Creeperoni van Papania

= Creeperoni van Papania =

Appearance
Creeperoni has not aged well. He is bald, aside from grayish-whitish hairs covering the sides of his scalp. He has a stern face. He usually wears a long black cloak over a white buttoned shirt. He’s not as young as he used to be, but he is still strong.

Personality
Creeperoni’s personality was greatly shaped by three main events in his life:


 * 1) Ascension to the throne
 * 2) Death of his brother
 * 3) The war with Zaereth

These 3 events completely changed his outlook upon the world, but each taught him a lesson.

Creeperoni is calm but he has a negative outlook on life. He has some great insight, but tends to give off cynical remarks. He is obviously not the man he used to be when he was younger, and he is aware of that.

He is wise and well-educated. However, he keeps a lot to himself.

He believes that  a righteous state ensures justice for its citizens.

He is often seen brooding, probably about his past. At night, you may find him standing by his late brother’s grave, showing little emotion whatsoever.

Early Life
Creeperoni van Papania is the second son to be born to the legendary king Hans van Eerst "The unifier" of the Geld. He had a regular childhood for a child of his background. He liked to read and play “war” with his brothers.

As a young man, Creeperoni was cheerful and friendly. He enjoyed having conversations with his servants. If they were lucky, he asked them about their day. The less fortunate would have had to sit quietly and smile as he would have told them excitingly about the latest boring book he read.

Ascension to the throne
When he was in his 30s, his father, the king, died unexpectedly. His father’s domain was divided between him and his 4 brothers, and he inherited the islands of Kopen and Ijlegem, which formed his new kingdom, known as Noerd Kredon (unofficially). His capital became the city of Kopemonde. At this point in his life, Creeperoni rarely left his father’s court. He had never been to Kopemonde before in his entire life. As far as his reading goes, he had never taken the time to learn how to run a kingdom.

The time following his accession to the throne was filled with turmoil: economic instability; conflicts with his brothers; rise in crime rates; a population that knows little about him and doesn’t take him seriously. He himself knew very little of how to deal with any of it. So he decided to do what he does best: read. He spent all his time while he was not dealing with matters of his city on studying. He skipped meals and stayed up all night, reading. Ironically enough, this negatively affected his management of the city, as he was tired and was not really interested in it. He did not take any advice, because he was too arrogant to expect anyone would know better than he does.

Murder of his brother
After a few years of turmoil, the brothers decided to meet to settle their differences. At this point, Creeperoni knew much more about how to run a kingfom, but he was having a hard time understanding the specific issues of his city. At the meeting, the brothers began arguing with each other. Things got heated, and soon they started shouting at each other. The arguments became personal, and the brothers started cursing each other, as if they weren’t brothers at all. Eventually, the youngest brother, Aria, snapped, unsheathed his knife and attacked one of the other brothers. He slit his throat. The other 3 soon managed to tackle him. They decided they will stop all petty conflicts between them. They sent their younger brother back to his city on a caravan.

Another thing this meeting achieved was the decision of each brother to adopt a different surname, in order to weaken their claims over each other's territories. Zaereth, the oldest, was allowed by the others to keep their father's surname, a decision that proved to be a mistake.

This event traumatized Creeperoni. He finally understood that he understands nothing. He started opening his ears to not only his advisors, but also the common city folk. The issues that haunted Kopemonde slowly disappeared one by one. He decided he will be a just king. He wrote a code of laws and worked tirelessly to settle petty disputes between the town folk. He found experience to be much more educating than books.

However, the death of his brother left him scarred. He became much less trusting of others and became rather asocial. He had no friends. He hated his younger brother for what he did, and refused to call him by no name other than “the kinslayer”. He went so far as to add a law about kinslaying. The sentence for committing such an act was either banishment or death, though he seemed to have a preference.

Zaereth's Conquest
As the years went by, his older brother, Zaereth, absorbed much of the territory that made up his father’s domain. The only lands that weren't under his control were those of Creeperoni and the awful kinslayer.

Zaereth became drunk with power. Soon he demanded that his brothers cede their domain to him. The brothers refused and war soon followed. Creeperoni was forced into the same side as the kinslayer. Each was very reluctant to work with the other, but as the situation turned dire, they gave in. The war was long and bloody, but the 2 brothers’ armies were no match to Zaereth’s army. Zaereth invaded Kopemonde, burned its tulip fields and defeated them in battle. They retreated to the hills, were they fought another, longer battle, but still lost. Eventually, they both surrendered. Zaereth forgave his brothers and recruited them to his court, but Creeperoni was still very much outraged by what happened.

Fall of Zaereth
After the conquest, Creeperoni became bitter. He despised his brother, but he continued to put on a show of loyalty at court. In the background, he closely followed the growing civil unrest at the time. The people gathered around a man named Zephyr Pradox, a popular merchant. He knew Zephyr would soon march with the people to the royal palace. He made sure that when that happens, only the guards that sympathize with Zephyr cause would be positioned in the palace. When the day came, the guards allowed Zephyr to enter the palace uninterrupted.

Following the deposition of Zaereth, Creeperoni became an advisor to king Zephyr in the newly founded Geltisch Handelsrijck. He once again became mayor of Kopemonde. Though he lost his young spirit, Creeperoni still aspires to help instate justice in Geltrijck as he once did in his own realm.