Major Sharpe — Roleplayer Guild

“Of course I believe you did not steal from the larder. Guards, unbind my loyal cook's hands!”

Name

Gisela Rothaide Meyrovic (Gisela I Meyrovic)

Age

13

Rank

Royalty

Titles

High Queen of Viexmeur, the Magnificent Suzerain, Paramount Lady of the Crownlands, Princess of Reolus, Servant of the High Priest, and Defender of The Faith.

Blazon

bendy of six Azure and Gules, a goose Argent rising, wings displayed and elevated

Spoken Address

My Queen (considered archaic), Your Grace

Features 

Gisela is not quite five feet tall, and thinly built. Her shoulder-length hair is a lovely shade of auburn. Generally eschewing the current court fashion of elaborate braiding, she prefers to simply wear her hair down and unstyled. Her eyes are a light brown color. The Queen can most often be seen wearing brightly-colored gowns of foreign silk. On her head she generally wears one of several simple circlets in her possession, reserving the magnificent Ruby Crown of Viexmeur for official use. She often bathes in water scented with roses, lilacs, or other flowers, believing that this will make her seem more like an adult.

For more official occasions, she generally opts for a chequed blue and red tunic, a sleeveless white doublet with a goose of goldwork thread embroidered on the breast, a shoulder-length ermine cape, and silk stockings. And, most importantly, the Ruby Crown of Viexmeur atop her head.

Strengths

Literate- Owing to her education, Gisela is rather more worldly than most children her age, and is more than capable of comprehending even the most scholarly tome. In addition to her own language, she can also read and write Pridanian rather well. She has a basic grasp of mathematics, history, and geography, and has also studied poetry and the lute.

Charming- Gisela is naturally endearing, and is generally pleasant and well-mannered. She rarely raises her voice or loses her temper, and has a reputation for magnanimity and graciousness.

Weaknesses

Naive- Though well-read, Gisela is still a child and sometimes has difficulty grasping the machinations of feudal politics and the motives of the adult coutiers who scheme around her. She is unsure why convoking a noble regency council was necessary, but trusts Vulmar's assurances that it was.

Soft-hearted- The Queen has a gentle heart, and is deeply uncomfortable with the more violent aspects of her royal office. She is hesitant to hurt others, either militarily or judicially, and prefers a path of reconciliation and forgiveness. It is generally agreed that this is a potentially serious liability.

Bio

Gisela was born in the city of Reolus to a barmaid by the name of Rothaide. For the first few years of her life, The Crowned Goose Inn was her whole world. It was a rather nice inn, as far as such things go. It had a wonderfully-decorated common room, and patrons were afforded with such luxuries as private rooms, actual beds, and a small communal bathhouse. Her mother, a beautiful young woman, provided for her as best she could. This was no doubt helped by the fact that Rothaide periodically came into sizable sums of money. Where this money came from Gisela could not say, and her mother never spoke of it. She was convinced at one point that her mother was a magician and had conjured the gold from thin air.

At the tender age of six, Gisela was whisked away by a nice old fat man, who kept patting her head. Later, he introduced himself as High King Childeric himself, and informed her that he was her father. How a man who was not married to her mother could be her father, she was unsure at the time. Adultery was explained to her, though at a later date.

She went with her new-found father along the open roads of the Crownlands, accompanied by an armed contingent of knights and soldiers. Gisela was particularly impressed by the banners the riders carried, most of them bearing a white goose on a field of red and blue. For several days they traveled east, spending their nights in castles and stately manor houses. Childeric introduced her invariably to their hosts as his cupbearer. The reason for this, too, would be explained to the girl later.

In time they came to Sancreterre, the ancient holy city. They rode to Saint Estienne's Square, beside the Grand Temple of Naram-Sadai. Beneath the beautiful mosaic-covered domes, Gisela was introduced to another nice old man. This one she was told was the High Priest, and he called himself Pius. Her father fell to his knees and knelt before addressing the man, muttering angrily Gisela to do likewise. She did so obediently, and listened to the High King and the High Priest converse softly. Evidently, she was a 'bastard.' And, further, the only heir to the Royal House of Meyrovic. Some more words were exchanged, some of which Gisela could not later recall.

After some time, the man left briefly. He returned with a piece of paper folded on itself and sealed with white wax, and a glass vessel filled with some kind of oil. He turned the vessel over to sprinkled some oil on her forehead while muttering prayers. He pressed his thumb into the oil, making a circular gesture. When he was finished, the King took the paper, thanked the priest, and pulled Gisela up to her feet.

After they had departed, Gisela learned that she was to go to the lands of Pridania, to learn from the scholars there. This excited her greatly, for she had never before quite recently even left the vicinity of the Crowned Goose. She departed from Reolus on a trading ship along with her mother, a knight called Sir Martin, and a handful of servants.

Upon arrival in Pridania she set easily to her studies, possessing a clever mind and a well-developed sense of curiosity. She passed the years there in happiness, spending her free time playing with the local children and developing close friendships with many of them. In this way she came to command the Pridanian language nearly as well as her native tongue, and adapted to the culture of her hosts with surprising ease. Her mother commented on more than one occasion that Gisela was more like a Pridanian than a Viexmeurite.

