When Tristan was 6 he was allowed to attended the grand balls and celebrations at Le Labyrinthe where his parents worked. Young Tristan was always good-natured and would entertain the guests by performing short scenes from famous plays and with his unique brand of humor. Due to his precocious talents he had his education taken care of and was sent to university when he came of age.
Even though his family did not have a noble title, holdings, or overabundance of money to consider them wealthy, Tristan was better off than most Montaigne children. As a result he has always felt closer to the common man than to the wealthy deviants who dominated the courts currying favor from the crown. Seeing such a wide gap between the rich and the poor, he made it a goal to one day help ease the suffering of the masses and to also bring humility to the nobles.
Tristan's ability to melt the female heart became evident when in 1655 he managed to woo Antonia, the 16-year old daughter of the Vodacce ambassador. Antonia's parents were highly upset and threatened retribution against Tristan until they found out how old he was and how much of a court presence he had. Antonia was shipped off to a nunnery in Vodacce, never to be heard from again.
His schooling was very rigid and while he was able to foster his artistic, creative side his studies mainly focused on preparing him for service in the Musketeers. Since Tristan had grown up with the tales of derring-do and heroics he was proud to serve the Montaigne Crown.
But that is a tale for another time...