Full Name: Count Xavier Halliway, Count Halliway
Species: Human, un-Cursed Status
Allegiance: Conservative political caucus, and the Empire
Religion: Agnostic
Social Status: 6 (draws a comfortable pension for his former military service, and has access to enormous wealth from both the entailed holdings of House Halliway and his private investments; lives relatively frugally for a nobleman of his rank)
Age: Late 60s
Eyes: Dark brown, almost black
Hair: Gray
Height: 5'6"
Physical Notes: A slight, wiry man, still in excellent shape for his age, but with skin that has been dried out and wrinkled from too many years in the sun.
In the center of this ring of bodyguards stood a gray-haired man in an old-fashioned brown equestrian uniform, with calf-high riding boots and a line of medals and service ribbons on the double-breasted coat. He might have been handsome once, but the years had not been kind to him, and deep lines creased his face around the mouth and eyes. He had a cape, of all things, pinned around the shoulders of his uniform. The emblem of his house — a black mountain flanked by laurels on a white field — stood out prominently against the burgundy fabric of the cape.
— Things Unseen
Behavioral Notes: Energetic, high-handed, charismatic, arrogant, and possessing an indomitable will. He can sometimes come across as a blowhard, but don't underestimate his intelligence.
Supernatural Abilities: None
Personality and Appearance
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Background
Count Xavier Halliway is a decorated war hero, a life-long public servant, and a highly influential and high ranking member of the Empire's nobility. He is the head of House Halliway, which for the last three centuries has held the fealty of most of the Broadfield and Valley South Boroughs of Metamor.
The Halliways are not native to Metamor. Originally from the province of Verdania, House Halliway can trace its lineage back to Duke Titian Verdane, the king of the Southern Midlands at the same time Duke Thomas Hassan V ruled the Northern Midlands. House Halliway married into one of the Northern noble lines, securing their future in the newly expanding Empire.
Count Halliway's son was excoriated — stripped of family name, title, and all rights of inheritance, once the son hit puberty and turned into an incubus. The Count's current heir is Mysteria (aka Misty), who plays at being a shallow, vapid debutante, pulling outrageous stunts and saying equally outrageous things in order to keep the paparazzi focused on her (think Paris Hilton). She is also a devoted and open member of the Church of Hedonism and has spent a lot of money spell-sculpting her body to look like a daedra.
Judith Halliway
John and Misty's mother, Judith, was about twenty years younger than Count Halliway when they were married, and it was a marriage for political advantage rather than for love. Infidelity was tacitly expected and accepted, in both directions, with the understanding that (1) it must be discreet and (2) they must use birth control, to avoid producing any bastards. This is a common arrangement among the nobility, though it is impolite to speak of it.
Unfortunately, the young Countess Halliway was from a part of the world where incubi were almost unheard-of, so she did not know how to protect herself against their shapeshifting deceptions or their hardier-than-normal sperm. So while she had had several lovers during the time in question, when Judith got pregnant she assumed it was Xavier's child. It was not until John metamorphosed at puberty that she realized what had happened to her. (Their younger child, Mysteria, was immediately taken to the Lightbringers for testing, and they breathed a sigh of relief when they confirmed that she was human.) There was no way to tell which of Judith's paramours had been the incubus in disguise, especially not some sixteen years after the fact.
Given the Halliways' politics, Judith was obviously horrified to learn the truth about John — but Xavier's allies in the Conservative wing were even more so. Rumors and questions spread like wildfire. Was Judith a closet Hedonist? Was Xavier secretly condoning such behavior? If not, why hadn't they taken the necessary precautions against incubus infiltration? And why hadn't Xavier divorced her? Judith withdrew from the Metamor social scene and started spending more time traveling abroad — maybe to get out of the public eye and avoid these questions, and maybe just to reexamine her own life.
Less than two years later, Judith Halliway died at a tragically early age while on one of these trips overseas. The doctors blamed the death on an undiagnosed heart condition, and this may be true. However, the countess also had prescriptions for several mood-altering medications, some of which are prone to adverse effects — particularly if combined with alcohol or other recreational substances. It's possible that she had an accidental overdose, or that some combination of grief, guilt and altered brain chemistry had made her suicidal.
Or, possibly, someone killed her and covered it up.
Judith's shame had been on ongoing drag on Xavier's political ambitions, but her death softened the attitudes of the peerage and allowed him to take control of the narrative. The count mourned her in grand fashion, erecting a mausoleum to house her cremated remains. He insinuated that everything that had befallen them — Judith's unfortunate seduction by an incubus, and her unexpected demise — had been part of a plot to seize control of House Halliway by the forces of darkness and sin. He ordered an investigation into her death, but nothing was turned up that could discount the original diagnosis of a genetic heart defect, possibly exacerbated by the medication she was taking. Xavier scornfully dismissed any suggestions that his wife might have ended her own life; she was, he insisted, made of sterner stuff than that. No, if her death wasn't an accident, he was sure it was the work of his enemies, cutting her out to keep Halliway from following the trail of Judith's lovers back to the people responsible.
Misty has a different theory: she thinks that a group of Daddy's allies in the intelligence community decided that Judith had become a liability. They wanted Kyia to choose Xavier as the next Minister of Intelligence, but they knew the Conservative wing would never support him as long as these questions and rumors about his wife continued to circulate. They waited until Judith was away from Metamor, relatively unprotected, and then staged a death that they could blame on accident or suicide. Daddy, in his grief, then leaned on these same men to perform the investigation, and of course they found exactly what they were meant to find.
John, being a bit more cynical than Misty, has a simpler explanation: he thinks Xavier himself arranged for Judith's murder, and that everything that followed was a big, ugly show of crocodile tears. He can't prove it, though, and Misty doesn't want to hear it, so he keeps his suspicions to himself … for now.
John is curious about his biological father, and has asked Jasmine who he might have been. That was before her time as head of the temple, though, and she claims not to have any records of a church-sponsored operation against Halliway. It might have been an independent incubus who did the deed; or it might have been a church priest, working off the books on a highly-secretive operation. Or, of course, Jasmine might be lying. John has written it off as one more in a long list of things he may never know.
Current Activities
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Organizational Membership
The Halliways are very influential in Metamor politics. Count Halliway is a former senator and was the chair of the Intelligence Committee for the Imperial Senate, and currently is working as the Minister of Intelligence in Kyia's Cabinet. He was the leader of the Conservative wing of the Senate before his appointment to the Ministry of Intelligence, and in many ways is still the arch-rival of Lord Matthias.
Home
Count Halliway lives in Halliway Tower in Metamor City. His family has numerous other holdings, across the Empire and over seas.
Family
- Countess Judith Halliway, wife (deceased)
- Lady Mysteria of House Halliway, house scion and problem child
- John, former house scion. Excoriated when it was discovered that he was actually sired by an incubus and not the Count.
Known Allies
- none stated to date
Known Enemies
- none stated to date
Story Appearances
Things Unseen
Sources
Things Unseen, conversation with RavenB/Etherius early February 2011.
Author's Notes
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Voice Actor
none set
