Victor de Arles

Count **Victor de Arles** is the count and ruler of the County of Provence and resides within the island of La Cuna, along with his wife Emilie de Arles. During Amicia and Hugo's journey, the count serves as the main adversary against the duo, seeking to make Hugo their son per the Child of Embers story native to the island.

## Biography

### Background and Early Life

Victor de Arles was the Count of Provence and was renowned for his status as a powerful lord. He was the leader of the powerful Army of Provence and allegedly fought in over one hundred battles. The Count killed the son of Arnaud Malpart, who swore vengeance against him. He is deeply troubled as a result of his military service.

Count Victor was married to Countess Emilie de Arles and fell deeply in love with her. The Countess led a life of tragedy, having been severely abused by her family until the Count married her. The Count took her to live on a Mediterranean island under his control known as La Cuna, where he fed her a fantasy to help comfort her with the fact she cannot bear a child. The fantasy consisted of a story that the Countess would be the mother and he the father to the "Child of Embers", who would be resurrected to save the world. Despite it being made up, Countess Emilie has formed a cult which attracts many people to the island in search of fertility.

### Newcomers

The Count places his captain, the Beast, in charge of eliminating and disposing of the Bite, which has infected majority of the citizens of the Red City.

### Felons

Arnaud and his mercenaries have been largely exterminated in spite of working with the Count to kill and dispose of infected citizens. The mercenaries were purged in a campaign by the Count to rid the land of "impurity". He has allied with the de Runes in an attempt to exact vengeance for his son and his men.

### A Sea of Promises

Amicia de Rune and Hugo de Rune first encounter the Count at La Cuna as he announces the Countess will arrive at the festival soon. Arnaud has aided the duo by plotting to kill Victor with Hugo's control over the rats. Amicia, ignorant of this deal, loudly and publicly protests this by refusing Arnaud to continue. The Count recognizes the mercenary and orders the soldiers kill them. He and Arnaud engage in a duel as Amicia and Hugo retreat. The two return to stop Arnaud from creating more damage and drop a pole between the two warriors who are deadlocked in combat. The mercenary is arrested and the Count walks to strike down the de Runes with his sword in hand but is stopped by the Countess. She invites them to dinner and they provide the siblings a tour of their stronghold.

### Tales and Revelations

Amicia, Hugo, and Sophia witness the Count and Countess perform a pagan ritual declaring the return of the Child of Embers being imminent. The distracted couple unknowingly lead the trio through the ritual until the three can slip past them undetected.

### The Life We Deserve

Amicia and Hugo return to the Count's palace after unleashing the rats on La Cuna. He demands an audience with her and attempts to kill her. Victor de Arles explains to the retreating Amicia that he fed his wife a fantasy on the island to comfort her because of her abusive background. He reveals that the Countess believes Hugo to be the Child of Embers and declares he will kill the de Runes to make sure his wife remains happy. The Count chases Amicia, though she narrowly manages to escape.

Victor de Arles confronts Amicia at the ritual of his wife. The Count mocks her as she struggles to wield his sword against him with an injured shoulder. He cuts her repeatedly with a borrowed sword as Béatrice de Rune pleas for him to stop. The Countess is disturbed by his brutality as well and asks him to get it over with. The Count delivers several gashes to Amicia's torso and shoulder, causing her to collapse. Hugo witnesses Emilie murder his mother and unleashes the rats with Amicia's goading. Victor shouts he will help the Countess as she is surrounded but narrowly fails and witnesses her being devoured by rats. He is dragged away in a hysterical state by his men.

### Nothing Left

The Count orders his men retrieve Hugo and execute Amicia as well as Arnaud immediately.

### Healing Our Wounds

Grieving and furious, Victor de Arles and his soldiers board the *Rascasse* to retrieve Hugo. Amicia is wounded with an arrow and collapses as the Count confronts her and Arnaud. Hugo attempts to fight the Count but is struck and rendered unconscious. Victor explains how Hugo as his "son" will help him cleanse the world and forge an empire from its ashes. Arnaud retreats with Amicia rather than fight the Count. He also takes Lucas and Sophia hostage.

### Death

Arnaud and Amicia confront the Count on the shore of Marseilles. Victor dons a helm and fights Arnaud while his soldiers attack Amicia. Hugo breaks the last threshold and fills the shore with ash as the battle rages on. Amicia finishes off the last of the soldiers and witnesses the Count run through Arnaud with his sword. Before he can collapse, Arnaud pulls himself towards Victor and throws off his helm. The helmet-less Count marches toward Amicia but she kills him with a rock from her sling.

## Physical Appearance

The Count was a very tall man who was bald with some facial hair. He almost always donned a suit of armor with silver vambraces, gauntlets, and leg chain mail with gold outlines. The Count also wore a black and yellow tabard with bits of gold sewn into it underneath a gold chain. Over his tabard and chain, he wore a brown wolf pelt. On his left hip, he wore a scabbard for his great sword. In his final battle, the Count wore a silver great helm with a golden gross in the middle.

## Personality

Victor de Arles was, above all, a man who found delight in combat. A veteran of over one hundred battles, he believed he thrived in war and that there are people in the world who only exist to destroy such as himself, Arnaud, and Amicia. According to his wife, he was deeply troubled from his time in battle and struggled to maintain a non-marshal demeanor. His combative nature drove his personality and led to his motivations for world domination. The Countess' cult was his outlet, not his origin.

Victor was a strong and powerful ruler who was brutal enough to put his own subjects to the sword in rode to combat the Bite. The Count's men deeply respected him and had little objections to his heavy-handed orders. He was also very ambitious and sought to conquer the world when he saw Hugo could give him the opportunity.

The Count's only redeeming quality was his passionate love for his wife. He deeply nurtured the Countess due to her abusive background and provided a fantasy to help her cope with her barrenness. The Count was willing to play along with her fantasy and was willing to kill anyone who threatened it.

## Abilities and Skills

The Count was a skilled swordsman. His swordsmanship was so advanced that he killed the seasoned mercenary, Arnaud, in a duel. Victor was also an accomplished commander who commanded the respect of his men and had won countless battles from a life of warfare.

## Relationships

### Emilie de Arles

Victor de Arles loved his wife above all things. They knew each other deeply and he would always carefully her and her requests. He loved her so much he concocted a fantasy to help her cope with childlessness and her abusive past. The Count was beyond devastated when she died and would go to any lengths to avenge her.

### Arnaud Malpart

Deep enmity existed between them since Victor killed Arnaud's son in war. The Count sought to kill "the Wall" and he also plotted to kill him. Despite mutual rivalry, Count Victor saw Arnaud as similar to him in being a man put in the world to destroy. In the end, they would both die as a result of the other.

### Amicia de Rune

The Count of Provence held a deep respect toward Amicia for her skills in battle, commenting how she reminded him of himself as a young man. He regarded her as a similar person to himself as one whose only purpose is to destroy. After his wife's death, Victor saw no point in living, and instead wanted to burn the world down with Hugo's destructive powers, starting with Amicia.

### Hugo de Rune

The Count "loved" Hugo as a "son" on behalf of his wife's obsession with the Child of Embers. Despite killing the Countess, Victor sought to make Hugo his son in order to use his powers to conquer the world.

## Trivia

* The name **Victor** is Latin in origin and means "conqueror".