Markvart von Herdorf

Markvart von Herdorf

Title(s)	Hochmeister of the Order of the Golden Rose, Herzog of Hölzland and Ritter of Hadriana
Born	Third of Redfall, 1503 AFS
Realm(s)	The Hadrian Empire
Race	The Attian Humans
Religion	Alderism
Culture	Hadrian

Intro

Markvart Frederick Theobald Heino is the current and first Hochmeister of the Order of the Golden Rose and a Ritter of Hadriana. He was knighted by the Kaiser of Hadriana, Diederick-Göbel von Lichtenfelts, in 1534. Markvart is one of the men who joined the then-exiled Kaiser during his stay at Lünburg Castle. His personal arms are an orange fox under flowers on a field of white.

Physical description

Markvart is an impressive sight to behold, standing at 202 centimetres (6 '7) in height, his fellow men often have to crane their heads to see him properly. He wears his thick and shaggy light-brown hair in a side part, decorated by a well-groomed moustache and piercing emerald eyes. Markvart has attained a well-shaped physique, having spent almost all his life training and brawling. His arms, legs and torso are full of scars from the years of fighting, yet miraculously he has been able to keep his face fully in-tact.

Characteristics

In many ways, Markvart’s expertise begins and ends at combat. He has a humble personality and frequently thinks of himself as thick-headed. As honourable as he is tall, Markvart is not a schemer by any sense of the imagination, he is dutiful and gallant, obsessing over the idea of a ‘true Ritter’. Most of the time Markvart is a cheery fellow, jesting and laughing his way through life, and adept at making friends. Though in reality, Markvart prefers to be alone, a habit he picked up in his childhood. He is a devout Alderist, many considering him a zealot, and it is from there that he draws most of his strength. On his eighteenth nameday, he chose the Sentinel Salvor for his patron, and has henceforth never strayed from the path set out before him.

His days are often filled with his traditional duties as Hochmeister of a Ritter’s Order, inspecting the grounds and training his squires. When he has the time he gets in some training of his own, primarily with the Zweihander and other two-handed weapons. His size favours these sorts of weapons and his brute style of fighting, having made it his own. Markvart enjoys jousts, hosting them, but he loves participating even more.

History

Early life

Markvart’s earliest memories were of living on the streets of Bergwald, taller than most of the other children around his age, he would become a bit of a bully, thieving and fighting all he could. Most of his time would be spent being chased through the narrow streets by angry merchants and guards. Markvart is an orphan, and never knew either of his parents. It may be that he is a bastard. He believed his father might have been a criminal, and hoped to one day meet a man who looked like him by following the same path he did. The hedge Ritter Frederick of Herdorf took him as his new squire after finding young Markvart, age seven or eight, chasing a pig through the streets. He raised Markvart and together they travelled all over the then Kingdom, regularly attending tourneys, visiting and serving the minor nobility of the land.

Markvart learned sword-fighting from Ser Frederick, though he still recalls his brawling experience from Bergwald as well. Ever since the first time that Frederick had let Markvart hold a sword, Markvart had dreamt of becoming a ‘true Ritter’, idolising the glittering Ritters on their horses and their retainers.

Tourney at Norbüren

After about ten years of squiring for Ser Frederick, a tourney was to be held at Norbüren, then still Hadriana. Frederick died on the way to Norbüren, and after Markvart had buried him, he decided to compete in the tourney in Frederick’s stead. Markvart sold Ser Frederick’s armour and steed to buy his own set of armour, and went on to participate. After a valiant effort from the young man, he was unsaddled by a Ritter wearing the colours of House Withmond in the third round. A young man now, around eighteen years of age, yet still not a Ritter, Ser Frederick had passed before he was able to do so. Markvart decided to follow in his footsteps whatever the case, and took on the name of Herdorf, as well as Ser Frederick’s personal arms. He became a hedge Ritter, even though he was technically not a Ritter, and travelled through the Kingdom on his own, mostly making his money through tourneys and quests.

Service at Lünburg

Markvart in his Golden Rose armour.

Markvart had, as every citizen of the now Empire, been sucked into the never-ending conflict of the upper-class. He had marched in the armies of the Empire to squash rebellions, as well as the campaign north into Raevendrecht. He felt that he lacked purpose, and was in need of more stability in his life, coin being scarce as a result of the war. He rode, offering his services to the many Lords and Ladies of the Empire, but all refused, all except one. In an amusing twist of fate, the former Herzog Janczyk-Mariusz Tzyrnowski, now a citizen of Raevendrecht, did want for his services. In Schloss Lünburg Markvart performed the duties of a tutor and mentor to the children at court, during his time at Lünburg he also met the future Kaiser Diederick-Göbel von Lichtenfelts for the first time. He swiftly became intertwined with the upper-class of the castle and used his stories as a tool to make friends, mostly by accident. It is there, at Schloss Lünburg, that Markvart was introduced to and came into the service of the future Kaiser, during a chance encounter. He became an advisor to the Kaiser and swiftly removed himself from the service of Herzog Janczyk, in order to help regain his liege’s throne, and restore order to his homeland.

The Kaiser’s Quest

Still nothing more than a commoner in practice, Markvart had found himself in a position few could fathom, at the Kaiser’s side. The Kaiser had asked him to begin preparations for their inevitable return, and for his service, he was at last awarded the title of Ritter, becoming Ser Markvart. Because of his newfound station, Markvart changed ‘of’ to ‘von’, in an effort to style himself more elegantly. He also took on a few of the many names Ser Frederick had, which eventually led to him becoming Markvart Frederick Theobald Heino von Herdorf. The Kaiser tasked him to create an Order of Ritters, called the Order of the Golden Rose, to protect and serve the populace of the Empire and its royal family. He was granted the Herzogdom of Hölzland to build a castle for the Order, and now remains a regular sight at the Kaiser’s court.

Trivia

• Markvart wears a chain with a nine-pointed pendant, and never takes it off.

• Markvart grooms his moustache twice a day.

• Ser Frederick’s full name was Frederick Theobald Heino Hans Günther Leopold Tobias of Herdorf, at least that is what he said, and Markvart believed him.