Name: Théodore Henri Berteaut
Character journal name:![[info]](http://www.insanejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif)
handofmidas
Your photo-credit/PB: Milo Ventimiglia
Age: 32
Nationality: French
Allegiance and why:
To the past. He doesn't think much of present times, nor those who live in them. The present, it seems to him, is lacking in heroes and men who did great things to challenge the gods. He would rather risk his life to save antiquities than to save his fellows.
Social Status and/or Occupation:
Wealthy middle-class, now Antiques dealer, rescuer, and scholar.
Brief physical description of your character:
Théodore is tall, like most of the men in his family, with the dark hair he shares with his sister. Instead of her grey eyes, however, he has the dark eyes of his father.
Brief description of your characters history, including family:
Son of the Lieutenant General of the Paris Police, Théodore was brought up as the favourite child, not only educated by the best tutor his family could afford in all the things a boy should know (French history, languages, literature, the exploits of the Romans and the Greeks, philosophy and law) but also taken out for regular trips into the countryside. His father attempted to give Théodore the best rounded education he could, although the boy was soon under the spell of the stories he was told regarding ancient battles, demi-gods, and treasure greater than any man could imagine found in the city of Troy when it was sacked. But it was not only the tales of heroes and of gods that caught the boy's imagination, but of items from the past, treasures that he could touch and wonder at, things that offered him a link from that glorious past to the present.
His father, always indulgent, purchased for the boy these antiquities, the remains of shields found in Persian ruins, Roman helmets dented and worn by time, and books, piles and piles of books. By the age of eighteen, Théodore was something of an expect, and sent of to the best university in the country to study Cicero and Homer, Herodotus and Virgil. He graduated, and returned to Paris, where he became something of an expert in identifying antiquities, paintings, furniture and all other remnants of a more glorious age.
And when the Revolution began, he took no side. He could see no glory with either the Demagogue leaders of the people, or with the king and his court. He saw no heroes worthy of his loyalty, and so he kept himself quiet, acted only to preserve those ancient objects he was able to collect. As the State changed hands, however, and rare artefacts began to be actioned off to anyone who would pay, he felt a rush of anger and bitterness, and in order to save such treasures falling into the hands of those who would abuse them, be bought as many as he could. Eventually, on the edge of bankruptcy, Théodore parted company with some of his treasures, selling them to a Dutch enthusiast, who paid handsomely. It was then Théodore realised he could save his treasures without loosing his family's money, and began to sell what he could, sometimes buying directly from the blackmarket before precious items could ever reach the auction houses, and for there he sold them off.
With Paris growing even more dangerous, especially for the son of the Lieutenant General of the Police under the king, Théodore is attempting to move to England, without leaving anything behind.
One or two plots which you would like to play out in the community:
Théodore moving to England, and re-meeting his sister.
Character journal name:
handofmidas Your photo-credit/PB: Milo Ventimiglia
Age: 32
Nationality: French
Allegiance and why:
To the past. He doesn't think much of present times, nor those who live in them. The present, it seems to him, is lacking in heroes and men who did great things to challenge the gods. He would rather risk his life to save antiquities than to save his fellows.
Social Status and/or Occupation:
Wealthy middle-class, now Antiques dealer, rescuer, and scholar.
Brief physical description of your character:
Théodore is tall, like most of the men in his family, with the dark hair he shares with his sister. Instead of her grey eyes, however, he has the dark eyes of his father.
Brief description of your characters history, including family:
Son of the Lieutenant General of the Paris Police, Théodore was brought up as the favourite child, not only educated by the best tutor his family could afford in all the things a boy should know (French history, languages, literature, the exploits of the Romans and the Greeks, philosophy and law) but also taken out for regular trips into the countryside. His father attempted to give Théodore the best rounded education he could, although the boy was soon under the spell of the stories he was told regarding ancient battles, demi-gods, and treasure greater than any man could imagine found in the city of Troy when it was sacked. But it was not only the tales of heroes and of gods that caught the boy's imagination, but of items from the past, treasures that he could touch and wonder at, things that offered him a link from that glorious past to the present.
His father, always indulgent, purchased for the boy these antiquities, the remains of shields found in Persian ruins, Roman helmets dented and worn by time, and books, piles and piles of books. By the age of eighteen, Théodore was something of an expect, and sent of to the best university in the country to study Cicero and Homer, Herodotus and Virgil. He graduated, and returned to Paris, where he became something of an expert in identifying antiquities, paintings, furniture and all other remnants of a more glorious age.
And when the Revolution began, he took no side. He could see no glory with either the Demagogue leaders of the people, or with the king and his court. He saw no heroes worthy of his loyalty, and so he kept himself quiet, acted only to preserve those ancient objects he was able to collect. As the State changed hands, however, and rare artefacts began to be actioned off to anyone who would pay, he felt a rush of anger and bitterness, and in order to save such treasures falling into the hands of those who would abuse them, be bought as many as he could. Eventually, on the edge of bankruptcy, Théodore parted company with some of his treasures, selling them to a Dutch enthusiast, who paid handsomely. It was then Théodore realised he could save his treasures without loosing his family's money, and began to sell what he could, sometimes buying directly from the blackmarket before precious items could ever reach the auction houses, and for there he sold them off.
With Paris growing even more dangerous, especially for the son of the Lieutenant General of the Police under the king, Théodore is attempting to move to England, without leaving anything behind.
One or two plots which you would like to play out in the community:
Théodore moving to England, and re-meeting his sister.