Arnoud van Leuveren
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| Title(s) | Count / Graaf, Govenor |
| Born | 1495 AFS. |
| Rule | 1522 AFS – present day |
| Realm(s) | United Provinces of the Hinterlands |
| Race | The Attian Humans |
| Culture | Hinterland |
Physical description:
Arnoud is an tall man of 1.92m with an appearance yearning back to the old nobility of the Hinterlands. His gingerbread brown coloured eyes, brunette hair and fair skin are typical of the old people of the Hinterlands. Due to his length Arnoud comes across as quite slim but he is still quite agile and strong. He has dark and thick eyebrows as well as sporting a well-maintained moustache. He dresses in a colourful fashion, often wearing a extravagant hat and golden chain with makerist symbols around his neck indicating his wealth and influence in court. As well as dressing in a coat made of mink hide. It is visible that he spends a lot of time perfecting his hair to be decent and representable. His appearance comes across as quite ostentatious to the commoner but is fitting for his title.
When in battle or tournament Arnoud is harnessed in a colourful coat of arms atop of a mail chain and gambeson reflecting the colours of his crest underneath a plate which are red, yellow and black, with griffins decorating it. Preferring to wear a sallet in combat he decorates his helmet with a red feather. His arms are usually the longsword nobility tends to wield, although he also participates in pit combat with blunt weapons such as maces and the polehammer.
Characteristics:
Dressing quite haughty Arnoud’s character reflects exactly the opposite. Growing up in the House of Leuveren he was raised to be a knight one day. Which he completed due there not being any outstanding achievements in his knightly valour, he has gathered acclaim for his wit. Although he values chivalry in a way of representation he isn’t quite fond of all the honour and décor that the code of chivalry holds. Preferring a more direct and business-like attitude to that of blood and iron, Arnoud has always busied himself as an administrator and networker to the merchants and upper-class citizenry. Arnoud’s complete and utter distaste of government bureaucracy has in turn transformed him into the perfect bureaucrat, with him spending more time in office going through documents and dossiers trying to perfect the state administration than on the tourney ground. Arnoud is however a very pious and devout person, the Dictus being a very important lifeline to him and he holds the Hadrian Church in high regard and donates alms to the poor.
His spare time is spend studying the history of Eden and reading up on Ancient Attian philosophy. Arnoud’s mercantile mindset has set him on learning multiple languages, having mastered Khadan and being able to read Ancient Attian. His attitude reflects involvement and patience, although this sometimes wreaks distrust from other nobles towards him because his patience is viewed as scheming. At council meetings Arnoud always wants to have the last word in discussions when he’s really invested. Being of marriable age, Arnoud has yet to find himself a suitable modest bride.
History:
Arnoud Boudewijn Gregory van Leuveren I was born in 1495 in the noble house of Leuveren. His House’s history yearns back to the Ninety Years War when they were noble warriors in the Kingdom of the Hinterlands during the wars against the Kingdom of Hadriana. In the aftermath of the final Battle of the Stroom Arnoud’s ancestor Johannes van Leuveren bent the knee to the Hadrian king who spared his family and rewarded him with the lordship of a fief in the Hinterlands.
Growing up as a nobleman in the Kingdom of Hadriana the second son of Count Gerardus of Leuberen it was expected of Arnoud to excel at his knightly duties and requirements. His father Gerardus van Leuveren was a shining example of what a knight ought to be. He had served the Kings of Hadriana with honor and was a devout follower of the Maker. Being the second son Arnoud was send to study with Bisschop Angwald to complement his knightly training with edenly wisdom. Arnoud soon discovered a love for books and dossiers and had a talent for discussions and debate. Johannes IV van Leuveren, Arnoud’s older brother was very close to him but had great difficulty in reading. So Arnoud at the age of 7 took it upon himself to help his brother who was 12 already to make sense of letters. Arnoud greatly looked up to his elder brother who one day whilst playing in the woods safeguarded his younger brother when a bear attacked their group. Johannes had everything in the making to be a great knight, whilst Arnoud seemed to lose himself in study. In 1502 Arnoud’s sister Isabella Nora van Leuveren was born. But as a nobleman’s son he had to start training from a very young age with average performance. Arnoud eventually grew to dislike his militaristic upbringing and wanted to see more of Eden. So he secretly hid himself in Bisschop Angwald’s wagon when he went on a church mission to Al-Khadir at the age of 8. During their three-year mission to Al-Khadir young Arnoud encountered all sorts of races he had never seen before. He was bewildered by the intimidating look that Orks posed and was fascinated by the merchants of Al-Khadir. He started learning their language and in a few months he was fluent in Khadan. He fell in love with the many colourful cloths and silk he saw in the Al-Khadiran capital and was often seen helping Bishop Angwald bartering for supplies in the local markets of Al-Khadir.
