[hider=Res Publica][b]Nation:[/b] Res Publica

[b]Location:[/b] Though it has membership and support all over Cyrodiil (and somewhat in other parts of the Empire), its base of operations is in Anvil particularly.

[b]Total Military Numbers (Keep it Reasonable!):[/b][list]
[*]10,000 Ex-Legion Veterans scattered all across Cyrodiil.
[*]1000 Members of the Fighters' Guild all across Tamriel.
[*]700 Clergy of Talos forced underground due to the White-Gold Concordat.
[*]50,000 Civilian supporters.
[*]Enough Money to hire 10,000 Mercenaries, including Mages.[/list]
[b]Icon:[/b]

[center][img]http://i.imgur.com/aAHPwTS.jpg?1[/img][/center]

[b]History:[/b]Res Publica began as a mere political idea in Cyrodiil by one Antonio Salutati. He advocated for a republican form of government, one in which the leadership was elected yet ran by the merchant classes. The idea was thought to be lunacy at first; regardless, Salutati expressed his ideas in a book – Res Publica. The text was ignored for the most part by the nobility but became quite popular amongst other groups of people, especially merchants, ex-legionaries, and guilds. The book was well-liked in fact, that it lead to the creation of an advocate group named after the book in Anvil. Res Publica proved to be a flop at first, attracting few members with noticeable prospects.

All that changed when a tycoon of sorts – Lucius Cincinnatus learned of this group. Lucius, disenchanted by heredity rule as well as the emperor in particular, chose to join the organization. With him, he brought both his wealth and influence which shifted the group in a much more active yet radical direction. In no time, propaganda swept through Cyrodiil’s, bringing in supporters from all corners of the province and, slowly, from other parts of the Empire.

Since the war in Skyrim began, the group has seen a drastic increase in membership and support. As approval of the emperor decreases, Res Publica grows and fosters with the potential to bring his dynasty to an end. With Imperial forces spread thin, it seems as if the time for an uprising is approaching…[/hider]

[hider=Lucius Cincinnatus][b]Name:[/b] Lucius Cincinnatus

[b]Appearance:[/b] As an Imperial, Lucius is covered with tan skin, dark hair, and small dark eyes. Keeping in which his countrymen’s culture, he keeps his hair especially short, never quite long enough to breeze freely in the wind. His body structure is scrawny and in no way fit for military service. With a preference for showing off his wealth, he typically adorns himself with several sets of robe at once with red and white being his favorite color combination. He almost always carries with him a small dagger for protection, though ardently believes he’ll never be forced to use it.

[b]Bio:[/b]Lucius was born as the sixth child of a poor farming family near Bravil, Cyrodiil. At a young age, his only notable trait was his sickliness which often manifested as fatigue and a vulnerability to illness. Rarely was he able to work the fields for as long as his siblings, a fact his father resented greatly. His mother, on the other hand, was much more accepting of this major flaw and proved to be a soft spot for much of Lucius’ childhood. Of course, “Mama’s Boy” became an eventual nickname of his among the rest of the family, though it was rarely meant in a malicious way.

The first step in Lucius’ malcontent with monarchies began with the count of Bravil, a sour young man by the name of Dante Pergrande. Count Pergrande was painfully corrupt and infamous for cooperating with Bravil’s major crime lords. One day, the Cincinnatus Farm had become the unfortunate target of one of these crime lords who found it rather profitable to steal the farm’s crops and sell them at a farmer’s market at a ridiculously low price. This had become somewhat commonplace until, after some time, the Cincinnatus family managed to come up with the proof to have the crime lord arrested. Count Pergrande, however, would have none of this and, instead, had the crime lord set free. This was an injustice that seemingly tore young Lucius apart and, in the process, sowed the seed to his hatred of royalty.

By sixteen, Lucius had become completely disillusioned to the farmer’s life. He despised the labor, the poverty, and especially the lack of social prestige. Ultimately, he made the decision to leave home and try his luck somewhere else – where, he did not know. His family, of course, was none too pleased but did little to stop him with the assumption that he’d return after seeing the real world for himself in mind.

