Eusebius Aristenos
Hypokomis Eusebius Bastian Manuel Aristenos
The burden of leadership has not been kind to the nobleman claiming to be hypokomis of the village of Flintrock. Educated in the capital city of Metilene and inducted into the order of Companions of Joseph Nikolaides, Eusebius was awarded the role of a young aristocrat from his status as a scion of the house of Aristenos, even though his family’s holdings were unable to provide the necessary income to maintain him as a retainer of the imperial household. In his service in the Companions, he met and befriended Leon Argenteros, who would become regent and Lord Marshal under the young basileus Basil III Nikolaides.
Recalled to his hillside community of Flintrock, Eusebius took over the duties as the villages despot at the age of 27, effectively abandoning his promising military career in the capital. During his time as hypokomis of Flintrock, Eusebius has strengthened his role in the community by allowing the Trade Guilds of Metilene access to mine the cinnabar from the nearby region in exchange for annual payments used to maintain a body of troops.
In recent months, Flintrock is the only holding in the western foothills of the Mountains of Metsovo that the bandit group called The Minters has failed to overrun, due in large part to the presence of the retinue maintained by Eusebius.
Social
Family Ties
Eusebius is a member of a small cadet branch of the Aristenos family, Which is best known for Loukas Aristenos, the first basileus of the Laparans. The main branches have all died out, leaving Eusebius Aristenos as the sole direct-male descendant of the house.
In his personal life, Eusebius is a widower, with his wife, Verina Choumne, a minor aristocrat’s daughter, died delivering her first child after nearly a decade of marriage. The child, a girl, was stillborn. He is currently betrothed to the fifteen-year-old Fausta Gabraina of Kestrel Keep.
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