[b]@ Romaneck[/b] - [i]Etchelion is approved![/i] Etchelion will make a great addition to the cast and for however much we push Age of Revolution's story, we would all like to see him grow and develop as you, Romancek, reveal more about his character history. [b]Fern[/b] - [i]Ash and Dae are Approved![/i] Don't be too hard on yourself and don't feel daunted about the other character sheets. Ever character's got a unique history and it takes time to really develop a decent character background! I'd say Dae and Ash's character sheets are perfectly fine and to be honest, I myself struggle with character sheets. The key here is not solely in who drafts the best character sheets, but how the writers craft the story so don't feel pressured! We're all growing writers with strengths and areas for improvement ... [b]Everyone else[/b] - Didn't mean to leave y'all hanging, but I've finally revised my own character sheet! Still working alongside dreamshell, Ivory, and Nevis with character sheets so don't think I've forgotten about y'all! We'll be starting this weekend or Monday at the latest so expect an IC Post 8). [u]Character Sheet[/u] [b] Name:[/b] Lucius Vii Delacroix I [b]Age:[/b] 21 [b]Race:[/b] Human [b]Nationality:[/b] Valanian [b]Allegiance:[/b] Valania and Himself [b]Appearance:[/b] Lucius is a young man of twenty one years standing at a brazen six foot two inches height. His shoulder length black hair falls over his eyes in long thin fringes and is tied in a low ponytail behind his neck like the bristles of a paintbrush. His dark blue eyes are only further enhanced behind gold tanned skin of clean radiance and the lean, athletic build speaks volumes of his well defined muscles. Sharp and seductive in all respects, the Valanian heir's features strongly resemble his father and grandfather. On the move, Lucius' prefers a white, long sleeved tunic, an ordinary belt sash, and dark trousers. For public occasions and social gatherings involving higher courts, the man sports much more aristocratically luxurious clothing. [b]Notable Skills and Abilities:[/b] - Able blade master and marksman, though far from a master in either. - Accomplished tactician, strategist, and leader - Intuitive intellect and animal cunning - Highly developed knowledge of psychology, philosophy, oration and manipulation - Adept at stealth and sleight of hand - Knowledgable in the arts, sciences, history and economics [b]Equipment:[/b] As a guest to the Vectisian embassy, Lucius owned little to nothing save his name, the Le Crosse heirloom pendulant, a dagger, and the clothes on his back. His Vorstan teacher Sytonia managed to both cultivate his own sleight of hand and ingenuously channel his strengths to quickly master the improvised and crudely effective arts associated towards lock pick crafting. [b]Other Notes:[/b] - Despite his athleticism Lucius at times, displayed physical frailty; so much so that he sometimes became prone to physical relapses and in his own words 'cursed with the body of a noble, rather than a warrior most unsuited to war'. - Heavily conflicted regarding his previously vengeful desire to eradicate Sarife and its peoples - Harbors a deep found respect towards Sarife's Imperial Prince Bahramesh II and Princess Farah [b]Biography:[/b] Lucius was born Lucius Vi Delacroix, to Lothair and Celestine Delacroix, the unusually pragmatic rulers to Valania. As the young prince of Valania, his birth came at a tumultuous and altogether turbulent moment in Valania's history. The Delacroix family line had expanded throughout the years, yet decades of mismanagement and incompetent corruption had allowed certain cancers to fester within the Kingdom's own institutions. All the same, the lack of a male heir earned the eyes of many a conspiring aristocrat and it was following Lucius birth that his mother Celestine convulsed in terror following the oracle Lyscia's prophecy that he would destroy the world. Shortly after delivery, word reached the rulers that fires had burnt down the Temples of Yadin-Hamon and Athirat. Rumors soon circulated throughout the Kingdom regarding Lucius' arrival and that both Yadin-Hamon and Athirat had left their sacred temple sanctuaries to accompany his birth. His early years were considerably happy ones and time spent with the various children, most notable the eldest of the L'Fevre line, Daelynn L'Fevre. The delightful and pleasant days grew increasingly fewer as Lothair pulled Lucius away for horseback training amidst reports that border skirmishes had increased between the Kingdom's Hussars and Sarife's Sipahis. Soon afterwards, Lucius had barely turned 5 years of age when both Lothair and Celestine were brutally assassinated, thereby vacating the Valanian throne. As the Crown Prince and the royal family's direct male heir, Lucius was immediately elevated near the throne where his retainers, including his uncle, were called to manage the state's affairs until a time in which he was deemed old enough to take the crown. Matters changed, however, when assassins arrived again to slay his younger brother, Rothion, his two younger sisters, Catherine and Ryanna, and himself. Coincidentally, the assassin architect overplayed his hand, having believed he had effectively removed the throne's primary obstacles and in a dramatic political push, offered a conditional marriage proposal towards Lucius' elder sister Marianne to seal his rise to power. Unbeknownst to him, the assassination attempts failed after Lucius struck down the assassins with his own hands. Shortly afterwards, the Crown Prince