Corentin

Prince Corentin of Feshaesia (a.k.a. Coren)

Prince Corentin doesn't see the page in my series until later, probably Book Three.

Physical Description

General Physical Condition

Experience shows in his blue eyes more than his face, but he's starting to gain some faint frown and worry lines. He's a well-built, athletic male who has worked for more than twenty years to turn his body into a weapon. Only a faint, straight, white scar across his left cheekbone marks him visibly.

Body Features

Tan skin, lightly weathered hands and face, visibly muscular. A few straight scars from bladed weapons hidden under clothing for the most part, occasionally visible when he rolls up his sleeves. Dark blonde hair cut to the nape of his neck, usually tied back but often rumpled like he's been running his hands through it or recently took off a helm.

Facial Features

Oval face, strong jaw with sparse beard regularly trimmed back closer than jaw length. Clear blue eyes that turn a definite stormy blue-grey in periods of high emotion. Short, straight, faint scar on his cheekbone from a blade that he barely avoided as a youth, which he occasionally fingers when he's worrying about something.

Special abilities

The hum of power isn't apparent to non-magic-users, but more than one stranger has edged away from him and the vibrations in the arcana around him. He's one of the foremost battle mages known to man (on this continent). His defensive abilities tend to be focused on his own personal protection, rather than anything wider-reaching, simply by virtue of spending so much time on offensive magic.
His druidic aura is less noticeable and weaker by far. He focused so much on his arcane talents that he often doesn't think about his druidic abilities until someone (usually his friend Thelio) calls him on it. He can sense powers and sometimes get insight, if he has been actively using his abilities in a consistent manner.

Apparel & Accessories

Corentin isn't opposed to getting his hands dirty, and his clothing shows it. He wears hardy fabrics, often leather, and his only real concession to fashion is the blood-red cloak pinned with the Feshaesian lynx, and he only wears it because in wearing red, the color of the Feshaesian royal house, he clearly marks himself an officer for his men to spot easily... if also a ranking member of the nobility.

Specialized Equipment

Rarely is Corentin without his sword belt, even when not in armor. It's a symbol of everything he works for, and what he has achieved, both good and ill. His armor is the best the Lowlands has to offer, though whether he's just wearing a heavy leather tunic or full mail, he's not a particularly easy target to hit. He has an array of weapons that he uses in addition to his sword and dirk, but they are less often seen.

Mental characteristics

Personal history

Prince Corentin is the secondborn son of the High King of Feshaesia and the druidborn High Queen, now heir after losing his older brother to a childhood illness. He's the eldest now, of four children, with a younger brother and two sisters. He's always felt it his place to protect his siblings (even if it means protecting them from their powerhungry parents).
His childhood companions were Thelio and Aogustin, both children of wealthy, influential noblemen and considered of Corentin's calibre. These are the only two who passed Coren's tests for loyalty and trust, out of many others his father tried to "arrange" for him. Though his options were curated, he felt that he would rather have two close friends he trusted with everything than fifty less loyal retainers. That Thelio's mother was also druidborn, and the two could discuss their mixed feelings of being torn between the simpler, earthier religion lived every day and the flashier, ceremonial pantheon was just a handy side product. Though Coren never really focused on improving his druidic magic, too caught up in his other lessons, he learned a lot through his friend's progress.

Sexuality

Heterosexual

Education

As a male child of a noble line, Corentin was provided with lessons in every subject academic, arcane, religious, or militant that applied. His physical training was intense, providing him for the life of the general they anticipated him to be. (By then the king had begun his efforts at Unification, and the second son was expected to further his father's plans.) Luckily Coren was an athletic boy who thrived under the training, and serious enough to follow physical capability with a well-learned, keen mind, and a surprisingly impressive gift for arcane magic.
Thelio has teased Corentin more than once that his first master didn't believe he was a student but a trick. The second master wanted to get the prince to stop "wasting his time" on martial training, which never would have happened, but apparently caught the king's attention enough to make certain his son had plenty of magic lessons. As a young adult, Corentin leapt ahead in offensive magic, making discoveries of his own to the surprise (and indignation) of war mages who had been studying the field for decades. It is said, the first battle in which he fought, the other side surrendered for fear of what a prodigy battle mage would do to them.

Employment

As the Crown Prince, Coren is employed in the service of Feshaesia. Once his father was satisfied his academic studies in preparation for the future role were sufficiently fulfilled, the prince was given over to his arcane and martial tutors, who brought him onto the battlefield—not that there's anywhere else for an arcanist studying offensive and defensive magic to be of service.
In the last ten years, Prince Corentin has gone from an arcane spectacle to a leader of armies who would follow him to their deaths if he asked it of them, and even his enemies respect him. His role as general of the High King's armies has led him all over the The Lowlands, and many successful battles are laid at his feet. He is now the Sword of Feshaesia, the blade his father wields in pursuit of Unification.

Mental Trauma

The almost careless way his parents moved on from his brother always stuck with him, and it made him close himself off to a certain degree, which, while mitigated by close friendships, leads him to judge people harshly, assuming that they are untrustworthy. Putting up emotional walls is far easier for him than learning to trust someone new. It hinders his abilities with Druidry, but he has always depended on his arcane gifts first so it hasn't affected him as strongly as it could have.

Intellectual Characteristics

Crown Prince Corentin's strengths are in people; how they think, how they act, why they fight. He's got a calm centeredness that guides those around him whether they are planning a campaign, attacking their enemies, or negotiating a peace.

Morality & Philosophy

A good man is not precisely what Corentin considers himself, but it would be hard to find a better one. Everything he has seen in his power-hungry parents that struck him as wrong has guided him in a truer direction that has earned him respect from all directions except perhaps the one that counts most. His unwavering loyalty to his father has led him to do things he would not have chosen, because it was ordered of him. Certain battles, he felt, were unnecessary—there could have been a peaceful resolution. He's been quick to encourage peace since, especially if he could negotiate a treaty with his opponent at the same time.

Alignment

Determined Good

Ethnicity

Feshen

Other Ethnicities/Cultures

• Druids

Honorary & Occupational Titles

Crown Prince of Feshaesia, Lord of Awerth and Ynwrtyn

Age

30

Date of Birth

18th of Hunter’s Moon, 3691 RR

Circumstances of Birth

Royal births are always notable, but this one was fairly standard. Expected a boy, got a boy.

Birthplace

Fethonia, Feshaesian Royal Palace

Current Residence

The Feshaesian Royal Palace

Pronouns

he/him

Gender

male

Eyes

clear blue

Hair

dark blonde, cut to nape of his neck, waves appear when it's wet

Skin Tone/Pigmentation

mid-tone tan/brown

Height

6'2"

Weight

235 lbs, muscular, athletic

Belief/Deity

Polytheism, The Druidic Faith very secondary

Aligned Organization

Feshaesia

Other Affiliations

• The Druidic Faith

Known Languages

Speaks, reads, and writes most Lowlands dialects in addition to Feshaesian and the Trade Tongue. Speaks enough Laranian and Ecrian for basic communication, but studying in a piecemeal fashion for better understanding around his other obligations.

Related Historical Events

• 3721 RR
  Attack on Epraisia

Character Prototype

I've done a lot of searching trying to come up with a prototype, but I bounce between King Arthur in the BBC's Merlin series (cliche as it might be), Chris Hemsworth's Thor (even worse), and a number of minor characters who have made impressions on me over time. Lately, though, when seeking out some inspiration, I came across Philippe Leblond in an image search, and I think I see a good fit, visually—the placeholder image above until I find something better is one of his portraits.