Gerrid Rientha
Archduke of Westheath (AC 1006)
Baron of Egorn (AC 1016)
Viscount of Castelbianco (AC 1017)
Water Elementalist of the Third Circle
AC 1006
"Very well, gentlemen, I see your point. Would you believe that, say , twenty crowns would make my offer more... attractive?"
Appearance
Archduke Gerrid is a man in his late thirties. He has short, dark brown hair and elegant moustache cut in the latest Darokinian fashion. He dresses like a Darokinian Merchant-Prince, in modest but very fashionable high-quality clothes. One cannot see it, but he actually puts a lot of money into his tailor, but he actually does. Complimenting him for the design or quality of his clothes makes a good impression on him, for usually only Darokinians pay attention to things like this.
His appearance has one distinctive feature. He always carries an ordinary-looking, black walking stick. He does not actually need it to walk, but he has a habit of playing with it, spinning it when he walks or pointing it at little children he is speaking to. Archduke Gerrid is a man of average build. He is neither tall nor short, neither fat nor thin—just the way he likes, making it easy to vanish in a crowd. In parties, of course, he can use his magic to be in the spotlight, literally. He dresses according to the most correct and proper fashion, a habit he learned from his mother, who used to work for the Darokinian Diplomatic Corps. He rarely attracts attention, either positive or negative.
His Darokinian ways can be also seen from his laboratory. His tools are lavish, to say the least, as he uses instruments of gold and platinum, decorated with jewels and crafted by the best artisans. But being an accomplished wizard, few people ever get to see his workspace.
Personality & Quirks
It is very easy to like Lord Gerrid. He is always witty and polite, and a conversation with him is always a pleasure. After chatting with the Archduke in a gondola, many people feel upset that they have to stop when they reach their destination. And the Archduke always throws in a few compliments to everyone he addresses.
Lord Gerrid enjoys his life, and that can be seen. He is rich, does a work he likes, has fallen in love and has always had a positive attitude towards everything. He never uses sarcasm or irony, and always treats everyone without prejudice.
Gerrid Rientha is both a Darokinian gentleman and a Glantrian wizard. He tries to fulfill the both roles, even though they are quite contradictory. If asked, he would always say he is first a Glantrian, but his manners and style would say he is first a Darokinian. Though he became the man in charge of Westheath overnight, it has not gone up to his head. Quite the opposite, he even feels sorry for those power-hungry nobles who did not get their Awards Festival in 1004. He finds it a little annoying that all the lesser nobles resent him for that decision of the Parliament.
Lord Gerrid is well-versed in economics and mercantile business, and he tries to draw more people to Westheath with lower taxes and lower license costs. He hopes that the non-magical business will thrive in his dominion, if he gives them a financial advantage, profiting himself in the end. This move has provoked two quite opposite reactions from his peers. Some think it is a wise and generous economic policy, while some think that he is a softhearted fool who does not realize his own nor his country's good.
Gerrid has two major tactics in keeping his secrets his own. First, he appears to be very open candid. He usually answers every question satisfactorily and above suspicion. Second, if he cannot tell the truth for some reason, he tells outright lies. But Gerrid is a master of making lies appear innocent and honest, as well as backing them up in the rare cases he was caught. Actually he really is quite transparent for a Glantrian noble, as he seldom does anything too clandestine.
Background
Lord Gerrid's family comes from Darokin but lived in Glantri. His mother, Alysa, was the Ambassador of Darokin before Lady Diaura Scrutina. His father Gertran Rientha was a Merchant-Prince leading the Glantrian division of House Corun. Gertran and Alysa had tried to have children for more than a decade before Gerrid was born. (Gossips say that a Glantrian Witch brewed them a magical potion that made Alysa fertile once more, but Gerrid has never confirmed this.)
As Gerrid's parents lived in Glantri City, they decided to give their only child a proper magical education. Young Gerrid showed strong magical talent from his earliest years in the Great School of Magic. He never was a prodigy, but as an intelligent and philosophical thinker he never had any problems.
Gertran Rientha died in AC 991, when Gerrid was 23 years old. His mother decided that she did not want to stay in Glantri City any longer, as the whole place reminded her of her husband. They packed their belongings and moved to Darokin City.
However, Darokin City never became a home to Gerrid. He had grown up in a country full of magic, and the ars magica had became his passion. It was a relief to him when his mother was promoted to Diplomat First Class, and was commissioned to lead different kinds of diplomatic envoys to all over the Known World. He negotiated with a plethora of folks these years, even with hin, orcs, dwarves, Ethengar and Ylari. He always took his books wherever they went, always studying and planning a return to the Principalities.
In AC 999, Alysa Rientha retired after a long and successful diplomatic career. Gerrid decided that his place was in Glantri, and returned there. He signed up himself as a lecturer of both mundane and magic courses in the Great School of Magic, quickly learning to know many of the most powerful mages of Glantri. One of these was a Flaemish beauty, Danira Voshane, with whom Gerrid fell in love.
In AC 1004, after Harald Haaskinz was elected as the Prince of Sablestone, the Council of Princes faced a problem. Prince Harald did not have time or energy to rule both the Principality and the Archduchy, and the lesser nobles demanded an Awards Festival to take a place. The Council of Princes saw that if so much in-fighting would prove disastrous to a country in war with Alphatia. They decided to elect a regent to hold the Archduchy until the war ended. After a long debate it was decided that for the sake of equality, neither the Duchess of Fenswick nor the Duke of Hightower would be granted the honor, but the regent would be someone outside the Glantrian politics. After this was decided and the candidates were chosen, Lord Gerrid Rientha, backed by none other than Étienne d'Ambreville, Harald Haaskinz, Jherek Virayana IV, Urmahid Krinagar and Carlotina Erewan, became the Archduke of Westheath.