Lucius, filled with a youthful determination, traveled to Skingrad, where he found a job as a shopkeeper’s assistant at a general store. Although he was nearly illiterate at the time, Lucius proved to have a knack for numbers. With this latent talent of his, he was able to see small ways in which the shop could save a few coins here and a few more there – micromanagement essentially. Though the improvements were small, they soon added up. Four years after Lucius arrived in Skingrad, the shop (nicknamed Oval) had increased its net income by 25%. Crediting this growth to his assistant, the shop owner (known as Blandus Aquinas) gave Lucius more control over the shop, hopeful it’d spark more improvement.

Lucius was not daunted by the task of making Oval even more profitable; no, he was actually excited by the challenge. His solution, after some time at the drawing board, was simple – buy commodities from straight from the producers, sell them to the craftsmen, and buy the finished product from said craftsmen and then sell them. He didn’t stop there though: he started buying the supplies needed to produce commodities and selling them to the producers; same with the craftsmen. Although he didn’t know it, Lucius was using vertical integration, a business practice never before seen in Tamriel. Essentially, it allowed him to control the production of his product right from the beginning.

This method didn’t just work, it caused Oval to boom with a wealth that overpowered every other business within Skingrad. Blandus Aquinas was content, but Lucius was ambitious. Using Oval’s recourses, he began opening up sister shops in neighboring counties. In consequence, Lucius’ reputation amongst merchants started to pick up. Although he hailed from a meager farming family, merchants couldn’t help but respect his talent in business.
After the Great War between the Empire and the Aldmeri Dominion, Blanuds passed away and, with no living children, left ownership of his business empire to Lucius. Lucius might have been over joyed by this fact were it not for a thorn in his side – the Emperor’s new policies, a series of taxes that greatly hampered the production and growth of businesses. This seemingly reawakened Lucius’ resentment toward monarchies; the only difference now was that he could do something about it. Within months after the new policies came out, he began attending secret meetings with respected merchants from all over Cyrodiil. The conversations were always the same: how were they to influence public policy? While many nobles could be bought out, the emperor was surely not one of them.

Around this time, a peculiar book began circulating: Res Publica. Lucius, who had learned to read by this point in time, rarely put it down. It strung at his heart like a musician playing the lute. Whilst he was originally silent on his acceptance of the ideas of the book, he came to find others in favor of its ideas as well, particularly other merchants, the middle-class, and ex-legionaries. In fact, a group of merchants in Anvil started an organization (Res Publica) that advocated for the book’s ideas. Seeing an opportunity afoot, Lucius started to back the group financially. He didn’t stop there though; Lucius used his ties with the rest of the business world in Cyrodiil to spread the group’s influence and ideas beyond Anvil, thus attracting even more supporters and financial backers.

By the time war in Skyrim was raging, Lucius had become the prime director of Res Pubica’s efforts at bringing about a republic form of government to the Empire. However, the question loomed over Lucius’ head:  when and how would they strike?

[b]Age:[/b] 37

[b]Skills:[/b][list]
[*]Mathematics and Logistics
[*]Political Strategist
[*]Business Management
[*]Intrigue[/list]

[b]Personality:[/b]The crux of Lucius’ personality lies in his ambition. Each goal he has is seen as a puzzle waiting to be solved by him through any available. One might even say the phrase “the ends justify the means” suits him well. Furthermore, he is motivated foremost by his hatred for anything monarch-related. He truly despises the arrogance of royalty and considers them and their old form of government to be the scum of Tamriel. On the other hand, he’s holds highly the idea of all races being equal, believing them be equal in dignity.

Honor is a foreign concept to Lucius in that he finds it impeding on his ambition. Why face your enemy when you could stab him in the back? As one might guess, he’s somewhat of a coward when it comes to head on conflicts, preferring to work everything to his advantage before making his move.

Overall, Lucius is an effeminate man. He dreads hard labor, is light-hearted in his interactions, and enjoys the finer delicacies in life such as the high-grade wine and fanciful carriages.

When it comes to matters on the Empire, Lucius hopes it will one day retake its position as the sole superpower in the world. He fully believes that, with Res Publica in charge, it could become a bastion of freedom and equality. In contrast, he despises the Aldmeri Dominion before its racist beliefs of men being below the other races.

[b]Faction:[/b] Res Publica - [i]De Facto[/i] Leader[/hider]