Member
FallenreaperFamily name: De Reimer
Kingdom Location: Cawanor
Crest:
Family motto: Bound by Blood
Relations with other Kingdoms:
House De Reimer is on good terms with many of the central Kingdoms that sided with them during the civil war. These include Sypius, Telmarion, Nash, Windermere and Orog. However the Kingdoms that sided with the Mandarass Alliance feel great contempt and spite towards them, particularly the kingdoms now occupied by Imperial forces such as Ralda, Coruneon and Uzgob. The De Reimer's maintain an uneasy alliance with House Blackwell and though they are ally's on the surface, the Blackwell's are currently marked as the De Reimer's main rivals. The Southern alliance hold nothing but distrust for the De Reimer family.
Family reputation: Ambitious, Cunning, Wealthy, Scheming, Power Hungry, Untrustworthy
Kingdom's main export goods: Ores; (Iron, copper, steel, gold, silver, coal, gems) equipment; (tools, armour, weapons), Stone, Woodcraft (Furniture, Tools), Clothes.
Description of Kingdom: Cawanor is a kingdom just south of central Formaroth. It has a Continental climate that is slightly colder in its southern regions. Cawanor is very mountainous with a large proportion of the kingdom (around 40%) being covered in mountains. Therefore the main form of industry within Cawanor is mining and smithing. The remaining area that isn’t mountains is mostly farmland. The farmland itself is of average fertility.
There is one settlement of importance within Cawanor, this being the port city of Cawaport. This city is located on the northern coast of Cawanor and is the smallest city in Formaroth. The river Dagma runs through it's centre. Cawaport has a similar building design to renaissance Florence. The city has a great divide of wealth between the upper class, the middle class and the working class. The upper class tend to live in one collected area in Cawaport in large mansions, basking in the wealth that the city provides them. The middle class is the main populous within Cawaport and are made up of such profession as: craftsmen, blacksmiths, shop keepers, tanners, merchants, doctors, tailors, etc. The working class is less of a working class (with the majority of working class people such as miners and farmers living in the countryside of Cawanor) and more of an underclass. The underclass is compacted into one area of the city and lives in the slum known as 'Darktown'. People who live here are mostly beggars or people who find the odd job in docks with loading and unloading ships. Cawaport is also home to the 'Great Lighthouse' a colossal structure at 100 meters in overall height. The city is surrounded by a stone wall which provides a decent amount of defence against minor attacks, but in the event of a major siege it would only provide a minimum amount of resistance.
Iredale Stronghold is located in the centre of Cawanor. It is where the De Reimer family, as well as their advisers, reside.
Family Background: The Kingdom of Cawanor has only been under the control of the De Reimer family for a short period of time (only around 10-20 years). Before that it was controlled by the Hieze family; a greedy and power hunger house that was on ill terms with the current King (Helyot Remonnet). The De Reimer family was a noble family that owned several mining systems within Cawanor. Eventually the wealth and power of the De Reimer family caught the attention of the Hieze family who became fearful of the De Reimer’s wealth and power. They decided to executed the head members of the House in the belief it would destroy the family that may oppose them in the future. However this was not the case. The De Reimer’s oldest son Patrick raised an army from those who were loyal to the De Reimer’s (which was far more than those who were loyal to the Hieze) and started a civil war which ultimately ended with the De Reimer’s becoming the new ruler of Cawanor and every member of the Hieze family with their head on a spike.
Due to the bad relations between the Hieze family and the king, Helyot Remonnet made the De Reimer family the official rulers of Cawanor and gave the family the honour of electing one of its members to the King’s council. Alasdair De Reimer was sent to fulfil this role.
Shortly after Alasdair was appointed to the High council's position of 'Advisor of Law', a civil war enveloped Formaroth between Andris Mandarass and the Tyrannical King Helyot. In order to assure the De Reimer's loyal Helyot kept Alasdair as a hostage, keeping him within Nyhem and refusing to allow him to leave his position on the high council. However this turned out to be a mistake as two years later Heylot suffered a devastating defeat at the hands of Andris. During this battle Heylot was killed and his army was routed. Patrick De Reimer had ignored his kings summon's and instead marched upon the city of Nyhem. Once he was assured that his brother was safe Patrick attacked the undefended city of Nyhem and killed all of the remaining supporters of Heylot.
After the Mandarass Alliance won the war Andris disbanded his rebellion and allowed Heylot's brother, John Remmonnet to take the throne. In comparison to Heylot John was a much fairer and level headed ruler, however he was also far easier to manipulate. Through numerous schemes and politicking Alasdair was able to manipulate John into promoting him to the position of 'head advisor'; the highest position on the head council, and responsible for ruling the kingdom in the absence of a king or queen.
Family motives:
It is known that the De Reimer Family’s motives are purely the advancement and progression of their own family’s power and legacy. Though they are not known to be unnecessarily cruel or ruthless, it is believed that they would go to great extents to achieve these aims. Since their family defeated the Mandarass Alliance during the 'battle for the throne' the De Reimer's devotion to their family has grown to near zealot level. More than ever they now believe their blood to be pure and superior that of the other noble families in Formaroth.
Kingdom Location: Cawanor
Crest:
Family motto: Bound by Blood
Relations with other Kingdoms:
House De Reimer is on good terms with many of the central Kingdoms that sided with them during the civil war. These include Sypius, Telmarion, Nash, Windermere and Orog. However the Kingdoms that sided with the Mandarass Alliance feel great contempt and spite towards them, particularly the kingdoms now occupied by Imperial forces such as Ralda, Coruneon and Uzgob. The De Reimer's maintain an uneasy alliance with House Blackwell and though they are ally's on the surface, the Blackwell's are currently marked as the De Reimer's main rivals. The Southern alliance hold nothing but distrust for the De Reimer family.
Family reputation: Ambitious, Cunning, Wealthy, Scheming, Power Hungry, Untrustworthy
Kingdom's main export goods: Ores; (Iron, copper, steel, gold, silver, coal, gems) equipment; (tools, armour, weapons), Stone, Woodcraft (Furniture, Tools), Clothes.
Description of Kingdom: Cawanor is a kingdom just south of central Formaroth. It has a Continental climate that is slightly colder in its southern regions. Cawanor is very mountainous with a large proportion of the kingdom (around 40%) being covered in mountains. Therefore the main form of industry within Cawanor is mining and smithing. The remaining area that isn’t mountains is mostly farmland. The farmland itself is of average fertility.
There is one settlement of importance within Cawanor, this being the port city of Cawaport. This city is located on the northern coast of Cawanor and is the smallest city in Formaroth. The river Dagma runs through it's centre. Cawaport has a similar building design to renaissance Florence. The city has a great divide of wealth between the upper class, the middle class and the working class. The upper class tend to live in one collected area in Cawaport in large mansions, basking in the wealth that the city provides them. The middle class is the main populous within Cawaport and are made up of such profession as: craftsmen, blacksmiths, shop keepers, tanners, merchants, doctors, tailors, etc. The working class is less of a working class (with the majority of working class people such as miners and farmers living in the countryside of Cawanor) and more of an underclass. The underclass is compacted into one area of the city and lives in the slum known as 'Darktown'. People who live here are mostly beggars or people who find the odd job in docks with loading and unloading ships. Cawaport is also home to the 'Great Lighthouse' a colossal structure at 100 meters in overall height. The city is surrounded by a stone wall which provides a decent amount of defence against minor attacks, but in the event of a major siege it would only provide a minimum amount of resistance.
Iredale Stronghold is located in the centre of Cawanor. It is where the De Reimer family, as well as their advisers, reside.
Family Background: The Kingdom of Cawanor has only been under the control of the De Reimer family for a short period of time (only around 10-20 years). Before that it was controlled by the Hieze family; a greedy and power hunger house that was on ill terms with the current King (Helyot Remonnet). The De Reimer family was a noble family that owned several mining systems within Cawanor. Eventually the wealth and power of the De Reimer family caught the attention of the Hieze family who became fearful of the De Reimer’s wealth and power. They decided to executed the head members of the House in the belief it would destroy the family that may oppose them in the future. However this was not the case. The De Reimer’s oldest son Patrick raised an army from those who were loyal to the De Reimer’s (which was far more than those who were loyal to the Hieze) and started a civil war which ultimately ended with the De Reimer’s becoming the new ruler of Cawanor and every member of the Hieze family with their head on a spike.
Due to the bad relations between the Hieze family and the king, Helyot Remonnet made the De Reimer family the official rulers of Cawanor and gave the family the honour of electing one of its members to the King’s council. Alasdair De Reimer was sent to fulfil this role.
Shortly after Alasdair was appointed to the High council's position of 'Advisor of Law', a civil war enveloped Formaroth between Andris Mandarass and the Tyrannical King Helyot. In order to assure the De Reimer's loyal Helyot kept Alasdair as a hostage, keeping him within Nyhem and refusing to allow him to leave his position on the high council. However this turned out to be a mistake as two years later Heylot suffered a devastating defeat at the hands of Andris. During this battle Heylot was killed and his army was routed. Patrick De Reimer had ignored his kings summon's and instead marched upon the city of Nyhem. Once he was assured that his brother was safe Patrick attacked the undefended city of Nyhem and killed all of the remaining supporters of Heylot.
After the Mandarass Alliance won the war Andris disbanded his rebellion and allowed Heylot's brother, John Remmonnet to take the throne. In comparison to Heylot John was a much fairer and level headed ruler, however he was also far easier to manipulate. Through numerous schemes and politicking Alasdair was able to manipulate John into promoting him to the position of 'head advisor'; the highest position on the head council, and responsible for ruling the kingdom in the absence of a king or queen.
Family motives:
It is known that the De Reimer Family’s motives are purely the advancement and progression of their own family’s power and legacy. Though they are not known to be unnecessarily cruel or ruthless, it is believed that they would go to great extents to achieve these aims. Since their family defeated the Mandarass Alliance during the 'battle for the throne' the De Reimer's devotion to their family has grown to near zealot level. More than ever they now believe their blood to be pure and superior that of the other noble families in Formaroth.
Name: Alasdair De Reimer (Previously known as Duncan De Reimer in part 1)
Age: 29
Gender: Male
Position: High King of Formaroth/leader of the Imperial Concord
Personality: Those who know Alasdair claim he has two different persona's: The one he shows to the world and his true personality. When in public Alasdair acts in a very formal and polite manner winning over nobles with ease. He is often viewed by others as being a charming man who's confidence always makes you think he is three steps ahead of you.
His true personality is that of a machiavellian; constantly looking for ways to improve his family's position and is prepared to go to any length to achieve this goal. Alasdair is very ambitious and eager to secure power for his family. To this end he is more than willing to manipulate others and scheme behind their back. In the end Alasdair's primary motivation is the good of House De Reimer and as a result he is fiercely loyal to his family. Because of this Alasdair is easily enraged when someone insults his family's name. Though his true loyalty is to his family, Alasdair does somewhat care about the people under his rules and has a genuine interest in improving Formaroth, even if only to further consolidate his families power.
When with his family, Alasdair is considerably more laid-back and will even joke with his siblings in a sarcastic manner. Sometimes he opens this side of him up to those outside of his family, though these occasions are rare and only with those he trust immensely.
Though Alasdair is just as able as his siblings to make brutal and even ruthless decisions to the benefit of his family, he is slightly more restrained about it. He is not unnecessarily cruel and takes no delight in the pain or suffering of the innocent. However when faced with a enemy whom he believes has wronged either him or house De Reimer, Alasdair can be extremely brutal and even sadistic in his treatment of them.
Before the event of the Remmonnet-Manshrew civil war Alasdair was considered to be more kind and idealistic, however due to unknown events Alasdair has grown colder over the years.
After the death of his close friend and brief lover Aurelia Vyncetta Alasdair has become less trusting of people he does not know.
Weaknesses:
Physically frail: Alasdair is weaker in strength than most other people. Many believe this to be linked with his sickly childhood and as a result he never got a chance to strengthen his muscles. Duncan's physical weakness can be easily exploited in a fight (or other situations).
Can be easily angered: Like his siblings Alasdair can be easily angered when his family name is insulted. Though he can keep his temper well hidden it can still cause him to act rash.
Untrustworthy: Due to his reputation as the snake a fair number of people label Alasdair as untrustworthy. His cunning and sly nature does not help him to get rid of this label.
Slow to trust: Ever since the Manshrew-Remonnet civil war Alasdair has been slow to trust people.
Poor Military leader: Alasdair skills at military leadership are laughable to say the least. When it comes to leading an army Alasdair has very little idea about what commands to give.
Alcoholic: Though far from a heavy alcoholic, since the death of Aurelia, Alasdair has certainly started to drink more than he used to. As of yet it has not started to effect his duties as King, but the quantity of which he drinks is increasing noticeably.
Appearance: Tall, shoulder length dark brown hair, skinny, pale skinned, Short well trimmed beard, Well spoken,
Picture of De Reimer siblings:
Skills: Master negotiator, Master politician, Master manipulator, Expert Ruler, Adept economist, Aprentice swordsman, Novice strategist
Background: After the De Reimer family won the civil war, Alasdair De Reimer served under King Helyot Remonnet within the King’s Council. He served as the master of law for two years before King Helyot Remonnet was killed during the war against House Manshrew. Once King John Remonnet was made king, Alasdair managed to use his skills in cunning and manipulation to become the head advisor of the King. Once King Remonnet passed away Alasdair, being the head advisor, became the default ruler of Formaroth. Once it became clear that no viable heir would be found Duncan appointed himself as a candidate for king. While he gained a lot of support from a number of nobles houses, many others viewed him as a power hunger usurper. The most outspoken of these was Andris Mandarass who sought to claim the throne for himself. This is led to a second civil war between the houses that supported the De Reimer's (Imperial Concord) and the Houses that supported Andris (Mandarass Alliance).
After six months of intense fighting the Imperial Concord (with help from House Blackwell) defeated the Mandarass Alliance and sent Andris and his remaining supporters into exile.
Alasdair currently resides in Nyhem. The common people have given the De Reimer siblings nick-names based of their reputation, Alasdair's being 'The Snake'. Alasdair has a force of around a 200 Cawanor soldiers guarding him at Nyhem. They are led by general Alenius. Alenius was originally a Nyhem street urchin whom was taken in by Duncan and trained as a military commander. She is extremely loyal to Alasdair for saving her from a life of poverty.
Age: 29
Gender: Male
Position: High King of Formaroth/leader of the Imperial Concord
Personality: Those who know Alasdair claim he has two different persona's: The one he shows to the world and his true personality. When in public Alasdair acts in a very formal and polite manner winning over nobles with ease. He is often viewed by others as being a charming man who's confidence always makes you think he is three steps ahead of you.
His true personality is that of a machiavellian; constantly looking for ways to improve his family's position and is prepared to go to any length to achieve this goal. Alasdair is very ambitious and eager to secure power for his family. To this end he is more than willing to manipulate others and scheme behind their back. In the end Alasdair's primary motivation is the good of House De Reimer and as a result he is fiercely loyal to his family. Because of this Alasdair is easily enraged when someone insults his family's name. Though his true loyalty is to his family, Alasdair does somewhat care about the people under his rules and has a genuine interest in improving Formaroth, even if only to further consolidate his families power.
When with his family, Alasdair is considerably more laid-back and will even joke with his siblings in a sarcastic manner. Sometimes he opens this side of him up to those outside of his family, though these occasions are rare and only with those he trust immensely.
Though Alasdair is just as able as his siblings to make brutal and even ruthless decisions to the benefit of his family, he is slightly more restrained about it. He is not unnecessarily cruel and takes no delight in the pain or suffering of the innocent. However when faced with a enemy whom he believes has wronged either him or house De Reimer, Alasdair can be extremely brutal and even sadistic in his treatment of them.
Before the event of the Remmonnet-Manshrew civil war Alasdair was considered to be more kind and idealistic, however due to unknown events Alasdair has grown colder over the years.
After the death of his close friend and brief lover Aurelia Vyncetta Alasdair has become less trusting of people he does not know.
Weaknesses:
Physically frail: Alasdair is weaker in strength than most other people. Many believe this to be linked with his sickly childhood and as a result he never got a chance to strengthen his muscles. Duncan's physical weakness can be easily exploited in a fight (or other situations).
Can be easily angered: Like his siblings Alasdair can be easily angered when his family name is insulted. Though he can keep his temper well hidden it can still cause him to act rash.
Untrustworthy: Due to his reputation as the snake a fair number of people label Alasdair as untrustworthy. His cunning and sly nature does not help him to get rid of this label.
Slow to trust: Ever since the Manshrew-Remonnet civil war Alasdair has been slow to trust people.
Poor Military leader: Alasdair skills at military leadership are laughable to say the least. When it comes to leading an army Alasdair has very little idea about what commands to give.
Alcoholic: Though far from a heavy alcoholic, since the death of Aurelia, Alasdair has certainly started to drink more than he used to. As of yet it has not started to effect his duties as King, but the quantity of which he drinks is increasing noticeably.
Appearance: Tall, shoulder length dark brown hair, skinny, pale skinned, Short well trimmed beard, Well spoken,
Picture of De Reimer siblings:
Skills: Master negotiator, Master politician, Master manipulator, Expert Ruler, Adept economist, Aprentice swordsman, Novice strategist
Background: After the De Reimer family won the civil war, Alasdair De Reimer served under King Helyot Remonnet within the King’s Council. He served as the master of law for two years before King Helyot Remonnet was killed during the war against House Manshrew. Once King John Remonnet was made king, Alasdair managed to use his skills in cunning and manipulation to become the head advisor of the King. Once King Remonnet passed away Alasdair, being the head advisor, became the default ruler of Formaroth. Once it became clear that no viable heir would be found Duncan appointed himself as a candidate for king. While he gained a lot of support from a number of nobles houses, many others viewed him as a power hunger usurper. The most outspoken of these was Andris Mandarass who sought to claim the throne for himself. This is led to a second civil war between the houses that supported the De Reimer's (Imperial Concord) and the Houses that supported Andris (Mandarass Alliance).
After six months of intense fighting the Imperial Concord (with help from House Blackwell) defeated the Mandarass Alliance and sent Andris and his remaining supporters into exile.
Alasdair currently resides in Nyhem. The common people have given the De Reimer siblings nick-names based of their reputation, Alasdair's being 'The Snake'. Alasdair has a force of around a 200 Cawanor soldiers guarding him at Nyhem. They are led by general Alenius. Alenius was originally a Nyhem street urchin whom was taken in by Duncan and trained as a military commander. She is extremely loyal to Alasdair for saving her from a life of poverty.
