Bartolomeo Filangieri

Bartolomeo Filangieri
Bartolomeo the Coeurlslayer, Lord of Greywall, Ser of Jeridia and Free Knight of Ul'dah
Gender	Male
Race	Hyur
Clan	Midlander
Citizenship	Unaffiliated
Age	29
Marital Status	Single
Origin	Jeridia
Nameday	16th Sun 6th Astral Moon
Religion	Althyk, the Keeper
Status	Unknown

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Basic Info

Bartolomeo Filangieri (pronounced /Bar-toll-o-mayo/ /Fee-lan-gie-érie/) is a midlander hyur born from a noble family in the Kingdom of Jeridia, an island in the middle of the Rhotano Sea. His nameday is on the 16th Sun of 6th Astral Moon.

At a young age Bartolomeo was inducted in a knightly order dedicated in eradicating miqo'te tribes that harrassed the Jeridian locals. Informally, those in the order were known as "Coeurlslayers" due to their specialty in dealing with the local tribes.

After a civil war in his nation, the order Bartolomeo served in collapsed after the result of its Grandmaster being executed. The knights and Bartolomeo were imprisoned and considered as war criminals of the entire realm.

After heavy convincing from his surviving uncle, the new Doge of Jeridia decided to spare Bartolomeo a lifetime in an oubliette and therefore exiled him from the realm, sending him forth to Eorzea to start his life anew.

With time Bartolomeo settled in the metropolis of Ul'dah and through new contacts managed to get referred into the Sultansworn. Due to his sanctimonious nature, Bartolomeo eventually broke off with the Sultansworn and became an independant knight.

As time passed, Bartolomeo eventually proved himself to an Ishgardian noble family and had his family House restored but under the Holy See's delegation.

Appearance and Character

For a midlander, Bartolomeo can be described as strapping, tall, and broad shouldered. He is described as being particularly attractive, a trait that was found common in his family. Bartolomeo has gold, penetrating eyes that at times can make one wary during moments of silence. His head holds a properly groomed brown hair which often smells of fresh ointments. His face is always cleanly shaved on a daily basis, making the touch to his skin to be relatively smooth. He has hollow cheeks, dark circles beneath his eyes and thin lips.

Bartolomeo is a serious, calm, stubborn and bold man. He believes in honoring the legacy of his family rather than discriminate against it as the new nobles of the Jeridian republic do. He believes in justice and being fidelious with his oaths when he can, he will not punish a man if he believes him to be innocent.

Having spent most of his life in Jeridia fighting against miqo'te clans, Bartolomeo holds a distaste and wariness towards miqo'tes he meets, even more so if they are tribal. The man also holds a great distaste towards Eorzean and Garlean customs, although he remains subtle about his views unless speaking in more subtle environments.

Backstory

1549 - 1567

Bartolomeo's life began in his family's villa deep within the capital of the Kingdom of Jeridia, an island based in the Rhotano sea. He was the youngest child of Lord Francesco Filangieri and Iolanda Acquarone. His family was highly regarded and generated a high level of influence within the nobility and the crown of Jeridia. House Filangieri's wealth came from the constant exportation of fish and resources, but most of its profit came from the ever dominant slave market that was permitted in the entire island. All of the slaves caught or sold consisted of miqo'tes tribesmen or woman that were found outside of the city's walls. This fortune made Francesco Filangieri highly renowned and decorated throughout Jeridia.

Francesco determined that the heir to House Filangieri was to be Bartolomeo's older brother, Lorenzo. Thus, Lorenzo was tutored by his father to follow his path. Francesco neglected Bartolomeo, making him carve another path that was different from the rest of his family.

Noticing Bartolomeo's passion in old tales of knights and chivalry, Francesco had the Grandmaster of the Knights of Jeridia take forth Bartolomeo and mentor him. The old Grandmaster accepted and taught the boy the chivalric code, the Twelve and from there made the young Bartolomeo develop a strong zeal for his culture and beliefs.

