Istvan Astilor

Istvan Astilor, or Astilor Istvan as per Korbuny naming culture, is a Sarinzerilin noble and one of the last living Astilors. He resides in his fortress in Schmaktol, across from the Sarinzerilin capital of Varrenvar. He present concerns are the expansion of his dwindling family, the expansion of his estates, and the development of his new duchy. 
== Biography ==
=== Early Life ===
Born in his father's fortress of Ludenstadt, Istvan was given a Korbuny name at his mother's request, as all her other children till that point had been given Archosi or Western Valrean names. Istvan quickly became his mothers favourites, with many remarking that his eyes were a clear copy of his mothers. It was not long after he was born, that he departed to Stormgova with his mother in order to avoid the chaos of the last Valrean Civil War. He remained in the Court of Emperor Feloks for the rest of his life. Enjoying the comforts of nobility, he did not bother to receive a formal education in statecraft, or warfare as his sibling did, rather he enjoyed a lavish and rich lifestyle. 
=== Playboy ===
As Istvan grew, his hedonistic tendencies grew as well. The word responsibility seemed alien to him and with incomes granted via his brother Karl, his mother Revna and the Imperial Treasury of Simulami, Istvan was one of the wealthiest landless nobles at court. This left him with vast disposable income outside of the range of those with a greater income than him but far greater financial burdens. He used that wealth to become the eager reveller of New Jellham, hosting parties feasts and carrying onto into the night all the way through till morning. His extravagances, whilst chaotic, we're entertaining and provided great incomes to the various taverns across the Capital, as well as incomes to whomever hosted the beginning of the evening. For this reason the Brewing Guilds of the City pleaded for Istvan to be allowed to continue his revelry despite higher citizens and nobles denouncing the hedonism. This lifestyle continued until the end of the world. 
=== The Apocalypse (End of Eldham) ===
When the end of Rathnir and Eldham came, Istvan was able to secure a place on the Simulami ship leaving the capital alongside other Hrafn family and Simulami nobles. He landed on the shores of Tanragh alongside everyone else and moved to secure a place to live. His mother, Revna Hrafn, was in her old age by this point and was eager to live out the rest of her life in peace, having lost her son Karl before the End of Eldham, and her other two children Arthur who disappeared at the end of the Eldham, and Avery whom she had no information to whether she was alive or dead. 
Arriving in Abexilas was hard for Istvan as many of his friends were unable to reach ships and were wiped out. Istvan never regained the character which had made him infamous, in his youth. Instead he became something of a recluse. As the remnants of Simulami began to reforge, Istvan was granted a small plot of land on a mountaintop near the border with, a vassal Kingdom, Ritten van Tola. Istvan had been able to bring with him a good portion of his wealth, as had his mother, and they used that in the very limited economic state of the world to construct a small keep on the hill. The area was named Nuvar, meaning New Castle/Fort in Klobir. The Keep was small, lacked exterior walls to defend it and was relatively vulnerable. 
=== Life and Loss in Nuvar ===
Nuvar proved a boring existence to Istvan, who suffering trauma from the end of the world, continued to live the life of a recluse. He used what remained of his spent wealth to develop a small mine in the Nuvar mountain, and was able to develop a small income from this which maintained the small staff Istvan utilised. This was a period of collection for Istvan, who enjoyed being able to collect books or art wherever his auction agents found them. It was also around this time that Istvan came into contact with what remained of his family, his sister Avery had found a place in the Kingdom of Artilon to the West. Istvan talked with his mother that night, reading the letter from the capital which had confirmed the existence of Artilon as an ally, and the survival of his sister; his mother announced she was going to visit her. Istvan decided that would not be good for her health, but if he accompanied her, perhaps they could go. Thus, they visited the Kingdom of Artilon and a feast was held in honour of a reunited family. On the journey home, Istvan reflected on the size of his family. The extended Astilor Dynasty had once compromised nearly twenty living members, but now was only two. For the first time in his life, Istvan felt responsible for this name he held. The change was profound, and filled Istvan with a desire to expand his family and fortify his new position. 
Istvan began to develop his mines more, and begin the hiring process for a farming family to begin creating large farms by which he could supply the capital due to the proximity. Plans were also drawn up to rebuild and connect the Keep at Nuvar back to the ruins at the foot of the mountain and create a much larger castle complex. Many resources were purchased and harvested, huge storage huts created, but all this spread through rumours to the wrong people. 
The nation had been hit by bandits and barbarians for months and they came for Nuvar with greedy passion. They attacked the Keep, and with only a small staff Istvan had essentially no garrison. The Keep was able to hold out through paying off the bandits, who promised to return once their truce was up. The efforts to breach the keep had damaged it severly, and left the surrounding area ruined. Istvan needed to act quickly, and disbanded his household staff bar his Chamberlain Alfred, and his Steward Denes. They moved into his small Varrenvar residence. Denes took over the administration of Istvan's fortune and sought for his mother Revna to be given small but comfortable apartments in the Greva Korlent's residence. 
