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Duke Valkieri Rubino

Tch.

Social Rank: 3
Concept: Charmless Lycene
Fealty: Velenosa
Family: Rubino-Zaffria
Gender: male
Marital Status: married
Age: 28
Birthday: 11/14
Religion: Pantheon
Vocation: Noble
Height: tall
Hair Color: black
Eye Color: amber
Skintone: olive

Obituary: As Arx settles into a city under siege, the Port of Arx remains open, with Iron Guard watching the docks that are slowly being repaired since the attack. None the less, trade continues, and with overland travel cut off by the Silent Army, if anything the port is as busy as ever. So despite the war being on, if anything, the overworked lieges of domains have more to do as the amount of visitors they have has not abated, and Duke Valkieri Rubino is no exception. The Duke of Gemecitta receives a Gemecitta delegation led by the Seraph of Gemecitta, a lifelong family friend and a group of Lycene merchants wishing to plead for help with how much their trade has suffered in the wake of the war, and ask for assistance in dealing with the rising panic, and it seemed a completely unexceptionable meeting. While it's uncertain what happened precisely in the meeting, no less than twenty minutes later, there's the sound of battle in the Rubino estate. Duke Valkieri Rubino is found dead in his suite, his sword buried to the hilt in the chest of the Seraph of Gemecitta, while the same Seraph appears to have punched a fist through Valkieri's chest and torn out his heart. At least a dozen guardsmen were killed in the fighting, with some of the merchants cut down, but some of the merchants fled the estate in the chaos. Bringers of Silence, indistinguishable from other people, are clearly in the city.

Description: Valkieri is built on lean, compact lines that nevertheless show evidence of strength and athleticism underneath a noble veneer. His body is most often held with the strictest of surety and confidence, his back straight as a rod, and his bearing sneeringly superior. His coloring is typical of his Southern heritage -- darkened olive skin and black hair -- and his amber eyes are sharp and observant. His features are the harsher side of handsome, strong-jawed and angled angled sharp enough to cut. His long nose has the slightest hawkish bend to it.

Personality: Valkieri is a study of contradictions. Of a more up-front, serious bent, he never took well to the diplomatic scheming that characterizes most of the Lyceum Houses. Still, he has a deepset ruthlessness that certainly lends itself to the game of intrigue the houses play. While others move their pieces more readily with guile and manipulation, Valkieri has a force of personality to command obedience in a different fashion. He is simultaneously impatient with noble etiquette and fiercely (sometimes violently) proud of his own nobility. Although terribly patient in some ways, he has a vicious temper that can show itself either through words or more dangerous methods. Still, he is not entirely brutish: he has his own sharp wit, and he takes enjoyment from using it. He's even been known to smile or, gods forbid, /laugh/ on occasion.

Background: Valkieri was born the second son of one of the many scheming Houses of Lyceum. As the second son, it didn't matter quite so much that his serious, brooding, and temperamental nature made him less fit for political intrigue, particularly when his older brother had such a flair for it. When House Rubino and House Zaffria were at each other's throats yet again in their shared leadership of the city-state of Gemecitta, it was Valkieri's older brother Zaccheri who became part of the solution when he married the Zaffria heir. The marriage was still in its youth when he suddenly died. Now Valkieri and his widowed sister-in-law Sylphie have been sent to Arx to make what connections they can between the many houses represented there.

Relationship Summary


Enemy:
Acquaintance:
  • Prospero - Clearly Clever
  • Jaenelle - Strange Tastes
  • Aureth - Clear Con Man
  • Isolde - Peculiar Princess
  • Niccolo - Respected Statesman
  • Fortunato - Reluctant Artist
  • Acacia - Ambitious Protege of Nobility
  • Joscelin - Imaginative Jeweler
  • Salazar - Enthusiastic Sailor
  • Aislin - Restless Adventurer
  • Nadia - Thoughtful Dreamer

  • Family:
  • Sylphie - Sister-in-Law and Co-Heir
  • Dafne - Overdramatic Relation
  • Laric - Brother-in-Law and Future Murder Victim

  • Rival:
  • Talen - Insolent Upstart

  • Sibling:
  • Cara - Composed Sister

  • Friend:
  • Vincere - Sensible Twin
  • Pietro - Senseless Twin
  • Dawn - Remarkably Capable
  • Name Summary