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Post by Lord Newbury on Sept 12, 2017 16:47:48 GMT
The House and Court of Valdez
King Ferdinand Carlos du Valdez V Son of the late king, this seven year old boy is the daughter of the sister of the King of Luska, and the current holder of the Office of King. He is officially styled as 'His Most Apostolic Majesty, King Ferdinand Carlos du Valdez y Vyre V. King of Aladez, Most Artirite Monarch, Grand Lord of the Bannate, Protector of the Faithful, Lord-Protector of the Eternal City, Ban of Valdez, Most Splendid Monarch, and Warden of the South.'
Prince Juan Carlos du Valdez Currently serving as Warden of the South, and Lord-Protector of the Eternal City.
Princess Helga Rhori Wife of the Prince, and second daughter of one of the oldest Horse Lords of the South.
Princess-Regent Elija Du Valdez (nee Vyre) The king-Mother, and Sister to the King of Luska. Currently Regent of Aladez
Maria San Merov Sister to the Regent, Dowager of the Late King Odo of Routaille.
Lucille du Alendron The Kings sister, Wife to the Cousin of Queen Aelin of Galathion.
Marshal, the Baron Eduardo Odo III The Prince-Regents brother-in-law, a Barones Regni and a current Marshall.
Prince Odo du Valdez A member of the royal family, and the second cousin of the present monarch. Currently serving as a Marshall. At present, the House of Valdez controls the Kingdom of Aladez title, with the lands and domains that come with it. Alongside this, they lay claim to the lands of the northern Duchys who they claim control over by way of their Kingdom, such as the Grand Duchy of Castelli and the others in the North. The House claims the position of Lord Protector of the South, which would service the 'Lands of the Horse Lords' as they are known. The Estates of the Monarchy are such in the Kingdom of Aladez, that the King has direct control over almost two-thirds of the land area, which is then managed by appointed and trusted Noble Families. This has ensured that the wealth and primacy of the Monarch is matched only by the dual-despotates of the Kingdom, and the Church itself. The House of Valdez is officially seen as an Imperial Family, as they can trace their bloodline back to the Trevastian Emperor Charles Ferdinand du Valdez the First and thus count themselves as one of the main 'Blood of Arturas' royal families. The present family tree can be found here.Cadet BranchesValdez-Espan - Formed by Odo du Valdez Valdez-Rhori - Formed by Juan Carlos do Valdez Valdez-Vyre - Formed by Elija du Valdez Noted PossessionsKastely Merovia - Currently lent to the Dowager Maria San Merov, effectively as a means of providing her a pension whilst she looks after her Daughter in Routaille. Kastely Drak - Occupied by the boy-King and his mother, within the Eternal City.
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Post by Lord Newbury on Sept 20, 2017 12:21:31 GMT
King Ferdinand Carlos du Valdez V
Born to King Ferdinand du Valdez V and Elija du Valdez (nee Vyre), Sister of the King of Luska, Ferdinand Carlos du Valdez V was the last of seven children the former King would have, and as a male, the sole heir and inheritor to the Kingdom. His Fathers death, however, caused some considerable panic in the Eternal City leading to an event known as the Valdez Succession Crisis in which his Uncle, Juan, declared himself regent and sparked the crisis. With states in the north breaking away, a new Government was formed, and the boy-King returned from Routaille (where he had been staying with his Aunt) to find himself, at the age of seven, heading up a greatly strengthened Monarchy. Birth Born in relative obscurity, whilst his father was away on crusade in the South, Ferdinand Carlos was raised in the lap of luxury, groomed to one day assume the mantle of Monarch. Schooled by the greatest minds the Kingdom had to offer, he was - as is tradition - expected to be taught away from his parents, and raised by a small legion of nurses rather than his own family. As such, he was totally oblivious to the death of his Father whilst attending a tournament in the Rjillund