Tandaros Family/Ismail

A grizzled 34 years of age, Ismail is the patriarch and master of House Tandaros, maintaining the House Seal and holding the ancestral and spiritual lineages. He succeeded to this position once his father, the sage Rashid Tandaros, died.

Ismail has olive skin, and he stands at six feet even. Since his father's death, he grew a beard to emphasize the appearance of virile wisdom. After years of campaigning on the rough and scouring records, it has become scraggly like mountain heather. His hair is often shorn quite short, giving him a quasi-monastic appearance in spite of his drinking habits. While at home he tends to wear incredibly comfortable and expensive silk robes; while on campaign he generally wears fine leather bound by the best seamstresses of the Nastrond Stair. He has a slender build; not too athletic, but he can hold his own on the battlefield. Often he is seen leaning on a gnarly, short cane, though he tries his best to conceal this aid in the flows of his robes.

Ismail is currently serving as the Margrave of Nifelhold in Morek Empire and Consul of Sanguis Astroism. He loves the purpose in his faith, though he still honors his Dragon Islander roots mindfully.

Childhood

Ismail was born in Port Raviel at the modest Tandaros Hearth. Astrologers predicted at his birth that he would lead "the fish against the beast of the deep, to feast on rotten eyes, to guide the school to safety from straits rife with tempting sirens and deceitful lights." This prediction confirmed Rashid's glorious expectations of his firstborn son. He raised him as his successor from that moment on.

As a boy, he was apprenticed to many different tradesmen and scholars; netmenders, scribes, and soothsayers, among several others. Rashid felt it best that his son know the many ways of the islanders in order to serve as their lord and protector one day. Ismail seldom had time to play with other children his age, but he didn't miss it. He relished his 'adult' upbringing, though he did steal a sweetbun or two, and upon one occasion was caught with the guard captain's daughter.

Ismail's core interests grew to be rhetoric, philosophy, and military strategy. He enjoyed the tutelage of his family elders, who nurtured him like a tree they expected to grow great and give them protection some day. As a boy he was a common sight on the city docks, talking to fishermen, merchants, and nobility. He was a versatile youth, and he grew quickly, with a mind ahead of his physical age.

Coming of Age

His ambitious upbringing paid off when House Tandaros almost exploded from internal tension, instigated by his young sister's botched engagement to a local noble. The heartbreak from this embarrassment essentially killed Rashid, which quickly brought the direction of the House into young Ismail's hands. Fortuitously, within the month, Ismail was elevated to full noble rights, and swore fealty to Oxi Methyl, Margrave of Qubel Lighthouse. The theory of service to the realm quickly became a very manifest reality. His knighthood was to be the test of his wits and mettle, with war against Aurvandil and Luria Nova being the herculean opponents his island republic came to face.

The rigors of command

In a short span of time, the ambitious young noble was elected Chairman of the Midlands Council, and took up the banner of the knighthood. Simultaneously his interest in battle tactics deepened, working his way up the ranks of military command and becoming a wartime marshal. He moved his estate to Port Raviel, where he helped oversee the reconstruction of the Maritime District and monitor the nefarious navigator syndicates. Young Ismail spent his days energetically working with the knights, soldiers, and scribes on countless civil and military matters; he spent many sleepless nights in deep study on texts of rhetoric or poring over maps and rosters.

Ismail took up the stewardship of the Book of D'Hara together with the newly founded Tandareen Council, the guardians of the realm's histories. In his studies, the young noble came to marvel at the times of the Dragon King, and was filled with an idealistic nostalgia for past times of greatness. Together with his studies on political theory and philosophy, Ismail became convinced that the realm needed to revive the old, glorious titles for the sake of the realm's identity and survival. He became a vocal proponent of what he called the Great Dragon Restoration.

His public advocacy saw him granted the title of Qubel Lighthouse when Lord Oxi retired. As the leader of the Dragon Corsairs, he lead hosts against Falkirk, ultimately defeating the puppet state and winning back Madina for Fissoa. These campaigns also saw the D'Haran stewardship over North Madina, namely Laraibina and Panabuk.

In spite of all this work, Ismail shared a passing courtship with Lady Miranda, who tragically died at sea when her ship struck an errant iceberg. This disaster impacted Ismail deeply; he failed to appear in public for months afterwards.

When the Republic of Terran fell, Lord Ismail was sent to the southern successor state of Saffalore (ironically located in Chesney) to entreat the rebel Queen to join the D'Haran dominion, to uphold the Veinsormoot's stewardship over the Maroccidens. His mission concluded with meeting with the high dignitary Lady Metis Highland of Chesland, Saffalore's Ambassador and an elder Triunist priestess, who deeply impressed Ismail with her diplomatic skill. Though the meeting went well, there was no progress made in negotiations. D'Hara declared war shortly thereafter to secure Chesney's resources in resisting the imperial threats of the south. Ismail lead the Dragons in campaign against the Saffalore successors, who turned to barbaric acts of cannibalism and debauchery, before successfully conquering Chesney and securing its ducal title. His stewardship, however, would be delayed by a single surprise term as Prime Minister of D'Hara.

