The Family Velasquez

Duke Nerino Velasquez

Only surviving heir of Nerino, Piera is a hotheaded young man who takes grave offence at any slurs against the good name of his Family (of which there are many, the Velasquez are not liked). He is somewhat lacking in political ambition, to the despair of his father. Was forced into the position of Captain of the High Guard after the murder of his brother and the death of Tarquin Velasquez.

The Duke apparent after the death of his father, his succession has since been confirmed with his marriage to Duchess Karla Velasquez-D’Artois. Since his marriage he has also been showing substantially more political acumen then he ever did previously, and no-one is under any illusions that this new found competence is coming from anywhere but his new wife. After the death of Duchess Karla in the coup that gave control of the Port of Glass to House De Verlay, Piera was legally united with Slyke De Verlay, the ruler of the Port, making him the Duke of the Port of Glass as well as head of house Velasquez. Though he spends little with Sylke he seems to have developed political acumen and devious cunning his late father would have been proud of.

Duchess Karla Velasquez-D’Artois

Was a callow, sickly youth, brother to Piera, there appears to be the traditional “brawn/brain” deal going on with the two of them. Nazzereno is an accomplished Dream sorcerer and was rumoured to spend eighteen hours of every day asleep. Was vitrified by agents of Borgia Velasquez in an attempt to wrest control of the House from his father.

Maria is the cousin of Chrecenzo and Nerino, wife to Alfonzo and mother to Toquell, Vincenzi and Abelard.

Former Duchess Velasquez, daughter of Chrecenzo and Andreah Velasquez (both also deceased). Rumours of poisoning, necromancy, Vitriarch worship and a thousand other things are laid at her door. Her murder at Nerino's hands is an open secret amongst the White City nobility. The shield of the Velasquez Family is an upright silver serpent, poised to strike, on a black oval.

The second child of Maria Velasquez and her husband Alfonzo, younger brother to Toquell, older brother to Abelard, Vincenzi was a second-cousin to Chiara and had little apparent interest in politics or Family matters. Most of his teenage years were spent in the dedicated pursuit of wine, women and song, with an occasional pause for duelling and debauchery. Then came the night of his eighteenth birthday, when he was dared by a member of the Cristofori Family to spend five days alone in the depths of the Great Forest. On his return he bore the ruddy brand of a kiss upon his brow, having become a Priest of the Lady of Blood and Wine and learnt the rudiments of Blood sorcery.

Not much else about Vincenzi actually changed - he still spent most of his time in the passionate pursuit of wine, women (and occasionally men or beasts) and song, but now did so in the name of religion. Adventuring began as merely his latest hobby and diversion, a pastime to broaden his horizons, develop his skills and enlarge his purse, but as the years passed he spent more of his time wandering the Great Forest in various forms than he did drinking and partying in the White City. When he was in the city he was often to be found throwing debauched parties at his mansion or drinking and whoring at the Black Griffin tavern.

He became famed for having helped save the Great River from the Necromancer of the Palace of Three Rivers, for which he earnt the thanks of Rebecca De Courci herself. He was also rumoured to have travelled to the Burned Realm and been permitted entrance to the Tower of Heroes. An Initiate of the Old Powers Faculty in the College of the Thousand Arts, he was known as a talented exorcist, a skilled alchemist and a learned scholar, and rumoured to have connections with the Temple of Ashes and the Cloistered Brethren of Chains. He gained some kind of mystical bond with wolves, none of whom would attack him. He began a vicious simmering feud with his older brother, Toquell, and became the mentor and the instructor in Blood sorcery of the Child of the Vine known as Thalia. “After becoming increasingly estranged from what he began referring to as “the self-righteous human rabble”, with dark rumours accusing him of cannibalism and similar practices, he vanished into the Great Forest shortly after returning from a trip to unite the Eastern tribes. Rumours since then claim that he has somehow become part of the Forest itself, a spirit of the land able to manifest physical forms.

Vincenzi's coat of arms is an oval shield divided by an upright blood-red chevron; the upper field black and bearing the Velasquez serpent in silver, the lower half silver and bearing a blood-red kiss between two blood-red teardrops.