Capital of Carenna. Regency of his Uncle Despite his own obliviousness, the Death of his Father threatened the stability of the nation considerably, with many deeming his Uncle, Juan Carlos du Valdez to be an unfit regent. He was sent away by members of the Valdez Diplomatic Corp, and senior members of the clergy, without his mother's knowledge - to the nation of Routaille. Whilst the desired effect of this 'exile' had been to ensure the King was safe, it instead fanned the flames of rebellion, and saw the Grand Dukes of the Kingdom arm in arms, demanding answers for their kings suspected banishment. Juan and the Church took this as a chance to expand their power, and allowed the Northern Duchys to break away from the Kingdom, using the confusing to break apart some of the other Dukes, or otherwise reform them under petty-kings who pledged themselves to the Monarchy. Endorsed by the Church, the seven-year-old king signed a letter dictated to him by the Church, saying he agreed with the changes, and overnight, the rebellion practically came to an end. By the end of the Crisis, the power of some of the Grand-Dukes had been curtailed enough that the Royal Demense had been empowered considerable. Appointment and Crowning as King Current day... Titles and Stylings King Ferdinand Carlos du Valdez V Son of the late king, this seven year old boy is the daughter of the sister of the King of Luska, and the current holder of the Office of King. He is officially styled as 'His Most Apostolic Majesty, King Ferdinand Carlos du Valdez y Vyre V. King of Aladez, Most Artirite Monarch, Grand Lord of the Bannate, Protector of the Faithful, Lord-Protector of the Eternal City, Ban of Valdez, Most Splendid Monarch, and Warden of the South.' Read more: talesoftrevast.freeforums.net/post/593/edit#ixzz50wXtprYG
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Post by Lord Newbury on Sept 20, 2017 12:25:45 GMT
Baron Eduardo Odo IIIAide to the Prince Hailing from the family of the House of Odo, a historically minor House within Valdez, Eduardo became linked to the Regency of Juan Valdez when he served alongside him during one of the subjugation wars. Having served in the lesser nobility for much of his younger life, his elevation to a role within court came as a shock to many, but he has fallen into his role well; increasing the reserves of the City, and helping to mediate between the many different factions that would seek to control it. He is often sent abroad on the behalf of his Regent and King.
As a member of the Nobility, he holds a privileged status within the social classes of the Aladez Heptarchy. By virtue of this, he was elevated to the position of Commander within the armed forces at a young age, wherein he met the man who would become his mentor, and greatest ally - Juan Du Valdez. The two stuck up a friendship from a young age, and as Juan has seen his fortunes wax and wane, the fortunes of Eduardo have been linked to this directly.
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Post by Lord Newbury on Oct 2, 2017 14:23:19 GMT
The Eternal Blade of Valdez”The Eternal Flame guides my blade, and before its power, all shall fall.’’ Born to unknown parents, and adopted into the ways of the Silent Order of Valdezian Monks, the boy who would become the Eternal Blade of the Valdez was unremarkable in his younger years. Slow to learn his letters, and slower still to master the blade - as is common for the one who would take up the mantle of the Eternal Blade - the boy did little more than attend church, weeping in his pew for reasons not recorded. He spoke little or not at all, and upon the occasion of his twelfth birthday, swore to silence for all time. Selected from his fellow orphans to head on the great pilgrimage to the Southern Lands, he took off without a blade at his side - the Monks of his order knowing better than to attempt to interfere in the selection for the next Eternal Blade. The boy was gone for three years before he returned, and still - unbloodied and silent, he went back into the monastery, writing nothing of his travels. From his