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The third son of a cobbler and his wife, Durate Amedeo had an unremarkable early life, but he did learn extremely important lessons quickly. His father was mysteriously assassinated after he had loudly spoken insults about a merchant prince whose wealth he resented, his eldest brother was killed in a duel, and his second older brother was forced to flee Setarco in a hurry after he insulted the wrong people. These lessons gave Duarte a profound appreciation for the weakness of an uncontrolled temper coupled with a careless mouth, and he quickly decided he would take his life in a rather different direction. Duarte spent time with courtesans and courtiers attempting to appeal to the famously fashionable and charming nobility of Setarco, those who tried desperately to win the approval of House Pravus. Duarte quickly learned that charm and grace was useful and admirable, but what really could win over the nobility was simply useful information acquired through the right words and catching the right whispers. Duarte quickly gained a reputation as a charming young man who knew so much, and soon found himself in the employ of House Pravus itself. He was acting as the ears of the former Duke of Setarco inside Arx, and even joined the Inquisition for a time, using the contacts there to keep the southern house informed of the goings on in the capital. It infuriates Duarte that he was not in Setarco to help Duchess Belladonna when she set her house to rights against plotters and schemers, and he feels more than a little ashamed and frustrated his talents were not in Setarco when it was needed the most. He resigned his post in the Inquisition in order to devote himself once more to House Pravus, redoubling his efforts to insure that the duchess to whom he owes his devotion is never again surrounded by her enemies. He might operate with a smile and a laugh, but more than one enemy of House Pravus has underestimated that smile to their downfall. Along those lines, he more recently helped oversee the destruction of the treasonous House Argento, a powerful vassal of House Pravus that was plotting against Duchess Belladonna. Though the nature of his actions are not publicly known, he was rewarded with a Peerage following the conquest of the city-state of Nilanza, being named Count Duarte Amadeo, the Count of Bravura.

A handsome man with an unblemished caramel complexion and mysterious dark eyes, everything about Duarte Amedeo seems perfectly polished. His teeth are perfectly straight, his eyebrows perfectly neat, his fingernails perfectly clipped. Never the slightest bit of dirt or hint of imperfection seems to ever mar his skin or clothing. His dark hair is kept stylishly short and a faintly amused smile seems to ever-linger on his lips.

Charming, affable, with a disarming manner, infectious humor, and quick wit, very few individuals realize how much danger they are in while speaking with Duarte Amedeo. As chief minister of Information and Safety for House Pravus in Setarco, few nobles let alone commoners could rival the man's importance in the Silken City, a fact seldom realized by many of his companions. It's not that Duarte is humble by any stretch- the dangerous and cool confidence in his eyes gives lie to that. He merely knows how much easier it is to get precisely what you want with a kind or clever word... even if it allows one to destroy the person that revealed it. He is in many ways a reflection of Pravus itself- smart, charming, and utterly ruthless.