=== A Year in Varrenvar - New Opportunities ===
The year is 20 TGZ and Istvan has lost his castle, the seat of his control over the small region of Nuvar, which had earned its name from that fort which he had lost. Moving into his medium sized Varrenvar home, Istvan began to dedicate himself to the artistic pursuits he adored. He began to spend his wealth from the Old World, and the wealth mined from Nuvar, on various art pieces, treasures and artefacts, storing them within his home. Istvan also began to draw up plans and designs for buildings and cities that he could only dream of founding. He dreamt of grand castles and palaces that he could plant along the river, adjacent to the capital, creating a stunning skyline on both sides of the river. A true hub at the heart of the Korlent as a whole. 
It was at this time that Alfred, the Chamberlain, took control of the staff of the Varrenvar residence, and discovered one of the residences maid's had passed away of illness recently leaving behind a son, however she was not married. Alfred continued to investigate and after a short while interrogating the staff, and the maid's family, Alfred deduced quickly that the maid had been involved with Istvan. Alfred approached Istvan on the subject, who admitted that he had been taken by the beauty, charisma and quick wit of the maid and they had been very happy in secret although Nuvar had kept him away. It had saddened him greatly to learn of her death, but he was unaware there was ever a child. Alfred asked if she had ever brought it up, he mentioned that there was a period of around a year and a bit where he did not visit the residence and the staff, this was mainly during his initial travels around the region, and during the establishment of Nuvar. If the child was born in this time, around seven years ago, then he would never have known it was born. Istvan revealed he knew she kept a diary in her private apartment which he had bought for her. The diary revealed she had kept the child a secret so not to overburden Istvan with a scandal, but it was his illegitimate son. The boy was called Laszlo, and Istvan adopted him, using the guise of the death of his mother, a servant in Istvan's household as the pretext for the generosity. Some would suspect, but Istvan didn't mind the murmurs of other nobles. Istvan set about building a relationship with this young lad, to whom he would discover he had a great deal in common. 
Over the next year, Istvan would participate in various political affairs of government, giving advice, meeting with the young Veidrar, and visiting other parties of the Korlent as a whole. He began to arrange a network of allies and supporters amongst the strained branches of the Hrafn family. Upon concluding agreements of an alliance with his extended family, Istvan adopted the name Astilor-Hrafn, and took a combination of the Hrafn and Astilor arms for himself alone, leaving the Astilor Arms untouched. During this time, as merchants and financiers began to move into Varrenvar, Istvan met the daughter of a very wealthy merchant, who profited mainly from the wool trade and various estates. Her name was Aniko Hollern and Istvan would never forget it. Upon meeting they attended a feast at the Greva Korlent's residence together, and would say their goodbyes as she departed the capital with her father on a trade mission. They would not meet for another year. 
As he neared a year in Varrenvar, Istvan was brought news that the bandits plaguing the nation had been engaged by a joint force from the south, perhaps even from Castanor. Thus, it was safe to re-enter Nuvar. Istvan and Laszlo travelled from the capital across the river and up the mountain to what remained of the castle. It had been totally ransacked, and would take a long time to repair to full effectiveness. Istvan ordered his Steward to contract a team of builders and masons to make minor repairs to the fort, to make it a usable military fort, removing all of the residential aspects. 
He also sent to letters to the local village, and sent a letter to the Captains of the Varrenvar militia, trying to seek out any potential soldiers to garrison the castle. After a two weeks, the fort maintained a garrison of fifty. Now seeking to reassert his control over the region which had been loosely outlined as his, Istvan took his illegitimate son, his small staff and the masons who performed the repairs on Nuvar, and set out to survey the land directly north of Varrenvar. It would begin the project which would shape the Korlent's internal lands for some time, and assert Istvan as one of the strongest nobles in the land. 
=== Discovering the Ancient Fortress ===
 
In the county of Megroth, the foundations of an ancient fortress remained standing. Whilst they remained ruins, they were in a far sterner state than Nuvar, and they could be easily renovated into a much larger building. Thus, with his son, Istvan began to design a mighty fortress, one which would keep them and Istvan's collections safe. The masons and carpenters erected a storage house and construction camp. The camp was erected towards the end of 20 TGZ. It was around this time that, Istvan received a letter from Elek Hollern, the father of Aniko, requesting his aid in a dispute over the rights to trade within the Kingdom of Artilon to the west. Given the connections Istvan had to the Kingdom, he sent a flurry of letters helping to rectify the issue. Istvan's intervention aided Elek, and bought him respect from the wealthy merchant, who in gratitude prepared a mighty gift for Istvan which he would not receive for a few months. At the very beginning of the year 21TGZ, major excavation work had began on ensuring the area around the ancient fortress would be suitable for the development of the new military installation. Istvan had been collaborating with his illegitimate son on designs, as they had taken a liking to the field of architecture. The design was shaping up to be an imperious fortress, imposing over the limited Varrenvar skyline, running near the river. It would be a testament to the Astilor resolve, Istvan would state. His family, shattered, would not die. 
