Aurelio Merynir

[Aurelio]

Player: Kat
Name: Aurelio Merynir
Age: 32
Race: human
Height: 6'1"
Description:

Slender and svelte, Aurelio has the air of a man well kept. His voice, a tenor, is cultured. His hands and feet are manicured, his red hair long and silky, and his pale skin has that special plumpness that fairly screams health and an obnoxious amount of beauty products and professional assistance. As for his clothing? It fits the part of a man capable of hiring several tailors to make custom garments out of the most expensive fabrics. He wears colors that complement his blue eyes, no matter how expensive the dyes are to achieve such rich, bold colors. Aurelio exudes wealth. He's a wealthy man, a peacock who enjoys displaying his finery to all and sundry. He even tends to pose, albeit unconsciously, whenever he is still; that he is vain is -- at least on the surface -- unquestionable.

Possessions:

A house near to the main Merynir complex in the residential district.

Several servants, and several professionals on retainer.

A flat nearer to downtown. (this is typically where he stays, not wanting to be in sight of his family)

Several warehouses in the industrial district. (Typically rented out)

Property to the east of the residential district, southwest of the historical district.

Two businesses: one is a dealer and producer in pigments for all sorts of purposes, the other is an apothecary that was failing until he took over the loan from the bank. Now the apothecary and shop both belong squarely in his pocket -- unless sir apothecary in question wants to be out starving on the street.

Strengths:

Wealth

Being a Merynir has its benefits. Aurelio not only has money bankrolled by mommy and daddy, but he has also built up his own ventures through hard work, some skill, and a lot of connections. As a result, he'll never want for any material thing while in Marn -- just as long as he stays on the right side of the law.

Unruffled

Experiencing the highs of success and the lows of betrayal has settled Aurelio into an emotional trench. He doesn't react as he did as a child, or a young adult: it takes a lot to rattle Aurelio's apparent calm. In most cases he views everything with a sort of dark amusement, and looks down on the world with a condescending cynicism that would be well placed in much older men.

Poison knowledge

The hazy year Aurelio spent experimenting in the dregs of drugs Marn has to offer gave him some cause to try mixing and making various things himself. Though he is no master of the craft, he has since learned enough to create several deadly mixtures, though the aid of an apothecary is necessary.

Dart-throwing

A simple skill, and one used to great affect during the pointless games enjoyed by the city's elite. However, it serves a purpose more practical and deadly: besides the dart-throwing, Aurelio focuses his skills on throwing small, sharpened metal stakes. Accurately thrown, these might severely damage their target. Add a deadly substance to these 'darts' -- especially ones built specifically to carry fluid -- and even a scratch could prove dangerous.

Work ethic

Aurelio is not by any means a naturally gifted man. Though he would never knowingly allow it to show on the surface, he has to struggle for every achievement and every skill. It is only his determination and his dedication that might be considered above average; it is only by his family's position and wealth that he has been able to achieve his success. He might appear the strutting cock, but underneath it all is hours of hard work.

Aurelio will do whatever it takes to get what he wants.


Weaknesses:

Scandal

Weren't the Merynirs involved with that slavery investigation?

Indeed, indeed. The old rumors still abound, and though they primarily shadow the Merynir name, it is dumped wholeheartedly at Aurelio's feet. He diverted money and attention, he was banned from government service, and he's the legendary partier who don't give no fucks.

He hates it. This is not the life he wanted to lead, and it's all thanks to those fat fucks he calls relatives, not to mention the rest of the backwards, ass licking cabal who keep the city the way it is. He will never be able to achieve any political position in Marn ever again -- unless the current system is abolished, of course.

Details

In Aurelio's case, he cannot see the trees for the forest. He often aims for wide, grand goals. He forgets about the smaller things, the necessary things that build into the greater. Because of this, he has seen his own plans fail. Because of this, he never saw the betrayal coming. Scheme aplenty he might do, without someone to counter his own flippancy about the mechanics of things, he is doomed to repeat past mistakes -- and create fun, new mistakes in the future.