Name: Patrick De Reimer
Age: 33
Gender: Male
Position: Head of House De Reimer/Head of Concord's military
Personality: Loyal to family, Pragmatic, Straight to the point, Formal, Assertive, ruthless when necessary, Intimidating
Appearance: Broad, Short dark brown hair, roundish face, Long well-kept beard
Skills: Master ruler, Master strategist, Master intimidator, Expert politician, Expert economist, Expert swordsman, Adept Negotiator
Background: Once the De Reimer family won the Cawanor civil war Patrick De Reimer was made the new ruler of Cawanor. Patrick rules the kingdom in a pragmatic way and people view him as a firm but fair ruler. Patrick himself has gained a very big reputation within Formaroth and people know better than to stand in the way of his ambitions. It is rare for Patrick to leave the Iredale Stronghold and even rarer for him to leave Cawanor. The Common people's nickname for Patrick is 'The Lion'.
During the second Formarothian Civil war Patrick acted as the leader of the Concords army, crushing the alliance forces.
Patrick is constantly guarded by his bodyguard Evennis, the ex-champion of the Nyhem arena who fights with two short swords.
Age: 33
Gender: Male
Position: Head of House De Reimer/Head of Concord's military
Personality: Loyal to family, Pragmatic, Straight to the point, Formal, Assertive, ruthless when necessary, Intimidating
Appearance: Broad, Short dark brown hair, roundish face, Long well-kept beard
Skills: Master ruler, Master strategist, Master intimidator, Expert politician, Expert economist, Expert swordsman, Adept Negotiator
Background: Once the De Reimer family won the Cawanor civil war Patrick De Reimer was made the new ruler of Cawanor. Patrick rules the kingdom in a pragmatic way and people view him as a firm but fair ruler. Patrick himself has gained a very big reputation within Formaroth and people know better than to stand in the way of his ambitions. It is rare for Patrick to leave the Iredale Stronghold and even rarer for him to leave Cawanor. The Common people's nickname for Patrick is 'The Lion'.
During the second Formarothian Civil war Patrick acted as the leader of the Concords army, crushing the alliance forces.
Patrick is constantly guarded by his bodyguard Evennis, the ex-champion of the Nyhem arena who fights with two short swords.
Name: Isabel
Age: 25
Gender: Female
Position: Financial manager of Cawanor/Treasurer of the high council
Personality: Loyal to family, Spoiled, Cunning, Mean-spirited, Jealous, Formal in public
Appearance: Back length dark brown hair, Tall, sharp eyebrows, rounded face.
Skills: Master economist, Master trader, Master manipulator, Expert ruler, Adept politician, Apprentice swordsman
Background: Due to being wealthy and powerful for the entirety of her life Isabel is naturally spoiled and selfish. Her mean-spirted attitude means that she doesn’t get along with many people, and the only people who she is believed to be friendly towards are her family, and her bodyguard Ulf. Isabel is also an incredibly jealous woman and will often take extreme measures of vengeance on those she believes has insulted her. Though usually, the insult is minor to say the least. Despites these traits Isabel is incredibly loyal to the De Reimer family and also has extensive knowledge on finances and the economy. Isabel has had a major role in making the De Reimer family as wealthy as it currently is. Isabel's nickname is 'The magpie'.
Isabel is constantly guarded by her personal Bodyguard Ulf. Ulf is a sadistic and brutal man who takes great pleasure in the pain of others. His only loyal appears to be to the members of the De Reimer family.
Age: 25
Gender: Female
Position: Financial manager of Cawanor/Treasurer of the high council
Personality: Loyal to family, Spoiled, Cunning, Mean-spirited, Jealous, Formal in public
Appearance: Back length dark brown hair, Tall, sharp eyebrows, rounded face.
Skills: Master economist, Master trader, Master manipulator, Expert ruler, Adept politician, Apprentice swordsman
Background: Due to being wealthy and powerful for the entirety of her life Isabel is naturally spoiled and selfish. Her mean-spirted attitude means that she doesn’t get along with many people, and the only people who she is believed to be friendly towards are her family, and her bodyguard Ulf. Isabel is also an incredibly jealous woman and will often take extreme measures of vengeance on those she believes has insulted her. Though usually, the insult is minor to say the least. Despites these traits Isabel is incredibly loyal to the De Reimer family and also has extensive knowledge on finances and the economy. Isabel has had a major role in making the De Reimer family as wealthy as it currently is. Isabel's nickname is 'The magpie'.
Isabel is constantly guarded by her personal Bodyguard Ulf. Ulf is a sadistic and brutal man who takes great pleasure in the pain of others. His only loyal appears to be to the members of the De Reimer family.
Name: Lord Oliver De Reimer
Age: 31
Gender: Male
Sexual Orientation: Heterosexual
Position: High Lord of Cawanor, Cousin to the head De Reimer family and Head of the Branch family
Personality: Confident, Intelligent, Loyal to family (though not as zealot as the head family), pragmatic, friendly
Appearance: Exceedingly tall, thin, Short brown hair, green eyes, Large well kept beard
Background: Oliver was the eldest child of the branch family of House De Reimer. After his parents were killed by house Hieze he joined the Cawanor civil war and fought alongside Patrick against the forces of House Hieze. After the war was won and House De Reimer were the new rulers of Cawanor, Oliver was made head of the De Reimers mining industry as well as the various other infrastructures that the De Reimer family had gained from house Hieze. As a result he is a commonly associated with Isabel De Reimer and alongside her has helped immeasurably in increasing the De Reimer families wealth. Shortly after the war he married Lady Eleanor, second eldest child to house Talbert. A year after they married Lady Eleanor bore Oliver a son whom they named Godfrey De Reimer.
Skills: Master economist, Expert trader, Adept politician, Adept Swordsman
Age: 31
Gender: Male
Sexual Orientation: Heterosexual
Position: High Lord of Cawanor, Cousin to the head De Reimer family and Head of the Branch family
Personality: Confident, Intelligent, Loyal to family (though not as zealot as the head family), pragmatic, friendly
Appearance: Exceedingly tall, thin, Short brown hair, green eyes, Large well kept beard
Background: Oliver was the eldest child of the branch family of House De Reimer. After his parents were killed by house Hieze he joined the Cawanor civil war and fought alongside Patrick against the forces of House Hieze. After the war was won and House De Reimer were the new rulers of Cawanor, Oliver was made head of the De Reimers mining industry as well as the various other infrastructures that the De Reimer family had gained from house Hieze. As a result he is a commonly associated with Isabel De Reimer and alongside her has helped immeasurably in increasing the De Reimer families wealth. Shortly after the war he married Lady Eleanor, second eldest child to house Talbert. A year after they married Lady Eleanor bore Oliver a son whom they named Godfrey De Reimer.
Skills: Master economist, Expert trader, Adept politician, Adept Swordsman
Name: Lady Rosita De Reimer
Age: 30
Gender: Female
Sexual Orientation: Heterosexual
Position: Governor of Cawaport, Cousin to the head family
Personality: Kind, lively, Loyal to family (though not a zealot as the head family), political minded, Ambitious
Appearance: Long brown hair, green eyes, thin, pale skin
Background: Like her brother, Rosita helped the De Reimer family during the war. Once the war passed Rosita was made the new Governor of the city Cawaport and oversees and manages the various on-goings that happen within the busy city alongside her cousin Patrick. Rosita is also the default head of Cawanor whenever Lord Patrick De Reimer is absent.
Skills: Master Politician, Expert Ruler, Adept Archer, Adept Economist
Age: 30
Gender: Female
Sexual Orientation: Heterosexual
Position: Governor of Cawaport, Cousin to the head family
Personality: Kind, lively, Loyal to family (though not a zealot as the head family), political minded, Ambitious
Appearance: Long brown hair, green eyes, thin, pale skin
Background: Like her brother, Rosita helped the De Reimer family during the war. Once the war passed Rosita was made the new Governor of the city Cawaport and oversees and manages the various on-goings that happen within the busy city alongside her cousin Patrick. Rosita is also the default head of Cawanor whenever Lord Patrick De Reimer is absent.
Skills: Master Politician, Expert Ruler, Adept Archer, Adept Economist
Name: Alice Budwin
Age: 36
Sexual Orentation: Homosexual
Gender: Female
Position: High Magister
Personality: Dangerously Curious, Ambitious, Intelligent, Strange, Considered mad by some
Appearance: Long light brown hair
Skills: Master Archaist, Master summoner, Master researcher, Expert user in destruction magic, Adept user in Illusion, Novice user in Transmutation, (rumoured to be skilled in the use of Necromancy though it is unclear whether this is true or not.
Background: Alice was originally the young daughter of a farmer, but once she discovered her talent in magic she was sent by her family to the mages collage in the summer isles. There she excelled under the schools of research and destruction. Her skills eventually got her promoted to the level of High Magister. Alice was infamous in her interest in areas of magic that were considered to be forbidden.
Age: 36
Sexual Orentation: Homosexual
Gender: Female
Position: High Magister
Personality: Dangerously Curious, Ambitious, Intelligent, Strange, Considered mad by some
Appearance: Long light brown hair
Skills: Master Archaist, Master summoner, Master researcher, Expert user in destruction magic, Adept user in Illusion, Novice user in Transmutation, (rumoured to be skilled in the use of Necromancy though it is unclear whether this is true or not.
Background: Alice was originally the young daughter of a farmer, but once she discovered her talent in magic she was sent by her family to the mages collage in the summer isles. There she excelled under the schools of research and destruction. Her skills eventually got her promoted to the level of High Magister. Alice was infamous in her interest in areas of magic that were considered to be forbidden.
Name: Inigo Orbino
Age: 46
Gender: Male
Sexual Orientation: Hetrosexual
Position: Military commander
Personality:
Inigo Orbino is described by most to be a very serious and stoic man who has little time for anything that is not related to his duty. He holds all of those under his command to a high standard and has very little tolerance for insubordination, incompetence or laziness. Through upbringing he is a military man who sees the world through a martial lens.
Despite this stern attitude he maintains, many view Inigo to be a honourable man who serves the De Reimer family faithfully since their ascension. Inigo maintains a respectfule and formal manner towards those who he deals with, even towards his enemies.
Weaknesses:
Prideful: Inigo takes great pride being the high commander of Cawanor’s armies, almost to the point of arrogance.
Inflexible: Inigo lives to follow the rules, he does not question the orders of his superiors and will do everything by the book.
Bound to chivalry: Inigo is bound to his codes of chivalry and would rather die then betray them.
Appearance: Inigo is a tall, well-built muscular man with broad shoulders and sharp facial features. He is clean shaven and has short blond hair that he keeps well groomed. When armoured he wears full steel plate adorned with the crest and colours of house De Reimer. When off duty he opts for more practical grab over what is considered fashionable, though it is important to note that it is still of a quality suitable for one of nobility.
Background:Inigo has served house De Reimer since before they ruled over Cawanor. When house Hieze tried to purge the De Reimer nobility Inigo was one of the first to declare himself for house De Reimer and assisted Patrick De Reimer in his rebellion and subsequent victory against house Hieze. Since House De Reimer took control of Cawanor Inigo was chosen to maintain, oversee and lead the forces of house De Reimer, a position and he holds in extremely high regards. Often, he will find himself directly collaborate with the De Reimer family and despite being a noble from a minor house, holds a great deal of influence over their opinions. Alasdair De Reimer hand selected him to lead the empires forces in Seikatsu against the imperium.
Skills: Master tactician, Expert strategist, Expert leader, Expert swordsman, Can ride, Can read and write
Age: 46
Gender: Male
Sexual Orientation: Hetrosexual
Position: Military commander
Personality:
Inigo Orbino is described by most to be a very serious and stoic man who has little time for anything that is not related to his duty. He holds all of those under his command to a high standard and has very little tolerance for insubordination, incompetence or laziness. Through upbringing he is a military man who sees the world through a martial lens.
Despite this stern attitude he maintains, many view Inigo to be a honourable man who serves the De Reimer family faithfully since their ascension. Inigo maintains a respectfule and formal manner towards those who he deals with, even towards his enemies.
Weaknesses:
Prideful: Inigo takes great pride being the high commander of Cawanor’s armies, almost to the point of arrogance.
Inflexible: Inigo lives to follow the rules, he does not question the orders of his superiors and will do everything by the book.
Bound to chivalry: Inigo is bound to his codes of chivalry and would rather die then betray them.
Appearance: Inigo is a tall, well-built muscular man with broad shoulders and sharp facial features. He is clean shaven and has short blond hair that he keeps well groomed. When armoured he wears full steel plate adorned with the crest and colours of house De Reimer. When off duty he opts for more practical grab over what is considered fashionable, though it is important to note that it is still of a quality suitable for one of nobility.
Background:Inigo has served house De Reimer since before they ruled over Cawanor. When house Hieze tried to purge the De Reimer nobility Inigo was one of the first to declare himself for house De Reimer and assisted Patrick De Reimer in his rebellion and subsequent victory against house Hieze. Since House De Reimer took control of Cawanor Inigo was chosen to maintain, oversee and lead the forces of house De Reimer, a position and he holds in extremely high regards. Often, he will find himself directly collaborate with the De Reimer family and despite being a noble from a minor house, holds a great deal of influence over their opinions. Alasdair De Reimer hand selected him to lead the empires forces in Seikatsu against the imperium.
Skills: Master tactician, Expert strategist, Expert leader, Expert swordsman, Can ride, Can read and write
Name: Helen Bludvist
Age: 44
Gender: Female
Position: Admiral/Military strategist
Personality: Formal, Militaristic, Loyal to De Reimer family, Honourable
Appearance: Tall, Broad, Short black hair,
Skills: Master Naval commander, Master Axeman, Expert Military leader, Adept military leader
Background: Helen Bludvist originally served under the Hieze family when they were in power as their naval commander and strategist. However during the civil war she took the De Reimer side believing them to be better rulers than the Hieze family. She is known to have a close friendship with Inigo Orbino.
Age: 44
Gender: Female
Position: Admiral/Military strategist
Personality: Formal, Militaristic, Loyal to De Reimer family, Honourable
Appearance: Tall, Broad, Short black hair,
Skills: Master Naval commander, Master Axeman, Expert Military leader, Adept military leader
Background: Helen Bludvist originally served under the Hieze family when they were in power as their naval commander and strategist. However during the civil war she took the De Reimer side believing them to be better rulers than the Hieze family. She is known to have a close friendship with Inigo Orbino.
Name: Alenius (named herself after the kingdom after hearing the stories of the famed Beatrice Blackwell whom she admired greatly)
Age: 27
Gender: Female
Sexual Orientation: Heterosexual
Position: Royal Bodyguard
Personality: Stern, takes her job as bodyguard with extreme pride and seriousness, street smart, much less formal and wild when off duty, unwaveringly loyal to Alasdair
Weaknesses: Uneducated; despite being the the emperors personal bodyguard, Alenius has had no form of education throughout her entire life, to the point that she is unable to even read. This is a fact that very few people know about and something she is very subconscious of.
Racist: Like most of the central kingdoms peasantry, Alenius carries many prejudice views about those who hail from the northern and southern kingdom and is outright hateful of elves.
Stubborn: If given a order by her king, no manner of conniving will be enough to persuade her to disobey
Appearance: Alenius is a tall woman yet unusually skinny for a solider. She had short ginger hair and dark brown eyes. While not pretty in regards to what high society normally regards as beautiful many find her very appealing to the eye in her own rugged way.
Background: Alenius was a orphan who grew up within the slums of Nyhem. As a child she made a living by working for the infamous criminal 'Amblewack' (not his real name) whom Alenius quickly grew to despise. She survived through pickpocketing and stealing from the rich nobles who walked the streets of Nyhem. Alenius was very gifted and one of the few slum orphans that survived to adulthood. After sneaking into the grand Arena during the yearly Tournament Alenius was able to finally see her childhood heroine Beatrice Blackwell in flesh. After being inspired by her determination and unwavering resolve Alenius decided that she too wanted to be a great warrior. After her many failed attempts to join the city guard (who rejected her for being a slum dweller and associate of Amblewack) she eventually drew the attention of Alasdair De Reimer who at the time was the advisor of law for Helyot Remmonnet. After meeting with Alenius in person and realizing her iron will resolve to be a soldier, Alasdair took pity on the woman and agreed to pay for her training if she acted as his personal bodyguard, Alenius has always been grateful to Alasdair for saving her from a life of crime and allowing her to pursue her dream.
Skills:
Mace Combat-expert
Security - master
Commander - adept
pickpocket - expert
Free running - expert
street knowledge - expert
Age: 27
Gender: Female
Sexual Orientation: Heterosexual
Position: Royal Bodyguard
Personality: Stern, takes her job as bodyguard with extreme pride and seriousness, street smart, much less formal and wild when off duty, unwaveringly loyal to Alasdair
Weaknesses: Uneducated; despite being the the emperors personal bodyguard, Alenius has had no form of education throughout her entire life, to the point that she is unable to even read. This is a fact that very few people know about and something she is very subconscious of.
Racist: Like most of the central kingdoms peasantry, Alenius carries many prejudice views about those who hail from the northern and southern kingdom and is outright hateful of elves.
Stubborn: If given a order by her king, no manner of conniving will be enough to persuade her to disobey
Appearance: Alenius is a tall woman yet unusually skinny for a solider. She had short ginger hair and dark brown eyes. While not pretty in regards to what high society normally regards as beautiful many find her very appealing to the eye in her own rugged way.
Background: Alenius was a orphan who grew up within the slums of Nyhem. As a child she made a living by working for the infamous criminal 'Amblewack' (not his real name) whom Alenius quickly grew to despise. She survived through pickpocketing and stealing from the rich nobles who walked the streets of Nyhem. Alenius was very gifted and one of the few slum orphans that survived to adulthood. After sneaking into the grand Arena during the yearly Tournament Alenius was able to finally see her childhood heroine Beatrice Blackwell in flesh. After being inspired by her determination and unwavering resolve Alenius decided that she too wanted to be a great warrior. After her many failed attempts to join the city guard (who rejected her for being a slum dweller and associate of Amblewack) she eventually drew the attention of Alasdair De Reimer who at the time was the advisor of law for Helyot Remmonnet. After meeting with Alenius in person and realizing her iron will resolve to be a soldier, Alasdair took pity on the woman and agreed to pay for her training if she acted as his personal bodyguard, Alenius has always been grateful to Alasdair for saving her from a life of crime and allowing her to pursue her dream.
