At a few inches above six foot, Ludovic is a tall, powerfully built man in his early thirties. He has a broad shouldered build with dense muscles and a natural solidity about him. His hair has grown long and the thick dark locks curl about the base of his neck. His beard is dense and thick, further softening the line of his jaw and framing the full lips of his expressive mouth. His left eye is a vivid blue that stands out from skin blessed with a rich olive-tan hue whilst the stone that replaces his missing right eye remains unadorned grey.
Ludovic wears a type of partial plate that has been greatly influenced by the vir sidus' style. The breastplate has a single flat section over the upper torso with a segmented lower section to cover the abdomen. Both the breastplate and the segmented arm guards are worn over the top of his clothing whilst the segmented leg guards are worn underneath. Each piece of the armor has been decorated with gold edgework and the breastplate also bears a black bullshead flanked by two golden lightning bolts. His helm is open faced with a segmented lobster section at the back of the neck and a visor above the eyes which flares into a decorative base for a pair of horns that don't exist. The nose guard can be clasped to the helmet either up or down - when down the a flared section of the helm covers the lower face and when up only a thin section of metal extends to cover the nose whilst the rest forms a more decorative feature atop the browridge.
Whilst there is little doubt that he is wearing multiple layers of clothing and padding it is only the heavy brocade cote, the blackwork sash and the heavy bearskin cloak that is truly visible. The mustard yellow coat covers his entire body from wrist to mid-shin, with a central opening for easier riding and a tall, stiff collar. Subtle black beadwork details the collar and some of the hems. The cloak, which is worn over a fine leather cape far more appropriate for socialising and fine weather, is held in place by a gold and onyx bullshead clasp attached to each pauldron that helps ensure they can be quickly discarded.
As a cavalry man his czekan, musket and shield are generally attached to his horses tack and it is not unusual for him to have a penanted lance in his right hand.
When away from his mount he carries his strange black cassiterite czekan (hammer-axe) in his hands and in more dangerous situations his musket along with its decorative holster goes over his shoulder and the golden yellow kite shield emblazoned with his personal lightning framed bull head straps to his left arm.
Assumed Quirks
Fine Horseman - All d'Korbina's are born around horses. As such they can have a moderate to High horsemanship skill. This reflects time spent either with the cattle in the pastures or riding training.
Do Not Goad - There is a reason this is the d'Korbina motto. They don't take insulting challenges lightly, and will often make sure the challenger will eat their words. While not entirely ruthless- they do make sure others know why they should not poke the bulls.
Spiritual - House d' Korbina comes is highly spiritual and loyal to the church. This can manifest itself in superstitions and odd held beliefs, but nothing close to heresy. They all attend church regularly, as would anyone where the land is supposedly haunted and damned.
Justified Quirks
Veteran Warrior - He wields a warhammer with some skill.
Former Lightning Brigade - The life of a brigadier teaches you many things about horsemanship and survival.
Often Angry - Although he was a sanguine sort for much of his life, he's often angry these days.
Stone Sorcerer - Very few people know, but he has the gift. The mark is on his upper left abdomen and takes the form of a remarkably realistic image of a rocky outcrop.
Sigil
Ludovic's personal sigil is the d'korbina bull head on a yellow background flanked by two stylised lightning bolts. As his knighthood status is currently in question he refuses to wear the horns of his knightly order.
The Hammer
A weapon in the polish czekan style made from sorcerously shaped cassiterite. It's a semi-opaque black in colour with brown and amber hues trapped deep within - not unlike good coffee. He's calling it "Lady Arbiter"
http://eternalcrusade.wikidot.com/memoir:1874-09:a-stone-hammer
Codely it classes as a being permanently under the imbued by sorcery effect and gives +1 damage.
Wielded by anyone other than Ludovic it will chip and fragment on impact.
The Eye
Ludovic lost his right eye when Teleko hit him with the spike from his own warhammer. 1874-07-11-firestorm-pt-ii:blind-sided He was given vitae soon which healed all the surrounding damage but his eye was destroyed on impact and even vitae cant repair a destroyed body part.
The Hand
Samira d'Randhoul called out Ludovic during the assault on Ranhold. Already wounded he was nearly killed. In the aftermath of that battle he suffered deep injuries to his left arm and face. Although the scarring will mostly face after a year or two there seems to be some sort of deep trauma as he's no longer able to easily close his left hand. This leads to a weakened grip that makes it easy to knock things out of that hand and will make supporting a lot of weight on it difficult.
Squires
Brandon d'Juliano, aged 12 as of feb 1874. His first cousin once removed.
One of d'Bartone's sons serves as a page. Whilst this child was originally a gisel against further misbehaviour by Clinton D'Bartone he was released from that burden when Ludovic declared rebellion in 01-1875.
Ultimately responsible for the upbringing of his nephew (Louis) and two nieces from Augustin.
