Character Avatar: Jared Leto
Character Name: Jehan Godefray
Age: 33
Rank/Title: Future Vicomte Godefray
Race: d'Angeline (mostly)
Country/Province: Townhome in The City of Eula, lands in Siovale
Townhome Request: West Borough > Heron District > Deep Roots. The city home of Jehan Godefray. It is not a large house, but it is surrounded by a tall brick wall that has every manner of vine and tree one could dream of taking up it's space. The wall is mostly decorative and some of the plants have made their way through parts of it. There is no look of disarray, only the look of what is truly loved, the unusual plant life, not the building.
Country Home Request: Estates le Godefray, Near the boarder of Siovale and Aragonia
Player:Desdemona
Appearance: Jehan is a tall and well built d'Angeline man. His hair is a dark brown/blond that sometimes streaks lighter if he's had a lot of sun. He usually wears it long. It has a natural shine and silkiness that is the envy of some. He is able to grow facial hair better than most full blooded d'Angelines, like most of the men in his family. He likes that it lets him stand out and he usually keeps a short and tidy beard. He will shave his face clean when he deems it necessary. His most notable feature are his piercing blue eyes. Eyes that are usually soft and friendly, but at times can seem as if they are looking into your soul.
He also has a few tattoos, though he is able to cover them up with his usual daily wear. He has the alchemic symbol for air on the back of his forearms, close to his elbows. He also has the phrase, "Provehito in Altum," tattooed across his chest, which stands for, "Launch forth in the depth."
Personality: Jehan is an eccentric d'Angeline, though he can dial it down when needed. He loves bright colorful clothes and has worn some memorable costumes to Midwinter and other similar events. He has a deep love for Shemhazai and the art of seeking knowledge. He sees art in architecture and even more so in anything mechanical. His greatest life goal is to figure out how to create an automated statue that is as beautiful and complex as the ones that grace the greatest of Shemhazai's temples. He is a proper noble son first, a seeker of knowledge and invention second, and an odd creature with strange desires at his core.
History: Jehan is the eldest child of Telford and Ynez Godefray. He grew up in a family that has a long history of keeping to Shemhazai's precept. Different generations have kept the precept in different ways giving the family a long and colorful past. For some it was the knowledge of plants, traveling far and wide to collect anything that would grow at the family's estates or their various townhomes in the City of Eula. For others it was cultural knowledge. There have been some who valued the sciences and it's many forms that can be found throughout neighboring countries. Their mixed history has, over the years, given their estates some rare plants that the family has been able to sell for a tidy profit. They are also long collectors of unusual artifacts. These artifacts can later be sold at high profit to make room for new treasures. It was in this world of ever shifting color and texture that Jehan grew up.
Each member of the family is allowed to pursue their interests as long as they don't pull them away from family affairs completely. Jehan found his interest at the young age of 6. A interest that has held on for more than 20 years.
When he was young his family made one of their usual trips to one of the larger temples of Shemhazai. They had a private consolation with one of the priests concerning a family matter. This did not interest a 6 year old and Jehan wondered off and made his way through the temple. It didn't take him long to find the large courtyard the held the mechanical Shemhazai statue. It was a large man of gears and automation, one that could move seemingly by magic. Jehan watched it fascinated. He caught the attention of a few visitors so he decided to hide in some of bushes that grew in a garden that resided on the edges of the courtyard. He stayed there for some time. He doesn't know if it was an act of the gods or a byproduct of some opium laced incense, but at some point Jehan noticed that the statue had stopped it's repetitive automated movement and was instead looking directly at him. Jehan froze in fascination and terror. The big statue reached a hand out and touched Jehan on the forehead. As soon as the cold finger touched his skin Jehan felt a odd tingling in his mind and his world went dark. He awoke much later to the frantic sound of his mother's voice calling his name. Jehan crawled out of the bushes and ran crying to his frightened parents. He told them of the statue. His parents and the priest they were with told him that he must have been having a dream. Jehan wasn't sure and, to this day, he is still unsure.
