Marquis Vincere Igniseri
I do not wish us to die gallantly, I wish us to win.
Obituary: Slain while on a scouting mission against the Silent Army, retrieving vital information abotu the disposition of their forces that led to success at the Battle of Pridehall. Cut off by bringers, died fighting long with his brother Pietro to save Lady Cara Ashford and the Compact.
Description: Vincere carries himself with the confidence of a victor, lean with the raw strength of athletic youth. Angular features are softened by warm, dark eyes, while a strong jaw suggests determination. Dark hair is kept close-cropped to avoid a riot of unruly curls, framing strong features. Rare smiles show themselves bright against the warm olive dusk of his skin.
Personality: Much like his brother, Vincere is a natural hothead. He has worked hard to tame his anger to the point where he has a reputation for cool reserve and is known as being unnaturally honorable -- for a Lycene. The veneer of his calm is easy to pierce by pricking his pride, and he treasures his reputation for honor and is sometimes too quick to defend it. He is determined, prideful, and ambitious.
Background: Vincere, seven minutes the elder son, is the heir of his house and twin of Pietro. When the twins were born, the Marquesa Igniseri of the city-state of Granato was married to the Marquis Igniseri, and their first few years of life were fairly normal. But the Marquis -- a much older man -- died in Arx when the twins were but three years old, and their mother left them in care of their nurse to pursue the goals of House Igniseri herself. She married again when they were 7 to a lesser count who pursued her relentlessly. There were rumors that the count was the author of their father's death. While Vincere was receptive to learning from the man, who was unusually bookish and intelligent for a noble, he never truly warmed to him.
When the promising young boys were 13, their stepfather died in an "accident" in the Lycene countryside on a trip to Granato. Rumors abounded about how it happened, but an investigation by their aunt turned up significant evidence that their mother, the Marquesa, was responsible. She lost significant reputation capital, and in part to keep her family intact, she agreed to a fosterage contract with House Rubino so that her boys could be raised through their teen years as wards of her liege. This was done to keep the woman whose reputation grew over the years as the Badger of Granato in line. Training with their liege-lord's children, the Igniseri twins grew more capable. Their training separated them somewhat -- Pietro could not get enough of battle and action, while Vincere grew subtler and quicker to grasp the greater needs of a commander -- but both were united, over time, in both their loyalty to each other and their hunger to improve their family's fortunes after their mother's mismanagement.
The Badger remarried again. The knight she married, Sir Jalawyn, was little better than a commoner, although he was unusually handsome. She mainly kept in touch with her sons via correspondence -- once they attained their majority they returned to Granato to manage the city-state and develop the family fortune. They both learned much of the military arts, but where Vincere learned to command, Pietro learned to act. Vincere occasionally chafed at this. When Marquis Sir Jalawyn Igniseri died six months ago -- poisoned, though the Badger still swears it wasn't by her hand -- their mother did not remarry, but found herself strongly advised by her fellow Lycenes to leave Arx and send her perfectly capable heir in her place to manage for the Igniseri fortunes. While Vincere may be the heir, Pietro is never far from his side -- so the two of them ventured to the capital to turn this ship around and sail their disgraced family into better fortunes.
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