Richard Grosvenor

General

Richard Grosvenor is the bastard son of Simon Grosvenor, a Varrockian drunkard, and Julian Sykes, a prostitute. Throughout his thirty year lifespan, Richard has served under the Asgarnian banner under all sorts of occupations. He is most notable for his duel work as a White Knight Grandmaster, and for the unification of the Saradominist South Asgarnian nation.

Early Life
Upon the eve of the Fifteenth of the Ire of Phyrrys, of the One Hundred and Thirty-ninth year of the Sixth age, a short, stout, black haired and dark eyed prostitute by name of Julian gave birth to a son of noble blood in a dirty alleyway of a bustling city known to all as Varrock. T'was not long before she calculated the pregnancy, and revealed that she was impregnated by none other than Simon Grosvenor, the impoverished Misthalani noble and local drunkard. Assuming she could blackmail him into receiving money, Julian took the boy to Simon's apartment, where Simon kidnapped the young Grosvenor and left him to the North Asgarnian Saradominist Monestary.

The young infant was taken in by the monks, reluctantly. None had proper knowledge of proper fathering skills, and all were frankly virgins, respectively. Seeing no other option, they gave the boy the name of Richard, and adopted him into their cult-like society. Until the age of one, it could be assumed that Richard was one heck of a mess, but on the date of his first birthday, Richard began to walk, and his legs began to take his tiny butt everywhere.

It wasn't long before he was talking, and it wasn't long before he was praying. Young Richard fell into this monastery life as if it were a silken net off a large cliff. He grew tall and sturdy, and was able to do many of the laboring tasks around the monastery, such as carving masonry into the walls and plowing large stretches of field. Richard was no green thumb, but he was an academic, and easily learned how to read when he was six years old. Richard fell in love with mathematics and was swayed by the scientific advances of the church regarding the properties of light. Inspired, he also was, by the lack of religious reading material.

Adventurous, Richard began to wonder outside of the monastery. When puberty finally kicked in around age fifteen, Richard went on a rebellious streak, throwing away his regards for academics and the liking. Richard kept his eye on the blackened castle of the Kinshra atop the base of the Ice Mountain, and this severely worried the monks. With no other choice, a monk by name of Geoffrey, who was a former knight, was chosen to train the boy in the art of swordplay.

Teenage Life
Rather than use a small sword, Geoffrey decided to start Richard off with the prestigious two-handed sword, as he'd already reached the height of six feet at age sixteen. The slender, but muscular, Richard was no master of the sword at first touch. His arms were used to the labor of a pick-axe or chisel, not the violent swinging of a sword. His first task was to chop down an oak tree with his sword, and young Richard tried for many days to chop it, but the bronze piece would not cut through the wood. Growing frustrated, Richard started chopping other, more flimsy trees around the area. Weeks went by, and Richard unwittingly was strengthening his agility and overall aim with the sword. He aimed for the bending points of branches, sliced at different angles, and the liking. After a year, Richard chopped up that oak tree, only after going through twenty bronze swords, and giving the monastery a lifetime supply of firewood.

At the age of nineteen, Richard grew to the climax of his height, at around six feet and seven inches. With his new found glory in swordplay, he finished his studying of religious academics at the monastery. For the next six years, Richard fought off bandits from making way with the treasures of the monks, and wolves who preyed on the precious wool of the sheep. Six years of killing for his God and the monks. But, when that sixth year came, Richard was deemed too old to continue his service of protection at the monastery, and would either have to join the ranks of the monks, or leave. His only possessions, a set of monk robes, a symbol of Saradomin, and his sword, were packed up in a tight bundle, and a twenty-five year old Richard went off to find work in the great wilds of Gielinor.

Early Career
In a few days or more after following dirt trails and signs, Richard came across the great white city of Falador. Shocked at the quality of the stonework, Richard was lured in to investigate this bustling hub of Asgarnian trade and politics. When he found the local inn, the Rising Sun, he began to look and ask around for any sort of work offers. A flier on a noticeboard told of the new White Knight regiment, entitled New Haven. Richard flocked to their citadel atop a floating island, and was duly initiated into their ranks as a squire.

As tradition states, each squire is assigned to a knight of New Haven, who then instructs the squire on his duties so that he may learn them and graduate into knighthood. The teacher knight was dis-satisfied with Richard's use of a two-handed sword, calling it names such as a "barbaric butter knife" and a "flimsy piece of shit". Instead, he taught Richard the use of shorter swords, used for stabbing, and the art of archery through the use of a crossbow. Richard was fast to pick up the short sword, often cutting the heads off chickens for practice. Archery, however, was a different story. To put it short, Richard spent many days in the woods trying to kill deer. After a month, he only killed two, but after that, he'd kill one with every bolt he had.

