Emeric II Karrovil

Alasdair Karrovil (brother)

Catriona Karrovil, Isabel Karrovil (sisters)

Emeric II Karrovil is the current Archduke of Wilden, having ascended to power a few years prior. There is a great air of mystique associated with the young Archduke, for his birth was heralded by a number of pagan omens, and magic has always thrived around him. Though a capable warrior, Emeric's true passion lies in books and scrolls, particularly in tomes of arcane knowledge.

## Biography

From the grandest empires to grace the Tellurian, the most ingenious of kings and its most zealous missionaries, no living being has tamed the antediluvian expanse of the Elderwood. The old ways still persist, in the crumbling spires and in the wild hermits. It is these woodwitches who foretold the birth of a hero, whose wandering whispers wormed amongst the denizens of the great forest, telling of one whose blood would run thick with ancient heroes. Under those omens Emeric Karrovil was born, second child and firstborn son to the mighty Archduke Ambrós Karrovil and his lady wife Bianka Auffman. Like nigh all Karrovil spawn Emeric was a hale youth, yet most notable were his golden eyes, the famed “Wyld Eye” that marked innate magical ability. His birth arose gossip among the Andvari nobility, a Karrovil heir possessed with such talent for the arcane had not been born for over a century. The young Emeric was a remarkably inquisitive child, the flames of curiosity bright within him, he was constantly attentive to the stories of his caregivers, foremost the myths of his nursemaid. Almost as quickly as the lordling could walk he began to read from the vast libraries of Greenheart. Emeric’s childhood was dominated by the efforts of his tutors to educate him in vast manners of topics, from the sparring yard where his proud father looked on, the library where the intellectuals of his mothers hiring poured there knowledge upon him and the spire of the infamous battlemage Arkus ‘Deadeye.’ It was this routine of studies where he shined, gifted with a capacity and desire to learn that was the dream of any teacher, yet as the heir grew into becoming a teen he came to outpace the tutors assigned to him, escaping out of boredom to the archives of Greenheart. Annoyed at the reports of the youth spurning his tutors, Emeric’s father Ambrós took the boy of thirteen on his first hunt.

The Archduke was famed for his reckless hunting, abandoning the safety of en masse hunts of the nobility for going into the wilderness lone save for a few trusted companions. The massive frame and considerable skill of Ambrós was known throughout Andvar, gaining the respect as a hero of his people and the envy of lesser men. Emeric bonded with his father through their escapades, aswell as with the trusted companions that accompanied them, such as Arkus. The Karrovil heir began to join the councils of his father and his advisors before he even reached manhood, growing close to the trusted men of his father, yet eschewing the feasts filled with conniving lords. His father aswell defended him from the onslaught of betrothal offers, the Archduke noted for his aversion to the practice, despite the wishes of his lady wife. On his fathers fortieth nameday, a month after Emeric’s own eighteenth nameday, he and his father embarked on a hunt by their lonesome, their typical companions absent. The Archduke and his heir departed into the wilderness of the Elderwood, their supplies laden upon a single horse, they began to track a great elk of legendary size.

The pair tracked the Great Elk for two weeks, traversing the dense rugged terrain of the Nuadan highlands. Ambrós and Emeric cornered the beast into a cliffside, a hundred or some leagues from the Ceorin marshes that lie at the edge of the Dunbrach. Right as Emeric knocked the faithful arrow however they were ambushed, a mythical Orzhad sprew from the woodland. The legendary bear charged and swiped Ambrós aside with a mighty paw, before the Archduke could blow the Horn of the Hunter dangling upon his hip. The blow sheared through Ambrós’s light mail, pulverized his ribs and crushed his lungs in the impact. The Lord’s fortitude as a Karrovil saved him from instantaneous death, yet the wound remained mortal. In a fury of shock and anger, the young Emeric unleashed the raw power within his blood upon the great beast. The Orzhad was torn in twain by the forces of the arcane, a shower of gore spilling upon the forest floor and the yell of accompanying exertion from the youth shaking the trees around them. The mortally wounded Ambrós bade his heir to take up the Horn at his hip, an ancient artifact which controlled the innumerable beasts of the wild. The tearful Emeric took up the artifact bestowed upon him and blew. Despite being un-attuned to the artifact, Emeric’s raw magical ability channeled through it. (ancient) magicks roared through the sky like thunder, commanding the wilds to once more hear it’s call. The Archduke would return to greenheart at the head of a legion of animals, bringing the body of his father and the pelt of the beast who slew him.

