Raffaello Lamperni: Difference between revisions

One would generally assume Raffaelo to be a brutish ogre of a man, brawny and large in proportions and glorious in stature if one were to form an opinion purely on the visual propaganda of his court. While his father Tristano is a titan of a man, Raffaelo is shorter than the average Ailor, standing at 5 feet and 6 inches tall defying Eronidas heritage. Despite his stature, however, Raffaelo is immensely strong and well-built, capable of lifting men much larger than him off the ground with ease. His hair features a golden-brown tight curl that is usually cropped short to his skull and decorated either by the Ducal coronet or the golden laureate of tournaments that he won. He has strong dark eyebrows and dark sockets that give him a near-permanent snarl in his expression, a strong nose with a pronounced bridge, and a wide mouth with large tusks clearly visible. In aristocratic circles, he would best be described as unkempt, with facial hair that is barely trimmed and allowed to grow wildly on his face and neck, over-sized clothing that is barely draped on his shoulders as he rolled out of bed, and sporting a large amount of jewelry on his wrists and fingers. Some would say he spends effort to appear aloof like he is trying too hard to appear above court etiquette, even though he engages in it.

Raffaelo's personality is hard to pin down, because his private persona and his public persona are radically different, with conflicting reports coming from both sources. If their commonalities are to be believed, Raffaelo is by default quite calm and stoic, he just appears angry all the time because he has a resting expression on his face somewhere between rage and disgust. He is generally vulgar in speech, and very direct with little regard for social convention. His speech is often insulting and aggravating, but he seemingly means many of his comments well and does not joke at the expense of others to mock them but in an attempt to laugh with them. His temper, however, is the one thing everyone including his most trusted courtiers try to avoid. He has an explosive temper that when triggered can cause quite some physical and material damage to the area around him, with very few means of calming him down. He is over-confident, greedy, prideful, vain, and generally dense when it comes to understanding inference, doubles-speak, or innuendos.  

Raffaelo's politics is a world of contradictions. Principally, he is a progressive, with some of the most progressive legislation in the archipelago being penned by him. He is pro-Magic, pro-meritocracy, pro-reform and pro-centralization. However, he is also pro-war, has a repressive judicial system, and can comfortably be called tyrannical to those who do not profess loyalty to him or show any signs of disagreement with his politics. He has routinely removed Counts and Barons from their positions in Greater Vultaro, which is only barely condoned by the Imperial Court, as this is usually the prerogative of the Emperor. Raffaelo's laws are ostensibly progressive, but violating them familiarizes the offenders with the hell that is his court system where they are knocked from one extortionate judgment to another all in the spirit of being made an example. His rule sees the expansion of cultural celebration, but harsh military-style repression of unwanted ideals and ideas. Artistic expressions are at their height but constrained and bound in terms of what they are allowed to express. His benevolence to the commoners is juxtaposed to his abuse of noble privilege, with routine random imprisonments. His offering positions to competent commoners contrasted by rapid re-shuffling of cabinets the moment anyone shows disobedience. Every decision no matter how benign, is always backed by the Arkenborn secret service that silences any naysayers and protestors. Raffaelo's bureaucracy is firmly on his side because he is a modernizing ruler. His court lives frugally and serves the Imperial Court well by taking as little as possible from the Imperial stipend, a feudal concession that rulers are allowed to take from the taxes they draw for the Empire. Vultaro's military is also squarely behind him, having grown fond of the "Little Jaguar" as they call him, who frequently leads his men in the frontline charging them to glory in the name of Greater Vultaro. In conclusion, he is strongly disliked by the vanquished nobles he conquered and the other titleholders in the Regalian Archipelago who disagree with his style of rule, though most are too self-invested, profiting, or cowardly to act against him. Historically, siding with him has been easy, painless, and profitable, so long as they do not draw the ire of his ill temper.  

Raffaello's cultural identity has been much debated by both people inside Greater Vultaro and outside. By default, one would assume that Raffaello is Ithanian as he spent at least 15 years living there, however, his accent is a strange amalgam of indeterminate foreign-ness to Regalians. He sounds a little Elven, but not quite Elven, a little Ithanian but not quite, a little Daen but not quite, and a little Cantaluna, but not quite. This is largely because the water-downs of Lusinière were culturally diverse, and Raffaello did not have traditional literary training, he in fact cannot read even to this day. He has been seen actively rejecting and mocking many Ithanian cultural traditions, equating them to the classism and racism he faced from the Ithanian patricians of Lusinière during his youth and early teen years. Yet, he also speaks fluent Ithanian and has a taste for luxurious fabrics, even though they are often made for him in dark and un-fashionable colors for an Ithanian. He only speaks broken Cantaluna, having started learning it some years ago, but has quickly picked up many cultural quirks of the Cantaluna people. According to statements made by the Iron Duke himself, this is because he has a great deal of interest in the cultural heritage of his father, and feels more strongly connected to it, than to his Eronidas mother or his birthplace Ithania. Raffaello however also has some inclination towards Eronidas culture, being particularly skilled at Eronidas body language and cultural quirks, given the large amount of Eronidas in his court. In short, Raffaelo does not truly have a singular cultural identity, he rejects Imperial homogenization but is himself somewhat of a melting pot.  

Raffaelo has had no formal education beyond military training. He has spent only a single year training among the Feer-Drakken Knights, a minor chapter of large claymore-wielding swordsmen in north Anglia that serve the Draconist Barons and Counts of that region. Excelling at this training, he was also picked up by tutors from the Tyrian Order, the non-Viridian civil arm of the same ideology that glorifies Imperial Knights and service to the Emperor. Among the Tyrians, he learned combat with a wide range of weapons, while also being comfortable with Blacksteel armor. Raffaelo speaks Ithanian and Common fluently but struggles with Cantaluna and Leutz-Vixe. Raffaelo's biggest educational weakness is that he cannot read, and relies on his Steward to moderate and read out all his letters, contracts, and laws, before signing them.