Skills:
Mace Combat-expert
Security - master
Commander - adept
pickpocket - expert
Free running - expert
street knowledge - expert
House Raudhfell is a family that is linked to House De Reimer as Urd Raudhfell is Patrick's bastard daughter.
However it isn't necessary to read this, only if you want to
Family House Name:
Raudhfell
Location:
Cawanor, Southwestern corner, near border with Thralreth
Crest:
A “glowing” red wagon wheel upon a dark gray shield
Family Motto:
“We persevere.”
Also (informal):
“Nothing good ever comes out of Thralreth.”
Relations with other Houses
For the most part, House Raudhfell is neutral towards the other noble houses, both of Cawanor and of the other kingdoms. They are willing to trade with most of them, provided that they honor any deals made.
Family Reputation:
In the noble circles of the High Court, House Raudhfell is a minor house of little note. Their lands are of reasonable size for their size, but almost tiny when compared to those of major houses. Additionally, their lands are primarily located in the southwestern corner of Cawanor, partially up in the forested mountains and hills here.
Though it is no secret that they are a mercantile power, most do not know the extent of their mercantile empire, as beyond moving others’ goods, they do not focus on any one trade, instead having distributed themselves throughout all branches of trade within Cawanor and a good number of those outside it.
What few goods they do produce themselves are inevitably limited in stock but of the finest quality. They’re known to be somewhat eccentric and not overly interested in politics or court business, so long as it does not affect their business. As such, it is an uncommon occurrence to see a Raudhfell at court in Cawanor, let alone at the high court in Nyhem.
In mercantile circles, it is well-known that anything entrusted to be shipped by Raudhfell caravans will arrive. It may take time, but it is worth the extra cost. While they naturally own a few ships, most of their trade is done by heavily guarded caravans.
Their highly materialistic and secular tendencies are public knowledge. They do not publicly oppose the church of Klebithy, but neither do they associate with them if they can avoid it, often charging extra to ship anything for the church.
While they do provide services within Thralreth, it is always at a higher cost, on account of their requirement for extra guards. Several members of House Raudhfell refuse to set foot in that kingdom.
Main Export of Goods:
House Raudhfell, while formally among the Noble houses of Cawanor, are in many ways even more a mercantile house. The majority of their power lies there, in particular in the act of moving goods for other people, be it for other nobles, merchants or commoners.
While their lands are not poor, neither are they known for producing vast quantities of anything. Instead, these lands are known to produce small, exclusive products of the finest quality, like distilled spirits, which are often sought-after by many, especially nobles. However, it is noted that the current Lord or Lady Raudhfell alone decides who gets to acquire these rare products.
While they do not hold vast lands or political power, their mercantile business has over generations made them a relatively rich house with connections all over Formaroth. However, they have rarely—if ever—expressed much interest in gaining more political power, preferring to stick to what they do know.
Their hands can often be found, directly or indirectly, in most Cawanori trades as well as many of those found in other kingdoms of Formaroth, though these hands are often only indirectly there, deals and investments having been made through agents and other mercantile companies.
Description of House lands:
House Raudhfell holds fairly extensive land claims in their corner of Cawanor, though most of these lands are made up of forested and mountainous wilderness, broken up by rivers, mountains and ruins from bygone years. There are also numerous mines on their lands, as well as the primary trade routes between Thralreth and Cawanor.
At the core of their lands stands a fortified manor that serves at the hub of their mercantile empire, even if few of their wagons ever come within sight of the manor. It is surrounded by cultured farmlands, orchards and the occasional ruins from less peaceful times. The villages and towns in this region are typically populated by people who share the house’s distrustful view of religious institutions. Most of the house’s militia and servants come from these towns and villages, something that provides these places with a steady income well above the norm for remote towns and villages, something travelers often note. While some members of the militia guard the manor, the vast majority travel the lands with the family caravans.
Family Background:
The family itself is probably some offshoot from another noble house far back in time, but for the past six or more generations of Raudhfells, their background has been irrevocably tied to trade. The Raudhfell trade empire’s reputation throughout Formaroth has grown significantly over the past twenty-five years, with the rise of the current Duke Raudhfell. It doesn’t matter where in Formaroth you want goods moved; If you want to be certain that it will get where you want it to go, you can never go wrong if you hire a Raudhfell caravan to move it. Though it is worth noting that moving goods through or to Thralreth will cost extra.
Claim to the Throne/House Motives
Historically, House Raudhfell on its own has no claim on the throne, not for Cawanor, let alone for Formaroth. However Urd Raudhfell, the heir to House Raudhfell’s current heir, is also the illegitimate firstborn daughter of Patrick De Reimer. Therefore, she has a claim to the throne of Cawanor through him, though it is worth noting that no such claim has not been put forth, nor has she even spoken with him. She is currently in the process of investigating whether she wants to know her blood father.
As merchants, they care more about stability and continued trade income than they do about politics. As such, they have not formally shown favor towards one candidate, even if it is given that they have more trade with the de Reimers than with the Manshrews on account of their relative proximity.
Raudhfell
Location:
Cawanor, Southwestern corner, near border with Thralreth
Crest:
A “glowing” red wagon wheel upon a dark gray shield
Family Motto:
“We persevere.”
Also (informal):
“Nothing good ever comes out of Thralreth.”
Relations with other Houses
For the most part, House Raudhfell is neutral towards the other noble houses, both of Cawanor and of the other kingdoms. They are willing to trade with most of them, provided that they honor any deals made.
Family Reputation:
In the noble circles of the High Court, House Raudhfell is a minor house of little note. Their lands are of reasonable size for their size, but almost tiny when compared to those of major houses. Additionally, their lands are primarily located in the southwestern corner of Cawanor, partially up in the forested mountains and hills here.
Though it is no secret that they are a mercantile power, most do not know the extent of their mercantile empire, as beyond moving others’ goods, they do not focus on any one trade, instead having distributed themselves throughout all branches of trade within Cawanor and a good number of those outside it.
What few goods they do produce themselves are inevitably limited in stock but of the finest quality. They’re known to be somewhat eccentric and not overly interested in politics or court business, so long as it does not affect their business. As such, it is an uncommon occurrence to see a Raudhfell at court in Cawanor, let alone at the high court in Nyhem.
In mercantile circles, it is well-known that anything entrusted to be shipped by Raudhfell caravans will arrive. It may take time, but it is worth the extra cost. While they naturally own a few ships, most of their trade is done by heavily guarded caravans.
Their highly materialistic and secular tendencies are public knowledge. They do not publicly oppose the church of Klebithy, but neither do they associate with them if they can avoid it, often charging extra to ship anything for the church.
While they do provide services within Thralreth, it is always at a higher cost, on account of their requirement for extra guards. Several members of House Raudhfell refuse to set foot in that kingdom.
Main Export of Goods:
House Raudhfell, while formally among the Noble houses of Cawanor, are in many ways even more a mercantile house. The majority of their power lies there, in particular in the act of moving goods for other people, be it for other nobles, merchants or commoners.
While their lands are not poor, neither are they known for producing vast quantities of anything. Instead, these lands are known to produce small, exclusive products of the finest quality, like distilled spirits, which are often sought-after by many, especially nobles. However, it is noted that the current Lord or Lady Raudhfell alone decides who gets to acquire these rare products.
While they do not hold vast lands or political power, their mercantile business has over generations made them a relatively rich house with connections all over Formaroth. However, they have rarely—if ever—expressed much interest in gaining more political power, preferring to stick to what they do know.
Their hands can often be found, directly or indirectly, in most Cawanori trades as well as many of those found in other kingdoms of Formaroth, though these hands are often only indirectly there, deals and investments having been made through agents and other mercantile companies.
Description of House lands:
House Raudhfell holds fairly extensive land claims in their corner of Cawanor, though most of these lands are made up of forested and mountainous wilderness, broken up by rivers, mountains and ruins from bygone years. There are also numerous mines on their lands, as well as the primary trade routes between Thralreth and Cawanor.
At the core of their lands stands a fortified manor that serves at the hub of their mercantile empire, even if few of their wagons ever come within sight of the manor. It is surrounded by cultured farmlands, orchards and the occasional ruins from less peaceful times. The villages and towns in this region are typically populated by people who share the house’s distrustful view of religious institutions. Most of the house’s militia and servants come from these towns and villages, something that provides these places with a steady income well above the norm for remote towns and villages, something travelers often note. While some members of the militia guard the manor, the vast majority travel the lands with the family caravans.
Family Background:
The family itself is probably some offshoot from another noble house far back in time, but for the past six or more generations of Raudhfells, their background has been irrevocably tied to trade. The Raudhfell trade empire’s reputation throughout Formaroth has grown significantly over the past twenty-five years, with the rise of the current Duke Raudhfell. It doesn’t matter where in Formaroth you want goods moved; If you want to be certain that it will get where you want it to go, you can never go wrong if you hire a Raudhfell caravan to move it. Though it is worth noting that moving goods through or to Thralreth will cost extra.
Claim to the Throne/House Motives
Historically, House Raudhfell on its own has no claim on the throne, not for Cawanor, let alone for Formaroth. However Urd Raudhfell, the heir to House Raudhfell’s current heir, is also the illegitimate firstborn daughter of Patrick De Reimer. Therefore, she has a claim to the throne of Cawanor through him, though it is worth noting that no such claim has not been put forth, nor has she even spoken with him. She is currently in the process of investigating whether she wants to know her blood father.
As merchants, they care more about stability and continued trade income than they do about politics. As such, they have not formally shown favor towards one candidate, even if it is given that they have more trade with the de Reimers than with the Manshrews on account of their relative proximity.
Known members:
Ida Raudhfell Mother, Current heir to House Raudhfell
Asgher Raudhfell Maternal Grandfather, Head of House Raudhfell
Alva Raudhfell né Mirkvidhr Maternal grandmother
Urd Raudhfell Heir-to-the-heir
Name: Asgher Raudhfell
Age: 51
Gender: Male
Position: Duke Raudhfell, Member of the lower Cawanori nobility and undisputed ruler of the Raudhfell mercantile empire.
Asgher is neither thin nor overweight. Though he is still practicing with weapons and maintaining his strength, there is no denying that he is well past his prime. His once-brown hair is now mostly white and his face is lined with age.
He has a distinct preference for clothes using the Raudhfell gray, but also mixes it in with a bright blue.
At his age, his skills are not easily summed up. He’s got years of experience at combat, economics, animal handling, negotiations and countless other areas. However, he also has enough experience to know that others are better than him at many of these things, like how his daughter Ida has a far better head for numbers than him.
Like most Raudhfells, Asgher has inherited a certain talent for summoning magic, being able to summon forth and control certain shades. His talent is not of such a level that he can in any way be called a master, but on account of how rare this talent is and how the church of Klebithy looks down upon it, he is powerful enough to have good use for it.
This particular talent has been in the Raudhfell family for untold generations, almost never failing to show up in children born to the family.
He is Circle-trained.
Like his skills, Asgher’s personality is not something that can easily be summed up into just a few words. However, there are certain tendencies that shine through and that rule his behavior. He is an apt businessman, able to see opportunities where others would view the situation as hopeless. He is merciless towards those who would wish him and his ill, and he is able to see the bigger picture.
It is no secret that he favors his family and those who have shown loyalty over time ahead of those who are unfamiliar, but if someone new should show to be particularly skilled at something, then he will use them for what they are worth. Nothing, in his mind, should be wasted. Similarly, if someone has wronged him and his in the past, they will find it very hard to gain his trust. Even when he is merciless, he has a code of honor that he holds himself, his family and his employees to. He is, however, not above using hired assassins if the situation calls for it.
Towards others, Asgher is generally fair. He bears no ill will towards the vast majority of people, but he has a certain distrust towards the Church of Klebithy, on account of their policy towards his personal form of magic. He is a shrewd businessman, but keeps mostly to himself even when he upon rare occasions leaves the Raudhfell lands, however those occasions have become rarer and rarer these recent years.
The uneducated masses are not his favorite, which is why he seeks to promote education even among common villagers, especially upon the Raudhfell lands. Ignorance is no excuse he respects.
He keeps the axe that made him the man he is today hanging on the wall in his study, and he is not shy about saying that. Most would assume it is the axe he wielded in battle while defending the family name, but his family all know it is the axe that almost got him killed.
His years of fighting for the family business have taken their toll, as has age. He is no longer the skilled combatant he used to be, and while he may not like it, he cannot deny that fact. Nor is his sight as good as it once was.
His right leg, severely damaged in his final battle, has given him a permanent limp, and his innumerable scars provide him no comfort. He cares deeply for his family, so threats to his family can be a means to provoke him.
Age: 51
Gender: Male
Position: Duke Raudhfell, Member of the lower Cawanori nobility and undisputed ruler of the Raudhfell mercantile empire.
The current ruler of the Raudhfell lands is Duke Asgher Raudhfell. As the head of the house, he makes all the major decisions for its paths, though there is no denying that these decisions are at times influenced, for better or worse, by the wills and whims of his wife, daughter and granddaughter. This, however, does not mean he is a pushover. If anything, there is a clear tendency that attempting to manipulate him leads to a result opposite of that desired by the manipulator. It takes great skill to manipulate him successfully.
He took charge of House Raudhfell some twenty-five years ago, following the death of his parents at the hands of a rivaling merchant company. Ideally, he would’ve had many more years of training before he took command, but ideal situations rarely arise. He immediately took charge of the business, involving himself far more deeply than his father and mother had, knowing that his wife of eight years was more than suited to the task of running the household. Together with his brothers [Who may get more detailed stories at a later time] he set out to crush his family’s rivals and prove that he was ready to assume control over the Raudhfell mercantile company.
Considering the size of their mercantile empire and the relative strength of their opposition, it goes without saying that payback was no quick job, not something solved merely with a knife in the dark. Before he could even consider that, he had to make his opposition suffer as he had. In addition to dealing with this rival company, they had to deal with countless packs of opportunistic brigands who saw quick profits in raiding largely defenseless merchant caravans.
While he could not prove it, he had strong suspicions that at least some of those brigands had support from his rivals. They were better equipped than was average and they had oddly convenient times of striking. For obvious reasons he could not let that go on, which led to him hiring hundreds of villagers from on and near the Raudhfell lands, seeing to it that they received sufficient training with weapons to counter these brigands.
It was a slow process, but three years after his ascension, Raudhfell caravans had already gained a reputation for being safer than those of any other merchant company. But that reputation was not freely earned, for having that many guards on at all times cost money, but in the end it was worth it. For even as they had more expenses from the guards, a pattern emerged where more and more caravans reached their destinations. This logically led to higher profits and a better reputation, which in turn allowed them to charge higher prices from clients. Few clients were unwilling to pay what it cost to guarantee delivery. Or rather, few successful clients.
While he and his brothers frequently traveled alongside caravans, he did not personally lead them. Instead, he led what basically was a small army, specially trained to hunt down successful brigands and retrieve stolen cargo. Primarily cargo stolen from Raudhfell caravans, but as fewer and fewer of those caravans were robbed, he expanded into recovering cargo for other merchants, a service that Raudhfells still provide to this day, though Asgher is not involved in it himself.
With their rapidly growing reputation throughout the circles of anyone wanting to move goods anywhere, it is a given thing that their fortune grew. People began to rely upon them, choosing them over their rivals, which in turn weakened them. The particular rival responsible for the deaths of Asgher’s parents was rapidly approaching ruin as he made sure everyone knew what they had done. Some five and a half years after his ascension, he dealt the final blow through the expeditious use of the aforementioned knife in the dark. He might be good at wielding sword, axe and mace, but knives in the dark had never been Asgher’s forte. Therefore, as well as for other obvious reasons, he did not wield the knife himself. Why attempt something you know you are not good at yourself, when you can hire professionals to do it right?
With the last remnants of this rival in chaos, he quickly moved in, seizing their territory and assets, assimilating them into what many had come to call the Raudhfell mercantile Empire. At this point, when it came to moving much of anything valuable in Formaroth, people knew that the Raudhfells could be relied upon.
Unfortunately, the fates did not wish for Asgher to rise too far. The fates demanded humility, not pride from him. Thus, less than half a year later, while recovering one a stolen shipment in one of the innumerable forests to Thralreth, he was struck down by a particularly skilled brigand’s axe. Had his men been any less well-trained than they were, and had he been further away from home than he was, not to mention had the brigand’s aim been just a touch better, that would have been the end of Asgher Raudhfell. But his men were that good, he was close to home and while the brigand’s axe buried itself in his right thigh and abdomen, it missed everything vital. Even as he fell off his horse to lie bleeding on the ground, his men quickly finished up the fight, leaving none of the brigands alive and recovering the cargo. They mended his wounds as best as they could, loaded him on one of the carts and took him home.
His wife hired the best healers that money could buy, and while they saved his life and fully restored his ability to walk, the grievousness of his injuries meant that he would ne’er again father any children. To add to the insult from the fates, as he recovered, he learned that his only daughter, Ida, while being presented at court, had somehow gotten herself impregnated, by a powerful noble at that, one so far above them in rank that the very idea of asking for reparations, let alone marriage was laughable.
Considering his daughter’s utter refusal to consider marriage to any other man, he resolved to make the best of an already impossible situation. Where any other man might’ve blamed the powerful noble, his daughter or even his wife for allowing this to happen, Asgher knew that the blame lay in his lap. He had been too busy traveling the land, dealing with the family business to even notice how his daughter was growing up. There was no doubt in his mind that she had lacked for a proper father figure in her life. Upon making that realization, he swore an oath that he would make up for it. He would be as a proper father figure to his grandchild, no matter if it was a son or a daughter. He or she would become worthy of inheriting the Raudhfell name when she was older. Nothing would prevent him from achieving this goal. Nothing.
While the healers had restored his body, magic of this magnitude does not come without a cost. To this day, he has a marked limp in his right leg, and underneath his clothes the scarring is extensive. Nonetheless, he has done his best these past nineteen years to assist in raising his granddaughter and giving her as extensive an education as possible, ensuring that she has become a truly formidable young lady.
Aside from that, he has spent his time directing the merchant business, both through hired agents and through the capable hands of his brothers. Though his injuries were a setback for the business, in the end it was a minor one. The family business continued to grow, its reputation spreading further and further. In addition to that, he rebuilt the family distillery, using the fruits of the family lands to distill powerful spirits for sale. Like the family caravans, the Raudhfell Reserve has a reputation for quality, in spite of, or as a result of, the small size of the distillery.
