Jaster Monmoth

Jaster Monmoth is a politician and key member of the Aradian Royalist Conservative Party, often recognized as deputy/second-in-command to Baroness Valoria Blackthorne. As of the year 1086AE, he serves in the Aradian Parliament as the current Member for Crystantheum West. The formally recognized patriarch and leader of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Monmoth, he is known in an official capacity as the Right-Honorable Jaster, Second Duke of Monmoth. 
His husband is Rhys Trebor-Daffys, an investment banker, and the couple live in luxury apartments in Bastion's Palace District. Jaster has adopted his sister Morgwyna's child Blaidd Monmoth as his own heir to the Dukedom.
== Appearance & Personality ==
Jaster stands at an average height, shy of 6 feet tall, and has a lithe, thin physical build. Unusually for an Aradian human he has very dark skin, an inherited trait from his Umburan grandmother & shared by all the current generation of Monmoths in 1086AE. He is considered dashingly handsome, with a thin strip of mustache and close-cut hair; he dresses in extravagant fabrics & bright colors, occasionally employing makeup, glitter and paint to enhance his appearance. He's usually seen carrying his father's walking-cane, though he does not have any physical impairment, and appears to use it as more of an heirloom to denote his status as Duke. When he was younger before the 1070s, Jaster maintained a neatly manicured circle-beard and wore his hair longer in collar-length dreadlocks.
Monmoth is the "peacemaker" of the Conservative party, a necessary counterbalance to his friend Valoria's fierce aggression & drive. He is personally charismatic and friendly, careful to cultivate good personal relationships with his fellows and is often at work to assuage fears around the Baroness' latest controversy. Despite his opposing demeanour to Val, he is a firm believer in her as a leader, and in the political project she represents. He is level-headed in 1086AE but was once a much wilder character in his youth, given to debauchery, hedonism and far more flamboyant behaviour. Valoria thinks that age has mellowed her old friend considerably and misses the person he used to be.
== Skills & Abilities ==
Skilled politician & orator. Trained in martial combat, experienced battle-commander.
== History ==
Jaster was born in 1021AE to Llewys, 1st Duke of Monmoth by his wife Penny. He spent his earliest years during the Civil War in Bastion City where he was one of the few who managed to befriend the rambunctious Princess Valoria; this soon led to him being fostered at the palace even as his parents returned to Crystantheum once the war was over, where he was kept close to the crown and groomed to one day take a significant leadership position under the Queen's leadership.
However, while the young Monmoth was recognized as an exceedingly bright and capable student, he was given to a lifestyle of extravagance and spent more time at parties than he did at his studies. He remained a close friend to Princess Valoria, with the duo sharing a similarly hawkish attitude and often bullying her younger brother Gordon together; the two could often be seen lurking in the corner at parties, exchanging salacious insults about other guests and giggling cruelly. 
Jaster proved a capable warrior and was knighted in 1038AE by Valoria herself. Initially, however, as there were no active conflicts happening, he eschewed the soldier's lifestyle and focused upon studying under the coinmaster Caradoc Rookwood's offices, furthering his education on economics--and allowing himself to stay close to Bastion high society's flourishing nightlife scene.
In the 1040s, Jaster participated in the Pirate War, where he aided Valoria in her famous command of the Siege at Dunhammer. When Valoria and Caradoc separated in the 1060s, he spent some time filling in for Caradoc as the Royal Council's coinmaster, eventually taking several other roles on the Council as members came and went in the years surrounding the Brecildian Rebellion. He was recognized as a staunch ally of Val's causes on the Council, but often served as a mediating voice for her more violent plans. When Gordon became King in 1075AE, Jaster was one of those who left the capital alongside Val.
In 1075AE, Jaster's parents died of the Red Death, as did his older sister Morgwyna, who was the heir-apparent to the Duchy. He thus took it upon himself to assume control of House Monmoth. In this position, he quickly established himself as a capable steward of the family businesses. He was a major part of the negotiations surrounding the Solemn Covenant following the 1077 Revolution, effectively creating the fundamental rules of a whole new society; in the Parliament created at the head of the new government, Jaster was elected as the representative for Crystantheum West.
In 1081AE, Jaster married his partner Rhys, with the two having been courted for at least several years prior.
== Recent Events ==
In the Lady's Moon of 1086AE Jaster was present at Armand Piers' party and at the Parliament meeting the next day, where he witnessed the death of Divankul Dul-Sansiska. On both occasions, he worked with increasing strain at containing Valoria's violent outbursts toward the party's backbenchers including Maria and Phryne Ludlow. 
== Trivia ==
-His physical description & style of dress is based on musician Prince and Ncuti Gatwa's Dr Who. His flamboyant younger self is based on Harold Rabbineau's portrayal of Mercutio in Baz Luhrmann's 1996 film Romeo+Juliet.