NW:PCs/Pitor/Background

Appearance

Gaunt and sallow, he has about him an air of ill-health. Even so, his ragged hair and well-aged looks give him a compulsive charisma. Those jealous of his appearance might call him "Wight" or "Vampire", but he is, in truth, quite good-looking in a dissolute sort of way.

Personal Habits: Pitor is well groomed by the local standards. His tastes in fashion are trend-following, but not to the point of obsessive devotion. While he enjoys many artistic pursuits, they are little more than an excuse to drink and wench and fish for compliments. Again, he doesn't carry this to extremes. He no more agonizes over what he wears than he agonizes from hangovers or heartbreak. In truth, that would all be too much effort for him. His one area of constancy is his laziness.

Background

Pitor was born into the powerful and well respected Valorus family. He was born late, the last son of four, to a mother well past her prime childbearing years. He was a sickly child, although by puberty, that was mostly behind him.

As the fourth brother, he wasn't expected to inherit much. It was assumed that he would simply remain a member of the estate when his eldest brother, Victor, came into his inheritance. This arrangement suited Pitor well; he lacked financial sense, courtly manners, or any real ambition.

Pitor dabbled in a number of the softer arts suited to a gentleman of his stature; literature, poetry, painting. He excelled at none, and was well aware of the fact. He didn't harbor any illusions that he was a great artist, but again- he did not care. His life was to be one of comfort, leeching from his eldest brother.

The two middle brothers, Nicholas and Constantine, were made of sterner stuff. Nicholas sought to find his fortune on the field of battle. After a few successful campaigns against the lesser races that inhabited the Southern Marches, he was killed when he fell from the top of a siege engine while erecting it to assault a keep. He lingered for days in a state of semiconsciousness until the caries that festered in his wounds ended him.

Constantine was more cowardly is his approach. Victor's favorite dog died in the most horrendous fashion- vomiting blood and flecks of foam, with rheumy eyes and palsy. When Victor showed the same symptoms, an investigation was launched. Constantine had been gradually poisoning Victor; Victor fed his dog scraps from his own meals. Like a canary, the dog provided warning. Constantine was found out before Victor's death, and was hanged. The damage to Victor's body was already done. He fell into his sickbed and died two months later, twisted with pain and fever.

In less than a year, Pitor went from being the useless wastrel of the family to the sole heir of his father's estates. Unfortunately, he didn't have the wherewithal to shoulder such a burden. A marriage was hastily arranged with Elisabet Cornet. This cemented key family alliances, and it was well known that Elisabet was a sharp wit, sharper than many men. It was thought that her keen intellect and ambitious nature could keep Pitor on the proper track.

In practice, it simply caused friction. Pitor had no interest in her, family alliances, producing heirs, or really, anything that required more effort than uncorking a bottle of wine. The pressures from his family to arise to the tasks required of him only served to sour his mood and retreat into long periods of sulking.

Dutifully, he produced not one, but two sons. The second was a year old when "The Strangers Bride" entered port. Its arrival began a most conflicted period in Pitor's life. His family saw it as an opportunity. He could be appointed to a managerial position in the expedition thanks to a generous investment in Elphinstone Associates from the Valorus family. If the expedition were successful, Pitor could fatten the coffers of the family simply by standing around at the right place at the right time- and simply standing around was something Pitor excelled at. When he returned, his lack of courtly mien could be explained as arising from "being too long away from proper society". It might even be good for him.

In the worst case, Pitor might die or be lost at sea; Elisabet would act as a regent for her sons, who would stand to inherit the entire estate. The family would remain secure in either case.

For Pitor, the expedition represented a chance to escape from his family's influences. He understood that he was to be cargo on the expedition, not a true adventurer. That suited him well. Little would be expected of him, and though it would likely mean a long period of time in privation, he could spend the time focusing on whatever pleased him.

So, in a fit of unusual ambition, Pitor signed up for the expedition, nominally as a bureaucrat operating on behalf of the merchant house financing this vessel's trip. His father was very generous in his funding of the expedition, such that the fact that Pitor was sent as dead-weight didn't bother the Thomas Dirk one iota. Nor did it bother Pitor.

Associates

Pitor is the sort of person to have many acquaintances but very few friends. The nearest thing to a friend would be his cousin Augustine. They were raised together, they remain members of the same poetry societies, frequent the same taverns, and frequently exchange letters. Augustine is _also_ very close to Elisabet. There are rumors around court that they are intimate, and Pitor credits them as true- but doesn't particularly mind. He is unembarrassed by cuckoldry, and has cucked a few other men in his time. So far as he knows, he's never been caught.

Constantine's wife, Anastasia, on the other hand, is a bitter enemy of Pitor. Victor outlived Constantine, and she had no children when Constanine was executed, hence no place in the chain of inheritance. She was stripped of everything she had, and everything she one day hoped to attain. And it all fell to Pitor. In the course of a day, she went from a noble house to the streets, and has since lived in the gutters, plotting revenge on the entire family of Valorus. Despite having no means, she had a cunning mind. It is likely that she adopted an alternate identity. Perhaps she has attempted to infiltrate another noble house, or perhaps she masquerades as a scullery maid in House Valorus. Perhaps she sold herself into bondage to exact her revenge on Pitor in the New World.

Pitor is unaware and uncaring of her fate. Those that care, however, haven't been able to find much trace of her.

Ambitions

Pitor is uniquely lacking in ambition. While he is a polymath and a dabbler, he has no ambition. In his mind, the distinction between a free-spirit and a lazy-sod is a blurry line indeed. He sees himself more of a romantic scoundrel, which is his one area of self-delusion.

| A caricature.