Martellus von Blitzengaard

Martellus von Blitzengaard
Name:	Martellus von Blitzengaard
Age:	Older then Tarvek, Late twenties?
Occupation:	Rival Prince, Tentative Storm King
Residence:	The Refuge of Storms, home base
Debut:	Vol 12 Page 155 ✣
Relations
Relatives:	Xerxsephnia (sister), Tarvek Sturmvoraus (cousin), Violetta ("cousin" ✣ ), Andronicus Valois (ancestor)

"I, Martellus von Blitzengaard, by the grace of God and the voice of Europa, am the newly-ascended Storm King."

Martellus von Blitzengaard, or Tweedle, as Tarvek refers to him, is Tarvek's cousin and, according to the Knights of Jove (not to mention Tweedle himself), the current leading candidate for the title of Storm King.

Story

Working as part of The Storm King conspiracy and summoned by The Abbess of the Red Cathedral, Tweedle makes his first appearance ✣ during the Siege of Mechanicsburg as the controller inside the lead clank of The Real Knights of Jove before it is destroyed by one of the Dreen. He is likely mentioned before this moment by both Tarvek ✣ and Capitaine Dalistache, the latter of whom who may be allied with the Knights of Jove. Shortly after the Siege is broken, he kidnaps ✣ Agatha from the Red Cathedral and drags her, along with the unwelcome additions of Krosp and Violetta, through the Monolith portal to his headquarters ✣ The Refuge of Storms. Due to the fact that this transfer happens at the exact same moment that Mechanicsburg is sealed inside Klaus's time-bubble, the normally instantaneous trip takes two and a half years. In the process of kidnapping Agatha, Martellus throws a Nullabist knife at Tarvek, penetrating Tarvek's chest. According to Martellus, the knife would normally liquify its target in thirty minutes or so, but due to Tarvek being inside the time-bubble he survives and is eventually extracted and cured by Gilgamesh Wulfenbach.

Upon reappearing in the Refuge, Tweedle cuts a bloody swath ✣ through the resident members of his family and their Smoke Knights to reclaim control of the fortress. His life is saved by Agatha when she sleep-makes a replacement prosthetic for his left hand after the appendage is poisoned by The Blonde Question. This device has already been destroyed and rebuilt at least once, and gives him the ability to absorb and reflect ✣ energy attacks aimed at him, though it also almost gets him killed when he later confronts ✣ The Beast and its powers of extreme magnetism. In return, he tinkers with Agatha's body chemistry so that she requires regular physical contact with him to avoid dying; she is able to transfer this need to the Wasp eater that also came with them through the portal.

During Agatha's subsequent escape from the Refuge, he hunts her (and traitorous members of his family) using teams of sparkhounds he personally bred, fighting ✣ Gil and his forces in the process before being unwillingly carried away from the battle by his own minions in one of the (barely) surviving Knights. Following this encounter, he continues to attempt to hunt down ✣ Agatha and claim her as his bride, while ruthlessly striving to solidify his claim as the Storm King and found a new empire. This latter task is being complicated by ongoing negotiations with Gil, his having to deal with unhelpful "advisers" ✣ foisted on him by The Council, and the theft of the notebook and key of Van Rijn by Margarella Selnikov.

He tracks Agatha and Co. to the Corbettite Depot Fortress of St. Szpac and thanks to recognition from the relevant Pope and the presence of his uncle, a Bishop, forces the resident monks to officially (if very unwillingly) recognize his claim to the Storm King title. He then assists them and Agatha in halting The Beast's rampage, and when trapped inside the fortress with the arrival of Gil and his forces, he makes himself an unwelcome tag-along on Agatha's stealthy underground train journey to Paris.

Arriving in the city, he is promptly dragged away by his sister Xerxsephnia von Blitzengaard to meet with their formidable Grandmother. He is delighted to learn that a masquerade ball has been "suggested" by Paris's ruling family the Voltaires, and immediately begins work on his elaborate costume and entrance display. Unfortunately (for Tweedle at least), this effort is interrupted, first by the original Storm King's sword Archimedes' Lever springing to electrified life, and then during the actual ball, the arrival of numerous (mostly) uninvited guests: The Queen of the Dawn, Agatha, a swarm of Geisters, and finally Andronicus Valois himself, freed from his underground temporal prison. Tweedle dons armor and joins in the fight against the last, attempting despite Agatha's warning to use the Lever against its original owner. He is moderately successful at this, at one point using it to grimly put down several of his own knights who have been zombified by the king's other weapon, The Platonic Solid, but eventually Andronicus reclaims the Lever. In the end, the undead king is dispatched with the help of The Master of Paris, Agatha, and some handy Jagers. Tweedle delivers the final blow with a more tractable replacement sword, reducing Andronicus to dust. Tweedle then literally claims the man's crown, and, thanks to Grandmother's preparations, leads an extravagant parade celebrating his claiming of the Lightning Throne through the darkened streets of Paris.

He evidently assists in clearing agents of The Other from Paris, but following this, the city's new Master, Colette Voltaire, pointedly denies his sovereignty over her domains, and orders that he and the rest of his family leave as she seals the city's gates.

What Kind of Madboy

Personality

Tweedle's default method for dealing with problems is a brutal and direct application of force, and he disdainfully treats underlings as disposable pawns. Nevertheless, while he is not as smart as Tarvek, he is intelligent (and capable of recognizing useful intelligence in others, especially when they display cunning and guile), has no lack of physical courage, and is likely a spark of prominence though to date we have only seen a brief glimpse of him in his Madness Place, when analyzing the aforementioned Lever. He sometimes dreams of giving everything up and opening a designer pet shop in Paris ✣

With (evidently) the sole exception of Xerxsephnia, he displays a healthy and foresighted dislike and distrust towards members of his family.

Martellus's Spark

An affinity for animal constructs, inherited from his former mentor Dimitri Vapnoople.

Creations

• Sparkhounds and Knights of the Hunt
• Equipment for analyzing Archimedes' Lever
• His electrified Storm King costume
• The modification of Agatha's body chemistry ✣ so she must have periodic skin-to-skin contact with him or she will die.

Physical Abilities

Physically imposing, he is much larger than Tarvek or even Gil, and is able to soak up an enormous amount of physical punishment; he takes several blows to the head from Agatha without flinching, and shrugs off the stabby attentions of Bangladesh DuPree. (Though if enough force is applied, he can be rendered unconscious.) Additionally, he has undergone family training which renders him immune to at least some knock-out drugs.

Possibly relevant outside information

“Martellus” is Latin for “hammer”. It was the cognomen given to Charles, leader of the Franks, after his defeat of the Umayyad Caliphate in AD 732 at the Battle of Tours, in modern-day France; he was thereafter known as Charles Martel.