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Raffaello I (Raffaello Alessandro Tristano Lamperni after Imperial confirmation, Richard from birth, Ryker Lampero or Iron Duke in Common vernacular) is the Regalian Duke of Greater Vultaro and 8 other Commonwealth Duchies, all together referred to as the Vultarin Hegemony among the Regalian Nobles. Raffaello stands as one of the most powerful and influential nobles in the Regalian realm by virtue of the sheer size and industrial capacity of his domain. Seen as an imperial loyalist, Raffaello has brought about many controversial changes in his short rule.
| Raffaello I Lamperni of Vultaro | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 282 AC, Lusinière, Ithania |
| Died | N/A |
| Spouse | None |
| Issue | None |
| Religion | Unionism |
| Parents | Tristano I Lamperni & Unknown Eronidas |
| Affiliations |
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| Titles | Duke of Greater Vultaro
Duke of Montania
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Raffaello was born in Ithania as an illegitimate bastard, but despite his noble father being unaware, the Imperial Court kept an eye on Raffaello as he grew up. When he became an adult, the Emperor had him retrieved from Ithania, familiarized with Regalia, sent to military training, and confirmed as Duke of Vultaro as the last eligible male heir. Raffaello then proceeded to conquer, bribe, and blackmail his way to gaining more power in the adjacent Duchies, to such a degree that he now indirectly controls nearly a quarter of the Regalian Archipelago's population.
Raffaello continues to be a notable person, because his pro-Arkenborn/Godborn policies have caused discomfort among conservatives and purists, and his pro-Magic stance has made Vultaro a safe haven for many Occult who face persecution in other lands. Raffaello is part of a political movement that seeks to shake up Regalian politics, for better or worse.
Early Life
Raffaello was born 288 AC in the affluent city of Lusinière, the capital of Courz Delouze one of Ithania's constituent provinces. Raffaello was the (then unknown) illegitimate bastard of Duke Tristano I Lamperni, who had since lost his title to rebellion in the southern Vultaro regions and was traveling the world while training as an Imperial Guard. Raffaello's mother is an Eronidas woman whose name history has not recorded, and Raffaello also has no memories of, as she gave him up as a baby. Raffaello was named Richard in Ithanian styling but quickly adopted the nickname Ryker when coming into contact with foreigners. Because Tristano was only Duke for a very short period of time, Raffaello's rule is more often contrasted with that of his grandfather Thaddeo I Lamperni. Raffaello was born an Arkenborn with distinct golden/red eyes, though no Arken was seemingly involved in his birth, which has raised another mystery.
Little is known of Raffaello's early life, because it was lived in obscurity away from public perception. An Imperial agent was supposedly always close by, but Raffaello lived a life of abject poverty as one of the poorest street children of Lusinière, in a district known as the water-downs. This district was aptly named, because the waterfalls that make the city so famous produce a near-constant vapor of water that mists the lower districts where the poor and downtrodden live. Here, Raffaello supposedly picked up many street-wise skills, but no historical accuracy can be given to the few stories that circulate about this time, as they are all from Raffaello himself who tends to embellish these tales. The reason why the Imperial Court chose not to take Raffaello to Regalia sooner remains a wider mystery.
Return to Regalia
At the age of 15 in 303 AC, Raffaello was approached by the Imperials, who told him that they knew who his father was, and that they would take him there. Raffaello agreed and traveled to Regalia, where he spent roughly a year acclimating to the cultural environment of Regalia and perfecting his Common, as he only spoke fluent Ithanian at the time. When he was legally an adult, the Imperial Court recognized his claim to Vultaro and renamed him to his regal name with particular patronage from Emperor Alexander I. He was sent to study at the Feer-Drakken military school, but he excelled beyond what the teachers could teach him in mere weeks, which is why he was eventually also caught up by Tyrian Order military instructors. Raffaello had no mind for tactics or bureaucracy but was an absolute terror in duels and fights, which some would speculate had something to do with his Arkenborn status.
