Cataluña, Alejo
Jul 27, 2013 14:38:14 GMT -5
Post by val on Jul 27, 2013 14:38:14 GMT -5
GABRIEL JOSÉ ALEJO CATALUÑA DE VALENA
Nickname – N/A
Gender -Male
Age - 31
Birthday - 17 July, 1508
Noble House - Cataluña, Linten
Skills -Weapons (double swords, throwing knives, javelin, crossbow), seafarer, equestrian skills, courtly graces, diplomacy and trade negotiations, tactics
Play By -Ben Barnes
Immediate Family Members -
Parents: Lucia Anita Silvia Cataluña de Valena (deceased)
Hugo Gabriel José Cataluña de Aquila (deceased)
Siblings: Gabriel José Adrian Cataluña de Valena; Gabriel José Daniel Cataluña de Valena; Anita Silvia Araceli Cataluña de Valena
Spouse: Teresa Maria Catalina Cataluña de Medina
Children: José Alejo Antonio Cataluña de Medina (9 years old) and Maria Catalina Ana Cataluña de Medina (6 years old)
Personality
Passionate, stubborn, and temperamental are only three out of many words that can describe Alejo’s personality. Coming as he does from Linten, many of his traits can be explained away both by the country of his birth and by the family he grew up in. Since childhood, he was a participant in many a loud argument with his siblings, trying to make his point heard and establish his place, though those moments decreased when he discovered the sea. That was when he showed his true passionate stubbornness which allowed him to master the skills necessary for surviving at sea and which only improved dramatically as he started spending most of his time on a ship owned by his father, and which later was passed to him. Alejo’s temper is legendary among his siblings, making him liable to go for the sword if he feels the insult to him and his is grievous enough to need a duel, though he’s not above seeing reason. His impulsiveness tends to work against him, as well, though sometimes it might be a good thing, as an impulsive decision was the one that led him to covert operations in midst of pirates who’d been harassing his lands.
He likes his food and drink, though doesn’t indulge due to his profession, as being drunk off his feet is not good for the vessel he’s commanding, so those moments are rare enough. As it is, during those times he is, the man tends to start up the singing, though of course, without any voice to speak of, it’s more of highly un-musical hollering. He is not above laughing both at himself and others, tending to do so if the situation is not grievous enough to take offence or the event itself is so ridiculous that one can’t help but laugh. His sense of humor helps him out where his temper sometimes does not, though perhaps it’s sometimes misplaced. While he’s not an incurable romantic, he’s not above trying the methods of theirs, and his wife is an accomplice on whom he tries out the tricks, leading to many a hilarious moment, though perhaps his singing spree under her window before they were married so far trumps all the other attempts.
Answering to his name’s meaning, Alejo is very protective of anything that’s his, be it family, lands and people, or close friends. He’s also not above doing the same work he assigns his people or learning a new skill, so it’s not that difficult to find him in the middle of work and most of the time he’s hard to pick out from the rest of his crew. He’s not afraid of heights, and his favorite spot on his ship is the crow’s nest, high above the deck. Highly enjoying the sights from its dubious safety, the man can be often found acting as the look-out if the ship’s in voyage, and the first to be on deck helping out during the storms or other calamities that tend to befall a ship. His recklessness sometimes lands him into tight spots out of which he has to climb with help of his quick mind, though not always a word said in the right place. If anything, sometimes he tends to be literal, which is no help at all. Going with the flow, as long as his family is out of the harm’s way, he’s willing to risk everything to reach his goal, though the level of his involvement goes down if his family is present or involved in some way. Tending to stay by his family if they’re around, Alejo’s not above delegating duties, though he makes certain he doesn’t assign anything a man or woman can’t do. His crew’s comprised mainly of close family friends, which makes for reasonably easy voyages and good companionship on board and on land.
History
Youngest son and fourth child in the family, Alejo was well aware that he was going to have to make himself heard if he wanted his opinion counted and his place earned. Still, he had his way shown to him by an old shipmaster, whom he met when he was five. Since then, the boy was drawn to the sea, though the rest of his siblings didn’t show any interest in seafaring and exploring, at least not the ocean. Alejo, on the other hand, didn’t have any reservations about learning to swim or learning to sail, both of which he mastered by the time he was sixteen, though the second one needed serious work and continued to be developed with a passionate stubbornness typical of a man from Linten. Along with those pursuits, the teen learned the arts needed to know for every noble – the ways of the court, dueling, use of several types of weaponry and, considering where his heart seemed to lay to his instructors, navigation and sailing, which would come in handy in the years to come.