After that day Jehan developed a very keen interest in mechanics. When he had free time he would experiment with pulleys, gears, and other similar systems. His parents bought him simple toys as a child that used mechanics to function. As he grew older and learned some basic carpentry and metalworking skills, he was able to experiment with creating systems of his own.
As he grew Jehan was expected to learn everything he would need to take over the family estates as the eldest child. He was dutiful and kept his experimentation as a hobby, albeit one he spent a lot of time on. His dream was to build his own automated human, one like the Shemhazai statue. Every time his family visited he would try to peer into the mechanics of the states and see exactly how they worked. They were very complex, however, and not something one could learn on a day trip.
As Jehan became a young adult his fascination didn't stop, but he did find new distraction with games of love and love making. He looked for love in the Hall of Games, tried out all of the Night Court houses,and looked for someone who would carry on his family traditions with him. Though he had some men and women who caught his interest for a short time, none of them ever seemed to stick. Jehan drifted through his 20s without finding anyone to call a spouse. Though this may have bothered some, he was too focused on his hobby to really pay it much attention. When his family would ask about a possible marriage he would wave them away and tell them he still had plenty of time. He was a good son when it came to helping out with family and estate needs, so his parents could not complain too much.
As Jehan aged, so did his parents. They found the trips to Terre d'Ange more tiring with each passing year. When Jehan was 26 years old his parent decided to send him to the City of Eula. He could keep the family updated with political affairs, and maybe, find a wife. Jehan was very familiar with his family estates at that point and he did not have much to learn at home. This also gave him the time he needed to really work on his dream of making an automated human.
Jehan employed the various artisans in the city to create gears and other pieces that would be needed to create such a contraption. As he planed out pieces and requested them from the various blacksmiths around town, he realized that getting the pieces to properly represent human movements was more difficult than he anticipated. He started hiring adepts and other patient servants of Namaah to move about his workshop. He would fit his pieces to them and see how the gears moved as they moved around. They were initially hired because he wanted people who would readily take off their clothes and not ask too many questions. They, of course, also planned on performing their service to Namaah. Soon Jehan realized that he found more pleasure in these events than he did in the more traditional sexual games.
Jehan learned about the arts of rope tying and suspension. Once he had it mastered he was able to turn a willing Valerian into a mechanical statue of sorts. A statue that was controlled by him, not by gears.
Usually these games would start out by Jehan hiring an adept for the purposes of testing out his mechanical designs or for more traditional sexual purposes. Thought Jehan felt drawn by his lusts, he never wanted to fully give into them, feeling that there was something wrong about sexualizing his long time hobby. One day he did finally give in and brought a man home simply to tie him up and control him like a puppet. Jehan completely gave in and lived his fantasy. Even though the man was not bothered by the unusual play, Jehan was bothered by it after. He sent the man away and said he never wanted to see him again.
Jehan could never give up his desire to build his own automa. He would always find his mind drawing him back, wanting to solve the puzzle of which gears would make the best moving statue. As he reached his 30s he was able to build simple machines, but they never seemed to have the grace and complexity that the Shemhazai statues did. So, he continued to build and try new things. His need meant that he would have to watch real people move, their graceful limbs, and their beautiful bodies. The pleasure that he would find in this would find it's way to the forefront and he would give in even as he hated himself.
Most of the time Jehan is the proper future Vicomte of a d'Angeline estate. He attends fetes and other events with a gusto, putting his mind completely into enjoying the normal pleasures of d'Angeline life. Other times, his need to see how things move just so and to make them move that way takes over. He will either give into these compulsions or he will seek out Kushiel or a Mandrake to hide them behind a veil of pain. Jehan knows that he should probably seek out real assistance or healing by talking with someone about his pleasures. But, if he was honest with himself, Jehan enjoys his shame almost as much as he enjoys turning d'Angelines into puppets.
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