Pieter-Eeuwke Vandehaar
Heir of Baron Pieter Vandehaar of Oxhill
Fire Elementalist of the Third Circle
AC 1000
"I have done what you asked, father. What should I do now ?"
Appearance
Pieter-Eeuwke's real age is 29, though he is officially 3 years younger. Still, his childish features and rashes on the face make him look like a youth in the early 20s.
His hair is fiery red and usually unruly and uncombed. His eyes are amber, but seem empty and lackluster. His skin is sickly pale and he is severely underweight. He has only one elegant dark blue robe, a gift from the father, that he wears for the rare social events he attends. Otherwise, he wears his loyal but shabby wizard robes, orange-colored with his personal sigil inscribed on it—if one can see through the multi-colored stains from various alchemical substances.
Personality & Quirks
Pieter-Eeuwke is extremely shy, introverted, and without social skills. Should he face someone besides his father or his nursemaid, he would soon start sweating, shaking, stammering and stuttering, hardly capable in engaging in a decent conversation. He is fundamentally a good person at heart, but extremely naïve. He hasn't even realized the kind of person his father is. His goal in life is to make his father proud of everything he does. Because of this, he defers to his father for all important decisions, and seeks his father's approval in all his deeds.
But when it comes to magic, that's another tulip garden altogether. He loves magic more than anything else—except perhaps his father. Pieter-Eeuwke spends all his hours reading and studying in his library, if he's not dabbling into experiments in his laboratory. Should someone speak to him about magic, he is able to carry himself like a normal person.
Background
Pieter-Eeuwke was born in Oreggiano in AC 971. He is the only son of Lord Pieter Vandehaar, Baron of Oxhill and his lover, Leena Tijlen. After two years of misadventures (mostly as a high-class courtesan), Leena went to Oxhill and presented herself to Lord Pieter together with their son.
Lord Pieter accepted the child and his mother and took them in at Oxhill Tower, where they were hidden in the time being. There Pieter-Eeuwke stayed under the guidance of his great-grandfather, Lord Maas Vandehaar, who taught him magic, and the care of his mother, Leena, who was officially known to him as his wet nurse.
Pieter-Eeuwke was soon presented to the Glantrian public as the son of Lord Pieter Vandehaar and his wife, Rhonda Vandeeker, had allegedly died in childbirth. At the age of six, Pieter-Eeuwke was sent to study at the Great School of Magic, officially as a three-year old prodigy. His life, as arranged by Lord Pieter, then consisted of nothing but study, study, and study. His magical talents soon caught the attention of the Secret Craft of Fire Elementalism, which he joined—with his father's approval, of course. In later years, after Pieter-Eeuwke had risen in rank among the Craft, the son would sponsor the father into the Craft—upon Lord Pieter's suggestion, of course.
Pieter-Eeuwke graduated from the Great School of Magic with excellent grades. No doubt, his strict regimen of studying without any other activities, social or otherwise, contributed to this. Of course, the prospect of gaining his father's approval if he did—and the threat of earning his wrath if he didn't—could not be discounted as well.
At about the time, Lord Pieter became the new Baron of Oxhill, and Pieter-Eeuwke returned to Oxhill to serve as his father's personal magist. His first task was to determine the magic in the considerable number of treasures and trinkets which his father had collected, mostly inheritance from several tragic family massacres. His next tasks was to begin researching and developing spells for his father, whose precious time was spent in ruling the barony and dealing with Glantrian politicians. Since then, Pieter-Eeuwke's life consisted of nothing else but endless days of study and research, which blended into endless months, which blended into endless years...
Perhaps the spark of excitement that could be distinguished from the rest of his monotonous life occurred two years ago, on his first—and probably last—visit to Linden.
In AC 998, Pieter-Eeuwke attended the sixteenth birthday party of Lady Juliana Vlaardoen, daughter of Prince Vanserie Vlaardoen XI of Bergdhoven and heiress apparent to the Flaemish principality. In the presence of the radiant silver-haired maiden, with her chiming laughter and jovial manner, resplendent in her fiery-red dress and bathed in a fragrant air of sweet tulips, Pieter-Eeuwke suddenly felt strange—very strange. His heart was beating uncontrollably, his sweat dropping in giant beads, his stomach cramping like it was about to implode, his eyes popping out of their sockets, and his face burning redder than Lady Juliana's dress, and all this caught the attention of the future Princess. When a worried Juliana approached, Pieter-Eeuwke turned from bad to worse, his crimson turning to purple, his shaking to trembling, his apprehension to utter fear. And the only reply that Pieter-Eeuwke could offer to the concerned questions of Lady Juliana was a quick word that teleported him back to Oxhill Tower, where he remained in shock for a week.
