A Bit About You
Your Name ∙ Lynn
Contact Information ∙ Check the profile.
Time Zone ∙ Pacific.
Introductions
Character’s Name ∙ Crown Prince Zarian of Conté.
Age ∙ 22
Birthdate ∙ August 16th, 178 H.E.
Gender ∙ Male
Residing ∙ The palace in Corus.
Character Class ∙ Royalty
Occupation ∙ Crown Prince, Knight
Squire ∙ Noah of King's Reach
Mindset
Sexual Orientation ∙ Heterosexual
Overall Personality ∙ Zarian is overall very cool and relaxed. Nothing seems to phase him. He's obtained a sort of peace with the world, with his life, including his illness. Unless his plans are affected by it, he doesn't really care about his fits. He doesn't speak of such things in public, for propriety's sake, but in private has been known to be brutally honest about things he never used to talk about, and even joke about them on occasion. Not many people know about Zare's condition, and although he does not consider it that big of a deal (anymore), he understands the views of others and keeps it as secret as possible for the sake of his reputation. He understands his parents' and the palace staff's caution, but still finds it incredibly irritating to be kept back. The life of a prince or princess is restricted enough without further inhibiting his freedom. Most of the time, though, he can talk his way into or out of something if he really wants to. Out of all the children, Zare is the only one who is completely grown up, and his parents know and respect his maturity.
Overall, Zare is a cheerful fellow, with a sort of wry humor that only emerges in under-his-breath comments to those nearby. He is intelligent, practical, and a good problem solver. He can usually sort things out in his mind fairly quickly. If he is faced with an issue he does not have an answer to, he tends to keep thinking about it constantly until he does, which can cause him to seem a bit distracted at times. Zarian knows the power of words, and does not speak merely to speak, but rather only when he has something he wants to say. He can seem detached upon first meeting him, but the more one gets to know him the more friendly and personable he becomes. In public he is the model of politeness and formality, but in private much looser and more fun.
At times, he seems wiser than his years, because he has learned to let go off grudges. He also tries hard to show no arrogance and keep a rational mind, and he has a list of morals and ethics longer than his sword. His years in training as a knight imbued him with a sharp sense of honor, and he holds honesty in high regard. He sees court gossip and empty flattery as tiresome, but he does not get frustrated with such people. He recognizes that it is their way, and lets them be, albeit avoiding them from time to time when he is not in the mood to sift through to what they really mean. People who are brutally truthful fascinate Zare, and he often finds their blunt statements hilarious, although he would never say the things they do in polite conversation.
Because of his years away from the palace, Zarian can sometimes feel distanced from his family, especially the girls, most of whom he views as empty-headed and frivolous. He has a respect for his mother, but on many levels cannot connect with her like he can his father. He genuinely likes the King, but not on the level that young boys often idolize their fathers. He knows that Jerold is a man like any other, but recognizes him as a good, honorable man, and a fair and intelligent king. Zare likes his younger brother Roger, but the latter is too young to do much in the way of stimulating academic conversation. Zarian is especially fond of Lí, more so perhaps than any of his relatives and court nobles, with the exception of two people. One is --, who was his Knight master during Zarian's squire years. Zare views – as a sort of older brother, someone he can always be honest with, someone he can always be himself with, without fear of rejection or offense. The other person is a young noblewoman, Melisande.
Zarian is in love with Melisande, but she does not return his feelings. He keeps his distance from her, mostly because any conversation between the two of them seems awkward and put on, avoiding the elephant in the room. He does not talk about her to anyone, even his closest friends, but sometimes when she is in the room his eyes will drift over to her. She has never caught him looking, but Zare has a feeling that she can feel his gaze. He promised her that he would not take any steps towards trying to marry her, and that he would not stop her from courting or marrying another. He wouldn't break his promise in a million years, but his jaw still clenches and his mouth goes dry when he sees her smile at another boy.
Illness ∙ Zarian has epilepsy, although this is neither widely known nor widely understood. A few select members of the palace staff know that the prince occasionally has “fits,” and anyone close to Zarian has been trained in how to deal with such things. Careful precautions are taken to ensure that Zarian never has a “fit,” or seizure, in public, and the extent of his disease is not widely known outside the Palace walls. Most are unaware that there is anything about Zare that is out of the ordinary, and only the most perceptive and intelligent of people can pick up on an anomaly without being told. Zarian had his first seizure at the age of two, which baffled healers, because there was no reason for him to begin having them at that particular time.
