Pier Notker

Pier Notker (Born 1900 Imp. calender) was the first of many grail knights in the Notker family. Because of harassment from other nobles, Pier decided that he had to prove himself. Using 14 years as a knight errant, much scorned for wasting time, he finally achieved the title of Knight of The Realm in the year 1932. The many years of travelling had a hard time leaving him though, and he soon took up the Questing Vow, travelling with his companion Rick, until he finally found the Lady and became a grail knight. As a grail knight he slew both dragons, daemons and The Red Duke himself, facing him with his companions in the forest of Arden. Swearing to guard the Red Duke's tomb from intruders, Pier left Rick to his adventures and locked up himself for many hundred years, until he was found by Luthien Telemnar, Grundi and Evan Fireheart. They took him away from the tomb he had guarded so that he could finally get a proper resting place, but soon the Red Duke was being brought back and he sacrificed himself to keep the Duke captive. Though this was not enough and his younger family member Thorwald Notker was forced to sacrifice his own life as well.

Pier is also the one responsible of changing house Notker's heraldry to be with red and white, as opposed to the black and red used after Azirtiro's generation. This change is carried out to change the family from its dark past and results in the family breeding more grail knights than any other minor family, as all after Pier strives to become like him.

Appearance
During his youth Pier was a tall and serious looking man with brown hair, cut short as he was a soldier to the bone. After becoming a grail knight he wears white and red heraldry, as opposed to the red and black his family used before that. Before becoming a grail knight many scars marked his face and body, but they all vanished when he found the Lady.

As an old man Pier's hair has gone white, but he retains both his heraldry and serious face. He does seem more fragile as his body degenerates, even if it only happens very slowly. Only in the final combat with the Red Duke does his skill return long enough for him to be a temporary challenge for the Duke, but ultimately his old body fails him.

Personality
Pier was a hothead throughout his youth, as his companion Rick abused many times. He acted with a certain respect towards Bretonnian nobles, but had nothing but disdain for peasants and empire folk until he reached the experience and insight required to become a grail knight. After that his hotheadedness was only present in battles, where he would throw himself at the enemy with all his force, charging a Bloodthirster headon with his pegasus and lance. As an older man Pier lost his interest in all but his own quest, possibly as a side effect of being locked in a tomb with an insane vampire for 500 years.

Life story
Parts of Pier's life is described in the Bretonnian Chronicles and the Royal Archives, and some of it has been copied below:

"The Notker Family, Pier Notker (born 13 october 923, 1900 by Imperial calendar - Unknown fate and date of death)

Parents: Lord Aiden & Lady Isebeau

Siblings: a younger sister named Eleanor and a younger brother named Marti.

The family owned the villages and land surronding castle Muret. Pier himself owned a series these smaller villages near the castle.

Pier had a rough start on life. As a noble some might say, that he never faced the hardships of being a peasant, but only a few know how hard nobles can be on other nobles. It is important to know that Pier's family had some stories and family members they did not want the world to know about. Therefore his grandfather, Ferragang, had erased the last couple of generations from the family tree. Pier did not at first know why, but found that the Duke of Aquitaine from 500 hundred years ago, had his roots in this very family. He was known as the Red Duke so very many years ago, but he was soon forgotten, and the Notker family lived in relative peace. Alas, someone had been spreading rumors about the family. Worse still, an active vampire called Azirtiro was the remains of the now undead Pierre Notker, spreading fear and terror along the Bretonnian border.

Pier was harassed by a lot of other nobles while growing up, and therefore had no wish greater than to prove himself worthy of the Lady’s blessing. And so he became one of the most virtuous knights, and even though he was not yet perfect, he had strong morals and proved himself time and time again. Pier used around fourteen years as a knight errant. Many despised him for being so stubborn and even within his own family he was met with disdain for taking so long without serving the family. Waiting so long and refusing so many offers of land put him in a bad position, but he finally became a Knight of the Realm in year 1932. His years as a knight errant was past and he was granted several smaller villages. They gave him income enough to live like a rich nobleman, but the fourteen years of travelling had left its marks and he was not ready to rest just yet.