With his brothers both well suited to managing the family land, Alejo took this to mean that he was free to take the sea trade management as his own pursuit as he grew older, nevertheless building a house close to the port on his family’s lands with his father’s permission. Most of his time, however, was spent at sea, with several visits home in between travels, especially when the weather was particularly unsuitable for seafaring. While his vessel was sturdy enough, Alejo never ventured too far north, well aware of the dangers ice could bring to his ship, which didn’t have enough power nor stability to withstand such a travel. Still, southern ventures were a pleasure to make, and that was how he first stumbled across the pirates making waves on the southern ocean.
At first, the young seafarer did not pay any particular attention to the pirates, since they didn’t cause too much trouble to his family’s lands, his own, or their neighbors. Soon enough, however, his own duchy suffered a great raid from those very men, and Alejo found himself in hot pursuit of the main vessel, as it made off with one good too many. The pursuit continued, for there was suspicion that the pirates were not above kidnapping people of Linten, as well, for what purpose, the men could only guess. The track was lost once his ship has reached the borders of Demeria. Not wanting to risk the more or less friendly relationship with that country, Alejo reluctantly pulled back, especially once he realized that he was low on resources to continue, and his people were getting exhausted.
Determined to continue the search, however, the young captain covertly turned to the way of thought that would both help his duchy and their next door neighbors and help him learn the names of the pirates, eventually bringing them to justice – or so he hoped. He became one himself, deliberately staking out the same areas which the pirates frequented in hopes they’ll take him for one of their own, which was what eventually happened. Using one of their vessels instead of his, Alejo secretly operated against them, returning the stolen goods and freeing some of their prisoners to go back to their own lands, helping them to do so if they needed it. Using the pirates’ own goods to help people secure their freedom greatly amused him and gave no end of frustration to his and his crew’s employers, who had no idea where their rat was and how it was pulling tricks they couldn’t catch. This involvement also led him to start practicing diplomacy and seal several trade agreements with other merchants with whom he crossed paths. Thus, ‘piracy’ was, in fact, a series of well-planned behind the scenes trades that eventually helped all the lands around his home restore the relative wealth until the next chance he’d get at the pirates themselves.
During one such sojourn he met his future wife, in what had to be a most amusing meeting he ever experienced. The young girl, at the time, was caring for a few orphan fox kits, and very unceremoniously handed him one of them with a claim that she was absolutely certain he’ll provide a good home for it. That was, after he called her a kit because of how he found her occupied. The fox kit, affectionately known as Tess (a nickname from one of the many names of the kit's being Teresa), remained with Alejo for a few years, and the girl, whose name turned out to be Catalina, also turned out to be a noble in station too high for his aim. Not the one to give up, however, the young man determined he would win the pretty kit for his wife, and in the next few months, did everything in his power to do so, including serenades under her window. The last one, perhaps, was much unneeded, since he had no voice whatsoever, but it worked its magic, for the young woman’s father relented after a couple of months’ worth of serenades, just so that his house’s members could have a few nights’ of uninterrupted sleep.
It still took them around a year until they were married, but that year allowed Alejo and Catalina to secure their relationship into a loving partnership much to both of their surprises. Stubborn and passionate as they were, it made for a few interesting years, though Alejo didn’t try serenading again, much to his wife’s utter relief and amusement of his friends. The pursuit of the pirates continued, and his foothold in their midst was slowly establishing, though it was slower with the birth of his children. Devoting more time to his family rather than the pursuit of the brigands, it wasn’t until he heard that Lord Alejandro of Linten made contact with the Demerians despite being taken for a pirate at first meeting that the man decided they might as well pay a visit to Demeria themselves. Hoping to finally bring the pirates to justice, he set out in his ship, accompanied by his family and loyal crew, this time crossing the sea borders with intentions of peace, though harboring an ambition of war on those who brought so much damage to his duchy and lands if so happened he crossed their path. Whether it would come true or not, however, is another thing entirely.