There are several things that generally trigger a seizure for Zarian, although sometimes fits can occur unprovoked. Exposure to very bright lights for more than a few seconds, alcohol consumption, certain types of perfume or incense often leads to such things. Zare has a moderate tolerance to wine, and can drink it on occasion, but anything more than a glass a day will push his body very close to a fit, if it does not induce one. Anything stronger than red wine is also too dangerous. Luckily, the scents that trigger his seizures are not ones commonly found in nature, at least around the palace. The Royal family and palace servants do everything in their power to try and decrease any of the above factors in an event where Zarian is involved. Obviously they cannot monitor what alcohol a noble might offer Zare if he visits, or what perfume a lady might wear, but for the most part they keep the atmosphere, at least, clean, and the prince knows enough to recognize some of his pre-seizure symptoms and get himself away from the cause before any serious damage is done. He has found that if he expects a fit to come, he can try and keep his concentration focused and either postpone or override it entirely. Of course, it is unreliable and not an exact science. The unexpected, unprovoked fits catch him off guard, however, and he is defenseless. Unless it is provoked by something tangible Zare has no way of knowing when a fit is coming.
Reflection
Height ∙ 5' 10”
Weight ∙ 140 lbs.
Overall Appearance ∙ Zarian is not overly tall, but somehow still manages to look lanky. Despite having wide-set shoulders, he does not give off the impression of strength or muscularity. He does continue combat training, but somewhat lazily, so his muscles aren't quite what one could expect from a twenty-two year old knight. Still, he is by no means weak; he is muscular, just not as much as he could be--and he doesn't show it at all. He has soft, sympathetic features, with a large nose and a twisting, slightly quirky smile. His eyes are a smooth, slate-like grey-green. They do not portray any emotion unless Zare is feeling something very strongly, and are not particularly vibrant. Of course, nothing about Zarian seems particularly vibrant; his skin is on the paler side, his hair black with only a faint sheen. At its shortest, it could reach to his thin, arched eyebrows, and at its longest plays against the base of his neck. He usually just combs it back in the morning, to keep it out of his face, and it ends up falling on either side of his forehead, framing his pale features.
Zarian doesn't care much about his clothing; he wears what is provided for him. His wardrobe varies widely based on the day's activities: from comfortable, dark pants and plain light shirts, to custom-made and fashionable, light armor, to stiff and formal cuffs, coats, shirts, tails, hosiery, etc. His clothes are naturally of higher quality. He does not have any facial hair, but sometimes neglects to shave, causing a shadow of stubble to appear along his jaw. He has a habit, when he is thinking hard about something, to run the knuckles of one hand along one side of his chin absentmindedly.
The prince has large hands and feet, but not so much so that they are noticeable or out of proportion. He is always clean, with an arsenal of servants standing ready to mop sweat off his forehead, change his clothes, provide hot bath water, and supervise the purchase of anything he might require. From his hair to his fingernails, dirt, grease, or sweat is not to be found unless you've countered the prince directly after a sparring match or other strenuous physical activity.
Backstory
Family History ∙ Zarian's father was born to the Tortall throne. His mother was a member of a minor foreign nobility, barely worthy of a royal nod of the head, until Zare's maternal grandfather launched an invasion of the Kyprish Isles. When the conquest was over, Rittevon crowned himself King over his small group of luarin supporters, and the subjugated raka people. By extention, Zarian's mother became a princess overnight, and was soon betrothed to the crown prince of Tortall.
Family ∙
Jerold of Conté, King of Tortall, Father
Anastasya of Conté, Queen of Tortall, Mother
Líadan of Conté, Princess of Tortall, Oldest Sister
Diona of Conté, Princess of Tortall, Younger Sister
Roger II of Conté, Prince of Tortall, Younger Brother
Kaira of Conté, Princess of Tortall, Baby Sister
Others ∙
Melisande Peri'el of Irismere, Zarian's childhood friend turned sweetheart. There was a short romance between the two, drawn to halt by Melisande, because she was afraid she might not care for him as deeply as he did for her. He still nurses feelings for her.
Regan of Wellam, Zarian's friend. She has a very professional, no-nonsense outlook, for which Zarian admires her. In an attempt to forget Melisande, and on the suggestion of his mother, he has recently begun to court her.
-- of ----, a knight who taught Zare during his Squire years. The two get along like brothers, and even after Zarian's graduation to knighthood, they have remained close friends.
Noah of King's Reach, Zarian's fifteen-year-old squire. He is half-orphaned, being the illegitimate son of the high priest of Mithros and his mother, who died when he was seven. The two get along very well.
David --, (NPC) Zarian's servant, who is in charge of every other servant attending the crown prince and also manages Zare's schedule, keeps track of his things, and remembers everyone's name. He is completely invaluable to Zare.
Birthplace ∙ The Palace at Tortall.
Background ∙ Zarian was born relatively quickly after his parent's marriage, and was their first child, as well as their heir. As such he was given exceptional attention by everyone from a young age, in every way. He was immediately exposed to various intelligence-stimulating toys, as well as tiny bow and arrow sets, toy boats, anything a young boy could be expected to enjoy. For the most part, enjoy them he did, and his first two years of life passed by with little more effort on his part than an occasional babyish grin, blissfully unaware of the plans already being made regarding his future education, training, and even thoughts of marriage and diplomacy.
