Ustalav Timeline - Alpon Caromarc Age and another question

[Tommaso Gollini]

Hi there
i was reading the timeline (in Rule Of Fear) and it comes out that the palatinates were created in 4670.
At that age, Alpon was count (albeit a young one).
At the time of Carrion Crown, even setting it in 4710, Alpon is 40 years older. How old can him be ?
30 at the moment of the standing down and now 70 ?
some other idea ?

in the same book (RoF) there are 2 weird lines about the beast of lepistadt that can be useful for the setting of the age:

in the data line it says the beast was created by a doctor Moritz (in 4690):

Spoiler:

Quoting from the book "Dr. Henri Moritz, an outspoken champion of the people, is murdered by his secret creation, a monstrous amalgamation of corpses and monster parts given unnatural life. The terror goes on a rampage, killing numerous famed citizens and members of the ruling council in Lepidstadt. The monster comes to be known as the Beast of Lepidstadt."

in the vieland page, under the "the beast of lepistadt" the entry says:

Spoiler:

Quoting from the book: "The truth of the matter is quite different. Created by a younger,
angrier Alpon Caromarc to avenge him against those who stole his county from beneath him — the first being the creature’s supposed creator, Henri Mortiz—the flesh golem possesses near-human intellect and a naturally peaceful, if inquisitive, demeanor."

From this entry i get the Beast is the creature of Alpon Caromarc (already knew this ToTB). The beast it's said has been created by a YOUNGER alpon.. younger ?! 20 years after the creation of the palatinate ? from the idea above he should be around 50 years old..

Also Alpon is said in Alchemy Companion:

Spoiler:

Quoting: "A few of the university's faculty continue to practice
the forbidden techniques of homunculus creation and alteration in secret, but only the abdicated Count Alpon Caromarc whose powerful thirst for recognition at times overrules his desire for
privacy-is willing to teach these subjects"

In this passage is hinted a role of Alpon in the teachings at lepistadt (not a truth, but a hint).

This means Alpon has eventually done some lecture at the uni AFTER the palatinate creation ? but if he was so angry at the city (that was surely paramount in the palatinate creation) why he should do that after ?

SO i am thinking this

All in all, i see the palatinate date creation moved up to be completed in 4685, even if the movement started in the 4670.

Maybe vieland was the last one to "concede", and only after Alpon saw the other 2 going out violent OR there were diplomatic moves before the concession or whatever.

But that will move a bit the age of Alpon. He can be born in 4650 or something, being 40 at the moment in wich he concedes.

That means he is already a good to great alchemist, that can have done lectures or even been the dean of the university before Acciani and well known about homunculy and creations.
So when the Vieland starts to move up to its "revolution" (that can be 4670) Alpon can be the son of the previous count, and still studying.
THen he may inherit in 4680 after the death of his father and at 30 he has already got some "wind of change" from his 10 years in the university, before as student then as lecturer.
After 5 years in 4685 he jettisons his responsability both in uni and in county. And at this point the retired and bitter count begins to plot his "beastly" revenge on Moritz (that need to be a professor at Lepistadt university, maybe one of the fathers of the palatinate revolution, maybe a free spirited alchemist whose birth is in the bourgeoning class and that can could have been a friend of the younger Alpon in the class days). The beast birth can stay at 4690, and so the first death of Moritz then followed by the trail of blood of the beast escape and the tale can start from here

what do you think ?

[Keep Calm and Carrion]

Rule of Fear says that Caromarc is in his declining years. I’d place him in his 70s or 80s at the start of Trial of the Beast, which would mean he could have been in his 40s when the Palatinates were founded. But I don’t really see a problem with him being 64 or so in TotB and thus 23 or so during the rebellion, if that’s what someone prefers.

In my game, his wife’s death turned a young Count Caromarc’s aptitude with alchemy into an obsession. Though the Count paid the church to raise her, his wife, a pious Pharasman, refused to return from the afterlife. Sad and bitter and angry, the Count threw all his energies into bringing her back on his terms, working towards a Wife Golem that would have her mind as well as her body. (The Beast’s sentience was the closest he came to that goal.) However, in his fanaticism he neglected all his duties to his people, milking them for taxes to fund his research and giving nothing back. Thus, the palatine revolution in Vieland.

These days, to fund his research he must teach rich fools knowledge that is forbidden at the university. It would make sense for Vorkstag (probably in his lecturer guise) to have been Caromarc’s student, exchanging gold and rare specimens for formulae and constructs like the snapjaw homonculi and the golem hound.

[Tommaso Gollini]

that's sounds right KCaC.
so you put the rebellion in the 4670 exactly ? or modified it ?
the thing that stops me to have the rebellion 20 years before the beast is the fact that the beast is said to be the work of a younger and agrier alpon.. and if he was younger in 4690... that is 22 years ago...

[Keep Calm and Carrion]

Yes, I’d put the rebellion in 4670, as written.

~4660 Count Caromarc, age 25, loses his young bride. He pays the Pharasman church to raise her, but she chooses to stay dead and face judgement, as a strict Pharasman might.

4661-4669 Unhinged by grief and resentment, Count Caromarc begins to research ways of reanimating dead tissue, hoping to bring his wife back. He negelects his duties for years, and Vieland county falls into disarray.

4670 Vieland revolts and becomes a palatinate. Caromarc, age 35, retires completely from public life, unwilling to take time from his research to fight the rebellion. This is perceived by the people as a beneficient abdictation. He retains Schloss Caromarc and considerable wealth.

4671-4689 Caromarc makes many remarkable discoveries. When he manages to create the sentient construct later known as the Beast of Lepidstadt, he believes that restoring his dead wife is within his grasp. But he cannot replicate his success; failure after failure send him into despondancy and rage by turns. He blames the Palatine council for his failures, and plots a terrible revenge.

4690 Caromarc, age 55, sends the Beast to kill his enemies, starting with Doctor Henri Moritz, a fellow scholar who might once have been his friend before the revolution. His revenge seems not to satisfy him very much, and burns out before the year is up.

4691-4710 Caromarc seems to set aside his quest to revive his wife; his research begins to move in truly monstrous directions. He fills a menagerie with abberrent lifeforms from all over the world and beneath, and cobbles their flesh together into bizarre constructs for reasons unfathomable to ordinary intellects. He makes unsavory bargains with people like the vile Vorkstaag and Grines to obtain the materials he needs. Like a negligent father, he allows the Beast to roam free, with no guidance or support.

4711 Caromarc, age 76, runs afoul of the Whispering Way.

[Tommaso Gollini]

interesting
convincing, but there still is the "younger angrier alpon" that at 55 seeems to me really not this :)
anyway, your answers were really interesting Kc&Co