Character Avatar: Alexander Bekker
Character Name: Jacques Ladègaillerie
Age: 36
Height: 5'5"
Rank/Title: Aristocrat
Race: D'Angeline (Kusheline/Namarrese)
Country/Province: Terre d'Ange/Kusheth
Player: Merle
Appearance: Jacques crosses the line of androgyny and is simply feminine. As he doesn't make any effort to appear particularly male, he is nearly always mistaken for a woman. Long, dark chestnut hair frames a face far too soft featured and ethereal to ever be considered handsome or masculine. Instead it calls to mind words like pretty and fair and other such feminine qualifiers.
One of his most outstanding features are stunning, long-lashed eyes of deep, chocolate brown that are both expressive and alluring. Another thing quickly noticed are his slightly prominent front teeth, that rather than detracting from his looks seem to add to his charm. His delicate appearance extends beyond his countenance, as well, to his slim and dainty physique and his soft, husky voice with its ambiguously sultry quality.
Personality: Somewhat shy and soft-spoken, Jacques' demure demeanor only reinforces the impression that he is a woman. He doesn't pretend to be one, however, and will usually quickly correct the mistake. Still, mysterious smiles, delicate blushes, and the coquettish flutter of his long, dark eyelashes are the norm. Not exactly timid, he tends towards formality and distancing himself, though he can be a little more assertive in private, especially with those he's familiar with. That said, he doesn't suffer a sense of false modesty. He knows his strengths as well as his shortcomings, and has a surprising amount of confidence and steel within him when he wishes to show it.
This is most readily apparent when he is faced with someone he considers an opponent. In combat or otherwise. Jacques can sometimes come off as arrogant in those situations, aloof and confident, at times even aggressive. Being a generally pragmatic man with little empathy for those he has no personal connection to, he will usually put whichever face forward he thinks will grant him the greatest tactical advantage. Though he has quite a passionate streak, and he certainly isn't impervious to letting his emotions get the better of him from time to time.
One might not expect it with Jacques' Kusheline heritage, that surety in conflict, his fighting prowess, but he can be incredibly submissive. Though he does indulge more cruel desires on the rare occasion. Typically, however, he is so subservient, so obedient, that he finds it difficult, if not impossible, to say no in certain situations – regardless of whether he genuinely wishes to refuse or not. A tendency which has lead him to some very dark places. Places that have left indelible marks upon his character.
Shattered and remade time and again, he is not always stable, and frequently bitter, especially towards the gods he feels have failed him. If they exist at all, which he doubts. He is not weak willed, and is definitely no push-over, but Jacques is nonetheless emotionally fragile, and finds it very difficult to open up, or get close to people. Or more accurately, he has come to the conclusion that he only gets hurt when he does so... and only rarely does he find anyone worth risking that pain for. So, he remains distant, formal, and more often than not... alone.
History: Born into a minor noble family on the Kusheline side of the Kusheth/Namarre border, Jacques was the second son of Baron Jean-Pierre Ladègaillerie and his Namarrese wife, Nadine. Even as a baby he was delicate and beautiful, and his mother doted on him... having wanted a daughter after her first son, Perrin, was born. The baron, a stern and traditional man, discouraged such attention. He was intent on having his sons following in his stead, even if only one of them would inherit his title.
The man needn't have worried, however, as Nadine gave birth to a daughter some five years later, and the young Jacques found himself pushed to the sidelines. Not the elder son, but no longer his mother's favorite. The curse of many a middle child. So, in an effort to be noticed by his parents, the boy pushed himself in his studies to impress his father and embraced his feminine qualities to try to appeal to his mother.
Jean-Pierre was pleased with his son's intellect and drive, but not so with his 'unseemly' interest in 'womanly' things such as fashion and gossip, and the 'disgraceful' way he presented himself. Often demanding the boy keep his hair short, which did nothing to change his elfin features, and making him get rid of any clothes he deemed improper. Jacques was told frequently, and with fervor, that he was a man and should look and act like it. His mother, on the other hand, was more accepting and understanding of her son. Though this unfortunately didn't mean that she paid him any more mind than before. It wasn't that she didn't love her sons, but in her own way Nadine was as traditional as her husband. By her reckoning, it was his job to raise their sons into fine young men, and hers to mold their daughter into a lady.