Upon returning to the Kingdom of Hadriana in 1506 it became clear to Arnoud that his arrival was preceded by a shadow of death that swept the lands of Hadriana and came in the form of the Rotting Plague, miraculously his family was unharmed during when he arrived, but Bishop Angwald soon perished to the plague, handing over his holy chain to Arnoud before he died. Arnoud went on to be more involved in his knightly duties, because his father was scared he would lose one of his sons to the plague.. At the age of 14 Arnoud was now the squire to his elder brother Johannes who had been knighted at a very young age for his help in defeating a group of forest bandits that had pestered the kingdom during the plague. The plague however held on and the ancestral lands of the House of Leuveren were drained from recources and more than three quarters of its inhabitants died. The noble house with their remaining serfs and men-at-arms sought refuge in the capital that was ravaged by the rotting plague as well. Arnoud quickly found work as a scribe in the capital, assisting the king in royal matters that required a lot of paperwork. On his advise the King ordered an isolation period of forty days to be put on foreigners entering Hadriana in the infamous Quarantine Degree. After King Reynfred left to the people of Hadriana in a fit of panic Arnoud stayed at the capital on the command of his father. During this time he saw the capital descend into chaos and various families scheming for the throne. What followed is known as the Hadrian Civil war and the Van Leuveren families picked sides with the Royalists forces loyal to King Reynfred. The Van Leuveren family helped King Reynfrey out of exile and set up camp to hold the Crownlands, during this time the Usuper forces razed the Hinterlands and sacked the ancestral home of the Van Leuveren family. At the culmination of the conflict in 1412 the Withmonds forces retook the capital city during the defense Arnoud was in charge of leading a crossbow militia. Although the civil war was lost and King Reynfrey decapitated now-King Joseph Withmond sought to reach out his hand and pardon all Royalist families. Now without lands nor a castle the Van Leuveren family retreated into the capital. During 1514 Arnoud’s brother was slain after challenging the infamous Raven Rider who’d set up camp at the behest of winter outside of town. Thusly making Arnoud the heir of the Van Leuveren family. His mother went crazy of grief and eventually missing or died, it is unknown. At the loss of his firstborn and wife Gregory van Leuveren lost his mind and was plagued with a sickness of the mind causing him to forget most about his life including the name of Arnoud, with exception he does still seems to remember his daughter Isabella.
In recent history Arnoud sought to reclaim a hold in the Hinterlands. During his time in court he’d befriended Prince Roderick who in 1517 was crowned King after the death of his father. Arnoud has helped in the defeat of the Titan that emerges in the old Attian swamp and has declared himself a stark restorationist of the Attian Empire. During a battle with a titan in the ancient Attian Swamp Arnoud impaled by his own spare, but saved due to the magical capabilities of Sultana Phaedra of Al-Khadir. In 1522 he was named Governor of Prezza l’ Aquila after the Halfling Wars where he now resides. Due to his governorship Prezza flourished again. Yet after the Augassi Coup d’Etat performed against King Roderick Withmond Arnoud decided to secede from the Kingdom of Hadriana renaming Prezza L’Aquila as Wakkerdam. Thusly declaring his past fief as the United Provinces of the Hinterlands. Arnoud leads this state as Stadhouder together with his sister Isabella, who is a Regentes. In their indepence the Van Leuveren’s seek to halt the rising power of the Augassi family, now firmly settles in Adelsburg.
Trivia:
- At the age of 8 Arnoud accompanied Bisschop Angwald to Al-Khadir on a makerist church mission to spread the word of the Maker.
- When send on his first hunting trip Arnoud failed to trap a stag, as punishment he was forced to wear a dead bleeding mink on his shoulders for a fortnight, later he skinned that mink and wears it as part of a coat.
- Arnoud’s older brother Johannes IV van Leuveren perished in 1514 when he challenged the Raven Rider