Reputation (Mocking)

Ever since his fall from grace, Aurelio has become known for being a flippant shit, and a bit of a playboy. It is only by the grace of his wealth that he is ever seriously considered for a husband, and usually by synevive or high class titre families. Most descendant families wouldn't touch him with a ten foot pole. He has become known as an eccentric, and it's not helped by his mocking attitude. He is rarely ever taken seriously, his opinion disregarded. He is a (self-assessed) lion who has had his teeth filed and been declawed.

Love of Fine Things/Lack of Self Confidence

Though he has always loved the finer things in life, since his fall from grace Aurelio has gone from tasteful wealth into the gaudy and ostentatious side of things. He so feels the need to prove himself, to get back the respect that he once had that he will go to extremes to prove worthy. If he cannot have admiration for his talents, then he shall have it for the things he owns. He has become a shallow creature, a petty man who basks in the shadow of his former promise and glory.

To those wanting to take advantage of him, well, this is one of his weaknesses that he wears on his sleeve. Literally.

Egomaniac/Lack of Self Worth

Aurelio does have some of his very own hangers on. They are trollops and self-serving maggots, yes, but they feed his ego. They are the poles holding up his flagging sense of self worth. Is it any wonder that because of his lifestyle, his confusion about what he's good for, and his anger he has turned from actual growth to the growth of his ego? He thinks highly of himself. He knows how amazing he is -- or at least he thinks he does.

Is it any wonder how he lets details slip when he's so busy pumping up his sense of self-worth?

Ivone Malatrast

Though Ivone does act as a counter to the broader application of the majority of Aurelio's weaknesses, they do not trust each other enough for her to truly drag him out of his downward spiral. Instead, they have cultivated an unhealthy co-dependency that makes both of their emotional and mental instability shine. While it also helps them -- particularly when it comes to tricking those they've set their eyes upon -- neither of them is in a good enough place to bring them up and out of their individual issues. The result is that Ivone poses as a means to getting to Aurelio, both by her own designs and through her.

Family:

Mother:
Father:

3 siblings.

Names TBD.

History:

Aurelio was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. Blessed with parents to whom money was never lacking, Aurelio grew up surrounded by finery and excess. He ate it up. He spent his childhood being catered to, rarely being told 'no' and lavished with attention and consideration. Public school for a child of the Merynir line? Nay! The finest private tutors available were hired, and only rarely did Aurelio need suffer another pupil taking attention away from him. He was groomed for greatness from the start, his future planned right down to which family would provide his bride for him. That he would go into politics was never brought into question, because where else would he go?

He learned to respect his family elders, and hardly anyone else. He learned how to act to get his way, and the art of schmoozing was a childhood game to him. He grew, and became a terror by the age of nine. The pain of loss, of disappointment, of denial was never something he was exposed to. Still, in all fairness it was much the same for all Merynir children; they were taught from a young age that to be born Merynir was to be a superior specimen. All others came second. It should not come as much of a surprise, then, that Aurelio's teenage years resulted in a petty, whiny, and spoiled young man who knew everything the world had to offer. Despite the best efforts of his tutors he became recalcitrant. He was bored with his perfect life and all the dullards who populated it. Still, he was intelligent enough, had a fair face and an unblemished body. The word perfect could in no objective way be applied to him (though he very subjectively did apply it), but he was good enough for the family, and regularly praised and made much of.

He was introduced to greater society at the age of fifteen. He was well prepared for his reception, and understood very well how some families were reprehensible, and how most did not understand the brilliance that was the Merynir line. They were some of the best -- of course they would have made enemies! Others were jealous. He cut a fine figure, and behaved more or less well, and found a new thing to be interested in: the regard of his peers.

It was a frustrating experience for the spoiled Aurelio to be brought to terms with reality, even in a manner most soft. He was not the smartest, the best looking, the most accomplished, the most talented: he was superbly average amongst the other young members of the descendant families. He was furious with his tutors, his parents, his siblings and cousins: they had failed him. It was their fault that he had been shown up, that he was not the best as he very well should be. Once home, he raged through the house and towards any other person who could in any way be blamed -- which was everyone. This behavior was not very much liked. How could this child have turned out in such a way? What was making him act so badly? It was not his fault, of course, and so reasons were sought and found, blame appropriately distributed.

