Nasirian Knights - Crusaders

Malador Vesci

• Basic Info

  Name: Malador Vesci
  Gender: Male
  Name meaning: "Beloved Conqueror"
  Name origin: Wudlandic form of Milodrag Vincze
  Nickname: N/A
  Birthdate: Decembrius 5, 78 B.E. (Mackenzie born 82 BE)
  Theme: The Mystic's Dream by Loreena Mckennitt

• Appearance

  

  
  
  Eyes: Brown
  Hair: Black
  Complexion: Light tan
  Height: 1.8 m
  Weight: 71 kg
  Body type: Medium frame
  Accessories: None while in casual wear. Carries a single arming sword and a heater shield.

• Heritage

  Heritage: Vincze (Epunian settlers); Cromwell (Wudlandic foresters)
  Home & Rank: Hanover / Crusader Knight
  Ethnicity: Wudlandic-Aralian (Norman English/Danish)
  Race: Half-Epunian, Half-Wudlandic (Danish-Hungarian)

• Skills & Hobbies

  Hobbies: Swordfighting, horseback riding, playing the lute, writing poetry
  Habits: Tends to squint when reading, leans forward when sitting down, often touches the side of his head due to near-constant headaches
  Strengths/abilities: Excellent horsemanship; excellent swordsmanship; alert to his surroundings; fast on his feet; extremely stealthy in forest environments; knows how to survive best in the forests of Ingria; understanding of herbology and some medical treatments for injuries and common illnesses
  Weaknesses/inabilities: No archery skills; poor understanding of tactics; intimidated by religious fanaticism; fails to be diplomatic when dealing with those who share little in common with him; can't hold alcohol; never been at sea; inept at stealth in urban environments; unprepared for life in the desert

• Family

  Maternal grandparents: Anselm Cromwell & Johanna Montfort (both deceased)
  Paternal grandparents: Stanimir Vincze (deceased) & Patrova Vargha
  Aunts/Uncles: Edyth Montfort (maternal; deceased), Anabella Montfort (maternal; deceased), Agnes Borsa (paternal) / Miklos Vincze (paternal), Laszlo Vincze (paternal; deceased)
  Mother: Crystina Cromwell (deceased)
  Father: Andras Vincze (deceased), Charles Mackenzie (non-biological)
  Siblings: Hector Mackenzie (brother; non-biological)
  Cousins: Emeric Borsa, Istvan Borsa, Tamas Vincze, Adelhaid Vincze, Anne Vincze

• Background/History

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  Before Malador was born, his father had left Volkhovia in search of mercenary work in Ingria. He found an opportunity to serve in the Gedician army against Cornelius and Edward I of Aralia. During a raid against a village that supported Cornelius, Andras Vincze and the other mercenaries burned the town and slaughtered all the male inhabitants. Andras raided the family home of the Cromwells and murdered Crystina's parents and siblings before taking her as a war trophy. One year later, Crystina gave birth to Malador. She would teach him about herbology in his youth.
  
  Soon after Malador turned nine, Crystina tried to flee the village with him at her side. However, Andras caught up to them at the edge of the forest and killed her in front of Malador. After that, Andras had practically abandoned Malador to die, but a kind gothi (priest) named Stuart found and raised him to be a monk at the abbey in Hanover. Barely a year later, Cornelius of Aralia invaded the village and slaughtered the Gedician soldiers, including Andras and his troops. He spared the abbey in exchange for the boy after Charles Mackenzie, his closest subordinate, claimed his wife's spirit must have led him to Malador after the loss of his only other son, Hector.
  
  Charles raised Malador to be his successor as count of Coven, giving him a well-rounded lesson of theology, history, and literature alongside horseback riding, swordfighting, and the chivalric tradition. Once Malador turned 13, Charles found his 17-year-old son Hector living in Roskilde studying to become a Crusader knight. When he brought Hector back to Coven with him and named the boy as his successor, Malador felt worried this would mean Charles would love him less. After Malador voiced his concerns, Hector decided to get to know Malador. By the time of Charles' death in 62 BE, Hector and Malador were the closest of friends and confidants. Hector brought Shasorianism to Coven and the northeastern reaches of Wudland in the name of the Patinopius but respected Malador's decision to retain his hold on the traditions learned from Stuart and Charles.
  
