[OOC] In the Court of the High Queen

[Genni]

Also, now I will say that Pridania live in an environment similar to Ireland, with very similar accents. :3

@OfWindAndRain

Does that mean the countryside in Pridania is overrun with aos sí? :p

[Saltwater Thief]

CS is in production, will be ready for review tomorrow afternoon.

[Wernher]

I think I'll redo my CS actually. I feel like we have a lot of merchant characters but we could use someone with religious concerns in mind maybe?

[Saltwater Thief]

Well, it's incomplete due to still needing to come up with one last Weakness, but since the IC post is planned for tomorrow night I wanted to get the rest of it in so he could be accounted for and so I have time to fix any glaring issues.

Hider

Name: Sir Aldrich Martin

Age: 26

Rank: Noble, Legitimized Bastard (Sort of)

Title: Knight

Features: Aldrich Martin is a tall, well-built man with dark brown hair and olive skin. His facial features are sharp, reminiscent of a hawk’s almost, and his eyes are a deep green. He stands roughly 6’4” tall, and can usually be seen wearing some form of armor. Typically he wears a few pieces of light plate over chainmail or leather, but he also has a set of ceremonial arms bearing the royal crest that he dons for occasions of particular pomp and circumstance.

Strengths:
-Martial Prowess: Aldrich is one of the finest swordsmen in the Crownlands and hones his skill regularly. Direct conflict with him or his charge is therefor incredibly risky.

-Military Experience: Aldrich served for several years in the Viexmeurian Military before his appointment, and during that time he gained an in-depth knowledge of military tactics as well as several friends in various positions he can call upon.

-Crown Confidant: Few, if any, are as familiar with Queen Gisela as Aldrich is. His presence in her youth, as well as their similar circumstances of birth, grant him an uncommonly close relation with the young monarch. Though he may not have bountiful lands, money, or soldiers, what Aldrich does have is the queen’s ear and confidence.

Weaknesses:
-Black Sheep: Aldrich is the outcast of his family, and as such cannot depend on them for support except in very specific circumstances, and even then it’s unlikely.

-A Fish out of Water: Aldrich has not set foot in a court of governance since his adolescence, and while he knows enough decorum to not make a fool of himself courtly proceedings make him visibly uncomfortable.

-(Pending): Salt is still coming up with one to fill this slot.

Bio: Aldrich is the eldest son of the Torverra House of the Crownlands. A highborn family steeped in military tradition, the Torverras are widely regarded as prestigious fighters and leaders, with several of Viexmeur’s finest generals coming from their lineage. However, Aldrich is not the heir to such a legacy. He is a bastard; his father, the Torverra Patriarch, drank a little too much on the march home to his newly betrothed bride and bedded the daughter of the holdfast lord which had taken him as a guest. Several months later, she died in childbirth and Aldrich was brought to Torverra Keep as a babe. His father, a compassionate man who truly regretted the woman’s fate, vowed to raise the child as his own and acted at once. This did not sit well with his lady wife, who in truth was a conniving woman out to see her own bloodline flourish at any expense, and she began trying to conceive ways the little one might be done away with lest his existence inhibit her own offspring. However, the slaughtering of a child proved too vile a thought for even her to stomach, and she allowed his existence to continue for a few short years, at which point the birth of her own son Davin occupied her attention.

Davin and Aldrich grew together, albeit in starkly different standards and preferences, until the day Aldrich turned 13- the age a Torverra customarily began their time of military service. Not wanting to disappoint, he agreed to serve his time, and departed for the barracks. However, he enlisted under the name of Martin, the holdfast to which his mother had belonged, at Lady Torverra’s insistence. As he learned and grew in the military, Aldrich developed strong bonds with his fellow servicemen, perhaps made possible by his lack of apparent connection to the House, and swiftly grew to become one of the finest soldiers in his battalion.

