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Donatien Shahrizai
Statistics Name Donatien Alphonse Shahrizai Status Alive Age 43 Class Noble Rank Duc Affiliation House Shahrizai Kusheth Themesong Quote Portrayed by  Jeremy Northam App Status Taken

Background

Donatien Alphonse Shahrizai was born in Kusheth in the summer of 1142. His was destined to be a privileged life, as his father, Baptiste, was the Marquis Shahrizai and patriarch of the entire House. Perhaps just as importantly, Donatien was an only child, his mother succumbing to the hazards of childbirth and his father choosing not to remarry.

Donatien's early life was typical. He received a quality education, the tutors his father hired being the best available in Kusheth. Thus, he became well-versed in the history, geography, and politics of Terre d'Ange, though his education in matters of foreign lands may have been a bit lacking. He was taught rudimentary Cruithne and some Aragonian, but those skills have eroded somewhat from disuse. As might be expected, much of his political education came from a Shahrizai perspective, including ways of influencing matters from a hidden position behind the scenes.

The Shahrizai estate was (and is) situated near the rocky southern coast of Kusheth. As such, agriculture was sparse, though the presence of a vineyard on the grounds (and the penchant of the Earl to acquire fine wines from elsewhere) led to another education of sorts - that of grapes and wine. He cultivated that knowledge from early childhood to the point of considering himself a skilled wine connoisseur.

In his free time, the young Donatien favored riding and hunting and, when the sometimes harsh coastal weather favored it, boating and fishing. As the son of a nobleman, he was also instructed in the use of the blade, though his lack of interest relegated him to being no better than average despite the quality of instruction.

All in all, Donatien led a relatively carefree life in his early years. His status as the only son of the patriarch guaranteed deference from others even at this early age, and the wealth of his family ensured that he would want for nothing that he needed. It was a fine position from which to build a life.

Donatien's coming of age was greeted in the expected manner. He was confirmed as the heir to his father's lands and titles, notably the title of Marquis Shahrizai. Yet, ascension to such an exalted position seemed decades away, and the young Donatien perhaps took his responsibilities a bit less seriously than would have been ideal. While keeping up with the elder Shahrizai's instruction on the current state of Kusheth and Terre d'Ange, his mind remained better fixed on more pleasurable pursuits: wine, women, and horses. He saw each as more of an art than a hobby and sought to become a maestro at all three.

Inevitibly for the son of a Marquis, the subject of marriage came up. A wife was chosen for him, a distant cousin of pure Shahrizai heritage named Céleste. Their bonds of matrimony were pronounced in the spring of 1163, when Donatien was 20 years old.

The marriage was amicable, but not particularly close. Donatien continued with his lifestyle unabated, and for her part, Céleste complained little and took comfort in her own hobbies (including painting, a vocation well suited to the picturesque landscapes on the west coast of Terre d'Ange). There were no children from the union for the first couple of years, something which caused a bit of consternation from Baptiste Shahrizai, but the couple was young and their entire lives were ahead of them.

The urgency grew, however, when the elder Shahrizai took ill in the winter of 1165-66. When he failed to respond to all manners of treatment offered by prayers, a skilled Yeshuite physician, and in desperation any of the concoctions from nearby herbwomen, Donatien came to feel the seriousness of his position. He consulted with his father on all matters of state during Baptiste's more lucid times, and Céleste finally became with child. Thus it was that in the early spring of 1166, his father died and Donatien became the Earl Shahrizai.

What mourning was done by the Shahrizai family was mitigated several months later when the first child of Donatien and Céleste Shahrizai, Anne, was born. Anne was pretty from her very first days, quickly developing the sapphire blue eyes and jet black hair trademark of her family to such a degree as to be considered uncommonly pure. Her father doted on the little girl and her mother educated her, and it was generally agreed that the line was in fine shape for the next generation.

In the meantime, the duties of the office came difficult, as is often the case for a new Earl. Some of the outlying lines of Shahrizai caused trouble, perhaps testing the resolve of their new leader. Tensions ebbed and flowed, not disappearing completely but not getting contentious enough to justify arms, until fading after a few years' time as Donatien's resolve became clear. Things carried on then very much as they had when his father was alive, which is no surprise considering the comparative autonomy given to some lines of the family.

If Donatien's free time was lessened as Marquis Shahrizai, the free time that existed was used no less vigorously. An extensive collection of wines was slowly built up over the years, as well as a select network of courtesans that he favored. He kept several fine horses as well, though these tended to be used for short rides more than the long hunts of his adolescent years. Marriage suited him if only because it didn't provide a lot of restrictions on him...less so than his title, certainly...and after nine more years, Céleste once again became pregnant.

This pregnancy was a difficult one. Céleste was confined to her bed for the last seven months of it, and when the day of the birth came, she barely managed to live through it. But she did, and Donatien's second child, a son named Marc, entered the world in the summer of 1175, almost nine years after Anne's birth. Céleste was by this time 33 years old, quite advanced for a new mother, and it was greeted with little surprise when she never did recover from the ordeal of childbirth. She held on for six more months, but she didn't make it to see the new year 1176.

Donatien was, of course, saddened by Céleste's passing, though he grieved much more for the mother of his children than he did for his wife. In truth, while not a contentious marriage, theirs also wasn't a terribly close marriage. His affections were given to his work and the occasional courtesan, while hers were given to her daughter and her painting. In short, it was not long after her death that life went on as normal.

Donatien hired a governess to take the place of the mother for the children as she could, and when they became of the proper age for it, tutors were also hired for the children's education as they had been for Donatien when he was young. This freed Donatien's time for his work and his play, though eventually his subtle knowledge was passed on to Anne and particularly to Marc in the form of lessons as his father had given him.

And so...life progressed pretty normally for the next eight years. That is, until the extraordinary winter of 1183, when all of Terre d'Ange was in upheaval.

This was the period of the interregnum, after the last Courcel queen died and the nobility engaged in the Royal Vote. More particularly to the Marquis Shahrizai, it was the period when a kinsman took over the Duchy of Siovale and when a claim of ties to the family was made by the fiancée of the Duc of Kusheth. Donatien felt compelled to travel to the City of Elua for the first time in many years, even with the mounting snows on the roads out of Kusheth, in order to see and manage these events as he could.

Little did he expect to arrive just in time for that claimant to become Queen Consort of Terre d'Ange and for he himself to be raised to Duc of Kusheth. With the proclamation of departing Regent Nicolas the Grey suggesting that the peerage remain in the City during the transition into a new dynasty, Donatien Shahrizai's visit was extended. In the sixteen years since he has remained close with the de Morhban family, and is generally regarded as an admirable ruler of his duchy. While the other provinces of Terre d'Ange have seen upheaval and changes in power, Duc Shahrizai has led Kusheth with firm consistency.