[hider=Euric Ralei][center][img]http://orig11.deviantart.net/8952/f/2011/086/a/0/a083b8e9f86b0cfa178ec3f18ab88811-d3clg7b.jpg[/img][/center] [color=orange]Name:[/color] Euric Ralei [color=orange]Age:[/color] Forty-Two [color=orange]Titles:[/color] [i]Duke of Andalia, Protector of the South, Lord of Caerleon[/i] [color=orange]Origin:[/color] Caerleon [color=orange]Allegiance:[/color] House Ralei [color=orange]Family:[/color] ­[hider] [i]-Alaric Relai (Father)[/i] [i]-Maximilian Relai (Brother)[/i] -Viridiana Ralei -Jaelyn Ralei -Arthur Ralei -Cassiopeia Ralei -Viktor Summers [/hider] [color=orange]Personality:[/color] The duke can sometimes seem harsh, but the truth is that what he values the most is empathy, the ability to place yourself in other people's shoes before making a decision, especially when its relating to the law, making him a forgiving person with those who's crime is a mere mistake or was brought out of necessity, but less so for others who simply sought to gain without any thought or consideration to others. Likewise however, he believes that one must always solve the root cause of the problem before moving on to something else, as a hungry man who steals to feed himself will still be hungry tomorrow and a man who made a mistake but was not told how to do things properly can only repeat it. [color=orange]Background:[/color] Euric was born second son to Duke Alaric the Strong, a man who believed that the south, as the richest territory of the kingdom, bore the responsibility to raise the most swords under its banner, a man as well who had little patience for trivialties and incompetence. As a second son, Euric was considered trivial and to make the matter worst, he showed very little competence in anything but spending money and flirting with women, especially those of a status beneath his. If he was destined to be the second son with no use whatsoever to the family, then Euric would take fun in the position that allowed him to do as he pleased with an essentially unlimited amount of funds. His favorite crowd to hand out with were of course the merchants who enjoyed his company and that of his money. From one woman to the other however, Euric landed on the loveliest Olivia. He truly believed he was in love, but then again he did so with a different woman once every month or so, though he did stand with her for almost a year. At the end of that year however, what a lot of second sons secretly hope for happened, and his brother Maximilian was slain in a jousting tournament. It fell on him, as the second son... the only son left, to take the Lordship. He didn't want to and told so to his dearest Olivia, wanting to sever ties to a family that would not allow him to love a simple merchant's daughter and live his own life. He told so to his father, in private as not to humiliate him in front of his vassals and subjects. Alaric took exception to that. In the hour his father took to beat him senseless, he told his son more words than he ever did before in his entire life about duty and how his one and only duty in life, the reason he was kept around and allowed to do as he pleased with no consequence, was so he could stand up to the task should a worst case scenario happen, and it just did. Euric meekly protested, but was received with a torrent of kicks and insults along with menaces that the only way to walk out of his duty was in a coffin, so he'd have to leave his peasant mistress behind if he didn't want his father to have her executed and work the hardest he ever did to become an acceptable ruler. And so, Euric did as he was asked, begrudgingly. The separation was not an easy one and it left an even sour taste in his mouth when he learned a few months later that Olivia had a child that could only be his, one he hid the existence well until a few years later Alaric passed away. Now Duke, Alaric's first order of business was to send a generous pension to Olivia and his bastard. Even today, this remains a sensible topic as everyone knows of Euric's bastard, including his wife and while he didn't acknowledge him as his, he never denied that he was either. Ultimately, the things he learned and the connections he made while he hung out with merchants served him well, as today the friends of yesterday are now the heads of the merchant families of today. This makes him radically different from his father, a very martial man, Euric indeed sees prosperity as the best hope for peace in the realm and concentrates on making the south... everything that the north isn't. Clean roads, beautiful architecture, work for everyone and a focus on freedom along with less taxes on the peasantry, even if it makes him rather unpopular with his vassals and the king himself, as Euric tries his damnest to dodge the taxes he's asked to pay and oftens puts the blame on anything unpopular he might do on the king. Ultimately however, he keeps his role minimal, serving much more as a judge than a governor, believing in a sense that what his father said about how 'One should just leave the merchants do their things' to hold mostly true, even if the good old 'Invisible hand' sometimes guides things the right way and prevents the worst from happening. [/hider] [hider=Viktor Summers] [center][img]http://img13.deviantart.net/0d3c/i/2006/027/e/1/victor_by_kir_tat.jpg[/img][/center] [color=red]Name:[/color] Viktor Summers [color=red]Age:[/color] Twenty two [color=red]Titles:[/color] [i]Honorable Representative of the Caerleon Merchant Guild.