Once reaching the age of 12, Manfredi brought Bartolomeo as his squire. With aiding the Grandmaster with various meager tasks, he was rewarded with sword fighting technique and useful advices in the arts of warfare.

1567 - 1574

Once Bartolomeo reached the age of 16, Manfredi finally declared that the young squire was old enough to officially become a knight and member of the order. It was then where his training came to good use but also new techniques and tricks were to be learned, as the knights specialized against repelling pirates but mostly dealt against miqo'te tribesmen that were present beyond the city walls.

The knights in the order were trained to overcome the odds against a fearsome and outnumbering fighting force of tribals that could always besiege the city. Due to their specialty in fighting against miqo'tes, the people in Jeridia informally refered these knights as "Coeurlslayers", due to the similar ears and tails that both the miqo'te and coeurl have.

Tensions finally began to grow thicker between the tribals and the kingdom of Jeridia. King Pandolfo the 'Careless' held interest to finally expand his realm by eliminating the nearby tribes. The King officially declared war after a group of Jeridian merchants were seen gruesomely murdered outside the city by a mob of tribals.

Manfredi and his knightly order were dispatched outside the city. For the entirety of his young adulthood, Bartolomeo had to soak his blade with the blood of miqo'te in order to place his efforts for the order and the war. The order had to sack camps, various tribal settlements that were present throughout the island and win overwhelming battles in the middle of a tropical forest. By the end of the whole war, the population of miqo'te had dropped almost by fifty percent.

1574 - 1577

A year after the war had concluded, new issues began to grow within Jeridia's court. A claim for the throne was brought forth by House Tavelli, and therefore blackmailed to place their leader, Giovanni Tavelli, into power. King Pandolfo, as rentless and careless as he was renowned for, denied the accussations. This started a war in the streets of Jeridia's capital, yet the odds seemed hopeless for Tavelli's end in the beginning.

Through schemes and conspiracies that had been planned throughout the war, House Tavelli managed to create a chain of uprisings by giving the defeated miqo'te words of hope and freedom. Other noble houses also remained in the midst of the plot for diverse reasons and formerly patriotic houses ended up joining the revolutionaries.

After a few months the tides had turned, the King's loyalists were outmatched, including the order Bartolomeo was with. Francesco and Lorenzo, Bartolomeo's father and brother, were killed by a mob of nobleman in the streets. His mother Iolanda was barricaded in her own villa and burnt alive.

Eventually the bloodshed would end with the beheadment of both Manfredi and Pandolfo. Those loyal who survived the carnage were either imprisoned, executed or spared if the price was proper. Bartolomeo was casted into an oubliette and remained trapped in there for a whole cycle.

By year 1577, Bartolomeo was brought forth to the newly reformed court of the Republic of Jeridia. The monarchy was no longer present as it was now a council that governed Jeridia. The laws had been reformed, slavery was abolished, and the head of the council was known as a Doge.

Giulio Filangieri, Bartolomeo's uncle, had managed to pay the Doge a ransom to have Bartolomeo liberated from his cell. The only drawback over than payment was to banish Bartolomeo from the realm of Jeridia and to never return...

1577 - Present

Bartolomeo by Tiergan.

Ever since his exile, Bartolomeo arrived in Ul'dah, with but a bronze plate that covered his torso and lacked refine. He was brought upon an order known as Arcadeus and encountered Anelia Sadowyn, a paladin of the Sultanate of Ul'dah. Intrigued by Anelia's ideals, the worn and former prisoner recollected plenty of what he previously did under the knighthood of Manfredi's order. Eventually, after a dispute, Bartolomeo left Arcadeus and remained independant.

His uncle Giulio Filangieri provided Bartolomeo with gil and riches from Jeridia, with little hesitation did he invested on the still devastated knight. Bartolomeo's funding continued until Giulio was branded a traitor of the Jeridian republic and fled to Thanalan to meet with his nephew. When offering Bartolomeo a crate of riches, Ludovico Tavelli and a small group of mercenaries arrived. A battle ensued, Giulio perished in the battle, but as did Ludovico and his men thanks to Bartolomeo's blade.

