Count Karl Steitz
Karl Steitz was the ruler of Westenmarzich during the Ashen Interventions. A controversial and sickly ruler he wished to unite the land under his own rule and secure a legacy of wise rulers instead of the tyrants that had come before.
Mental characteristics
Personal history
The youngest son of Count Gerhman Steitz, Karl was born weak of the lung with the expectation he would not live through childhood. His father, already focussed on his older brothers development, paid little heed to the doomed child leaving him to his studies under the tutelage of his mother. It was thus with great surprise that Karl not only lived through his childhood but also adolescence having earned the favour of the court healers and made his own discoveries into his condition. The survival of so weak a child was embarrassing for Gerhman yet even for his bloodthirst he knew kinslaying was a sin against the gods. So his son was banished to Aldestadt to serve as the governor of the western domain while he managed the real affairs of state.
Unknown to his father this was Karl's preference with the hot springs beneath the manor serving to create baths loosening the phlegm of his lungs easing his condition. He soon had with him a host of scholars, healers and magi all committed to preserving his life and rediscovering the history of the land and empire that came before them. Initially stunted by his fathers refusal to fund or acknowledge his efforts fate soon turned in the Black Cloth Uprising when his father and older brother were slain. With the heir apparent now being his elder brothers son, only a toddler, the nobles of the court elected to name him as the Count believing him neither fit to marry and have children himself and likely to die by the time his nephew reached maturity.
Yet Karl survived and consolidated his power. His scholarly allies protected him from noble plots and though he made attempts to educate his nephew Rudolf the child showed little interest. Rather than learn the history of the land his nephew sought the coddling admiration of the nobles that adored his father and grandfather. Yet Steitz still prevailed refusing to die and growing his power, he sired two bastards, one by the Baba Lysaga who would remain a distant love for much of his life.
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