A moment in the sunshine

Ismail's public advocacy lead to the successful restoration of the Dragon Throne, urged on by the assassination of Dragon King Cenarious. The House of Lords' deliberations yielded the succession to Machiavel Chenier, a man of great service and pedigree. However, he was a man of cloth and coin, not steel and iron; Ismail chafed at this sad twist of fate in his dear Restoration.

About this time saw the rise of the Great House JeRavosi, lead by Crown Prince Rynn, Prime Minister of D'Hara. Ismail was sworn in oath and secured a princely title in association with the Order of Aristocrats. With his network of affiliations in state and war growing, the choice of succeeding Prime Minister was clear to all D'Hara, especially with the support of the JeRavosi. The newly Prince Ismail Tandaros became a Prime Minister of D'Hara, winning the election in the House by advocating homeland reconstruction after the many scourges of war against Aurvandil and Falkirk. Barely a breath passed before Luria Nova declared war once more on D'Hara, pressing the Lurian claim on the tyrannical kingdom of Shadovar. In a fell swoop of diabolical orchestration, Duke Rurik Clarke of Port Nebel betrayed D'Hara and swore allegiance to Luria Nova on a flimsy context of economic security.

What followed was the grisly War of Nebel which saw the combined alliance of D'Hara, Fissoa, and Barca unite as the Southern League to save D'Hara and subdue the Lurian imperial leviathan. With D'Hara split in two, and a priest as Dragon King, PM Ismail worked hard to bring together a defense to fight back the waves of Lurian invaders and take back Port Nebel. As part of his work he set up the Island Guard, and executed albeit unsuccessful council purges to out Lurian spies. Continued internal tension rattled his merchant republic to the bone. Ismail seemed to mature 10 years in this time - the stress changed his character deeply, and he seemed to never have fully rested. When the war dragged on and another election was called for the Prime Minister's seat, Ismail stood down, and approved of his fellow JeRavosi Lady Ellyn Coquard. He then retired to his birthright in the Maroccidens - Chesney.

Reconstruction interrupted

Prince Ismail arrived in Chesney to find an old yet energetic Fiduciary Gornak Gellander assiduously keeping the books and overseeing the reconstruction of Chesney after the horrors it saw during the days of Saffalore. Power was turned over amicably and Lord Gornak traveled the lands before going into retirement. In the distant reaches of D'Haran dominion, the manor of Chesney seemed like a quiet forest cottage to Ismail, who was accustomed to busy port cities. From his seat in Chesney, Ismail gathered together fine nobles to support the cause of Chesney and the JeRavosi. He sponsored the Island Guard and the Southern League. He reveled in being able to more effectively aid the War of Nebel from background positions, and as a sponsor and marshal of war. Ironically enough, his main opponent within D'Hara at this time came to be his successor PM Ellyn Coquard, who allegedly undermined the combined war efforts with private peace deliberations. As ever, D'Hara rattled itself over controversy. Then catastrophe struck.

Strange omens foretold the coming of the Icespawn. Glaciers reportedly fell upon the lands of the East Continent and Atamara; on Dwilight, hordes of trolls were unleashed upon the Occidental reaches of Dwilight, striking down Niselur, sending Barcans swarming to Lurian shores, and yielding a horde of Asylonians which rampaged across Corsanctum. Adding to the swirl of chaos, a ruddy young girl arrived on a Madinan ship - Rahula of Madina, born of a prostitute and claiming Ismail's paternity. The Tandaros Hearth found the girl to be true; Ismail granted her rights to the name Tandaros, and left her to manage the libraries of the Hearth until a tutelage contract was found.

Now without a landed title, or even a home, Ismail felt homeless and forlorn for some time until he realized - his dreams of visiting the spiritual vastness of the North could now very realistically be achieved. His long correspondence with Grandmistress Eviera Lanze seemed like it could blossom into an actual courtship. Ismail said his farewells to all D'Harans, friends and adversaries alike, and set sail for Morek Empire with faithful Protector Maerk Darkhand as entourage.

Lord of Nifelhold

As Morek Empire and Astrum fought together against Asylon over the bleeding body of Corsanctum, Ismail's arrival in Morek Empire was hailed; he took up the crusade against Asylon heartily. He was overjoyed at the righteousness of his cause, and the simplicity of a Northern purpose. He took up the hunting of Asylonian stragglers as a sort of game with his archers. His Tandaros Guardians gradually became a name of horrible repute among migrants from the Far West. His valor earned him the title of Nifelhold.

Ismail also took a leading voice in the wake of the Himoura Schism, advocating for responsible Reformation in support of Jusiticiar Helm. He won a seat as Consul of Sanguis Astroism and now serves the faith both by sword and doctrine. From the dizzying heights of the Nifelhold Spire, Ismail developed a profound fondness for the stark darkness with which he could observe the three Holy Bloodstars in the west and the whole tract of Heavens. The cold was alien to his Islander blood, but he found himself finally sleeping much better.