Toland Whiteharte: The Man

Born: September 6, 1185
Place: Dover, Kent County, England
Mother: Rowena Parkehurst
Father: Edmund Whiteharte
Description:
Height: 6' Weight: 175 lbs
Hair: Black, shoulder length, with silver streaking the temples
Eyes: Dark brown, brooding with flecks of gold within them
A handsome man. Quiet in demeanor, charming and debonair.

Lord Reginald Parkehurst was in his winter years when he married the young Rowena. He was in want of an heir to his domain, but he was too old to sire a child. As his demands grew for Rowena to produce an heir, her desperation also grew.

She finally approached Sir Edmund Whiteharte, a young knight of Reginald's court, telling him of her plight. Edmund could not resist the beautiful lady's request. After she had pleasured Reginald and he had fallen into his usual heavy slumber, they met each night, for a month at a hostelry nearby. The proprietor was well paid to keep their liaison secret. Sure enough, by the next month, Rowena was with child.

Reginald doted on Toland from the moment of his birth. With an heir apparent, Rowena was soon dismissed in her husband's mind. Now, Rowena turned, again, to Edmund for the companionship Reginald no longer gave her. It was only natural that they would fall in love. But, Rowena's conscience niggled and nagged at her for her adulterous ways. She could find no solace in church or in her prayers. She refused to see Edmund any longer. She locked herself away in the room she had moved into after giving birth to Toland. She was gradually wasting away, becoming thin and pale.

One night, as Rowena slept fitfully, she came awake with a start. She would confess her sins to Reginald. She would tell him about her affair and admit that Toland was sired by Edmund. She feared for her young son's safety so when Toland was five years old, Rowena took him to Christ Church Cathedral in Canterbury under the premise of having him baptized. It was really a pilgrimage to St. Thomas Becket's shrine, where she had hoped for divine forgiveness for what she was about to do. She had made arrangements with the Benedictine monks there to leave Toland under their tutelage.

Upon her return to Dover, she begged Edmund to leave Dover. He still loved her enough that he finally relented, leaving within the hour. With her lover and son safe, Rowena confronted Reginald, making her confession to him. In a fit of rage, Reginald had her thrown into the tower, where she was to stay until she could be beheaded in a fort-night. For that two weeks, he had her whipped in the public square each morning. He refused to allow her to have last rites as she was lead to the chopping block by the hooded executioner. She cursed him loudly, up until the blade removed her head.

For the next twenty five years, Toland was raised by the monks. He learned to read, write, and do figures. He was a talented lad with a wonderful voice that rang through the Choir of the Nave. He had a brush placed in his hand at age ten, producing marvelous paintings of saints and angels. He was also adept with the chisel and hammer, rendering blocks of marble into great wonders.

As he grew into a handsome young man, he was versed in manners and courtly behavior. The young women of Canterbury would fall all over him, some swooning when he would gently kiss their fingertips in greeting. A tutor was commissioned to teach him self defense with a variety of weaponry. Toland put his best into it, although he disdained the thought of injuring, let alone killing, anyone.

On his thirty-first birthday, the monks set him up with in a villa in Venice. There he would run the olive grove and handle the making of the fine olive oil produced there. It was an extra income for the Cathedral and they also made great use of the oil. Blessing and using it in ceremonies. Toland made the grove successful and still kept his hand on the brush and chisel and turned out many great pieces of art that sold at handsome prices to the wealthy of Venice.

He kept himself reclusive for the next six years, never being seen in the city proper. Yearly, he would go back to Dover for Christ's Day festivities, to lend his voice in the choir in the Midnight Mass. But now, Toland felt something so much missing in his life and he sought to fill it. He finally ventured into Venice. After roaming the city for hours, he went in the Crimson Rose Tavern for refreshment. Here would be many changes in his life come to pass.