The death of his father and Emeric’s ascension to Archduke was a pivotal moment for the newly made Patriarch of the Karrovil Clan. Gone were the days were he spent every waking hours engrossed in his studies, pouring over tombs with scholars. Yet the connections he had formed with the companions of his father served him well, the great men of the court of Greenheart had grown to respect the young prodigy, and shared the burden of rulership with the lordling while he continued his diminished studies. Emeric’s Battlemage Arkus, who had tutored the Archduke in the arcane his entire life grew to become his most trusted advisor and closest companion. Although there is much mystique and mistrust which surrounds the young Archduke in the wider courts of Andvar due to his magical prowess and infamous rebuttal of grand balls, Emeric has proven himself as a competent leader among those in his personal court. Rumors of his heretical knowledge and dark inclinations worm about in the shadows however and the envious plot and weave a dangerous game of grand politics that the Archduke is inexperienced in. The announcement of a great feast to be hosted in Greenheart has shaken the courts of Arvinder as a whole and while it’s official reason is not declared so, it is almost definitely where the most powerful Bachelor of Andvar shall find his wife.

## Physical Appearance

he blood of legends flows strong in Emeric, and it shows upon him. A near giant among normal men, burgeoning muscle upon a looming frame serve a striking figure to any. His chiseled face and long curls of dark brown have long been admired by the ladies across Andvar, yet most striking feature are his Golden Eyes. Brilliant orbs of an almost metallic hue, brimming with knowledge and curiosity, yet chaotic power are said to shine as bright the emperors treasuries.

## Personality

Fascinated by the tales and myths of his youth, Emeric’s innate curiosity dominates his life, obsessed with uncovering the mysteries of the past of his people and his bloodline. His inclination to the myths of old and intellectual nature have left him a cynic of the communion and a critic of its condemnation of what it sees as heresy. Yet his drive is not limited solely to intellectual pursuits, Emeric remains a driven ruler of his lands, enjoying the mental rigor that the hardships of rule bring. His frequent sparring sessions and occasional hunts with his mentor Arkus allow him to keep maintain his massive Karrovil frame. The Young Duke does however eschew the vast feasts and social gatherings of the nobility, keenly disliking such ‘frivolous’ pursuits found among the powerful of Andvar, which conveniently limits the politicking of ambitious nobles.

## Abilities

For Millenia the great Clans of Wilden have claimed the blood of the legendary Harwin, a man risen to Godhood for his mythical feats. Emeric is a renowned example of the purported divine blood of his Clan. His imposing frame towers over near all men, naturally strong and quick as is most common with the Karrovil blood. Yet the most prodigious talent his blood has granted him in his natural affinity for magic, known as the “Wyld Eye” and marked by his deep Golden eyes. Such connection to the supernatural is natural for Emeric and a key point of his notorious mystique among the courts of Andvar. Among all his gifted traits it is his intelligence which reigns supreme, a born genius to whom any matter of learning comes with ease, having learned to read before the age of three. His brilliance is matched only by his eternal hunger for more knowledge.

## Skills

Emeric is a true Polymath, endless curiosity and natural brilliance has granted him a depth of knowledge and skill comparable to renowned scholars. A polyglot of numerous languages, the Wyldblood’s linguistic knowledge is vast in both the tongues of the Tellurian, dead and alive, aswell as some of the arcane. Instructed in the arts of magic by the famed battlemage Arkus ‘Deadeye’, Emeric is a capable mage, despite relatively little study in the field compared to others. Trained from boyhood in martial pursuits like any other noble son, the Duke is of noted skill in both sword and bow due to repeated forceful training of his father in his youth.