[/i] [color=red]Origin:[/color] Caerleon [color=red]Allegiance:[/color] House Ralei (Nominally) [color=red]Family:[/color] [hider][i]-Alaric Relai (Grand Father)[/i] [i]-Maximilian Relai (Uncle)[/i] -Euric Relai (Father) -Olivia Margolis (Mother) -Jaelyn Ralei (Half Sister) -Arthur Ralei (Half Brother) -Cassiopeia Ralei (Half Sister)[/hider] [color=red]Personality:[/color] On his good side, people see him as a generous and intelligent individual that built his own fortune on cunning and on giving a chance to those who had nothing but the will to work hard, the anti-thesis of the nobles and even lots of merchants who only see in someone their parents or the place he was raised, that he studied in. This hides a darker truth however, the fact that he is extremely cynical and paranoid. He places his trust only in people who's life and career he made because they tend to be fanatically devoted to him rather than others who would normally have this post because of their birth... who would be entitled to it and would owe nothing to Viktor. [color=red]Background:[/color] Viktor realized very young that his was an abnormal family. He could only very rarely see his father and everyone seemed to dislike him and his mother for it. It wasn't long until the bitterness his mother had about the whole situation made its way into his heart. It was useless to bring up that he was half of a duke as that was too little, and that still made him half a merchant, which was also nothing of use to him. He grew lonesome, both because of the will of each side of his family who wanted to keep his existence hidden and because of his own who found himself to fit nowhere. With nothing to do he read, he drew, he studied and ultimately grew up to be quite the socialite, knowing from an early age he had everything to gain from concealing and hiding his true nature. When he reached his majority, he decided it was time to cash in as much as he could on life and decided to go meet his daddy. From what little encounter he had with him, Viktor was acutely aware of how guilt ridden Euric was and merely played on his heart strings to have a sizable stipend to start in life. It was easy, and easier still to have an edge in his business. Euric was convinced to bend the rules a little in favor of his son, here and there, to be more receptive to his plight and that meant, to the plight of those who worked with Viktor. The bastard, now known as Viktor Summers as to drop the heritage of both his mother and father, scoured the land in search for opportunities to exploit and people to discover. Or was it the contrary? No matter, it didn't take long for the Caerleon merchant guild to take interest in him, in the fact that he had the ear of the Duke and what it took days to have a short meeting to others, Viktor could discuss privately. He was thus made Representative of the guild. His words being that of the merchants of the south, mostly. That of course made him enter in contact with his siblings. Of course he hates Arthur and Viridiana with passion, believing, hard as iron, that they were the impostors, the responsible for any and all of his woes. He does not however, hold particular grudges against his sisters. Travels made him an open minded person who can appreciate the powers a woman can hold, and how they can to compare to any men in the intellectual department. Though he still hates it when they order him around. [/hider] [hider=Veronika Tolstoi] [center][img]http://orig07.deviantart.net/8e98/f/2012/180/4/3/43bed3be57e39ee3e7a2aa6e437b7ce8-d3ci2lj.jpg[/img][/center] [color=yellow]Name:[/color] Veronika Tolstoi [color=yellow]Age:[/color] Nineteen [color=yellow]Titles:[/color] None [color=yellow]Origin:[/color] Village near the Barony of Mork, North. [color=yellow]Allegiance:[/color] Viktor Summers, always. [color=yellow]Family:[/color] [hider] -Justine Tolstoi (Mother, Unknown) -Clair Tolstoi (Sister, Unknown) [/hider] [color=yellow]Personality:[/color] It was early that Veronika was harshly thought that one should not speak if one didn't have something to say. This, along with the punishment for even hinting at an insult with your facial expression made for a very quiet and rarely expressive girl. Ultimately she didn't need to spend any time with Viktor for life to rot her to the core with cynicism. As someone who known the worst of misery life can bring, her own belief is that no one else matters. They can die, they can starve, as long as it isn't her then its a victory. As long as it isn't