Andros Chrysostephanos
Posted: Sun Dec 18, 2022 9:05 pm
A N D R O S - C H R Y S O T E P H A N O S
Details
Full Name: Andros Chrysostephanos
Race: Human
Sex: Male
Age: 66
Height: 5’9"
Weight: 200 lbs
Birthdate: Frost 4556
Birthplace: Upper Village on Mikronisi, a small island off the coast of Teos, subject to the mainland city of Evrotai
Profession: Currently a peddler. Previously a shepherd and wool merchant.
Housing: On Mikronisi, a sprawling family compound of stone cottages set on a rocky hillside overlooking the ocean. Now, inns and occasional barns across Radenor.
Partners: Beloved wife Elena, deceased 20 years
Titles: Village Headman, Mikronisi
Factions: N/A
Fluencies: Common, Common Sign
Conversationals: None
Ineptitudes: None
Appearance
Andros was a looker in his youth. He had the pick of the women of Mikronisi, and his Elena was considered the most beautiful girl the island had produced for generations. His strong features have persisted into his old age, even if the jet black hair Elena once loved has turned gray. She also loved the scar on his left bicep from his time in the village militia.
A lifetime of hauling crates of wool down to the dock and jugs of wine uphill to the compound has left him as strong as any jumped up mainland soldier. His looks and prodigious strength have earned him admiring female attention across Radenor and even a few marriage proposals, but Andros remains loyal to Elena’s memory.
Personality
Friendly, loyal, clever. That’s how the people of Mikronisi would describe the patriarch of the Upper Village. Andros makes friends easily, mediates quarrels with tact, and drives a very hard bargain for his wool. Living in a tight-knit community has made him open and trusting, though when he does business with mainlanders he knows to be suspicious. Despite his limited, parochial upbringing, his outgoing nature has won him friends on his travels as well.
Andros is a good storyteller and has all the great epics memorized, though he struggles to read. He’s never happier than entertaining a gaggle of village children by the fire after dinner. Children tend to love him, and he’s always kind and generous with them.
Despite a gentle temperament, one thing brings out a fury that shocks those accustomed to an indulgent and kindly man. As a good father and grandfather, he knows that any harm done to his kin must be repaid threefold. A young man from Lower Village who tried to force himself on Andros’ youngest girl discovered that when he found himself food for sharks on the bottom of Mikronisi bay. It took all of Andros’ wits - not to mention half his store of wine - not to let that turn into a blood feud.
History
Compared to the warriors, scribes, and mages of the mainland, Andros led a placid, simple life until recently. The past 100 years have seen a favorable climate on Mikronisi, with warm weather and ample rains that made the grass grow high and the flocks grow fat. The only son of a shepherd whose ancestors have lived in Upper Village since time immemorial, he inherited his father’s sheep as a teenager. His mother, a domineering woman, was unable to prevent him from making his own love match to the beautiful, kind, Elena who was the light of Andros’ life. Even the old shrew came to love Elena. Everyone did.
Elena gave him six daughters before she died in childbirth. Her only son died with her, a dual tragedy Andros has never really recovered from. Still, he’s devoted his remaining days to raising and then finding matches for his offspring (Anthea, Theodora, Dorothea, Persephone, Anastasia, and - Andros’ favorite - Irene). After the third daughter’s birth, it became clear that Andros could never provide them all with decent dowries on what he made selling his wool and cheese to the merchants down at the docks. They buy goods for 10df and sell them for 200df on the mainland. So Andros cut out the middlemen and went into business himself. He raised funds among the villagers to buy a ship and a crew, then took everyone’s wares to the mainland in person. Over time he developed a talent for negotiation and made himself the richest man on the island. His wealth and popularity won him election as Village Headman when the last occupant of that office died.
Being Village Headman meant taking charge of the local militia. He drilled with them once a month, spending a day marching back and forth, practicing with spears and swords. As a young militiaman, he himself was three times conscripted to fight in the army of Evrotai, putting down rebellions in different parts of Teos. He managed his spear with distinction and even earned a decoration, but he hated the experience. He’s not a pacifist and is prepared to fend off pirates or invaders should any set foot on his island, but he’s not interested in killing for anybody’s empire. As Village Headman, he even negotiated a deal to hire substitutes in place of Upper Village’s annual quota of men for the army, protecting his people.
Andros led his people and his family with skill and patience. Every daughter was married off, conflicts with the Lower Village were settled peacefully, and the taxes due to Evrotai were paid on time. But as he welcomed his 12th grandchild, he couldn’t help but feel restless. Spending time in Evrotai showed him how small his world had always been. He met people from all over Teos and beyond, some quite magical and some not even human. As much as he loved his home and his kin, he didn’t want to die never having seen beyond Teos.
So Andros made a radical decision. He mortgaged a third of his flock to a mainland merchant and took the proceeds out of Teos to trade. Leaving Anthea in charge of the family business and her husband in charge of the village, he took a ferry to Evrotai, loaded up on easily portable goods, and made his way towards to Radenor. His vow was to return when he could bring each of his girls a pound of gold. He has spent the last nine years traveling the towns of Radenor trading here and there: olive oil and dyed cloth for copper ingots; ingots for wine, wine for iron hooks and pins and so on. Earning a tiny profit on each sale, he’s built up a tidy nest egg.