He took charge of House Raudhfell some twenty-five years ago, following the death of his parents at the hands of a rivaling merchant company. Ideally, he would’ve had many more years of training before he took command, but ideal situations rarely arise. He immediately took charge of the business, involving himself far more deeply than his father and mother had, knowing that his wife of eight years was more than suited to the task of running the household. Together with his brothers [Who may get more detailed stories at a later time] he set out to crush his family’s rivals and prove that he was ready to assume control over the Raudhfell mercantile company.
Considering the size of their mercantile empire and the relative strength of their opposition, it goes without saying that payback was no quick job, not something solved merely with a knife in the dark. Before he could even consider that, he had to make his opposition suffer as he had. In addition to dealing with this rival company, they had to deal with countless packs of opportunistic brigands who saw quick profits in raiding largely defenseless merchant caravans.
While he could not prove it, he had strong suspicions that at least some of those brigands had support from his rivals. They were better equipped than was average and they had oddly convenient times of striking. For obvious reasons he could not let that go on, which led to him hiring hundreds of villagers from on and near the Raudhfell lands, seeing to it that they received sufficient training with weapons to counter these brigands.
It was a slow process, but three years after his ascension, Raudhfell caravans had already gained a reputation for being safer than those of any other merchant company. But that reputation was not freely earned, for having that many guards on at all times cost money, but in the end it was worth it. For even as they had more expenses from the guards, a pattern emerged where more and more caravans reached their destinations. This logically led to higher profits and a better reputation, which in turn allowed them to charge higher prices from clients. Few clients were unwilling to pay what it cost to guarantee delivery. Or rather, few successful clients.
While he and his brothers frequently traveled alongside caravans, he did not personally lead them. Instead, he led what basically was a small army, specially trained to hunt down successful brigands and retrieve stolen cargo. Primarily cargo stolen from Raudhfell caravans, but as fewer and fewer of those caravans were robbed, he expanded into recovering cargo for other merchants, a service that Raudhfells still provide to this day, though Asgher is not involved in it himself.
With their rapidly growing reputation throughout the circles of anyone wanting to move goods anywhere, it is a given thing that their fortune grew. People began to rely upon them, choosing them over their rivals, which in turn weakened them. The particular rival responsible for the deaths of Asgher’s parents was rapidly approaching ruin as he made sure everyone knew what they had done. Some five and a half years after his ascension, he dealt the final blow through the expeditious use of the aforementioned knife in the dark. He might be good at wielding sword, axe and mace, but knives in the dark had never been Asgher’s forte. Therefore, as well as for other obvious reasons, he did not wield the knife himself. Why attempt something you know you are not good at yourself, when you can hire professionals to do it right?
With the last remnants of this rival in chaos, he quickly moved in, seizing their territory and assets, assimilating them into what many had come to call the Raudhfell mercantile Empire. At this point, when it came to moving much of anything valuable in Formaroth, people knew that the Raudhfells could be relied upon.
Unfortunately, the fates did not wish for Asgher to rise too far. The fates demanded humility, not pride from him. Thus, less than half a year later, while recovering one a stolen shipment in one of the innumerable forests to Thralreth, he was struck down by a particularly skilled brigand’s axe. Had his men been any less well-trained than they were, and had he been further away from home than he was, not to mention had the brigand’s aim been just a touch better, that would have been the end of Asgher Raudhfell. But his men were that good, he was close to home and while the brigand’s axe buried itself in his right thigh and abdomen, it missed everything vital. Even as he fell off his horse to lie bleeding on the ground, his men quickly finished up the fight, leaving none of the brigands alive and recovering the cargo. They mended his wounds as best as they could, loaded him on one of the carts and took him home.
His wife hired the best healers that money could buy, and while they saved his life and fully restored his ability to walk, the grievousness of his injuries meant that he would ne’er again father any children. To add to the insult from the fates, as he recovered, he learned that his only daughter, Ida, while being presented at court, had somehow gotten herself impregnated, by a powerful noble at that, one so far above them in rank that the very idea of asking for reparations, let alone marriage was laughable.
Considering his daughter’s utter refusal to consider marriage to any other man, he resolved to make the best of an already impossible situation. Where any other man might’ve blamed the powerful noble, his daughter or even his wife for allowing this to happen, Asgher knew that the blame lay in his lap. He had been too busy traveling the land, dealing with the family business to even notice how his daughter was growing up. There was no doubt in his mind that she had lacked for a proper father figure in her life. Upon making that realization, he swore an oath that he would make up for it. He would be as a proper father figure to his grandchild, no matter if it was a son or a daughter. He or she would become worthy of inheriting the Raudhfell name when she was older. Nothing would prevent him from achieving this goal. Nothing.
While the healers had restored his body, magic of this magnitude does not come without a cost. To this day, he has a marked limp in his right leg, and underneath his clothes the scarring is extensive. Nonetheless, he has done his best these past nineteen years to assist in raising his granddaughter and giving her as extensive an education as possible, ensuring that she has become a truly formidable young lady.
Aside from that, he has spent his time directing the merchant business, both through hired agents and through the capable hands of his brothers. Though his injuries were a setback for the business, in the end it was a minor one. The family business continued to grow, its reputation spreading further and further. In addition to that, he rebuilt the family distillery, using the fruits of the family lands to distill powerful spirits for sale. Like the family caravans, the Raudhfell Reserve has a reputation for quality, in spite of, or as a result of, the small size of the distillery.
Appearance:
Asgher is neither thin nor overweight. Though he is still practicing with weapons and maintaining his strength, there is no denying that he is well past his prime. His once-brown hair is now mostly white and his face is lined with age.
He has a distinct preference for clothes using the Raudhfell gray, but also mixes it in with a bright blue.
Skills:
At his age, his skills are not easily summed up. He’s got years of experience at combat, economics, animal handling, negotiations and countless other areas. However, he also has enough experience to know that others are better than him at many of these things, like how his daughter Ida has a far better head for numbers than him.
Magic:
Like most Raudhfells, Asgher has inherited a certain talent for summoning magic, being able to summon forth and control certain shades. His talent is not of such a level that he can in any way be called a master, but on account of how rare this talent is and how the church of Klebithy looks down upon it, he is powerful enough to have good use for it.
This particular talent has been in the Raudhfell family for untold generations, almost never failing to show up in children born to the family.
He is Circle-trained.
Personality:
Like his skills, Asgher’s personality is not something that can easily be summed up into just a few words. However, there are certain tendencies that shine through and that rule his behavior. He is an apt businessman, able to see opportunities where others would view the situation as hopeless. He is merciless towards those who would wish him and his ill, and he is able to see the bigger picture.
It is no secret that he favors his family and those who have shown loyalty over time ahead of those who are unfamiliar, but if someone new should show to be particularly skilled at something, then he will use them for what they are worth. Nothing, in his mind, should be wasted. Similarly, if someone has wronged him and his in the past, they will find it very hard to gain his trust. Even when he is merciless, he has a code of honor that he holds himself, his family and his employees to. He is, however, not above using hired assassins if the situation calls for it.
Relations towards others:
Towards others, Asgher is generally fair. He bears no ill will towards the vast majority of people, but he has a certain distrust towards the Church of Klebithy, on account of their policy towards his personal form of magic. He is a shrewd businessman, but keeps mostly to himself even when he upon rare occasions leaves the Raudhfell lands, however those occasions have become rarer and rarer these recent years.
The uneducated masses are not his favorite, which is why he seeks to promote education even among common villagers, especially upon the Raudhfell lands. Ignorance is no excuse he respects.
He keeps the axe that made him the man he is today hanging on the wall in his study, and he is not shy about saying that. Most would assume it is the axe he wielded in battle while defending the family name, but his family all know it is the axe that almost got him killed.
Weaknesses:
His years of fighting for the family business have taken their toll, as has age. He is no longer the skilled combatant he used to be, and while he may not like it, he cannot deny that fact. Nor is his sight as good as it once was.
His right leg, severely damaged in his final battle, has given him a permanent limp, and his innumerable scars provide him no comfort. He cares deeply for his family, so threats to his family can be a means to provoke him.
Name: Alva Raudhfell né Mirkvidhr
Age: 48
Gender: Female
Position: Duchess Raudhfell by marriage, Ida’s Mother, Lesser Cawanori Noble
Where time has turned her husband’s hair mostly white, Alva’s hair is still mostly brown, only a few stray hairs here and there that have whitened. Her face is somewhat lined by age, but still mostly smooth.
Alva is considerably shorter than her husband, but not so short as to stand out among other people, a trait largely inherited by both her daughter and her granddaughter.
As can only be expected, she has a marked preference for Raudhfell gray when it comes to what dyes her clothes are made with, and as is typical this far from court, comfort and function are more important than any adherence to fashion.
Alva has proven how she excels at managing house business, even while doing her best at dealing with other factors. Her skillset is almost as wide as that of her husband, though many areas his skills do not cover (and not covering some areas his skills do cover). She still handles many parts of the family mercantile business, especially the composition of letters and trade contracts.
When it comes to the magical arts, Alva is not particularly powerful, but like many Cawanori nobles, she has trace talents. While she can do simple tricks, she can’t truly be called a mage. However, for all her lacks in talent and aptitude, she more than compensates through her theoretical knowledge, even into branches she has absolutely no talent in.
She may have had traces of magical talent (as is common among Cawanori nobility), but no high aptitude. She does, however, have a good theoretical education about magic and access to mages trained in many of these branches, a thing that proved very useful with her granddaughter Urd, who inherited a talent for magic that was several tiers above the family average.
She is a kind woman, easily able to handle many parts of the family business, but also not too good at dealing with things outside her comfort zone. When, for one reason or another, she is outside that, she has proven to be less able to keep track of scattered details and signs. Over the years, she has learned to some degree to cope with that trait, primarily by staying on the family lands, effectively forcing anyone who desired to meet her in person rather than through missives to come there. Not only does that help her stay focused, but it puts her in a position of strength.
A core trait about her is that she learns from her mistakes and strives never to repeat even the smallest mistake. After her daughter got herself accidentally impregnated, she made sure to educate her granddaughter very carefully on that front, ensuring they do not make the same mistake. When her granddaughter was presented to the court, she watched over the girl like a hawk. She is careful in everything, but also just. She does not mete out punishment where it is not due, and is more compassionate and forgiving than her husband.
Alva is a kind soul, merciful towards almost everyone, but also somewhat scatter-minded. She mostly stays at home, avoiding court if she can.
Alva’s most notable weakness is her poor constitution. She is and has always been rather frail and prone to sickness. From the time she married her husband to the present day, she has gotten pregnant at least six times, but only managed to give birth to a single living child.
Another notable weakness is her willingness to forgive and her inability to hold hard grudges the way her husband can, which is part of the reason she generally avoids going to court.
Age: 48
Gender: Female
Position: Duchess Raudhfell by marriage, Ida’s Mother, Lesser Cawanori Noble
Born Alva Mirkvidhr, the current Duchess Raudhfell may not belong to house Raudhfell through her blood, but that does not make her any less a Raudhfell. She married Asgher Raudhfell just half a year before her fifteenth birthday. By that time, they had been in love for three years already and betrothed for two years. Had their courtship not been thoroughly chaperoned by their parents, there was little doubt in anyone’s minds that she’d not have been a virgin on her wedding night.
In any case, from the moment they were married, it took mere weeks before her first pregnancy was confirmed with the onset of morning sickness. Unfortunately, this morning sickness simply didn’t end. Weakened by this, the healers—who did their best—were not surprised when she miscarried sometime in the second month. Though heartbroken by the loss of what would’ve been her firstborn, Alva was not one to give up.
She loved her husband with all her heart, and wished for nothing more than to present him with an heir. Thus, even with the miscarriage in mind, it did not take long for her to get pregnant once more, though she was much more careful this time. Rather than taking any chances, she listened to her mother-in-law’s advice and had a midwife on retainer, obeying the woman’s advice in everything from what activities to participate in and to avoid, what to eat and not to eat and even how much rest to take.
It was almost as tough a pregnancy as her first one, but with careful assistance from the midwife, she managed to carry the child to term, naming the young girl Ida after the amount of work involved in getting her into this world.
However, even this did not come without a cost. The midwife warned her that while the child was healthy, there was a high chance of her never being able to bear a child to term again, and that she should wait at least a year and a half before trying for another.
As can only be expected, all of her and Asgher’s relatives came by to see the child, doting on it as old relatives are wont to do with infants. Even her parents, who had many other children to care for and who lived almost at the other end of Cawanor, came by. But as expected, they could not stay long. After all the visitors left, Alva’s mother-in-law began in truth to teach her the ways of running the Raudhfell household. She in turn did her best to learn, even as she obeyed the midwife’s instructions on not to get pregnant again too soon.
It took her years to even begin to grasp the finer nuances involved in running a lesser noble merchant household, but learn she did. As the years when by, she and Asger occasionally tried for another child, but it proved just as futile as the midwife had warned, whenever she did get pregnant, it rarely lasted more than a month or two at best before terminating in failure.
While these attempts failed, her lessons in running both a house and parts of a mercantile company we not nearly as prone to failure. Which was a good thing, seeing how early on in her twenty-second year Asgher’s parents were both killed, supposedly slain by brigands. But if those were brigands, they sure had suspiciously fine weapons and good armor, not to mention three the number of men typically found in a band of brigands, or so the three surviving servants claimed.
She saw just how hard the loss of his parents hurt her husband and immediately moved in to run the household and many parts of the business, while he prepared to pay the guilty back. Though she missed him when he was out fighting, there was no denying that practicing on running a house and actually running it are two things that are worlds apart. Though the next six years rarely offered them more than a night or two together in any given season, they achieved much through their cooperation, not only proving that Asgher was a worthy heir to the Raudhfell name and title, but making their family business into something that was worthy of respect all over Formaroth.
Taking on the title of Duchess Raudhfell was no easy burden, nor was it a burden she had expected to carry for at least a decade or two, if not more. In between the hard work of running the home-based parts of the family business and worrying over what her husband was up to, she had to not only make sure she raised Ida properly, but also deal with the everything involved in being a Duchess. They might just belong to the lesser nobility, but that did not change the fact that their house was a rising star in Formaroth. More and more people knew of them, and with that fact, court protocols had to be obeyed.
Therefore, in the late summer of her twenty-eighth year, she could no longer deny the fact that her daughter was rapidly growing up. She would have to be presented at court as all young ladies are, her eligibility for courtship made known, even if marriage usually wouldn’t happen for a couple of years even if someone started courting her following her presentation.
Thus, when mid-autumn came, she made sure the family’s agents were well-instructed and that business would take itself while she and Ida traveled to court at Cawaport for the formal presentation. The presentation itself went off without a hitch. Ida’s tutors had taught her many things well, but she was young, naïve and very independent-minded. Thus, Alva was in no way prepared when Ida had taken it into her own mind to explore certain… aspects… of court life. They stayed at court for only eight days, but—unbeknownst to Alva—by the time they left, Ida was no longer a virgin, having caught the eye of and gotten besotted by a noble of a similar age to her own.
It took several more weeks before she connected the dots about this. The first hint was the fact that her daughter really desired to go back to court. But of course that wasn’t sufficient for Alva to realize it. The second hint should’ve been when Ida’s period was late, but her daughter hadn’t seen fit to share that information until well after the fact. The final hint, the one that let her connect the dots was a bit over a month after the presentation, when morning sickness hit Ida. When it hit her hard.
A thorough interrogation later, and she learned what her daughter had actually been up to when they were not together at court. How she had met the young Lord Patrick De Reimer. Just how irresistible she’d found him and so on and so on.
She consoled her daughter as best as she could, calling on her trusted midwife to help her daughter. While means for terminating pregnancies existed, she knew she could never consider demanding that her daughter go through with one of them. At best, they were painful if successful, at worst they led to sterility or even death. Considering her own miscarriages, it would never be worth the risk.
It was most unfortunate how her daughter had attracted just the wrong rank of noble, but now it was too late to change. Her daughter was young, tough and stubborn. Though she was naturally fearful of miscarriages, she had a feeling that Ida would survive, a feeling the midwife shared. What to do about the situation beyond that was something she had no idea how to deal with. She wanted to consult her husband, but he was out dealing with a particularly brazen band of brigands, so even if she had wanted to send him a letter, she couldn’t have. Besides, this sort of information should be told in person, not in something as impersonal as a letter.
However, before she could decide on how to go about it, she heard the commotion from the front of the mansion. When she had first looked outside, she had wondered why her husband had brought a wagon into the inner courtyard. But then she saw her husband’s favored horse unsaddled, tied to one of his best men’s horses. A cold shudder of fear passed through her. What had happened?
The captain of the guards found her shortly afterwards, even as servants ran about, clearly having received instructions from someone. He informed her that her husband was not dead, but that he was grievously injured. He informed her that all available healers had been summoned, and asked her forgiveness for not consulting her first.
Her relief was palpable and she forgave him on the spot, even promised to reward him for his initiative, no matter how good or bad the outcome was. No expense was to be spared in the undertaking of saving her husband’s life.
Much to her relief, the healers were successful, saving his life and preventing him from being crippled by the injuries. Because of the heavy amount of magic used, his recovery was quicker than it otherwise would have been, taking a mere month rather than the better part of a year. Only when she was sure he was on the mend could she dare mention their daughter’s condition to him, both out of fear for how it would hit him, and out of the simple fact that she had needed a long time to come up with a way to phrase it.
In the end, her struggle with explaining her guilt was all in vain, for he refused to let her take the blame, claiming it was clearly his fault. He should’ve been there for Ida. She informed him when he asked about all she had gotten out of their daughter, then he asked how their daughter was handling it. She answered him as best as she could, and was present when he had Ida brought before him. To her surprise, all he did was to embrace her. He did not speak, he did not chastise. He simply embraced her.
Alva could in many ways not help envying her daughter’s much easier pregnancy. It was tough in how young she was, but aside from that, it was relatively painless. Until the time to give birth came along, mind you. The closer to that time she got, the more apparent the struggle in carrying around a womb that distended was.
Even Urd’s birth was easier than Ida’s had been. While Alva had suggested all sorts of names for the child, it was Ida in the end that decided upon calling her Urd. Once again Alva was surprised by her husband, who swore the day of the child’s birth that he would do everything he could to be a worthy father figure to Urd, to not fail her as he had failed Ida, not that he said that last bit before Ida, mind you.
