Description: Even well into his late 50s, it is easy to see the feared warrior from his youth, with little of his powerful build going soft with age. And there's little softness anywhere on Duke Ivan Helianthus, with his hard, coarse features weathered by time under the sun at sea. Even fastidious grooming, always mindful of Mourning Islander formality, cannot keep him from being described as grizzled. Meticulous care is taken with his dark beard and hair, though the care hasn't quite kept the streaks of gray from showing.

Personality: Stern, unyielding and unforgiving, Duke Ivan Helianthus is a man of cold civility and brisk courtesy. Representing the cool formality of the Mourning Isles traditionalists, few would describe Ivan with any warmth, and it is even less likely he would do the same for others. Rigid in his beliefs, and even more rigid in implementation.

Background: Few houses were as reliable and unchanging as House Helianthus, and Duke Ivan Helianthus has been a bulwark of the Mourning Isles for three decades. When Duke Viktor Helianthus was killed in a raid by the Abandoned Clan Blackrock 35 years ago, it was Prince Donrai Thrax and Duke Ivan Helianthus that launched a punitive campaign against the Saffron Chain that put thousands to the sword and left entire islands aflame, and after the extermination of Clan Blackrock it was a point of pride that Duke Ivan would still lead raids personally against the Abandoned, often coolly chastising other peers of the realm for not doing enough to wipe out Abandoned from Arvum. Duke Ivan was the first Mourning Isles peer to come to the assistance of House Thrax during the Tyde Rebellion, and some believe that if the Mourning Isles had come to blows with Alaric III on his mission to end the war, Ivan was ready to lead Thraxian forces against Arx. Grimly determined, unyielding in his principles, it surprised few when Duke Ivan defied the Faith and led to a schism in the Mourning Isles.