  (( Theme: The Old Ways - Loreena McKennitt ))
  
  At the age of 20, Malador met and fell in love with a woman named Alexia Vella, the daughter of a local farmer. Despite warnings from Hector that he needed to maintain some decorum as a future knight, Malador continued to leave the castle and frolic with Alexia in the forest. One day, when he turned 23, Malador took Alexia on a three-day journey through the forest. Little did he know, Alexia proved to be with child following their outing. When they returned, rumors circulated and damaged Hector's credibility with the Shasorian church. After a fierce argument with the bishop Leonardus, Hector confronted Malador about his duty. Leonardus claimed Malador's reckless behavior was caused by Malador's attachment to the "cult of nature" the native Wudlandic religion promoted. This led to a divide between Hector and Malador. The last time they spoke was at the river's edge one night during a feast. They both sadly came to the conclusion that they would never understand each other and stopped speaking.
  
  Afraid Hector might side with the church, Alexia convinced Malador to flee south four months later and take refuge in Hanover, where the gothi Stuart lived. When Hector learned of this, he felt betrayed and vowed never to allow Malador to set foot in Coven again. While Malador and Alexia lived together in the abbey at Hanover, Alexia gave birth to a baby girl. Together, they chose to name her 'Crystina Marren' after both their mothers. They settled down and began to raise little Crystina. But three years later, just as Alexia grew pregnant with another child, news arrived from the fortress at Proveni: a Crusade was called from Genoi and Milani against the Wudlandic nations of Norchester and Goldemar. In no more than two months, all of Wudland was split between supporters of the Crusaders and supporters of their respective counts and the king of Aralia. Hanover and Goldemar were cities which would support the anti-Crusader factions, and the Count of Goldemar, Tasgall McCance, called a conscription throughout his lands.
  
  Malador tearfully left his wife and daughter to join Tasgall's forces as a squire assigned to the knight Sir Godred. Their first battle saw themselves clash with a Gedician army under the cruel Prince Nivan, the supposed murderer of a close friend of Tasgall's. The battle had only been won with the timely arrival of Lord William's forces from the west. Sir Godred's bravery inspired Malador for years to come. Their next confrontation was outside of Proveni. During this battle, Malador was injured by a crossbow bolt, which left a permanent scar on his side. The Battle of Oxwich that followed had him and Godred join Lord William in what ultimately became a pyrrhic victory. A Genoese crossbowman killed William, but not before Malador joined Godred's knights in defeating the Crusader Count Silvano. After the opposite flank ended Milanese Count Renardo's life and routed his troops, the army marched onward in the hopes of catching Crusader General Pompeo's forces unaware as they marched south from their victory at Norchester.
  
  Instead, the army of Lord Hector Mackenzie waited for them, tipped off by Lord Carlisle, ally of Goldemar, in an attempt to strike a deal with the Crusaders so they wouldn't harm the inhabitants of his own city, Hanover. Lord McCance had Carlisle executed and sent Godred and his soldiers back to Goldemar. When they arrived, they already found Hanover under siege. Malador bravely rescued Godred's life in the ensuing battle and was promised land for him and his family. Briefly reunited with his wife and child, Malador was able to witness the birth of a baby boy before having to leave once again. After making it safely to Goldemar, Malador met Godred's family and told him his story. This made Godred elect to make Malador his second-in-command.
  
  One morning, Malador awoke to the city under siege. When Malador went up to the ramparts to look, he recognized Hector standing next to the Dominian general Pompeo. His heart sunk, but he readied for battle nonetheless. The Crusaders first used a volley of trebuchets and siege towers to both destroy the walls and climb atop those which still stood. Godred had Malador and his knights take a fragment of the army to catch the Genoese crossbowmen and trebuchets by surprise. Instead, Godred was struck down by the first volley, and Malador could only keep the knights together long enough to route a single unit before the Alban Guard reached them. With only two other knights left out of nearly forty, Malador retreated back within the walls... only to find the Crusaders had already breached the walls and were swarming over the city. Malador immediately went to protect Godred's family when the Crusaders stormed the streets. He forced two soldiers back out into the streets, but ended up on his back awaiting death until Hector stopped the soldiers.
  
