Duke Gerlof I

Duke Gerlof I was the first Duke of Tulwood. Tasked with building up the region to be the heart of Arenberg's fledgling maritime power, Gerlof I transformed a remote hinterland into a naval superpower, and guided that power towards independence.

Life as an Earl

Gerlof I was born to a minor earldom in a remote border region of Arenberg. His father, the Earl, died in a border skirmish when Gerlof was 12, leaving the young lad the title of Earl with his mother as regent. Gerlof had always been a rebellious and ambitious child, and quickly grew to resent his mother's capacity to overrule his decisions despite having his father's title. Over the years, he gained the respect of a number of people at court for his shrewd understanding of strategy and logistics in overseeing the defense of the border, and became seen as as a promising contender for the next generation's top general despite his relatively low title and being raised far from the royal court.
At 17, the King of Arenberg led an army across the border, seeking to punish neighbouring lands for their repeated raids into Arenberg. Gerlof drafted a request to join in this expedition, but his mother, still regent for another 2 years and fearing she might lose her son to war as she had her husband, ordered scribes to burn any such letter rather than allow them to be sent. This attack quickly grew overextended, and became encircled by the enemy. The king of Arenberg was forced to sign a humiliating treaty, granting a large swathe of territory to the neighbouring kingdom, including Gerlof's lands, in exchange for him and his men being disarmed and permitted to march home.
Gerlof's family, and several other families to have had their lands transferred to the enemy, were brought to the capital of Arenberg where they would be provided for by the royal treasury and were to be treated with the same deference that would have been their due as before the disastrous raid.
By and large, these nobles were seen as country bumpkins with no place at the Royal Court and a burden on the Kingdom that had failed to pull their weight by defending the borders. Various insults and allusions to such beliefs were buried under a veneer of courtesy sufficient to meet the letter of the royal edict, while making it very clear to Gerlof and others that they were unwelcome outsiders.
Over time, Gerlof managed to draw these other nobles to him, effectively becoming the leader of this group of landless nobles in the court. At the same time, he managed to ingratiate himself with the upper echelons of the military, his head for strategy and patience for logistics earning him high praise, particularly with so recent a demonstration of the king's lack of these virtues etched into their memories.
Life at the Royal Court also broadened Gerlof's horizons, and he quickly became fascinated by the military implications of recent developments in ship design. Arenberg had little investment in naval power despite being a coastal kingdom; the kingdom's wars were historically fought over the borderlands of the interior. But with recent developments, Gerlof suggested the kingdom might be able to use its large forests to become a strong naval power and thus able to compete in the coming Age of Sail. Privately, he also saw the opportunity to strike out on his own if he played his cards right.

Duke of the Hinterlands

When word of Gerlof's ideas for a strong navy reached the king, he took it as an opportunity to solve a potential problem. During his time at court, Gerlof had done his best to hide his resentment of the king for the loss of his ancestral lands, but he could not hide the influence he held over both the landless nobles from the borders and over an ever larger portion of the military. Thus, he wanted Gerlof out of the royal court and occupied with tasks other than growing his personal powerbase. But at the same time, the king had no reason to move openly against him. Thus, he granted Gerlof the newly created Duchy of Tulwood, made up of a largely wild section of crown lands, and assigned him a seemingly impossible task: to use the resources of the area to build up a naval shipyard and oversee the production of the Arenberg Navy. Little did he know that this was exactly the kind of opportunity that Gerlof had been looking for.
Gerlof I spent the remainder of his life carefully orchestrating the founding of Tulwood, such that the project continuously showed considerable promise while failing to deliver. This orchestration, and further manipulation of Arenberg's many political factions, ensured that he would be provided with a steady stream of funds to jumpstart this naval experiment. He also managed to have smaller trading ships built in secret, which supplemented his income. By his late 50s, the Duchy of Tulwood had constructed a powerful navy, staffed by crews loyal either to Gerlof I and the landless nobles of Arenberg or to the considerable fortune he had managed to build up. Within a decade, they had stopped paying taxes and operated as an effectively independent nation from the rest of Arenberg. By the time his son, Gerlof II, declared independence shortly after his father's death at the age of 87, Arenberg was barely willing to contest the issue.

Analysis of the Hunter's Guild

Duke Gerlof I's life is widely considered to be that of one of the greatest natural politicians of history. However, his clear skill at manipulation combined with the combination of odd coincidences and people deferring to him despite his relatively modest title are suggestive of the powers gained by those who are bound to The Weaver, a power rooted in the sort of manipulation and indirect power that all but defines Gerlof I's reign. His unusually advanced age also suggests this - all reports suggest that at 87, Gerlof I was still vibrant and healthy, in sharp contrast to the frailty suffered by most who survive to reach such an advanced age. Unnaturally long life is a common boon granted to those bound to a variety of powers.
Given the skill of manipulation displayed in history, it is possible that Gerlof I survived long after his supposed death, though most consider it unlikely he survives to this day, several centuries later. Given his focus on the Free City of Tulwood, if his death was faked, it is likely he has spent much of his time on or closely associated with the Factors' Council that has ruled the city-state since his son's suspected death by poison.