The Characters of Adirai: Inmedae and Companions~

(Or perhaps, visit the essential Information page.)
(Or click to go back to the Townhouse main index.)
(Or... you might care to visit the Fashion page.)
(And-- a page listing popular Adiraian names, and high-class surnames.

(Take a look at the genealogy of some of Adirai's most prestigious families.)
(Or click to return to the Characters main index.)

I: Inmedae and his Companions

Lord Inmedae Alezy Menanceté II
(later Inquisitor Menanceté IV; Lord Inmedae Alezy.)

Protagonist and heir Inmedae Menanceté. Son of the Head-of-State. A man who might have been a specified something, born of extremely high social station, accumulating impeccable education, of intelligence and breeding-- now wholly declining from the excess and exhaust of rebellion, passivity, and failure. Influenced by the early death of his mother and elder brother-- the neglect of his father. At once sensitive, arrogant, completely insecure, evasive, utterly selfish; world-weary, romantic & innocently idealistic.
A very recent portrait, at age 29-30, as he is in the main book. Hopelessly pampered, abused, and defeated, all in a haphazardly combined muddle of a man.

Appearance
He was thirtyish, nearing mid-age; short and remarkably fat: round-stomached with straining watchchains; plump and prosperous; compact limbed and oval-jowlled. Pallor absurdly rosy, smooth and lustrous-faced; slight agelines about eyes and a heaviness of chin. His cheeks were very dimpled, red as one who drank, mounded below the goggling, pale wide eyes and smooth featherlike brows. He had a very unfortunate, very wide and fishly mouth-- full, moist and shapeless lips; too many teeth; smiling when he was not. A pink and white face: earnest, open; unbearably vivid.
He sat, at the second-tier pew, one plump and ivorystockinged leg crossing the other (an effeminate little way of sitting); chin to palm (a fat pink index along his jawline, doubled rings squeezing the flesh white). Downcast eyes, heavily-lashed. Affecting contemplation, or perhaps simple boredom. He had an odd weakness about the face; in the pale gray eyes-- a slight, innefective and fruitless squint. Yet, in his advanced and decayed state, he kept a reserved shadow of grace-- a quality, a miniscule dignity-- with a superb, thrown-back head of chin-grazing, fair blond curls. Leonine.

(click for bigger version)

... This is a painting done of Inmedae dressed for a masquerade party. This was a common practice in the 1700s, showing sitters dressed in finery from the last century for the fun of it, etc. A similar corresponding one is done of his sister Aurilla.

And, just for fun, a menu recording Inmedae's meals over a period of two days. As always, Inmedae is the gourmand supreme, the high-living bon vivant who knows no bounds...

Several examples of what Inmedae would wear on a regular and not-so-regular basis.

Silly, misc. facts about portions of Inmedae's character.

Inmedae in his pince-nez, for strong near-sight. (Worn only in private capacity!)

More Inmedae

(click for bigger version)

A portrait of Inmedae, aged 28, with his signature blond curls. A highly official portrait-- in the Adiraian Army Officer's uniform. This would most likely be hanging in an official hall of state or chamber. Inmedae wouldn't really step within three feet of the army, or the tightly-fitting uniform much more suited to slimmer, handsomer men-- such as his brother Algernon, but for an official portrait, 'unsavory' things must be done. All for the sake of politics.
Notice the Star of Adirai-- which, were it in color, would be a brilliant red ruby with gold.

Even More Inmedae

(click for bigger version)

A head-shot, close-up, of a younger (26 or so) Menanceté.

Inmedae in Youth

This should be Inmedae at around 22 or 23; returned to Adirai from his second of two year-long European Grand Tours-- and study at Cambridge. Living in his first stage of the Townhouse, having formally broken with his father-- Menanceté, just beginning to formulate the self-indulgent and defiant radical cover he later grows to embrace. Notice the hair, dressed for the highly political portrait in typical non-Adiraian fashion.
Also, the sobriety & dual-hued clothing, represnting the red & gold of the Adiraian crest; the Star of Adirai.(worn for official portraits and state affairs-- see this portrait.)
He's not met Sites yet, and only just taken up with Miss Amarinth. A rebellious young man, just beginning to distance himself from Papa (inheriting at age 21, when he came of age)-- and forming conections with the liberal factions-- accumulating reputation as a young connoisseur and bon vivant; a sensative man of taste; a libertine of wealth and disrepute. The prototype for the later Inmedae.