Of all the things that might have happened, there was indeed salvation found for Aurelio during his seventeenth year. By then, his anger had become common, his temper-tantrums expected. Tutors were hired and fired in a steady stream, servants rebuked and punished. Aurelio reigned like a tiny monarch in the prison-castle of his parents' home. His father could not deal with him, his mother was distraught, his siblings either terrified of him or beginning to copy his habits. This was not a young man capable of entering the political sphere. His grandfather saw that. His grandfather understood what was happening as a black mark on the family name: it had to be fixed.

Aurelio was removed from his parents home and taken to live with his grandfather. The two years he spent with his grandfather went as might be expected. There was a reckoning. There was screaming, plenty of rod, and finally learning. Not that Aurelio's core personality changed; he was a selfish brat. Nothing short of hard life lessons was going to change that, if it ever did. What Aurelio learned at his grandfather's home was control and discipline. He wanted to be the best? Fine. The key there was to buckle down and work, because Aurelio wasn't a damn prodigy in any respect. He was average. Plain. A horrific thing to be in the Merynir line, and though Aurelio felt only resentment from his grandfather, he learned the lesson. He wasn't stupid. He had cleverness in his own way.

Aurelio worked, and he worked hard. Though he was still known to snarl around tutors and servants, and treated his family like crap on the bottom of his shoe, he earned himself high regard for the first time in his life. It started to change him. By age 19 he had earned a position as a clerk for the Economic Development Assessor. Realistically, he only part-earned the position, but in all fairness he was competent at the job and he did not waste his time there. He proved to have an excellent head for business, and after two years of work there he was transitioned into the tax-payments section, where he worked as a clerk for a year. In this manner he bounced around the Ministry of Finance, learning the complicated laws that governed business in Marn and their practical applications. By age twenty-five he was a chief aide to the Economic Development Assessor, and was looking to be in prime position to take over the job. Indeed, at age 27 he did take over the job, though rumor remains as to how that little tango happened.

Things, however, were simply not destined to be so easy for Aurelio. He spent nine months in the position when a trade scandal within his Uncle's specific domain occurred, involving some illegal 'workers' in one of the Merynir factories. It didn't go over well in the upper strata of families. While the worst of the damage was swept under the rug thanks to Morrington aid, the damage had been done and the mistake could not be taken back. Someone in the family had to take the fall. Someone who could easily be proven to have, perhaps, altered the books. Someone who was yet unproven and not yet indispensable. Someone quite like Aurelio.

His prospects had looked good. The Minister of Finance had hinted on numerous occasions that with the proper record young sir Aurelio might one day in the far future become a minister, and then a judge. He had the breeding for it, the aptitude and thus-far a stellar record as a public servant. He was likely to be traded to another Ministry in a year or two, likely that of Civil Obedience or Infrastructure to further his resume. But, he was the only one easily blamed for the illegal activities in the Industrial District, and as a result his head was the one to roll.

Aurelio was banned from public office. He was not cast down from on high socially speaking, however, due in large part to his relatively young age and the backing of his family and that of their allies. All his life he had been pushed towards a political career. He had believed in it. Now he was restricted to the relatively pedestrian career of a merchant or business owner?

He did not accept it. He did not accept the betrayal. He was furious. If they didn't want him to be a public official any longer, he decided, he could go out and play all he wanted. So he spent his time on the party circuit, participating in stunts and mornings, afternoons, and evenings of debauchery. He drank. He took drugs. He took the part of an animal and played it all the way down. It was there, at the bottom, that Paragon found him.

They sweet talked him for months, watched him and whispered sugar sweet suggestions into his ear. Of course they knew about what had happened. Of course they knew it was unfair. Of course they wanted to help him make it right, and take back what was his to begin with. Revenge was the choice word, and respect the choice lure they used to drag him in. They proved themselves to him by their knowledge of the inner world of the descendants, of dirty backroom deals and the rivalries that fueled them. He in turn furnished them with information, and though their dance was hesitant at first, there came a time when he was placed into one of Shanuri's cells.

They were going to poison several key members of the government, and though Aurelio and another fallen member of the gentry, Andras, were their how, they needed a who -- someone whose standing was yet trusted, who could get close to certain political bigwigs that Aurelio or Andras couldn't any longer, not on their own.

It took half a year, but they found their who. Now all that remains is to execute the strategy Shanuri has devised and the rest of the team has prepared for.

[Katona]

Approved.