Then the letters came. There were two; the first was from Lady Torverra, giving him news that Lord Torverra had passed away, and that under her orders he was to cease association with the House as anything more than a governing family over him, and that he would be imprisoned for slander should he ever take the name for himself. It was near banishment, as far as sentences go. The second, however, was a nearly burned paper that had all the writing of a will and testament- his father’s, saved from fire by a servant who had seen it delivered. In it, though scarcely legible, was a simple script from the bottom- officially legitimizing Aldrich as his son, and conferring upon him all titles he was owed. It was clear that it would hold no value in any court, but to Aldrich it was a dear sentiment, even if he would never see it come to light.

Years continued to pass as Aldrich made a home for himself in the military, until one day his Captain called him to the command tent for a special discharge of duty to give him a new assignment. It seemed the King himself was in need of a strong and noble knight to personally safeguard a young girl but it did not say why she merited it. Still, it had called for the best man he had, the Captain had told him, and that meant Aldrich was the only choice.

He has stayed by Gisela’s side ever since.

Quote: “I take such threats neither kindly nor lightly. If you continue with these actions, I will draw my sword. And I guarantee that you will find what comes after… quite unpleasant.”

[Wernher]

Just an idea... though, if people would be interested, could I make him a sibling of one of the current characters?

Samael

“Naram-Sadai, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thine kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”

Name

Samael

Age

26

Rank

Cleric/Knight

Titles

Paladin of the Order of the Holy Sword

Spoken Address

Most Virtuous, Your beatitude

Features

Owners of a 'baby face' unable to grow facial hair are generally ridiculed, but in the case of Samael it gives him the look of a cherub, something about purity and in general gentle features that make one presume of his good nature. The good gifts of nature do not stop there as he also has wavy hairs and a mouth full of pearly white teeth despite being in constant campaign. Physically he is pale and as for other body properties one would struggle to see any as decency forbids a paladin to expose too much flesh. Indeed as he is part of an ultra orthodox branch of the church, he will not remove his clothes even to bath or under any other circumstances. He will thus often be seen wearing either his armor or a modest white linen set of clothing.

Strengths

-Paragon of the Church: Samael oozes goodness and is pointed at as a role model by the High Priest himself. By that logic, he can theoretically do no wrong by virtue of being the most virtuous and being able to recite the holy texts by heart. Needless to say, this carries some weight.

-Expert Fighter: The man is a killing machine raised from birth for warfare and veteran of many battle from a young age, it would be hard to find more apt fighter.

-Charismatic: He just looks good and trustable, even without his office, he speaks with such absolute conviction, with such fire and brimstone when he preaches, that the masses just flock to him.

Weaknesses

-No Ruler: Lets face it, Samael is just some guy. Oh he's a good fighter and people flock to him and his charisma but... he has no expertise whatsoever in rulership, not even in leadership as he doesn't lead men in battle but rather serves as a champion, a standard bearer and a living banner for people to regroup around. He may give speeches about why we must fight, but not how.

-Tunnel Vision: Everyone knows it and he'll say it to anyone who asks, his only aim in the council is to get the Queen's support to make war against the heretics and the heathens. Taxes and politics are absolutely none of his concern and as far as he thinks, people should actually be happy to pay for the cause of the church.

-Personal Standards: His position is dependent on his obedience of the creed of the church. This is complicated because the church has a lot of rule. Lets just hope there isn't an important meeting during the 'Week of silence' or other custom he must take part of.

Bio:

Samael was born Albrech Sylvester, first son of a high profile noble in Vrenal. He had thus been expected to have a career in military matter from a young age and actually found himself shunning other classes in favor of martial training (his teachers called him an imbecile, too stupid to learn mathematics and other matters of rulership.) His father supported him somewhat but found it obvious that like his teachers said, Albrech would ruin his estate the moment he'd inherit. Another, more balanced, son should really inherit. Lucky for Albrech's dad, his son found interest in theology.

