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Background
Duke Aidan Romyn Kincaid III of Lakeshire
Aidan was born in the year 182, to the relief of Duke Daemon and his wife, Duchess Asrella. Although he did not know it, he was the source of peace in the House Kincaid when he was born. By his appearance in the world, his father could relax from having to constantly defend his title from those of his own House greedy enough with ambition to challenge it. Aidan would be subsequently followed by four more brothers and two sisters, securing their linage for decades to come.
Due to being the Heir of the Household, Aidan wasn’t granted much time for child’s play as it were. He was raised on a strict regime of education and training, having some of the best mentors in Mobrin at the time help him with his studies. By age seven he had a real sword in his hand and by the time he was of age to squire, he was sent to the Royal House. There he served as a squire until he is recalled by his father.
When he arrived back home, he found out that he had been betrothed to a girl from House Crawford. Even at such a young age, when he first saw Isys, he had no problems with his betrothal. She was a beautiful girl and he was grateful to his dad for the arrangement.
Over the course of the years, he would be at his father’s side, learning the demands of the position and the needs of being a strong leader. He became aware of the personalities in his family as well as the connections House Kincaid had with the rest of the great Houses as well as outside sources, considering the Duchy was heavily reliant on trade.
In 198 2E, an ambush against his father proved to be a difficult battle to survive indeed, but Aidan proved that all those years of demanding training paid off when he saved his father in the throes of battle. He was recognized for the deed once they had retreated to safe ground. He was knighted shortly after. Aidan would grow a reputation from this point onward of being an amazing swordsman, ruthless in the heat of battle.
Only a couple years after saving his father from such an ambush, Daemon became ill in year 200 2E. He died not much longer after taking up ill, despite the best attempts of the healers. There was idle suspicion that poison might have been involved and once again, the Kincaid succession had taken place. Aidan was distraught at his father’s loss and for the first year in his reign as Duke, his three uncles constantly bombarded him with advice and action plans. He was lost without his father and fell into the trap of doing what he was told.
Had it not been for the strong marriage to Isys Crawford, he would’ve remained a puppet to his uncle’s demands. She literally slapped the sense into him and shook his world, turning it upside down, or maybe right side up. He was the Duke. He had to stop mourning his father and get on with being a Duke. She was right of course and he became to understand the depths of his uncle’s influences. It would be a long delicate struggle to reassert that he was in fact the Duke. He became extreme in some instances, becoming calculated in the ways that he would unravel himself from around their fingers and instead wrap them around his own – all the while his young Crawford wife would be encouraging him.
It was around the time that he produced an heir to the duchy with Hadrian, that Aidan really started to shine and show his power. He forced Hayton into retirement, for one. It was over the matter of the Rangers and it had almost been because of Hayton that Aidan nearly exiled ‘Rangers’ from his lands forever. Advice from his wife, uncles, and other members of the family persuaded him against the idea, even so, the fact that he had such authority as to hang men or threaten to disband their order made his statement loud and clear. He was the Duke of Lakeshire – no one else.
Aidan and Isys would have three more children, Aemys, Bowen, and finally Lynette. Aidan, while he was strict and demanding of the boys, would often spend a little more affection on his daughters. Even so, when it seemed that Aemys was getting out of control, he married her as fast as he could and to the best House he could secure for her – Ruxton.
Hadrian would get the brunt of Aidan’s method of training, the very same in which his father used to shape him. Hadrian was weak though and would break to the methods. It infuriated Aidan to no ends that his Heir was a fragile and pathetic boy. As he did to his uncle Hayton, he shuffled the boy off as soon as he could. And as if to slight the boy’s fragile nature, he sent him to the Rangers rather than to squire with a great House – against his uncle Peterson’s advice. Even his wife could not stir him from this course.
Bowen was not necessarily a success either. He was too aloof from matters of importance and while Aidan sent him to squire with the Royal House, as he once squired there, he worried that the boy would be nothing more than a fool.
Lynette was the baby of the House and she could do no wrong in his eyes. Except for all her stealing away to ride horses like a man. Despite his best efforts, he could not keep the girl walled up for long. Like her sister, Aidan is on the watch for marriage opportunities for the girl before her wild side will get the best of her.
