Maitena Edurjaun
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General Information
Ethnicity: Maitena's name is entirely Euskerrian (Basque), and her bloodline is mixed Euskerrian and D'Angeline. Though she's from an area now part of the realm of Aragonia, her native culture and language are not Aragonian.
Fame: A linguist and widely-travelled scholar, who openly supports Euskerria's right to exist independently of Aragonia. Though not a muscle-bound warrior herself, she is reputed to be an expert in the ancient texts on war, and in the technical and theoretical aspects of its application on land and at sea. Less controversially, she is fluent in many of the languages of the civilised world, and is known to have traded texts around the shores of the land-bound sea.
Family: Daughter and heir of Harkaitz Edurjaun (Viscount of Irun and Baron of Hondarribia) and his D'Angeline wife Lisette of Ciboure. Elder sister of Dowager Countess Alaia Amets of Donostia. Mother of Neus Ederne Eukene and Izar Zorione. Widow of Ferran Arnau Manel d'Elbete y Bera.
Languages: Native: D'Angeline and Euskerri. Fluent: Aragonian, Caerdicci, Hellene, Tiberian. Limited: Cruithne, Illyrian, Kritian script. Minimal: Written Carthaginian, Skaldic curses.
Name: Maitena Nekane Aintza can be translated from the Euskerri tongue as "Most beloved sorrow and glory", while her familial name, Edurjaun, means "Lord of the snow".
Titles: Viscountess of Irun, Baroness of Hondarribia, Dowager Baroness of Bera.
Description
Though the tall, graceful woman carries herself with the assured authority of a born noble, she lacks the delicate perfection of most high-born D'Angeline scions. Her smooth skin is tinged with olive, her features a touch too forceful to be a pure-bred descendant of the Land of Angels. That said, her long face is comely enough, her grey-blue eyes bright, and her dark hair lustrous.
At present clad in white linen and lace, she displays the lightly tanned skin of her shoulders and a wealth of curved decolletage above the daringly low cut of her stiffened bodice. The skirt glides over her hips, flaring somewhat from there to conceal her long legs, swirling loosely around her ankles. A band of red silk encircles her throat, bearing an ivory disc engraved with an heraldic device - a walled town by water, should one have opportunity to examine it closely. Matching ivory hair pins and a signet ring worn on her right hand, silver set with a carved green stone, provide her only other adornments.
Personality
Proud, often to the point of arrogance. Self-assured and confident in most situations. Intellectual, curious, and frequently sarcastic.
Timeline
Born: 25th Octobre 1159.
Alaia born: 31st Mai 1162. Younger sister.
Mother dies: 12th Juin 1168
Betrothed to Ferran, Baron of Bera: 25th Octobre 1171
Alaia betrothed to the Comte di Donostia: 20th Septembre 1174
Father dies: 28th Novembre 1174
Enfeoffed by Comte di Donostia: 29th Novembre 1174
Married to Ferran: 2nd Janvier 1175
Neus born: 4th Octobre 1175. First daughter.
Alaia marries Comte di Donostia: 20th Septembre 1177
Ferran dies: 15th Avril 1178. Neus inherits Bera.
Izar born: 2nd Mai 1178
Spring to Autumn 1182: First extended trip outside Euskerria, visiting courts in Siovale
Spring 1183 to Summer 1184: Travels, via Amilcar and Masilikos, to Caerdicca Unitas for further studies.
Spring 1185 to Summer 1186: Renewed travels, first North to Alba then via Terre d’Ange to Caerdicca Unitas, Illyria, Hellas, Kritia and Ephesos.
Autumn 1186: “Warmly encouraged” by Aragonese officials to take to the road again.
Arrives in City of Elua: 14th Novembre 1186.
Detailed Background
The eldest remaining scion of a lineage of proudly independent Euskerrian nobles, Maitena has inherited a familial role as a thorn in the side of the Aragonian crown. Though not a leader of armed uprisings and still formally in possession of her holdings and titles, she is known to be rather less than entirely welcome within the expanded frontiers of the realm.
Her lands lie directly on the border with Terre D’Ange, while her sister rules in Donostia a short distance to the West. Both fiefs enjoy close trade connections with Siovale and the wider world, while their rulers tend to feel little connection to greater Aragonia, beyond Euskerria over the mountains. With roots in the most distant history of the land, these scions of Euskerria see their people as (at least) the equals of their more numerous neighbours. Raised in Irun, a Tiberian-founded port that lies a bow-shot from the frontier of Siovale, Maitena and Alaia enjoyed the finest education that their father’s considerable funds and widespread connections could arrange. Lacking sons, and part of a culture markedly less mysoginistic than that of Aragon, Harkaitz increasingly trained Maitena to succeed him as a ruler in fact, rather than a mere appendage to a future husband. After all, the crown was placing mounting pressure on him to accept a loyal son of Aragon as husband for his heir, though he was permitted to betroth his second daughter to the heir to the Comte di Donostia, his liege. Shortly thereafter he succumbed to a Winter fever, Maitena inherited his fiefs, and her marriage to Ferran, Baron of Bera, was pushed through – the union soon yielding a child, Neus.
Following the death of her husband in a hunting accident, young Maitena came under some measure of suspicion from the Aragonian crown – though, since she was leagues away from the accident and heavily pregnant with their second child, there was no prospect of her being directly involved. Still, the failure of their attempt to have strategic territories pass to Aragonian heirs under the control of a loyal lord prompted the royal and ducal courts to view the head-strong young Viscountess with some hostility. After all, not only was she once again in sole possession of her father’s lands, she was now the dowager Baroness of her late husband’s fief on behalf of his heir....
Encouraged by Aragonian courtiers and worried relatives to pass her children into the care of her more sedate sister, Maitena was warmly supported in her long-standing ambition to travel and study abroad – thereby broadening her own horizons and her personal freedom while also removing her from her strategically significant lands. Her children became privileged guests at the comital court in Donostia, and Aragonia got to enjoy comparative docility in at least part of Euskerria.
For her part, Maitena has dedicated much of the past few years to travel and study. She is yet to visit the North African states, but her travels have taken her to all the major civilised realms from Alba in the North to Ephesos in the East.
Dramatis Personae
Acquaintances:
Lucivar: A strange, bumbling scholar prone to both physical and verbal clumsiness. Maitena thinks that his work might be interesting, however odd the man himself seems.
Soundtrack
Nothing else Matters
So close no matter how far
Couldn't be much more from the heart
Forever trusting who we are
And nothing else matters
Never opened myself this way
Life is ours, we live it our way
All these words I dont just say
And nothing else matters
Trust I seek and I find in you
Every day for us something new
Open mind for a different view
And nothing else matters
Never cared for what they do
Never cared for what they know
But I know
So close no matter how far
Couldn't be much more from the heart
Forever trusting who we are
And nothing else matters
Never cared for what they do
Never cared for what they know
But I know
Never opened myself this way
Life is ours, we live it our way
All these words I dont just say
And nothing else matters
Trust I seek and I find in you
Every day for us something new
Open mind for a different view
And nothing else matters
Never cared for what they say
Never cared for games they play
Never cared for what they do
Never cared for what they know
And I know
So close no matter how far
Couldn't be much more from the heart
Forever trusting who we are
No nothing else matters