pilgrimage, the boy had returned alone, with a blade at his side - plain and unremarkable, and also unbloodied, never even used. Now entering his eighteenth year, the boy had still to show a single sign that he was to become the next Eternal Blade. That was until the Raid - striking without warning, a band of Boterim Raiders attacked the Monastery, burning it to the ground in the dead of night, leaving the Boy and a collection of elderly Monks to escape and spread the word of their ruination. It is said that the next day the boy rode toward the nearest City, with what little fortune the Monks had been able to carry with them, and purchased himself a suit of armour - cast in finest metals and soon adorned with the finely sewn clothes and tabards for which he would soon become famed. The next week he saddled his horse, and rode to the nearest free port, wherein it was rumoured the raiders had laid anchor. The Boy arrived upon the new dawn, riding his steed down to the docks and dismounting, he stood at the landward end of the pier upon which the raiders boat had been docked, a barricade between the captain and crew of the ship - who had been in the local ale house - and their vessel, and way home. Witness reports say that he simply stood there, sword resting in his hands in complete silence, ’unmovable as the very mountains’, until the raiders attacked. Within seconds, the first three members of the crew had fallen, the remainder forming a circle around the Knight, who once again fell still. The next attack ended just as rapidly as the first, with a handful more men falling to the ground, the Knight still without injury, his armour unblemished. Lacking vigour to strike now, the Raiders pushed their captain forwards - seeking to turn the duel into one of honor, between men. The Captain attacked, the Knight stepping to one side, trapping the assailants blade between his side and his own, and spun it out of his enemies hand. The Captain fell soon after, his men seeking to flee back into the City. Mounting his Horse, the Knight took a torch to their boat, and chased the survivors through the town, expertly dispatching them one by one. When the next sunrise came, the Knight had gone - a single cross placed on the ground upon which the captain had fallen all that remained of him. For near on a decade he travelled the lands of the Valdez, executing criminals, saying wild beasts and companies of Raiders - his reputation at arms growing with each passing moment. By the time the King of the Valdez, Ferdinand Du Valdez IV came to hear of him, the Knight - now appointed as the seventeenth in the long line of ‘Eternal Blades of Valdez’ by the Church, travelled with a modest following of Peasants, who had begun to see him as the living embodiment of Knightly Virtue, and - as some whispered - a living saint. Not one to turn against the patterns of change, the King formally met the Knight, and whatever was said to him in private has not been recorded, but when the Knight emerged from the Kings throne room, it was with a coronet above his sigil, his blade kissed in gold, his title placed upon him by the King himself. Taking once more to the saddle, his entourage in tow - now augmented by men of the Valdezian Priesthood - the Eternal Blade was set a single, blessed task - to protect the people of Valdez, and to win honor and glory in the shadow of the Flame. It would appear that the Eternal Blade took this to heart, and returned to his new home, the ‘Blessed Chapel of the Blade’ wherein lay the remains of those who had previously held his moniker, and within a month launched his own devastating campaign against so-called ‘Rogue Blades’, Knights who took money from the poor, yet failed to follow Knightly Virtues. Rumour has it that over the course of his life he has put no less than one-hundred knights in the ground, and left various noble houses without a followable bloodline. As he heads for Carenna, the world hopes he doesn’t add to such numbers - for whilst he is known to slay those he fights, he is renowned for sparing those he deems as equals in manner and chivalry.