It was a revelation, an intense interest, he said Naram-Sadai inspired him in his sleep! When he asked to join the Order of the Holy Sword, his father gladly accepted, happy to encourage his son in his passion and get him out of the way for inheritance. Indeed, a member of the order is expected to give up everything. Titles, names... He was thus renamed Samael and made a squire. Quickly he was noticed for his bravery, or indeed, his suicidal lack of fear. When in combat, he was in a trance, screaming the holy gospel as he slew anyone who crossed his path. Too bad the kid was a little... simple maybe.

This placed him at the rank of Paladin. Above a knight, an example for all knights, a beacon of what people should strive to be and also, a dead end position with no promotion path. Still, he was adored by everyone who saw him and thus proved useful. It is why he was chosen rather than anyone else, the clergy knows the queen is naive and so hope this inspiring man will inspire her to be more religious as a leader, adopt his values and if possible, make her into a zealot like he is.

[Genni]

Just an idea... though, if people would be interested, could I make him a sibling of one of the current characters?

@Wernher

I don't see why you'd need to make him someone's sibling, he's a strong enough character on his own.

In fact, giving him ties outside of the Church might dilute his zealotry a little, giving him an emotional weakness others could exploit. You could even take this to the extreme and make it that 'Samael' had found his own family guilty of heresy and had them all executed before taking control of their lands in the name of the Church.

Above a knight, an example for all knights...

@Wernher

This may be a little questionable.

Paladins were entitled by the Church while other knights had to undergo rigorous training and years of testing before being awarded their title by the Crown (since most knights were "landed" and so the titles were a scarse commodity, while the Church were only limited by how many suits of armour and sigils they could hand out.) This process required a vast amount of resources to achieve, usually making it the purview of only the nobility who could afford to dedicate their time to 'knightly pursuits' as someone else had to worry about where their meals came from.

Anyone could be named a Paladin though, with many 'lowborn' gaining their titles through acts of great piety and proof of their faith, rather than the usual manner of martial conduct and commitment to the code of chivalry (although usually the two overlapped a great deal.) Due to this most knights disliked the Paladins in general unless an individual could also prove their worth in battle or through some great valorous act, as the highborn nobles disliked having to rub shoulders with the gutter trash.

While the pious member of the public may see Samael as a virtuous hero, titled knights such as Ser Alistair and Sir Martin might instead see him as an upstart pretender, and the impious could see him as a blood crazed monster. Carmella really wouldn't get along with him at all, given that she and her people don't follow the teachings of the Church in any way.

It works perfectly fine if the profile is written from Samael's point of view however, since most monsters don't realise they're monsters and truly believe they're doing the right thing.

Nice choice on the name, by the way. Samael, the Angel of Death; the Venom, the Poison, and the Blindness of God.

[Genni]

Well, it's incomplete due to still needing to come up with one last Weakness...

@Saltwater Thief

You could try 'Bastard', making the nature of his birth a point he'd have to work against in court, where some of the other Councilmembers would have problems working with someone who had no claim to be amongst them other than their Queen's word.

Not that Carmella would have a problem with him. She's found most bastards to be far more trustworthy than her fellow nobles, who had far more secrets to hide in their extended familes than a man alone could ever have to worry about.

Another option would be to make his continued existance a threat to his family's honour, and given their suppression of his father's will they're willing to use underhanded tactics to keep him out of sight. Have they gone as far as making arrangement to have his life shortened, to make sure he doesn't cause problems for them in future? Or would this mirror the 'Black Sheep' trait he already has?

Other than that, maybe something about his temperament, such as 'Hot-Heated', 'Brutal' or 'Blunt'? How would Sir Martin approach a situation, and how would his attitude to life affect the policies he would would put forth or support?

[Major Sharpe]

-snip-

@Saltwater Thief

I like it so far. Conditionally accepted.

-snip-

@Wernher

Hmm. I definitely like the character. I'm actually a little surprised no one else came up with a crusader-type already.

