Eckerd Kaufmann

Squire in the Court of Ulrichstein

Squire Eckerd is the eldest son of Sir Veit Kaufmann and has served personally with Baron Tobias Kuhn with honor in a baronal court in Ulrichstein. While his father is not happy with Eckerd's insistence in befriending fellow squire Alwin Himmel, he still loves his son greatly. As a squire he is generally considered skilled enough with mace and shield, but useless with the lance. He is a fair rider, but lacks the discipline for a charge on heavy horse. He will assuredly be knighted but never serve in the cavalry.

Eckerd always has time to help a friend and usually happens to wander by when they are in need. Likewise he seems to have a large number of friends himself that are always in need. Eckerd, like his parents, cannot turn down the true need a someone willing to ask. This has often got him into trouble, but he laughs away such concerns as unimportant in life.

Squire Eckerd, unlike his father, grew up on only in the forest but among the sons of nobles as well. He is an affable and care-free young man who is as much at home in the baron's court as his father's forests. He is taller than most of the other boys, being mostly of Northmen stock, with light brown hair and pale brown eyes. Although some of the boys are older, Eckerd is generally seen as their leader - especially when it comes to trouble. He knows that his father worries about him and his attitude, but Eckerd is aware enough of himself to stop things before it goes to far.

• Occupation: Squire
• Nationality: Kingdom of Dakar
• Spouse: None
• Issue: None
• Parents: Sir Veit Kaufmann and Hille
• Lifetime: 439 AH
• Religion: temple_of_light
• Ethnicity: dakarians, Human

Eckerd grew up on his father's manor in Luckau not long after he was knighted and granted the lands. He only vaguely remembers the manor being built, but he does remember his father coming home after driving back blackblood scouts and raiders. There was even a time when he was ten (10) that a particularly strong raiding party tried to attack the manor itself. Eckerd killed two of the raiders with a bow before the men of the village arrived and helped drive back the goblins.

After that his father hired a men to stay at the house and guard it at all times. He also began to teach Eckerd more than just the bow, knife, and spear of the huntsmen. He had a leather jerkin made and taught him how to use a sword and shield to kill. Three years later, in the Summer of 452, he was accepted as a squire in the court of his father's liege - Baron Ulrichstein.

Eckerd may sport a care-free attitude, but he remains dedicated to a task once he undertakes it. Failure is not something that he considers and he does his best to think ahead to any potential consequences. This has allowed him to become a squire in the Baron's court, instead of one of the other knightly households. Several of the other knights were jealous of his appointment when their own sons were turned down - but they cannot speak too loudly because Squire Eckerd has preformed admirably.

Eckerd deeply loves both of his parents although there are times he does not get along with his father. His father does not care for his title nor the trappings that have been laid upon his shoulders. He does not falter in his duties and remains a staunch supporter of the Baron's desire to tame this land, but he rarely visits the court unless the Baron himself sends word.

Both him and his mother see that Sir Kaufmann takes good care of the peasants and craftsmen that live in the village. His blind spot in court has given other knights the freedom to increase their own holdings at the expense of lands that should have been given to them. To counter this Eckerd has been staying in the court and using his own voice to take the place of his father. He has redoubled his efforts and has won several personal accolades from the Baron during the squire tournaments.