Cantarell Villalon

"'I would be careful with Cantarell, my friend. The last northern idiot who pestered him returned to his country a little shorter.' Sever Triado, The Plight of Steel, Chapter 17"

Cantarell is the King of Villamaje, referenced during the Plight of Steel, and introduced in the Point of Chaos. He is the usurper of the throne to his country, which he killed his uncle in order to attain. He has extensive connections throughout the Known World, to which he sells ships and wine. Many of the sailing vessels used by other kingdoms were constructed by his builders.

Biography
While his uncle was king, Cantarell was a bawdy, smoldering youth loved by men and women alike - for very different reasons. His father, Nicilis Villalon, loved his son and spoiled him with affection, though he taught him virtues of honor and pride. He instilled in him the importance of vengeance and fairness, which he understood as taking from a man only what you plan to give back in return. This sentiment drives Cantarell above any other.

He married his aunt, who was of an age with him, after he murdered his uncle, and their relationship easily transitioned. Over the years, however, as he saw more value in hunting down his sworn quarry instead of being a good husband, the two grew distant, until the pairing shifted into a close friendship.

He is referenced by numerous characters in The Plight of Steel, and is described as a man who does not take kindly to foreigners, or those who seek to insult or injure his family. Like the rest of his kin before him, he uses the cobralor in a ritual dubbed the Copper Quietus. Any who offend, hurt, or offer an affront to him or his family will find a copper cobralor, an indigenous flower to the kingdom, somewhere in their home. Soon after, they are dead. Members of the royal family are each assigned a gourdredora - a highly skilled bodyguard bound for life to the person they defend. Cantarell's is a man named Salazar Alvarez, with whom he shares a close brotherly relationship.

Appearance
He is tall, made taller by the heeled boots customarily worn by the nobility of his kingdom. Long hair is pushed back into a kind of dark mane that frames his face. Copper skin, almond-shaped hazel eyes, and sharp, comely features mark him as a child of Villamaje. Growing from his chin is a groomed patch of hair, starting just below his bottom lip and ending in a point beneath his chin itself.

For most of his appearances in The Point of Chaos, he is described wearing long overcoats of gold fabric. His armor, an important piece to his character, is also gilded, with a mask wrought with the features of a cat, including a snarling mouth and jagged, protruding snout.

To the left is a painted cardboard representation of his mask, built for the Point of Chaos book trailer.

Name Origin
The name Cantarell is a rarer one in the kingdom of Villamaje. It translates to Lion.