Web of Intrigue
Lord Gerrid knows that he will not be able to keep his Archduchy after the Great War ends. Both Duke John Beaumarys-Moorkroft and the Duchess Margaret Hillsbury want the title, and even though Lord Gerrid knows that he could beat either of them in a duel, he also knows that there will be no duel.
Lord Gerrid has few allies and few enemies. As everyone knows that long-term alliances or feuds will not be worthwhile or needed, he is usually treated rather neutrally. Generally the votes of the Westheath support the House Haaskinz, as he trusts Prince Harald whom he befriended during the years at the Great School. And Prince Harald has also a policy favoring neutrality.
The other important ally of Lord Gerrid is his lover, Lady Danira Voshane. Lord Gerrid is no weakling himself, but Lady Danira is a very capable mage, but she has never managed to gather enough votes to get a Barony of her own. As she is related to the Vlaardoens, she has her responsibilities, the most important of which is that she should marry someone of the Flaemish race. In other words, she should not marry a Water Elementalist, who is a foreigner and not even of noble blood. Needless to say, Danira's affair with Gerrid has earned the enmity of the Followers of the Fire.
Archduke Gerrid has simple goals in life. As he realizes that he will lose his nobility, he wants to ensure he will not have enemies when it happens. Instead, he wants to be remembered as a good ruler who made his subjects happy and his dominion wealthy despite the raging war. This will clear the way for him creating an own fief after he has to step down.
Gerrid wants to marry Lady Danira. As he is an experienced diplomat and a sensible man, he does not want to anger either Prince Vanserie Vlaardoen XI or Lady Sinaria Verlien. He has been negotiating with them for a while behind Danira's back, trying to make a good impression, and he plans to use some of his father's fortune to win their favor.
Archduke Gerrid discovered the Radiance merely eight months after moving to Westheath. As he moved in, he found some old sketches Prince Harald had hidden in a secret locker in the dungeon under the tower, describing the first researches he had made with the mysterious force. Lord Gerrid became intrigued by the research of his friend, and begun his own attempt to understand the force, succeeding after a few months.
Gerrid and Danira have done quite a lot of research together and he had shared everything he knows about the Radiance to her, even before the Brotherhood of the Radiance even revealed its existence to him! Gerrid does not want to reveal his identity to the other Brothers of the Radiance, so he has never asked what happens to him after he loses his fief.
Gerrid destroyed the notes immediately as he found out about the Radiance, for he does not want to make problems to either the Prince or himself. Rad accepted Lady Danira grudgingly to the Brotherhood, as he knows that she is an adept mage loyal to the nation, even though she did not find out about the Radiance herself. Of course, he would not allow them sharing their research results on the Radiance.
Archduke Gerrid plans to create a Barony as soon as possible after he loses his dominion. As a matter of fact, he has made several deals that ensure him the Barony that is left open after the Awards Festival. This is not so much for nobility itself, but for the Radiance which has intrigued both him and his lover.
Style of Magic & Combat
Statistics: 19th-level mage, Water Elementalist of the 3rd Circle; Str 9, Int 17, Wis 16, Dex 12, Con 9, Cha 15; AL L (D&D), CG (AD&D).
Languages: Darokinian, Thyatian (Glantrian dialect), Flaemish, Elvish (Alfheim/Erewan dialect), Ethengar (Krondaharan dialect), Dwarvish (Rockhome dialect), Ylari.
Weapon Proficiencies: dagger, staff.
Skills: diplomacy (+1), disguise, etiquette, geography (Known World), negotiation, reading/writing, spellcraft, spellflash.
Gerrid Rientha's specialty is magic involving the basic forces of the universe, particularly light and darkness. When he was younger, he was quite an artist with his theatrical spells (spotlight, for example). It was he who actually persuaded Prince Harald to add the courses of spellflash to the curriculum of the Great School of Magic.
When Lady Sinaria Verlien began teaching her Soundwaves of Power at the Great School of Magic, Gerrid used a fabulous sum of money to attend her lectures. Lady Sinaria was not happy to see the Archduke in the audience, but Gerrid simply disguised himself. (As his mother always said, the best way to impersonate a mage is to use a good old wig and fake beard.)
As of AC 1006, Gerrid is not yet proficient user of the Radiance. Unlike Lady Danira, he will not take risks with the force, and rarely uses it.
Archduke Gerrid is a Darokinian gentleman, a Glantrian mage, as well as very capable negotiator and a diplomat. As the he considers excellency in the art of dueling an important gentleman's virtue, he has created a repertoire of spells suitable for dueling, such as Gerrid's shadow steps and Gerrid's shroud of shadows.
Water Elementalism is not his main interest. Gerrid only joined the craft because he was invited by Prince Harald himself, but it has never been very high in his priorities. Actually he often forgets to use his elementalist powers in the heat of a battle. He uses major conjuration (third circle) occasionally to ease his life, but so far he has not bothered to study the Fourth Circle.
The Archduke of Westheath has one prominent magic item: his trusted walking stick. The cane radiates a weak aura of magic, and looks completely mundane, but is, in fact, a very powerful treasure. In addition to this, the Archduke always carries several minor magical items with him.
"Show me a good-hearted politician in Glantri, and I'll show you a Darokinian who could not make it as a diplomat or a merchant!"
(John Beaumarys-Moorkroft, Duke of Hightower, and later Archduke of Westheath after Lord Gerrid)
References:
Spells of the Secret Craft of Water Elementalism
Author: Markus Olavi Montola