In the following years, aside from a few events of note, he proved to Alva that he had not given his oath lightly. Her love for her husband only grew stronger from it. Alva in turn helped teach her daughter all she could about how to be a good mother, and how to run the house. Though she had no plans to die anytime soon, fate had shown itself to be fickle in more ways than one, so she knew it was better to be on the safe side.
These days, she has continued to deal with the business of running the house and the mercantile business. While protocol brings her to court on occasion, she largely prefers to stay away from it.
In any case, from the moment they were married, it took mere weeks before her first pregnancy was confirmed with the onset of morning sickness. Unfortunately, this morning sickness simply didn’t end. Weakened by this, the healers—who did their best—were not surprised when she miscarried sometime in the second month. Though heartbroken by the loss of what would’ve been her firstborn, Alva was not one to give up.
She loved her husband with all her heart, and wished for nothing more than to present him with an heir. Thus, even with the miscarriage in mind, it did not take long for her to get pregnant once more, though she was much more careful this time. Rather than taking any chances, she listened to her mother-in-law’s advice and had a midwife on retainer, obeying the woman’s advice in everything from what activities to participate in and to avoid, what to eat and not to eat and even how much rest to take.
It was almost as tough a pregnancy as her first one, but with careful assistance from the midwife, she managed to carry the child to term, naming the young girl Ida after the amount of work involved in getting her into this world.
However, even this did not come without a cost. The midwife warned her that while the child was healthy, there was a high chance of her never being able to bear a child to term again, and that she should wait at least a year and a half before trying for another.
As can only be expected, all of her and Asgher’s relatives came by to see the child, doting on it as old relatives are wont to do with infants. Even her parents, who had many other children to care for and who lived almost at the other end of Cawanor, came by. But as expected, they could not stay long. After all the visitors left, Alva’s mother-in-law began in truth to teach her the ways of running the Raudhfell household. She in turn did her best to learn, even as she obeyed the midwife’s instructions on not to get pregnant again too soon.
It took her years to even begin to grasp the finer nuances involved in running a lesser noble merchant household, but learn she did. As the years when by, she and Asger occasionally tried for another child, but it proved just as futile as the midwife had warned, whenever she did get pregnant, it rarely lasted more than a month or two at best before terminating in failure.
While these attempts failed, her lessons in running both a house and parts of a mercantile company we not nearly as prone to failure. Which was a good thing, seeing how early on in her twenty-second year Asgher’s parents were both killed, supposedly slain by brigands. But if those were brigands, they sure had suspiciously fine weapons and good armor, not to mention three the number of men typically found in a band of brigands, or so the three surviving servants claimed.
She saw just how hard the loss of his parents hurt her husband and immediately moved in to run the household and many parts of the business, while he prepared to pay the guilty back. Though she missed him when he was out fighting, there was no denying that practicing on running a house and actually running it are two things that are worlds apart. Though the next six years rarely offered them more than a night or two together in any given season, they achieved much through their cooperation, not only proving that Asgher was a worthy heir to the Raudhfell name and title, but making their family business into something that was worthy of respect all over Formaroth.
Taking on the title of Duchess Raudhfell was no easy burden, nor was it a burden she had expected to carry for at least a decade or two, if not more. In between the hard work of running the home-based parts of the family business and worrying over what her husband was up to, she had to not only make sure she raised Ida properly, but also deal with the everything involved in being a Duchess. They might just belong to the lesser nobility, but that did not change the fact that their house was a rising star in Formaroth. More and more people knew of them, and with that fact, court protocols had to be obeyed.
Therefore, in the late summer of her twenty-eighth year, she could no longer deny the fact that her daughter was rapidly growing up. She would have to be presented at court as all young ladies are, her eligibility for courtship made known, even if marriage usually wouldn’t happen for a couple of years even if someone started courting her following her presentation.
Thus, when mid-autumn came, she made sure the family’s agents were well-instructed and that business would take itself while she and Ida traveled to court at Cawaport for the formal presentation. The presentation itself went off without a hitch. Ida’s tutors had taught her many things well, but she was young, naïve and very independent-minded. Thus, Alva was in no way prepared when Ida had taken it into her own mind to explore certain… aspects… of court life. They stayed at court for only eight days, but—unbeknownst to Alva—by the time they left, Ida was no longer a virgin, having caught the eye of and gotten besotted by a noble of a similar age to her own.
It took several more weeks before she connected the dots about this. The first hint was the fact that her daughter really desired to go back to court. But of course that wasn’t sufficient for Alva to realize it. The second hint should’ve been when Ida’s period was late, but her daughter hadn’t seen fit to share that information until well after the fact. The final hint, the one that let her connect the dots was a bit over a month after the presentation, when morning sickness hit Ida. When it hit her hard.
A thorough interrogation later, and she learned what her daughter had actually been up to when they were not together at court. How she had met the young Lord Patrick De Reimer. Just how irresistible she’d found him and so on and so on.
She consoled her daughter as best as she could, calling on her trusted midwife to help her daughter. While means for terminating pregnancies existed, she knew she could never consider demanding that her daughter go through with one of them. At best, they were painful if successful, at worst they led to sterility or even death. Considering her own miscarriages, it would never be worth the risk.
It was most unfortunate how her daughter had attracted just the wrong rank of noble, but now it was too late to change. Her daughter was young, tough and stubborn. Though she was naturally fearful of miscarriages, she had a feeling that Ida would survive, a feeling the midwife shared. What to do about the situation beyond that was something she had no idea how to deal with. She wanted to consult her husband, but he was out dealing with a particularly brazen band of brigands, so even if she had wanted to send him a letter, she couldn’t have. Besides, this sort of information should be told in person, not in something as impersonal as a letter.
However, before she could decide on how to go about it, she heard the commotion from the front of the mansion. When she had first looked outside, she had wondered why her husband had brought a wagon into the inner courtyard. But then she saw her husband’s favored horse unsaddled, tied to one of his best men’s horses. A cold shudder of fear passed through her. What had happened?
The captain of the guards found her shortly afterwards, even as servants ran about, clearly having received instructions from someone. He informed her that her husband was not dead, but that he was grievously injured. He informed her that all available healers had been summoned, and asked her forgiveness for not consulting her first.
Her relief was palpable and she forgave him on the spot, even promised to reward him for his initiative, no matter how good or bad the outcome was. No expense was to be spared in the undertaking of saving her husband’s life.
Much to her relief, the healers were successful, saving his life and preventing him from being crippled by the injuries. Because of the heavy amount of magic used, his recovery was quicker than it otherwise would have been, taking a mere month rather than the better part of a year. Only when she was sure he was on the mend could she dare mention their daughter’s condition to him, both out of fear for how it would hit him, and out of the simple fact that she had needed a long time to come up with a way to phrase it.
In the end, her struggle with explaining her guilt was all in vain, for he refused to let her take the blame, claiming it was clearly his fault. He should’ve been there for Ida. She informed him when he asked about all she had gotten out of their daughter, then he asked how their daughter was handling it. She answered him as best as she could, and was present when he had Ida brought before him. To her surprise, all he did was to embrace her. He did not speak, he did not chastise. He simply embraced her.
Alva could in many ways not help envying her daughter’s much easier pregnancy. It was tough in how young she was, but aside from that, it was relatively painless. Until the time to give birth came along, mind you. The closer to that time she got, the more apparent the struggle in carrying around a womb that distended was.
Even Urd’s birth was easier than Ida’s had been. While Alva had suggested all sorts of names for the child, it was Ida in the end that decided upon calling her Urd. Once again Alva was surprised by her husband, who swore the day of the child’s birth that he would do everything he could to be a worthy father figure to Urd, to not fail her as he had failed Ida, not that he said that last bit before Ida, mind you.
In the following years, aside from a few events of note, he proved to Alva that he had not given his oath lightly. Her love for her husband only grew stronger from it. Alva in turn helped teach her daughter all she could about how to be a good mother, and how to run the house. Though she had no plans to die anytime soon, fate had shown itself to be fickle in more ways than one, so she knew it was better to be on the safe side.
These days, she has continued to deal with the business of running the house and the mercantile business. While protocol brings her to court on occasion, she largely prefers to stay away from it.
(format: age-month) Alva Ida Urd
Ida's birth 15-10 0 -
Miscarriage #2 17-06 01-08 -
Miscarriage #3 17-10 02-00 -
Miscarriage #4 20-08 04-10 -
Ascension 22-03 06-05 -
Miscarriage #5 25-07 09-09 -
Urd's conception 28-09 12-11 -
Urd's birth 29-06 13-08 0
Ida’s return to court 35-08 19-10 06-02
Ida's birth 15-10 0 -
Miscarriage #2 17-06 01-08 -
Miscarriage #3 17-10 02-00 -
Miscarriage #4 20-08 04-10 -
Ascension 22-03 06-05 -
Miscarriage #5 25-07 09-09 -
Urd's conception 28-09 12-11 -
Urd's birth 29-06 13-08 0
Ida’s return to court 35-08 19-10 06-02
Appearance:
Where time has turned her husband’s hair mostly white, Alva’s hair is still mostly brown, only a few stray hairs here and there that have whitened. Her face is somewhat lined by age, but still mostly smooth.
Alva is considerably shorter than her husband, but not so short as to stand out among other people, a trait largely inherited by both her daughter and her granddaughter.
As can only be expected, she has a marked preference for Raudhfell gray when it comes to what dyes her clothes are made with, and as is typical this far from court, comfort and function are more important than any adherence to fashion.
Skills:
Alva has proven how she excels at managing house business, even while doing her best at dealing with other factors. Her skillset is almost as wide as that of her husband, though many areas his skills do not cover (and not covering some areas his skills do cover). She still handles many parts of the family mercantile business, especially the composition of letters and trade contracts.
Magic:
When it comes to the magical arts, Alva is not particularly powerful, but like many Cawanori nobles, she has trace talents. While she can do simple tricks, she can’t truly be called a mage. However, for all her lacks in talent and aptitude, she more than compensates through her theoretical knowledge, even into branches she has absolutely no talent in.
She may have had traces of magical talent (as is common among Cawanori nobility), but no high aptitude. She does, however, have a good theoretical education about magic and access to mages trained in many of these branches, a thing that proved very useful with her granddaughter Urd, who inherited a talent for magic that was several tiers above the family average.
Personality:
She is a kind woman, easily able to handle many parts of the family business, but also not too good at dealing with things outside her comfort zone. When, for one reason or another, she is outside that, she has proven to be less able to keep track of scattered details and signs. Over the years, she has learned to some degree to cope with that trait, primarily by staying on the family lands, effectively forcing anyone who desired to meet her in person rather than through missives to come there. Not only does that help her stay focused, but it puts her in a position of strength.
A core trait about her is that she learns from her mistakes and strives never to repeat even the smallest mistake. After her daughter got herself accidentally impregnated, she made sure to educate her granddaughter very carefully on that front, ensuring they do not make the same mistake. When her granddaughter was presented to the court, she watched over the girl like a hawk. She is careful in everything, but also just. She does not mete out punishment where it is not due, and is more compassionate and forgiving than her husband.
Relations towards others:
Alva is a kind soul, merciful towards almost everyone, but also somewhat scatter-minded. She mostly stays at home, avoiding court if she can.
Weaknesses:
Alva’s most notable weakness is her poor constitution. She is and has always been rather frail and prone to sickness. From the time she married her husband to the present day, she has gotten pregnant at least six times, but only managed to give birth to a single living child.
Another notable weakness is her willingness to forgive and her inability to hold hard grudges the way her husband can, which is part of the reason she generally avoids going to court.
Name: Ida Raudhfell
Age: 33
Gender: Female
Position: Noble, Countess Raudhfell
It should come as no surprise to anyone that Ida resembles her mother in many ways. They are, after all, mother and daughter. Her hair, like her mother’s, is brown. Her eyes like her daughter’s, are green.
When at home, she prefers a simple style of dress, with a focus on function rather than fashion, but when she goes to court, she strives to stick to the current fashions, something the family’s mercantile connections ensures they have ample information about. When it comes to colors, she naturally has her clothes themed with the traditional Raudhfell gray, but also enjoys mixing green into her dresses. Like her mother, she is somewhat shorter than is average for Cawanori noblewomen.
Ida’s education is extensive, especially for being what basically amounts to a backwoods noble. She is especially well-educated when it comes to mercantile arts, negotiations and court protocol, and has been in charge of the family accounts for many years. Though her father still makes most of the decisions, she has significant influence upon them, as she knows far better than he what they can and can’t afford. She has proven herself to be a capable scribe, always writing her own trade agreements and letters, though this does mean her hands are occasionally stained with ink.
Like her father and her daughter, she was born with the talent for summoning magics, but she has also inherited certain trace talents from her mother. From her parents as well as from her tutors, she has learned much about how to use these talents, though her use of summoning magic is not quite as good as that of her father, on account of how she hasn’t had to use it in battle the way he has.
Because of the timing of Urd’s conception, Ida has not received any training at the Circle.
Early in her life, Ida was more than a little naïve, not willing to believe how difficult things are, even when told how difficult it would be. But over the years, as more and more difficult things happened, she learned to some degree to overcome this trait, only to find herself overwhelmed by the next such event.
Beyond this, the core thing that has shaped Ida’s personality is the conception and birth of Urd. A few youthful indiscretions and a week at court during her presentation, and she got pregnant, much earlier than is the norm, even for nobles. This also resulted in her having to grow up quickly, and kept her away from court for many years as she had to care for her daughter.
In how it made her grow up, it was a blessing, but in how it robbed her of a standard childhood, it was a curse. She became more withdrawn, focused more on family and business than upon court life, but eventually returning to court at cawaport, where she represented her family.
She is a caring and kind, but rather withdrawn woman, capable of handling many things at any one time. Because of the previously mentioned events, she also has an intense desire for control.
Towards others Ida is methodical and careful, always doing her best to see their motives and how that can be used for her and her family’s benefit. She is always on the lookout for opportunities.
Humor rarely works on Ida. She simply did not have the chance to let that sense develop. Where others might find it inconvenient to lose control, it is debilitating for Ida.
She is very vocal about her dislike of the church of Klebithy, both for how they view mages with talents like her own, and for how many of the more fervent worshippers glorify their own or their followers’ ignorance.
Age: 33
Gender: Female
Position: Noble, Countess Raudhfell
Ida’s first six and a half years of life were much like those of any other lesser noble of Cawanor, or for most other kingdoms for that matter. But from that moment on, her life deviated somewhat. At that point her grandparents were killed and her parents ascended to the title of Duke and Duchess Raudhfell, and she herself technically became the Countess Raudhfell.
In her case, the change in rank had roughly zero meaning at the time, but in her parents’ case, it changed things significantly. Her mother took over running the household, while her father went off to fight for the family’s business and honor. Not that she understood much of anything about that. All she understood was one day her father was there, the next he wasn’t. And her mother started calling her “my little countess”.
Additionally, her mother seemed to have less time for her, having her spend more time with her tutors. Considering how boring tutors were at the time, it wasn’t a particularly fun concept to spend even more time with them, which probably explains why she stubbornly refused to cooperate with them on more than one occasion. Considering how she also had inherited the Raudhfell magic, that refusal could be less than practical for certain types of tutors, even if she never went so far as to actually abuse her magic.
As she grew older, she did begin to mature somewhat, growing out of certain parts of her childish pettiness, but she never truly lost her stubborn edge. Her long line of tutors found ways to get into her mind, their being paid hinging primarily on what she learned, rather than how much time they spent teaching her. She took much better to the lessons relating to being part of the nobility than her mother ever had, lacking that frail and uncertain edge her mother had. Around her eleventh birthday they started teaching her the court etiquette common to adults, rather than those for children.
Being treated more like an adult helped a lot in earning her cooperation and she took in those lessons much the same way a sponge takes in water. By the time she was considered mature enough to be presented at court nearly two years later, she had grown mentally and physically into a proper young lady, albeit a stubborn and willful one.
It did not matter that she’d been training for just this occasion for years. She was still almost petrified with nervousness when it came to actually going to court, not to mention to go there with the purpose of being presented. That bit was more terrifying than anything she had gone through before, even more than the first time she’d summoned a shade.
She had fretted over everything, from what to say, how to walk to what to wear. Moving out there, even with her mother at her side had been impossibly difficult, and when she got out there, she couldn’t even remember any of what she was supposed to say. So embarrassing! She’d stood there, her face probably glowing red, not saying a word for what felt like hours before she remembered the words. Afterwards, she curtsied properly, then quickly retreated, making sure not to summon her favorite shade.
Only afterwards did her mother tell her of her own presentation, how that had been even worse. Apparently the only man to even bother looking at her mother had been her father. She understood why she was only told this afterwards, though. The only thing worse than going out there and forgetting the words as everyone looked on would be just that: going out there, saying the words and everyone ignoring her. How her mother had lived that down, she could not comprehend.
Later on presentations were less formal, with only one or two others. Some of the women were her age, but most were much older. Or just small children. Of the men, only one was her age, the rest, well forget them. They were irrelevant, for the one her age was simply perfect. From the way he looked back at her, it did not take much imagination to figure out he found her just as interesting.
Considering how little her mother liked court life, it wasn’t hard to get away from her. Finding the man alone was much harder, but after a day or so of fumbling about, she managed to get him alone. The first couple of days all they got in were a couple of inexperienced kisses and a little harmless touching. On the third day, they got a little further, getting familiar with certain parts not normally shown to strangers, but dared not go all the way on account of the risk of being found out. However, Patrick had grown up in this court, so he knew of all sorts of hiding places, and on the fourth day, he brought her to a favorite hiding place of his, one where they would not be disturbed. One kiss led to another, and less than an hour later, she was no longer a virgin.
The following day, she was a little sore, but very pleased. He truly cared for her! They shared a couple of knowing glances, and managed to arrange for further “accidental” encounters. By the time she and her mother left for home, she had been with her Patrick more than enough to know just how much she liked him and that he liked her just as much.
After they got back home, Ida found that she missed court. She actually missed being around people, but most of all—of course—she missed Patrick. She expressed her interest in going back, in learning more about court, but was very careful not to reveal her true reasons. Deep down, she knew that what she’d been up to was not proper for a lady of her rank, and certainly not with someone of his rank.
Her mother refused to go back to court so soon, and of course she couldn’t send Ida there alone. It was one thing to be eligible for courtship, quite another to be at court with no chaperoning relatives present. The former was acceptable, while the latter was very much not accepted. She tried to convince her mother, but found that her attempts were stonewalled. She’d nagged at her mother for a full week about it before figuring out that it wouldn’t work.
