Description: It's body language that creates Benedetto's dramatic impression. He carries himself with casual insouciance. His low voice is rich with laughter and invitation. His eyes are a liquid dark, framed by absurdly long lashes beneath the thickness of well-defined eyebrows. His lips are more full than thin, mobile in the midst of the strong lines of nose and jaw. His skin is a dusky olive-brown. He tends towards clean shaves. The sculpt of his features could be the cast of a pretty statue, but his face is too lively, his expression rarely still. Tall and slim, he looks like a dancer, built on agile lines that match the delicacy of his long fingers.

Personality: Benedetto is lively, charming, and vibrant. He can take this to obnoxious extremes. Witty, irrepressible and irresponsible, Benedetto is a master of deflection: he deflects insults, he deflects undue seriousness, he deflects unearned compliments. Slithering out of trouble is probably his chiefest accomplishment. He'd be the first to tell you that fun is his primary drive. Thirsty for gossip, delighted by social gatherings and generally an incredible showoff, he is quick to defend his family and friends with a bravura energy that rarely extends to self-protection.

Background:
As a boy, Benedetto often skated on the very edge of trouble. Refinement was far from his reach, particularly at the beginning. But with a father who was frequently at sea, he and his identical twin brother, Baldessare, were reared largely by the house staff of the Lenosia estate, children bearing witness to the development and elevation of cousins with blood closer to the main line - and wards of no particular good blood at all.

Benedetto cut his teeth on legends of cunning and cleverness and lagged behind his brother's academic achievements. He got into trouble constantly for being too forthright, too open in anger or in contempt or in confidence. He masked little, and had to be trained better - "What kind of Fox even are you, boy?" was a common refrain around the schoolroom.

The older he grew, the more his energy came to be channeled into performative behavior, mugging and imitating his betters in ways that would have been more insulting if he didn't have such a knack for heart-melting puppydog eyes.

His father took both boys to sea in their early teens to teach them how to behave, and assigned their squirage as cabin boys on several voyages that were designed to look more adventurous and exciting than they were. Benedetto was quickly a favorite of the men for his willingness to scale rigging like a monkey and do just about any jig or dance they came up with in exchange for nothing more than a kind word.

He also learned that grog will knock you on your ass, especially when you're fifteen.

As an adult, his generally biddable (if lazy) and flashy entertaining nature proved useful to the family primarily in social situations. As his sister's social star climbed in Arx, he and Baldessare were dispatched to Arx. Benedetto suspects that there may be marital plans in his future, but maybe he'll prove as talented at deflecting those as he has at everything else permanent. You never know!

Relationship Summary

Sibling:

Berenice - Benedetto's little sister is the bloom of the flower of nobility. He says he would die for her, although what he means is that he hopes she won't kill him. Kidding! Or is he? In truth, Berenice is one of Benedetto's favorites - her power, ambition, social strength are the greatest shield he can imagine and also she's tremendous fun to gossip with.

Baldessare - The other side of the coin, a sturdy bulwark from which Benedetto's bright banner flies. Benedetto loves his brother and is loyal to him unto death.

Family:

Ophelia - What an antidote to the thorns in this thicket. Ophelia's sunny innocence is basically one of the only forces in the world that can motivate Benedetto to reach beyond his own self-interest. She's just so stinking cute.

Silvio - Silvio presents that subtle, studied elegance where Benedetto is devil-may-care, but as a cousin he's an excellent party partner. For one thing, he plays the Velenosan prince to the hilt, and while Silvio is sharpening his verbal barbs, he makes a perfect smokescreen for Benedetto.

Friend:

Ilvin - Blessed Ilvin is a kind and generous soul who ensures that his volunteer Devotions always have access to fresh-baked cookies when they're on the job. Benedetto thinks that the puttering little priest might be too gentle for the real world but honestly that's just to Benedetto's benefit.

Eiran - Lord Eiran Laurent is the least boring man in the entire Oathlands and Benedetto considers him an excellent friend.

Acquaintance:

Esme - Benedetto doesn't know her well yet, but seems to be a pleasantly high energy Devotion, and he generally likes people who like fun.

Rival:

Talwyn - Ugh! What a jerk. Benedetto tried for like 3 weeks to get this guy into bed. This flirtation ended really badly with a duel over fashion choices which was definitely not really about fashion choices.

Frenemy:

Eleanor - Benedetto is pretty sure she hates him. He's not a hundred percent sure what he did. No, okay, he knows what he did. It's not funny to make soup jokes about people's pets. He has a plan to find an embroiderer to embroider We Do Not Eat TURTLES on a pillow. This will definitely work.