Fiat voluntas tua.

[OfWindAndRain]

@Saltwater Thief
Just letting you know, your character will also have fairly close relations with my character. Given that there's a decade of age difference between them as well, it's probably likely your character grew up sparring with mine, probably half as often as my character spent guarding or tutoring the High Queen.

I figger Lady Luxta is probably a real good person to practice against, given her defensive combat style.

[Genni]

I figger Lady Luxta is probably a real good person to practice against, given her defensive combat style.

@OfWindAndRain

Not really great though, since if you train against opponents who're always defensive you'll struggle against more aggressive opponents in real combat.

[Wernher]

@Genni

Its actually why I think he should have connections to others, to add to the intrigue, to give people way to exploit him as else he'll be pretty damn close minded and hard to interact with.

As for the Paladin bit, they can come from the lower rungs but to quote my CS "Samael was born Albrech Sylvester, first son of a high profile noble in Vrenal." He's first grade nobility and had a pretty powerful career in front of him, the fact that he renounced all that actually makes him ooze goodliness even more annoyingly so.

ALSO, edited the char a bit, gave him some counter magic with a fancy, very fancy new weakness. Also: Holy order.

Should I replace Montisle with that?

Samael

“Naram-Sadai, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thine kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”

Name

Samael

Age

26

Rank

Cleric/Knight

Titles

Paladin of the Order of the Holy Sword

Spoken Address

Most Virtuous, Your beatitude

Features

Owners of a 'baby face' unable to grow facial hair are generally ridiculed, but in the case of Samael it gives him the look of a cherub, something about purity and in general gentle features that make one presume of his good nature. The good gifts of nature do not stop there as he also has wavy hairs and a mouth full of pearly white teeth despite being in constant campaign. Physically he is pale and as for other body properties one would struggle to see any as decency forbids a paladin to expose too much flesh. Indeed as he is part of an ultra orthodox branch of the church, he will not remove his clothes even to bath or under any other circumstances. He will thus often be seen wearing either his armor or a modest white linen set of clothing.

Strengths

-Paragon of the Church: Samael oozes goodness and is pointed at as a role model by the High Priest himself. By that logic, he can theoretically do no wrong by virtue of being the most virtuous and being able to recite the holy texts by heart. Needless to say, this carries some weight.

-Expert Fighter: The man is a killing machine raised from birth for warfare and veteran of many battle from a young age, it would be hard to find more apt fighter.

-Charismatic: He just looks good and trustable, even without his office, he speaks with such absolute conviction, with such fire and brimstone when he preaches, that the masses just flock to him.

-Spellshield: The holy soldiers of Naram-Sadai are tasked with converting at the point of a sword many user of foul magic and as such, Samael has been extensively trained in resisting the supernatural. Ironically a mage would call that 'Counterspelling and defensive magic'. Samael calls it faith.

Weaknesses

-No Ruler: Lets face it, Samael is just some guy. Oh he's a good fighter and people flock to him and his charisma but... he has no expertise whatsoever in rulership, not even in leadership as he doesn't lead men in battle but rather serves as a champion, a standard bearer and a living banner for people to regroup around. He may give speeches about why we must fight, but not how.

-Tunnel Vision: Everyone knows it and he'll say it to anyone who asks, his only aim in the council is to get the Queen's support to make war against the heretics and the heathens. Taxes and politics are absolutely none of his concern and as far as he thinks, people should actually be happy to pay for the cause of the church.

-Personal Standards: His position is dependent on his obedience of the creed of the church. This is complicated because the church has a lot of rule. Lets just hope there isn't an important meeting during the 'Week of silence' or other custom he must take part of.

-Invisible friend: Naram-Sadai speaks to him. Literally, he sometimes places his hand on his shoulder! Samael learned long ago not to speak of this private relationship with god but still... when he is alone, or thinks he is alone, he speaks to this invisible being next to him, asking him what he must do and confiding his fears, etc.