Pier travelled to the empire city of Marienburg. He arrived in the week that is now known as Dragons Wake, named after a terrible incident where a dragon of undeath descended upon the city. Pier claimed that he took down the necromancer controlling the dragon, but there is no proof of it, other than that the problems ended right after he left. On the journey he joined with two companions, one of them the infamous Rick, the other one an unknown peasant.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";mso-ansi-language: EN-US">Several days after they left Marienburg, they found a village, where Pier heard the tale of a nearby cave. Following his knightly virtue, he travelled to the cave with his companion Rick and it is about here the other companion disappeared. During their time in the cave they met two other groups and there were fighting as one from another group dared to question Pier’s right as a noble to enter first. The two engaged in a duel, which Pier with his bretonnian superiority of course won. As the duel ended Rick was fighting another peasant, fortunately dealing death to the coward. At this point a gate opened in the cave and a terrible roar was heard, as a giant lizard head consumed a peasant from the other group. Pier attacked the beast with the others, and soon the beast lay slain by Pier's blade. Somewhere around here the story gets complicated, because Rick was charged of murder by the other group and before Pier could judge, a chaos sorcerer was identified in their very middle. Both Rick and the chaos sorcerer fled and Pier followed. He found them by the river where Rick was almost killed by the dark magician. As Pier rode forward, brutish greenskins send poisoned arrows accross the river and Pier was mortally wounded. Alas, that a bretonnian as noble and pure as Pier should fall here, and indeed the Lady smiled upon him. Her grace gave him the strength to stand up and defend Rick from the orcs, but the poison soon took its toll, and our brave knight fell. Rick, which is by no means a reliable source, got the knight up in the saddle and dragged the horse to the nearest village. For several days Pier’s fate was uncertain, but a woman healer gave her own life, drawing out the poison, and making Pier even more virtuous as grief of her sacrifice clouded his mind. He took revenge against the orcs that had almost been his own undoing and not one greenskin was left alive. After this the village leader asked Pier to leave and even though a bretonnian knight does not need to follow such requests, Pier moved on with Rick.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";mso-ansi-language: EN-US">The knight was heading towards his home when they reached Castle Desfleuve. They stayed for several days and the knight was asked many times to join a campaign against a chaos incursion, but he refused. The chaos hordes didn’t stay idle though and soon the castle was under attack, Pier leading a defense at one of the gates. Many daemons assailed the walls, but Pier’s righteous wrath held them at bay. Not a single daemon was left standing and even though a giant of a Chaos Knight breached the gate, even he was felled by Pier’s fury. With that victory Pier sealed his friendship with the Duke of Gisoreux’s family.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";mso-ansi-language: EN-US">Pier set off again with Rick, a healer and <span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";mso-ansi-language: EN-US"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";mso-ansi-language: EN-US">a horn of great capabilities, that had been granted Pier by a questing knight.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:red; mso-ansi-language:EN-US">It is described that Rick saw Pier with some magical being, its glowing aura lighting up the entire area. Rick describes how the being was like a horse, but much more beautiful and somehow being more graceful. It is believed that this being was a Unicorn and already through that had the Lady shown favour to the only (at this point) 32 years old knight.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";mso-ansi-language: EN-US">They travelled to Pier's homeland of Carcasonne. They arrived at the castle of Muret, but something was terribly wrong and Pier found his father gone and his grandfather dying. It was later discovered that it was poison or dark magic causing the grandfather's illness. A Damsel named Anara leave one of the fey in Pier's care. He is told that this fey is a magic user and one of great power, who has a great fate somewhere along the path. Pier is forced to stay back at the castle to make sure that the other nobles do not abuse his grandfathers weakened state. Having thoughts of leaving for the noble quest he sends Rich and the fey on a quest to retrieve an old sword of Pier's, left in a cave stuck in the skull of a griffon. "

<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%">More exists but is irrelevant to the greater story.