In the second month of 21TGZ, the emissary party of the Hollern Merchant Company arrived at the building grounds, which had started to develop rudimentary high density housing for the hundreds of masons, carpenters and architects building the fortress. Before arriving, Istvan declared the fortress would be named "Ildorkastr", meaning ancient fortress if deconstructed. When they arrived, they brought with them a plethora of supplies, workmen and the exclusive rights of a Hollern Merchant ship, for the purpose of transporting goods and materials from wherever Istvan needed. The party was headed by Aniko Hollern, who had been appointed as her father's representative to the capital region and nearby areas, specifically to Istvan. It was very clear from their meeting that the two had a connection. Istvan dined with her that night in his Varrenvar residence, and after they walked along the river bank on the Varrenvar side looking over at the construction site, they agreed to marry. The next day, in the ruins of Nuvar, a priest performed a small ceremony binding the two. Within a year they welcomed their first child, a boy who was named Bela. Two more children would come although a few years later. Bela was born at the end of 21TGZ, his brother Andras was born in 27TGZ and sister Revna in 29 TGZ. Work continued as the couple began to raise Bela and enjoy their peaceful life in Varrenvar watching as each day the view of the fortress grew taller and taller. 
=== Duke of Briklor and the City of Schmaktol ===
In 22TGZ, the Greva Korlent announced the formalisation of the Kroll system which codified the nobility from its previously unclear state. Istvan was granted the Duchy of Briklor, giving him access to new territories. This called for a council to be formed to aid Istvan in the administration of these territories, due to Istvan's incompetence, the council had wide-ranging authorities. It wasn't that Istvan rejected his responsibilities, it is more that he saw them as something he should do and merely the act of doing something satisfied his desire to appear like he was a statesmen, when in actual fact he did very little and made questionable decisions. Even then, there was an area in which Istvan made a very wise decision and this was regarding the development of the settlement known as Schmaktol. The area around Ildorkastr already maintained a sizeable population due to the worker camps which had turned themselves into urban slums due to the length of the project. These slums required food and thus basic farms had been created to ensure food long term, an idea which saved Istvan vast sums of money. Farmers had been called to change these basic farms into full fledged farming estates, and that had been a successful venture. The urban settlement began to produce a major food surplus, and thus began to export food. By 25 TGZ, it is known that a supermajority of food in Varrenvar, was imported from Schmaktol. The urban settlement gained the name "Zunhavilt", which came from the phrase "Builder's Campsite". However following the castle around, more and more large scale housing began to be erected by wealthy capital merchants. The capital provided everything a merchant needed to succeed, but it lacked the space for the kind of decadent housing that their wealth could provide. Thus, these wealthy elite began to move outwards and settled on the banks of the Maestro river opposite Varrenvar, beneath the developing Ildorkastr. Istvan seized the opportunity and when granting the land made them aware that some form of city would be created that they would need to abide by; this was all agreed. As wealthy merchants flooded the river banks with homes, Istvan granted this new project to Laszlo and gave him full autonomy to develop it. In 25TGZ, Laszlo sought a royal charter to grant special mercantile privileges, tax relief and customs duty immunity for residents and members of his new city. The charter was granted to the City of Schmaktol, which Laszlo would head. Laszlo had himself appointed the Lord Mayor of Schmaktol, and with it appointed two governing councils to assist him. The first, and executive chamber with authority on certain matters was the Hyrthliga Council, assembled entirely of the "Hyrthliga of the City". A "Hyrthliga" was a title appointed to someone within the City by the Council, which granted all of the highest rights and privileges that the City could bestow. Thus an established oligarchic council took root under the direct authority of the Lord Mayor Laszlo Varrensen. Thus, Istvan found himself now with one of the kingdoms greatest financial and mercantile capitals by the centre of his power in Ildorkastr. The prevalence of the City of Schmaktol meant that the area in general became known as Schmaktol. 