  Taken prisoner on Hector's orders, Malador followed the Crusader army on a march to Proveni the next morning. Hector revealed that he didn't know what happened to Alexia, but he feared the invasion of Hanover ended in slaughter. Malador struggled in a futile attempt to break free of his bonds and strangle the life out of Hector, but only succeeded in making his escort, though not Hector, laugh. From that day forward, Malador would see Hector as a monster who may have killed his wife and children... though part of him would continue to believe they were alive. Hector, heartbroken over this, spoke to Domenico Mercurio upon arriving at the fort. He convinced Mercurio to let Malador serve as a squire among the Crusaders. In truth, he hoped it would give Malador the chance to find his loved ones wherever they might be in Wudland.
  
  Malador spent the next four years as a reluctant soldier in the Wudland Crusades under Mercurio. During that time, he tried to find the family he'd left behind, but with each village or city conquered and rebellion put down, he grew more convinced he'd never find them. This hardened him to the pleas of his own people. Then, one night, he had a dream in which he saw them dragged away from their home in Hanover with a procession of slaves in a caravan led by a Nasirian merchant. Worse still, when Malador investigated with the express permission of Mercurio, he found that Alexia had been captured and abused by a Crusader knight named Marius Albanus. Furious, Malador sought out Marius and tried to kill him. He failed, but Marius would be forever deformed from the experience. When Marius' father, Pompeo, found out, Malador was only spared more than fifty lashes by the good words of Hector and Mercurio both. However, he'd no longer be allowed to serve in Wudland. Malador asked for reassignment to Nasiria, where the slave trader who bought Alexia from Marius must have traveled. Mercurio agreed and sent Malador to Genoi.
  
  While resting in the city after an extensive campaign along the Tyrrhan river, the noble Gregorio Nacar noticed Malador training and approached him about the circumstances which brought a man clearly of Wudland to the Medrean. After Malador explained his situation, Nacar invited him to join his army when they marched out toward Algaqias the next day. Malador would ultimately stay with Nacar's army for the next two years, mainly patrolling the border between Dakaria and Nasiria (dilineated by the Tyrrhan river). He gained a reputation for mercy that put him at odds with other Crusaders. After deciding this would bring him no closer to finding his wife and children, Malador respectfully requested another transfer. This time, he'd be sent to join the army of Benvenuto Mazzone, the fearsome and bloodthirsty general who led the infamous battle which temporarily took Murrakach from the ailing Qaderi dynasty. Malador served under Mazzone, who led him into battle in the desert between the Arlanni valley and Fakhour, as well as the Low Utlas mountains. Furthermore, Malador would receive a promotion to full-fledged Knight.
  
  Seven years later, Malador found his daughter Crystina among a harem owned by the emir of Selei. She didn't recognize him, and she initially tried to kill him in self-defense. When she calmed down, Malador convinced her to tell him what happened since that day he left.
  
  

  Crystina's backstory

  According to Crystina, Alexia had eventually fallen out of favor with Marius, who sold her to a passing Nasirian merchant from the city of Fesz. Crystina was separated from her brother when Marius sent her to a nunnery in distant Milani, hoping to forget Alexia entirely. When Crystina was only six, she traveled with the head nun, Nanietta, to visit the sick and plagued in Suldania. Instead, they were waylaid by Nasirian bandits who carried her and several others off to their ships and, from there to a Hanti tribe in the High Utlas mountains. She served Ayub Sutani and dealt with his harsh, outspoken wife, Malika al-Jaber and their daughter.
  
  Three years later, the Hanti raided Murrakach and left Crystina to the Alli mystics there. She grew up under their tutelage until the Nasirian Knights of the First Order arrived and took over. Haroun Tahan, one of the Knights, took her under his wing along with several other children. Ultimately, he taught them to entertain the soldiers as a means of improving morale before sending them off to Fesz as a gift to the Mahmoud caliph's representative, Haffshi. They were further raised to become part of various emirs' harems, and Crystina was sent off to be wed to Sudani Karif of Selei two years before Malador arrived with Count Mazzonne and captured the city. When Crystina mourned the apparent loss of her mother, Malador promised to find her no matter what.

  
  With a renewed purpose, Malador took up the sword and pledged to join the Crusade against Mahmoud in the Arlanni Valley, with the hope they would one day take Fesz so he could learn what happened to his beloved wife, Alexia, and their son.