Frustrated, she mostly gave up on it, needing several more weeks to realize that something was definitely different. Not only was her period more than a week late, but she felt a bit strange. A week and a half later, the first undeniable signs presented themselves when she started throwing up in the morning, being utterly incapable of holding down food.
At that point it did not take long for her mother to figure out just what was going on. By mid-day, her mother had taken her aside and pressed her hard for every detail. She’d tried to play all her cards to not give away information, but her mother did not relent. In the end, she had given up everything. In hindsight she would probably have saved herself all sorts of uncomfortable questions if she’d done that from the start, but her pride had gotten in the way.
A midwife was brought in to examine her and to explain in more detail just what pregnancy meant, as well as explaining why her mother was so concerned for her, how almost every time her mother had been sick over the years had been failed attempts to give her a brother or sister, rather than diseases.
The midwife explained to her that she should be fine, that she had a much stronger constitution than her mother, then gave her a few instructions about foods, activities and so on. Not much later, her father returned home on a cart, grievously wounded in battle. With how rarely she’d seen him these recent years, she’d not really been close to him, but he was still her father.
Healers from all over the realm came to help him, hired to make him as close to whole as they could. With her own condition inhibiting her, she stayed mostly away, letting her mother and the healers deal with it. Only later did she learn that her mother had concealed her pregnancy from him, so as not to worry him further.
When he was informed of it, he summoned her to his side, and she saw how the healing had worn him down, making him seem far more like a shadow of his normal self. He did not look angry. He did not speak out to blame her for making such a mistake. All he did was hold his arms open, pulling her into a hug. She had no idea prior to that moment, but that was exactly what she needed. She had missed having him around.
She had at one point thought summoning shades to be the most difficult thing possible. Then she’d had to present herself at court, which was much, much harder. But none of those compared to being pregnant. Especially not to late-stage pregnancy. Everything was difficult. Things that she had taken for granted became challenges.
But of course she should’ve known that even those difficulties would pale to giving birth. Her mother had warned her. The midwife had warned her. Had she listened? No. The pain involved was beyond words. It was almost an entire day and night of unending pain. But if anyone were to ask her if it was worth it in the end, she would be lying if she said anything but yes.
The tiny infant girl was hers, so small, yet perfect. her pale green eyes curiously looking out at the world. The next several months—of course—she didn’t get much in the way of full nights of sleep. The midwife had warned her how the child would need a long time to sleep through the night, but warnings like these didn’t truly prepare her for the facts, even if she kept a more open mind to it after being proven wrong time and again. It was exhausting, and she had no idea how she’d have been able retain her sanity had her parents not been there for her, helping her through it.
For the first time in what felt like forever, her father was truly around, he wasn’t gone for months at a time, even took a close hand in helping her with her daughter. As years passed, urd grew from an active infant into a curious child. Ida grew closer and closer to her parents, learning more and more about what it meant to control a household, even beginning to take control of the family accounts.
Six years after Urd’s birth, following a small but bloody rebellion, the power in Cawanor had shifted. As such, someone had to go to court. Considering how her mother hated court and her father didn’t enjoy traveling the way he once had and her uncles were to removed from the line of succession, that left the task to Ida. By this time, Urd had gotten old enough not to need constant watching, so she felt safe enough to leave her in the care of her parents.
When she got to court, she quickly gathered information, comparing it to what she already had, but staying out of the limelight herself. Naturally enough, she could not help but look at Patrick De Reimer, who—if anything—was even better-looking than before, but she did not approach him in private. Though she remembered him very well, she feared he would not remember her. She certainly didn’t want to make a scene.
After that business was taken care of, she returned home, the family status no longer threatened. There she continued to take care of business and raising her daughter to the best of her ability. Over the following years, she would make numerous visits to court in Cawaport, maintaining the family’s status there, even as she kept from drawing additional attention to herself.
In her case, the change in rank had roughly zero meaning at the time, but in her parents’ case, it changed things significantly. Her mother took over running the household, while her father went off to fight for the family’s business and honor. Not that she understood much of anything about that. All she understood was one day her father was there, the next he wasn’t. And her mother started calling her “my little countess”.
Additionally, her mother seemed to have less time for her, having her spend more time with her tutors. Considering how boring tutors were at the time, it wasn’t a particularly fun concept to spend even more time with them, which probably explains why she stubbornly refused to cooperate with them on more than one occasion. Considering how she also had inherited the Raudhfell magic, that refusal could be less than practical for certain types of tutors, even if she never went so far as to actually abuse her magic.
As she grew older, she did begin to mature somewhat, growing out of certain parts of her childish pettiness, but she never truly lost her stubborn edge. Her long line of tutors found ways to get into her mind, their being paid hinging primarily on what she learned, rather than how much time they spent teaching her. She took much better to the lessons relating to being part of the nobility than her mother ever had, lacking that frail and uncertain edge her mother had. Around her eleventh birthday they started teaching her the court etiquette common to adults, rather than those for children.
Being treated more like an adult helped a lot in earning her cooperation and she took in those lessons much the same way a sponge takes in water. By the time she was considered mature enough to be presented at court nearly two years later, she had grown mentally and physically into a proper young lady, albeit a stubborn and willful one.
It did not matter that she’d been training for just this occasion for years. She was still almost petrified with nervousness when it came to actually going to court, not to mention to go there with the purpose of being presented. That bit was more terrifying than anything she had gone through before, even more than the first time she’d summoned a shade.
She had fretted over everything, from what to say, how to walk to what to wear. Moving out there, even with her mother at her side had been impossibly difficult, and when she got out there, she couldn’t even remember any of what she was supposed to say. So embarrassing! She’d stood there, her face probably glowing red, not saying a word for what felt like hours before she remembered the words. Afterwards, she curtsied properly, then quickly retreated, making sure not to summon her favorite shade.
Only afterwards did her mother tell her of her own presentation, how that had been even worse. Apparently the only man to even bother looking at her mother had been her father. She understood why she was only told this afterwards, though. The only thing worse than going out there and forgetting the words as everyone looked on would be just that: going out there, saying the words and everyone ignoring her. How her mother had lived that down, she could not comprehend.
Later on presentations were less formal, with only one or two others. Some of the women were her age, but most were much older. Or just small children. Of the men, only one was her age, the rest, well forget them. They were irrelevant, for the one her age was simply perfect. From the way he looked back at her, it did not take much imagination to figure out he found her just as interesting.
Considering how little her mother liked court life, it wasn’t hard to get away from her. Finding the man alone was much harder, but after a day or so of fumbling about, she managed to get him alone. The first couple of days all they got in were a couple of inexperienced kisses and a little harmless touching. On the third day, they got a little further, getting familiar with certain parts not normally shown to strangers, but dared not go all the way on account of the risk of being found out. However, Patrick had grown up in this court, so he knew of all sorts of hiding places, and on the fourth day, he brought her to a favorite hiding place of his, one where they would not be disturbed. One kiss led to another, and less than an hour later, she was no longer a virgin.
The following day, she was a little sore, but very pleased. He truly cared for her! They shared a couple of knowing glances, and managed to arrange for further “accidental” encounters. By the time she and her mother left for home, she had been with her Patrick more than enough to know just how much she liked him and that he liked her just as much.
After they got back home, Ida found that she missed court. She actually missed being around people, but most of all—of course—she missed Patrick. She expressed her interest in going back, in learning more about court, but was very careful not to reveal her true reasons. Deep down, she knew that what she’d been up to was not proper for a lady of her rank, and certainly not with someone of his rank.
Her mother refused to go back to court so soon, and of course she couldn’t send Ida there alone. It was one thing to be eligible for courtship, quite another to be at court with no chaperoning relatives present. The former was acceptable, while the latter was very much not accepted. She tried to convince her mother, but found that her attempts were stonewalled. She’d nagged at her mother for a full week about it before figuring out that it wouldn’t work.
Frustrated, she mostly gave up on it, needing several more weeks to realize that something was definitely different. Not only was her period more than a week late, but she felt a bit strange. A week and a half later, the first undeniable signs presented themselves when she started throwing up in the morning, being utterly incapable of holding down food.
At that point it did not take long for her mother to figure out just what was going on. By mid-day, her mother had taken her aside and pressed her hard for every detail. She’d tried to play all her cards to not give away information, but her mother did not relent. In the end, she had given up everything. In hindsight she would probably have saved herself all sorts of uncomfortable questions if she’d done that from the start, but her pride had gotten in the way.
A midwife was brought in to examine her and to explain in more detail just what pregnancy meant, as well as explaining why her mother was so concerned for her, how almost every time her mother had been sick over the years had been failed attempts to give her a brother or sister, rather than diseases.
The midwife explained to her that she should be fine, that she had a much stronger constitution than her mother, then gave her a few instructions about foods, activities and so on. Not much later, her father returned home on a cart, grievously wounded in battle. With how rarely she’d seen him these recent years, she’d not really been close to him, but he was still her father.
Healers from all over the realm came to help him, hired to make him as close to whole as they could. With her own condition inhibiting her, she stayed mostly away, letting her mother and the healers deal with it. Only later did she learn that her mother had concealed her pregnancy from him, so as not to worry him further.
When he was informed of it, he summoned her to his side, and she saw how the healing had worn him down, making him seem far more like a shadow of his normal self. He did not look angry. He did not speak out to blame her for making such a mistake. All he did was hold his arms open, pulling her into a hug. She had no idea prior to that moment, but that was exactly what she needed. She had missed having him around.
She had at one point thought summoning shades to be the most difficult thing possible. Then she’d had to present herself at court, which was much, much harder. But none of those compared to being pregnant. Especially not to late-stage pregnancy. Everything was difficult. Things that she had taken for granted became challenges.
But of course she should’ve known that even those difficulties would pale to giving birth. Her mother had warned her. The midwife had warned her. Had she listened? No. The pain involved was beyond words. It was almost an entire day and night of unending pain. But if anyone were to ask her if it was worth it in the end, she would be lying if she said anything but yes.
The tiny infant girl was hers, so small, yet perfect. her pale green eyes curiously looking out at the world. The next several months—of course—she didn’t get much in the way of full nights of sleep. The midwife had warned her how the child would need a long time to sleep through the night, but warnings like these didn’t truly prepare her for the facts, even if she kept a more open mind to it after being proven wrong time and again. It was exhausting, and she had no idea how she’d have been able retain her sanity had her parents not been there for her, helping her through it.
For the first time in what felt like forever, her father was truly around, he wasn’t gone for months at a time, even took a close hand in helping her with her daughter. As years passed, urd grew from an active infant into a curious child. Ida grew closer and closer to her parents, learning more and more about what it meant to control a household, even beginning to take control of the family accounts.
Six years after Urd’s birth, following a small but bloody rebellion, the power in Cawanor had shifted. As such, someone had to go to court. Considering how her mother hated court and her father didn’t enjoy traveling the way he once had and her uncles were to removed from the line of succession, that left the task to Ida. By this time, Urd had gotten old enough not to need constant watching, so she felt safe enough to leave her in the care of her parents.
When she got to court, she quickly gathered information, comparing it to what she already had, but staying out of the limelight herself. Naturally enough, she could not help but look at Patrick De Reimer, who—if anything—was even better-looking than before, but she did not approach him in private. Though she remembered him very well, she feared he would not remember her. She certainly didn’t want to make a scene.
After that business was taken care of, she returned home, the family status no longer threatened. There she continued to take care of business and raising her daughter to the best of her ability. Over the following years, she would make numerous visits to court in Cawaport, maintaining the family’s status there, even as she kept from drawing additional attention to herself.
Appearance:
It should come as no surprise to anyone that Ida resembles her mother in many ways. They are, after all, mother and daughter. Her hair, like her mother’s, is brown. Her eyes like her daughter’s, are green.
When at home, she prefers a simple style of dress, with a focus on function rather than fashion, but when she goes to court, she strives to stick to the current fashions, something the family’s mercantile connections ensures they have ample information about. When it comes to colors, she naturally has her clothes themed with the traditional Raudhfell gray, but also enjoys mixing green into her dresses. Like her mother, she is somewhat shorter than is average for Cawanori noblewomen.
Skills:
Ida’s education is extensive, especially for being what basically amounts to a backwoods noble. She is especially well-educated when it comes to mercantile arts, negotiations and court protocol, and has been in charge of the family accounts for many years. Though her father still makes most of the decisions, she has significant influence upon them, as she knows far better than he what they can and can’t afford. She has proven herself to be a capable scribe, always writing her own trade agreements and letters, though this does mean her hands are occasionally stained with ink.
Magic:
Like her father and her daughter, she was born with the talent for summoning magics, but she has also inherited certain trace talents from her mother. From her parents as well as from her tutors, she has learned much about how to use these talents, though her use of summoning magic is not quite as good as that of her father, on account of how she hasn’t had to use it in battle the way he has.
Because of the timing of Urd’s conception, Ida has not received any training at the Circle.
Personality:
Early in her life, Ida was more than a little naïve, not willing to believe how difficult things are, even when told how difficult it would be. But over the years, as more and more difficult things happened, she learned to some degree to overcome this trait, only to find herself overwhelmed by the next such event.
Beyond this, the core thing that has shaped Ida’s personality is the conception and birth of Urd. A few youthful indiscretions and a week at court during her presentation, and she got pregnant, much earlier than is the norm, even for nobles. This also resulted in her having to grow up quickly, and kept her away from court for many years as she had to care for her daughter.
In how it made her grow up, it was a blessing, but in how it robbed her of a standard childhood, it was a curse. She became more withdrawn, focused more on family and business than upon court life, but eventually returning to court at cawaport, where she represented her family.
She is a caring and kind, but rather withdrawn woman, capable of handling many things at any one time. Because of the previously mentioned events, she also has an intense desire for control.
Relations towards others:
Towards others Ida is methodical and careful, always doing her best to see their motives and how that can be used for her and her family’s benefit. She is always on the lookout for opportunities.
Weaknesses:
Humor rarely works on Ida. She simply did not have the chance to let that sense develop. Where others might find it inconvenient to lose control, it is debilitating for Ida.
She is very vocal about her dislike of the church of Klebithy, both for how they view mages with talents like her own, and for how many of the more fervent worshippers glorify their own or their followers’ ignorance.
Name: Urd Raudhfell
Age: 20
Gender: Female
Sexual Orientation: Standard
Height: 158.3 cm
Weight: 50.9 kg
Eye Color: Spring Green
Hair Color: Brown
Position:
Urd’s position in the hierarchy of nobles is both complex and simple. On her mother’s side, she heir to the title of Countess Raudhfell. This title belongs to the lower Nobility of Cawanor. That is the simple part.
The difficult part lies in her father’s side. First of all, she was born out of wedlock. Second of all, he doesn’t know she exists. But she is nonetheless his firstborn child, and thus technically his heir, provided that there is no requirement for her to have been conceived within the constraints of wedlock to inherit.
As her father is Patrick De Reimer, the current king of Cawanor, she has technically a potential claim to the title of Princess of Cawanor. But as he father doesn’t know of her existence, this claim is as of yet not something she can put any weight into.
Thus, her formal title as of the present time is merely Lady Raudhfell, as there is no special title for the heir of an heir. While many people feel she should not be permitted to inherit anything at all on account of the nature of her birth, her grandparents have made sure to have documents drawn up putting her into the line of succession for the house title, ignoring any protests.
Urd is a relatively short woman, well below the average for Cawanori noblewomen, but not so short as to stand out as such. She is known to dress casually in demure colors that do not make her stand out, always picking styles that bare as little of her scars as possible. However, while her clothes rarely stand out, she has a merchant’s eye for quality, and will never skimp on that front.
On any average day, she will typically be dressed like a rich merchant or townswoman rather than as a noblewoman. This however, does not mean she doesn’t know how to fit in at court. If she needs to, she can easily acquire clothes suitable for any level of court happening, though she will have certain restrictions on their cut.
When on the move, she naturally always has a hooded cloak, both to protect from the elements and to not stand out as much in a crowd.
Beneath her clothes she is extensively burn-scarred, especially on her wrists, legs and lower abdomen. Her chest is marked with a thin blueish white cobwebbing, a side-effect of abused magic.
Her brown hair is usually fairly straight and kept tied up. If let hang freely, it reaches down to about mid-chest, but she prefers not to let it down.
Should she ever be imbued with even more magical energy, there is no telling how she will be affected, but it is quite likely that such transformations will not be limited to her insides.
Once upon a time, Urd Raudhfell was open, innocent, playful and carefree, as all children should be. But life did not let her keep such tendencies, terrible events turning her into a jaded and private individual, making her terrified of many things, from uneducated crowds to undressing before others to lack of control and many other things.
She has stopped believing people always have good intentions and has a habit of analyzing any situation to determine how the other party or parties seek to benefit from it at a cost to her and hers. She is especially distrustful of pious adherents to the Klebithic Church and the uneducated rural villager.
But even with how jaded she is, she seeks to protect others, especially those who cannot protect themselves, like people with magical talent born outside families with a tradition for it.
To think that Urd is flawless is to be foolish. She has more flaws than many, some mental, others physical. She is prone to many forms of fear, some of them unreasoning in their degree. They include:
Automysophobia. From the time she was burned, she learned how her immune system could be compromised. She is terrified of being dirty, the healers’ lessons concerning the cleanliness of burn wounds having burned themselves into her mind.
Dishabiliophobia. Because she knows she is not normal underneath her clothes and fears being called an abomination, she is terrified of undressing before others. It will take considerable effort from anyone to convince her to undress before them.
Demophobia. While she rarely has trouble being around other nobles or even rich merchants and townfolk, she is terrified of crowds of uneducated villagers, especially of the rural variety. If she does visit remote villages, she will always bring at least two bodyguards.
Merinthophobia. The idea of being tied up is not one she is comfortable with. If someone does end up tying her up, they risk her unwillingly unleashing magics she cannot fully control. This fear also springs up in the form of a fear of losing control, as she does not know what she might end up doing if she does.
Frigophobia. The ice magic from her burning never truly left her. At the center of her chest, she is always cold, and her core temperature is several degrees below the average for humans. This leaves her vulnerable to all sorts of conditions, including diseases of the flesh.
Pyrophobia. The very idea of being burned causes her to panic, and if she sees someone intending to burn another, she will hold nothing back to stop it from happening, even to the point of killing people.
