[b]Full Name:[/b] Ser Travayn Odissa III [b]Nicknames/Aliases:[/b] Ser Odissa, Odissea, The King of Cowards [b]Age:[/b] 33 [b]Gender:[/b] Male [b]Occupation/Class:[/b] Landed Knight of Yulia, Formerly of Aressa [b]Kingdom of Origin:[/b] Aressa, Region of Odissea [b]Description:[/b] Standing just shy of 6 Foot tall and more lanky than muscular, the Knight of Odissea is known to primp and preen before a mirror to affect a more cosmopolitan appearance than such a rural knight would have any business adopting. [img]https://vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/hieloyfuego/images/4/4a/Benedict_I_Justman_by_Magali_Villeneuve%C2%A9.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/350?cb=20150214153123[/img] [b]Equipment:[/b] - One Horse-drawn carriage, windowless, for transportation - One set of courtly formalwear, made from Eastern Silks. - One suit of mail armor, with longsword and shield [b]Personality:[/b] Ser Travayn Odissa comes from a long and storied line of Knights within Aressa. Alas, that storied line seemed to come to an end with his ascension to Knighthood. Travayn was not born with his family's inclination toward Knightly valor and fidelity to duty. He concerns himself more with the art of the possible, rather than the dreams of the impossible. He is a man of few words and fewer dreams. But one of those dreams is to see his family name redeemed during the overthrow of the Yulian empire... [u][b]Skills:[/b][/u] - [b]Political Education:[/b] Travayn was tutored by a Yulian expatriate in the art of politics. He knows how one greases the wheels of power within an empire. A word in the ear and a coin in the pocket, and look, it really was a simple misunderstanding. - [b]Formal Duelist:[/b] Travayn has received instruction in the use of sword and Javelin from his father's armsman before the war of conquest. - [b]The Hidden Hoard:[/b] Every year the Odissa estate pays its tithe to Yulia, ahead of schedule. And every year the ledgers list expenses for an extravagant "Midwinter Feast" within the halls. But no feast is cooked. The gold instead secretly is buried in the mines beneath Odissea Keep in a played out seam. Weapons and armor from the armory are buried and listed as "rusted" or "damaged" before being replaced. And every year, the hoard of treasure and weapons grows larger. [u][b]Weaknesses:[/b][/u] - [b]Poor reputation:[/b] It's a common game in Midgate's inns to raise ever inventive toasts to his demise. The smallfolk spit at his carriage when it passes, and the Yulians consider him a toady that will bend to the smallest request when summoned. - [b]The Patron:[/b] The Inquisition is aware that someone is supplying rebels with money and weapons around Midgate. So far, they know that this "Patron" does exist, and that they are someone of means. If Travayn isn't careful, the whole enterprise may come crashing down. - [b]Cannot be Seen:[/b] To openly support the rebellion around Midgate is a death sentence not just for Travayn, but for the many smallfolk who work his estate. [u][b]Fatal Flaw:[/b][/u] - [b]Failure to Dream:[/b] Travayn concerns himself with what is possible, not what is right or just. He will never envision himself intervening on behalf of a peasant being taken by the Inquisition for fear that the Inquisition will turn their ire on him. He is so concerned with planning for an eventual uprising against Yulia [i]someday[/i] that he may not recognize that [i]someday[/i] may be [i]today[/i]. [b]Brief History:[/b] Lord Travayn Odissa was a young man when his father and brother answered the call to war against Yulia. While they rode off with their squires and hedge knights to the front, he was ordered to summon their levies and lead them to battle. An encounter with a Yulian column of soldiers near the border revealed to Travayn what a foolhardy idea that was. He obeyed his father's orders to summon the smallfolk, but did nothing more than provision their castle and wait out the war. The armsmen wondered if the young lord had made a bargain with the enemy to betray his vows, while the smallfolk would admit they were happy to not see their lives thrown away for one lordling or another. It wasn't until the collapse of the Aressan knights that the fortress was approached by a delegation from Yulia. The King's High General was glad that the young lord had not taken the lives of his soldiers in a foolhardy attack, and he considered Travayn's actions a show of loyalty. Formal terms of surrender were laid out, but they amounted to little more than a transfer of sovereignty from Aressa to Yulia. Travayn was named Lord Protector of the Spine Hills, but both he and the Governor knew it was an empty title- none of the neighboring fiefdoms thought of it as anything other than his reward for selling out the kingdom, nor would they respect his commands, but Travayn could not refuse the title without being accused of insubordination toward the crown. Today, as the blights set in across the world and rebellion spreads from hardship, Travayn finds himself at a crossroads. He has been hoarding gold and weapons ever since the end of Aressa, preparing to use them someday in the future against Yulia. His gold and orchards secretly finance and feed small bands of rebels. At the same time, the people of Yulia know his orchards are still unaffected by the Blights. Yulian Mages and Engineers, along with convict work gangs, are preparing to descend on his lands to work on irrigation and farming projects to maximize their efficiency. Soon, loyal Yulians will be swarming his land- making his clandestine efforts that much more difficult... [hider=Odissea] [img]https://w-dog.net/wallpapers/3/59/455442081744783/stones-river-lock-bridge-mountain-fortress-tree.jpg[/img] Nestled along the foothills of the borderlands, Odissea has a reputation for its iron mines and its orchards. For generations the Odissa family had a reputation for serving as one of the royal family's chief bannermen, summoning their smallfolk to battle and abandoning their holdings for war. The crown came to rely on their levies too much over the centuries, and Odissea's fortunes suffered. The Odissa family still enjoyed prestige at court, but their Keep began to fall into decline and their smallfolk took up arms against Travayn's great-grandfather after his constant summons led to a famine. Today, Odissea's fortunes are much improved. The crown of Yulia noted with favor that when they were ordered to the field by the royal family of Aressa, the levies were called but did not march. They could have launched a destructive but futile attack on the Yulian flank. In exchange for forsaking their vows, the Odissea region was ordered to be spared by the Yulian generals where the surrounding countryside was pillaged to supply the army. With their lands spared, the smallfolk continue to worship at the Altar of Hiathas, the Dawn Child, and their neighbors look on with envy at their fat larders. The Blight that is overtaking the world has yet to touch Odissea in overt ways. Their orchards continue to bear fruit, and the herds of goats and sheep continue to grow fat. As a consequence, peasants from the neighboring fiefs have tried to forcibly move onto Odissean land. The garrison of Midgate has used force to eject these transients, but the Governor has made it clear that Yulia will be expecting more than gold as part of Odissea's yearly tithe. Lord Odissa has sworn fealty to the military governor of Midgate, and he regularly makes the journey to the fortress to present his tithe and conduct business at its markets- no other Aressan cities will suffer his presence without risking a knife in the back. When last the Governor asked him how many men at arms Odissa could summon in the event of an outbreak of civil unrest, Travayn responded confidently that he could call up 800 souls immediately if needed, and twice as many if given a week to prepare.[/hider] [b]Other:[/b] Travayn has been marked by the Inquisition as a Catamite, with his Chancellor Gaius Forent marked as his lover. The Governor of Midgate has ordered the Inquisition to leave the two be, for now.