Roland Hartunian
The White Stag
Hetman Roland Hart, I (a.k.a. Old Roland)
Hetman Roland was a beloved figure in the latter antiquity period, if only because of his reputation as a generous and empathetic leader. Yet, the deeper one digs into the actual man behind the stories of altruism and self sacrifice, the greater the surprise at their unprecedented accuracy. Research and resource indices were surprisingly well preserved and archived, including an entire library of psi-crystals dedicated to first-hand memories of the man. Preserved within a glorious room at the family's Greynor estate, the aptly named Hartunian Manor, are clear and bright True Memories that people have volunteered out of love for the man. His legacy is one of honor and altruism. Generous to a fault, at first Old Roland (as he was known) united the squabbling clans of woodsfolk with the simple promise of abundance and protection. The forest was, and remains, a very dangerous place and the clans knew it. Over the next couple of hundred years, the clan grew and thrived within the bountiful forest. Until, that is, the Kobolds of the northern mountains came, raving and drooling in religious fervor. Unbeknownst to the human clans inhabiting the area, the kobolds had been amassing in their tunnels and dens to the north now for quite some time, growing ever more rabid in their support of the devil dragon, Vekheteshaynaralax-Shayna, and it was then that the clans, and Old Roland's legacy, were resettled in the lands around Craysilt. They quickly became an elite part of the High King's ranged attack assets. Small wonder! They come from the same stock of people that hunted the greatest forest in the world. Indeed, the Hartunian Family were the clan that first adapted their short, forest bows to the tall and slender longbows still in use today.
Physical Description
General Physical Condition
Roland was generally fit, even into his retirement, with old age throwing him some unfortunate curve balls.
Body Features
Beginning in middle age, Roland had an extraordinary beer gut. Prodigious and round, it had a presence of its own in any given room the Hetman occupied.
Facial Features
Roland's nose blossomed nicely as he got older, and by the time he died (at a ripe old age) it was red as a cranberry in autumn.
Identifying Characteristics
Roland's mane of black hair and tawny brown eyes is distinctive of his descendants unto this very day.
Physical quirks
Roland had an exceptionally round head. The doctors chalked it up to a surgical removal of the baby, but that did not stop the majority of woodsfolk from opining (over their own ale tankards) that he was born able to speak in full sentences, with a full head of hair and eyes as clear as a limpid pond.
Apparel & Accessories
Roland wore very simple clothing, until he had had to start dressing the part in the High King's court. Eventually, a brass seal was cast in the likeness of a stag, or 'hart' in the creole of elven and common the woodsfolk used as jargon and slang. A matching signet ring was cast from the same brass ingot, as was a large key made to Roland's very specific parameters. These three things have been passed down ever since, patriarch to matriarch to gerundarch. The seal, the signet and the key have come down the generations intact and together; a testament to the Hartunians' commitment to their promises.
Specialized Equipment
The seal, signet, and key are (all three) needed to gain access to the Hart family vault that they had to leave behind when they fled The Impenetrable Forest of Birkwud.
Mental characteristics
Sexuality
Roland was quite prolific, having no fewer than fourteen children, with three different wives. However, he was, as tradition demanded at the time, a virgin.
Education
What'd Eddy do, now?
Employment
Roland had always been a hunter, before being chosen as the de facto leader when all of the clan's elders perished simultaneously at the hands of the kobolds led by a dragonborn paladin with a magic axe.
Accomplishments & Achievements
He successfully led his people into exile in western Craysilt, adapting and integrating them into their new life with vigor and good humor. He also won the bobbin'-fer-apples competition every year at the Kings Day festivals until well into his sixties.
Failures & Embarrassments
He was never able to lose weight for long, and he was very sensitive about his weight. He also was never able to quit drinking ale, despite quite a few drunken incidents.
None of the texts mention it, but the psi-crystals never lie; Old Roland had a bit of a lithp.
None of the texts mention it, but the psi-crystals never lie; Old Roland had a bit of a lithp.
Mental Trauma
His parents, aunt, and uncle were among the Hetmen gathered in the longhouse that the kobolds set aflame after blocking all of the exits. He was a young adult at the time, and he remembered every detail of it all the way into his dotage. He would often start awake, crying out in terror and anguish. He invariably laughed it off with the wife who was sharing his bed at the time. But he often cried out for his parents in his sleep.