When he was finally roused, no doubt long after his unforgivable faux pas had become the latest talk—and then the old news—among Glantrian society, the foolish wizard realized he was in love with the beautiful Juliana. But this is a secret he has kept only to himself since then.
Web of Intrigue
There are few persons in Pieter-Eeuwke's life because of to his shyness.
He is perhaps closest to Leena Tijlen. Although he doesn't know that Leena is his real mother and not just his wet nurse, he does treat her as if she were his real mother. He does not blame her for any harshness or strictness, as he knows this was this father's will and Leena's duty. Pieter-Eeuwke does not see—or does not let himself see—that Leena is actually more than just under his father's employ. In the rare occasion that he wishes to share his thoughts and feelings, Leena is the only person Pieter-Eeuwke trusts. And Leena, of course, is always ready to listen to him...
Pieter-Eeuwke simply adores his father, Lord Pieter. He finds pride and satisfaction in serving the Baron in any way he can—usually with magical research—and lives for his father's approval. He is totally dedicated to Lord Pieter, and absolutely blind to his faults as a father or a ruler. Fortunately, Lord Pieter is not as naïve, and has no illusions about his son becoming a good ruler or a good politician, despite Pieter-Eeuwke's great magical talent or the grand legacy he will inherit. Lord Pieter has decided to arrange for a good wife (preferably a wealthy one with a large inheritance and a short lifespan) and a good representative who will run the dominion for his son. He knows this will be difficult, but is determined to find the best, in the name of Rad!
Lady Juliana Vlaardoen can hardly distinguish Pieter-Eeuwke from the multitudes of her fawning admirers—although she might recall the strangest one with the imploding purple face who teleported away from her. Pieter-Eeuwke means nothing to her. But to Pieter-Eeuwke, Juliana is everything. She is the Dream, perfection, beauty incarnate, and totally unreachable. Nevertheless, his love for Juliana is true—if you can call a silly naïve adolescent infatuation, true love—and in his spare moments, he is trying to find a way to make her fall in love with him.
The only other person, Pieter-Eeuwke interacts with are the members of the Secret Craft of Fire Elementalism. Although he seldom attends their regular meetings, he is deferential and subservient to most of them, even he has long exceeded them in power and rank. He feels ever grateful for their acceptance of him into their ranks. He is particularly submissive to the female members of the Craft, most of whom find him toady and sycophantic. Others merely find him foolish. They do agree he is powerful and strange—too strange to be relied upon for anything of import.
Style of Magic & Combat
Statistics: 17th-level mage, Fire Elementalist of the 3rd Circle; Str 8, Int 18, Wis 15, Dex 10, Con 7, Cha 6; AL N (D&D, AD&D).
Languages: Thyatian (Glantrian dialect), Flaemish.
Weapon Proficiencies: none.
Skills: alchemy, mandrake lore, meditation, quick casting, spell combination, spellcraft, artistic ability (woodcraft), spellflash.
Pieter-Eeuwke is an expert scholar and has a very careful and methodological approach to magical research. He is rather slow, but he rarely misses out on anything. A wide array of spells to be crafted and objects to be created fills his agenda for years on end. He is also quite secretive about his studies, not wishing to share his spells with anyone else but his father and some of the Fire Elementalists.
Because of his vast research, he has a remarkably large collection of spells. Yet most of these spells are geared toward more discovery and more research, although the ability to craft other more useful spells are easily within reach. Even the magical items he creates are to aid in his research, and cannot really be applied in practical situations. Only when his father commission a certain spell or object (such as combat spells or an enchanted weapon for a duel), does he create the odd attack or destructive spell.
"I'm wondering if he's a genius under an idiot's disguise—or an idiot under a genius' disguise."
(Prince Vanserie Vlaardoen of Bergdhoven)
References:
The Magic of the Secret Craft of Fire Elementalism
Spells of the Followers of the Fire
Author: Giovanni Porpora