Skanbal Yalkar

Skanbal Yankar, married name Skanbal Ziriba-ath-Esam, was a charismatic merchant and diplomat who served the Empire of Calazen in matters of long-distance communication and trade. After working with the royal daughter Alnira Ziriba on finding and translating alchemical texts from Samvara, he and Alnira began an illicit courtship. Alnira eventually went public with their relationship and married Skanbal, bringing him into the royal family.   Skanbal was the perpetual odd duck out in the Calazan court. While he had the blessing of Esam the Great to marry Alnira, Skanbal didn't really have Esam's favor. This led to Skanbal's continuous rejection by much of the nobility.   A generation prior, the Yalkar family would have been treated with outright suspicion and disdain by the court: long-distance trading was frowned upon for centuries and generally deemed base and commercial. The Yalkars had made a hefty profit despite this, but their coin didn't make them any less undignified. This changed during the reign of Esam, as the ambitious young emperor sponsored and allied himself with select merchant houses to gather intelligence, raise funds, and project influence. The Yalkars, who had invested in selkie trade connections and overland routes to Stildane and the Suneka, would have been ruined by Esam's conquests if he hadn't artificially subsidized and protected their caravans in exchange for state service. This context also led to Skanbal being framed as an imperial lapdog by many, as the nobility wrote off the merchant's skills and only emphasized his dependence on imperial patronage.   Skanbal came to avoid the court and went back to working as a merchant and diplomat. While many gossipped that he did not love Alnira as much as she loved him, their marriage held together over the years and he played an active role in his daughter Kitiva's life.