These sorts of thoughts were driven from his parents' minds, however, when at the tender age of nearly three, Zarian experienced his first seizure. His mother was almost frantic when the first signs of illness began to show, and his father was none too happy about the development. The healers were at a complete loss to explain the phenomenon. Despite everything that the palace staff tried, the “fits” continued. The next few years, Zarian was constricted to his bed more often than not, while the best healers Tortall could offer, and occasionally foreign practitioners, tried their best to cure him, all to no avail. Zarian himself fought for the right to move about on his own whenever possible, but was often denied, so instead, he learned to read early in life and spent his bountiful free time on that. He did little else during those years besides read and sit for his lessons. It was a very constricted life, especially since Zarian's literature was constricted to pre-approved books for him. He expressed his frustration with that particular policy to his mother. She tried to get more books for him, but his father didn't exactly agree with her on the subject.
When Zarian was five, his mother conceived and bore her first daughter, Líadan . Suddenly, the amount of energy spent on Zarian decreased dramatically. He was still far from forgotten, but in the hustle and bustle over the new baby, he had more breathing room. It was shortly after Líadan's birth that Zarian was finally granted access to all the books he wanted. He was also allowed more day-to-day freedom. The positive benefits of having a sibling canceled out any negative feelings he might have harbored the little girl for stealing the limelight, and Zarian was quite content for few years. He still suffered from regular seizures, but the doctors began to arrive less and less frequently, especially after it was discovered that Líadan did not possess the same curse Zarian did.
At the age of seven, Zarian's grandfather died. This had very little effect on him emotionally; the only consequence in his young world was that his parents were now the King and Queen of Tortall. For the first time in his life, Zarian realized that one day, that would be him sitting on the throne. He had been told so before, but it had never seemed as concrete, as factual as the day of his parents' coronation. He carried himself a little differently from then on; more responsibly. He would still slip into childish whining and complaining now and then, but as he grew older, he also rapidly grew more mature.
The next year, when Zarian was eight, his second sister Diona was born. By now there was very little concern that any of the children would have fits like Zarian did, and the birth passed by relatively uneventfully. Zarian loved both of his younger siblings, the way he was required to love family members, but didn't particularly care for either of them, and had little to do with his younger sisters. Around the same time, Zarian's grandmother died. Tensions ran high in the palace for a while after that, until his father seemed to recover from his grief overnight. Life resumed, Zarian continuing with his studies, and Líadan just beginning hers. His illness had become old hat, just another thing that happened on occasion, like a full moon or a shooting star. Except that his fits only happened to him, and weren't quite as harmless as celestial movement.
When Zarian was twelve, Roger was born. Roger was the second boy in the line of Conté children, and as such, was the second in line to the throne. Most would think nothing of it, but for Zarian, this realization was devastating. He saw the new baby boy, and his parent's joy at his arrival, as a backup version of himself. In case his illness got out of control, in case something happened, well, there would be Roger, exactly the same as Zarian, except not sick. For the first time in his life, Zarian really, really hated his fits. He tried with all his might to fight them, to make them go away, with no avail. He became particularly pious, praying at least once a week that the gods would heal him. Ironically, the incense burned in the temples often triggered new fits. Zarian didn't yet understand this, and chose to see the connection as the gods laughing at his pathetic request. This only caused him to pray harder, and more frequently.
Zarian asked shortly after Rodger's birth why he'd never been enrolled as a page. It wasn't that he was particularly eager for his shield; in fact, quite the opposite. He'd never been inclined towards fighting, or physical exercise of any sort, but the idea that might have been his fits keeping him from joining appalled him. Being sick didn't make him weak, he told himself. His parents were confused, but granted his wishes easily enough, and Zarian became a Page.
During his page training, Zarian thought he noticed the trainers going easier on him than the other boys. Whether this was out of respect for his title or concern for his epilepsy—or merely an invention of his imagination—he never did know, but regardless, he hated it. He blamed everything he could—his illness, the gods, anything—and meanwhile worked as hard as he could at his page duties. He threw himself into combat and physical exercises, but still didn't quite measure up to the other boys his age. Even so, he made several friends among his comrades, who, after the initial awkward formality was overcome, took to calling him Zare.
Zarian graduated from his page training at sixteen, a few years behind most, and became the Squire for a Knight in his mid-thirties, named -- of ----. Now that his page training was complete, Zare began to relax slightly, and as he did so, realized that he had absolutely no desire to be a Knight. It was a little late for that, however, and he stuck by --. He never regretted having done it. The Knight became a close friend, and something like an older brother figure for the young prince. Zarian grew up more during his four years with – than he had over any other period of his life. He became more secure in his views of himself, no longer feeling like he had to work at everything to even compare with other boys. He recognized his real talents lay in the academic world, and – respected that, although they still kept up the physical drills. Zarian spent most of his time at home with his younger brother, Roger, who he had come to be quite fond of despite his prospects. He overall became a much more relaxed, easy going person. He was more agreeable, cheerful, and overall a better friend.