His first real battle came with a suprise raid on the White Knight castle in Falador. Multiple Kinshra operatives under the Zamorakian Lord Pyro infiltrated the castle and began to reign hell upon its occupants. Luckily, Richard and a trio of New Haven knights arrived on the scene. Using two crossbows and a shortsword, Richard killed several Kinshra operatives, and wounded many more. Richard was making a name for himself in New Haven, and was about to be knighted, when it dis-banded for unknown reasons. Richard was once again left out of a job.

Months passed by, and nothing was offered. Eventually, he took up a job with the local Dwarvern blacksmith by the name of Doric, in a shack near the Taverly Gate. Again, nothing was really offered. In this time, the Zamorakian Lord Pyro layed siege upon the city of Falador, and duely occupied it. Shocked, Richard started up an underground militia in the forests to the north, appropriately called the North Asgarnian Militia. At its peak, the militia organized daily attacks on the Zamorakian posts in the city. By the divine will of Saradomin, help finally arrived.

Mid Career
Oliver Ryder lead the grand army that re-took Falador, though he had no interest of governing the city. Rather than add it to his collection of provinces under the Ryder name, he gave the city to the Saradominist zealot by name of Dion Magnan, who crowned himself king. For his work as a militiaman during the war, Richard Grosvenor was made the commander of the White Knights of Falador. Immediatly, he began work to re-organize the ranks and structure of the knights, and gained a solid army. Meanwhile, King Magnan was growing unpopular with the people, who demanded a cease to his rule. After dis-arming many riots, Richard and his men locked Dion out of the castle and demanded him to leave. Dion summoned his army of supporters who used a ram to break open the gate and surround Richard and ten of his men. Luckily, they were able to fight their way out, and Dion fled the city.

Rather than make himself King by request of his peers, Richard took on the title of Steward, believing he wasn't of noble blood. He began to organize the city and commence relations with the surrounding city-states. With his new power, he organized many laws on the city, notably the weapons-free law which prohibited the wielding of weapons anywhere in the city by civilians, and the anti-Kinshra policy that outlawed the Kinshra from publically wearing their uniforms and expressing themselves in the city. At first, the laws were unpopular, but the populace soon came to accept them and they moved on with their lives. It was also during this time that Richard fought off numerous sieges by the Zamorakian Lord Pyro.

During this time of peace, Richard commenced trade with the Duchy of Lumbridge, who soon agreed to an economic and military alliance. He also found trade with the humble mining and farming town of Rimmington. The Kinshra, though, owned the local port and the lands to the north. After recruiting a suitable army, Richard outlawed the Kinshra from Falador, and declared war on them. The Kinshra were able to organize a riot in the city square that was cut short by the use of artillery atop the castle gifted by the Duke of Lumbridge.

At random, the City of Rimmington declared a suprise attack on Lumbridge, and took the city by surprise. The Duke abdicated and fled to Falador, and the White Knights took over an abandoned Rimmington. Richard agreed not to attack Lumbridge so long as they continued trade and that they stayed in Lumbridge. Soon after, Richard launched a surprise attack on the Port of Sarim, where the Kinshra fled in boats into Kandarin. Within a month, Richard had single-handedly re-unified Southern Asgarnia into a nation that could take on the Kinshra-supported North Asgarnia. Richard appointed a local noble by name of Weatherby Swan to oversee the cities of Port Sarim and Rimmington, while he enlisted the help of Brock Avery to build the Asgarnian navy and print the Asgarnian currency in exchange for un-taxed mining access.

Now, the Asgarnian economy was beginning to recover from a period of uncertainty, and Richard was able to focus on the defense of Falador. Out of the blue, Lord Pyro arrived at the gates of Falador with a large army. Richard sent out a request for help from the famous Rovin crossbowmen of the Picatoris colony, and for knights abroad to come to the aid of the city. Many were able to slip through Pyro's blockade of the city gates and were able to add to the city's defense. On the day of truth, Pyro breached the gates and fighting broke out on the streets. The bridge over the moat of the castle was destroyed, and for days the knights were locked into their own castle. The aid of a local elemental mage was used to re-build the bridge, and the White Knights and allies began a counter attack.

Pyro and a few of his personal bodyguards were ambushed by the Rovin crossbowmen at the western wall, so Richard took a few of his men to assist. In this fight, Richard and Pyro began a vicious fight, where they both slit eachother's throats.

Current Career
The soldiers hardly noticed, and continued on with the fighting. Richard crawled off into the distance, bleeding out. He tore off some of his shirt to wrap around his throat, and came around an old Asgarnian manor, where he took up residence. By this time, he knew that he was probably thought dead, so he decided to take time off and re-engulf himself in religious studies. He went out often, under different aliases to purchase books and writing materials, strengthening his mind. For nearly three years, he took leave, and re-emerged after the Asgarnian Crusades. Looking for work once more, he introduced his real identity to King Varis of Asgarnia, who placed him again in charge of the White Knights of Asgarnia. Soon after, Richard co-signed an agreement that gave the Kinshra and White Knights equal standing on an Asgarnian political basis. Now, Richard works under the title of Grandmaster of the White Knights of Asgarnia, and works accordingly to strengthen the defense and prosperity of Falador.