Karameikos - Vaults of Pandius

Strolojca and DraconiusBessarion (Lawful 9 th -level Fighter, Str 16,Wis 18) is the first son of VanyarineDraconius. He is a solidly built man, 5’10” tallfor 165 lbs. of weight, who doesn’t show at allhis 48 years of age: his hair is a full lightbrown colour, lacking any sign of age, and hisbody is a warrior’s, well-toned and muscled.His clean shaven face always has anauthoritative – if tired – air, and his blue eyesseem to look deep into one’s soul.Although the deaths of his two wives hauntedhis early adulthood, Bessarion has risen as amuch stronger man. During his travels withhis daughter Stephania in AC 991-994, hemanaged to trace the activities of a group ofslavers who were smuggling slaves into andout of Karameikos, and his deeds earned himthe title of Knight from the Grand Duke. Hewould have liked then to take paladin vowsand go wandering in the name of the Churchof Karameikos, but his family and politicalduties prevented this.Returning home, he assumed the rule ofGlucynthos, securing it against goblins andbandits, improving villages and roads,building bridges, and ploughing new lands tosettle and farm. He also built a chapel in hiscastle, devoted both to the Church ofTraladara (Traladaran clerics saved his sonPetrus from a fatal disease in AC 988), and tothe Church of Karameikos. Near his chamber,he erected a shrine to the Immortal Valerias,in front of which he prays every night for thesoul of his beloved Adrianina.In the years since his return, he has also tried(or is trying) to put his children on theirrespective roads: a life to be enjoyed forStephania, an advantageous marriage forArcadia, and the role of his heir for Petrus.Bessarion grew up in the Thyatian Provinceof Traladara, among Traladaran relatives,and as a result he doesn’t feel any realdifference between Thyatians andTraladarans; he feels that the Immortalshave led the Thyatians to Traladara for apurpose: bringing the Thyatian efficiencyand organisation and merging it with theTraladarans’ traditions and identity to createa new, prosperous culture. Bessarion isdeeply convinced that the Karameikos familywill succeed in giving his new people abright future, in spite of any difficulty ahead.Bessarion knows he has not been the best offathers, and knows that Arcadia wishes himill for the time he spent away with Stephania.Because of this, lately he has tried to spendmore time in Glucynthos with Petrus andArcadia, than in Specularum at the GrandDuke’s court.At court, Bessarion supports Stefan’s policyof a future of integration between the GrandDuchy’s two cultures. He is one of the morerespected Thyatian aristocrats, both becausethe wisdom he always shows in his words,because of the tragedies he had to bear in hisfamily life, and because of hisunquestionable martial prowess. ThereBessarion strongly represents the NewKarameikan nobility, born from mixed bloodfamilies, and indifferent to ethnic andreligious differences in favour of a commonKarameikan future. Bessarion is also a strongsupporter of the Karameikos family, and heis also on very good terms with the Korrigan,Prothemian, and Hyraksos families. He hasgone so far as to betrothing his son Petruswith a scion of the Prothemian house, theyoung Lady Selina (niece of the Duchess);the two should marry soon. Despite theresentment his father felt toward his cousin106THRESHOLD: The Mystara Magazine Issue #1