvo was rebranded a Rathmore and has served both his adopted father and his House dutifully with utmost if not silent loyalty with rumor speaking of him becoming the House's preferred person to contact when they needed some heads to roll in their prison crypts or else where.

[Kaalee]

Name: Cassiopeia Ralei

Age: Seventeen

Titles: Princess of House Ralei

Origin: Caerleon

Allegiance: House Ralei

Family:

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

Personality: Cassi is kind, above all else. She despises people who use their power or money to hurt other people. She admires the Knights for their pledge to help people, although she's met some less than stellar ones. She's extremely close to her twin, and all her family, and like her brother, her mother molded her into the person she is today.

Background: Born to privilege doesn't lend well to lots of life experience. She devoted herself to her studies, in needlework, music, whatever she persued she might not have excelled at it at first but she worked hard to try. What she truly enjoyed, surprisingly, was politics. It was like fighting, but without the blood and it could be used to change the world for the better. She sat in on one of her father's advisories when she was nine years old and took to it like a fish to water. She liked to use her position and her silver tongue to try to change things for the better, make things better for the people of the South, and other realms if she can. Cassi, however, hasn't left the South, as she doesn't particularly care to leave her brother. As she gets older, and into marrying age, the fact that she will soon have to leave her family, that terrifies her.

[Marlowe]

Wyeth Mallory

Name: Wyeth Mallory

Age: Forty two

Titles: Ser

Origin: Village near Penkarth, the North

Allegiance: House Lear

Family

Winston Mallory -- Father
Serena Mallory -- Mother
Taliyah Mallory -- Little Sister
Danire Mallory -- Little Brother

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.

[RainDash]

"I will live my life how I want. If no one agrees with it, then they can get over it, because I will never give up my life and how it is now."

Name:
Jaera "Jace" Fisher

Age:
Twenty two years of age.

Titles:
Squire

Origin:
outskirts of Caerleon

Allegiance:
House Ralei

Family:

Family

Saren Fisher - Father
Cliera Fisher - Mother
Clara - Sister

Personality:
A loyal member of the knights, Jace is a rather straightforward individual. Jace prefers actions to words and would rather get something done than hear nobles squabble over it for hours at a time. Jace's bluntness often results in trouble, even if that bluntness comes from a kind place. Jace trains often, preferring to hone her skills of the blade in order to fufill her dream of being in the Kingsguard one day. She also recognizes that what she's doing could get her killed, if not on the battlefield then by a noble insulted by her lies. She simply doesn't seem to care, as long as she is able to do what she loves. She is actually very polite spoken when in formal settings, still blunt, but often eased with many pleases and thank yous. Around people she knows fairly well, her more rural accent comes out and her words tend to slur together. Often times, when she speaks with her accent, people ask her to repeat things they didn't understand the first time.

Background:
Born on the outskirts of Caerleon, she was raised by two farmers. "Jaera", or Jace, was content to remain with her family. Until she saw a knight in action when she was five years old. She followed the knight around whenever they arrived in town, and when she was six she managed to scrape up the courage to talk to him. She told him that she wanted to be a knight too, and was told by the knight that girls can't be knights. They're too afraid of blood and weak.

This of course, had the opposite effect on young Jace. She'd been mistaken for a boy before, when she had decided to childishly cut all of her hair off, so why couldn't she try and see how far that lie could be taken? She cut her hair off and tried to enter a tourney, but the knight she'd previously admired caught her. He insisted that she couldn't be a knight, and she kept trying to be one anyway.

Eventually, he relented and trained her some, hoping that she'd grow tired of the training to become a knight quickly and decide to settle down with a family of her own and his tasks he required her to do were increasingly pointless and effort intensive. However, her skills with a sword grew by leaps and bounds and he reluctantly admitted that he would help her become a squire, because the House needed good swordsmen on their side.

Thus, Jace became a page to the house through the sponsor of the knight, and has trained rigorously to become a knight while balancing cleaning and taking care of her rude knight's armor. After she became a squire, she redoubled her efforts to become a knight, now closer than ever to her goal. She hopes to become a knight after the tourney, which would set her ahead of her plan by a large margin, and make her that much closer to becoming a Kingsguard.

[NarcissisticPotato]

Ulfar Lear

Name:
Ulfar ("The Bear") Lear

Age:
Forty two summers and too many winters

Titles:
Lord of Penkarth, Warden of the North

Origin:
Penkarth

Allegiance:
House Lear

Family:

family

• Darion Lear - Father
• Illysa Lear - Mother
• Taron Lear - Younger Brother
• Ildar Lear - Youngest Brother
• Emmaline Lear - Wife
• Isla Lear - Daughter
• Sigurd Lear - Son
• Joane Lear - Daughter

Appearance:
Ulfar is the North personified. Scraggy beard that never seems contempt, dark hair that is equally uncontrollable and eyes so blue they mirror the sky, and you have a bear of a man that can seem terrifying when you first meet him. The eyepatch really doesn't help the situation but he's mostly placid with a stupid grin plastered to his face the most of the time.

