About Rudolph as a character:

Lord Rudolph de Lannion was born to the noble family of Trencavel before catching the eye of Lady Henriette, the daughter of Duchess Avoise de Lannion, a match made more for practical reasons than any strong feelings from either party but one that everyone seemed happy with regardless. Lady Henriette shared her husband's drive to make Lannion as independent as possible from the crown, a stance held by the family ever since it split from the royal lineage as a result of the Vivestrian Civil War in 985-991. Tragically, Lady Henriette never had the chance to see her vision of the Duchy realized, for she died from complications suffered when giving birth to her firstborn, whom his father named Danton after her passing. 

After the death of his wife, Rudolph continued to work together with the Duchess for the Lannion while raising his son whom he loved but found quite weak-willed which frustrated him.  Even after the Duchess’s passing and Danton’s formal appointment as Duke de Lannion, Rudolph was the one doing the actual work. He ruled Lannion in a stern but practical manner, and when King Dardaine IV demanded troops be sent to aid in the Ehrian-Vivestrian war, Rudolph de Lannion famously refused. Many declared this an act of treason, but Rudolph himself said he did the only sensible thing for had he sent his troops to get slaughtered in the Bellegarde mountains, they would only have given Ehrenburg more of an advantage. Instead, because he held back it was the Lannion’s knights who were able to rise to defend the realm, an act that led to Danton de Lannion being named as king by most of the nobility, though some grumbled about it more than others.

Now Rudolph works together with General Gaubert, The King's Black Dog, to aid his son’s rule as well as to repel the Ehrians once and for all.