More Inmedae, with his lover-- Miss Cassisa Amarinth

(click for bigger version)

An example of an Adiraian political cartoon involving Inmedae, perhaps at age 26. Here with his mistress Miss Amarinth, he's shown as bored and lazy (hence with the yo-yo), not appreciative of the charms of his famous, accomplished, beautiful and skillful mistress-- poking 'fun' at the relationship of Inmedae and Sites. A second print in this series might be involving Sites and Inmedae perhaps looking intent at eachother, perhaps even kissing. Inmedae is a favorite of the day's caricaturists, as both his personality and appearance is quite easily mocked. Poor dear. :)
Again, not ordinary clothing for Inmedae to be wearing-- more symbolic of the colors.

& Also-- a lovely portrait of Inmedae as a young child.

---

Mr. Seryozé (Cecil) Anizé

A world-weary, fringe-inhabiting self-possessed failure of a man, Anizé is an individual who cannot admit to himself that he will never be what he wants to be.

Both he and his younger sister Elézia are orphans, brought up mainly by a moneyed bourgeois and entirely religious extended family in the North-- she educated in an Eastern convent, he group-tutored, and later to the Czesany Alzénia Adiraia, the university in the Capital-- to study for the Priesthood. After a crisis of identity, he drops attendance and falls in largely with several bohemian Deists and students, frequenters to the city cafes and coffee houses. He sets up on limited funds, garnered from relatives believing him still at University; in small attic rooms on the Liberal side of town, among the cafes and shops and activists. Through these interactions he connects to several drifter intellectuals and critics (Viezly and Ilreny, respectfully); who are attracted to his lack of pretension, his determination not to work.

Through these men, he later finds opening into the foray of the world of powerful social climbers, gaining enterence through Aurilla Menanceté's bohemian circle, and her lover, the politician Sargeny Verity-- affiliated with the very Whiggish and radical Cavaelia Adiraia Council faction. He gains her thorough confidence, becoming the intimate friend to many upper-class and psuedo-upper-class society, and lover of Aurilla herself-- and ultimately, through her, a member of Inmedae Menanceté's elite and close-knit circle.

(Of course, the dynamic between Menanceté & he is the most important thing.)

His sister Elézia (referred to by Anizé as Lizlotte, a Westernized diminutive), upon returning to the City after being for years in the convent, joins her brother and his fast lifestyle; falling in with Menanceté himself, to much consequence.

The Anizé siblings themselves have a very complicated, close (and nearly too close) bond, being-- so to speak-- the only two individuals who inhabit their insular world. In the end, all else becomes secondary.

See this page for more pictures of the two.

Elézia (Lizlotte) Anizé

What Lizlotte might look like.

Mr. Sites

Sites; as he is always known by his surname (as that is the only name he is known by); is the foremost lover and constant (nearly life-long, though with a gap between) companion to Inmedae Menanceté Aged 27, and of unknown origins, he is a fantastically snotty, sly little upstart. Inmedae and he adore each other immensely, though they sometimes pretend otherwise. Wherever there is Inmedae, there is most likely Sites.
Sites, as he is; is a horrid upstart bastard of questionable origins (it is unknown if he is indeed Adiraian, French, Polish, Russian, mixed, or etc.) who has somehow wormed his slimy way into various elite and Liberal circles, and become a noted dandy-about-town in his own right. He is a horridly affected prig-- though a sentimentalist at heart. Their relationship causes much scandal, though it is mainly accustomed to-- if considered immoral.
... Please disregard the clothing in these following pictures, as they are most certainly not 18th century.

Miss Cassisa Amarinth

(click for bigger version)

Portrait of Miss Cassisa Amarinth, (slightly younger than she is now)-- who is considered one of the most beautiful and accomplished women in Europe-- certainly in Adirai. Aged 36 at the time of the main storyline, tall, mature, independant, extremely intelligent and elegant, she is the longtime mistress to Inmedae, her "Dear Mr. Menanceté"-- and has carried three of his children (Emery, 6; Cyrilany (called Cyril), 3; and Amrissa, 7).

