Councillor Marcello Corti

This trim man is manicured from head to toe. Nary a strand of his night sky dark hair, nor its matching beard, is out of place or overgrown. Any bit of fabric that drapes his unblemished frame is without a hint of wrinkle. He is almost always smiling, as though a private comedy is always commencing from within his inner thoughts.

Marcello was raised in luxury, like most in the three dominant houses in Thasen. Smart as a whip, he never ran into any troubles in his learning and private tutelage and has always had an eye for luxury and an ear and handshake ready for trade. As a youth, he was attentive to the deals struck by his aunt, the late Giorgia Corti, his father, Emilio, and his cousin, Bianca, relating to the Greenwood succession.

On coming of age, Marcello took essentially a sinecure on Gela's city council - a system which is thoroughly rigged in House Corti's favour, almost absurdly so since his father is mayor - but has remained steadily outward-looking. He sees what his family has done, and seeks not only to emulate his father's apparent administrative and diplomatic capacity, but to do bigger and bolder things in his own right. He has spent much of his adult years abroad, seeking opportunity for himself or, if not that is not an option, for the house.

Marcel has a sound mind for business and finding opportunities. He might travel under the guise of a diplomat, but the sort of diplomacy he engages in usually comes back to financing in some way. He wants to achieve great things, and this is the way that he knows, the way that has worked for his house in the past.

He is reserved, but readily amused. He is not particularly extroverted, though this can change when he spots opportunity, to the point that his motivation can be quite obvious. He is charming in his dealings with others when actually motivated though.

Marcello is a shrewd businessman, with a good eye for opportunities to exploit.