Bertramus von Murnau
Bertramus von Murnau was a mortal Dark Age merchant who joined the House of Murnau.
Biography
Bertramus has spent most of his life trying to avoid three things - the family curse, its consequences and, most of all, his father. Munifrid von Murnau was an austere and pious man, and one of the family's strongest proponents of joining in the fledgling Inquisition. He encouraged his children who showed signs of the curse, and even those relatives who didn't, to work to use this talent for the good of the Church and the Christian world. Bertramus, on the other hand, was more interesting in getting rich and having fun.
A merchant by profession, inclination and aptitude, Bertramus has only one hard and fast rule: When you smell the stink of the Devil, turn away from the deal. This rule, combined with his own skill in the mercantile world, made him a wealthy man by even his family's standards. Still, as he rarely stayed in one place long enough for letters to be delivered, he avoided the secondary and secret aspect of the family business until two years ago.
His personal life had gone well, too, once his father passed on. He had married young, to the youngest daughter of a minor noble house. This marriage helped furnish an alliance between the Murnau and the girl's relatives. The match was a good one and the two fell in love, despite the political nature of the marriage. Liedrada bore him two sons and a daughter and never seemed to mind his extended absences on business. She was frugal and efficient in running his house and a useful hostess with it.
After one fateful trip, he returned to his home in Bavaria, longing for a kiss from his wife. Instead, he recoiled in horror as the stench of the Devil rose from her very flesh. For a week, he lay beside her, unwilling to reach out and touch a creature of Satan, even though he had loved her for 20 years. In the end, he swiftly arranged another business trip and sent an important message to his cousin, an active inquisitor. His wife was captured two days later. Under the question, she revealed the name of her corruptor before she went to the fire. When Bertramus returned, his town was a little safer for good Christian folk, and his heart was empty.
His family took their errant cousin under their wing and turned his misery to anger as they slowly inducted him into the secret work of the Inquisition. By the turn of the year, the despair in his heart had become a raging passion for the Lord's work. When the Inquisition offered him the opportunity to extend the family's work into the British Isles, he accepted without hesitation.
Bertramus is surprisingly happy in London. It is a trading hub of Northern Europe, which keeps him busy enough on its own. However, the challenges facing him as the leader of the Isles' Council of Faith and the man with responsibility for cleansing London of the Devil's spawn keeps him too busy to consider what he lost.
Image
Bertramus is, by careful contrivance, the very image of a wealthy, dissolute merchant. He carries enough weight to conceal a muscular frame and dress gaudily and ostentatiously. Indeed, he has his clothes slightly padded to make him appear bulkier and sweatier than he is in reality. When he is alone, or working on Inquisition business, he wears simple, black clothes, plainly cut. They remind him that he is in perpetual mourning for his dead wife and her lost soul. In black robes, he is so different from his normal appearance that he can pass unrecognized among friends, if he is careful.
Stats
Nature: Penitent
Demeanor: Gallant
Order: House of Murnau
References
- DA: Dark Ages: British Isles, p. 130-131