Hernán Cortés
The Spaniard who founded an era
Captain-General Hernán Cortés de Monroy
We Spaniards came west hoping to find more primitive civilizations ready to have the gold plucked from their fingers, but is that what we found? No. We ended up becoming part of the affairs of someone else, and by the time we reached the capital of these people, it was too late. I have just entered Spain in a conflict far greater than any of the Italian states could ever become. But, we won't let this opportunity go away just yet, not when we have just been introduced to something only described in the Bible: magic."Hernán Cortés was a Spanish Conquistador who led an expedition intending to find and conquer the land of the New World and put it under the flag of the Spanish Empire, only to find that the land known as Ocrea is all but open to an invasion. Starting out with only conquistadors at his disposal, as well as his decision to burn his own ships to prevent an escape for deserters, he decided to move on into the newfound continent to learn more about the people of Ocrea, as well as hopefully find an ally as quickly as possible to gain at least a foothold on the continent.- Hernán Cortés, 1520, aboard the Conquista
Early life
Cortés was born in 1485 in the town of Medellín, in the Kingdom of Castile. His father, Martín Cortés de Monroy, born in 1449 to Rodrigo or Ruy Fernández de Monroy and his wife María Cortés, was an infantry captain of distinguished ancestry but slender means. Hernán's mother was Catalína Pizarro Altamirano. Later in his life, Cortés was described by his peers as ruthless, haughty, and mischievous, the perfect traits for a warrior. The 16-year-old youth had returned home to feel constrained life in his small provincial town. By this time, news of the exciting discoveries of Christopher Columbus in the New World was streaming back to Spain, which is when he decided to drop out of university to make his fortune by traveling to the west along with an expedition to Hispaniola in 1503, where he slowly rose up the ranks and became a Captain-General for many years. He saw his first near-death experience when he was attacked in Cuba by a serpent-like monster, called the naga, that almost killed him, have not for a nearby musketeer, but this experience left him with an obsession to become a better swordsman.First expedition
"The green and pink on these trees differ from the ones we have seen in Cuba. This can't be right, none of this is making any sense to me. Did we travel too far?"When Velázquez decided to take away his position in an expedition in 1519, Cortés, in an act of open mutiny, went anyway in February 1519. He stopped in Trinidad, Cuba, to hire more soldiers and obtain more horses. Accompanied by about 11 ships, 600 men, 13 horses, and a small number of cannons, Cortés journeyed to find a continent rumored to exist by explorers. He finally found land on the 20th of March, where he and his crew were dumbstruck to find a colorful landscape filled with emerald and cherry blossom trees - but wasn't as shocking to Cortés' as his first encounter with a naga. His first encounter with a native was when he and his landing company encountered a blue-haired woman and her hut on the beach, who tried to fight them when they came close, to which she was immediately subdued after striking Alvarado after he touched her hips. Cortés' first battle on the continent was when a group of 50 of his men, led by Gonzalo de Sandoval, was ambushed, to which he led a group of his musketeers to kill the ambushers before they executed the survivors. Through the help of the girl, named Ayame, and a translator who was living with her for some time named Geronimo de Aguilar, a shipwrecked priest who was part of a forgotten expedition, to identify that the land was called "Ocrea" by the natives and is home to a powerful clan, called the Shajin Clan, who don't take too kindly to trespassers. Despite the warning, Cortés led several brutal assaults on Shajin villagers, plundering them for their supplies and silver, with the survivors left to tell the tale of a "band of mages" with "thunder staffs" pillaging Shajin territory. He only spared a few of the richer villages that treated the conquistadors with utmost leisure before allowing them to move on with directions to another village, but mostly due to Ayame's pleas to spare them.
Invitation to Leylas
Following Cortés' numerous raids on Shajin towns, he was finally sent an invitation from Takeda Shajin, the heir apparent to the Shajin Clan, to make peace with the strangers that marauded in her family's lands in the form of several emissaries who showed them the path to the capital, shocking the conquistador at the sudden change of pace. After weeks of thinking, Cortés took the offer and marched on to the capital, eager to finally see the capital city of the land he wanted, despite warning from his men it was a trap. After a week of walking, Cortés and his expedition finally arrived in the capital of Leylas, where they stood in absolute awe at the size of the city and the amazing architecture of the Shajin people, especially the beauty of the people that surrounded them. This is where they realized how much inferior they were in such a massive continent and that they were literally trespassing on a powerful lordship's territory, but were terrified that they were now surrounded by an entire city of the people they have been raiding in an act of vengeance to avenge the men lost at Sapphire River. But suddenly, a little girl had enough curiosity to approach one of the musketeers when his back was turned, grabbed hold of the match and pulled in down which ignited the pan and blasted a musket shot in the air, scarring the little girl's face with gunpowder and terrifying the Shajin people at the thunderous sound of the "wooden staff" that was heard in a massive portion of the city. This is when Cortés realized that, judging by their reaction to gunpowder weapons, that they don't know the concept of firearms from Europe and that they did indeed have something to match the continent. After the event that took place, Cortés and his men were taken to a designated compound in the nobility part of the city, where they were treated to lovely food and drinks, warm baths in hot springs and even entertainment. This continued for months until Cortés was called to speak to Takeda in her father's palace, where things didn't go so smoothly as Cortés demanded reparations for the death of his men while Takeda argued back that he took more than what was taken from him when he burned down their villages, causing a rift to emerge between the two, but Takeda decided to keep pampering the Spanish with more luxury to learn more about Cortés and where they came from. Cortés used this time to organize his men to keep them within the compound instead of leaving it, trying to keep his men from deserting to stay at the capital."Is this the land we have come to conquer, Cortés?"