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Post by Lord Newbury on Dec 8, 2017 12:24:43 GMT
Prince Juan Carlos Du Valdez Prince-Palatine of Aladez Born as the younger brother of King Ferdinand the III of the House of Valdez, Juan has lived the life of a militant Commander, focused on matters diplomatic and military whilst his brother ran the Kingdom. Popular across the Kingdom due to his military accomplishments, as well as his ties to the Horse Lords of the Southern Lands - secured by his marriage to the sister of the current Kung of those lands - Aelfred the Fourth. CrusadeShortly after he completed his standard military training with the Kings court at arms, he was assigned the rank of General and deployed south with a modest crusading force to bring the barbarians outside the realm to heel. Commanding the elite core of the army, made up of the Eternal Host, and supported by numerous vassals from the Valdez and Horse Lords, he prosecuted the main campaign that saw the savages driven back from the borders. Diplomatic relations with Rijiluund
Following his service on the front lines, the Prince was ordered to take up diplomatic duties as part of his course of activities for the coming decade. Assigned the role of Ambassador and Voice of the King, he was dispatched to the kingdom of Rijiluund soon after, establishing the embassy there whilst balancing that with his training with the blade under the eyes of the Blades of Castelli. Service in the RangersFollowing work with the diplomatic corps, he was placed in with the Rangers - taking up the position of Marshal-Captain and leader of the group. Working closely with the Captain's, he coordinated the receipt and evacuation of several nobles from other nations. Alongside this he was known to take groups over into the barbarian lands, in which he would take care of gangs of attackers before they could cross into the Valdez lands. Civic OfficeFollowing his Brothers Marriage, and fears that he would maybe be unable to conceive of a son, the politically astute King appointed his Diplomatic and Cunning Brother back into the Civic Service, in which he took up the role of Grand Preator, and he took up the mantle of the overall Civic commander of the well run Government of the Valdez. With this he was also appointed as a chief diplomat, and in secret took up the command of the ‘Silent Watchers’ the secret police and spies of the Valdez nation. Becoming Regent
Following the Death of his Brother, he became Regent of 'All Valdez', which caused a considerable upheaval across the State and Kingdom. He has recently stepped down from the role, to take up the position of Palatine or head of the Royal Household instead. Personal Demense Thanks to no small amount of political manoeuvring, Juan occupies a position of considerable influence within Aladez and the Noble House of Valdez. Presently he is the Patriarch of the House, as well as a Prince of Aladez. Occupying a small manse within the Eternal City itself, he can - by virtue of his rank as a Barones Regni draw income from some small farmsteads and vineyards north of the City, in which he keeps a home of his own. Due to the income afforded him by his Offices, he has a sizable retinue of lesser nobles.
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Post by Lord Newbury on Dec 10, 2017 22:12:05 GMT
Prince Odo du ValdezMarshall of the Kingdom of Aladez, Baronis RegniCousin to the former King, and now second Cousin to the current Monarch, Prince Odo is a distant yet valued member of the ruling family - having been married once, his wife (daughter of a local noble) now long since passed away. A religious man like many in the House of Valdez, he spent almost a decade in service to one of the religious orders within the Heptarchy, and rumour has it that he is one of the most talented swordsmen in the nations of Trevast, and a consummate commander to moot.
Upon concluding his service with the Knights, he returned to his halls to look after his young family, and was roped into the Eternal City once more after the death of the King. Called back by the former-Kings Wife, whom he had met on occasion, with his own wife serving as her handmaiden, he was asked to act as a 'check' to the rising influence of the Regent, Juan, and was promoted to the Rank of the Marshall soon after. Since coming into the rank, he has made a name for himself with the overseeing of the Bans as well as his rapid suppression of the Military Nobility within weeks of taking office.
Birth & Early Life
Born into the Imperial House of Valdez, his father served as one of the senior Dukes in the realm, under the then-King Epsan du Valdez for a few years, although the Monarch dies shortly after his fourth year of office, and handed the throne to his son King Ferdinand du Valdez IV. With the Ducal Title remaining in the hands of his Father for many years, Odo was never under any illusion that he would one day be in line for an inheritance, as he had an older brother. Instead, he dedicated himself to more military pursuits - and was sent as an attache to the Kingdom of the Merovs, in what is presently the Commonwealth of Routaille to serve the King - Odo III.
Rumours persist to this day that the two Odos struck up a great friendship whilst he was on the island - for much of his twenties, and even when he was sent away on duties with his Knightly Order, he made sure to write to the King. When the Revolution was to occur sometime later, he personally fought within the Cavalry Banner Guard of the King, and it was only his relationship to a foreign monarch that spared him the axe when the revolution came to an end.
Knight
During his time with the Odo Kingship, he also took time to join a religious order of Knights - and as such had frequent times to go on campaign with the armies of his homeland, and their church. Fighting in two crusades, as well as numerous border skirmishes with the Badlands Tribes it stood him in great stead to serve as a Marshall for the Valdez Family, and the Heptarchy of Aladez, when he was recalled to the Capitol following the death of the monarch.
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