RP Sample
Once again, Alejo and his men chased the pirates to the very borders of Demeria and decided against continuing. Instead, they turned back to their lands, crossing the borders long before nightfall thanks to a fair wind favoring their direction. They were in need of a break, so a cove was found where they could stop and rest for a few hours’ worth before continuing home. Anchoring and taking a boat toward the shore, Alejo was the first one on land, helping his man tie off their vessel so that it didn’t go anywhere without them and walked inward.
“Do you think the pirates will return, Don Alejo?” The vessel’s second in command was next on shore, doubt on his face. The man was not happy by them having to turn back due to short supplies and foreign borders, but Alejo was most insistent on avoiding trouble with Demerians, so his crew reluctantly agreed to it.
“Of course they will, they always do. Remember where one of their bases is?” The question was rhetorical, for being a part of this particular nest led Alejo and everyone present into a quiet cavern deep in Linten, where the pirates made their home.
It was a discreet enough place where several hundred men could gather easily enough without being spotted by law, and the water deep enough for the ships to come and go safely. No reefs, no storms also favored this secret harbor, and the man was wondering when he’d be able to claim this one as his own. For now, however, exposing themselves as the big rat that was chipping away at the pirates’ resources would do them no good, so Alejo was biding his time. The trade agreements that resulted from his ‘piracy’ so far were for the good of his family’s duchy and their neighbors, as most of them were almost recovered from the hit, but the man wanted to bring the pirates’ nest to justice, and giving his hand away too soon would mean they will have the time to flee. Bad enough that he had to chase them all the way to Demeria’s waters, where he suspected they were up to no good, worse was that he had no clue if it wasn’t, in fact, one of Demeria’s lords facilitating the pirates from his country.
Shelving the thought for later consideration, the young man came to a screeching halt when he noticed a girl no older than sixteen playing with four fox kits. It was obvious the kits knew her well, and it seemed they were willing enough to take food suitable for them from her, but they shied off at the sight of unfamiliar people, namely them. The girl glanced around, herself startled by the unexpected appearance, and he noticed that her nose was twitching much like the kits’, much to his amusement.
“Does my lord want a kit of his own?” The question asked in a melodic voice, accompanied by a smile full of mischief, made Alejo stop in his tracks and seriously consider it. The question was innocent enough, and he was uncertain which type of ‘kit’ he was suggested, the animal one or human one.
“Of course. I won’t mind a kit all to myself,” he responded once he could do so coherently. The girl he was calling a kit to her eyes for her twitchy ears and curious expression was beautiful enough to render many a man speechless, so it was not surprising that it took him a few moments to recover his wits. His eyes, however, were on the girl herself, not the kits she was playing with, so he didn’t miss the girl’s approach with one of the fox kits in her hands, though he was uncertain what she was going to do next.
Giving him what had to be the sweetest smile he’d seen, the girl thrust the fox kit into his arms, the smile blooming into a grin at the identical startled expressions on the faces of the young man and black-furred kit. “There, you can have this one, My Lord. I’m certain she’d appreciate a good home you can provide.” With that, the girl turned and left to go inland at a dead run, laughing at the stunned expression Alejo was currently sporting.
“My Lord wouldn’t mind that kit for a wife, would he?” The teasing voice of his second in command made the young man aware of the sniggering crew on the background of the whole meeting, and he started laughing himself, especially as he noticed that aside from the kit he was holding, the rest made themselves scarce while he was entranced with the girl. “Perhaps he should learn her name first instead of calling her a kit to her face!”
“Thank you for that advice, my lords, I shall endeavor to do so, on both counts.” Still laughing at the whole incident, Alejo and his men started further down the shore, minds set at ease by what had to be the most amusing meeting they had experienced so far, and considering they spent most of their times at sea, that had to say something. Little did he know that he would end up marrying this very person a few years later, for right now, the only plan was to find out who she was. After all, he couldn’t do much if he didn’t even know her name, could he?
Out of Character:
val – Prince Tristan, Lady Mariana Jardinier, Lord Jasen de Winter, Lady Rosalie St. Claire – EST
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