Post by Henri L'Envers on Nov 18, 2009 1:12:42 GMT -5
Played By: Viggo Mortenson
Name: Henri L'Envers
Age: 40
Gender: Male
Height: 6'2
Race: D'Angeline (Namarrese)
Home province: Namarre
Appearance: One would have to be blind to not see his family resemblance, in fact if one were to place Barquiel L'Envers side by side to his son Henri, it would be almost as if looking at the same person save a few details. Henri's hair is quite a bit darker though it lightens in the sun during the summer, and his chin is the bi product of his mother's father. Other then that, his lavender eyes paint him as nothing less then L'Envers offspring. Though Henri is slender, he is actually quite strong and very muscular, one would not really know it to look at him, but he's got the body of a honed soldier. At forty years of age and despite a rough life, Henri looks still as handsome as ever, he is seemingly unmarred. Though should you look closer you'd find that in fact he has many scars from his time in different battles from his life.
History: Born to Lavette Hughes of Namarre, Henri is the illegitimate child of Barquiel L'Envers. Originally it was his mother that raised him, Lavette was the youngest daughter of a minor house in Namarre that soon lost all their money and she was forced to find work as a servant. She was for the most part no better then a servant, and her son was classified as such right along with her. When she came to tend the house of members of the Sovereign Duchy of Namarre, she saw it as her chance to make a good life for herself, and in some ways she did. She was young when she first became a member of the staff, and over many years she managed to work her way up to a lady's maid for the Duchesse. This always meant she caught the eye of the Duc, and though there was nothing much but exchanged glances at first, there soon became more between them. When Barquiel's wife found out, she sent Lavette away as she feared the girls presence in her husband's life. For a long time she did not see the Duc until a few months after hearing of the Duchesses death, Barquiel stumbled into the tavern she was working at. A bond began to form and soon after Lavette lit her candle in a desperate attempt to be welcomed into Barquiel's home. She was quickly begotten with child, but before she could speak with him and tell him the news, she had a change of heart. Perhaps it was her motherly instinct, perhaps she just wasn't the type to trap a husband, but soon after finding out she was with child, she left the village for some where far from where Barquiel could find her.
Lavette buildt a good home for herself, she married soon after birthing her son Henri, named for Lavette's father; her new husband taking in the boy as his own. In the small farming community on the boarder of Azzalle and Namarre, the couple raised their family, adding a daughter many years later. Unfortunately because of Henri's looks, it was hard to claim his linage to his father and at a young age he learned about how he came to be. This knowledge caused him to lash out as he got older, as a boy he'd been ignorant of his lineage in most senses, but as he got older and learned of his family's heritage, the prospect of him becoming little more then a stable boy grated on him. By the time he had reached sixteen, he was violent, rude, uncontrollable and angry, he was constantly in fights with the boys his age, and it was usually the sons of gentry that took the burden of his anger. He did little to help around the home, and he often got into trouble for stalking the daughters of certain noble houses. His parents didn't know what do to with him, as a boy Henri didn't speak much and rarely shared his feelings, it caused for much turmoil in the house. If you were to ask him now why he did it, he would tell you that he felt as thought it was his only way of connecting to his family's blood. He believed and still does that being a L'Envers entitled him to what ever the name brought with it, which included money, prestige, woman, and most importantly power. Henri was more consumed with it as a young man though, and after much thought he decided that he would go after what he wanted. He wrote a note to his parent and left home traveling to Barquiel's Duchy, and when he arrived, he demanded to be seen by the Sovereign Duc. With some persistance and a great deal of actual fight, Barquiel told the guards to stand down and he spoke with Henri face to face. The youth laid out his story to his father, telling him of how he had came to be; Barquiel remained stone faced but impressed by the boy and then with little more then a nod welcomed him into his family.
For the next four years, Barquiel spent much time giving Henri what he needed to hone his abilities. He acknowledged Henri as his son, allowed him to have his name, and even went to the Queen and told her of the event. To a certain degree this made Henri happier, prouder of who he was, but after time it was obvious that a lot of the acceptance he received was little more then lip service, and notice even Barquiel was quick to skirt around the subject of the who the boy was or where he came from. For Henri's part he tried not to let it bother him, it may not have been perfect but it was far better then being no body. In that time between 16 and 20 Henri leaned quite a bit. He had tutors of all sorts and was educated on everything from topography, to language, to riding, to dance. He was a natural swords man and excelled at most things, though Henri did find that he lacked much diplomatic tact that his tutors wished for him. Henri found he had little desire to talk things out and was often quick to violence before rational solutions, it often made him dangerous to argue with, and gave him a reputation for hitting his tutors.
When Henri reached twenty Barquiel sent him away to Tiberium to study, and there he remained for the next four years. Life in Tiberium was much the same as it was in Terre d'Ange, except this time, with out supervision, the young man's acts were becoming international scenes for his father to clean up. The Duc did as best he could to bribe those at the University to keep after him till he finished his four years, but it didn't work and by the end of Henri's time there Barquiel was fed up with the wild young man. It was then 21 that Henri was shipped off to Khebel-im-Akkad. Hoping that their strict values would either dispense of the boy and Barquiel could wash his hands of him, or it would straighten the boy out. Strangely enough it seemed to work, almost from the moment Henri arrived, his attitude started to change for the better. Though he remained often pig headed, stubborn, and aggressive, some how he also managed to win over the people and be diplomatic at the same time. It wasn't long after that when the Khalif approached Henri about a marriage between one of his daughters at himself. There were of course a few nay sayers, especially considering that which ever girl he wed would technically be his niece; but the Khalif was adamant and after speaking with Barquiel, Henri was wed to their third daughter Nasreen Shamabarsin. Not more then 9 months later she birthed a daughter Parisa Shamabarsin-L'Envers. Despite the fact that Henri had no real love for his wife, he had a relatively happy life. In a country where men are the sole rulers, he felt quite at home, adopting many of the culture's attitudes. The only thing that seemed to bring hardship in his time was when his wife became pregnant with their second child, but died during a miscarriage.
For the last sixteen years Henri has remained in Khebel-im-Akkad; during the war he helped with trying to temper the Khalif's nature, doing his best to remain neutral. It was a struggle and more often then not Henri and his sister were treated as outcasts and untrustworthy, but when the war was finally over, Henri did his best to smooth things out. After all this time though, Henri has a yearning to go home, after the news of his cousin's engagement to the Ruskovian Prince, his nephew's marriage to a Night Court whore, and the position of Captain of the Queen's Army left wide open, he feels it is only his right and duty to do so. With him he brings his daughter, hoping to convince the Queen to wed her to Prince Christien de la Courcel.