Jaap van Pijpervale

Jaap van Pijpervale
Full name	Jakob Pieter van Pijpervale
AKA	Jaap van Pijpervale
Physical information
Species	Human
Gender	Male
Hair color and style	Blond hair
Eye color	Blue
Skin color	White
Biographical information
Father	Pieter van Pijpervale
Mother	Daniëlle Groenen
Spouse	Kaiser Ayreon IV (as his catamite; 1663–1671, Ayreon's death)
Date of birth	1643 (95 years old)
Residence(s)	Raynor's Keep
Nationality	Shirerithian
Allegiance(s)	Kaiser Ayreon IV (until 1671)
Occupation	Adept page (until 1671) prisoner (1671–present)

Jakob Pieter van Pijpervale, better known as Jaap, is a former Senior Adept of Batavian ethnicity who served as chief disciplinarian of the White Hall at Dirâsat-an-Nûr until 1671 AN, known for being the catamite of Kaiser Ayreon IV from 1663 until the kaiser's assassination in 1671 (for which Jaap has been blamed).

Even before his birth, Jaap was controversial. His mother, Daniëlle Groenen, was a maid in the household of jonkheer Sebastiaan van Pijpervale. Sebastiaan's son, Pieter, and Daniëlle had a relationship, which Sebastiaan tried to keep secret. Daniëlle, however, became pregnant and refused to abort the child. In response, Pieter killed himself. Daniëlle struggled with her young child, and she made repeated appeals to Sebastiaan's family for help, which were consistently ignored. However, Pieter's uncle, Waldemar Zinkgraven, once Steward of Shireroth and learning of the child's existence, took pity on that child, and ensured that Jaap would have a place as a page in Raynor's Keep.

Thus Jaap grew up in the Keep and was schooled as a page in the Dirâsat-an-Nûr. Kaiser Ayreon IV noticed Jaap's beauty, height and frame in 1663, when Jaap was 20 years old and the kaiser was 18. The Kaiser subsequently contracted Jaap as his catamite. The Kaiser was particularly close to Jaap, giving Jaap unprecedented access to his private life, exceeding that of Ayreon's own concubine Isidora and even his husband, Nathan. Lady Isidora was particularly jealous of Jaap's and the Kaiser's relationship.

Upon the Kaiser's death in 1671 AN, the head of the Imperial Household and Mother of the Kaiseress, Isidora IV of Octavius-Teleni, quickly imprisoned the man for failing to protect the Kaiser. Further investigation indicated his role in the conspiracy to assassinate Ayreon IV. While the other conspirators were quickly tortured and executed, Jaap has remained in captivity at the Kelb, in the Outer Keep of Raynor's Keep. In 1684, it was leaked from the Imperial Household that he had attempted to commit suicide himself several times every year since his imprisonment. Under the directions of the Imperial Mother, Jaap was not allowed to die.

In 1691, on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the death of Kaiser Ayreon IV, an anonymous guard leaked to the Daily Mail & Telegraph of Eliria that Jaap remains incarcerated in the Keep, permanently restrained in solitary confinement. He is fed by a tube, and his muscles are regulated stimulated electrically by a computer to keep the atrophy at bay. Any attendants entering the cell are reportedly banned from speaking or interacting with him.

In 1711, on the 40th anniversary of the death of Kaiser Ayreon IV, leaked files from the Imperial Government showed that no evidence hinted toward Jaap van Pijpervale being responsible for the assassination of Kaiser Ayreon IV nor of being part of any conspiracy relating to assassinate the kaiser; only that he had failed to protect the Kaiser with his life. As such, Jaap was never charged and had remained detained in the basement of the Kelb since 1671 for the crime of not sufficiently protecting the kaiser. Jaap, now 68 years of age, had reportedly never since his confinement left the cell in which he was kept. The leak also suggested that Jaap remained permanently restrained in the same manner as in 1671.

On the golden jubilee of the anniversary of the death of Kaiser Ayreon IV, the Shirekeep Sentinel published an opinion piece calling for Jaap's release. The more sensationalist Shirekeep Vindicator published articles on the relationship between Jaap and the late kaiser, blaming Jaap for the fall and fracturing of the Imperial Republic. Other articles confirmed that the now 78-year-old Jaap was still being held restrained in his cell in the Keep.