Adalbur

## Vicar Adalbur of Aedwin

Adalbur, at the altar, presiding over Mass.

### Brief

Adalbur is an itinerant monk who has come to settle in New Steinburg under the leadership of the local Bishop. He has served as a missionary to Hallengard, where he also assisted them against a pretender to the throne prior to the ascendancy of Queen Vasilica Sutherland. A noble son, Adalbur has renounced his last name in observance of his monastic creed.

#### Appearance

Adalbur has a strange, but welcoming face, although it has been hardened by years of travel throughout the Hales. He has deep set eyes and a strong brow and prominent nose. He is shaved bald, but permits a thin stubble to grow over his face. The black habit he wears consists of a black shoulder cape and cloak with a white lining, and a fluted robe, with brown leather boots, and a black cap.

#### Personality

Born and raised in the Hales but of Latoran blood, Adalbur maintains a welcoming, devoted personality which has been augmented by a proficient education in monastic service. His travels have imparted upon him lessons in modesty and kindness, although these elements can be overwhelmed by a man who is devoted and fervent believer. Furthermore, the Latoran mercantile legacy instead has become a shrewd aptness for politicking.

### Biography

#### Early life

Adalbur Iturbide was a "leftover child" who did not factor very much into the plans of the ambitious but low-ranking house of Iturbide. Thus, at the age of 12, Adalbur was introduced to the Mendicant Order of Saint Lucan, as Idilfons, Adalbur's father, had connections to the monastery. As an initiate of the monastery Adalbur was taught literacy in the Aedwinian vernacular language as well as Old Latoran, and was given experience in the scriptoria, where he was responsible for at least two chapters of the Holy Scriptures.

As he matured into his teenaged years, the fief the monastery and his family were located in became the subject of heavy political intrigue; the outbreak of war gave him his first experience in the treatment of the war-wounded and ill, due to the destruction of many grain storehouses and the pollution of water supplies as a wartime tactic. The monks of Saint Lucan also found themselves in the employ of both sides as diplomats, which conveniently enabled some scrupulous monks to serve as spies; a position Adalbur remembers and channels. The ultimate result of the petty wars was the downfall of the House of Iturbide, but Adalbur himself was spared due to his monastic ties and the sacrilege it would be to kill a monk.

On a strange and long night of prayer and vigil, Adalbur resolved to take up the mendicant aspect of his monastery, and was instructed to "go forth, with eyes unclouded, into the Hales."

#### Settlement

During the time of the Cult of Gildas, Adalbur was a pusher of anti-Hedatist and anti-Hallengardian rhetoric in the Council, though he maintained ostensibly neutral, or perhaps cold, demeanor to Hedatists in the realm. Adalbur was disappointed at the seeming failure of diplomacy to prevent the desecration of the Church with a Hedatist effigy.

#### As Vicar

Bishop Oscar Minguell departed Aedwin under normal circumstances. In his absence Adalbur was christened the Vicar of Aedwin, an office the equivalent of regent in secular circles. As Vicar, Adalbur has overseen the recruitment of new Canons to the Church.

Following the ascension of King Ardvor Lafontaine to the throne of Aedwin, one of his first actions was to vest the titles of Hightower to the Church. As the standing head of the Church in Aedwin, Adalbur oversees the administration of the Hightower fief: he has begun preparations to begin infill of the land to even it out and render the area more fit for agricultural purposes.

##### Fort Merit Incident

Adalbur would find his court position and his spiritual interests coming in conflict when word had reached New Steinberg that Fort Merit was set ablaze by Lady Efa and her supporters. After information gathered by the merchantess Lavinia Veneziano absolved Efa, the heavy weight of blame began to shift now towards Hallengard; though it remained in Adalbur's mind that to this point Aedwin had gone through strenuous, even excessive, effort to remain diplomatic and peaceful with their former overlord. This reservation however was counterbalanced by an easy pretext for the acquisition of the Holy Grail, which had come into Hallengardian hands; though tempered by knowledge that a high ranking lieutenant of Merit was heretically critical of the position of the Church. To Adalbur, there remained a web of issues:

* Aedwinian obligation to militarily protect their vassals
* The problem of Fort Merit's credibility: led by former church-desecrator and a raving heretic
* The fact that they were out in the open and could have easily been killed off by the enraged Meriters

Ultimately, Adalbur glossed over the spiritual crimes committed by Fort Merit's leaders, looking forward instead to the acquisition of the Holy Grail in addition to the imposition of the Lord's will on the Hedatist core. Such a tendency though, only was revealed during the brokering of conditions with the Hallengardian nobility. Hopes of the Grail's possession were then dashed by Hallengardian perfidy.

