Linnaeus Van Pelt

Respectable Van Pelt Linnaeus Van Pelt (a.k.a. Blanket-boy to his sister)

"Linnaeus van Pelt!" "Lucy !" "Hey little brother, you know I hate that name!" "Lucy-lucy-lucy." "Ugh, ok, what have you been up to? Everything ok at the office?" "Meihomei asked me to come with her here." "What, Meihomei HERSELF?" "You can imagine my surprise, I mean, I'm just an Auxiliary Vice-Undersecretary ." "What? no, wait, you were an Assistant Auxiliary Vice-Undersecretary ." "Not anymore." "Congrats little brother, a promotion, woohoo!" "How many undersecretaries are here? I couldn't find anyone senior back at the office for the last two weeks." "Oh, they're all here, entertaining, we gotta keep tabs on the Tsou , the Moniqans , the Nisei , the Goguryeo , the Brecians, the Blegian , the Brunswicki , the Mannheims , the Sarn..." "Not the Sardé ?" "They haven't arrived yet... I hear their ambassador is busy over in New Etrusca, damage control over a breached border."

"And you little brother, what have you been up to?"

"I travelled on Meihomei's Personal Cutter with the Orange Prince of the Tsou, a Yamagandi Prelate, a Goguryean Blood Prince, and a Prince of the Second Rank of the Nisei, as well as Meihomei herself. It was exhausting."

"And they are all here now?"

"Yes, they all begged to rejoin their delegations."

"Just which of them do you think is more influencable?"

"I don't know, they were tense all voyage, all of them, way too much royalty of high level in close proximity, and none of them trusted the others."

"Why?"

"Meihomei insisting on waiting on the Yamagandi to join us for religious reasons had them all nervous. They thought it was some plot."

"Of course it was a plot, a minor one, we just don't want the Nisei or the Goguryean to squash the smaller nations in the treaty. Wait, are you sure he said he was a prince of the second rank?"

"Yeah, why?"

"They're not supposed to leave Nisei, not after they go up from third rank... He must be in disgrace."

"Oh, but there's only four in the second rank, currently, the Magelord keeps them on a really tight leash."

"Heavens, little brother, they've been confiding in you?"

"Well, not like hardcore, but they have been spilling, it's all in my report."

"No wonder Meihomei trusts you, you got a Nisei prince to chat up?"

"What's with that? They get lonely, like anyone else, and I was probably a lot less threatening than Meihomei, or a Blood Prince of Goguryeo."

"You were probably the lowest threat on that boat that didn't wear a Kagomine armed services uniform, little brother, well done."

"Nothing you wouldn't have done, big sis."

"I'm a vice-undersecretary, I'd be a bigger threat, little brother, really, you did good."

"Don't get too excited though, the Magelord is Amarat's childhood teacher, if anyone in Nisei understands Kagomine, it's him."

"Oh, yeah, that's a good reminder, we should send it to everyone, not many foreign chiefs of state have lived for years in Kagomei, but Nisei's has, and while he was an ally at the time, he does know basically, our whole chain of command, on a first-name basis."

"He taught numbers to the Kagomine heir..."

"Yeah, our cousin! Has he told you about DarDarDarVeeVeeVee Holdings?"

"What about our holding company?"

"Just that the numbers are good, 35% year-over-year growth."

"Linni-lolly!"

Kids are the worse. I can't help but start whenever I hear that nickname, from my childhood. "Why'd you pick that up from the old recordings, auntie?"

"A reminder..."

"I'm unlikely to forget."

"Oh heavens, I'm not trying to remind you... I wanted to remind your sister... She, of all people, should know better than to underestimate you..."

"But auntie, Lusi has nothing I'd want, I'm no threat to her..."

"But when she underestimates you, others do so as well..."

"Let them..."

"No, I won't. Respect is earned, you've earned yours, do not cast it out needlessly."

"And yet, you use this reminder, of how I was considered foreign... Not a native of Kagomei, at all..."

"Anyone who thought your mother being born in Lolland and your father in Brunswick, made you less, understands nothing."

"You have someone in mind, and it's not my sister..."

"No, it's mine..."

"Your sister? Meihomei!?"

"You act surprised... I've tried to have you promoted, and my sister is always the one that doubts..."

"Let her, let her doubt..."

"But why?"

"Do you know how many misfits feel better about me, when they know I'm no special friend of her, for all I'm her second cousin once removed, by marriage?"

"No, you're her second cousin by adoption, by marriage. And a third cousin by marriage without that. Your still comfortably in the single digit order of the succession for her throne."

"Why is only in Kagomei, the third in line to tenth in line a secret?"

"Technically, second in line is legally a secret, or would be, I just happened to be second, and declined, so that lets everyone know who was third... You still don't know who is third now..."

"If it ain't Flora, I think you're doing aristocracy wrong..."

"It was mother's assassination, that made sis change the law... She couldn't change the feeling that knowing how close they were, it infuenced some to try to kill her..."

"Your adoptive mother?"

"No, birthmother, not Prithyanka Dandelion, but Schoonvance Venatori... Because she was fourth in line, but died in mysterious circumstances, away from everything of consequence."

"Could she just have died in her sleep?"

"No, she died at the same time Rembrandt did, we just hid the exact circumstances not to give our enemies more fuel for the fire..."

"What, rembrandt who gave his life for her?"

"He did, she just didn't survive him by as long as some folks think..."

Physical Description

General Physical Condition

A sedentary lifestyle has left a mark on Linnaeus, chasing after his cats being the most exercise he gets.

