Borris Iver Kortrevich
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Introduction
Borris Iver Kortrevich, like his predecessor, is a name recognized as the foremost poet throughout Hanseti-Ruska during his lifetime. As a continuation of the Poetic Renaissance, many young Haeseni found themselves enraptured by the works of the late Van Jungingen and Feodar May. Thus, it led to acclimation and passion for the lyrical arts. During this time, many poets and writers expanded upon what they had seen from previous vital figures. In around 1850, about the middle of King Sigismund III's reign, many artists stepped up in this pursuit. Some other notable figures were Dorothea Ruthern, Klara Elizaveta, Gustaf Morovar, and Sofiya Ruthern. This era was undoubtedly dominated by the product of the expansion proposed by Kristoff Brunnings in his Introductory work of Van Jungingen: Complete Works.
Life
Early Life
Born in 1852, Borris Iver Kortrevich never knew his parents, the reclusive Lothar Kortrevich and Juliya Ludovar. Instead, the Kortrevich was abandoned, left in Jerovitz. He was cared for then by his cousin, Nikolai. When he was three, war broke out between Oren, and Urguan, which, coincidentally, pulled Haense into its grip the following year. Synonymously to the rest of Haense, the Kortrevich's life stood dominated by this conflict. Even though the boy strived to become a part of it at a young age, it was not until Borris was older that he would become fully involved in the conflict despite enlisting into the BSK at ten years old.
As an adventurous young Lord, the Kortrevich had often sought out those his age. During the majority of his childhood, he would spend time with a small group of friends who had deemed their club The Flowerlings. This group, originally consisting of the Borris, and the twin sisters, Eileen and Freya Baruch expanded as they gained friends. The club gave rise to many of his interests later in life, such as Drama and Poetry. However, in the Kortrevich's mind, such a club was not complete until they had a fort inspired by the one he had seen built into the corner of Haverlock, the Sedanite capital. Therefore, construction of the small wooden fort behind Jerovitz began. It yielded a child-sized wooden fort in which the group could play. This fort, Fort Flower, would be a staple of the group throughout their childhoods.
However, Borris' childhood was often plagued by misfortune. The Lord would commonly refer to it as 'The self-destruction of those around him.' Most of these problems sprouted from the actions of his cousin, Vasilia Kortrevich, an older sister of Nikolai, when she left to pursue a man in Oren. Having been close with his cousin, the boy took it poorly and reverted to locking himself within Fort Flower for days.
Only then did his real journey into poetry begin, using the pen to express the situation he was a part of and the emotions he was feeling. Then, in 1859, Borris released his first volume of poetry, A Selection of Poetry, from Borris Iver Kortrevich. This first volume consisted of four poems, the most notable being Gone, the first poem he had written. All four, in some way, related to his cousin leaving him. From then on, Borris' volumes would be published annually, most of them consisting of four poems as a continual remembrance of his original publication. It was not until adulthood that his Volumes would be published more sparsely as he took up other projects.
Inspired by the imaginary knight games The Flowerlings would play, Borris set his mind on writing a novel depicting the heroic adventures of a Knight attempting to rescue a princess from the clutches of his brother. While the book started as a simple idea, it became a reality when Chapter One of A Rose in the Snow was published in 1860.
A couple of years later, Nikolai Kortrevich proposed a celebration of Borris' works in the form of a Poetry writing hosted at Jerovitz. This party attracted attention from around Karosgrad. Even the King chose to attend and write a poem that he dedicated to the memory of his late friend. The party was an immense success and would inspire similar events later in the Kortrevich's life.
Borris moved through a stressful event between the achievements and publications as he and his cousin Nikolai were captured and taken to Oren following a raid on Jerovitz. This raid, led by Vasilia's husband at the time, yielded the Kortrevich's first visit to the Empire. Having been bashed in the head, the boy was sent directly to the clinic once he arrived. There, he met Dr. Primrose Gendik, who would treat him, then smuggle the Kortrevich out of the city. This led to a lasting relationship, despite a war between them. The two often met at St. Lothar to discuss the war or other general things throughout their lifetimes. The Kortrevich would come to refer to her as his mother. Though despite their relationship, they both had an understanding that should they meet on the battlefield, neither one would relent.
[As a quick author's note, Primrose had told Borris many times that if he were lying injured on the battlefield, she would charge in to save him. Their initial meeting in Providence was not the first time that the Doctor saved Borris' life. This led Borris, later down the road, to smuggle one of Primrose's captured grandchildren out of the grasp of the Haeseni, who raided Vienne during the War of the Silver Isle.]