Through wars, battles, politics, economic losses and gains, Aidan was never exactly prepared for the day that his lady wife would lose her life. She had become pregnant again, much to his surprise. It had been a dangerous pregnancy from the get go, even the doctors had said as much and secluded her to the bed for the last two months of her pregnancy. Despite that, her body could not put out to bare another child. Something went wrong and she lost her life and that of the baby within. While Aidan is often seen as a stern figure, he was nothing more than a wailing child when she passed. He would wear black for two more years, until his own daughter gave birth to two healthy babies. Only then did Aidan take off his black and leave the memory of his dear wife behind.
While he became exceedingly more intense and demanding in those two years following Isys’s death, the Duchy flourished. Only the threat of war has him calling in the banners and securing the borders of his land, while he makes for Darfield. While there are certainly matters of war to address, personal matters, such as having three unwed children and being unwed himself, are hopefully in the cards to play. Afterall, he’s not entirely sure he can trust either of his sons to take over once he’s gone.
Character Features
"You are a man of strong feelings, sir. You don't develop feelings easily or often, but when you DO feel, you feel with the intensity of a Kundari sandstorm. You feel hard. Fast. Dominant. But… those feelings are hard to see through. The sand gets in your eyes, sir."
- Oxley Crawford
Aidan is six feet tall, but that may not be the first noticeable thing about him. He carries himself with confidence and pride that can only come with surviving numerous seasons of politics and war. His face betrays that he is at least forty summers old, though is still handsome and is aging well. Wavy brown hair is kept moderately short and just off of the nape of his neck, showing signs of grey near the temples. A full beard, mustache and goatee are kept fairly close, neatly trimmed and manicured. His facial features may cause many ladies to consider him quite handsome - a strong jaw with a soft cleft, full lips, and brooding hazel eyes framed by angry sharp brows. His nose flattens towards the middle of his bridge, having healed crooked from some event in the past, but it still suits him.
The man's frame has a decent amount of muscle, showing behind whatever he wears. He's not bulky though, rather he has a lean type of muscle, sinewy but strong. As for attire, it really depends on what the purpose is. The difference between the battlefield, the market square, being presented to a Royal Court, and being in his own comfort are vastly different. For each there is a matter of presentation and the expectations that come with being the Duke of Lakeshire. Though no matter what he's in, there often tends to be some display of silver and black, if not the lily flower to represent Lakeshire.
Behavior
Aidan is known as an driven individual. He's a respected academic mind and an economic leader in the lands of Mobrin - this is due to his quick and calculated actions, such as jumping on the Chocola opportunity before anyone else did. Men that do well by him earn well and live well - except the Rangers, those rumors of men being under paid here could be true. He pays his dues to those who pay their fealty - perhaps he believes the Rangers have quite a bit of debt in that regard.
He is strict when it comes to pushing his sons to meet his expectations, being particularly harsh with his eldest, Hadrian. In the same breath, he is an educator. He teaches his son's and the rest of the family to be smart about everything they do and often encourages openness with one another so that they can all benefit from one another's opinions on certain matters or circumstances. Still, Aidan does not tolerate foolishness or risky behaviour. Aidan is a perfectionist and a protectionist.
On the bright side, he does laugh! And behind closed doors, he has an affectionate heart for his family. His sons may never know it, but he is proud of them. It's the same as how his father treated him, affection was from a distance so to harden the man his sons had to become. He does dote on daughters, though generally out of sight of those who look up to him as a leader. He becomes less serious in their presence and at Aemy's announcement of having two healthy babes, he sent her a care package from Lakeshire and intentions to visit as soon as he can.
He's also a very passionate man behind closed doors, becoming quite the Casanova none would ever suspect him to be. He treated his wife like a goddess and should he ever marry again, it's easy to say he will afford her the same care. He craves such companionship - witty banter, playfulness, affection, laughter and relaxation - something he equates with his loving partner. He doesn't do well at being single and the two years since his wife's death have proven as much. A woman's touch seems to temper him if not guide him. He did not show much physical affection in public, beyond what was expected - a dance, a kiss to the cheek, a 'my wife' or my dearest…
This too, seems to come from his father's teachings. In public it is a matter of business and propriety. Behind closed doors, his heart is his own.
