During the Dark Ages, Lord Horst de Novara was the fourth son of a minor nobleman with a keen sense for trade. On the urgings of his father, he followed the call of the Crusades and went on to fight infidels. His company, however, was lost and ended up in Prague, where Horst chose to stay. There he met his future sire, Rudolf Brandl, who was interested in his views of the duties of nobility and how they would change in the coming years. Brandl embraced him, but the two didn't know what to make of each other. Horst left Prague and ventured into the world, following the Road of Heaven after a fashion, and didn't find a place for himself in hundred years. When he crossed ways with Hardestadt, the elder immediately Blood Bonded him, as he couldn't stand the sight of a straying Ventrue without