User Profile

Character: Albedo Piazzolla
Age: 26
Character Type: Royal falconer - master of hawks; agent of the Church

Allegiance: Publicly, he hasn't taken sides, making the diplomatic move of declaring loyalty to the royal family in general, not one of the princes in fine; privately, he's entirely the Church's creature.

Background: Born in the distant city of Vartas, Albedo was driven out of his home at a very young age by a conflict in that region instantiated by the Church. As was often the case in these situations--and given he had in his possession a part of the Song of Nebilim, an enigmatic document that the Church had been trying to take in the first place--the child eventually found his way back into the care of the Church, but not before his mind had been (irreparably) broken by things he'd witnessed during the fighting.

His life prior to the conflict had not been any less turbulent, though it was far less violent; the third son (the younger of twins) of the local ruler, Dmitri Yuriev, Albedo and his siblings were labeled as "monsters" by the populace, in part due to rumors of their father using forbidden alchemy on their mother during her pregnancies in order to make the children more "perfect". Whether Yuriev actually did such a thing is left up to the imagination, though it can be said that his children have always been a little unearthly. Albedo and his older twin Rubedo, especially, shared a bond so close it seemed as if one knew what the other was thinking, almost as if there was one soul in two bodies. For this, and for the adulterous union Yuriev had forced in order to sire his children on what was then another man's wife, the family was cast out from the Church--one step leading up to the eventual conflict that destroyed the family.

Albedo was twelve when the conflict broke out, and scarcely older when a bishop of the local diocese found him badly wounded and talking to himself as he staggered away from the burning city. Thoroughly mad by that time, but possessing several qualities--ruthlessness and an iron will among them--he was deemed useful to the Church and placed under the care of the Knights of Ormus, a secret militant society well equipped for dealing with wild children. In the two years he was under their direct care, Albedo learned rudimentary skills of fighting and assassination he would later hone to a fine point in years to come. He also began to develop a keen eye for the ways of other people, sharpening his (un)natural perception of others' emotions and motivations.

When the boy was fourteen, a spot for an apprenticeship with Narborough's master falconer made itself available. Thinking ahead to a time when the kingdom might suffer internal strife due to the king's refusal to name an heir, the Church--more the Ormus, really--maneuvered Albedo into position to take the spot and act as their agent inside the workings of the royal family. While his antisocial tendencies led him to terrorizing the other apprentices, he proved a star pupil in many other ways--he seemed to have an instinctive understanding for the minds of the birds, and more, he healed well and quickly from the abuses they inflicted with little concern for his own pain. So despite all the problems he caused, his master kept him on and trained him for nearly twelve years--time in which the boy, then young man, used to thoroughly cow his fellow apprentices and the master himself.

Easily securing a spot as favorite apprentice, Albedo then only had to bide his time and push at his master until something shattered... And the older man committed suicide, leaving Albedo to step into the role as Narborough's master of the mews. There he lives something of a double life--openly professing to support the royal family (insult them as he might) and working with the birds for much of his time, and reporting to the Church and keeping his combat abilities and fearsome strength sharp for the rest. Not that he has much else to do--the very air of palpable insanity around him tends to drive off most anyone human who gets close to him, if his sarcastic and cutting demeanor doesn't.

(OOC Note: For those who live in or around Narborough's palace, Albedo would be familiar--on the "I don't know your name, but I've heard bad things about you" level--to most.)

Played by wondergecko for recounted.