Because of the way her internal organs have been altered by magic, she is more resistant to certain poisons and toxins, but pays the price in that she has to eat far more often and in smaller portions than others if she is to maintain her body. If she should be exposed to further large doses of Restoration magic, there is no telling how that will affect her, but it is likely to be overt and very visible.
General:
Urd’s skills range widely, including an extensive education into what it means to be a noble, into magic and into mercantile arts, as well as a number of other fields. She is a capable scribe, a good negotiator and an apt businesswoman. While she is no shark in the ocean when it comes to politics, neither is she hopeless at it. More than anything, it can be summed up to a lack of experience. The ways of Court intrigue are not that different from trade negotiations.
Her education has only barely scratched the surface of military theories and tactics, almost exclusively where such symbology could be used to reflect upon mercantile arts.
Martial:
Her skill when it comes to all things martial are lacking. She’s got no military training, knows nothing of strategy or tactics and has nowhere near the build to wield a sword in battle, let alone heavier weapons. She has barely ever fired a bow, and only then a hunting bow back in her early youth on the family lands.
She is passable for a novice with long blades meant to slash and wound, but is fairly decent with long knives, daggers and throwing knives. She’s been taught exactly where to put a dagger to cause the most harm quickly, and is not afraid to use her dwarven steel dirk for just that purpose. This training includes dealing with armored assailants, though she would still be fairly useless on the field of battle.
Magic:
Beyond her mercantile training, Urd’s true field of expertise is that of magic. Primarily Summoning magic (where she has attained expertise), but also Destruction magic (Force & Ice only) where she is not quite as skilled. She has attained Journeyman skill level in Illusion and Alteration magic, which means that she can do a few decent tricks, but not much more.
She has a small talent for the Fire-form of Destruction magic, but that talent is not developed, because of her history with fire. If she forces herself to use it, she can at best light a small bonfire or candle.
In the field of summoning magic, she has a significant collection of shades she can call upon, all linked to various emotions and desires. Her favored shade forms are a large wolf, an oversized moose, a rather vicious but playful otter and a narwhal. Because these shades are not actually the animals they resemble, they are not quite bound by the laws of physics.
When it comes to illusion and alteration magic, she can use those primarily to make subtle alterations to her clothes, make light and hide some of her scars. While she has tried many times, she has not been able to hide the blueish white lines upon her chest.
Age: 20
Gender: Female
Sexual Orientation: Standard
Height: 158.3 cm
Weight: 50.9 kg
Eye Color: Spring Green
Hair Color: Brown
Position:
Urd’s position in the hierarchy of nobles is both complex and simple. On her mother’s side, she heir to the title of Countess Raudhfell. This title belongs to the lower Nobility of Cawanor. That is the simple part.
The difficult part lies in her father’s side. First of all, she was born out of wedlock. Second of all, he doesn’t know she exists. But she is nonetheless his firstborn child, and thus technically his heir, provided that there is no requirement for her to have been conceived within the constraints of wedlock to inherit.
As her father is Patrick De Reimer, the current king of Cawanor, she has technically a potential claim to the title of Princess of Cawanor. But as he father doesn’t know of her existence, this claim is as of yet not something she can put any weight into.
Thus, her formal title as of the present time is merely Lady Raudhfell, as there is no special title for the heir of an heir. While many people feel she should not be permitted to inherit anything at all on account of the nature of her birth, her grandparents have made sure to have documents drawn up putting her into the line of succession for the house title, ignoring any protests.
The nature of Urd’s birth has already been covered, as has her ties to her two families. Therefore, that will not be covered again.
Her earliest memories are of the family estate in northwestern Cawanor, with her mother and her maternal grandparents, as well as the regular crowd of servants and other employees. As noble families go, most of her childhood was fairly normal, if one discounts the lack of a father, but as she had no memories of having him around, she had no way to miss him either.
Her upbringing was largely sheltered, but included an extensive education from a very young age, in part from her family, in part from tutors. With few exceptions, her mother stayed home until about two months after her sixth birthday, but went to court for extended visits after that. Whenever her mother wasn’t around, she was left in the hands of her grandmother and grandfather, as well as her various tutors, who continued her education as befit a young noblewoman and future heir.
However, as the scion of a mercantile-based noble family, she was expected to know more. Thus, she was not merely raised at home. She was from a young age taken out, first among the people who would one day be her subjects, then later out on the trade routes. It was on the earliest of these journeys that someone tried to kill her first.
The would-be assassin naturally failed and was caught, resolutely claiming that nobody born out of wedlock should inherit a title, that she should’ve been killed at birth. Not that Urd was around to hear that, she only learned of his words many years later. From that moment on, whenever she was away from the family estate, her family sent along several bodyguards dedicated to her safety alone.
They did not even consider not letting her out. She needed to be out and about, to learn the family trade if she was ever to be a worthy heir to the Raudhfell name. Her training in the magical arts began shortly before her eighth birthday, after being tested and found to have considerable talent, though as yet hard to determine how great it was. Not only did she have raw talent in the family’s summoning magic, but she had also, presumably from her father’s side, inherited a certain talent for other branches of magic.
Unfortunately, the first would-be assassin was not alone in his opinion concerning her future inheritance. The second attempt happened on the family estates, right by one of the ruins stemming from days when this region of Cawanor was wilder and beset with armed conflicts. In many ways, like many other parts of Formaroth are today.
The second attempt on her life came shortly after her eighth birthday, when she had begun to manifest her magical talent, but while it was still largely untrained. More importantly, because she was on the family estates, she was not accompanied by her bodyguards. The only people with her was one of her tutors and a servant.
At the time, she sat beneath a ruined tower, half-playing, half-listening to her tutor, when a section of the tower near its broken tip fell out and down towards her. Had she not had any magical talents, that would have been the end of her there. But even barely trained as she was, she reacted instinctively, a massive shade shaped like a wolf appeared out of thin air, half-leaping, half-flying straight up, knocking aside most of the falling rocks, passing through the opening created by the fallen stones.
Alas, the shade only knocked aside some of the stones. One of the larger chunks—about half the size of her head—still hit her left thigh, easily breaking her leg. Another piece had crushed her right foot. The sudden and intense agony was very hard to resist, and had she not been flooded with adrenaline from the shock, she would no doubt have blacked out immediately. Moments later, a scream was heard from up in the tower and her lupine shade flew out, dragging a bedraggled-looking man out by his leg.
The two landed nearby, where the shade continued its attack to defend her, letting neither tutor nor servant approach. From what she was later told, the shade only disappeared when she lost consciousness from a combination of trauma and blood loss, and by that time the would-be assassin was all but dead.
While the servant did her best to assess Urd’s injuries, her tutor ran to get help. In short order, she’d been told, he had returned with several of the family’s men-at-arms who improvised a stretcher and carried her to the mansion, where the family’s healers had immediately begun work on her injuries. While they treated her injuries, she faded in and out of consciousness, but later learned that the healers had worked for the better part of a day and a night to both mend her thigh and rebuild her foot. Whenever she was awake, she had apparently had a shade appearing at her side, flickering in and out of existence. It had watched the healers work, but not interfered.
The presence and variety of her shades were some of the signs telling her family and her magical arts tutor just how powerful she was. Even her grandfather, who was talented at controlling his shades, had not been able to manifest two separate shades until he was many years into his training. However, even with the healers’ aid, she was still stuck in bed for several weeks afterwards. Her bones may have been mended, but they were still weak and fragile only time, rest and food would change that.
Never again in her childhood was she left alone. Her time of being without guards anywhere outside the mansion was over. It took her years to get used to, but in time she grew used to having guards around, even coming around to getting along well with them. It was neither her nor their fault that some people wanted her dead.
The third attempt on her life was by far the one closest to succeeding. This attempt happened a month after her presentation at court, on a stop in a small village in Thralreth while traveling with one of the family caravans. On the way into the village, she had been practicing controlling one of her shades on the way in, not knowing that there were many in that village who had been taught by the Church of Klebithy that shades were evil. While her guards were with her on the journey, she had, in the middle of the night, had to get up to use the privy, as there was no chamberpot in her room at the inn.
In a sleepy moment of forgetfulness, she had not woken any of her guards, thinking it better not to disturb them. She’d done what she needed, but on the way back, someone had knocked her hard on the head, rendering her unconscious. When she regained consciousness, the individual or individuals who had attacked her had tied her to a stake in the middle of the village square, and were busy trying to light a bonfire underneath her bare feet.
Her head was pounding and thoroughly muddled, so it took her a full minute and then some to come to her senses and shout for help. Unfortunately, at that point one of the villagers gagged her, preventing her from shouting further. Additionally, fear of what they were intending to do had fully taken hold of her, preventing her from focusing her magic.
As an added problem, while her body was tied to the stake with ropes, she could feel cold iron around her wrists, clear proof they had used chains on her arms. Even if she could have summoned her shades, none of them were capable of breaking metal. Moments later, the mob leaders got the fire lit, and smoke began to rise around her. Soon after, flames began to lick at her feet as the fire began to spread throughout the stacked wood and she had to move her feet often to avoid it.
The mob was beginning to cheer and make jeering shouts about purging evil. As the flames spread, Urd could no longer keep her feet out of them, and the agony made her begin to scream through her gag, something which clearly pleased the growing mob. She could almost taste the hate in the air. The rate of the fire’s growth grew, and soon flames licked at her nightdress, not quite yet managing to light it on fire. The pain was beyond words.
She tried to use her magic, but with the amount of pain the fire was causing her, she found it fickle and slow to respond. None of her training had prepared her for using magic under conditions like these. When one villager shouted out in glee that the servant of Hystix was getting as she deserved, she felt a new type of rage beginning to build within her. They thought she served one of the evil deities of Klebithy? She didn’t even hold to that faith, let alone the evil aspects of it!
Her nightdress burst into fire at this point, the flames rapidly climbing up her body as she screamed. Surely there was no hope now? But the moment she thought that, she felt this strange new rage snap out of her. She felt ice flowing through her veins, permeating her very flesh, instantly extinguishing the flames burning her. It spread from her the center of her chest and outward, both up into her head and down through her toes, then moved out of her body, replacing the flames upon the wood with solid ice crystals.
The moment the last flame died, a shockwave burst out from her, knocking down the now-shocked villagers and shattering the manacles upon her hands. As she fell down, her body half-frozen, she saw several of the family guards coming running. Then she blacked out.
Most of what happened over the next several weeks are things Urd herself has no memories of. Some came from her bodyguards, some from her family and the rest from the significant number of healers brought in to help her. The former two would never have spoken to anyone of the lengths to which the healers went to heal her, and the healers themselves were paid more than well enough for their silence in the matter.
Having later heard the tale of her grandfather’s maiming and added with her own incident, she now truly understood why her grandmother regularly keeps saying that nothing good ever comes out of Thralreth. She certainly grew to agree with the saying.
Even with the best healers that money could hire, Urd’s chances for survival were touch and go for more than three weeks. Working in shifts, they had worked upon her day and night, denying her body the opportunity for the eternal sleep it so desired. More than one healer feared that she would be turned into what they called an abomination from the amount of magic being poured into her, but they nonetheless kept up the healing. In the time since, Urd has come to suspect that their fears were not entirely unfounded.
Throughout the mending period—even after she was no longer at death’s door—she was always watched over by at least two bodyguards and one healer, often more. Were one to compare the magic used to heal her when her back when her leg was broken and foot was shattered to the magic now used, one could say it was like a small bucket to a large barrel, though magic naturally cannot truly be quantified in such a manner.
But even with some of the best healers in Formaroth, her body could not be restored to the condition it had before the burning. Her lower abdomen and especially her legs bear extensive burn-scarring to this day, and there are hairline scars over much of the rest of her body. The only part not blatantly scarred is her face and hands, which were furthest away from the flames and thus mostly spared. Her wrists, having been first covered in manacles that were being heated up and then shattered by ice magic have perhaps got the deepest scars.
Wherever the scarring is most intense, she has to this day reduced ability to feel much of anything. At the center of her chest, she is always cold, almost as if she truly does have a heart of ice. Between her breasts she also has a thin cobweb of blueish white lines, where the icy magic first flowed across her skin. Upon this spot she is utterly devoid of feeling.
Internally, her body did not remain unchanged. The most notable change is how several of her internal organs (liver, kidneys and several others) are considerably larger than normal, while her stomach and intestines in turn take up less space in her chest. Had she or anyone of a scholarly persuasion been aware of this, they might have theorized that it was a result of her body trying to deal with the magic poisoning.
When she finally did recover, it was clear to the rest of her family that she would need much more training with her magic. Not even their extensive theoretical knowledge could properly teach her what she needed to know. Therefore, she was sent to the Circle upon the Summer Isles to be trained by the true masters of the magical arts. She did not really want to go, but relented when they pressed her long enough with simple facts and irrefutable logic. When she did go, she was accompanied by a large contingent of guards, most of which would return home after escorting her to the Isles, but some which would stay with her the entire time there. No matter how safe some said the Summer Isles were, they would take no chances.
Prior to her journey, her mother also told her about her father, explaining that she was now old enough to know and that it would be up to her to decide what to do with the information. Her mother trusted her to make the right choice, but requested to be notified if she did choose to tell anyone. Urd did not think the time would come anytime soon that she would tell anyone about that, let alone about how much restoration magic had been used upon her. She knew exactly what the policy concerning abominations and dark magic was.
Though her education in magic had been fairly extensive before, it was during her years with the Circle that the began to understand how little she knew, how little anyone knew of magic. She was taught all its aspects, in particular how to use the talents she had, and what uses to avoid. She took to the increased access to knowledge like a sponge, absorbing all she could.
It was first here that she began to learn to truly control the aspects of her magic not dealing with summoning, though she also refined that. She had been aware of those talents and even experimented a little with them in her lessons, but had not gained any true skill with them. Here at the circle, that all changed.
She would never attain true mastery at any form, not even at summoning, but she did gain expertise at that branch and decent skill wielding Force and Ice magic. Her memories of the burning prevented her from going above the simplest of tricks with Fire magic, though.
She also learned some alteration magic, attaining what would be considered journeyman skill level, and a similar level of Illusion magic, the latter of which she learned from Lanaya Triskell Dionisa. This woman also taught her numerous things about politics, a field she had come to realize she needed more skill at if her house was to have any influence when she one day took command of it, though she hoped that day would be distant.
The Lady Dionisa wanted to use the scars of her burning as an example to others of how mages were unfairly treated, but as Urd knew that might risk revealing more than was safe, she declined. Besides, she did not want to become a symbol for others to wave about.
At the hands of the bodyguards that accompanied her everywhere on the Summer Isles, she also learned how to defend herself without magic. Because of her relative short stature and thin build, she would never become a skilled swordswoman. While she did learn to wield some slashing blades, she found that she preferred knives and daggers over slashing blades. Knives could reliably be tossed, swords couldn’t.
As a gift for her fifteenth birthday, her bodyguards had—with the assistance of her grandfather no doubt—acquired a long dirk forged of Dwarven Steel. Urd considers that item to be her prize possession, for while magic can fail, a blade of that quality cannot.
In the years after leaving the Circle, she has helped in the family business, even begun to take over certain duties from her grandparents. However, she has also developed a taste for traveling the land, where she looks for business opportunities for the family and represents them outside Cawanor. She also seeks to improve the lives of mages everywhere, protecting those who are weaker than her from prosecution. She has not set foot in Thralreth since the day of the burning.
At the present, her Grandfather sent her to Nyhem, where she will represent the family and determine whether they should support the De Reimer claim to the title of High King, or if the Manshrews are better candidates. Considering her knowledge of her paternity, she is hopeful that the De Reimers will prove worthy.
Her earliest memories are of the family estate in northwestern Cawanor, with her mother and her maternal grandparents, as well as the regular crowd of servants and other employees. As noble families go, most of her childhood was fairly normal, if one discounts the lack of a father, but as she had no memories of having him around, she had no way to miss him either.
Her upbringing was largely sheltered, but included an extensive education from a very young age, in part from her family, in part from tutors. With few exceptions, her mother stayed home until about two months after her sixth birthday, but went to court for extended visits after that. Whenever her mother wasn’t around, she was left in the hands of her grandmother and grandfather, as well as her various tutors, who continued her education as befit a young noblewoman and future heir.
However, as the scion of a mercantile-based noble family, she was expected to know more. Thus, she was not merely raised at home. She was from a young age taken out, first among the people who would one day be her subjects, then later out on the trade routes. It was on the earliest of these journeys that someone tried to kill her first.
The would-be assassin naturally failed and was caught, resolutely claiming that nobody born out of wedlock should inherit a title, that she should’ve been killed at birth. Not that Urd was around to hear that, she only learned of his words many years later. From that moment on, whenever she was away from the family estate, her family sent along several bodyguards dedicated to her safety alone.
They did not even consider not letting her out. She needed to be out and about, to learn the family trade if she was ever to be a worthy heir to the Raudhfell name. Her training in the magical arts began shortly before her eighth birthday, after being tested and found to have considerable talent, though as yet hard to determine how great it was. Not only did she have raw talent in the family’s summoning magic, but she had also, presumably from her father’s side, inherited a certain talent for other branches of magic.
Unfortunately, the first would-be assassin was not alone in his opinion concerning her future inheritance. The second attempt happened on the family estates, right by one of the ruins stemming from days when this region of Cawanor was wilder and beset with armed conflicts. In many ways, like many other parts of Formaroth are today.
The second attempt on her life came shortly after her eighth birthday, when she had begun to manifest her magical talent, but while it was still largely untrained. More importantly, because she was on the family estates, she was not accompanied by her bodyguards. The only people with her was one of her tutors and a servant.
At the time, she sat beneath a ruined tower, half-playing, half-listening to her tutor, when a section of the tower near its broken tip fell out and down towards her. Had she not had any magical talents, that would have been the end of her there. But even barely trained as she was, she reacted instinctively, a massive shade shaped like a wolf appeared out of thin air, half-leaping, half-flying straight up, knocking aside most of the falling rocks, passing through the opening created by the fallen stones.
Alas, the shade only knocked aside some of the stones. One of the larger chunks—about half the size of her head—still hit her left thigh, easily breaking her leg. Another piece had crushed her right foot. The sudden and intense agony was very hard to resist, and had she not been flooded with adrenaline from the shock, she would no doubt have blacked out immediately. Moments later, a scream was heard from up in the tower and her lupine shade flew out, dragging a bedraggled-looking man out by his leg.
