Cleon of Kennan

Cleon of Kennan
Titles
Primary Title	Baron of Kennan
Title Note	In Own Right
Style	Sir Knight
Biographical Information
Born	440 HE
Nationality	Tortallan
Physical Description
Gender	Male
Height	Tall
Hair	Red, curly
Eyes	Grey
Family Information
Noble House	Kennan family
Parents	Unnamed father † Unnamed mother
Siblings	Unnamed sister (Rider)
Wife	Ermelian of Aminar
Lover	Keladry of Mindelan (sweetheart, former)
Affilliation
Rank	Nobility
Estates	Fief Kennan
Sponsor to	Esmond of Nicoline
Knight Master	Inness of Mindelan
Year Knighted	457 HE
Military Affiliation
Combat	Scanran War
Bibliographical Information
Universe	[[Tortallan Universe Universe]] character
First Appeared	First Test
Latest Appearance	Lady Knight

Baron Sir Cleon of Kennan (pronounced KLEE-on of KEN-ahn) was born in 440 HE and is a knight of Tortall. He was a page and squire at the same time as Keladry of Mindelan, although he is two years older than she is, thus he was a third-year when Kel began her probationary year. He developed a strong attachment to her, which resulted in love. He was squire to Inness of Mindelan, one of Kel's older knight brothers. However, his fief was impoverished by flooding and crop failure and he was obligated to marry a neighboring heiress, Ermelian of Aminar.

Biography

Early life

Cleon was born in 440 HE. Not much of his family is known except that he has a sister who will later join the Queen's Riders and that his father died before Cleon comes of age. Thus Cleon became a baron quite early in his life, while he was still training for his knight's shield. While he was still in training, his mother managed his estates.

Page years

He entered page training in 450 HE. Two years later, Keladry of Mindelan became a page, although still on probation. As is the custom for first year pages Cleon made her run little errands, like fetching his bow and quiver for archery practice or his gloves. This was the more harmless form of hazing that ran rampant among the pages throughout the years. Cleon certainly didn't mean any harm with it, and it was more to be annoying and irritating rather than for cruelty. Later he also joined the study group in Neal's room and went with the others when they patrolled the corridors to make sure that Joren of Stone Mountain and his friends don't harass any other first years. By the end of his four years as a page, Cleon is a good friend of Kel, Neal and even of the Crown Prince, Roald of Conté.

Squire years

In 454 HE Cleon passed his big examinations, thus becoming a squire. Inness of Mindelan, one of Kel's older brother, took him as a squire and Cleon spent much time at Mindelan, becoming acquainted with Kel's family. When he was two years into his squiredom, he spent a lot of time north near the Scanran border in order to help deal with raiders. When he returned, his crush on Kel had increased, and he brought the tidings of a new warlord to his fellow squires. It is assumed that this warlord is Maggur Rathhausak, one of the main, never appearing, antagonists of the Scanran War. After that, he and Sir Inness spent a lot of time with the Grand Progress. Cleon kissed Kel for the first time after a Midwinter party that the squires served at, and he was part of a plot hatched by Kel in order to get Prince Roald and Princess Shinkokami to like each other. He was present at Kel's first jousting challenge with Ansil of Groten, and it was then when their romantic relationship really begun.

Kel's nieces and nephews seemed to be specially attached to him. He was still a squire when his friendship with Kel developed further and they became lovers, although they don't progress farther than kissing each other, even though it gets pretty close to sex. Cleon, however, planned on marrying Kel in spite of his betrothal to the heiress of a neighboring fief and wanted to talk his mother around. Kel, having eight siblings, did not have much of a dowry, and the people of Kennan needed a large amount of money in order to survive. Even so, they continue their romantic attachment.

Cleon's name was the first to be called at Midwinter, revealing that he would be the first of his year to take the Ordeal. He spent the day with Kel, and they talked, ate, and enjoyed each others' company.

Knighthood

Cleon passed his Ordeal of Knighthood in 457 HE and became a Knight of Tortall. By then he was also officially the lord of Kennan, making him Baron Sir Cleon of Kennan. He stayed with the Royal Progress for sometime, but when messengers from Northwatch Fortress requested soldiers to come to the Scanran border, he was sent to help General Vanget. Cleon was stationed in the north for two years. He was unable to come see Kel's Ordeal of Knighthood as he was training locals in self-defense. Cleon did not return south until early 460 HE, when he had to go back to Barony Kennan after his mother reported severe damage of crops. This meant he had to accept the betrothal set out for him to Ermelian of Aminar, an heiress, because the storage rooms of Kennan had been destroyed by a flood and this was the only way to get the necessary funds to get his people through the winter. Thus his relationship to Kel ended and he traveled south. It was a bittersweet time for him, as even though he knew it was his duty to marry the heiress, he still seemed to have feelings for Kel.

Physical description

He is described as being tall, very handsome, and brawny. He has curly red hair and clear grey eyes. His body is described to be "as hard as a tree".

Personality and traits

Cleon is a very lively and jovial person, and a jokester and prankster. He does not have a cruel heart, even though he uses the hazing custom, but it is more to be irritating rather than to be mean. He even helps end the bullying with Kel, showing that he is able to see the harm that comes out of the custom. He is also an honest person, and will answer a question directly if asked directly.

He is shy when he likes a person romantically, it seems, as he was very cautious in letting Kel know of his feelings at least around others. Once they did become involved with each other, he was shown as being immensely sweet to her and caring. He still used his flowery nicknames for her, but they were intended seriously rather than the ones he used in the past that were solely for dramatic effect. "Pearl of my heart" was one of his favorites before they became romantically involved. After, he used "Sunrise", "Moon of my Dreams", "Queen of Squires", and "Pearl of Squires".

He did become more attached to Kel than she was to him, although she did love him. He wanted to marry her and to talk his mother around to the marriage, even though he was betrothed to Lady Ermelian of Aminar, a woman with a very plump dowry.

Relationships

Year-mates

Cleon's joking earned him friendships with the other pages. He was also a fan of the hazing custom for younger pages, but it was not to be cruel but to be irritating. He soon became good friends with Kel, Neal, and others, by joining the study group that was held in Neal's rooms, although at first he claimed that it was for schoolwork, like the others did.

He never disliked Kel, but he was perhaps unsure of how he felt at her at the beginning of her page years. He soon became good friends with her, then romantically linked with her when they were squires.

Family

Cleon had one sister, who may have been disinherited by his mother after she ran away from convent and joined the Queen's Riders. Cleon's father died when he was young, and he managed the fief alongside his mother until coming of age. He married Ermelian of Aminar around the time of the Scanran War to get money to save his starving fiefdom when floods wipes out their entire store of grain.

Appearances

• First Test
• Page
• Squire
• Lady Knight