=== Growing Family and Discontent ===
In the dawn of 27TGZ, Aniko Hollern Astilor gave birth to a son, who was named Andras Astilor. At this time, Istvan was away engaging with Edward (Etnavarh) Eslington in the Kingdom of Artilon, who was secretly his nephew. They were touring the snowy mountains of Artilon, catching up on their respective lives and retelling past tales. Edward was particularly fond of stories of his father Karl Astilor's life in the Old World. Istvan returned in the early months of 27TGZ and was overjoyed to learn of his wife's successful delivery and his healthy son. It was this arrival that allowed Istvan to neglect the fact that he had totally lost control of the education of his heir presumptive Bela. Istvan had always applied a laissez-faire approach to raising Bela, having instead neglectfully spent more time with his older son Laszlo. This had left Bela to strive for himself from a very young age. Although he had tutors and was taught many things, it was up to Bela to define himself and to gain an education worthy of a Duke's heir. Bela began to stir problems for Istvan when he would attend events of other noble/wealthy children as he had a domineering personality. Although this did lend itself to those who found awe in these people, and Bela began to make limited connections to people he would one day be great friends with. Bela began to teach himself his own curriculum of learning around the time of his brother's birth. Bela was not a usual child, he didn't act childish and seemed increasingly mature for his age, although he required greater time and assistance to learn given his age. Nevertheless, Istvan was reminded often of his son's dismissal of tutors, guardians and chambermaids whom he found to be irritating or obstructive to his own pursuits. Any attempts to discipline his son resulted in further discontent and fracturing of their already fraught relationship. 
By the arrival of Istvan's daughter, Bela had become completely independent and only showed a warm affection for his mother and his siblings, especially his brother whom he had taken direct command of. This hampered Istvan's reputation amongst the court and the realm as it seemed he was being dictated to by a nine year old boy. However, those in proximity to Bela would be understanding, given Bela's domineering nature and ruthlessly authoritative persona and aura. Istvan won respect through the show of splendour, the pouring of gifts, and the exercising of the majesty his position could grant; his son Bela won respect from his hard work, and his total ruthlessness in pursuit of success. Most of Istvan's household were terrified of the boy and in 30TGZ, before his tenth birthday, Bela gave them another good reason. Bela had called an expert in Tanragh geopolitics (Tarkin Marwell) from the capital to tutor both him and his brother, with more focus given to his brother that he might be accommodated into their political lives from an earlier age. Istvan had approved of this, and in a rare father-son meeting, Istvan had congratulated Bela on his commitment to his siblings and rewarded him with a courtsey title recently granted from the Greva Korlent; Bela would become the Baron of Nuvar. This title would be the title of the heir to the Duchy of Briklor, and would be purely symbolic but in this case, Istvan promised to grant Bela the lands of Nuvar on his 12th birthday. Soon after this, Istvan held open court, allowing petitioners to seek his help or resolve disputes. As the petitioners passed through the court, screams could be heard from the nearby apartments of his sons. Guards scrambled and Istvan was taken to see Tarkin Marwell, the tutor, lying on the floor badly beaten and bloodied. Above him, Bela stood with red raw fists and a powerful fury in his face. When a guard attempted to seize him, his look petrified the guard who stepped back and looked to Istvan for guidance. Despite his ineptitudes and inability to respond to situations, Istvan was raised to a fury and demanded to know by what right Bela believed he had to exercise such brutal force. Bela responded his fraternal right to protect his brother. It was explained that Bela had been secretly listening to the tutoring of his little brother, in order to ascertain the effectiveness as well as investigate a suspicion. Bela had noticed Andras' fear of attending tutoring and his general upset character when leaving, as opposed to his far more child-like and cheerful nature. As Bela listened, he heard Tarkin verbally abuse Andras who was slow to understanding of his teachings, and to Bela's fury he heard threats of corporal punishment and witnessed the beginning of such corporal punishments as he stormed into the room. Bela beat the tutor to the ground and beat the man severely screaming insults and curses. However, the screams heard by Istvan and the guards were that of the tutor cowering in pain. After this incident, in which Bela was not punished due to the transgressions of the tutor, he garnered the nickname Bela the Brutal. Istvan did ask Bela to leave Ildorkastr for sometime and instead spend time in Varrenvar learning about the city and the court, however he did not. Bela decided it was time to begin his far more important martial education. He left Ildorkastr and commanded with him a small guard of knights, he then proceeded to visit the castles, forts and garrisoned towns of Briklor seeking out men of his age and above to fight with in martial sports and exercises. Thus for the next two years, Istvan was plagued with reports of his son parading around the Duchy as if he were duke, dispensing justice and true to his name severely punishing those who committed crimes. Istvan was forced to intervene when Bela himself intervened in a dispute between minor families in the south of Briklor. Bela had taken aside, and with his now small force of around sixty knights he led an incredible battle against a convened mercenary force of around 150 to see his favoured side win the conflict. Istvan summoned his son back to Ildorkastr and rebuked him, although he was dismissed on warning. 
WIP
== Personal Details ==
=== Personality ===
Istvan has been often described as a man of passions, just not the right ones. His was not one suited for the realities of Abexilas, where the developed and courtly life he had grown up in was many decades or even centuries away.