Bartolomeo became affiliated to a few free companies and eventually, thanks to the influence of Anelia Sadowyn, managed to become a paladin in the Sultansworn. Eventually such was not his fate, as later events made him distrust Ul'dahn politics entirely. He kept ties with Ul'dah and performed investigations for a shadow organisation that functioned with the Immortal Flames.

He spoked with an Ishgardian noblewoman throughout his time, and her words brought forth a seed of ambition deep inside Bartolomeo's mind. For months Bartolomeo had been planning in ways to restore House Filangieri, where all of its members were either killed or exiled. Eventually, thanks to the influence of an inquisitor that he had acquainted with, House Rontremont offered to restore his legacy by having him undertake a desperate mission to slay a dragon which was under the form of a miqo'te slave.

Through days of swift planning Bartolomeo managed to eliminate the dragon, with the help of others. Lord Rontremont was pleased at the result and relieved that Bartolomeo had shown capability in fighting against the Dravinian Horde. As promised, the Lord turned Bartolomeo into his vassal but as well rendered him as Lord and noble. Bartolomeo renounced all allegiance to any other city-state. He swore fealty to House Rontremont and the Holy See, and swore to shift his faith towards that of the Ishgardian Orthodox Church.

Relatives

Most of Bartolomeo's family members were killed by the civil war that occurred in Jeridia, some might have survived the onslaught, but at the present Bartolomeo is the only known surviving member of House Filangieri.

Francesco Filangieri (Father, deceased) : Francesco hosted the most financially providing slave trade in the market of Jeridia. What was done to the slaves are often mystery, but when people used to question the man on the matter, he'd inform them to refer to them as servants rather than slaves. He allowed the masters of these miqo'te slaves to treat them under their jurisdictions, aslong as it did not "violate" Jeridian laws. The man was known in the Kingdom as an influential merchant, and at times aristocrat. Bartolomeo and his father however never managed to meet eye-to-eye, mainly because Francesco disregarded Bartolomeo as the chosen heir to House Filangieri was his older brother, Lorenzo. Once Bartolomeo served Manfredi's knightly order, Francesco stripped all titles from Bartolomeo but kept him in his court. Francesco perished during House Tavelli's civil war, when an angry mob of nobles stabbed him and his oldest son Lorenzo in the middle of the streets.

Iolanda Acquarone (Mother, deceased) : Despite his father's negligence, Iolanda did not mind Bartolomeo's presence, and often gave him counsel for anything he needed. His mannerisms and acts of behaving like a "gentleman" or dressing formally were received by Iolanda. Although Bartolomeo never witnessed his mother's death, the family manor was barricaded and burnt to the ground while she still remained within it.

Lorenzo Filangieri (Brother, deceased) : House Filangieri's future head was to be Lorenzo. Despite being arrogant, Lorenzo held great respect for his younger brother and did not hesitate to stand up for him if the event needed it so. Lorenzo was slain alongside his father during Giovanni's civil war.

Giulio Filangieri (Uncle, deceased) : After the civil war ended, Giulio was the only survivor of House Filangieri that remained in Jeridia with few discrimination. When Bartolomeo was banished and began to reside in Ul'dah, Giulio communicated with him through letters to understand where his life had been taking him. With time Giulio told Bartolomeo that the Doge of Jeridia wished to seek audience and reinstate Bartolomeo's status as a noble. Although Bartolomeo ventured into Jeridia and refused to take part in nobility, Giulio had to plot his way to reclaiming his family's previous status. After Bartolomeo returned to Eorzea, Giulio started to fabricate claims which was shortly noticed by the Doge. The old man, had to escape the island and eventually get in touch with Bartolomeo in the middle of Thanalan. The meeting resulted in a bloodbath after the Doge's cousin, Ludovico Tavelli, emerged with armed forces. Siha Xinkei, who was Bartolomeo's friend at the time, was present in the meeting and eventual combat and while she was nearly overwhelmed. Giulio managed to spare Siha a gruesome fate as he charged in and, unfortunately got killed in her place.