» Fri May 04, 2012 3:51 am
My finished (I believe) CS. Without further ado, I present, Duke Veric Montrend.
Name: Duke Veric Montrend
Title: Duke of Thorkan, Knight Commander of the Order of the Knights of the Old Gate, Councilman and Ebon Knight of the Fraternal Order of the Knights of the Mines
Age: 29
Race: Breton
Gender: Male
Appearance: The Duke is the epitome of a typical Thorkanian male, just slightly better in most aspects. He is rather tall, standing around six feet and two inches, and fills out his large frame quite impressively. The majority of his two-hundred-and-thirty-pound weight consists of solid muscle, achieved by many days of hard work, military training, and genetics, but a small layer of fat has started to encroach. Regardless, he is still stout, broad-shouldered, and barrel-chested. His hair is a very dark brown, close to black, and is kept quite short and close to his skull. In his youth, it was longer and swept to the side, but that was before the war and when he had time to gallivant around. His eyes are the color of the iron that is found in abundance in Thorkan's mines. He also has several noticeable scars, the most prominent being one that reaches from his right cheekbone almost to his ear. This is also his newest scar, attained during the war with Shornhelm. Another notable scar lies on the left side of his ribs, just above his fifth rib. It is a jagged, yet small scar, and has a twin on his back. That one was received when he was a young boy and a rival of his father's decided to try and assassinate the only male heir to the Duchy of Thorkan at that time.
Skills: Rather adept with one-handed blades, using his shield both offensively and defensively, military strategy, history, and is adequate at diplomacy. Has little knowledge in the way of magic, but can perform a simple healing spell on himself and can also magically enhance the volume of his voice.
Equipment (Weapons, armor, misc.): He wields a sword made of Ebony, which was given to him by his father on the day he came of age and was mined, smelted, and forged all in Thorkan. He also prefers to wear the armor of the Knights of the Old Gate, but when dealing with everyday court functions and at festivals, he typically wears garments with colors ranging from silver to grey, with a tinge of gold, white, or black here or there. His white cape, with the black symbol of the Old Gate, is always worn, though, no matter the occasion. Rarely seen, but always on his person, is an Elvish dagger that he received from a fellow Knight of the Mines, who happened to be an Altmeri master smith, upon his initiation into the Order. When seen though, he simply says he stumbled upon it in the vaults when he was a young boy. Finally, he carries two tokens, each in separate pouches, one hidden and the other not. The first token, which is not hidden, simply bears the crest of the Duchy on one side and his personal crest on the other, identifying him as the Duke of Thorkan. The other token, which is always hidden and kept a secret but to a select few, is an almost perfect sphere of Ebony, with an etching of the Ebonarm on it.
Background: Veric was the firstborn of Duke Edwinn Montrend, and as such, had been 'groomed' to rule Thorkan since birth. Groomed is not a good word to use because Edwinn, just like his father, and his father before him, and so on and so forth throughout the Montrend line, was a hard, stern, and tough man. Sure, he had his gentler side, but that was only in private and Veric could remember many a smile that the public and average Thorkanian would not believe. As soon as he could walk, he was carrying a small knife, no bigger than one used for eating, but a sharp, pointy thing nonetheless. Almost every male Montrend had some amount of military experience, whether it be in the wars that have shaped Tamriel, petty squabbles with other minor states of High Rock, or simply dispersing of bandits, pirates, or smugglers.
The Granite Keep, which was situated on the pinnacle of a mountain between Thorkan Park and Old Gate, was a challenging place for a young boy to grow up. It was not vast or grand as one would expect, but rather small. In other words, it was almost impossible to get away with the mischief that most young boys get themselves into. This raw energy needed a focus though, and his father was able to direct it into learning, succeeding where most parents did not. In Veric, he found a student yearning to learn how to rule, how to fight, and anything else he could learn. His mother wanted him to have some affinity with magic, as did many of his less noble cousins, but Veric was simply uninterested in it for the most part. He would take hours upon hours of swordsmanship practice over one hour of magic, and he often did, alternating tutors, so he could practice against many different styles. It was during one of these lessons when he was around the age of thirteen that he witnessed his first real taste of political intrigue. It was much more up close and personal than he had expected however. He had begun an elaborate ruse to sneak in his blade and catch his tutor off guard, but after the first turn, he found himself spinning in the opposite direction due to a sudden impact in his chest. It took a second to comprehend what was happening, but the yell for guards from his tutor, as well as the massive bulk of the man covering him, soon made him feel the pain that was growing in his chest. Looking down, he discovered an arrow sticking through his torso.
