“Splendid. Allow me to introduce myself. I have the great, grand, privileged honour of being: Tancred Gildas Mallory Astolfo Ambrosius Winnifred Perceval Galahad Cervantes Orlando von Ivanhoe-Hauteburg.“

Age: 19

Occupation: knight, unwilling student of history

Likes: nobility, upright conduct, the legacy of his family (when he doesn’t have to constantly hear about it from his grandfather)

Dislikes: his grandfather’s “help” in learning his family’s history, his mother’s “help” in shopping for clothes, that one bust of Cousin Eleutherius in the hallway.

Only son and heir of the current Margrave and Margravine von Ivanhoe-Hauteburg, Tancred comes from a long line of noble and accomplished ancestors. Whether it be dropping rocks on their enemies during the Great Siege of Northgate, serving as trusted advisors to the Princes of Porthaven, or gallivanting around Realmgard as knights-errant or famous adventurers, generations of von Ivanhoe-Hauteburgs have accomplished many great things and written themselves into the annals of Realmgard in spectacular fashion.

Thanks to the long-attested nobility of the family and the deeds of many of its members, it has become customary in the last few generations for the von Ivanhoe-Hauteburgs to be granted knighthoods. While this is certainly an honour, these knighthoods have largely been a ceremonial title and have done little to affect the day-to-day life of the von Ivanhoe-Hauteburgs.

Tancred, for example, has received some training in fighting, tactics, and riding in his capacity as a knight. In his capacity as a member of the family that may boast the bluest of blood (not literally, of course), he has received much more training in dancing, etiquette, polite conversation, and knowing which fork to use when during a fancy dinner. He has had little chance to emulate either the heroes of the chivalric romances he has spent years reading or his own accomplished ancestors.

Incidentally, as one of the longest-established noble families in Porthaven (and all of Realmgard, for that matter), the von Ivanhoe-Hauteburgs are well-acquainted with many of the other patrician families of the city, and Tancred himself has known Amara, the daughter of the Valdus family, most of his life.