A highly respected kept woman all her life, as her mother, great-aunt, grandmother and others of the Amarinth family have been, dating back to the 15th century. Centered in the Capital, these familial women are groomed at the height of far-ranging education-- convents across France; Paris, Marseilles, St. Petersburg, Prague and Adirai, from birth-- for a high-profile life, provided they posess the great wit, candor, and beauty typified by their relatives. They are shown, in their late teens, in debut to both Adiraian and International society, travelling the Continant and recieving offers made to the family head. To keep a woman of the Amarinth family, one must provide the highest standard of living; houses, clothing, proper gifts-- money to both the family and the mistress, as well as security and high education for any children she bears. Thus, such requires enormous wealth, power, influence, and etc. Offers of great quality are refused many times-- many attacth themselves to polititians for ghreater exposure-- ministers, ambassadors, several kings at periods in history, and, of course, Adiraian Inquisitors.

Members of the family often go on to become great society leaders, heads of salons and internationally renowned figures. They never marry.

Cassisa's mother, Miss Avergine Amarinth, was (and still is) the constant mistress and companion to Inquisitor Menanceté. Her great-aunt, head of the clan in Adirai, is Miss Lydian Amarinth-- mistress to the previous Inquisitor Verinia I.

Only three men have come before Inmedae-- the Amarinths give themselves exclusively (par tradition of the family) to only the topmost members of the elite and moneyed, singularly (so it is thought). Her past official associations include Lord Cyran Alainy-- heir to one of the wealthiest noble families in Western Adirai, when she was 17; the Hon. Anton Caverty-- an extremely powerful middle-aged Metropolitan High Judge and Prefect of the City of Adirai, when she was 22; and Sir Francis Conway-- an etremely wealthy and influential English lord; vice-president of the Royal Academy, when she was 26. He painted her often, when she lived with him in London. By Alainy, she carried three boys-- Lysande, Anzle, and Octavy; by Caverty; a boy and girl-- Consenzy and Vergeny; and by Conway; a girl-- Celie.

She has complex relations to her children-- each of them educated seperately in convents and tutors across the Continant, so as not to become familiar with their half-siblings-- and sees them very seldom (though she attempts to visit the children, and take them on holiday, twice a year). She is not a particularly active mother, enveloped more in her own, numerous societal affairs; but writes consistantly to her children and past lovers, who provide enormous funds and security for their upbringing.

The three children of Inmedae and Miss Amarith, stemming from their eight year (as of 1766) liason, are in the charge of a French governess and tutors, in the house outside of the Capital, where they will stay unti old enough to leave for convent education in Paris. Through her relations with Menanceté, she has become one of the most recognized figures in the European social plain-- with him, while not as often as the early years of their affair, still to a noted degree. She is an immensely powerful social doyenne, a grand-dame of culture, close to many international social dignitaries-- such as the aging Madame Pompadour.

Impeccably educated, the leader of the most revered artistic & literary salon in Adirai, famed and fantastically shrewd in matters of politics; Cassisa Amarinth is a model of the perfect 18th century woman in the eyes of her adorers.

(still younger than the current.)

As a side note-- the text of a letter Cassisa wrote to her mother, Avergine; detailing her first meeting with Inmedae:

------

------

More Cassisa

(click for bigger version)

A famed depiction of Miss Amarinth, dignified and casual-- with her hair down.

More Cassisa

(click for bigger version)

A very regal Miss Amarinth.

The "Real" Cassisa

More Cassisa

... The premier Miss Amarinth statue, found in the gardens of Inmedae's Adiraian townhouse. She'd modeled for it, as she does for several famed artisans, not just in Adirai but in greater Europe. She acquired muct fame in artistic circles from her liason with Sir Francis Conway, the English portraitist.

Lady Isola Ariadné Decazy-Menanceté

The heiress to the Eastern Decazy family; wife at nineteen to Inmedae, stemming from an arrangement conceived just prior to his ascension as Inquisitor. As it is impossible to comprehend a spouseless Inquisitor, Inmedae is incured to choose between ladies of good family & wealth, primarily Eastern, to bridge the still-festering rift between the country's divergant tradition. He very much attempts to evade marriage prior to his father's death, refusing to alter his personal life for vthe bene3fit of government.

However, after, with the formation of his attachments with the Catholic church and renouncement of previous indiscretions, he agrees to take a political wife. He conceives a daughter with her, before separating, unable to, against conviction, feel anything significant for her. She moves to the opposite side of the city, in a large house paid for by Menanceté, meeting mainly for public appearance. This, he feels, is one of the greastest failures of his reformed life.

She appears here in traditional Adiraian wedding costume.

(Click to return to the Characters main index.)