##### Occupation of Aedwin

During the War Between Realms, Adalbur was away from the main theaters of conflict. He had, fortunately, decided to fulfill some of the episcopal duties demanded of him as the substitute for the Bishop; he communicated and presided over Andophic rites in the parishes subordinate to the New Steinberg bishopric, and also made pilgrimage back to Marjou Harbor to receive guidance from theologians. However, he learned of the fall of the crown lands on the trip back to New Steinberg, and was thus well versed in most of the events that had transpired when Canon Hosea informed him of the peril the Church was in. Adalbur now keeps a low profile, and is highly cautious of his interactions, much to the chagrin of the much more zealous Canon Hosea.

## Relations

### Oscar Minguell

The Bishop is Adalbur's direct superior. Despite the hierarchic nature of Andophy the Bishop and Adalbur engage on equal terms, though Adalbur knows and defers to the Bishop due to his greater knowledge of the Aedwinian area. Adalbur serves the Bishop dutifully and faithfully. Within his mind's reserve he criticizes the Bishop's tolerance of the King's debauching ways. This is overshadowed by his respect for the Bishop and a somewhat nuanced understanding of what has transpired in Aedwin immediately prior to Adalbur's arrival in the city.

### Roland Sperhon

Adalbur frequently comes into the company of the Duke due to his control over the royal purse. Roland's particular attention to the faith, like attending Mass, is noted and respected. His vicinity to the Duke has sometimes let Adalbur be privy to the affairs of state in Aedwin. Adalbur disdains Roland's unwilting loyalty to the King and on certain especially King-lecherous occassion sees the Duke's defense of the King as a shortcoming of character.

Adalbur would later become dissatisfied with how Roland dealt with Aedwinian foreign relations; perceiving Roland as secretive and unwilling to talk about his doings in the North. With the ascension of Ardvor Lafontaine, Adalbur with a heavy-hand began to pursue spiritual objectives that were relegated to the diplomatic back-burner.

### Geoffery de Castellane

Adalbur somewhat disdains Geoffery, but not for lack of competence. On multiple occassions Adalbur has been witness to drunkenness and otherwise unroyal behavior. Furthermore, the hearsay of Aedwin does not play well to the King's reputation. Because of this, it is not unknown for Adalbur to lecture and Geoffery for seeming lapses or skepticism of Andophy. However, the King does pay his tithes and owes the Bishop the respect afforded to him and the body he represents. Geoffery has appointed Adalbur as the Arts Patron of Aedwin.

### Tyr Radovid

Despite Tyr's status as a nonbeliever, he was nonetheless given treatment by the monk. Adalbur comforted Tyr on both occasions where Tyr was grievously hampered by injury or sickness. In spite of this, Tyr ultimately could not be saved by Adalbur. Adalbur oversaw the burial of Tyr in the Andophist manner despite Tyr's adherence to Bosothy.

Adalbur was surprised, shocked, to learn that Tyr was a killer, when he was proclaimed to have done such a thing by the visiting Winterlandish Tsar Ladislau.

##### Ardvor Lafontaine

Adalbur sponsored and pushed for the ascension of Ardvor to the throne. Although his reign resulted in a material boon, with much wealth coming to the Church in Aedwin by way of a land donation and generous monetary support, Adalbur for some time felt that that the diocese was protected. Adalbur felt the unease Ardvor had for the throne and was made nervous by his engagements in diplomacy; seeding a want for more direct and confrontational actions to be taken with respect to spiritual goals, such as attaining the Grail. Ardvor's early death left much to be desired by Adalbur; but such feelings were not allowed to be contemplated due to the quick fall from grace experienced by Aedwin following Ardvor's successor, Sanford Akerse.

##### Sanford Akerse

In life, and prior to his ascension, Adalbur viewed Sanford as a good Andophist and a loyal member of the court. It was Sanford who accompanied Adalbur to the North when he went on his fruitless mission to Hallengard to ask for the Grail, so naturally he was inclined to view him in a more positive light.

Adalbur unfortunately would not be a witness or even a participant in the short-lived reign of Sanford Akerse, though his legacy cast a long shadow. His sacrifice for the men of the Guard, however undeserving they were, was meriting martyrdom, even sainthood as a Canon under Adalbur put it. Nonetheless, true canonization of Sanford is delayed due to the current persecution of Andophy under Declan Rossthorne, the current King.

##### Hosea

Hosea, a canon recruited by Adalbur in the months following Bishop Oscar's departure, is seen as more innocent to the temporal factors the Church must wrestle with (though most of these factors are in fact, a result of Adalbur's doing). Hosea is seen as naive by Adalbur, who himself in naivete pushed for a militaristic strategy that ultimately resulted in the downfall of the faith he had been sent to build.

##### Lucius Caine

Lucius comes from another monastic order, which Adalbur views positively. Though the two do not know each other very well, he is thankful for the presence of another monk. He views him as helpful and graceful, possessed with a demeanor which is amicable to Hedatist druids; a demeanor which Adalbur, if tested, would not be able to maintain.