Identifying Characteristics

It took until he was 23 for him to stop carrying his sky blue blanket everywhere he went, and at home, he is still often seen with it, usually carrying cats with the old, lovingly preserved and repaired fabric. He is otherwise unremarkable, the equatorial sun of Kagomei having left him darkly tanned like all his compatriots, and his rich diet leaving him with a paunch. His grey eyes would mark him as potential minor nobility in Benevent, where his mother was born, and his paler hair compared to the Kagomine Black norm does make him stand out a little.

Physical quirks

His aquiline nose is common in Benevent, but not in Kagomei, where a straight, strong nose is the norm.

Apparel & Accessories

His official budget, for clothing for official occasions, related food, drink and entertainment expenses, would outfit a small embassy, and he's never been shy about using his own funds when the official cards were blocked. These expenses were all reimbursed, and usually with a blemish on the record of who told him no. Those comptrollers who know of him know he does not make spurious requests, and usually approve his paperwork accordingly.

Specialized Equipment

Linnaeus has put his job to work, identifying a great neighbourhood to live in, and buying a parking lot, razing it, and making it a town house. When he can stomach it, he invites coworkers, relatives, acquaintances who have influence and prestige, and they break bread, or otherwise conmingle in small groups. This allows him to connect to his own network, but because of his family relationship with the royal family, their network is partially his network. Because of his reputation as a somewhat defective ambassador, many underestimate his skill with people, and most keep underestimating him, even after they've given him what he wants.

Mental characteristics

Education

The product of a fine International education, Linnaeus has been through the best colleges on the planet, studying international relations and politics, as most mid-to-high level scions of royalty, despite not being technically one. His mother's brother, Amarat Veneer Sr., marrying into the #2 of the Empire of Kagomei happened while he was already enrolled, and represents the ambition of his family, not their actual level.

Employment

Linnaeus and his Sister, Lusitania, both went through the same schools, and have much of the same friends. They also had the same contacts at the State Department, not least of which, the Secretary of State herself, his uncle's new wife. Starting as low-level embassy bureaucrats, working on driving up trade, Linnaeus did not have the meteoric success his sister did, but he was recognized as a competent, reliable and careful, canny operator. His sister did not have his flair for technology, but had an diametrically greater skill with people. When they worked together, which happened rarely, they often had synergy to each other's skills that explains their current posts, as the Secretary of State's primary assistants: Undersecretary of state, for information, and for international policy, respectively.

Accomplishments & Achievements

Upon becoming an adult, he would follow his sister's advice, and become the pet parent of one, then rapidly, three pet cats, descended from the famous Rembrandt, when such kits became in need of a forever family. In Kagomine society, such royal pets are known to reject caretakers of incompatible character, and for him to have raised three siblings have led some to think he is some kind of spy, trying to pretend to be less dangerous than he is really.

Failures & Embarrassments

Linnaeus is discreet, and the target of much ridicule for his natural tendency for conflict avoidance, which quite a few of his colleagues find incompatible with the spirit of an ambassador. They would probably be right, in any nation that viewed conflict as natural and the price of doing business. However, Kagomei is famous for being 'the people of peace', and view conflict as a failure of policy, interpersonal conflicts are rare, and usually result in reassignments, when they do occur, so his avoidance of personal conflict does not strike him as hard. His sister's abrasive personality tends to deal with conflict better, and has prepared him in a small way, for this, but where he shines is in the resistance to stress due to non-personal related factors:

deadlines

scheduling

being in the wrong place at the wrong time

complexity, especially in regards to technology

Mental Trauma

Linnaeus' parents died when he was a child, and his uncle, who had taken much of their place, died not that much later, leaving Mikhala Veneer, Nameihomei of Kagomei(a bit like an executive vice-president, for an entire nation), his sole parental figure. He felt the loss keenly, not making many friends, and the few that do doubling as relatives:

Amarat Jr Veneer, who was his cousin, but treated him as a little brother.

Firrson Moray, who was adopted as his brother in truth.

and of course, his elder sister, Lusitania.

Intellectual Characteristics

Despite living in a high-stakes, high-stress job, and with the highest of peers, Linnaeus prefers nothing to the company of his three cats, save the budding relationship with his girlfriend, which is kept secret. Her athletic build and lifestyle, as a military lifeguard, stands in stark contrast to him, and she keeps teasing him about his seeking comfort.

Social

Family Ties

His Sister Undersecretary of State Lusitania Van Pelt uses her influence, often on his behalf. She thinks him naive and much more hapless than he really is.

Social Aptitude

Species

Arndan

Ethnicity

Kagomine Ethnicity

Parents

Charles Van Pelt

Sally Veneer

Spouses

Shibué Dandelion (Miptun)

Shibué Dandelion (spouse)

Siblings

Lusitania Van Pelt (Sister)

Children

Gender

Male

Aligned Organization

Imperial Kagomine Department of State

Other Affiliations

Known Languages

It's quite possible he's the most polyglot employee in the Kagomine State department, speaking 9 languages fluently, and knowing related languages as well:

Kagomine Language

Moniqan Language

Brunswicki

Alessian Language

Nufirenzanno Language

New Etruscan Language

Nisei, Language

Khagun, language of the Qing

Saamisthing, Saami Language

Ruled Locations

Tranquility

Character Prototype

Originally, I meant for Lusitania to be Lucy Van Pelt, and Linnaeus to be Linus Van Pelt(it's in the name of course). There's still that, but I ended up having Charlie Van Pelt being their father, and Sally Van Pelt, their mother(yes, she calls him her sweet papoo, no, not in that way, he's her baby)

Entry for Worldbuilding Summer Camp 2020

Answering: "Write about an unassuming character who secretly controls things from behind the scenes."

Visit Rahjar's Competition Page Check all other answers to this prompt Competition Homepage