Bio:

Samael was born Albrech Sylvester, first son of a high profile noble in Vrenal. He had thus been expected to have a career in military matter from a young age and actually found himself shunning other classes in favor of martial training (his teachers called him an imbecile, too stupid to learn mathematics and other matters of rulership.) His father supported him somewhat but found it obvious that like his teachers said, Albrech would ruin his estate the moment he'd inherit. Another, more balanced, son should really inherit. Lucky for Albrech's dad, his son found interest in theology.

It was a revelation, an intense interest, he said Naram-Sadai inspired him in his sleep! When he asked to join the Order of the Holy Sword, his father gladly accepted, happy to encourage his son in his passion and get him out of the way for inheritance. Indeed, a member of the order is expected to give up everything. Titles, names... He was thus renamed Samael and made a squire. Quickly he was noticed for his bravery, or indeed, his suicidal lack of fear. When in combat, he was in a trance, screaming the holy gospel as he slew anyone who crossed his path. Too bad the kid was a little... simple maybe.

This placed him at the rank of Paladin. Above a knight, an example for all knights, a beacon of what people should strive to be and also, a dead end position with no promotion path. Still, he was adored by everyone who saw him and thus proved useful. It is why he was chosen rather than anyone else, the clergy knows the queen is naive and so hope this inspiring man will inspire her to be more religious as a leader, adopt his values and if possible, make her into a zealot like he is.

The Order of the Holy Sword

Province Name: The Order of the Holy Sword of Naram-Sadai

Province Ruler: Grand-Master Zamiel

Position: Replacing Montisle I believe.

Notable Attributes: Harsh winters and harsher rulership makes for servile peasants who know better than to raise their voice less they be found guilty of an heresy or another. Still, for travelers one may enter in these lands and know themselves in perfect safety and know that any thief among them will be caught and have his hand cut off. The Order employs only professional knights and no petty levies to fight its war on the heretics and so there is a perpetual sense of, well, order in this place. Though the castles and fortifications guarding against Foronia are quite oppressive.

Description:
This province was previously known as the province of Prisia and was the northern march to enter Foronia. Its inhabitant however found the reformationist faith to be quite to their liking. At the time this blight of a religion was becoming popular and so the High Priest decided to create an order specifically to deal with heretics rather than pagan. Pagans could be converted, but people who had looked at the true faith and turned their eyes from it were beyond salvation and so when the order assembled its zealots, the crackdown was brutal and epic, rivers of blood flowing as having one person being a heretic often warranted an entire family being killed to the last.

The order settled down in Prisia before the king even awarded them the land they had just purged, there were some other nobles who held these lands, but at this point the church had become too militarily powerful for the king to actually throw out these maniacs so he had to let it go. Since then, the Order has been mainly focusing north and been fighting wars in Foronia, becoming just another player in that mess of a 'nation' as they try to reach Aldburg and kill everyone inside. They laid siege to it a couple of times but never managed to take it.

[Genni]

As for the Paladin bit, they can come from the lower rungs but to quote my CS "Samael was born Albrech Sylvester, first son of a high profile noble in Vrenal." He's first grade nobility and had a pretty powerful career in front of him, the fact that he renounced all that actually makes him ooze goodliness even more annoyingly so.

@Wernher

The fact he'd renounced his family name and titles would mean that he had no standing in Court, and so would be treated in a similar way to any lowborn commoner or bastard offspring by the stuck up prigs high born noble houses. He wouldn't be able to claim the station of a noble after doing that unless he'd gained control of those resources some other way.

Hence the suggestion of his heretical family.

Technically this would mean that his province would be under control of the Church, with Samael merely acting as their mouthpiece.