Reign
Raffaello was appointed the Duke of Vultaro at the age of 17 in 305 AC, having raced through his education at super-human speeds. Upon being appointed, he immediately went to work pacifying an otherwise rebellious province. It should be noted that early on in his reign, Raffaello was not an efficient ruler and lacked the confidence he has in the modern day to exert his presence on the people. Vultaro had just come out of a rebellion, a religious upheaval, a second rebellion, and a near-civil war. The coal mining industry, which Vultaro was known for, was in a near state of collapse, and famines were common because the rest of the Archipelago did not want to make deals with the locals who had a habit of killing their nobles. Raffaello's arrival was paired with a whole host of Imperial bureaucrats and clerks who improved civil efficiency and employed the newest engineering techniques to ramp up infrastructure. While Raffaello is frequently credited by word of mouth as a universally efficient ruler, especially early on, he did barely anything and the majority of the decisions were left to a vast network of courtiers.
Raffaello proved to be an efficient ruler for the first time during a series of bread riots that devolved into anti-Lamperni insurrections in the capital of Lampeporta. Historically, Lamperni rulers had been known for being careless with the lives of their soldiers in battle, a sentiment that was inevitably also feared of Raffaello when he arrived with a whole host of people to keep him away from the experience of living among the masses. During these riots, however, Raffaello did not only take front-line charge of the soldiers who were sent to maintain order, he actively minimized casualties by throwing himself into the front lines at every convenience. With the morale of the army improving, and markedly shifting in favor of Raffaello, the court's influence became easier to extend beyond the capital, which would inevitably run them into conflict with the Barons beyond.
Raffaello's second great test of his mettle was the Baron's Conspiracy later that year during which various powerful barons from the southern half of Vultaro tried to conspire against him. During this time, it was mostly Raffaello's habit to appoint competent commoners and bureaucrats to his administration, that saved him from an untimely death, rather than his considerable martial skill. While other rulers were taught to rule absolutely, Raffaello showed no interest in civil rule and was more than content to hand away even financial control to educated clerks so long as they were loyal. The Baron's conspiracy was revealed and foiled, and the perpetrators were executed by Raffaello himself. When the year came to a close, Vultaro was firmly in Raffaello's court's control, setting sights on the lands beyond.
The Montanian Incident
Map showing the regional expansion of Raffaello's Ducal domain, starting from Vultaro Major.
On July 1st 306 AC, Raffaello challenged the Duke of Montania, the western neighbor of Vultaro, to a personal duel to showcase the superiority of one region over the other. Raffaello's skill had preceded him, but the fact that he was short in stature, 18 years old, and an Arkenborn, caused many in the Montanian court to not consider him an actual threat to Duke Francesco II di Alan. The Duke di Alan was a middle-aged war veteran of considerable martial skill, and generally thought of as a good ruler, though his extended family left much to be desired. The Duke himself was well enough liked by the people, but the wider di Alan family had a reputation of being extortionate with taxes, and did not respect the cultural diversity of the region, including some of the pre-Empire tribes that lived in the area. Raffaello's duel challenge was a perfect opportunity to kick down an upstart in the region and prove Montania's superiority over Vultaro, a rivalry that went back since the first settlement of the region.
The duel took place on July 7th 306 AC, in the capital, Savarolesta, under the watchful eye of much of the Montanian nobility and di Alan family. The di Alan Duke mocked Raffaello at the start of the duel, though the arena was shocked that in the first swing alone, Raffaello disemboweled the Duke killing him on the spot in what was ostensibly a friendly duel. The Duke's sons Ludovico, Ercole, and Alfonso all jumped into the ring with weapons drawn intent to kill Raffaello, but they too were killed by Raffaello in rapid succession. Chaos in Montania erupted almost immediately, with Duke Francesco and all of his heirs dead. Various baronial factions sided with conflicting cousin branches of the di Alan family, and chaos quickly unfolded in all the major urban centers. As soon as Raffaello reached the Vultaro border on his way back home, he met with his great-uncle the Viridian Knight Domenico Cavalcante who had already mobilized the Vultaro military and positioned them on the Montanian border. What followed was a very quick military campaign with Raffaello at the head, with the Vultarin army blitzing the major coastal cities of Montania ostensibly to restore order, but in reality to install Vultarin bureaucrats. By the beginning of 307 AC, Montania as a whole had fallen under Raffaello's control, which was when the title "Iron Duke" was conferred on him, as a Duchy had not attacked and wholly absorbed another Duchy for nearly a hundred years, and Raffaello remained undefeated in a fight.
