Guido Bertoloni

(Last update: 16/11/96)

Guido is a grossly fat Italian merchant who joined the Covenant some years ago when his family business in Venice broke up. He is responsible for running some of the Covenant's business interests, such as the small fishing fleet. His greed has gotten him into trouble before on expeditions, but his talent for languages, bargaining skills and merchant contacts make him useful.

Basic Stats

Name: Guido Bertoloni
Gender: Male
Current Year: 1241 AD
Age: 43
Year Born: 1198 AD
Decrepitude: +1
Size: +1
Confidence: 3
Height: 5'9"
Weight: 310lbs

Appearance

He is of average height but exceptional girth! He is obese, with a huge paunch, a flabby chin and podgy fingers. Nevertheless he has quite a jolly face and dresses in opulent robes which accentuate, rather than disguise his figure, so that he looks quite imposing. He is fond of jewellery, a few silver rings adorn his fingers. He has thinning greasy black hair, brown eyes, and a beard.

Origins

He was born into a fairly wealthy merchant family in Venice. His father paid for him to be educated properly, and he entered the family business after completing his study. Guido demonstrated an exceptional knack for languages, so his father frequently sent him abroad to negotiate on his behalf. In that time he did some trading with the Order, so he knew what Magi were. When his father died of old age, the family business broke up to pay off various debts, and his older brother took over what was left. So Guido found himself unemployed and short of cash. Looking for new opportunities abroad (to fund his expensive tastes in food and finery), he met Odette in Barcelona, who offered him food and lodging at Malinbois in exchange for his services.

Characteristics

Int: 0
Per: -1 (Short-sighted)
Str: -1 (Weak)
Stm: -1 (Short-Winded)
Prs: +2 (Imposing)
Com: +5 (Silver Tongued)
Dex: -1 (Clumsy)
Qik: -3 (Waddling Gait)

Personality Traits

Brave: -2
Greedy: +3 (+6 when wearing Diadem)
Scrupulous: +2
Pompous: +1

Virtues and Flaws

Passion (Greed) +1
Social Contacts (Merchant) +1
Educated +1
Well-travelled +1
Knack (Languages) +2
Clear Thinker +1
Obese -1
Compulsion (Eating) -1
Noncombatant -3
Clumsy -2
Terrors (Gold) (Lost)
Missing (Right) Eye (Acquired)

Abilities

Acting (Feigning Poverty) 1
Athletics -2
Bargain (Contracts) 8
Brawl -3
Charm (Sly) 2
Church Lore 1
Diplomacy (Negotiation) 3
Etiquette (Trade) 2
Evaluate (Coinage) 5
Folk Ken (City Folk) 2
Forgery (Receipts) 2
Greed Passion (Gold) 1
Guile 2
Humanities (Arts) 1
Legend Lore (Celtic Lore) 1
Oratory 1
Ride 1
Search (Valuables) 2
Scribe Latin (Trade Agreements) 2
Sing -3
Speak Arabic 2
Speak English 1
Speak Gaelic 1
Speak German 2
Speak Italian 5
Speak Latin 3
Speak Provencal 4

Combat Stats

Soak: -1
Fatigue: -4
Dodge: -4
Load: 0
Encumbrance: 0
Body Levels: OK 0 0 -1 -3 -5 I
Fatigue Levels: OK 0 -1 -3 -5 U

Notes

On an expedition to Flanders he came across the greatest amount of gold he has ever seen in his life - about 100,000 livres worth! Unfortunately this was hidden deep in the lair of the dragon Pan Cauderax underneath the city of De Panne and could not be `liberated'. Guido got into trouble with Odette and Serina when he disobeyed their orders and led a small party out under cover of darkness to retrieve the gold. This plan was unsuccessful due to the difficulties in accessing the caves without magical assistance. Upon returning to Malinbois, he was given the duties of a grog for a month by way of punishment.

Some years ago he came back from an expedition around the Black Sea (where he made the Covenant a tidy profit by smuggling diamonds). He returned to Venice to negotiate a new deal for the purchase of lab equipment - the previous deal fell through when De Panne fell to Pan Cauderax.

Guido's most recent misadventure occurred when he was given the opportunity to gaze into the hermit's magical pool in a cave on Mt. Seraque. He was aware of the risks, but his greed overcame his fear and he looked in, hoping that a vision of the future would help to make him wealthy beyond belief. Something went badly wrong though, Guido screamed and scrabbled to remove his gold rings! He is now terrified at the sight of gold - just the mention of its name makes him shudder. He goes to bed at night and has nightmares about the hoard of Pan Cauderax... All deals made on behalf of the covenant are now made in silver schillings only!

Update: Guido now loves gold again! (However he remembers this strange, disillusioned state in his past when he only dealt in silver - he must have been unwell...)

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