Luckily Carmella would have no such prejudice against him, but the way he kept killing anyone who spoke out against the word of his manifestation of dissociative identity disorder god wouldn't please the Laurensi lady. Mainly beacuse it's far more difficult to sell things to someone when they're dead, except in very special and specific circumstances which Samael definitely wouldn't be pleased about.

Should I replace Montisle with that?

@Wernher

That depends. How much did Corvinus upset the Church with his sinful ways, calling Samael's judgement down upon his head?

Or how much did the High Clerics covet Montisle prosperity for themselves, manipulating Samael into seizing the province to give them access to the wealth?

[OfWindAndRain]

<Snipped quote by Wernher>
The fact he'd renounced his family name and titles would mean that he had no standing in Court, and so would be treated in a similar way to any lowborn commoner or bastard offspring by the stuck up prigs high born noble houses. He wouldn't be able to claim the station of a noble after doing that unless he'd gained control of those resources some other way.

Hence the suggestion of his heretical family.

Technically this would mean that his province would be under control of the Church, with Samael merely acting as their mouthpiece.

Luckily Carmella would have no such prejudice against him, but the way he kept killing anyone who spoke out against the word of his manifestation of dissociative identity disorder god wouldn't please the Laurensi lady. Mainly beacuse it's far more difficult to sell things to someone when they're dead, except in very special and specific circumstances which Samael definitely wouldn't be pleased about.

<Snipped quote by Wernher>That depends. How much did Corvinus upset the Church with his sinful ways, calling Samael's judgement down upon his head?

Or how much did the High Clerics covet Montisle prosperity for themselves, manipulating Samael into seizing the province to give them access to the wealth?

@Genni

are we talking about undead people?

oooo, Luxta knows all about that subject.
maybe.
you didn't hear that from me.

[Wernher]

@Genni I mean, sure he doesn't have resources, but even with all their resources, what can said nobles do against him? Samael has priestly authority so when he talks, he speaks the truth 'by default'. And you can't go to war with the church lol.

And hey, the fun is to have adversity!

And as for Montisle, I meant that Corvinus is kinda similar to many characters with mercantile interests in mind, so I meant to replace him/that he never existed.

[Genni]

are we talking about undead people?

@OfWindAndRain

~glances in Samael's direction furtively~ ...no?

Definitely no necromancy going on in Laurensia, even though it would probably be really profitable if you could figure out what material goods undead spirits might want to buy. And figure out a way to get paid by them.

And you can't go to war with the church lol.

@Wernher

*cough* Henry the VIII *cough*

...so I meant to replace him/that he never existed.

@Wernher

All record of him and his entire family line erased from history? Man, the Church are really mean to people they don't like.

[Major Sharpe]

ALSO, edited the char a bit, gave him some counter magic with a fancy, very fancy new weakness. Also: Holy order.

Should I replace Montisle with that?

@Wernher

Go for it, if you'd like. Sir Samael (should a paladin be addressed as sir? I've always thought so.) should make an interesting addition to the Council.

[Grammatic]

@Genni I mean, sure he doesn't have resources, but even with all their resources, what can said nobles do against him? Samael has priestly authority so when he talks, he speaks the truth 'by default'. And you can't go to war with the church lol.

And hey, the fun is to have adversity!

And as for Montisle, I meant that Corvinus is kinda similar to many characters with mercantile interests in mind, so I meant to replace him/that he never existed.

@Wernher

Adversity for sure, Rycherd and House Alistair probably won't be looking too favorably on a holy order of knights and paladins. Probably will think of them as rivals and upstarts.

[Wernher]

@Major Sharpe

I was thinking some needlessly pompous stuff like 'His beatitude Samael' or 'The Virtuous Samael' just to really get on people's nerve.

[OfWindAndRain]

@Wernher
Luxta definitely won't take to this heretic foul. Pridania falls under a different religion and set of beliefs... so it's quite likely your paladin might fall undet Luxta's ire.

[Wernher]

Oh yeah, the queen was educated in a place with a foreign religion uh? That will go swimmingly.