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Quirks
- Addicted to Chocola - Since Aidan became a quick importer of Chocola at the onset of it's discovery, he's developed a taste for it. He starts or ends his day with a cup of Chocola.
- Bad Music Unnerves - Any sort of butchery to song or music grates his nerves to the point that he will lose his temper or remove himself from the performance, his disapproval always HEARD loud and clear. He's been known to smash instruments or abruptly interrupt a singer if the music is off key or terribly sung.
- Falconer - Aidan began his interest in this field when he was squired to the Royal house. He has since kept it up and only has one bird at a time, tending to not train another until the current is deceased or he has freed it. Currently he favours a small female red kestrel. He always has the bird with him when the opportunity is given, typically on long rides or hunts.
- Academic - At 17 he became the Duke of Lakeshire, which meant that he spent a vast majority of his time learning the economy, politics, warfare, history, science, law, religion and various philosophies. He's regarded as a highly academic individual.
- Superstitious - Kincaid's are very superstitious and following family superstitions, he believes in Kincaid Chess as well as the Guardian of the Lake. The lucky charm he keeps in his pocket, is an example of his superstitious beliefs. During the last chess game he played with his father, before Daemon was poisoned, Aidan won his first ever chess game against his father and Daemon placed his 'Fate Piece', a knight, in Aidan's hand. He was told never to forget the power that a knight has. That piece remains in his pocket and several times during the battles he has seen in his life, a knight has been there to deflect a mortal blow that would've struck Aidan down dead. He doesn't let it out of his sight.
- Parental Alienation - Parental alienation is a social dynamic, generally occurring due to divorce or separation, when a child expresses unjustified hatred or unreasonably strong dislike of one parent, making access by the rejected parent difficult or impossible. Parental alienation is seen as a breakdown of attachment between parent and child. In this case, the break down is between Hadrian and himself, to the extent that Aidan can sometimes make frustrated statements about his eldest son to the point of public disapproval. He cannot get through to his son and thereby is not confident in Hadrian's abilities. He is looking for alternatives to seeing Hadrian as the future Duke of Lakeshire, trying to find excuses to bestow the honour on Bowen, one of his brothers, or with a third son (should he be able to marry and produce another).
- Prison Sex - Tool… the physical abuse of his father torments him and in turn he passes that on to make it okay.
- Black - Pearl Jam, For Aidan's young love lost/innocence lost… It shaped some of whom he is today, for the profound internal anguish of that loss changes a person.
- Dust In The Wind - Kansas, for the years of loss
- Sober - Tool
- Princes of the Universe - Queen, just a rather funny song that … oddly fits.
Recent Logs
(aidan brienne event hadrian harmon logs robben tyrel)
(aidan cadel cian dair everard kadlin kaylee lilja logs lothar social)
Recent Memoirs
On the Grid
Known Associates
Kin
Vassals
The Inventor : He's done work for our House and I plan to give him more. He's our good Baron of Ashenward…. I plan to see him married soon, if all things go accordingly. |
Brother's servant : My brother's servant. She's easy on the eyes but when I teased him about her, he got all grumpy. |
Conwy Knight : A proven knight. He's of Household Conwy. I do not know him as well as I should. |
Ranger Lee : Kaylee has proven herself valuable to our Household. I have intentions of asking her to fully stay on and serve our Household. |
Callem Kilgour, My King of Morbin : You never did beat me at Chess… I miss you, my friend. |
A Fellow War Veteran. : I offered to find his sons a place on a Kincaid Ship. There is more to this than that, but it is a start that perhaps needs to be addressed. |
Impressive, for a Ranger : It would seem that he may just yet be the Tourney champion. He certainly impressed me enough to invite him to meet with me personally. |
Lady Rivermist. : Soon to be wed to Count Harmon. |
The Painter : She was introduced to me by the late Queen. She has considerable talent and I had hoped to show her Lakeshire. She is apparently betrothed to Logen… and from I hear, not a lucky match. |
Unlikely Partner of … In? Law : We'll have to work together now, as we'll share a certain amount of responsibility where it comes to the matter of the Kingdom's Laws. This… should be interesting. |