Teen Life
The Kortrevich often referred to his earlier poetry as far more fundamental and personal than many of his later works. If one were to scan through any of his Volumes I-VII, they would see that most of his poetry revolves around expressing his feelings towards his surroundings, his friends, and his romantic interest at the time, Carolina Milena, a princess of Sedan. They met during a social event in Haense and became good friends. The two often opted to hang out in Haense or Sedan when available. Many of his poems were written to her during this time. Poems like Palace of Haverlock, Warm feelings, and Nervous were all written for this De Joannes.
Unlike the poetic experience of Van Jungingen, someone whom Borris Iver Kortrevich greatly admired and used as inspiration for many of his later works, he wrote much about love as well as the feelings and emotions surrounding it. The young Kortrevich was known to be easily attached to people and constantly needed affection or attention. This behavior was likely due to his lack of such things as an infant. The Kortrevich's infatuation with the romantic experience often left him blindsided or hyperfocused on one specific person while neglecting others. One example was the fraying of relations with The Flowerlings due to often putting his romantic life before his and his friends' interests.
As Lifstala, the Haeseni social season began following the Kortrevich's 16th birthday in 1866, the boy teenager found himself inspired to write once again to the prinzenas he now sought to court. Amidst the male presentations, the Kortrevich performed poetry instead of selecting a traditional event. This presentation yielded him a public endorsement from the Koenas for his poem Above the Rest. Additionally, The piece was the first of the Kortrevich's to receive public fame and recognition. The Kortrevich, seeing the response to his poetry, began to think more about his career path. It was only then that Borris focused his gaze upon obtaining the position of Court Poet, serving King Sigismund III in an official capacity. The amateur poet was tasked by the King to prove himself by producing a quality work following the well-fought Battle at Eastfleet, officially named Philips' Folly. Thus, the Kortrevich wrote and soon published Death at Eastfleet, which won him not only the favor of the King but also secured him the position of Court Poet.
Even with Borris Iver Kortrevich's strong start, both in his career and Lifstala, the tables quickly turned in his personal life as his partner, now fiance became distant and eventually exited from the side the poet after accepting his proposal. After some investigative work finding out why the 18-year-old discovered that the princess left to pursue an Elven prince. Overcome with grief and anger. He wrote perhaps his most well-known and admired piece in 1868, I Hate You, which garnered the Kortrevich attention from all across Almaris. The Kortrevich dropped out of Lifstala, declaring that he wished to focus solely on reconciling with The Flowerlings and working on his poetry.
Despite the turbulent times, the Kortrevich’s reputation as a strong poet continued to follow him. The Lord Marshal at the time, Johann Barclay, approached the Kortrevich, hiring him as the Battle Bard for the BSK. His first task was to create a series of poems bolstering the image of the Brotherhood by telling the tales of battles from the War of Whigs. Later that year, Borris published his first Anthology titled Anthems of Brotherhood, which consisted of five different poems consisting of memorable events from the war. A few months after publication, the War of Whigs finally ended with the treaty at Eastfeet.
As Borris focused more on his poetry, both in his personal creations and those for his jobs, yet another door opened to him. Ser Reinhardt, the Knight Paramount at the time, sought out the Bard to commission him to write a piece describing his valiant Bogatyr's trial. The Kortrevich excitedly accepted the challenge and produced The Tale of Ser Reinhardt. The Knight's Marshal received the piece so well that three more poems were commissioned. The Kortrevich was also offered the position of Knight's Bard, which he promptly accepted. Due to his success, the Kortrevich received a nomination for Knight of Queen Maya and the Lily in 1869, passing nearly unanimously through the Royal Duma. Then, during court that same year, he was officially knighted by Sigismund III, Kossar Borris Iver Kortrevich KML. To this day, he is still the youngest person to have received the award, knighted at a mere 17 years old.
Adult Life
While working on the Knight's pieces, the Kortrevich also began to take more commissions as the Lifstala season ended and the wedding season began. The bulk of his works in this period surround the idea of marriage and romance. Despite his frustration with his relationships, the Kortrevich could not pass up writing about such an in-depth and expressive topic as love. Eventually, while doing this, Borris found a spec of hope within the friendship of his close friend, Eileen Baruch. After a year of conversating, the two would begin the process of courtship. It was a new page that had been turned, the affection that the Kortrevich had upheld only in the words he wrote now found their way outward. That is not to say he did not still write poems about his dearest Eileen, for many poems can be traced to this subject, such as You Are, You are I, We are we, I are you, and The Bench. In 1872, Borris and Eileen got married in St. Henrik's Basilica.
