Laurent was born to Francois and Lynette Beaulieu along with a twin sister, Cecelia; their family come from a line of middle-class traders tracing their ancestry back to the Kingdom of Courland, and so they enforced the surname 'of Courland' on their children. To his father and mother, the purpose of having an heir was to increase the family standing, and so growing up the focus of Laurent's teaching was on mathematics, conversation, and etiquette - in their eyes, these would be important skills for their son to know should he ever find his way into noble company. Where he found great success in the field of mathematics, Laurent found that conversations were sullied with the false, fanciful way of speaking he was taught; he preferred to behave in a manner that came naturally to him, not in the manner of his tutor that had been ingrained into him during their numerous, dull lessons. Before finding religion at twenty, Laurent fell into sin as an escape from his parentage. It was not uncommon for him to be found still drunk in the mornings up until the very day he decided he was Canonist.
When Laurent was informed that his younger sister would be moving to Providence to set up a new storefront for their family business, and that he would be required to go with her, he was very pleased. He and his sister were particularly close, and although he disliked that she had inherited the obsessions of their parents, at least she was obedient; should it inevitably come to asking her not to drivel on about what she had been taught about what being a good member of the peerage was, she would listen, and she would stop talking.
Laurent travels now to Providence in hopes of officially join the church. He had been disallowed whilst growing up, for his father feared it would mean he would be unable to be wed, but now that he is away from his parents he can do what he wants to. Besides, he never had any interest in marriage, regardless of priesthood or not.
Laurent of Courland climbed slowly off the boat he had arrived on and spent the first few seconds searching for his missing twin sister. He saw that she had run ahead with her things and was in the process of being verbally assailed by a well-dressed greeter.
"What brings you to this lovely city?" he said to her.
Selling something, Laurent assumed. Perhaps if I take my time, he'll be done with her and gone by the time I arrive.
Unfortunately, he was not done when Laurent arrived. In fact, the arrival of a new face only sent the greeter whirring into another repetition of what he'd just said - every word identical.
"Welcome!" he said, "What brings you to this lovely city? Adventure? Wealth? Or some grand aspirations to elevate your place in society?"
"We're here on business," Laurent said plainly. "I assume my sister has already indulged you with the details."
Rather quickly, for he had practiced this routine many times before, the greeter began to speak again, but he was halted by a raised hand from Laurent.
"I'm not buying," he said, "And nor is she."
He quietly chided his sister for conversing too deeply with this stranger, and then told her to follow him. She did, but not without sharing a polite, parting wave with the gentleman. He chided her later for that too.
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