[b]Count Lars Barker of the House Ryrstone, Regent of the Duchy of Westrock:[/b]

[img]http://i.imgur.com/qPFccae.jpg?1[/img]

[b]Physical Description:[/b]
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[*]44 years of age (based upon the story beginning in the Year 926 of the [i]Universal Calendar, or UC[/i]).
[*]5'11", 195#.
[*]Fit, muscular body with a layer of "winter fat" from good living.
[*]Bright, blond hair.
[*]Hazel-green eyes. 
[*]Multiple scars, to be described later.
[*]Missing his left pinky (from a sword fight that, ironically, he won).
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[b]Personality:[/b]
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[*]Confident, sometimes overly so.
[*]Educated and knowledgeable; intelligent.
[*]Loud, forceful; doesn't hesitate to speak is mind.
[*]Vengeful and violent when necessary to achieve his goals.
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[b]Background[/b]:
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[*]882 UC: Born, the second (middle) son of Lars Deemis, Count of Ryrstone.
[*]Received an above average education, but yearned to spend more time with a sword in his hand than a book.
[*]894 UC: At age 12, Barker became squire to the Cranston, Duke of Westrock.
[*]He became a favorite of Cranston's wife and, particularly, his eldest daughter, Mary.
[*]898 UC: At age 16, he married Mary.
[*]898 UC: Barker's first child was born and named Lars Cranston to celebrate the union of the Duchy of Westrock and County of Ryrstone.
[*]900 UC: In a fight against the Wildland Raiders, he lost his left pinky saving Cranston's life.  He replaced the Captain of the Guard, who was killed in the fight.
[*]908 UC: 
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[*]When Cranston and his eldest son left to join the conflicts exploding across the Continent, Barker remained to take the position of Regent of Westrock.
[*]He served as Advisor, Advocate, Tutor, and Protector to Cranston's second son, Richard -- then only 12 years old -- who nominally governed the Duchy.
[*]While his loyalty to Richard and the Duchy seemed solid in public, in private he was skimming a significant percentage of the Duchy's tax income, as well as secretly forging alliances with neighboring Lords that were meant to benefit him.
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[*]914 UC: 
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[*]Cranston's youngest son Paul -- at this time 14 -- was proving to be a skilled warrior, tactician, and politician; unlike Richard, who was more on the quiet, meek, reserved side.
[*]Barker could easily manipulate Richard, but he knew Paul was going to become a problem.
[*]When a band of highwaymen began harassing caravans traveling between Westrock and its neighboring Duchies, Barker manipulated Richard into sending Paul to deal with the criminals.  Barker was hoping Paul might be killed, but instead Paul wiped out the Highwaymen and returned a hero. 
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[*]917 UC:
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[*]Unknown to anyone but his closest aide -- a man named Crone who is little more than an assassin -- Barker send work to an enemy force about where Cranston's army was positioned.
[*]The Army was attacked by a superior force and very nearly wiped out.
[*]The survivors scattered in all directions, and the fate of Cranston to this very day is still unknown.
[*]Again, Barker manipulated Richard into sending Paul with a force to locate their father or, at the least, return his body to Westrock.
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[*]918 UC:
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[*]Again unknown to anyone but Crone, Barker poisoned Richard, killing him with the symptoms of a fever that was sweeping through the Duchy.
[*]With the Duke and his male heirs absent, Count Barker [i]volunteered[/i] to govern the Duchy.
[*]He vowed that if neither Cranston nor Paul returned, he would turn over rule to the eldest heir present in Westrock, a boy who then was only 4 years old.
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[*]Over the years to come, that child [i]and[/i] the next [i]two[/i] children in line died of various illnesses or accidents until finally his own children were the heirs to the Duchy.  Coincidental bad luck...?  I doubt it, though there is no proof.
[*]922:
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[*]For years, Cranston's widow, Eddithia, has feared that Barker would never turn over power.
[*]She had been conspiring with loyalists to seize power from Barker, but she had to be cautious because her eldest daughter, Mary, is Barker's wife.
[*]On the eve of an action to take control, the conspiracy -- which had been long ago uncovered -- fell apart.  Claiming that Eddithia had suffered a mental breakdown, he had her confined to a tower in the Cathedral under the supervision of the Monks. The other conspirators were accused of and tried for treason against none other than Eddithia herself, then executed.
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[*]926 UC:
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[*]For 18 years, Count Barker had essentially ruled the Duchy, and he was beginning to feel confident that his eldest son would soon become Duke.
[*]Then ... Paul returned.
[*]More to come.
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