King Miraz I

Name: Melissa
Age: let's say 23
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Character Basics
Name: King Miraz the First (formerly Lord Protector Miraz of Telmar)
Alias(es)/Nickname(s): none but those chosen with the most deference for his position (i.e. Highness, liege, sire. . .)
Gender: Male
Age: 41
Race: Human
Status/Title: King of Telmar, Emperor of the Lone Islands
Affiliation: Telmar

Character Appearance
Hair: Black
Eyes: Brown
Distinguishing marks: a deep scar that runs across his collarbone which remains covered with high collars
Portrayal: Sergio Castellitto

Character Personality
Likes:

deference
power
strength
wife, Prunaprismia
victory
certainty
control
wine
beautiful women

Dislikes:

doubt
levity
Old Narnia
the Unknown, including magic
treason
accusation upon his person
insubordination
defeat

Strengths:

calculation
manipulation
intimidation
rhetoric
swordsmanship
strength of character and person
unscrupulous

Weaknesses:

dread
suspicion
harried conscience
severity and ruthlessness
ignorance of Old Narnia
underestimating foes
pride
indulging his family

General Personality:

At a young age, Miraz distinguished himself as a sombre and peevish boy, picking fights with his elder brother and his nursemaids and ferreting out those weaknesses in his caretakers which would allow him to get what he wanted. His elder brother indulged him lovingly, as Miraz was a charming boy with his passion, ambition, and wit. What few realized is that at this young age, Miraz had already begun to understand his position in the royal family and in the palace. Dissatisfied with the attention lavished upon his brother who, as Miraz grew into a young man, he began to see as an inept and distracted ruler, Miraz began to use his charms and talents towards securing favour of the court and his own position as the future ruler of Telmar. Miraz's skills are unrivaled: without exception, his determination and ambition, coupled by his skills of deception, persistence, and ill-temper have achieved his goals.

What charms and powers Miraz does have are used to progress himself and his family. To Miraz, the reestablishment of a true monarch in Telmar is a victory which not only advances himself, but the country of Telmar, which to his mind suffered under his brother Caspian IX's indecisive rule. Knowing well that Prince Caspian was too much like his father and knowing even better that he would have little sway once the boy-prince became a man, Miraz infamously has established through thinly veiled tyranny a his position as Lord Protector and eventually as King of Telmar. Unscrupulous in the extreme, he sees this as a necessary good to himself first, and to Telmar second, a trend which may be seen in most actions throughout his life.

Though Miraz believes a strong leader is necessary for Telmar (and who better than himself for such a monarch), those allowed in the inner-most circle of the king are never allowed too close and are perceived to be notably unexceptional in strength, manipulation, and power. A usurper himself, Miraz is chary of those who might outstrip him in means or manners. He fears those who are like him: ambitious, strong, and cunning. He fears even more those who are unlike him: subtle, honest, and mysterious. For this reason, he dreads Old Narnia or those he fears may one day align with them. For this reason, Miraz, detecting in Caspian some of the dreaded qualities, sought for a dry teacher who would keep him distant from learning the unknown and mold him into a predictable, subservient, and safe prince, one which would not question Miraz's right to govern until Miraz should produce an heir of his own.

Parents: King Caspian VIII & Queen Adlea of Narnia
Siblings: Caspian IX
Wife: Queen Prunaprismia
Children: (unnamed son)

General History:

Miraz was born to a life of privilege but as second son, often felt growing up as though he was never fully in control of that life. As an infant, Miraz received the attentions of his parents in much the same manner as his sibling, but as Caspian, his elder brother, grew older and nearer to an age of accountability, Caspian was treated with more respect, more privileges, more liberty . . . and, significantly, more praise.

In time, Miraz grew aware of this shift and did all in his means to gain the attention of his parents and caretakers and, eventually, the kingdom. While Caspian was amiable and popular, Miraz grew introverted, dedicating his time to learning history and law, studying the craft of warfare and strategy, and gaining his own connections. He had always had a way of getting what he wanted and in his opinion deserved, whether through just desserts, tantrums, conniving, or guilt. As Miraz grew more and more familiar with the governmental system's workings, he also grew familiar with the workings of humans: he could worm his way into a man's affections, could inspire fear, could intimidate -- he could gain power of men just as the government. In fact, the first was directly related to, if not necessary to, the latter.

Due to this, Miraz grew closer and closer to his brother, earning his way into his confidences, his heart, and his mind. So indispensable was Miraz's knowledge and skill to Caspian that there came a time when Caspian felt himself completely impotent without Miraz there to guide him. It was Miraz who knew of Caspian's unspoken anxiety of ruling, Miraz who knew of his elder brother's fears of marriage, of Caspian's hesitancy towards creating the Telmar he envisioned . . . Miraz came to see his brother as weak, spineless, indecisive, constantly balking, never advancing. A polar opposite to the cautious and prudent Caspian, Miraz, driven by aggression and ambition, could not understand. What he did understand was that Caspian would some day be king, but it could not be for long. He understood well that Telmar needed a strong king, an ambitious king, a king who valued the position, who thirsted for it above any other: Telmar needed him.

When Caspian married, Miraz was the first to approve of his bride. Miraz had good information from good sources that the woman had a family history of barrenness. When Caspian and Miraz's father died the next year, it was with a pang that Miraz saw his hopes and dreams borrowed by another man. By degrees, Miraz began to poison his brother through his food causing an imperceptible decline in his health. Yet he took advantage of what time he had with his brother. In this time, Miraz continued to exercise influence over his brother. It was he who suggested the additions and fortifications to the castle. It was Miraz who suggested these dangerous tales of Old Narnia and the Deep Magic be forbidden. Having long feared Narnia and the mysterious, but what was more, the mindless subservience that superstition breeded on the uneducated, Miraz cut Narnia out of Telmar altogether. For a time, Miraz was content with controlling the king, through ruling indirectly. But when Caspian's bride swiftly gave birth to a healthy young male, Miraz's demeanour of gloom gave way to irate maliciousness. He could abide, for a time, Caspian as king. He could not abide an infant usurper.

Miraz quickly married a beautiful lady of the court who seemed filled with vivacity and vitality. For many years, Lady Prunaprismia and Lord Miraz tried for a rival son. In that time, Caspian passed on in his sleep of a long ailment, several notable vassals of Caspian went missing or met with fateful accidents, and Miraz appealed to the lords of the court that he should become Lord Protector of Telmar, as Prince Caspian was much too young to reign. In the meantime, Miraz did all he could to ensure that Caspian would grow to be a man like his father: passive and wholly dependent. Upon discovering that Caspian's nursemaid had been telling tales of old Narnia, Miraz grew into a rage, had her dismissed and exiled, and replaced her with who he found to be the most dry, conventional tutor he could find in the kingdom: Doctor Cornelius. And still he tried for a son. It was not until 16 years after the birth of Prince Caspian that a son was born.

These changes caused Miraz to consider carefully. He could wait for Caspian to come into his own and reign indirectly or he could, at last, become the king of the land, the master of his destiny. Before Miraz could take the action he had decided upon, Caspian fled. To this day, this served as the only instance in which Miraz, deciding upon his course, did not get what he wanted. He is not deterred but plans to chase after Caspian who, having fled and allied himself to the Narnians, has created himself an enemy to Telmar and must be exterminated.

Other/Notes:

Sample
RP Sample: (Please see Drinian's application)