Sir Egbert

"No, no… I… I trust her. I only hope she follows a path in life that is more wise than emotional." ―Sir Egbert to Thomas Bérard, Order of Yaktosh - Chapter 8
Sir Egbert Grosf is a major recurring character of Shrouded Piety featured in Order of Yaktosh.
Born in the Holy Roman Empire's Duchy of Jülich in 1225 CE, Egbert Grosf became an avid learner of Christian theology and an aspiring political reformist. As Egbert neared adulthood, he observed that the Holy Roman Empire was an unstable realm in desperate need of unifying reform; he believed the key to ending chaos within the empire would be to naturally transition it away from feudalism, and push it instead towards theocracy. Under his vision, the Holy Roman Empire would disestablish its many crowns (ideally including the title of emperor) and replace it with a theocratic model inspired by and loyal to the Papal States. Egbert had planned to consume the Holy Roman Empire with his ideas piece-by-piece starting with his homeland of Jülich, but when not even his local church's congregation would support him, he radically altered his strategy.
Recognizing that the German people were heavily influenced by military matters, Egbert joined the Knights Templar in 1247 CE—led by Grand Master Guillaume de Sonnac—just in time for the Seventh Crusade, hoping that service to the crusaders would inspire the people of Jülich to reconsider his ideas. Consequently, the longer Egbert stayed with the Templar, the closer he felt to them and the more distant he felt to Germany and his old aspirations. Any chance of Egbert returning to his old life in the Holy Roman Empire ended in 1250 CE when Grand Master Guillaume was slain in Egypt, leading to his dear companion, Renaud de Vichiers, taking his place.
Under service to Renaud de Vichiers, a lifechanging mission to the Crimea would be undertaken where the knights would liberate an immortal woman named Suri. From that day forward, Egbert would be assigned to Suri as her teacher due to his slight familiarity with Gothic Crimean script; under his wing, Suri was to be taught how to be French and Catholic. During these years, Sir Egbert's time on the battlefield would be eclipsed by a duty to teaching Suri, as well as acting as a sort of advisor to the Grand Master.
==Appearance==
Egbert's physical appearance changes rapidly throughout Order of Yaktosh due to time skips; as of his debut in Chapter 2, he is aged 25.
In his time with the Knights Templar, Egbert has dark brown hair with his forehead fully exposed, as well as a full beard in accordance with Templar law. Egbert's more administrative, less militaristic character is reflected by a face lacking scars or even aggressive features. This lack of soldierly face is continued in his general physique; short and considered scrawny by many, Egbert is a man who looks small in his armor when compared to his fellow knights.
Despite acting as a sort of advisor to the Grand Master, Egbert does not carry any unique equipment. He is armored and robed in Templar white, with a sword by his side at all times.
==Personality==
Egbert is a stoic, rational, and intelligent person who notably speaks his opinions, even to the face of the Grand Master. Since his becoming of an adult, Egbert places high value in strengthening Christianity in the world and will usually pursue this agenda whenever possible.
With the emergence of Suri into his life, Egbert's worldview changed radically and rapidly, leading him to become depressed by his belief that he is destroying his relationship with the Knights Templar and God alike by defending Suri's returned place in the world. Despite this declining mental health, he maintains a professional personality within the Templar and a strong belief in God's will, all the while teaching and protecting Suri.
Politically, Egbert is a strong believer in unity of the state; this is to say that he prefers to see the Knights Templar united and removed from infighting, just as much as he would prefer to see the Holy Roman Empire less divided and more united behind a common goal.
==Key Relationships==
===Suri Yaktosh===
"You need to trust in yourself. Trust that you will find a way to make a great difference. Yes, trust in God." ―Sir Egbert to Suri Yaktosh, Order of Yaktosh - Chapter 6
Egbert's most primary relationship (within the Knights Templar) is with Suri, his immortal pupil. Despite the two starting out roughly the same physical age, Egbert almost immediately went on to embrace a father-like role in her life. Suri's very divisive presence in Acre intimidated Egbert at first, leading him to believe that the holy order would collapse should she stay; for this reason, despite actively teaching her, he began in support of sending her away to Rome for the Vatican to deal with. Upon learning more about Suri and witnessing her capacity to learn French, he gradually changed his mind and came more in favor of her staying. An incident in which Suri trespassed in parts of the castle forbidden to her would end in a flash of nudity that would badly traumatize Egbert; consequently, he would fall into a depression thinking that he betrayed God and the Templar Knights, but on the flipside, the incident made him very supportive of Suri joining the order.
Overall, Egbert and Suri over the decades have shared a positive and trusting relationship, albeit occasionally soured by disagreements of both religious and political nature. Egbert is a strong believer in Suri having a kind of Biblical purpose in the world that needs his full support; Suri, in turn, is a strong believer in Egbert eventually ascending to the rank of Templar Grand Master.
==Concept Art + Inspiration==
====Concept Art====
Egbert's design concept was made June 4, 2023 for intended use on this page of the Siontix Realm Wiki.
Notable features of Egbert's design include his very exposed forehead, a lack of expression, and a Templar beard due to a lack of shaving.
====Inspiration====
*Tech (Star Wars: The Bad Batch) - Egbert's sole inspiration comes from the Star Wars character, Tech, who acts as the brains of his team. While Egbert's existence predates Tech, the latter's intelligence and less masculine features gradually influenced the in-story development of Egbert.
==Trivia==
*Promoted Importance - Egbert is a character who was introduced with a much smaller role, merely acting as an informed knight on Gothic Crimea and therefore a companion to Renaud de Vichiers and his search party to Crimea. The intended path for the story would have rather seen Baldrick acting as the primary companion of Suri within the Knights Templar, but given Egbert's established knowledge on Gothic Crimea, it seemed more appropriate to make him Suri's teacher. Eventually, Egbert worked his way up to being the most important Templar character in Shrouded Piety, finding new purpose even beyond his role as a teacher for Suri.
*Cooked Intelligence - Originally, the plan would have had a generic character stepping up to teach Suri on French culture, only to give up on her and declare her unteachable. Under this path, Suri would have been sent to the kitchen to cook for the Templar, where a Templar cook would have instead taught her French language and culture. This direction was changed the moment it was decided that Egbert would be Suri's teacher.