One of the White City's most infamous denizens, Toquell Velasquez's deeds are told of in countless rumours both foul and fair. A few more recent events are known to be true: Towards the end of the Naming & Binding War he led a small group of associates (known to some as The Merry Band) to the North, and subsequently returned to destroy half the Army of the Red Gryphon with a colossal avalanche. In the wake of this triumph he offered to lend his strength to the Cloistered Brethren of Chains, who were in no position to refuse his assistance. Thus in the final battle of the War, Toquell and his Band were at the forefront of the City's strike force and it is said that it must have been his magics that imprisoned the Unbound God before the City's wall. Despite these achievements, Toquell's reputation amongst the City's nobility leaves much to be desired; few even amongst the Velasquez are comfortable around him and he takes little interest in playing the game of politics. Despite this he is known to have an overwhelming arrogance coupled with a prickly pride, and is not slow to challenge those of his peers that offend him. Jacques De Almedia was brought low following a quarrel on the Breathing Isle, and Stephano De Courci is soon due to meet him in a duel to the death. Of late Toquell has been engaged in a number of personal projects and was last seen leaving the shattered ruins of the recently destroyed High Temple of the Light.

Toquell was the eldest child of Maria Velasquez and her husband Alfonzo, older brother to Abelard and Vincenzi.

Toquell's coat of arms is the Velasquez serpent in purple, presented on a black shield.

Editor's Note: Toquell disappeared in the Western Forest, and his Family has been informed of his death.

Thoroughly overshadowed by his more famous brothers Toquell and Vincenzi, Abelard is the sort of decent, upstanding young man that the Velasquez like to pretend they aren't related to. His Family secured him an early commission in the High Guard, where he served with quiet competence until he was struck by a taste for adventure. In recent months he has occupied himself with several daring endeavours, including exploratory journeys to the far North and South and a mysterious Eastern mission with his cousin Carlos de Mamushi.

Editor's Note: Abelard is currently known to be serving in the military of the traitor Belor de Velland. It is generally assumed that the more respectable parts of the family have disowned him.

Not one of those Velasquez… well actually he is, but he tries very hard to dissociate himself from the memory of his warring cousins, especially the one he idolised as a child… A chain mage and adventurer, this young man has seen many of his childhood friends cut down and his outlook is darkening as a result, but he has never abandoned his kind hearted nature or his quiet campaign for social change in the White City. He does seem to be rather fonder of gemstones than he used to be, though. And he can sometimes be heard muttering under his breath about sloppily painted walls.

Incorrigible. Wayward. Arrogant. Reckless. Never gives in, never backs down and will never, ever neglect a friend in need.

Brought up in the luxurious Velasquez household, Jenevieve was tutored in the Machiavellian ways of her family and idolised her mysterious older cousin, Vincenzi. She was an adventurous child who could run faster than her younger brother (and partner-in-crime), Federico, so her schemes used to land him in trouble with their parents, their family and sometimes even the city authorities. Then again, it was always Jenevieve who got him out of trouble again. At the age of sixteen her parents sent her to the College of a Thousand Arts, with a sizable sum in Hexa to pay for her tuition. She kept on walking until she reached the Whistful City, where she spent all the money on wine, men, women, and song! Now she's back, having strolled into The White City and back into Federico's life unrepentant as the devil, with nary an explanation of where she's been or what she's been doing for three years. There are rumours she spent the time with Vine-children, though these could just have been started by people who have seen her put away her wine! Never having grasped the finer subtleties of politics, Jenevieve channels that Velasquez way with words into con-artistry and charming her way around everyone she meets. She is deadly with a sword, but will usually try to talk her way out before rushing into a fight. She is even deadlier at poker. Generally a follower of the school of thought that states that believing in gods will only encourage the bastards, Jenevieve has, recently, been feeling the lure towards sorcery and power that seems to affect all the Velasquez. Too roguish for Light magic, not (quite) insane enough for Glass magic, she has to admit a certain grudging admiration for the trickster god, the Rattle-Prince.