Viktor... The man gave her a life worth living and even if it was just to give himself a useful servant, fact remained he chose her and no one else, and that she'd be dead or worst, still where she was when he found her without him. There is no god or king to her, only Viktor. [color=yellow]Background:[/color] The angular face with sharp lines... the distinctive feature of the Liber people. Some say a subgroup of the Estalian northern folks that would eventually go to the south, some say something else entirely. No matter, these people tend to be marginalized, living only in a handful of villages in the most isolated parts of the north. Veronika's childhood was only one of survival with her mother and older sister. She had other siblings as well but she hardly remembers them, winter took them when she was young. It seemed they would all fall victim to it when the Caravan of Miracles was in town. The caravan was a group of entertainer, popular on every corner of the kingdom for its breath taking shows. Known as well for its incredible talents. There was a reason of course, they were trained from a young age under the idea that if you couldn't tame a bear, then you would feed the bear. Veronika made her way in that circus like everyone there did: Her mother sold her to the circus master. Not as a slave no, but merely Veronika would gain a salary that she'd never see, it'd be sent to her mother. One mouth less to feed, and a little more income. Veronika trained to be an acrobat and was a pretty damn good one, though the training was impossibly hard. A lot fell in their act and were left on the side of the road as beggars with broken limbs if they were lucky enough for the stage not being burning coal or something like that. Veronika however never fell. It was a few years ago that a particular merchant from the South assisted to one of her shows. An important man she understood, as he was in the loge with the circus master and the local noble. Viktor. She had attracted his eye due to his own 'special' tastes in women. He didn't like traditional nobles and their anorexic figures and neither did he like the fatter ones. No, it was and still is one of his quirks, he likes the more trained women, the rare warriors, some farmer girls... an acrobat like Veronika fell exactly in his tastes. The compliment he said about Veronika's grace and abilities however was taken in an entirely inappropriate way by the circus master who ordered Veronika to meet the merchant in his chambers during the night. It wasn't the first time Veronika was ordered such a thing and she knew better than to disobey. It was, however, quite the first for Viktor and he was extremely surprised to see her, even more so when she calmly explained the situation to him. Viktor actually almost went through with it but ultimately, to Veronika's surprise, decided he could not go with it, and blamed his lack of enthusiasm with humor on Veronika not being able to smile to him. Still, they stayed together and spoke with interest to each other all night. It would have seemed their encounter would have ended there if it wasn't for the fact that Viktor had negotiations with the circus master the next day. The deal wasn't bad, but it wasn't good either and Viktor wanted to squeeze a little extra from the circus, but the circus master didn't want any of it. He then decided however to offer Viktor the girl he had slept with last night. She, after all, had only left early in the morning and he took that as a sign of interest. Viktor was taken aback but decided to accept. Like that, on a whim. Veronika was now under the service of a new master. One that fed her, clothed her, hell, even paid her. The first person, the first man, to pay such attention to her. Although he was very insistent she was anything but that, Veronika still served him like the most devout of slave from that moment on, placing her wide range of skills, from acrobatics to knife throwing, to his use, even learning some more to help her master and ultimately, the love of her life, in any ways she could. [/hider] [hider=Porthos Condorierri] [center][img]http://orig09.deviantart.net/de03/f/2013/126/e/5/prothos_the_strong_adv_by_toru_meow-d64af0x.jpg[/img] [img]http://orig05.deviantart.net/b226/f/2013/126/4/6/porthos_the_strong_by_toru_meow-d64aer3.jpg[/img][/center] [color=blue]Name:[/color] Porthos Condotierri [color=blue]Age:[/color] Thirty two [color=blue]Titles:[/color] [i]Captain of the Lion Company[/i] [color=blue]Origin:[/color] Barony of Langvale, West. [color=blue]Allegiance:[/color] Whomever signs a contract with him. [color=blue]Family:[/color] [hider]-Maria Condotierri (Daughter)[/hider] [color=blue]Personality:[/color] He is a loud man that likes nothing more than a barrel of wine and a couple of women to keep him company. This all tends to make him seem like a simple and even stupid man, though he is nothing but. While he's willing to admit there is more intelligent than him and that he has a lot of focus on direct