Sorcery & Personality
Ludovic has always been upbeat, prone to laughter, loves to be surrounded by people and generally confident. He loves to show off and is not afraid to be a bit of a fool - as long as he himself finds it funny. He's a man that lives in the now rather than the past or future and as a result he tends towards action. Whilst his emotions tend to be powerful they also tend to be fleeting and he really isnt much for holding a grudge, even if he was moved to violence and fury at the time. Raised with the d'Korbina motto of "Do Not Goad" he cannot take insults to his honor lightly.
Ludovic's sorcery is a fairly subtle thing. He is very attached to his county and has a literal bond with the area. Mount Hadres in particular is his haunt. His sorcery is no secret, although he has yet to be seen using it outside Hellsmouth.
He is sensitive to light and periods of intense social activity has issues with being away from the ground. His gregarious, social nature and focus on being a cavalry man both conflict with these tendencies. In addition, thanks to the natural empathy that comes along with all types of earth sorcery, he can find it difficult to filter his own emotions out from everyone elses. Developing his skill and learning some tricks about keeping stone about his person (along with the polish-czekan hammer-axe he bears) have all mitigated this to an extent. He still feels it though and will always ride if it is feasible instead of taking airship or ship. An ocean going vessel is out of the question.
His mark can be found on his upper left abdomen and it looks like a rock outcrop punctured by several dark caves. It is highly realistic, even having the texture of rock. Whilst he used to wear bandages wrapped about his upper abdomen under his clothes - just in case - he has completely abandoned any particular efforts to hide it.
Sorcery brought with it a tendency towards violent mood swings but these have eased considerably over the last year. Ludovic considers this to be because he's finally accepted what he is and instead of suppressing his skill has put effort into learning how to focus and control it. This is partly true. Whilst embracing his sorcery has made it far easier for him to filter out unwanted emotional contamination almost as much is to do with him settling into the responsibilities of his position.
Some important memoirs and logs:
Participated in the fight against Teleko. 1873-12-15-the-battle-of-mathis-pt-ii
Duel with Darius in Four Corners 1874-06-04:the-duel-at-the-gate
Told his knights about his earth sorcery 1874-07-10:an-earthy-secret
Went into rebellion following the Kings declaration that Sorcery was illegal: 1875-01-19:shattered-fealty
Was excommunicated, stripped of spurs, title and land in response: 1875-1-27:proclamation
Joined the Vir Sidus Empire 1875-02-05 - A Return To Empire
Stormbull
Once upon a time one of the lightning brigadiers told Ludovic that his arrival was like that of a storm. It wasn't really meant as a compliment but Ludovic loved it, ever since then he's used a storm motif on his equipment and sometimes uses it in conversation. It only erupted into a full byname when the qatunax took Darkstone Keep (d'mollari). For months after that he adopted a pattern of sudden raids on the qatunax, prefering to strike during storms and other inclement weather so as to best use the advantage of surprise and terror. By the time his father managed to negotiate a coordinated push against the qatunax with the southerners his men were firmly using the name. His performance in the battle(s) that managed to halt the Qatunax expansion saw it spread through the army, firmly making him the Storm Bull in peoples minds.
Widower
Ludovic has the worst possible luck with wives and women. He's seen the deaths of three wives and at least one mistress and his fourth wife was attacked by the vampire Teleko during their wedding feasts resulting in their eventual divorce.
Its not unknown for those who dont respect him to refer to him as "The Widower". This started when his second wife died under suspicious circumstances. It's been a long time since anyone called him the widower to his face, not since it became clear Ludovic would not hesitate to demand a duel over the insult.
Animals
Ludovic has a lot of animals. A lot. He's got whole herds of cows and horses, a kennel in Daemon's hall and controls of the small warhorse stud in Chervaise. These things all technically belong to the House rather than him personally.
The rest however are all his:
A light charger (Courser), blood chestnut, called Swift.
An elementi he got when he was ten and trained in large part himself. The elementi is shaggy dark grey, male, and called Faith.
A heavy charger (Destrier), Buckskin, called Sandstorm or just Sand.
A bay calfchase trained horse by the name of Torrent.
A yearling of Tarris Blood (born 1873) called Firefly that Ludovic is training as a destrier.
Jasmina gave Ludovic and Imogen four breeding pairs of elementi as a wedding present. Most of these dogs went with Imogen but Ludovic kept a single bitch. This pale grey female is called Aurora and will next have pups ready to wean in April.
Fate Crusade Traits
Unwilling Empath - Stone sorcery comes with both a gift and a curse. Emotions leak out of those around you. Sometimes with effort he can read them. Just as often they seep through his guard and merge with his own.
Sanguine - Generally happy go lucky sort who lives in the now and loves to spend time with people.
Veteran Warrior - The survivor of dozens of skirmishes, several large battles and hours and hours of patrols have left Ludovic comfortable with war.
Lord Protector - The oaths and expectations that Ludovic took on as a viscount, head of house and horned knight are more important than anything else to him.