Josserand de Talcy
Nestled against a towering cliff which provides some protection against the harsh climate of the mountainous northern reaches of the Aveyrone Empire, Talcy Great House is a massive, crumbling structure. Faded rugs and curtains keep most of the drafts out and remind the current occupants that once, long ago, the Talcy family lived in almost unimaginable splendour - living off the mineral bounty provided by the land. Rooms that once must have thrummed with life as visiting merchants came in search of Talcy gold and gems are now mostly boarded up. The great paved highway which once could take an adventurous spirit far, far south to lands of warmth and bounty - right to the gates of Diablotin, even - is now a barely discernible track, travelled only rarely by a few hardy goats and their herders.
By the time Josserand de Talcy was born, the land for many miles around the Great House was home to only a handful of hardy miners, a few ptarmigan, white hares and wolves. The House itself was home to the Count and Countess de Talcy, their thirteen children (twelve brothers and one sister), and a few retainers. Aunt Genevieve, a priestess of House Lizard, brought all the children into the world and tended to their various bumps and bruises. An ancient, doddering tutor gave Josserand and his siblings what instruction he could when his bones did not ache too much with the rheumatism. Very rarely, a traveller might seek refuge during the worst of the storms. When this happened, the whole family would gather around to hear whatever news - truthful or not - that their visitor might bring from the south. An occasional wandering minstrel (never of high quality) would drop by, but no-one ever stayed longer than they had to at the Great House. There were few entertainments to be had during the long, cold winters so perhaps it is no surprise that the lord and lady of the manor proved so fecund.
Josserand was the eighth son of the Count and Countess of Talcy. Unfortunately for him, he was the seventh son too many to have any hope of inheriting anything of use or value from his parents. Talcy is quite barren; the chief income now being from several nearly-depleted coalmines. Although the short summer growing season yields an abundance of beautiful wildflowers, a well-known jest about the Talcy lands is that a mouse would have trouble growing enough food for itself in the rocky soil.
Like all his siblings, Josserand was very fair - as white, almost, as the snow that bound their lands for eight months every year. He was a very pretty child, with blue eyes and platinum blond hair like his mother, who had grown up in a nearby and equally bleak county before coming to the Great House to marry Josserand's father. His childhood passed very slowly and mostly without incident.
Talcy is a land of contrasts: bare rock and bright wildflowers; long black winter nights and equally long bright summer days; bright red blood and soft white fur; stark natural beauty and terrifying unnatural creatures from further north. It is perhaps this which attracted Alard Montchevny, a sorceror of some reknown. This and the emptiness, in which he could practice his arts mostly undisturbed.
Seigneur Montchevny was given a grand welcome at the Great House - as grand as the Count and Countess could offer, anyway. Some of the younger children regarded the man with a certain degree of apprehension, which was attributed to their youth and sheltered lives, but the parents became fast friends with the well-spoken and highly educated sorceror. His learned and refined presence made it almost seem as if there could be a return to the heyday of Talcy Great House, when it had been a center of great activity, attracting nobility from all over the Empire. In return for room and board while Montchevny established his own place of residence (a tower which he was having built some distance into the northlands beyond the Empire's borders), he agreed to help educate the children when he could spare the time. During the course of these lessons, it became apparent to the sorceror that Josserand was quite a bright child.
Montchevny's tower was completed with surprising rapidity, but he continued to visit the Great House when he could, offering advice to the Count and providing the family with a more regular and reliable news source than they had had in centuries. The year Josserand turned ten, the house was suddenly visited by a succession of perturbing events. In due course, Josserand was identified as being a budding sorceror. This came as a mixed blessing to his parents. It meant that he could probably eke out some sort of living for himself in spite of having no inheritance. This was good. However, it also meant that he required training; training they could ill afford. Sending Josserand to the Castalia in Diablotin was quite out of the question. This was bad.
Thus he was apprenticed in the old way to Seigneur Montchevny. A contract was signed whereby legal custody of the boy went into the sorceror's hands, and it was agreed that in return for services rendered, Josserand would be trained in the magical arts by his new master.
- as an apprentice to Montchevny, was terribly abused even as he was taught to control his magical abilities
- tried running away back to his parents once but they sent him packing back to his master, not believing any of the "wild" accusations Josserand threw at their friend Montchevny
- arrived in Diablotin about a year ago after escaping from Montchevny again; stole some items of considerable value from his master, which he used to pay for his travel to Diablotin and to set himself up with a modest house and shop in the capital He is smart so he would have tried to sell most of this stuff through fences so that it would be harder to trace his location
- has set up a small business in Diablotin making use of his art, cartography, and if you'll allow him to have an alchemy lab, some alchemical items.
- may occasionally contract his services out to someone needing his magical talents, but the market for this skillset may not exactly be lucrative in Diablotin, since there are undoubtedly many sorcerors for hire because of the Castalia
- is desperately afraid of falling back into Montchevny's clutches; he is only a young man, after all, and certainly not yet nearly as accomplished a sorceror as his master