Still seeking approval, attention, affection... from someone... he turned to his siblings. Sadly, he found in them an echo of his parents. Perrin was as austere and decorous as their father, and while he wasn't as cruel or disapproving as Jean-Pierre, they also never became close. In the case of little Nanette, she was as taken with their mother as Nadine was with her daughter, and the two were hardly apart. His presence was never shunned, by any of his family members, but Jacques never felt truly wanted or accepted by them, either.
At around eleven, Jacques was attending a Tsingani faire and met and befriended Sylvain Shahrizai, who was a year his senior. He was convinced that the barefooted boy with colorful clothes and messy curls was a runaway taken in by the Tsingani to raise as their own... and Syl was convinced that Jacques was a girl, despite the younger boy's protests. The two found they had much in common, to the point that the Shahrizai was soon calling Jacques 'Echo', as he felt they were reflections of one another, and they became fast friends.
As he pursued the rigorous education his father insisted upon, one that included semi-recreational pursuits such as hunting, riding, and fencing, Jacques found that he quite excelled at that last. More than excelled. It seemed that he had a natural gift for swordplay, along with a passion for it.. Which came as a surprise to everyone. His small frame and swiftness offered an advantage, as well as his quick thinking and unorthodox strategies. It was also true that he was frequently underestimated by his opponents, a fact that they quickly learned to regret.
It was a sad twist of fate that after discovering a gift that had at last gotten him his father's pride and regard, that Jean-Pierre was killed in a hunting accident. Perrin was left to take the role of baron at the tender age of sixteen, the pressure and responsibility of which caused him to grow even more detached from his brother... who found solace in his friendship with Syl. As they grew older, the two were so close that many assumed their relationship to be more than it appeared. It wasn't true, though Jacques wished it was. Save for a single drunken escapade when the boys were all of fifteen, their friendship remained platonic.
Jacques once more enmeshed himself in intellectual studies, particularly that of foreign tongues, and the pursuit of dueling. Word of his skill and talent - honed to a fine, rapier point - began to spread. He rarely found anyone who could come close to matching him, and even more rarely someone who could best him. A champion duelist of some renown, he was financially secure and had many admirers, but Jacques nonetheless was restless and dissatisfied and found himself treading a dark path. Falling in with a set of unscrupulous sadists who cared little for Elua's precept.
To the horror of his friends and family, the young man disappeared shortly after his eighteenth birthday, and though they searched high and low, they could find no trace of what had happened to him. Syl was particularly distraught. Eventually, they were all forced to conclude that the worst had happened. That Jacques would not return. Thus their utter shock when he did reappear nearly a year after he went missing, left outside of Sylvain's home on the brink of death having suffered unspeakable torments. Some he had agreed to, but many more that he had not.
It was uncertain at first whether Jacques would survive whatever had befallen him, but gradually he began to heal... physically. It was clear as time went on that more than his body had been broken. His mental recovery was even slower, but after months... years... he eventually regained some semblance of his former self. Fighting, practicing, studying. He never spoke of what he went through, having given his word that he would not seek any retribution even before giving himself over to those figures he refuses to name, though some small snippets have come out in times of vulnerability.
When everyone else had given up hope of his return, and then of his recovery, it had always been Syl who'd stuck by his side, and when they were in their early twenties, Jacques finally confessed his long unrequited feelings to his friend. The relationship was intense. In both ups and downs. Though Sylvain tried to be monogamous, he failed utterly, and his unfaithfulness was a constant point of contention between them, though they loved each other well. After a couple years of this, longer than any romantic relationship either had had previously, it came to a fiery end.
Needing an escape, a change of scenery... just to get away from all of the memories and reminders that he found wherever he went, Jacques left for Ch'in. A monumental undertaking, but one he'd dreamt of for a long time, having a great fascination with what he'd read of the culture there. After nearly three years away from his homeland, nearly an entire year of it at sea, he returned to Terre d'Ange, and the City of Elua. What he's learned and experienced abroad has helped him deal with his instability, but his past still plagues him, and likely always will.
Updates: After the Tour came to a close with the death of the king, Jacques has returned to life in the City of Elua. His erstwhile lover, the Marquis de Sade, has found himself unwelcome in the city, his involvement with the queen's little sister having earned the monarch's ire. The loss of one of the very few people Jacques allowed himself to be close to has hurt him, but being hurt is something he is used to. As always, he has found solace in his swordplay, training endlessly and accepting near any challenger that comes.
