Wernher

In the Court of the High Queen

"Your Excellency." A fully armored Samael was not only bowing, but kneeling, face on the ground, before the person in robe before him. He was not in the palace however and he did not bow before the queen. No master of the temporal was worthy of such a deep bow. He was kneeling in front of Pontiff Fleminus, general administrator of the church working right under the High Priest. Smiling, the old man with a small mustache and beard gave a quick hand gesture toward Samael, blessing even further a man blessed by god already. "Rise, my child. What troubles your mind?"

The pontiff could guess, Samael wasn't familiar with the politics of the city and yesterday he made a scene when he almost picked a fight with Kamahl Forest Walker. The paladin rose and removed his helmet, indeed showing a deeply concerned face. "Your Excellency, if I may be blunt..." The older man smirked and nodded his head. "The Queen... she is consorting with foul heathen witches! And pagan warlocks! Her education rather than in the ward of our church was made in the rancid dungeons of the wizards of the west!" And there was the matter. The council that had chosen Samael had been aware of this fact. Some doubted that Samael would be able to handle this whole thing and would get himself killed or thrown out the castle. Fleminus however had seen the man talk. He was a zealot of course, but he was more convincing than people gave him credit for.

"I do not doubt of the High Priest of course! She has been chosen by Naram-Sadai and his will shall be done, the path the righteous must walk is rarely the easiest one but... I am at a lost your Excellency." Samael raised his eyes toward the ceiling and closed them, taking a deep breath. The Pontiff raised an eyebrow but finally took this as his cue to talk. "It was the choice of her father Samael. What has been done cannot be undone. But, like all person of intelligence, the reason she ignores the faith is because she hasn't really stopped to ponder on it. You must open her mind Samael, be the spiritual guide she needs." Samael slowly opened his eyes and remained immobile for a moment, thinking and embracing the words of the Pontiff. There was a feeling, a hand on his shoulder (not that the Pontiff could see anyone in the room) and Samael smiled gently. Yes, the queen was more than he, above most mortals even so it was not his place to force things, he should be the voice that will make her see reason.

_____________________________________________________

Still, it was not easy. Samael saw them for what they were, the bestial Kamahl was a savage wolf disguised as a dog and if it was the character the guards and believers looked with the most open suspicion, it was not the person who Samael's eyes fixated when entering the room, for Kamahl didn't know better, maybe he could even be domesticated and converted to the true faith. Valericka Luxta. The others saw her as the charming ambassador, radiating by her intelligence in the arcane and other fields. But he saw her horns and her tail, she couldn't hide them from him. A snarky comment here, a parole of doubt there. To captivate the young mind of the Queen, she was the wolf in sheep's clothing.

Beside Samael, a nervous boy wearing a much simpler chain mail and tunic cleared his throat. it was his Squire, Nathaniel, who was hardly used to this situation either. "P-presenting His Beatitude, Paladin Samael of the order of the Holy sword!" His voice went up and down, he was sweating more than he did when facing a horde of heretic. When people looked at him with raised eyebrow, he swallowed loudly and was about to excuse himself to the Paladin for his poor performance. Samael however had removed a helmet and placed a friendly hand on his shoulder, smiling to the 16 year old squire to reassure him he did alright before handing him an overdecorated Great Helm and turning to walk to the Queen, patiently waiting his turn to place a knee on the ground before the Queen.

"Your Grace. I hope the vigil I held with my Sword Companions to pray for your restful sleep was at least somewhat successful? In any case, I thank you and Naram-Sadai from the bottom of my heart that you would allow me to help you carry your burdens. I shall be at your disposal for all matters." Saying this, Samael awaited to be acknowledged before raising and going to the chair with the sigil of the church on it, sitting as his squire waited standing behind him if he had any need.

At the moment however, Samael didn't have his mind on court intrigue, it was a feast and not only that, but the patron saint of today was Saint Adalbert the Charitable and so he was eager to see what kind of Graces the Queen would say, though he was almost wishing he'd allow him the honor as he had practiced a speech in the morning just in case and reflected a lot on the deeds of this saint. Being from a religious order however, it didn't cross his mind that Saint Adalbert was... well, obscure to the non initiated.

In the Court of the High Queen

Btw, is there a sitting arrangement? Does that even matter?

In the Court of the High Queen

This might seem a bit extreme but uh, would it be out of place for Samael to rush in to punch Kamahl in the face right about now? The whole pagan magic in front of the Queen bit would irk him but I want to be sure I'm not ruining the RP lol

In the Court of the High Queen

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

In the Court of the High Queen

@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.

In the Court of the High Queen

@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.

In the Court of the High Queen

@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.

In the Court of the High Queen

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.

In the Court of the High Queen

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In the Court of the High Queen

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?