"No, I don't think so. It is too civilized, too magical and certainly too beautiful to even think of a conquest. I do believe they are all but open to an invasion."
Pedro de Alvarado and Hernán Cortés upon taking in the sight of Leylas.
Battle of Yamar and meeting with Matsu Shajin
Months later, Takeda had received word that the Jushel clan has declared independence when word got out that the Ashus clan too have declared independence earlier and plans to march their armies to the plains of Yamar to do battle. Eager to get some action, as well as repay the Shajin for both their courtesies and the numerous towns they cost them, Cortés and his officers took it upon themselves to volunteer all their musketeers, crossbowmen and cannons to join their army upon hearing the plains housed a massive mountainous forest to the west, enough to hide their forces within, while Pedro de Alvarado stays at the capital with the rest of the men. Takeda was urged by her advisors to not accept their offer, as they viewed it as a plot to gain favour with her father, but decided to accept the help of "powerful mages" to rain fire down upon their enemies. Cortés and his split army marched for weeks alongside the hundred times larger Shajin army to the plains of Yamar, where his muskets and artillery terrified the entire Jushel army, leading to a glorious victory. When Cortés and his men returned to Leylas, they were hailed as heroes by the Shajin people for their help in defeating the Jushel, awarded with a festival to happen in their honor. While the other Spaniards joined the festival, Cortés mostly sat beside Takeda and observed the massive differences between Europeans and Ocreans in their culture rather than their looks. Near the end of the festival, everyone stopped celebrating as Matsu Shajin and his personal envoy suddenly showed up unannounced, who received word of a band of mages who have arrived at the capital and intends to speak to Cortés and his officers about the battle that has happened. At Matsu's palace, he quickly became acquainted with the Shajin lord, but things almost went badly when Matsu brought in his naga assistant, causing Cortés to remember the first time he encountered a monstrous serpent, to which he almost ordered his musketeer guards to fire on it, but was halted when Ayame, his lover, and translator, stopped him and explained to him briefly on the naga people and their place in the world. After the misunderstanding was cleared, the naga proceeded to use some sort of magic to scan the muskets and gunpowder of Cortés' men, where it became clear that the "staffs" were just tools that the Spanish created and not magical at all. Despite this, Matsu decided to keep the idea of powerful mages are on their side to raise support from his people.Siege and awarding of Ashus Castle
After finishing resupplying his army, Matsu decided to offer Cortés and his expedition a place in his army in exchange for land if they helped them retake Ashus castle, which is still under siege by the rest of his army. After days of considering, Cortés grudgingly accepts this offer, willing to get land to help Spanish presence on the continent, joining the siege where his cannons proved to be the deciding factor in the battle. Cortés' cannons were used to blast down the gate while the main Shajin army charged in, where it was noted that Cortés personally led a band of his swordsmen into the castle to get some glory of his own. Following the victory, Cortés and his expedition were awarded Ashus castle for their part in the siege, renaming it Castle Cortés and flying the Imperial Spanish flag on the ramparts, and were sworn in as barons of the castle and its surrounding area. It was noted that the Spanish were thought by Matsu to be a band of traveling nomads as to why they were awarded such a magnificent castle. At the castle, Cortés started to send letters to Emperor Charles by merchant ships on how they have gained favor with an entire clan on the continent and have "captured" a castle in the name of Spain, also starting a trade of gunpowder to alchemists for unfairly high prices. At the castle, Ayame announced that she was pregnant with his child, following a tryst months before, to which Cortés deliberately forced a priest to annul his marriage and wedded him to Ayame, believing that she can grant him a worthy heir.Arrival and defeat of Narváez
A month after Cortés has established Castle Cortés, Cortés received word that Diego Velázquez sent an enormous arresting party made up of 1,400 conquistadors and 19 ships led by Pánfilo de Narváez to find and hang Cortés for his insubordination, almost terrifying Cortés as he burnt the letter sent to him and immediately started to organize his troop to try and ambush Narváez's men when they were on the move. Narváez in the meantime became so infatuated with the continent that when he came in contact with a town in the jungle, called Nihon, he deliberately marched into it and ordered his men to fly the Spanish flag over the ramparts, claiming it to be a colony for Spain and started to build wooden fortification around the town to protect against any siege. Unknowing to Narváez, the people of the town have sent word to nearby towns and forts of men of the same "mages" have taken over the town. Cortés in the meantime was confronted by an army of 500 Shajin soldiers who came to Castle Cortés with a request to join them in defeating the invading expedition, telling them that they have taken refuge at a nearby town in a jungle, unaware that Castle Cortés is closer than they think. Cortés, visibly shaken, agrees and marches with 300 of his men to take on the larger expedition, all while sending emissaries from the Shajin to bribe members of Narváez's expedition into turning against him when they get there, with promises of wealth and glory should they succeed. This led to the Battle of Narváez's ColonyReturn to Spain with Takeda Shajin