Intellectual Characteristics
Roland was a savvy and insightful man. He was not the greatest hunter ever, but he was good enough to garner real respect among his followers, guests, and courtiers; if only due to his prodigious tactical ability. He had had no tutors or schools, so he had had to teach himself to read and do basic figures. He didn't get much official schooling after that, but he was known in his latter days to attend lectures and classes at the The Bardic College Campus several times a week.
His real talent, however, was insightful thinking. It served him well as he learned the intrigues of the The High King's Seat, keeping both his people and his culture alive almost instinctively.
His real talent, however, was insightful thinking. It served him well as he learned the intrigues of the The High King's Seat, keeping both his people and his culture alive almost instinctively.
Morality & Philosophy
"Givers gain more, from the giving, than the gifted could ever truly understand."
Taboos
Torture or hostage taking. He would not tolerate trapping animals solely for their furs, either.
Personality Characteristics
Motivation
Seeing his people safe, healthy, and thriving.
Savvies & Ineptitudes
Roland could parse out someone's motivations and/or intentions on a nearly instinctual level. He was a terrible gambler, but he always knew if someone was trying to cheat.
Likes & Dislikes
It may have been mentioned that Roland liked his beer and ale. While this is certainly true, he also liked nogs and wassails, a spicy matcha made with psychedelic mushrooms, and competitive polka dancing. He found beets revolting, and the practice of monogamy to be "quaint"; the clans he lived among, it was often one would come across a polyamorous family. They came in all configurations one can imagine, and were usually wonderful people with a bouncy, sort of naughty sense of humor that he found incredibly endearing.
Virtues & Personality perks
Roland the First, or 'Old Man Roland' as many called him, was an entirely likeable man. It could be a little off-putting, at first, how much one implicitly trusts and opens up to him. He loved going home for Kings Day celebrations, when his folk would think up outrageous pranks to play upon him.
He loved it.
Vices & Personality flaws
Old Man Roland liked his drink a little too much, he did.
Personality Quirks
Old Roland often wakes in the night, yelling for his mother or father. He is also squirrely around fire, and gets a little jumpy in crowds.
Also, he is quite fond of, one could say obsessed with, dancing the regional Polkas popular in rural Greater Craysilt.
Hygiene
Ummm...we will call it fair-to-middlin'
Social
Contacts & Relations
Roland married into the The Greys, albeit tangentially.
Mannerisms
Roland, despite his irrational fears and strange quirks, was the most likeable person most other people had ever met.
Hobbies & Pets
Old Man Roland was a regional Connor, or 'lover of hounds'. His kennels were not vast, but they were quality. The famous @Hartunian Basset Hound was first bred around this period of time.
Speech
Roland had a very deep speaking voice, and a generally relaxed manner of speaking. He was one of those rare souls who would wait for someone to actually finish their point, before asking questions about it. He was never able to truly rid himself of his 'hick accent'.
Relationships
History
Loving, caring and sharing partners. They were also swingers, and freaky things seemed to just 'happen' around them.
Wealth & Financial state
Roland left an unknown treasure deep within The Impenetrable Forest of Birkwud. The vault has been lost for ages, but the Patriarch or Matriarch still holds the signet, seal, and key.
Current Status
Long dead, but still relavent
Species
Ethnicity
Honorary & Occupational Titles
Hetman
Date of Birth
1 Janus
Date of Death
3 Taug
Life
5135 NG
5238 NG
103 years old
Circumstances of Birth
He was healthy, hearty and hale
Circumstances of Death
He died, all alone, in what he called The crystal room.
Birthplace
Birkwüd East, Middale
Place of Death
Hartunian Manor
Family
Spouses
Lady Dora Hartunian
(Wife)
Leah Hart Gnelson
(Daughter)
Siblings
Children
Pronouns
He/Him
Sex
Male
Gender
Man
Presentation
Masculine
Eyes
Light brown
Hair
Black, usually kept long
Skin Tone/Pigmentation
Ruddy white skin
Height
6'8"
Weight
335 lbs.
Quotes & Catchphrases
"Sometimes, you just need to kick 'em in the nards."
Character Prototype
A cross between Robin Hood and Friar Tuck.
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