Duke Giovanni di Argenti

Duke Giovanni Di Argenti is a scion of the nobility of the great city of Castello, heir to a political dynasty unrivaled in the Phoebian League. Unfortunately, the church of Aramon saw the rising power of his family as a potential threat and requisitioned all of their children to serve the Church. While he was initially selected for the priesthood, his rapidly developing stature caused a rapid re-deployment to serve the Order of the Silver Hand.

Giovanni served as a page, and later as a squire to several high-ranking knights, working hard to learn as much as he could. While he was an apt warrior, wielding a greatsword with unlikely deftness, the Order saw that he would be wasted on the front lines and that his true value lay as a leader of men. When given his own conroi, Giovanni lead his men to overwhelming victories over hobgoblins and elves alike and gaining no small amount of favour among his followers. By the age of 50, he was undeniably the most successful general in the Order, so the church saw fit to give him his greatest challenge to date: annex the Weald.

Since the less than successful invasion, Giovanni finds himself the begrudging lord of Fivespire Keep. From his seat in the restored fortress, he manages his men, keeping the peace within his domain as best he can. The knights of the order sally forth from the castle to patrol the woods, attempting to kill or scare off the monsters that haunt the shady bowers. In order to fund this work, Giovanni has levied taxes on the communities his men protect, negotiating tithes of food, supplies, and weapons. These taxes are highly controversial, with some praising them as well worth the safety they pay to provide, while others resent the authority that the Order of the Silver Hand has claimed for themselves.

Giovanni's attitude towards the people of the Weald was substantially changed by the massacre at Guilded Ford. After natives ambushed an entire company of men-at-arms as they crossed the Avainn river south of Mosstone the Duke grew colder and harsher, less willing to give natives of the Weald the benefit of the doubt. Unfortunately this increasing pitilessness has made resistance stronger, vindicating the the rebels at Falconhand Heights.