charges and attacks, he'll underline the fact that no matter how simple what he does seems, it works. He indeed is a brave leader of man that knows himself and his soldiers. Along with that, he's maybe a little smarter than people give him credit for. [color=blue]Background:[/color] Porthos' father was actually a minor Baron in the west at the employ of the king, that is until when Porthos was very young and his family had to go bankrupt, selling their title to scrape enough to live. He however had the 'luck' to serve as a page to nobles, destined to eventually become a squire. He quickly abandonned this idea however when he noticed how much boot licking was involved. He wouldn't treat his master like light shined out of his ass when he was the best of his age and yet the last to become a squire. And so, he decided to leave and sell his sword arm instead. He did good, quickly banding with others to form a small company to dispatch of brigands and serve as hired thugs to beat up other hired thugs in the south. His career really started however when he joined a minor claiment to the title of count. By all rights he was probably the real count, but his uncle had the knights on his side and the castle as well, so pushing him out, even for the king, would just be an annoying chore. The claiment only had peasants to which he had promised to lower the taxes but Porthos took the contract non the less. By all odds, one would call this suicidal. Sure, they had the advantage of the number but peasants historically were all mowed down like grass in front of trained knights and mercenaries never fared much better. They laid siege to the castle of the count and surely, he decided he'd rather deal with this quickly and went to the field with his fully armoured knights. That the Lion Company proceeded to massacre. To be fair the count was an imbecile and decided to charge a line of pikemen, but that was still exceptional and Porthos was now known as a knight slayer, a man with people willing and able to dispatch of the most elite fighters of the kingdom. A step higher from bigger companies that refused any such contract, always fighting against criminals or other mercenaries in mock battles where they crushed the enemy with no challenge. Right now, Porthos is wise enough to see that a dying king with a dying heir makes for a very bad combo to keep the peace and so is expending, in prevision of what is to come. He, however, does not aim to get financial gain from the crisis to come. No, his family was noble once, and he intends to make it again. [/hider] [hider=Maria Condotierri] [center][img]http://orig08.deviantart.net/f637/f/2015/230/0/7/squire_and_lord_by_flibertyjibbeth-d90530z.png[/img][/center] [color=purple]Name:[/color] Maria Condotierri [color=purple]Age:[/color] Twelve [color=purple]Titles:[/color] None [color=purple]Origin:[/color] Somewhere on the roads in the North. [color=purple]Allegiance:[/color] None [color=purple]Family:[/color] [hider]-Porthos Condotierri (Father)[/hider] [color=purple]Personality:[/color] The nature of a mercenary company made Maria into a girl that has a hard time forming relations and getting attached to things since after all, no one knows when the time will come where someone might die or she herself will have to get up in the middle of the night and run for her life, leaving everything behind. Maria is thus also extremely mature for her age, understanding the random nature of life where bad things happen to bad people and vice versa, thus she doesn't expect to be entitled to anything and despises those that think they are. [color=purple]Background:[/color] The Captain of the Lions probably has left a long trail of bastards in his wake, considering his womanizing habits, it is thus extremely ironic that one of the woman she spent the most time with, a member of his own company who died in child birth, left him with a child he painfully obviously isn't the father of. What goes around, comes around as they say. Still, it didn't prevent him to love Maria like she was his only child. Though that didn't mean he treated her especially well. Porthos after all had and still has no idea what a normal childhood is supposed to look like and he's always just working between instinct and his experience training men to become the best they can be. Which is probably why today Maria acts like a boy and kinda looks like one too. While Maria at 12 years of age isn't sure what she wants to be, she guesses its probably not a mercenary. She tires of the constant walking, fighting and death, and dreams of maybe a little house. Porthos however dreams of more than that and what little special attention she gives to her is to groom her into being slightly more respectable than he is. She can at least look and act the part, though it also kind of encourages to become kind of a sneaky liar as she needs to do sneaking or lying to get him off her back at times. She loves her father, but sometimes he can be a little bit... too much. [/hider]