Wyllam Falkenrath
Appearance
He typically wears leather armor unless truly expecting to do battle. This would include a blue cape fastened around his chest plate, which itself has his family crest upraised on the leather, limited chainmaille protection around the upper arms and shoulders, and clothing suitable to his station underneath. When riding or in cold weather, he sports a quality pair of leather gloves. He is always seen armed outside Eichenwald Manor with a longsword that was handcrafted in celebration of his birth. While venturing forth in the realm, he typically wears light plate armor and leathers with his trusty sword.Skills and Abilities
From the age of five, Wyllam has been trained in the use of all relevant military arms. However, the one that he showed an adept mastery is the two-handed broadsword. He has been carrying the same custom sword on his many journeys, which has given him the ability to test it in battle on several occasions. When residing at home, he switches to typically be armed with a one-handed longsword.Wyllam has also honed the ability to form alliances and bonds with others of different viewpoints. A smile here, a joke there... Negotiation has taught him the value of degrees of importance in reaching his goals by helping others. "Lo, the enemy of thy enemy is indeed thy friend," has never rung truer.
Personality
Sir Wyllam carries with him a strong sense of duty to family. He recognizes the weight of responsibility that comes with his position. That being said, he has taken the early ridicule from a childhood incident and honed it into a shield that cannot be broken. As such, he has developed a strong personage of confidence in himself. Known to be friendly, one wouldn’t typically know otherwise if he disliked them until it was too late. By the same token, he isn’t boastful or crass in his speech. His friendly nature doesn’t hold true for elven folk, who he harbors a deep distrust, and some would say a level of spite for, due to the blood shed by his family in defense of Vel Anir.Biography & Lore
House Falkenrath is so named for the different falcons and other winged predatory birds that inhabit the Falwood Forest. The house banner and coat-of-arms bears a golden bird on a blue field. And they have remained in the same place since written record started, residing on the southern border of Vel Anir, at the edge of Falwood Forest and Giant’s Bane, a large rock formation that is said to be heavier than any god could lift. There, the family has slowly become sustainable by plying the timber trade, not only supplying the great city with quality planks, which can be seen in most prominent buildings within the city, but also tribute to their liege, House Pirian. And like a few other smaller houses, Lord Otto Falkenrath has tried his best to maintain watch on the Falwood. After all, the last great war Vel Anir faced was against the “Wooden Devils”, as the elves from Fal’Addas became to be known. House Falkenrath served in that mighty war at the front and center, leading the charge at two well-known battles. Their blood stained the forest red, but only in equal measure to their enemies. Since those days one hundred years past, they have maintained a vigilant eye on the Falwood in anticipation of the next major encroachment into the lands of Vel Anir.It is here, at the edge of the Falwood, that Wyllam Falkenrath, firstborn son of Otto Falkenrath, was born at the family estate of Eichenwald Manor. Like any heir, Wyllam was taught in the martial arts, beginning as a young boy and continuing into the present. When he was just a lad, his father Otto arranged a betrothal for Wyllam to Yridia, the daughter of another minor house, which would double the Falkenrath demesne. However, sometime in his young adult years, it was discovered at one time that young Sir Falkenrath had carnal knowledge of another young lady. The scandal went public and shamed his house and his personal honor. The betrothal was severed as a result. Since that time, Wyllam has strived to rebuild his family’s honor however he can. There are rumors that float around in guild halls and taverns that Sir Wyllam was in fact innocent of the charge against him in his youth, and that a scheme bigger than one house’s honor was at stake, but nothing has been proven one way or the other…
In the meantime, as he has developed into a strong and able knight, he has sojourned with several official Vel Anir delegations to foreign lands, which has led to his fair share of shedding blood of roadside robbers, cutthroats and assassination attempts by shady dignitaries. He has recently returned home from such a venture to Elbion, during which he secured a small trade agreement with the Merchant Council.
Now returned to Eichenwald Manor, Wyllam has settled in and has turned his attention back to the main governing body of Vel Anir city, Vel Aerelos, and solidifying his small place inside its palatial offices as a member of House Pirian. Continuing his studies in literature and court, as privileged young lords are expected to do, Wyllam has developed a keen sense of where he wants to take House Falkenrath in the future. He doesn’t discuss those plans publically, of course…
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