Persona Biography
Agelos was born in 1072 the third son of Geraldus Evienece, first son of Anicet Evienece who had taken Gunnar Redaxe's only daughter Alvar to wife.Gunnar, as a young man, had joined his friend and commander Harald Hardrade on many adventures before following Harald to the great city of Constantinople. There Harald commanded the personal guard to the emperor. The Varangian guard is known to this day for their loyalty and ferocity. Gunnar as one of Harald's lieutenants traveled throughout the middle east, sacking cities that were slow to pay tribute to the emperor. As the Norsemen grew rich with plunder their children became more attractive as wives and husbands to the local merchant families. Such is the case with Alvar who had captured the heart of Anicet Evienece second son of a wealthy merchant family. Tragically one year after the marriage, Anicet was killed when the caravan he led was attacked leaving Alvar a widow and heavy with child.Alvar was denied her inheritance from the Evienece family and with no where else to go rejoined her father Gunnar. Born to Alvar was a boy she named Geraldus Evienece. Gunnar raised his grandson and taught him all the skills worthy of a Varangian. After spending many years in Constantinople Harald gather what riches he had not sent north already and set out on the long journey to his homeland to claim the throne of Norway. Gunnar spent many years with Harald consolidating his kingdom when news reached Harald of the death of King Edward of England. Always ready to make use of the circumstances that fate had bestowed, Harald mounted a force to back his claim as heir to the throne of England. Gunnar set sail with his grandson Geraldus for England who had grown into a large man skilled in the ways of war. After landing in England Harald met little resistance until he came to York. There he faced the armies of Edwin Of Mercia and Morkere of Northumbria. The battle was short but sharp. Harald's army took few casualties but among them was Geraldus Evienece (Gunnar's only male heir), gravely wounded. While Harald's army celebrated Gunnar concerned with the survival of his bloodline sent Geraldus back to the ships to return to Norway at the first opportunity.Four days later Harold Godwinson appeared with a great army and defeated Harald Hardrade at Stamford Bridge. In the carnage that followed Gunnar fell beside Harald, and Geraldus escaped to safety in the north.
Geraldus eventually settled in the northern marches and there he became a prosperous armorer, and maker of weapons. Geraldus married and his wife bore him three sons. Geraldus trained his sons in the mysteries of the forge and the use of weapons. Agelos as the third son had little to look forward to for an inheritance so upon coming of age with the gift of a horse, weapons, and armor from his father he set out in the world to make his fortune.From his father Agelos had learned to fight man to man, and he had learned these lessons well. Traveling south Agelos soon found work in 1089 as a mercenary with the forces of William II in their efforts to consolidate the border between England and Scotland. It is here that Agelos learned the art of mass tactics, and the construction of fortifications. His fascination with these matters brought him to the attention of a grizzled old veteran eager to pass on his knowledge to a promising young man. His fighting skill began to show during the numerous skirmishes with raiding Scots. By 1096 Agelos had risen to command a garrison in one of William's fortified towns. It seemed that Agelos had risen as high as was possible for a man that was neither a Norman or a knight but it was at this time he and his garrison came to the aid of the king's brother Henry. Henry and Agelos had become friends. They had in common that they were both the youngest sons and not likely to inherit their father's fortunes. While it's true that Henry's father had considerably more wealth than did the Father of Agelos, Henry still found a sympathetic ear on the subject. Henry had no expectation of assuming the throne since William had every intention of dying of old age. When in public Agelos behaved as would any one of his station towards the king's brother, in private they spoke as one fighting man to another. In 1100 William II suffered a "hunting accident" and was mortally wounded by a crossbow bolt. As the only son of William the Conqueror left the duty fell to Henry. When Henry I took the throne he offered Agelos the post of commander of the king's guard. Great-grandfather would have been proud.
