| Michel de Leveque | |
|---|---|
 "My House demands blood. Their whims are my demand." | |
| Vital statistics | |
| Title | Bard of House Alucard, Assassin |
| Gender | Male |
| Race | Human (Elf-blooded) |
| Faction | House Alucard |
| Health | N/A |
| Level | N/A |
| Status | Alive |
| Location | Val Royeaux, Orlais |
Michel de Leveque (born 9:10 Dragon) is a human from Orlais. Born to servant parents of the noble House Alucard, Michel was bred and groomed to become an assassin for the noble family.
Theme Song: Blackheart, by Two Steps from Hell.
Background[]
Michel was originally born in the Orlesian city of Montsimmard, at the winter estate of House Alucard, one of the noble families or Orlais. His father, Alain, was one of the resident kitchen hands, whereas his mother, Maurelle was a handmaiden of the ladies of House Alucard. Maurelle herself was an "uplifted" elf and the pairing caused a brief scandal. When Michel was born, the head of the house, Marquis Montrose Alucard, originally called for the child's death, as he believed it was a smear on the name of his house. It was then that Michel's parents brokered a deal and sealed his fate: Michel would be raised as a bard and assassin, a tool in House Alucard's stake in the Grand Game.
Since his earliest days, Michel was thus trained by House Alucard's spymaster, Guido de Fontaine. These lessons included fundamentals of concealment and disguises. Often, Guido would force Michel to hide to the best of his ability, or move around undetected. The boy's wit and penchant for athleticism aided these endeavors greatly and Michel proved to be a fast student. Michel was taught how to wield weapons, such as daggers and bows, as well as smaller concealed weapons, such as darts or throwing blades. Weaponry lessons were coupled with instruction on how to make, lay, detect and disarm traps. As Michel honed his skills, he was instructed in the art of making poisons. Guido, a reserved man, often praised Michel as his greatest student. While Michel was undoubtedly being groomed to become a spy and assassin at the behest of House Alucard, he was given some musical and vocal instruction to cement his cover as a minstrel. He favored the harp, so much so that he would often perform for the other servants, or, at times, for visiting noble ladies.
All the while, Michel was purposefully kept unawares of his parentage. Ironically enough, he looked down upon his own mother for being an elf. This enraged his father, who, upon catching word of his son's behavior, beat the boy. Montrose Alucard, already barely tolerating the situation, had Alain hung in the garden as an example. While this broke the spirit of Maurelle, she nonetheless gifted her son two finely crafted daggers as a gift into his new world. Shortly after, Maurelle leapt to her death from the estate's highest battlement.
Michel's first taste of the Grand Game and his duties as bard and assassin for House Alucard came in the form of bitter betrayal. Guido de Fontaine, his mentor and father figure, revealed himself to be a spy and Bard under the service of a rival house, House Remy. In sabotage, he poisoned many of the estate's wells, killing numerous servants and nearly killing one of Marquis Montrose's daughters. After the poisoning failed, Guido attempted to kill Montrose and his wife, Jeneva, in their private quarters, oblivious to the fact that they had Michel watch over them throughout the night. Student and mentor briefly fought until Guido was caught offguard by Montrose springing a trap: numerous household guards emerged from hidden passages and behind curtains. As Guido surrendered, Michel was ordered to kill him. The young man cut down the only father figured he had without a hint of remorse.
Since, Michel and House Alucard relocated to the House's ancestral home of Val Royeaux, the capital of Orlais. He is currently planted as a spy in House Remy, under the name of Rondell la Lune. Despite working for the interest of House Alucard, Michel has gotten romantically involved in one of the daughters of House Remy, Dionne Remy.
Personality[]
Michel is a man of many faces. Outwardly, he appears sly, charming and gregarious, possessing a silver tongue and keen wit. Rather flirtatious, he can be taken as a "ladies man", a fact that annoys many of the Orlesian nobility, who see him as overstepping his bounds with his advances directed at noble ladies. He enjoys art, fine dining and other delicacies, literature and, of course, music. Overall, he seems a cultured and sophisticated sort. Inside, however, he is fanatically loyal to his noble family. As a bard and assassin, he's come to view himself as an extension of House Alucard's will; almost as a sort of weapon. Cool and collected, he performs his tasks dutifully and seriously, even having no qualms about killing.
Despite being an assassin, Michel is not fond of killing. He goes to lengths to avoid it, using wit and trickery to defeat his foes. He would much rather slip sedatives into drinks or have targets take care of each other than kill them outright. Still, on direct assassins, Michel puts this behind him and pursues his target relentlessly, taking pains to ensure that they are assassinated in ways to enable him to have direct control of the situation. He is quite fond of traps and poisons, calling them his "little helpers."
Years of playing in the Grand Game has fed a perverse thrill to it; Michel admits to wanting to be deceived and deceiving in turn. While his outward personality is a decent sort, it is easily one of many he has crafted to fit to disguises. Indeed, one could question whether anything he says is a lie or ruse to further perpetuate a usable personality. He has become very patient and cunning, utilizing these traits to formulate plans that seem convoluted and ultimately pointless, only to bear fruit at the end. As part of the Grand Game, he must lie, cheat, stalk and infiltrate - and he enjoys every second of it.
On the inverse, Michel has demonstrated an ambition to be more than just an assassin: he looks upon the nobility with envy, despite being involved and surrounded by them since birth. His attemps to "pursue" noble ladies romantically can be construed as genuine, as he longs for a title, wealth and the priviledges of noble bearing. A somewhat naive romantic view on love and romance itself, formulated in the absence of siblings or parents, has gotten him into trouble numerous times, including getting involved with one of the daughters of House Remy - the sworn enemy of his own noble house.
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