One day in early spring, not long after her thirteenth birthday, word came High King Childeric had died. Gisela was heartbroken, and spent most of a week sobbing over it. Though she had spent only a very short amount of time with her father, and that now many years past, she had corresponded with him in writing quite regularly over the years. The King had never failed to send her a gift for her birthday (Usually a doll of some kind), and never wrote an unkind word to her. She had grown to love him very much, even from afar.

There was much confusion about what to do, following this news. Before a decision could be reached, a letter arrived from one Lord Chancellor Vulmar Cyricus addressed to Gisela. It bore the seal of the House of Meyrovic, the same goose all the messages from her father had borne. Thinking she might start crying again, she broke the seal and began reading carefully. She and her companions were instructed to return to Reolus immediately, that she might take up her father's seat.

Gisela had known for years that she was the sole heir to the Crown of Viexmeur. But, as she had never seriously considered the fact that her father would eventually die, she also never seriously considered that she would be Queen. She was told later that, upon realizing this, she shouted and then fainted. She recalled no such thing.

“If it pleases Your Grace, I am quite certain I saw Razo stealing that wheel of cheese.”

Name

 Vulmar Cyricus of Anvers

Age

53

Rank

Petty Noble (Landed Knight)

Titles

Lord Chancellor to the High Queen of Viexmeur, Keeper of the Privy Seal, and Knight of Oakhall.

Blazon

Azure, a bend Or

Spoken Address

My Lord

Features

At nearly six feet tall, Vulmar is tall and broad. The passing years have certainly exacted their toll, but his wrinkling face still betrays a shadow of the handsomeness that marked his youth. His graying dark hair is rather long, falling to his shoulders, and can sometimes be seen tied back with a gold ribbon. This is considered rather out of style, as short hair has been fashionable among the noblemen and courtiers of the Crownlands for many years. His eyes are brown. There is a noticable scar high on his left cheek, a souvenir from the Battle of Jean's Tower. The Lord Chancellor dresses modestly, generally in a linen tunic and a leather jerkin, with simple trousers and riding boots. But for his golden chain of office and the jeweled longsword he never parts with, he could easily be mistaken for an aging servant. He can frequently be seen smoking a finely-carved wooden pipe, and often smells faintly of tobacco and wine. He speaks steadily and concisely, in a low tenor.

Strengths

Well-Spoken- Vulmar has a talent for speaking, and alters his idiom according to his audience. When addressing a scholar he can quote venerable philosophers, and when chatting with old soldiers he tells war stories and bawdy jokes. When in the company of fair maidens, well, it is said that he could once recite the whole Canticle of Love. Though that was long ago, before he married his Lady wife.

Always Prepared- The Lord Chancellor has a reputation for careful planning and meticulous intelligence gathering. Rare is the eventuality he did not prepare for, and rarer still the possibility he did not consider. It is said, for example, that he could evacuate the Royal Palace in two hours in the event of an approaching army, though this rumor has yet to be tested. He is known to employ spies throughout the capital and the Crownlands, and his surrogate eyes can glimpse even the courts of the distant provinces.

Decent Swordsman- Though it has been many years since he has taken to the battlefield or ridden in a tournament, Vulmar still practices his fencing from time to time. Though never a master warrior, he could still present a challenge to the untrained or the overconfident.

Weaknesses

Predictable liar- An astute observer may notice that Vulmar never makes eye contact when lying, and that he occasionally trips over his words as well. He does not seem to be aware of this fact.

Likes to Drink- Vulmar is fond of drinking, and does quite a lot of it in his free time. He has a particular love of wine, and can be outmaneuvered with a bottle of unusually fine vintage. Though, ever dutifully, he endeavors to never let his appetites interfere with his work, his bad habits have gotten in the way of his plans before.

Old-Fashioned- The Lord Chancellor is perhaps best known at Court for his antiquated tastes and sensibilities. His clothes, his haircut, his very approach to life, all belong to decades now past. The quintessential conservative paterfamilias, he sent one son to squire for a prominent knight (who is a prominent knight himself, now), another to study for the priesthood, and married his three daughters off to neighboring landholders while his Lady wife tends to Oakhall. No decadent layabouts in his family. Not on Vulmar's watch. This general attitude can be a burden, as an unyielding traditionalism often fails to adapt to new times and the new developments that come with them.

Bio

Vulmar was born to Sir Rollo Cyricus and his wife Ogiva at the ancestral fastness of Oakhall, in the County of Angers. In his youth he squired for Sir Joachim 'The Rose' Chilpereaux, a good friend of his father's. He assisted his master at many tournaments, and participated in a few himself, as he grew older and more skilled in the ways of knighthood. It is during this time that Vulmar first met Begga, Sir Joachim's daughter, the young lady who would years later become his wife.