The healers said he was one of the luckiest cases they had ever seen, for the arrow had gone straight through, without hitting anything vital. The sudden turn that he had used to begin his elaborate ruse had been what saved him. The assassin had let fly of his arrow and watched it, instead of firing another, and was soon caught as he tried to escape the keep. When Veric was recovered enough to stand for an extended amount of time, he put on his best clothes, strapped on his short-sword that was already starting to look small on the growing boy, and attended the sentencing of his would-be assassin, showing no fear or pain. In a move that shocked many, his father, Edwinn, had asked his opinion on the matter, in front of everyone. The young boy had looked really hard at the assassin, and he remembered everything about the moment. He looked scared. He was on his knees in front of the throne and the raised dais that served to separate the Duke and his retinue from everyone else. His pale blue eyes were flitting about and his light yellow hair seemed stringy and frayed. He almost looked like a common beggar, but a common beggar did not simply infiltrate the Granite Keep with a high quality bow, and an Elvish knife. There was something more to it. The young Veric had slowly stood, but did so firmly, and made his way to the kneeling prisoner. "Look up." Once the prisoner had accomplished that and their eyes had locked, Veric simply asked, "Who paid you?" The prisoner looked as if he was going to say something, but instead, he gathered saliva in his mouth and reared back to spit in the young boy's face. The spittle missed it's target by a long shot, however, as the boy's fist connected with the man's jaw a split-second before. Taking that as his answer, Veric returned to his father and announced, "I think he should be executed with the same bow he attempted to kill me with." And so his father had done so, and had required Veric to watch.
Several years later came Veric's first experience with killing someone by his own hand, as his father charged him and several other Knights of the Old Gate to travel up into the mountains and disperse a bandit camp that had been harassing traders. The Duke had only tasked his son and the others of dispersing, and had not given any guidelines or anything else to work with, leaving all of the planning to Veric, who had already started proving he would become a valorous and renowned knight. The victory was flawless, with no deaths to the Knights, and every bandit taken down. Veric had personally killed their leader in single combat. The search of the camp had even turned up a large crate of precious jewels that were freshly mined and uncut, being smuggled out of Thorkanian mines.
It was several more years later when the war between Northpoint and Shornhelm began. The Old Gate was a key location and several very large battles took place there, since it straddled the highway that connected the cities of Shornhelm and Northpoint. The Gate had been there for as long as anyone could remember, sealing off passage into the Wrothgarian Mountains. When the forces of Shornhelm and her vassals had amassed to come down the Wrothgarian's and surprise Thorkan and Northpoint, they found a smaller number of troops, but that smaller number were well dug-in, with fortifications stretching up into the mountains along the road, leaving the actual Gate as the final barricade. All of the Knights of the Old Gate were in this first massive battle, with several at each fortification and the ten who served as honor-guard of the Gate bolstered to fifteen, including Duke Edwinn and Veric. The battle lasted for several days, but the force from Northpoint that the King had sent to help delay Shornhelm and the whole of the Thorkanian army held off the much larger horde of Shornhelm and broke wave after wave on their spears, pikes, halberds, and arrows. And when those of Shornhelm somehow got past those, they were cut to pieces by the fierce guardians of the pass.
The victory was widely celebrated as it had also provided cover for the main force of Northpoint, and her other vassals to strike along the coast and take Shornhelm's coastal vassals, leaving Shornhelm herself for the final prize. Veric had escaped the war with a couple of scars but nothing severe, and had gone far beyond what had been expected of him by his father and the majority of the war council. This had earned him a high standing in the Knights of the Old Gate, along with several rewards from his father, including one of the Ebony mines and land near the city of Thorkan Park, which was where most of the wealthier class spent their winters. The Duke, however, did not come out for the better, after sustaining a severe injury in one of the final skirmishes with troops from Shornhelm. The healers did all they could, but Duke Edwinn was nearing his sixtieth year, and his body simply could not take it. On his deathbed, he spoke to his son one final time. What was discussed between the two has never been told to anyone, but part of it involved a ceremony meant only for a Knight of the Mines. The next meeting of the secret Order was in the near future, and the new Duke was charged with attending and giving a coded, verbal report to the council from the now-deceased Ebon Knight.
And so Veric, now with the title of Duke and already having sworn fealty to the King of Northpoint, rode towards his home at Thorkan Park, but under cover of darkness, he passed the estate and kept riding. He rode until he reached the ruins of Sancre Tor, riding under the guise of an Ebony merchant. He remembered very clearly the report his father had relayed to him and the instructions he had been given. He found the hidden entrance and descended through passages that seemed to have not been used in many years. The tunnels dumped him out behind a specific seat that sat empty, while the rest of the seats that formed a semi-circle reached to his left and right were occupied by robed figures. Straight ahead was a raised dais and table with three more seats, of a more ornate appearance, and behind them was a massive statue that Veric had never seen before, but assumed was Reymon Ebonarm, by what his father had told him. After he gave the report and allayed everyone's fears, he was inducted into the secret fraternity of knights.
Since that night, he has been a changed man, but not so much as to raise suspicion. That had been just several years ago, and the Duchy had prospered since then, increasing their production in the mines and the smithies. A few minor skirmishes with Shornhelm patrols still happened every now and then, but never anything major, and they usually end up even with one or two of each side getting killed or seriously injured.
EDIT: Spoiler tags weren't working, so I just took them out. Sorry!