Personality:
Stupid grins do little to hide the fact that Ulfar is unimaginably strong. He leads his people by example and that example is sheer strength and pure honour. He could kill a man very easily with his bare hands and even easier with an axe or a sword but that side of him is rarely, if ever, uncovered. Ulfar believes honour begins in the home and he holds that value high - the only people that ever take precedent over his people are his family. His love is a somewhat dumb one, as is most things that he does. Even in his older age, he would still blindly trip over himself after his wife and his adoration for his children is abundantly clear. He listens to the needs of the smallfolk and carries out the King's Justice when he needs to but the majority of the ruling is left to his wife, who seems to actually have the patience to do so. The rest of his time is spent with his children or in a meadhall somewhere.

He seems like a bright man but the eyepatch and the scars bear a cruel testament to the times when he wasn't so nice. Uprising and rebellion happens rarely in the North but when it does, he has always been there to beat it to a bloody pulp. Honour and loyalty is everything to him and if he can't hold those two virtues up, his life is meaningless.

Background:
Life in the North is never easy. While Southern Lords wallow in humidity, keeping warm is a daily struggle in the North. That struggle was somewhat alleviated by the fact that Ulfar was born a Lear. He had an education, warm meals and the resources to make himself into something. Not only that but he was the firstborn, the heir to Penkarth. His father was one of the finest leaders the North had ever witnessed. He would move mountains to provide for his people and even the weak had a place in his society. He was a hard man though, and he taught his heir with an iron fist. "Honour is everything," He told him, "For when the long winter sets in, it's what keeps us standing." As per traditions of the North, his father carried out the King's Justice. To look a man in the eye before you take his head; that was strength.

The Bear was never very studious, however. He much preferred learning to fight and occassionally getting lost in a brothel (occassionally) instead of learning how to finance the North or eat with some grace. Advisors would do that for him, he reasoned, but advisors could never fight for him or swing his sword. For that reason, he was mostly wild in his younger years, a trait that his father never truly learned to stamp out. The only person capable of that was the girl he had been promised. There were very few things in the world which could make him nervous but she was one of them. Nervous, yes, but head-over-heels for her. She grounded him, somewhat, and he began to properly learn some of his Lordly duties. His father had aged and it wouldn't be long before Ulfar would rise to his position as Lord of the North.

During those years, a small rebellion sparked in the lower houses of the North. Arguing that the Lears were too quick to bend the knee to the King and that their rule made the North weak, the rebels quickly gained some traction. He hadn't been married only a few months before he called the banners and rode out to meet the rebels in place of his ailing father. It was his own cousin who had instigated the conflict, a man whom he had played with as a child. Very few people willingly speak of what happened when Ulfar finally broke the rebels and found his cousin. Most stories say that the Lear Heir dragged his cousin from his bedroom, found a block and took his head. Few stories say that the entire time, Ulfar was quiet, that his eyes had darkened and his features had been set in stone.

When he returned, his first daughter had already been born. It was clear that he wasn't the same as when he had left. He was quiet and strangely, he had grown more in those few, cold months than he had in his entire life. His duties, both to his family and his people, became paramount to him and he was finally forged into the Lord his father intended him to be. Not long after, the Old Lord Lear passed away peacefully and Ulfar became the Warden of the North.

Two children followed his firstborn and they enjoyed the long years of mild winters and bright summers. They grew with smiles and contempt and he made it his duty to raise them as he was raised, with honour and strength. Perhaps with a little less of an iron fist - he was never violent, he was much too mellow for that. His firstborn, Isla, was always the one closest to him. She was pure and innocent but strong beyond belief. Her perfection reminded him that perhaps he had been doing something right. He became a gentle soul, inviting anyone who would grace his tables with their presence. He seemed peaceful and mellow but the threat was always there, lurking, waiting, watching for a time when only swords could cure what words had wrought.

[darkwolf687]

Edwin Lysander

"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:

Hider

Arthur Lysander (Father)
Mary Lysander (Mother)
Lynne Tailor (Aunt)
Jim Lysander (Uncle)
Edwin Lysander, Lord of Whitehill and Master of Coin
Ser Peter Lysander (Brother)
Elizabeth Lysander (Sister)
Amelia Blackfly (nee Lysander)(Sister)
Arthur Lysander (Brother)
Jasmine Woodvile (nee Lysander)

(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.

House Lysander

"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