Lucas Ablan

Background
Lucas was born into a moderately wealthy family, but a scandal disparaged House Blassa, the house they had been patrons of for generations. This damaged his family’s reputation. An ambitious man, Lucas crawled his way up the social ladder, but never quite escaped the shadow of that scandal until he married Odette and joined House Vanatia. There are still some whispers about it, but the rumors have mostly died down. He is largely regarded by the people as a slimy bastard, but since the only ones who vote are all nobles, appreciate his ass kissing.

His relationship with his wife was never peaceful. Odette had only married him because she was the youngest of her siblings, so her union mattered less. Odette had recognized Lucas’ cunning and believed that the two could become a power couple and bank on the perception of their relationship being for love. Lucas just wanted to be rid of the Blassa name, and married her for that reason alone. Neither were blind to the other’s motivations, but they didn’t care, knowing that they would both get what they wanted from the other.

He had three daughters with his wife, and Nell was the second. Lucas largely disregarded them to focus on his own career, but maintained the image of a doting father and loving husband. If they weren’t doing a public event, the family would rarely interact. This didn’t bother him at all, and he was more than happy to send his daughters off to their caretaker, Christine Rosso. He was never there for his children, but neither was their mother.

Soon after pushing her older sister to marry, Eleanor left Agalor. Concerned with the optics of it, Lucas contacted just about anyone his family had ties to to see if there was any information on her whereabouts. He played the role of the concerned father who just wanted his daughter back, but his true motivation was his own power. After searching through ancient family documents that could compel someone to help with the search, Lucas came across a document that told of the debt that Andre owed.

Although he was doubtful of its validity,  Lucas decided to try and call in that favor from Andre. He was a descendant from the man who had initially cursed Andre, and Andre was forced to help in the search. Consumed by his desire for power, he concocted a plan to make her immortal when she was returned to Agalor, order her to obey him and find a way to get closer to the House of Abalon and marry her off to the king. It was poorly devised, and planning for it consumed him.

Soon after this, Odette passed away. He tried to pass it off as a woman who “died from a broken heart,” but losing both so close together put a strain on his public image. There was a rumor going around that he had killed both of them, which was untrue, but spread nonetheless. Growing more and more obsessed with this plan led him to consorting with less than savory people and practicing swordplay, something he had never taken up before. Even more people found him suspicious after this, and he was barely holding on to his sanity. Being the only member of the family who still lived in the house caused him to spiral even further into madness, firing prominent members of his staff and allowing the building to appear to descend into madness with him.