1872 was also a turning point for The Flowerlings as the group quietly went their separate ways after two members of the group, Eugen Barclay and Soairse Baruch vowed to run away together to explore Almaris. The Flowerlings said their goodbyes to one another in Fort Flower that evening. However, despite their break, all of the members of the group looked forward to symbolically burning down the fort as they had all grown too large to actually use it. Eileen, a year or two later, would give birth to healthy twins. The words he had spoken for his children were copied down and published. The Kortrevich was enamored with the two children, so he fittingly named it My Child and dedicated it to his new son and daughter. The majority of the Kortrevich’s poetry, in fact, has this same premise. Not that they are all about his children, but that he takes the situations around him and crafts them into a poem. Whether this is the experiences that he is having, or the emotions of others. Therefore, when going through the list of his poetry chronologically, one can easily catch a glimpse of the emotions he was feeling at that particular time. It was not until late in his life, with the majority of his poetry being that of commissions or work for his bardships where the story arc of his life was not vividly reflected through his poetry.
Later that same year, the Kortrevich found himself in conversation with the aged koeng, Sigismund III as they stood and watched the Snailula One race at Odistadt. Borris, having been familiar with Van Jungingen’s ode to King Andrik III, wished to do the same for his Majesty. So at that moment seeking he challenge to emulate the man he admired, the poet humbly asked the koeng if he could write a similar ode. While the koeng only jested that he would have to make a poem that flatters him lest the Kortrevich be put to the sword for treason, Borris was far more nervous about the piece than he led people to believe. It was a long process, taking a few months of work to publish a piece titled, An Ode ve Koeng Sigismund III. Later that same saint’s day, the Koeng would pass away, surrounded by the thousands of Haeseni who came out to pray for his quick recovery. The Poet watched as the Koeng marched down the steps and challenged Ser Walton to a duel, his way of completing the warrior’s end. The Poet watched as his Koeng met the end he had wished for. The Poet watched, unsure if the Koeng ever read his ode to him. It would not be till a few months later, during the reading of the will, that the Kortrevich would learn that he did in fact read the piece. Perhaps one of the greatest honors of Borris Iver Kortrevich’s life was the compliment he received from the koeng in his will, in which the excerpt is written below:
“To read, and even be the subject of your poetry has been one of the great honors of my later life. You have, despite your young age, become one of the greats of Haeseni culture, eclipsing even the likes of Dietrich van Jungingen. I will watch with pride from above now, and on that day you will surely be named Valtakossar.”
Bolstered by the late koeng’s compliments, the Kortrevich continued writing as he did. The next task he chose to do was writing a poem on the Coronation of the new king, Sigismund’s son Karl Sigmar. He titled this The Dawning of a New Day. An appropriate title for a new king, the poem explored the setting of an era from Sigismund and the rising of a new era for Karl. Over the next few years, the Kortrevich’s work was far more spread out. For the first time, Borris did not publish his volumes every year. Rather, the Kortrevich would begin publishing his volumes every three years while also working on other projects. An unfortunate death occured as the former Lord Marshal, Johann Barclay was murdered along the road in 1875. As a tribute to his years of service and dedication to the people of Haense, the Kortrevich released The Tale of Johann Barclay. This commissioned piece by the new Lord Marshal, Heiran Mephestus, displayed the life and leadership of the Barclay. The Poem stands as one of his larger pieces. In the same year, the Kortrevich took the time to write out his griefs, jotting them down and publishing them in a piece he titled Call of the Weary. The piece instantly resonated with vast multitude that was feeling a similar absence from Godan.
Then, in 1882, war broke out between the Dwarves and the Orcs. Subsequently, the remnants of Oren and Haense also joined the war. Borris used that opportunity to write about his own experiences during the war. The Kortrevich wrote Decisive Blow after the EATO’s first official victory at the Acre, whereas he praised those who died fighting for our victory. While no other poem about the war was published during the Kortrevich’s lifetime, War of an Island and Peace at Last were both made public following his death.
The Kortrevich participated in multiple skirmishes throughout the war. One of these events lead to the overtaking of the Vienne after being let in through the gates by a child. As already stated earlier in this biography, that child turned out to be Timothy Komnenos, the grandchild of the Kortrevich’s dear friend and adopted mother, Primrose. He, taking the opportunity, smuggled the child out of Haeseni control and safely returned him back to the care of his father, Arthur. Borris, fearing that he might be charged with treason however, opted to stay hidden within the Komnenos’ manor rather than return to the raiding party. During this time, Borris regained much of his contact with Dr. Gendik, allowing them to catch up on years lost. They talked about the insanity of the war and how it was ridiculous that both of them would have to live through two wars in their lifetimes… not to mention that they were on opposite sides of the conflict. It would be the last time that the Kortrevich saw his adoptive mother before she passed away a couple years after the war. From his grief of such loss, the Kossar shut himself away for a multitude of weeks, taking the time to recuperate and recover.
