[The complete version of this biography has already been sent to and approved by the DM Team.
This more narrative (and incomplete) version is just here for public consultation]
This more narrative (and incomplete) version is just here for public consultation]
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| Physical description | |
| A tall and lean young man in his late teens, Lothaire sports a fair complexion, and mildly immature appearance. Between the flock of servants always ready to ensure that he's well-groomed, and his own regenerative magic healing even the smallest of blemishes, he retains deceptively unspoiled and pleasant features, smooth skin and impeccable hair. Although his expression is often oscillating between childish enthusiasm and aristocratic cordiality, his piercing blue eyes tend to remain coldly attentive, often carrying the stench of haughtiness and contempt. Much the same way, his voice, light and filled with youthful exuberance, is laden with a spiteful undertone which hardly goes unnoticed to most people. He tends to wear high quality garments, of refined but clean fashion. His outfits have usually sharp and angular motifs, interposing silvery cuts over a black backdrop. |
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| Psychological description | |
| Lothaire carries many affectations of a typical, spoiled, young aristocrat from Tethyr. The innate powers of his bloodline only exacerbate his sense of entitlement, and neither the death of his patron, nor the expulsion of his dynasty from the realm have done much to break his convictions. The predisposition of his heritage, the nurturing from his parents, and the validation of his courtiers all combined to create an unshakable sense of self-righteousness, barely hidden by a shroud of condescending politeness and courtly etiquette. Unlike many other human servants of the Dark Gods, or people who fell to the lure of Evil, from his birth to his adulthood, Lothaire has lived in an environment in which the dogma of Bane was unconditionally and openly embraced, and wherein he was given privileged status by birthright. Deprived of any alternative source of guidance, or any incentive to seek one, and with the pull of his blood dragging him away from humanity, he has developed a sense of right and wrong that would look abhorrent to most of the people of the Western Heartlands. |
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| Religious Views | |
| Born in a dynasty long-devoted to Bane, Lothaire was sworn to the Dark Lord since his birth, and remained dedicated to his worship throughout his entire life. Being one of the scant few faithful still blessed with divine power after Bane’s disappearance, and with both arcane and divine power coursing through his veins, he considers himself to be uniquely blessed by the Dark Lord, and takes to embodying his ethos and abiding by his dogma with unquestioning fanatical rigor. Lothaire firmly believes that Bane is not truly dead, and that his disappearance is merely a test to weed out those unworthy of his favor. Although he recognizes and propagates all the aspects of his god’s portfolio, he sees himself first and foremost as a harbinger of Tyranny, as there is little that he enjoys more than holding power over lesser creatures and crushing them on behalf of his divine master. |
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| Dynastic History | |
 "In Victory Spite, in Loss Revenge" |
The Varpling dynasty is established around the year 870 DR, during a period of instability under the Lion’s dynasty of Tethyr.
Forged by a mixture of Cormyrian and Tethyrian petty nobility, its first member is a half-fiend named Sathred. Though still honored by his descendants, Sathred’s influence in shaping the Varplings pales in comparison to that of his father, the pit fiend Ferageron. Generation after generation, Ferageron maintains a tight grip upon his son’s progenies, providing advice and deals to promising scions in exchange for riches and humanoid sacrifices. The family’s hold, the Barony of Aespreth, much like other vassal domains of Tethyr, becomes infamous between the 900s and 1300s as a stronghold for Banite worship, its rulers engaging in frequent purges of demihumans, especially of elven heritage, to satisfy the bloodthirst of their infernal ancestor and their divine patron, in exchange for the powers and blessings needed to retain control over their lands. The collapse of the dynasty in the years of upheaval that follows the Ten Black Days of Eleint, is a combination of various factors, starting when Mardran, Lothaire’s uncle, and his elven lover, lead a series of rebellions against the then-Baron Sithrand. Lothaire’s infancy and childhood are spent learning firsthand the art of war and governance from his father, and studying arcana with his mother, while surrounded by a land that is riddled with strife and atrocities. Although Sithrand’s leadership pushes the Barony into a brief period of expansion between 1348 and 1355, resulting in his self-appointment as Viscount of the North, fortune eventually turns against Lothaire's father. To his death follows a brief war of succession between the Transformist and Orthodox branches of the court, who battle over the regency while Lothaire is still a child. Lothaire himself eventually occupies the throne for around three years, but the internal and external pressures, aggravated by the disappearance of Bane, eventually force him to abandon his holdings and seek safe haven in the north. By 1361 DR, most of the Varplings have been exterminated, the two most prominent exceptions being Lothaire himself and his half-elf cousin Louren, who is currently ruling the Barony alongside his mother. |
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