Duke Alvaro Angel Castenda de Valencia

Race: Human

Rank/Class: Hazat Duke

Birthplace: Aragon

Birthdate: 16 December 4969

Quote: "The suns may fade, life passes away, but love never dies."

Description: Black eyes smolder in a darkly handsome face framed by a mane of curly hair the color of a raven's wings, his chiseled features and smooth, dusky skin marred only by a star-shaped fencing scar high on his right cheek. His lips, full and sensuous, have an unfortunate tendency to curl into a haughty smirk, and when he speaks they caress each word with the rich, mellifluous accents of Aragon. Well-maintained in the legendary Hazat quest for physical perfection, his tall, lithe form tops out at six-foot-four, and moves with the deadly grace of a tiger stalking its prey.

Personality: A warrior born, as are all Hazat, and slave to the impetuous temperament for which they are famed, Alvaro seems a man also prone to indulge in sentimental whims one would not expect of a soldier. A poet himself, he has a deep appreciation for the arts - almost equal to his appreciation for the opposite sex.

Entourage: Alvaro is escorted by a personal guard of crack Hazat soldiers almost everywhere he goes, and is often seen in the company of sundry personages of influence.

Status: Missing/Presumed Dead

Active: 1999-2005

     A hero of the Hazat war against the Caliphate, Alvaro earned a reputation as a daring field commander on Hira, leading a company of rangers behind enemy lines to wreak havoc on the Kurgans' supply depots and command centers. Yet he left that world under less than auspicious circumstances, having been discredited for his involvement in an ill-considered assault that resulted in the destruction of an Eskatonic mission by friendly fire. Some say that Alvaro traveled to Vargo as a self-imposed penance, seeking to escape the images of death and destruction that haunted his dreams.

     Alvaro developed an abiding sympathy for the plight of Vargo's inhabitants - dragged back into contact with the rest of humanity after a thousand years of isolation, only to be fought over as spoils of war by the factions of the Known Worlds. This empathy tempered his assessment of Vargo's native insurrections, and his even-handed approach to dealing with the Vargens may explain why the Emperor chose Alvaro to serve as the first Protector of Vargo when he instituted the Triumvirate to govern the planet.

     Throughout his term as Protector, Alvaro struggled to balance the demands of the nobility, guilds, and Church against the interests of the people, often with little success. The demands of the war with the Caliphate, and the ambitions of the other Houses, frustrated his efforts to bring peace to the planet without sacrificing its people. In the end, Alvaro gave his life in their defense, when he stood against the Darkness alongside the Companions of the Lantern to save Vargo from destruction.

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