After the battle, Matsu Shajin heard of the battle that took place between the two Spanish armies and was now aware that the Spanish are indeed from another country and requested Cortés to give him a full explanation of where his people come from, otherwise he would get his naga assistant to read his mind. Cortés traveled back to Leylas, where it was noticed that the people didn't seem to fear him anymore, believing that word has reached far that the Spaniards were not as magical as they have believed but was calmed by his officers who told him that the people still suspect the gunpowder to have magical elements. In Leylas, Cortés gave Matsu a full detailed explanation of how they are explorers who originally come to find more gold deposits and start a colony on the continent. Matsu then demanded that he takes a ship back to Spain and bring his ruler to forge an official alliance between his country and his, but Cortés argues back that Emperor Charles is never going to be willing to abandon his position in Spain and leave it open to the prepared French, thus Matsu assigns his own daughter to a massive flagship filled with riches and other objects to bring Cortés back to Spain to meet with Charles herself. Cortés agrees to help navigate back to Spain, bringing Ayame with him and leaving Alvarado to look after Castle Cortés as he is away.Second expedition
"It isn't the tale of riches that are bringing more loyal warriors to join my expedition, it is the opportunity to be allowed to live within a world touched by God himself. But we must be cautious, as the people of the magical realm just might stop fearing our weapons, and when that time arrives, we must be prepared for war."Arriving in Cádiz, Takeda formally introduced herself to Charles herself, where Ayame, now fluent with Spanish, helped translate everything Takeda said to the Emperor, granting him a number of wondrous gifts from the Shajin Clan. Cortés in the meantime used the tales about Ocrea and the artifacts aboard the flagship to recruit a massive number of warriors and workers for his second expedition into Ocrea to reinforce his position, gaining almost a total of 4,000 people who want to see the magical lands of Ocrea. Cortes also used his family's wealth and the profits of selling gunpowder to the Shajin to construct the Conquista to be the strongest transport of goods to Ocrea. Cortés was also awarded the title of lord over all Spanish holdings in Ocrea from Charles himself and was given a treaty for Matsu Shajin to sign in agreement to an alliance and trade agreement as negotiated between Charles and Takeda. Cortés then set sail to Ocrea with over 22 ships, 4,000 men and a large number of muskets and cannons in mid-1520.
Mental characteristics
Education
University of Salamanca
Employment
Cortés was fairly well educated and had family connections, so when he arrived in Hispaniola in 1503 he soon found work as a notary and was given a plot of land and a number of natives to work it for him. He later trained as a soldier and took part in the subjugation of those parts of Hispaniola that had held out against the Spanish. He became known as a good leader, an intelligent administrator, and a ruthless fighter. It was these traits that made Diego Velázquez select him for his expedition to Cuba.
Accomplishments & Achievements
When Velázquez was ordered to capture Cuba, Cortés managed to distinguish himself as a soldier and administrator and was made mayor of the new city of Santiago. His influence grew, and he watched in 1517-18 as explorers were sent to the south and north in search of land, but found only nothing but fog, leading to Velázquez assigning Cortés to find land to the far west, showing how much he has grown in just a short time.
Mental Trauma
When he was leading a small party of conquistadors in Cuba, he was suddenly attacked and almost killed by a large serpent-like monster, called naga, where he developed a sudden fear of snakes as a result, even though this event pushed him to become a better swordsman.
Relationships
Relationship Reasoning
Takeda was the one who invited Cortés into her own city and allowed him to join her army to fight at Yamar, forging a vital alliance between each other and have grown to respect each other, despite their past aggression.
Relationship Reasoning
Cortés was the only one who protected her from his men from killing her for the part she played that led to Gonzalo's death, thus Ayame was eternally grateful for Cortés, while Cortés fell in love with her beauty and strong will during the march.
Legal Status
Married
Species
Ethnicity
Year of Birth
1485 AD
Spouses
Siblings
Children
Eyes
Dark brown, squinty
Hair
Short, black
Height
6'1"
Weight
180 lbs
Owned Vehicles
Aligned Organization
Other Affiliations
Ruled Locations
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