The Anahera Crisis
The Anahera Crisis of late 307-early 308 AC saw Raffaello take a pro-centralizing stance against the rebellion. While at first Greater Vultaro did not act, when House Anahera showed a moment of weakness, Vultarin, and Montanian soldiers poured into Etna and Lorenthaus simultaneously. The Etna Duchy was under direct control from House Anahera, while the Lorenthaus was ruled by the Micheron family which was pro-Anahera and had sided with them in the rebellion. The invasion of Etna was largely uneventful, as Etna is one of the most sparsely populated regions of the Archipelago, but there was fierce fighting in Lorenthaus due to it being the home of the militant Leutz-Vixe Knight-Barons. With Raffaello on the frontlines quickly conquering territory, the Anahera rebels surrendered in a deal that would provisionally see Etna joined with Vultaro-Montania, as the land was seen as poor and underdeveloped.
The Milosso Conspiracy however would see the majority of Lorenthaus except Reven, Vienta, and the eastern-most counties fall under Vultarin rule. Cantaluna immigrants had been dispersing among the Leutz-Vixe majority for nearly a century, and particularly the city Milosso had developed a strong Cantaluna minority. Added to this, the Micheron family was notably Purist, leading to severe discontent among the sizeable Elven population of the western counties of Lavoyare and Meuberge. The Milosso Conspiracy would involve several prominent Cantaluna immigrant families, as well as a whole host of Elven families and notably Mages conspiring to surround the Micheron family and the wealthy patricians of Milosso when they attended their Unionist Sermon in the Tempel vun der Eenegung, the largest grand-temple of Unionism in the region. The Temple was not forcibly entered, but besieged for a week until the patricians inside tired of eating fasting bread and water, and tried to negotiate. These negotiations themselves were then double-crossed, with the Duchess of Micheron being forced to sign her own abdication in favor of her infant son who would be put under a regency by Raffaello. Raffaello would remove him from the throne a mere month later, and place himself on the throne as the undisputed ruler, which went unchallenged as Vultarin troops were still in the province.
The Forio Crisis
Vultaro's next leap of expansion was onto the island of Forio, a populous island that was once part of Montania but retained its independence from Vultaro following the death of the di Alan Duke. Forio controlled major shipyard industries, which Vultaro traditionally lacked, making it the most likely next stage of expansion for Greater Vultaro to supplement its large and growing army. Around this time, however, the Imperial Peace had already settled, an enduring period during which the Emperor had outlawed open military conflict between the titleholders of the Regalian Archipelago. Raffaello was the primary backer of this Imperial peace and in many ways the threat of enforcement, and so he could not be seen openly militarily invading lands to seem arbitrary or hypocritical.
To facilitate the acquisition of Forio, Raffaello enacted legislation referred to as the Leggi Arcane of Greater Vultaro on the 17th of July 308 AC, a series of laws meant to relax Magic oppression and persecution. It did far more than this however, as while the majority of the Archipelago was still ruled by Mage-critical rulers with harsh anti-Magic laws, Vultaro was suddenly propelled into the spotlight as the most pro-Magic region, even outflanking Solleria. All forms of Magic were publicly made legal, Dark Magic as it was colloquially known would be studied by scholars, and Raffaello ordered the funding and construction of major magical academies to teach Magic in good order, thus circumventing the Aelrrigan Order. Raffaello's personal pet project was the magical academy of Tuccana, the Academy of Altravoya which remains the largest Magic-teaching academy in the Archipelago having been finished that same year due to construction Magic being used.
