Noel Wern

Noel Wern is descended from the Earls of Barven, and has long considered laying a claim to the northern earldom, however he links his family only by the marriage of a great great great grandmother, and in any case the Earldom granted his ancestor Daerik Wern for his part commanding the conquering armies of Reddown in Sigard please him well enough. Still, it grates upon Noel's nerve that Pieter Tolbren in the north spreads his wide frame over both his own throne, and that of Wern’s ancestors, when it could be the Earl of Werndel keeping two chairs.

Description


Noel Wern is a tall, barbed man. His bony and wiry, his features sharp and hawk-like, with a fishhook nose and a narrow pointed chin, arched brows and waxed moustaches. He usually dresses in military garb, loose fitting sleeves, collar or gorget and leather breastplate over a heavy, floor length robe with felt slippers or leather boots. He is scarred about the face from the knife of a goblyn assassin only a couple of years into his reign, and since has never gone unarmed around his court. Now in his fifties, happily married to his second wife and with over a dozen children to secure his lineage Noel is winding down his reign. The governing principle of his life, however, remains extreme paranoia. Frequent goblyn attacks, his first wife’s death at the hands of a Kommeron assassin, his first son’s death in the Forest Kingdom, and even the death of his last Chamberlain only a few months ago in a hunting accident have left him haunted every second of his life by the spectre of his ancestor’s shades.

Personality


Wern is an able administrator and a more than capable tactician. He does a great deal to keep the Forest Way clear of siele and to keep the boarders and seas of Southern Reddown safe for trade. His navy is made by the remnants of the shipwrights of Lierkist, who do fine work, and are crewed by descendent of Sigard’s own legendary sailors, though officially they answer to the Captain and thus the council. Noel used to spend a lot of time at sea, but as he has become older and more concerned with security he leaves Fort Ennisguard less and less and fortifies it’s walls and gates more and more. Noel’s a hard man to get hold of, and his hospitality keeps guests at arm’s length. He barely even attends the Earls' Council any more. Most of the powers of Reddown agree that it will be a great day when Noel steps down and his eldest son Henry takes the mantle of rulership in Werndel and again the Earl will walk the streets. Most identify him as acerbic and paranoid, but what most men outside the boarder don’t understand is that Noel’s exclusiveness is more out of wisdom than paranoia. Noel’s enemies are closer than most other men realize.

History


The Earl of Werndel was a sailor in his early days, spending much of his time captaining his father's merchant vessels along the coast of the Forest Bay. The second in line for Werndel's throne, he briefly contemplated becoming a navigator, but his elder brother's failing health caused him to return home as a young man and prepare for the worst. As a result when he came to the throne after his brother's death there was a scramble on Noel's part to acquire the skills that he needed to be an Earl. In his first year he kept himself surrounded by advisers, rushed to marry and produce and heir, and did all that was expected. However from here his reign would be marked with distinct ill fortune. His new wife and newborn son were pulled from their carriage and killed by the Kommeron in the streets of Ennis. Then he was attacked by a goblyn assassin in his own bed while he slept, barely surviving. He remarried in even more hurriedly, and became frantic about ensuring his lineage. Over the years he and his wife have had eighteen children, and he has lost a full third of them in supposedly safe military campaigns, or the infirmity that took is elder brother. Noel long ago abandoned the idea that the Dioune had cursed him somehow, and now just sees the world as a savage, dangerous place to be fiercely guarded against.

Associations


Noel has not replaced his chamberlain, and the only people who really have access to him are his family, including wife Tamra, three sons; his heir Baran, and sons Derek, and Darian, and nine daughters; Elle, Mina, Arla, Susanne, Anna, Sara, Willa, Marla and infant Effe. His most trusted household slaves are allowed access to his chambers, and they are closely monitored by his personal guard. However the most important man in Noel's life right now is his guard captain Will Scarven, who maintains the security of Fort Ennisguard.

Because of his growing insularity Noel's political relationships have suffered, but he was once something of a maverick in the Earls' Council, changing his allegiances on each issue, as only the man who controls both the land and sea routes to Highdunn can afford to. Today he is absent from all but the most important meetings at Daultin, and few of the Earls still bother to try to contact or lobby at Ennis.

Statistics


Race Male Ahlonian Skills
Age Middle-Aged (54) Skill Points: spent/total
Profession Earl of Werndel (2) skill value rationale
Faith Orthodox Church of the Dioune (n)
Class Earl (8/6)
Talents Inventory
Fast +2 weapon cap threshold reach
Graceful +2
Hale +1
Strong +0
Tough +1 armour hard tiers enc/limit
Clever +0 tool cap test
Insightful +2
Knowledgeable +0 attire environment
Perceptive +3
Wilful +0
Brave -3
Persuasive +0
Forceful +0
Lucky -2

Character Traits


Stay Back! Come No Closer (3)

Noel Wern is convinced that terrible death is always at hand, and his dark-eyed paranoia means that he can be obsessive over the smallest detail, and often impossible to deal with. He trusts no one and nothing, not food, not servants, scarcely even his own family. But doubtless his deranged caution has saved his life more than once.

An Eye for the Knife (1)

Noel Wern knows how to protect himself, because he has obsessed over the best ways an assassin might reach him, and protected himself accordingly. He would be exceedingly hard to trap or take by surprise were someone to actually attempt to.

The Call of the Sea (1)

Noel still remembers his days on the rolling oceans, feeling it breathe beneath his feet, and riding the storms out into the unknown and back. What man could truly forget such mastery of the elements, or not long to relive it just once more?