The two landed nearby, where the shade continued its attack to defend her, letting neither tutor nor servant approach. From what she was later told, the shade only disappeared when she lost consciousness from a combination of trauma and blood loss, and by that time the would-be assassin was all but dead.
While the servant did her best to assess Urd’s injuries, her tutor ran to get help. In short order, she’d been told, he had returned with several of the family’s men-at-arms who improvised a stretcher and carried her to the mansion, where the family’s healers had immediately begun work on her injuries. While they treated her injuries, she faded in and out of consciousness, but later learned that the healers had worked for the better part of a day and a night to both mend her thigh and rebuild her foot. Whenever she was awake, she had apparently had a shade appearing at her side, flickering in and out of existence. It had watched the healers work, but not interfered.
The presence and variety of her shades were some of the signs telling her family and her magical arts tutor just how powerful she was. Even her grandfather, who was talented at controlling his shades, had not been able to manifest two separate shades until he was many years into his training. However, even with the healers’ aid, she was still stuck in bed for several weeks afterwards. Her bones may have been mended, but they were still weak and fragile only time, rest and food would change that.
Never again in her childhood was she left alone. Her time of being without guards anywhere outside the mansion was over. It took her years to get used to, but in time she grew used to having guards around, even coming around to getting along well with them. It was neither her nor their fault that some people wanted her dead.
The third attempt on her life was by far the one closest to succeeding. This attempt happened a month after her presentation at court, on a stop in a small village in Thralreth while traveling with one of the family caravans. On the way into the village, she had been practicing controlling one of her shades on the way in, not knowing that there were many in that village who had been taught by the Church of Klebithy that shades were evil. While her guards were with her on the journey, she had, in the middle of the night, had to get up to use the privy, as there was no chamberpot in her room at the inn.
In a sleepy moment of forgetfulness, she had not woken any of her guards, thinking it better not to disturb them. She’d done what she needed, but on the way back, someone had knocked her hard on the head, rendering her unconscious. When she regained consciousness, the individual or individuals who had attacked her had tied her to a stake in the middle of the village square, and were busy trying to light a bonfire underneath her bare feet.
Her head was pounding and thoroughly muddled, so it took her a full minute and then some to come to her senses and shout for help. Unfortunately, at that point one of the villagers gagged her, preventing her from shouting further. Additionally, fear of what they were intending to do had fully taken hold of her, preventing her from focusing her magic.
As an added problem, while her body was tied to the stake with ropes, she could feel cold iron around her wrists, clear proof they had used chains on her arms. Even if she could have summoned her shades, none of them were capable of breaking metal. Moments later, the mob leaders got the fire lit, and smoke began to rise around her. Soon after, flames began to lick at her feet as the fire began to spread throughout the stacked wood and she had to move her feet often to avoid it.
The mob was beginning to cheer and make jeering shouts about purging evil. As the flames spread, Urd could no longer keep her feet out of them, and the agony made her begin to scream through her gag, something which clearly pleased the growing mob. She could almost taste the hate in the air. The rate of the fire’s growth grew, and soon flames licked at her nightdress, not quite yet managing to light it on fire. The pain was beyond words.
She tried to use her magic, but with the amount of pain the fire was causing her, she found it fickle and slow to respond. None of her training had prepared her for using magic under conditions like these. When one villager shouted out in glee that the servant of Hystix was getting as she deserved, she felt a new type of rage beginning to build within her. They thought she served one of the evil deities of Klebithy? She didn’t even hold to that faith, let alone the evil aspects of it!
Her nightdress burst into fire at this point, the flames rapidly climbing up her body as she screamed. Surely there was no hope now? But the moment she thought that, she felt this strange new rage snap out of her. She felt ice flowing through her veins, permeating her very flesh, instantly extinguishing the flames burning her. It spread from her the center of her chest and outward, both up into her head and down through her toes, then moved out of her body, replacing the flames upon the wood with solid ice crystals.
The moment the last flame died, a shockwave burst out from her, knocking down the now-shocked villagers and shattering the manacles upon her hands. As she fell down, her body half-frozen, she saw several of the family guards coming running. Then she blacked out.
Most of what happened over the next several weeks are things Urd herself has no memories of. Some came from her bodyguards, some from her family and the rest from the significant number of healers brought in to help her. The former two would never have spoken to anyone of the lengths to which the healers went to heal her, and the healers themselves were paid more than well enough for their silence in the matter.
Having later heard the tale of her grandfather’s maiming and added with her own incident, she now truly understood why her grandmother regularly keeps saying that nothing good ever comes out of Thralreth. She certainly grew to agree with the saying.
Even with the best healers that money could hire, Urd’s chances for survival were touch and go for more than three weeks. Working in shifts, they had worked upon her day and night, denying her body the opportunity for the eternal sleep it so desired. More than one healer feared that she would be turned into what they called an abomination from the amount of magic being poured into her, but they nonetheless kept up the healing. In the time since, Urd has come to suspect that their fears were not entirely unfounded.
Throughout the mending period—even after she was no longer at death’s door—she was always watched over by at least two bodyguards and one healer, often more. Were one to compare the magic used to heal her when her back when her leg was broken and foot was shattered to the magic now used, one could say it was like a small bucket to a large barrel, though magic naturally cannot truly be quantified in such a manner.
But even with some of the best healers in Formaroth, her body could not be restored to the condition it had before the burning. Her lower abdomen and especially her legs bear extensive burn-scarring to this day, and there are hairline scars over much of the rest of her body. The only part not blatantly scarred is her face and hands, which were furthest away from the flames and thus mostly spared. Her wrists, having been first covered in manacles that were being heated up and then shattered by ice magic have perhaps got the deepest scars.
Wherever the scarring is most intense, she has to this day reduced ability to feel much of anything. At the center of her chest, she is always cold, almost as if she truly does have a heart of ice. Between her breasts she also has a thin cobweb of blueish white lines, where the icy magic first flowed across her skin. Upon this spot she is utterly devoid of feeling.
Internally, her body did not remain unchanged. The most notable change is how several of her internal organs (liver, kidneys and several others) are considerably larger than normal, while her stomach and intestines in turn take up less space in her chest. Had she or anyone of a scholarly persuasion been aware of this, they might have theorized that it was a result of her body trying to deal with the magic poisoning.
When she finally did recover, it was clear to the rest of her family that she would need much more training with her magic. Not even their extensive theoretical knowledge could properly teach her what she needed to know. Therefore, she was sent to the Circle upon the Summer Isles to be trained by the true masters of the magical arts. She did not really want to go, but relented when they pressed her long enough with simple facts and irrefutable logic. When she did go, she was accompanied by a large contingent of guards, most of which would return home after escorting her to the Isles, but some which would stay with her the entire time there. No matter how safe some said the Summer Isles were, they would take no chances.
Prior to her journey, her mother also told her about her father, explaining that she was now old enough to know and that it would be up to her to decide what to do with the information. Her mother trusted her to make the right choice, but requested to be notified if she did choose to tell anyone. Urd did not think the time would come anytime soon that she would tell anyone about that, let alone about how much restoration magic had been used upon her. She knew exactly what the policy concerning abominations and dark magic was.
Though her education in magic had been fairly extensive before, it was during her years with the Circle that the began to understand how little she knew, how little anyone knew of magic. She was taught all its aspects, in particular how to use the talents she had, and what uses to avoid. She took to the increased access to knowledge like a sponge, absorbing all she could.
It was first here that she began to learn to truly control the aspects of her magic not dealing with summoning, though she also refined that. She had been aware of those talents and even experimented a little with them in her lessons, but had not gained any true skill with them. Here at the circle, that all changed.
She would never attain true mastery at any form, not even at summoning, but she did gain expertise at that branch and decent skill wielding Force and Ice magic. Her memories of the burning prevented her from going above the simplest of tricks with Fire magic, though.
She also learned some alteration magic, attaining what would be considered journeyman skill level, and a similar level of Illusion magic, the latter of which she learned from Lanaya Triskell Dionisa. This woman also taught her numerous things about politics, a field she had come to realize she needed more skill at if her house was to have any influence when she one day took command of it, though she hoped that day would be distant.
The Lady Dionisa wanted to use the scars of her burning as an example to others of how mages were unfairly treated, but as Urd knew that might risk revealing more than was safe, she declined. Besides, she did not want to become a symbol for others to wave about.
At the hands of the bodyguards that accompanied her everywhere on the Summer Isles, she also learned how to defend herself without magic. Because of her relative short stature and thin build, she would never become a skilled swordswoman. While she did learn to wield some slashing blades, she found that she preferred knives and daggers over slashing blades. Knives could reliably be tossed, swords couldn’t.
As a gift for her fifteenth birthday, her bodyguards had—with the assistance of her grandfather no doubt—acquired a long dirk forged of Dwarven Steel. Urd considers that item to be her prize possession, for while magic can fail, a blade of that quality cannot.
In the years after leaving the Circle, she has helped in the family business, even begun to take over certain duties from her grandparents. However, she has also developed a taste for traveling the land, where she looks for business opportunities for the family and represents them outside Cawanor. She also seeks to improve the lives of mages everywhere, protecting those who are weaker than her from prosecution. She has not set foot in Thralreth since the day of the burning.
At the present, her Grandfather sent her to Nyhem, where she will represent the family and determine whether they should support the De Reimer claim to the title of High King, or if the Manshrews are better candidates. Considering her knowledge of her paternity, she is hopeful that the De Reimers will prove worthy.
Appearance:
Urd is a relatively short woman, well below the average for Cawanori noblewomen, but not so short as to stand out as such. She is known to dress casually in demure colors that do not make her stand out, always picking styles that bare as little of her scars as possible. However, while her clothes rarely stand out, she has a merchant’s eye for quality, and will never skimp on that front.
On any average day, she will typically be dressed like a rich merchant or townswoman rather than as a noblewoman. This however, does not mean she doesn’t know how to fit in at court. If she needs to, she can easily acquire clothes suitable for any level of court happening, though she will have certain restrictions on their cut.
When on the move, she naturally always has a hooded cloak, both to protect from the elements and to not stand out as much in a crowd.
Beneath her clothes she is extensively burn-scarred, especially on her wrists, legs and lower abdomen. Her chest is marked with a thin blueish white cobwebbing, a side-effect of abused magic.
Her brown hair is usually fairly straight and kept tied up. If let hang freely, it reaches down to about mid-chest, but she prefers not to let it down.
Should she ever be imbued with even more magical energy, there is no telling how she will be affected, but it is quite likely that such transformations will not be limited to her insides.
Personality:
Once upon a time, Urd Raudhfell was open, innocent, playful and carefree, as all children should be. But life did not let her keep such tendencies, terrible events turning her into a jaded and private individual, making her terrified of many things, from uneducated crowds to undressing before others to lack of control and many other things.
She has stopped believing people always have good intentions and has a habit of analyzing any situation to determine how the other party or parties seek to benefit from it at a cost to her and hers. She is especially distrustful of pious adherents to the Klebithic Church and the uneducated rural villager.
But even with how jaded she is, she seeks to protect others, especially those who cannot protect themselves, like people with magical talent born outside families with a tradition for it.
Weaknesses:
To think that Urd is flawless is to be foolish. She has more flaws than many, some mental, others physical. She is prone to many forms of fear, some of them unreasoning in their degree. They include:
Automysophobia. From the time she was burned, she learned how her immune system could be compromised. She is terrified of being dirty, the healers’ lessons concerning the cleanliness of burn wounds having burned themselves into her mind.
Dishabiliophobia. Because she knows she is not normal underneath her clothes and fears being called an abomination, she is terrified of undressing before others. It will take considerable effort from anyone to convince her to undress before them.
Demophobia. While she rarely has trouble being around other nobles or even rich merchants and townfolk, she is terrified of crowds of uneducated villagers, especially of the rural variety. If she does visit remote villages, she will always bring at least two bodyguards.
Merinthophobia. The idea of being tied up is not one she is comfortable with. If someone does end up tying her up, they risk her unwillingly unleashing magics she cannot fully control. This fear also springs up in the form of a fear of losing control, as she does not know what she might end up doing if she does.
Frigophobia. The ice magic from her burning never truly left her. At the center of her chest, she is always cold, and her core temperature is several degrees below the average for humans. This leaves her vulnerable to all sorts of conditions, including diseases of the flesh.
Pyrophobia. The very idea of being burned causes her to panic, and if she sees someone intending to burn another, she will hold nothing back to stop it from happening, even to the point of killing people.
Because of the way her internal organs have been altered by magic, she is more resistant to certain poisons and toxins, but pays the price in that she has to eat far more often and in smaller portions than others if she is to maintain her body. If she should be exposed to further large doses of Restoration magic, there is no telling how that will affect her, but it is likely to be overt and very visible.
Skills:
General:
Urd’s skills range widely, including an extensive education into what it means to be a noble, into magic and into mercantile arts, as well as a number of other fields. She is a capable scribe, a good negotiator and an apt businesswoman. While she is no shark in the ocean when it comes to politics, neither is she hopeless at it. More than anything, it can be summed up to a lack of experience. The ways of Court intrigue are not that different from trade negotiations.
Her education has only barely scratched the surface of military theories and tactics, almost exclusively where such symbology could be used to reflect upon mercantile arts.
Martial:
Her skill when it comes to all things martial are lacking. She’s got no military training, knows nothing of strategy or tactics and has nowhere near the build to wield a sword in battle, let alone heavier weapons. She has barely ever fired a bow, and only then a hunting bow back in her early youth on the family lands.
She is passable for a novice with long blades meant to slash and wound, but is fairly decent with long knives, daggers and throwing knives. She’s been taught exactly where to put a dagger to cause the most harm quickly, and is not afraid to use her dwarven steel dirk for just that purpose. This training includes dealing with armored assailants, though she would still be fairly useless on the field of battle.
Magic:
Beyond her mercantile training, Urd’s true field of expertise is that of magic. Primarily Summoning magic (where she has attained expertise), but also Destruction magic (Force & Ice only) where she is not quite as skilled. She has attained Journeyman skill level in Illusion and Alteration magic, which means that she can do a few decent tricks, but not much more.
She has a small talent for the Fire-form of Destruction magic, but that talent is not developed, because of her history with fire. If she forces herself to use it, she can at best light a small bonfire or candle.
In the field of summoning magic, she has a significant collection of shades she can call upon, all linked to various emotions and desires. Her favored shade forms are a large wolf, an oversized moose, a rather vicious but playful otter and a narwhal. Because these shades are not actually the animals they resemble, they are not quite bound by the laws of physics.
When it comes to illusion and alteration magic, she can use those primarily to make subtle alterations to her clothes, make light and hide some of her scars. While she has tried many times, she has not been able to hide the blueish white lines upon her chest.
Seikatsu Story Line
Name: Inigo Orbino
Age: 46
Gender: Male
Sexual Orientation: Hetrosexual
Position: Military commander
Personality:
Inigo Orbino is described by most to be a very serious and stoic man who has little time for anything that is not related to his duty. He holds all of those under his command to a high standard and has very little tolerance for insubordination, incompetence or laziness. Through upbringing he is a military man who sees the world through a martial lens.
Despite this stern attitude he maintains, many view Inigo to be a honourable man who serves the De Reimer family faithfully since their ascension. Inigo maintains a respectfule and formal manner towards those who he deals with, even towards his enemies.
Weaknesses:
Prideful: Inigo takes great pride being the high commander of Cawanor’s armies, almost to the point of arrogance.
Inflexible: Inigo lives to follow the rules, he does not question the orders of his superiors and will do everything by the book.
Bound to chivalry: Inigo is bound to his codes of chivalry and would rather die then betray them.
Appearance: Inigo is a tall, well-built muscular man with broad shoulders and sharp facial features. He is clean shaven and has short blond hair that he keeps well groomed. When armoured he wears full steel plate adorned with the crest and colours of house De Reimer. When off duty he opts for more practical grab over what is considered fashionable, though it is important to note that it is still of a quality suitable for one of nobility.
Background:Inigo has served house De Reimer since before they ruled over Cawanor. When house Hieze tried to purge the De Reimer nobility Inigo was one of the first to declare himself for house De Reimer and assisted Patrick De Reimer in his rebellion and subsequent victory against house Hieze. Since House De Reimer took control of Cawanor Inigo was chosen to maintain, oversee and lead the forces of house De Reimer, a position and he holds in extremely high regards. Often, he will find himself directly collaborate with the De Reimer family and despite being a noble from a minor house, holds a great deal of influence over their opinions. Alasdair De Reimer hand selected him to lead the empires forces in Seikatsu against the imperium.
Skills: Master tactician, Expert strategist, Expert leader, Expert swordsman, Can ride, Can read and write
Age: 46
Gender: Male
Sexual Orientation: Hetrosexual
Position: Military commander
Personality:
Inigo Orbino is described by most to be a very serious and stoic man who has little time for anything that is not related to his duty. He holds all of those under his command to a high standard and has very little tolerance for insubordination, incompetence or laziness. Through upbringing he is a military man who sees the world through a martial lens.
Despite this stern attitude he maintains, many view Inigo to be a honourable man who serves the De Reimer family faithfully since their ascension. Inigo maintains a respectfule and formal manner towards those who he deals with, even towards his enemies.
Weaknesses:
Prideful: Inigo takes great pride being the high commander of Cawanor’s armies, almost to the point of arrogance.
Inflexible: Inigo lives to follow the rules, he does not question the orders of his superiors and will do everything by the book.
Bound to chivalry: Inigo is bound to his codes of chivalry and would rather die then betray them.
Appearance: Inigo is a tall, well-built muscular man with broad shoulders and sharp facial features. He is clean shaven and has short blond hair that he keeps well groomed. When armoured he wears full steel plate adorned with the crest and colours of house De Reimer. When off duty he opts for more practical grab over what is considered fashionable, though it is important to note that it is still of a quality suitable for one of nobility.
Background:Inigo has served house De Reimer since before they ruled over Cawanor. When house Hieze tried to purge the De Reimer nobility Inigo was one of the first to declare himself for house De Reimer and assisted Patrick De Reimer in his rebellion and subsequent victory against house Hieze. Since House De Reimer took control of Cawanor Inigo was chosen to maintain, oversee and lead the forces of house De Reimer, a position and he holds in extremely high regards. Often, he will find himself directly collaborate with the De Reimer family and despite being a noble from a minor house, holds a great deal of influence over their opinions. Alasdair De Reimer hand selected him to lead the empires forces in Seikatsu against the imperium.
Skills: Master tactician, Expert strategist, Expert leader, Expert swordsman, Can ride, Can read and write
