Name: Dante Vorrenus
Country of Origin: Cheliax
Brief History:
Dante’s history is a bit complex. To know him best we must first go back to his maternal grandfather, Martin.
Martin was a minor nobleman and a Hellknight (though he had retired from their service). His wife died in child birth and he had one child – a daughter known as Isabella.
He was not an affectionate father; and paid little attention to his daughter, except as a device to enlarge his house.
When Isabella was seventeen she was on a journey from the harbors Cheliax to travel east over sea to the southeastern spur of the Empire. It was faster for her to travel by ship; and as the daughter of a modest nobleman, she was afforded the rank and privilege to do so.
During the journey her ship was attacked by pirates from The Shackles; it was presumed that all were lost in the assault.
Hearing of the news Martin was grief stricken and reproached himself for the distance between him and his kin. Further; his determination to enact vengeance on an insult to his family prompted him to marshal a small company of men, charter a privateer and strike out to enact vengeance on these rogues.
During the next year he attacked and slaughtered many pirates in the Inner Seas; as well as many innocent sailors; simply to bring vengeance on anyone who may have killed his daughter.
Eventually, though, he found a ship and upon attacking it he discovered that his daughter lived, and was now a consort to the captain of the ship. During the melee he was grievously wounded and would die of his wounds in less than a month, yet he was still responsible for freeing his daughter and slaughtering the men who took her from him.
His daughter was reunited with Martin, and the two returned to his estates.
Soon after Martin had passed on because of his wounds and Isabella was the sole heir. However, it was discovered that she was pregnant by the former captain of the ship who her own father had slain in liberating her.
When her son Dante was born, she did what she could to raise him well; but having a son out of wedlock, born of a pirate with no rank and title did not attract suitors. Her lands and property were not tempting enough to draw the attention of a potential husband, and with no personal income, the property fell into gradual disrepair and she was forced to do what she could to keep her son living.
By the time he was six years old, all of the family servants and serfs were let go and allowed to leave due to lack of income. By the time Dante was thirteen years old the lands of the estate were rented out for “sharecropping” purposes. By the time Dante was seventeen his mother was forced to sell the property to a local squire who paid far less than its true worth, even with the disrepair.
Isabella took the bulk of the money and paid for his enlistment into the Imperial Naval academy. She used the rest of the money and purchased a small tavern and currently runs it to make a living.
With the commission purchased by his mother, Dante joined the Imperial Navy as acting Ensign and served with them for about two years (he was given his commission at 18). At that time he was granted his formal officers papers and given command of a minor vessel. During one of the missions he encountered a group of rebels and captured them.
It was Imperial law that the rebels must be executed; yet the ship was currently ferrying an Imperial Diplomat (Ferdinand Vespucci); who insisted that the rebels endure torture before execution.
Dante felt that was inappropriate. There was no legal reason to torture these folk, and in any case, Dante did not care for torture, feeling it distasteful and, in this case - unnecessary. Furthermore, he sensed that Vespucci was doing it out of personal amusement and simply because he enjoyed the action.
Vespucci insisted that his legal rights overruled Dante’s; claiming legal authority on the ship as Imperial Diplomat, and that Dante was not even a formally commissioned captain, only “acting captain” as he was merely the skipper to bring the diplomat to the next port of call.
However, Vespucci’s claim was incorrect; Dante was formally “captain” of the ship, even provisionally, and – as such; his word was law. This did not dissuade Vespucci, instead, it only seemed to encourage a righteous zealotry in the form of arrogant behavior to Dante that this “young pup” would have the impudence to stand against his formal authority.
Even so, Dante refused to torture the folk or allow it to occur, and at this time Vespucci’s personal body-guard attempted to force the issue.
A melee ensued between those loyal to Dante and those to Vespucci. However, the fracas was small as there were few men on board at this time on both sides.
Even so; Vespucci’s men may have prevailed, yet some of the rebels who were waiting their fate managed to break out and aid Dante; killing Vespucci’s men, and any who stood against Dante’s action.
After the combat ensued Dante was in a dilemma.
He had killed an Imperial Diplomat – and though he had the legal right as Master of the ship – he was also aided by rebels who had escaped their bonds in the fight. In short – he would be damned if he returned for trial.
Meanwhile, one of the rebel leaders; a young lass from Sargava (Bridget Teach) – prevailed upon him to get out when he could; to quit the Imperial Navy and come with them.
In truth, Dante was more moved by the woman herself rather than her arguments. He found her beautiful, passionate, and exciting. Furthermore, her enthusiasm for her cause stirred him.
The few sailors on board left alive understood that if any of them returned to Cheliax, they would be considered outlaw and traitor – and therefore executed. Meanwhile, they had a possession of the ship (though it was not very large or fast) and with it the means to escape south before this incident would be detected.
Furthermore, Bridget suggested to Dante that the Shackles was filled with the chance for a man to get a fresh start.
Dante allowed himself to be persuaded to travel south.
He was not eager to do so, but felt that he had little choice. Also, he was intrigued by Bridget’s passion for her assaults on Cheliax.
A curious metamorphosis had come over Dante and a sense of fatalism in the young man (he was now 21). He no longer cared for the strict rules of law that he had been hammered into his head. His opinion was that such rules of law were put aside by powerful men when it suited them, and the nuances of law could be disregarded and maneuvered around with ease, not because a man was “right” but because he knew how to manipulate precedent.
Though this was the norm in most houses in Cheliax, Dante had grown up with another side of that angle. His mother’s praise for his grandfather’s efforts to free her – his unrelenting pursuit to get the job done, his determination to free her no matter what; these details encouraged him to believe that there was a unique sense of honor among his people; a code that made sense to him, and one he had naively believed in without question.
With the understanding that this code was no longer true; even the fabrication he held dear – he believed instead that no code was worthwhile and nothing really mattered.
A sense of cynicism and bitterness hardened him as they sailed south – and it drove him to do vicious acts against any ship he encountered. Even so – he was always good to his men; and always fair with his crew. He never was unjust with them, always made sure they got their equal cut, and always made sure they were taken care of.
These actions were instinctual for him, however, he did not reason them out, he merely acted with that in mind.
Meanwhile, seeing his actions growing darker disturbed Bridget and she encouraged him to mellow his fatalism, and suggested that there were indeed some causes which were worth fighting for. Losing what you believe in did not mean you needed to end up giving up everything.
Dante was conflicted – the hatred he used to push himself was comfortable, it didn’t allow the feeling of any emotion; including shame, or guilt, or fear, or self-doubt or loathing. Only hate at the world for robbing him of what he held dear.
Even so – his heart was moved by Bridget, who had stayed his hand more than once on more brutal actions. Yet his anger remained, and he sense that in time his love for Bridget and his own anger would ignite a dangerous situation for her. In short, he was afraid that one day he may grow angry at her, and hurt her; and he could not live with that.
Arriving at a new port; Dante took his cut of the ship’s loot as acting captain and turned over the ship to Bridget and the crew; who had by now bonded well together.
It was sad partings on both sides, but Dante felt he must get away from his past and “find himself” on the seas, not knowing what the future would bring, only that the sea’s infinite possibilities, and they prompted him to seek a new start in general.
This is now where we find Dante Vorrenus.
I hope the backstory was okay to read and sets the stage for the character. If you like him – let me know, and I’ll have his sheet up and running for you as soon as possible.
Thank you again for your consideration!