His recovery period, however, was swift, as the poet would drown himself in work. The Kortrevich found time to finish his long awaited anthology. Over the next three years, the Kortrevich would take it upon himself to write a poem dedicated to the knight’s trial of every single knight in the Bogatyr’s age as well as a few extra poems that were centered around knighthood and the lifestyle adapted there. This idea led to him gathering information on each individual, oftentimes reading through stacks of books in order to find key details. The Kortrevich would often host interviews with those close to the individual to try to catch glimpses of the storyline so that his poetry may reflect the event perfectly. This project, which he titled The Silver Crows Anthology, yielded a total of 16 poems of which were dedicated to the individual knights of the realm. The work was published in 1885. This piece remains his longest Anthology.
After this, Borris Kortrevich began to think about working with other poets to make a masterwork. So he set off to talk with poets throughout the kingdom, looking for people to join him in writing. Through this hopeful collaboration, the Haeseni Papyrus was born. The first issue was published in 1888. It consisted of nine poems from six writers, Klara Barbanov, Borris Kortrevich, Felyx Colborn, Ipera de Falstaff, Euleriphis of Karosgrad, and Hieromar of Karograd.
In addition to these anthologies, the Kortrevich continued to write inspirational war poetry over the next ten years, such as Why He Fights, Fall of an Enemy State, The Call to Crusade, and Light’s Faithful Triumph.
Note:
The Kortrevich often used very lofty, metaphoric language to paint a picture to the reader, juxtaposed to straightforward language like Van Jungingen. A flaw with a few of the Kortrevich's works is that the words he uses are too imaginary; it fogs up the idea of what the author is trying to say. One such example is his piece, The Fall of an Enemy State. Originally titled Fall of a Nation, the work was first published during turbulent times in the Kingdom when a rift between those in the Aulic council debated fiercely against the accusations of nepotism and favoritism within the leadership as proposed by Jakob Vernhart, the Grand Maer at the time.
Fall of a Nation used non-specific language, leaving it ambiguous, even though the piece was about the late Kingdom of Oren, who had just fallen a couple of years prior in 1884. Instead, such ambiguity led many to believe that the Kortrevich was not talking about Oren's demise but rather about the possible fall of the Hanseti-Ruskan Kingdom. Shortly after its publication, the piece was recalled. It was then republicized later in his lifetime under a different name.
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However, this reinvigorated period was cut short by the growing sickness of the King, Karl III, who was a long-time friend. During these final days of the King, Borris sat down and wrote an ode to him, just as his father did. This poem, titled Oede va Koeng Karl III, marks the second death of a king dear to him the Kortrevich lived through. Over the next twenty years, he shifted how he would write and publish his poetry. The Kortrevich spent long periods in his room in deep contemplation before writing his poetry. Not only did this diminish the amount of poetry he was writing, but also the length between publication times.
Through this time, the Kortrevich focused much of his poetry on the Church. He wrote over 50 Hymns, publishing them in waves of volumes he titled Hallowed Adoration: A Canonist Hymnal. In addition to this, Borris Kortrevich published CANONE SANCTORUM:SANCTITAS ET VIRTUS, a 10 poem about Saints of the Canon. Despite this, The Kortrevich wrote poems of strength and war. During these years, he also published many Anthologies, including Songs of Swords in 1906 and Ballad of Brethren in 1910. He finished his next anthology of Knights, The Iron Crows Anthology between these times. It was published in 1907 and consisted of 17 poems. Then, in 1908, he wrote a piece regarding King Georg’s coronation titled, From Circlet to Crown.
Following the beginning of a war between the Canonist League and Adria, Borris Kortrevich released Children of Horen, which attempted to represent the bloodshed during the war vividly. Men of the Morning, published around the same time, gave a similar sentiment to the destruction that conflict causes.
In 1916, Borris Iver Kortrevich was awarded ValtaKossar, “The highest possible civilian honour in the Kongzem of Hanseti-Ruska.” He is noted as a figure of great works and poetry within the Kingdom. He stands as the third person to receive this honor.
Continuing his previous collaboration, the Kortrevich wished to reignite the Haeseni Papyrus. However, the Kortrevich began reaching out to other poets, not only Hanseti-Ruska but also Balian and Aaun. After several years of gathering and writing, he and 4 others published the third volume of Haseni Papyrus in 1918. Four years later, the group released the fourth volume. Following this, the Kortrevich agreed to take on several wards to mentor them through poetry, including Klara Ludovar and Stefaniya Ipera.
In 1929, Borris Kortrevich published his last poem, Oede va Keong Georg I, following the King’s death.
The Kortrevich passed away in his home, whist writing his final poem. It was published following his death and inserted in his Complete Works.
Issue
| Name | Birth | Death | Marriage | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minerva Alexis Kortrevich | 1873 | Unknown | Unwed | Firstborn twin daughter of Borris and Eileen |
| Hamish Markus Kortrevich | 1873 | Unkown | Marcella Georgina Ludovar | Secondborn twin son of Borris and Eileen |
| Eirika Nikoletta Kortrevich | 1875 | Unknown | Unwed | Third-born daughter of Adele and Matyas |
