#the most interesting part of his life is that he got to sleep with Zurina and that's that

[alistonjdrake]

Part Three: Vows and Sins

Niels Dursten Role: Priest | Father of the Fates | Standing General of the Holy Army Born: Year 1742 after the fall of our Saints

At birth, no one would have considered Niels destined for priesthood. He started his life in the simple Kellish town of Bornne. His mother was from Nomworth, Palogne, and miserable with the simple life in a farming village. She would eventually run up debts and ditch his father who in turn would go onto to seek legal advice for all the debts. His father would become friends with Argus Breacher (father of Luca Breacher) and Niels would be able to one day say he’d seen the future Kellish queen of the Escana Empire as a child. Although any meeting between them would have been very brief and not a lasting memory in Luca’s mind. Soon after, Niels’ father would find himself unable to get rid of the debts and would make the decision to give his only son and child to the church. 

Niels was sent to Mignola young with the expectation of a good career in Santivism as his uncle, Romuald Dursten, was a chancellor on the conclave at the time (the branch that rules the Santivian church beneath the Justice). Niels would be afforded the opportunity to go to school, to live in a bustling city, the floating city, and the holy capital of the known world. He was given money, new clothes, and food. Prior to his arrival, Niels had been strictly against the path his life was taking. 

Kellish Priests do not live as lavishly as Mignolian ones. He’d imagined himself as old, working in a forgotten chapel at the side of the dusty road, and eating nothing but bread and soup, but life in Mignola proved to be different. And very attractive to him even at a young age. When Niels arrived, it was immediately apparent that Romuald Dursten would not be a very active guardian. His position in the Conclave took priority and instead he set Niels up in a villa close to the Blapanity and had a cycle of maids and tutors watching him. 

Niels got up to a lot of mischief. For the first time he was mostly alone, in a large house, and had every luxury at his feet. He became spoiled, rowdy, and extremely possessive of shiny things in fear of possibly being sent back to Bornne. As a child, Niels would often escape lessons by sneaking into the tunnels beneath the canals and to every corner of the city. Often, his uncle would send Fates or city-watch to find him and Niels became very skilled at escaping their clutches or exchanging treasures he’d collected in order to be let out of trouble. 

As he grew older, his behavior worsened. Niels did not pay very close attention to his lessons. Although he had a vague handle on scripture, the Saints and their lessons, Niels found he was much more interested in other things. Namely, money and women. He built a name for himself in gambling and Mignola’s black trade as he had access to the Blapanity and her holy and ancient treasures, he would often steal and sell them for favors from Ardunese nobility. At 16, he moved into his own villa with its own staff, shedding himself of his uncle’s watchdogs and tutors. He became friends with the sons of lords and rich merchants. He threw parties with them, let them stay in his grand house, flirted with their sisters, and masqueraded as one of them. But Niels was not. He was still a Kellish boy from a farming village. Money became easy to collect but what he really wanted was a title. As he could not marry into a high-ranking family and had no status on his own, Niels bowed to his uncle and asked for forgiveness for his bad behavior before re-focusing on the church. 

He took vows at 17, signing his life away to serve Santivism. Niels tried to forge a close relationship with Romuald but his uncle, although he forgave him, did not like his nephew’s lifestyle. Niels never let go of his lofty friends, his connections in the black trade, his taste for partying, or his interest his women. Romuald kept him at arm’s length and trusted his nephew’s interest in the Conclave even less. Niels had his sights set on climbing the ladder in the church. His blood was set against him as Kellish transplants in Mignola very rarely climbed so high. The Ardunese are obsessed with their legacies and bloodlines and aren’t fond of outsiders.

Niels did his best to outwardly shed his Kellish heritage. He stopped speaking the language, even in private with his uncle. He worked hard to completely rid himself of any traces of an accent, he did not speak of (or to) his father, learned all he could about Codua’s history and culture, he even only slept with Ardunese women. 

Discarding his heritage only proved to drive a further wedge between Niels and Romuald. Besides his greed, Niels was also just very obsessed with trying to expand his social circle. Much of the friends he had as a teen out grew of him as they became interested in their own social standing and reputation. This caused Niels to spend a lot more time mingling and trying to create new connections and deals than paying attention to his duties. He made more money as a yes man and someone who did dirty work for visiting Ardunese princes than as a priest. 

In 1768, When Niels Dursten was 26, the disastrous reign of Justice Licari would begin. Mignola would become a nearly lawless pit where murder and riots were common, half the city’s population was constantly on opium, and priests being patron to prostitution became common. This suited Niels just fine. He thrived under chaos. He purchased a brothel and shamelessly had his prostitutes steal from their clients, he blackmailed any important patrons, and quickly controlled so much of Mignola’s underground that he was dubbed the “Black Justice of the Holy City”. A title that pleased him. 

Still, what Niels wanted was a title with weight and he became increasingly more selfish. He purchased land outside of Mignola with his favors. Small towns and villages, ones that would slowly but steadily continue to fill his pockets when he wasn’t actively working. He redecorated and rebuilt his villa to be even more ornate. Niels lived like a prince. His uncle hated it. They would have many fights, some becoming almost violent, and often ended with Romuald being forcefully escorted out of his nephew’s villa. 

in 1774, Justice Licari died to the relief of the Conclave. His reign so awful that just 14 hours after his death, the Conclave relented and elected a non-Ardunese justice for the first time in a long time. Romuald became Justice Dursten much to everyone’s surprise and Niels’ anger. 

Usually this would be cause for celebration. When one became justice, they often elevated their family. Licari rose his Oskyan cousin to Reverend Mother, for example. A justice could even ennoble their family. However, Romuald and Niels had such a damaged relationship and Niels knew there would no lordships or duchies in his future. 

He would be right, although to save face, Justice Dursten would make Niels Father of the Fates. The protector of the holy city, and oddly enough, the one who would have to clean up the dirty business of Mignola. This involved most of Niels’ ventures like his brothels and black trade connections. He took this as a direct insult. 

As leader of the Fates, Niels would meet Tarley Vilardi, the vice-lieutenant. She would go on to become his primary mistress and act as his bodyguard. Niels exercised most of his flimsy power through her, using her and the Fates she argued onto his side to continue to do his dirty work. 

Justice Dursten would become too busy to fight his nephew. He would instead continue to try and save himself from being equally as stained by covering up the worst of his behavior and stopping what he could. This only proved to further embolden Niels. 

Underneath his uncle’s reign, Niels felt untouchable. Although he lacked a lofty title, he still lived like an unofficial prince and with Tarley Vilardi working for him, much of Mignola still fell beneath his thumb. Niels was also growing tired of the church and felt as if his uncle had turned much of the Conclave against him. If he was not to become a chancellor, if his own blood would not elevate him, he began to look elsewhere to seek titles. 

The boiling point would come with Princess Zurina ana’Frederick Harver’s visit to Mignola to study the occult and ancient religion in 1782. Niels would not hesitate in introducing himself and the two would have a brief affair before she returned to Graza and the Escana Empire where she would find out she was pregnant. 

Although Niels hopes this will be the beginning to a charmed life, dealing with the Escana Empire and the Harver family is much more likely to be his downfall. 

#my writing #my characters #writeblr #tss trilogy #the most interesting part of his life is that he got to sleep with Zurina and that's that #and to think it all ends because one pretty boy pushes him