Zare was not looking forward to the end of his Squireship for two reasons; one was having to part with --, who was as good as family by this point, and the other was the Ordeal. Not everyone survived the Ordeal, and Zarian had little faith in his ability to do so. He'd never been the top of his class, even being a year or two behind the average competitor. He was dreading it. -- tried, with some difficulty to console Zare, to say that he would do fine, but being unable to even discuss the Ordeal with him did little to quell the prince's feelings. Still, there was no other way, so he swallowed down his fears and entered the Ordeal with his head held high.
He returned to the Palace a man, where he had left four years previously little more than an overgrown boy. Several of the pages dodging around the palace walls with Roger looked at him with something of an awed respect. Zare wasn't used to respect; sympathy, on occasion, when taken with a fit, but not respect. He bore it well. He discussed politics with his father, as well as Líadan. Zarian was amazed at the girl his younger sister had become; he'd hardly paid her any attention since age seven, but somehow without his noticing she'd become intelligent and beautiful, not to mention her sharp tongue and biting humor. She was the kind of woman Zare was proud to claim as his sister. Diona and Kaira were still not much more than giggling girls, and the prince had little to do with them. Zarian was nothing but amused when, later that year, Lí wormed her way out of an arranged marriage with her blunt view of diplomacy.
The last four years had produced changes in more than just his oldest sister, however. As Zarian once again stepped into court life, he was amazed at how different it seemed. He wasn't sure whether the people themselves had changed, or whether he'd just gained the ability to appreciate them. One young woman especially stood out to Zarian; Melisande Peri'el of Irismere. He had known Melisande before entering his page training. The two had met, talked, and even learned to dance with one another, but she had been nothing then except a gawky and awkward young girl with underdeveloped social ideas and nice manners, easily forgettable in the years he'd been away. Zarian, however, like many others, was immediately struck by what a beauty she had become. Also, unlike some other callous and shallow noblewomen, she continued to attract him the more he got to know her.
Months went by, and any event where Zarian would see Melisande became the highlight of his day. She was perfect, in his eyes, or as close as any human could ever come. Her dazzling smile, her gentle hands, her casual kindness and intelligence—she was enchanting. Gradually, Zare tried to distinguish himself in her eyes from the other idle boys who hung around court, but the more he tried to impress her, the farther back she seemed to shrink, as if reluctant to acknowledge his efforts. Discouraged, he asked her to dance one night, and after a whirlingly romantic dance that did not appear to be well received on her end, decided to talk to her about her seeming evasion to him.
Zarian was in no way prepared to hear her response; she liked him well enough, and enjoyed their friendship, but knew that he was after more than mere friendship. She did not return his love. She knew that, if the prince asked her father for her hand, she would be given in marriage to him almost at once, and, romantic as she was, she had been dreading it. She wasn't ready to make that kind of a commitment to anyone, much less the Prince. For her, the possibility of being Queen was, if anything, more of a discouragement than a bonus in the relationship.
Zare was crushed, but even so, he didn't want to hurt Melisande in any way. He swore on his honor that, although he did love her, he would never so much as mention her to anyone else unless she granted him permission. He also assured her that he would not try to stop her from courting or marrying whomever she wished. She was thankful, and said emphatically that she would never forget his kindness to her. The words meant little to Zarian. He sunk into a brief and minor depression, but when he emerged from it he spent little to no time with people his own age, preferring instead to immerse himself in academic or political discussions. Still, he had not stopped loving Melisande; at banquets and dinners, his eyes often drifted down the table to where she sat, and his mouth went dry when she smiled at someone else. For the most part, however, he learned to survive without her, and went about his daily duties with a casual cheeriness. At this time he was assigned a squire, Noah of King's Reach.
While he had doubts at first about his ability to train a squire, or to get along civilly with one, the two have got on quite well together. Noah and Zarian are open with each other, although the prince hardly confides anything to the young boy. They are not as close as Zarian and his knightmaster were, but much closer than some knight-squire pairs.
Zarian has started keeping his eye on one Lady Regan of Wellam; while he is not in love with her, he has immense respect for the woman. The two can talk, seriously or teasingly, and Zare enjoys her company. He also thinks that she would make a wonderful queen, more so, perhaps, than Melisande would have. He is planning on asking Regan soon if she would allow him to court her, but has kept these plans secret from most.
Contract
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--Lynn
Last Edit: Saturday, October 25, 2008
Added in Noah as Zarian's squire.
Added Zarian's birthdate.