The most important step, however, was to include a clause that lifted up Godborn and Arkenborn as a privileged special class, a complete inversion of the prior ban on government office holding that was common across the Archipelago. Raffaello also set up an unofficial organization called the Empyrean League, a group ostensibly committed to expanding the influence of Arkenborn and Godborn, eroding legislation aimed at making them second-class citizens, and even encouraging their presence in pro-imperial organizations and structures to advance the interests of the Regalian Empire. In essence, if Avarice Arkenborn was exceptionally skilled with fiscal speculation, they should be encouraged into the banking industry and financial ministry to make use of their talents, instead of expelling them from the government altogether because of incidental parentage.
This change in particular resulted in the Forio Crisis, where a small group of Arkenborn seized control over the whole island of Forio through a mixture of (unproven) mind-control and Magical blackmail. With all the major cities subjecting to their rule, they offered the island on a platter to Raffaello. According to historical retelling, Raffaello was rejected four times in a row, until the fifth time the conspirators begged, which was seen as an indicator that without Raffaello's intervention, chaos would follow, and so he could arrive in Forio as a pacifier. By the age of 20 now, Raffaello had, directly and indirectly, unified the Terrafirma, a cultural term held among the Cantaluna that refers to all lands inhabited by Cantaluna. Though, at this point, his Greater Vultaro had also accumulated several strong minorities such as Daen, Leutz-Vixe, Elven, and even some scant old tribes in the mountains.
The Mandu Mandate
Mandu to the south of Vultaro was long uninhabited and considered poor in resources and population. A sudden strong burst of immigration from the newly establishing Allorn Empire saw an increase in the local population. While it had always had a stable Maquixtl and Asha population, the sudden arrival of the Allorn Empire and its repressive policies on the Maquixtl saw many of them seek their fortunes in this relatively uninhabited land where there was enough space without oppressive Allorn Princes. Mandu however lacked the traditional bureaucratic divisions and regional legislations. In short, it lacked Duchies, and the Empire's heartland was always divided into Duchies. In 309 AC, the Imperial Court hosted the Mandu Conference, where all the major regional players would come together to discuss the land divisions of Mandu along with the Imperial Family. Few details are known about the actual conference because it was Imperials and Ducal persons only, but scant rumor and gossip has it that Raffaello threatened and blackmailed the whole conclave into just handing him the entirety of Mandu as a Ducal Mandate. The official line is that Raffaello is meant to divide Mandu into regions appropriate to the population, faith, and geography, but in practice, it is now commonly accepted that Mandu was just a territory grab.
Romera Pacification & Kassar Conflict
The Romera Pacification and Kassar Conflicts are still ongoing military campaigns that are nonetheless counted as Ducal expansions for Raffaello's personal domain. The Romera Pacification started when a rebellion in the city of Romera in 310 AC was used as an exaggerated pretext for Raffaello to park his military on the region. From that point on, more and more "rebellion cells" were found in cities, causing those cities to all fall under the Iron Duke's control as soldiers marched in. The Romera Pacification is not officially a military conflict, but soldiers do keep moving in and capturing cities, while the defenders mostly stand by. The traditional Duke of the area of House León de Plata fled to Regalia and campaigns to this day for his title to be restored. Yet, nobody seemed interested in picking a fight with Raffaello, and the Duke of this region was already unpopular among the other nobles because he mostly let the Diviner Heresy run rampant and supported the Anaheras during their rebellions and conspiracies. The Kassar conflict is a largely legitimate conflict against Dragonkin piracy that occurs in the area. While most Regalians assume the Kassar Isles are inhabited by Dragonkin from the Songaskian Masaya, this is not the case, the Dragonkin that live there are mostly western and northern branches. The majority Wirtem settler population of the Kassar Isles petitioned the Iron Duke for protection, which was granted in exchange for their loyalty. The Kassar Isles did not have a Duke attached to the region, meaning there was no real ruler to oust before Raffaello added it to his titles.
Appearance
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.
Personality
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.
Politics
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.
Cultural Identity
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.
Education
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.