At the age of sixteen, Vulmar was dubbed by High King Childeric himself, a man, or rather a boy, hardly a year younger than his newly-minted knight. The King evidently took a liking to Sir Vulmar, and hosted him at the Royal Palace for a few years. It has been said that the two young companions made some sport of drinking heavily, scuffling with other young noblemen, and calling scandalously upon young maidens in those days. Vulmar has generally refused to discuss those matters over the following decades, though did admit that himself and His Grace behaved improperly from time to time in their youth. In any event, they certainly became very close friends.

In the tenth year of the High King's reign, when Vulmar was twenty-three and busy courting Begga Chilpereaux, an uprising broke out in the eastern Crownlands. Enraged at heavy taxation and (unverified) rumors of introducing Primae Noctis, the serfs of Pommeterre armed themselves to besiege their overlord Count Jean Papier. The revolt threatened to spread to neighboring counties after a few weeks, and the Crown was forced to intervene. High King Childeric personally commanded a sizable force, which marched from Reolus into Pommeterre. After several parleys, the peasants refused to disperse and come to terms with their liege-lord. Vulmar was given the honor of leading the left flank, a large body of knights and men-at-arms backed by longbowmen and a smattering of infantry.

The rebels had managed to obtain a great cache of arms and armor, and gold with which to hire mercenaries and disaffected soldiers. They were a tougher lot than had been anticipated, to be sure. Battle began in earnest, early one morning after a final attempt at parley. By noon Childeric's central column was buckling under a relentless forward assault. Vulmar and his men, who remained mostly unchecked by the enemy advance, began a counter charge into the rebel flank. The main issue, the Lord Chancellor would later argue, was the poor organization and morale of the serfs and their allies. As Sir Vulmar and the full weight of his armored thrust smashed into the rebel line, the peasants began to panic and flee in disarray. The rest was butcher's work.

As a token of his esteem for his friend's efforts at The Battle of Jean's Tower, Childeric granted the young Vulmar the position of Lord Chancellor of the Realm, and gifted him an enchanted sword with a silver hilt studded with rubies and sapphires. This was not without controversy, as there were many men of higher standing that desired the empty post left by Lord Chancellor Antione. But the High King cared little about these grumblings.

Upon his triumphal return to Reolus, Childeric announced a tournament would be held in celebration. Preparations began straightaway, burdening Vulmar with work he was mostly unfamiliar with and distracting him from his chief pursuit: endearing himself to Lady Begga. After much ado, the grand affair was held outside the walls the capital. Lords and ladies from the Crownlands and from all across Viexmeur crowded in with the teeming mass of the city folk, and there was much excitement. Puppet shows, music, dancing, and other entertainments were everywhere in abundance, as was food and drink of every description. And there was, of course, the jousting, the archery and wrestling contests, and the melees.

Knowing Lady Begga and the rest of the House of Chilpereaux would be in attendance, Vulmar decided to put his name forward for the joust. He hoped to win, and dedicate his victory to Begga before the assembled throng. Though he did very well and lasted to the final round, he was unhorsed in the end by Sir Louis the Black. Sir Louis was a renowned warrior and was magnanimous in his victory. He personally helped Vulmar to his feet, and invited him and a guest of his choice to dine with him that evening at his own pavilion.

What happened that evening is not entirely clear. It is known that Lord Vulmar escorted Lady Begga to Sir Louis' pavilion, and that both enjoyed a small banquet that was attended by a number of other knights, men-at-arms, and ladies of high standing. It is said at some point that the conversation became quarrelsome, and that Sir Rene Garnier made an uncouth comment about Lady Begga for which the Master of Oakhall demanded satisfaction. Though it is rumored that he cut the offending gentleman to pieces right there at the dinner table, all who were actually present insist that proper dueling etiquette was followed to the letter. The next morning Sir Rene, seconded by Sir Louis, met Lord Vulmar outside the walls of Reolus. Vulmar was seconded by High King Childeric himself, who informed that the good knight that he had one more chance to rescind the offending comment. Sir Rene declined, and died that evening of a mortal wound to the head. The following winter, Lord Vulmar and Lady Begga were married by the Metropolitan Priest of Reolus.

The Chancellor and his Lady wife spent much of the following decades moving back and forth between the Court at Reolus and Oakhall at Anvers, their home. They had seven children, five healthy and three stillborn or otherwise sickly. Those that grew to adulthood were: Sir Childeric the Tall, the elder son and Master of Oakhall; Joachim, the younger son and a priest; Griselda, who eventually married Adan, son of Sir Louis the Black; Ogiva, who married the Count of Anvers; and Berenga, who disgraced her father by running off with a foul-mouthed bard.

The long reign of High King Childeric IV, as it turned out, was rather uneventful. A few years before the good king's death, Vulmar's informants learned that traders from Laurensia were making commercial inroads with an Aborimian tribe called the Kam. Seeking to preempt any scheme the perfidious Laurensians might have been planning, the Lord Chancellor arranged by proxy for a 'blood pact' between his sovereign and the War Chief of Kam. This would theoretically hold true for their successors, and guaranteed fidelity and mutual defense to both parties.
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