Name: Florian Józef Czaja
Physical: Florian is average in height, and not particularly physically imposing; indeed, he is somewhat slender, with relatively narrow shoulders. However, his musculature is taut, and in his small build he secrets hidden strength. His lower body is especially powerful, and he is known to be an adept equestrian and able swordsman. His face is likewise relatively plain; in comparison to his father, known by the epithet “the Fair”, he is considered to be not particularly handsome, though not by any means unpleasant to look upon. He wears his chestnut hair long, after the fashion of the Galatian élite, along with a callow beard and mustache. Above his broad and flat nose preside a pair of deep hazel eyes, said to be the most fetching of his features.
Equipment: Florian is armed with the typical kit of the Galatian lancers: heavy plate armor, a plumed helm, cordovan riding boots, a long lance, short sword and dirk at the hip. Being the princely representative of the Kingdom of Galatia, however, his breastplate is decorated with the tooled fox sigil of House Czaja, and he wears a handsome white ermine mantled riding cloak given to him by his stepmother. He rides upon a brown destrier, named Arnoldt.
Background: Florian is the second son of the House Czaja, regnant family of the Kingdom of Galatia, the westernmost of the Western Kingdoms. His father, King Jan-Leopold the Fair, though once a renowned rider and administrator, has in his middle age taken to the three perennial vices of aging men: wine, women, and dice; the Kingdom, meanwhile, languishes in the absence of an able helmsman; Jan-Leopold’s counselors and advisers flagrantly line their own pockets; and the feudal lords grow bolder in their inroads against the royal house. Florian’s brother, Anatol, the heir to the throne, is in everything his father’s son: bold, fierce, handsome, licentious, vain, and, in short, ill-equipped to rule a kingdom. But Jan-Leopold dotes upon the boy, and thus Florian has lived the typical life of a second son, full of neglect, inordinate expectation, and the general feeling of being an afterthought; his general homeliness did nothing to assuage the issue. He was mostly raised by his stepmother, Anastasia, his birth mother having died whilst delivering his sister Hedwiga, and has an only cursory relationship with his father. Thus, he has made a career of striving to be noticed, though to little avail. He threw himself into his studies, and excelled in tactics, strategy, history, philosophy, and poetry; he threw himself into the martial arts of swordplay and horsemanship, and was recognized for his prowess. Yet no matter what he did, he garnered little notice or favor from most in the court save for his stepmother and tutors; he was once described by his brother Anatol as being, “One of those people that it’s hard to praise, no matter how good or talented they might be.” And Florian, despite his feigned nonchalance, finds such a thought infuriating. Although truly talented and possessed of real intelligence, he languishes in arrogance, pride, and superiority; he believes that destiny has both cursed him and given him an incredible boon, the insatiable drive towards perfection, even at the expense of his own happiness. And he rails against everything that his father stands for: he abstains from drink, flesh (even neglecting his wife, Eugenia, save for on their wedding night and a few occasions afterward), and dice, instead absorbing himself in books, maps, charts, and the simplicity of riding atop a horse’s back. He believes in honor, duty, self-abnegation, and the holiness of battle.
King Jan-Leopold, not taking seriously the threat of the Empire, granted Florian’s plea to lead a contingent of men to aid the Western Kingdoms against Alaric; Florian’s tutors agree that the boy, now a man of twenty-three, might be the youngest of those sent to defend the Maw, but insist that he has the capacity and the leadership ability to pull it off. Florian, consciously or unconsciously, regards the defense of the Maw as the ultimate opportunity to prove both himself right, and to show his worth both to his father and to the whole court of Galatia.
Faction: The Kingdom of Galatia is the westernmost of the Western Kingdoms. It mostly consists of broad, sweeping steppe and low-lying hills dotted with primeval forests, deep river gorges, and ancient holdfasts. The Galatians are renown for their horsemanship, and take great pride in the power of their heavily armored cavalry, known most commonly as the Galatian Lancers.
Command: Florian brings a contingent of 300 Galatian Lancers, along with 100 poorly equipped crossbowmen captained by Baron Ludwik-Balbo, Prince Florian’s lord-cousin. The Lancers are equipped with heavy steel plate, plumed helms, cordovan riding boots, long, heavy lances, short swords, and dirks, along with their packs and provisions; their horses likewise are outfitted with barding. They are well-known for their thunderous and devastating charges, and the swiftness of their Galatian destriers. Although their horses are swift, the men mounted atop them wear heavy armor, as do they, and thus the Lancers suffer from a lack of mobility compared to more lightly armored hussars and cuirassiers. The crossbowmen under the command of Ludwik-Balbo were brought in relatively late, and consist mostly of poorly trained peasant levies and some veteran sharpshooters who are expected to bring the less-experienced marksmen in the company up to speed. They are lightly armored, wearing chain hauberks and felt jacks, and some do not even have proper boots; many of their crossbows are antiques, and their short swords rusting. Still, with proper instruction, they could provide some use to the defense of the Maw.
Galatian Lancer Hetman
One of Ludwik-Balbo's armored crossbowmen
Ludwik-Balbo, conveniently hiding his balding with a hat
Member
), but still, I'll say that I'm tentatively interested. On the one hand the whole idea is pretty badass, not gonna lie, but on the other hand it's somewhat impossible to see the whole thing except through a contemporary political lens. Might be better in some instances to say authoritarian or theocratical. 