uncovered his own uncle as the sole mastermind behind the treasonous dethroning operation and ordered his arrest, trial, and execution by firing squad. His ruthless and calculating nature revealed that Lucius' early age talents showed promise and that given time, would become a capable and competent Valanian ruler. It was not long, however, before Valania's Sarifen neighbors invaded his land and crushed the Kingdom's vast armies before annexing all of Southwest Carcassonne in one fell swoop. With Valania's fall, came the dismantling of Carcassonne's only line of defense separating the titanic Sarifen Empire from overpowering the other remaining, Carcassonnian Kingdom. Lucius, his childhood friend Daelynn of the ancient L'Fevres, and his younger sister, Ryanna, escaped the ensuing political purges that followed the Sarifen annexation, having managed to acquire asylum within the former capital's Vectisian embassy. His brother Rothion and older sister Marianne could not properly elude the Sarifens and disappeared shortly after their capture where rumors of the execution soon surfaced. It was not long before news soon spread regarding the Sarifens and their decision to elevate a new ruler to Valania; a vassal of Sarife's emperor by the name of Richter von Conqvist. Upon learning the news, Lucius’ vengeance set aflame and following the Conqvist's unchallenged rise to power, vowed to do anything to uphold and resume his duty as their one true ruler. Aspiring to regain his kingdom and free its people from their oppression at the hands of the Sarifen Empire, Lucius vowed from the moment Emperor Aryanpur I seized Voltas that he would suffer through unspeakable lengths to achieve this; no matter if cost Sarife their armies and sovereignty. Patience and proper execution became the better part of valor and it was these principles that he found Valania's liberation not a right, but a duty. Sometime before he departed the Vectisian Embassy in Voltas, Lucius promised Ryanna he would return for he held her dear to none in Carcassonne and the world. To preserve the vow to reclaim Valania, Lucius and Daelynn escaped Voltas and parted ways. His journey across Valania proved anything, but pleasant and he witnessed cruelty and barbarism beyond reckoning at the hands of marauding Sarifen conscripted soldiers. He managed to learn much of their ways and survived several close calls against various patrols before collaborations alongside Vectisian smugglers managed his timed escape into the mountains leading into Vorstian governed territories. Eventually he found his way to the great, marble-lined Vorstian capital, Averna, where he became an honored guest in King Drago VI's magnificent palaces. In his heart, though, he knew that his prolonged residence would solidify his peoples' suffering and before long he fell into a shameful despair. A short time later, Lucius' pursuits stole King Drago's attention and earned the Prince's access towards several Vorstian schools of thought, where he became close friends with the Vorstian philosopher, academician, and scientist, Sytonia. The elder man tutored Lucius, in culture and philosophy, strategy and tactics, politics and manipulation as well as in the arts of psychology and leadership. He also proved instrumental in securing the boy's entry into the [i]Agoge Ludus[/i], the brutal Vectisian Military Academy in Altair, where only handpicked fighters learned to properly exploit the famed Vectisian arts of close quarters combat. Sytonia continued to spill his wisdom acquired during his travels to distant lands and over the years Lucius developed a profound animal cunning and deadly skill in fighting whilst also mastering the classics in an almost terrifying voracity. As Lucius entered adolescence, he began to enjoy various intellectual pursuits before first and foremost becoming exceptionally learned in the classics, arts, and histories. In his studies he developed a great interest in the sciences, though he kept alchemical and mystical sciences at a distance due to his distaste for their methods and the belief that they ‘corrupted the soul’, a remnant of his Puritanis Augurian upbringing. The great intellectual disciplines consumed much of his late childhood, however, memories of the War still burned fiercely and for a time, the entire Sarifen Empire as a whole became the subject for Lucius’ scorn and branded hatred as it had during his early upbringing as Valania's Crown Prince. He considered the nation his sworn enemy as his Lothair continually affirmed and sought to do everything in his power to ensure its destruction. As a academician, Sytonia continued to deliver his intellectual instructions and theories, but soon came to understand the boy’s intentions well enough to know that his Valanian pupil sought revenge on those who had damned him to exile. Dismayed, he discouraged the eye for an eye aphorism and had a profound influence on tempering Lucius' rage as he grew into young man of irrefutable talents. Shortly before Sytonia's death, his influential teachings unknowingly cultivated Lucius' firm belief in the philosophy that ‘the ends justified the means.' To this end, the use of whatever methods he deemed necessary to achieve his purpose became a mainstay in a long list of underhanded counter-measures. This included but by no means stood limited to theft, bribery, blackmail, and murder. Nevertheless, time secretly spent with Sytonia and other philosophers groomed his strict sense of justice and personal creed, to which he swore an abiding oath. Having mostly lost all he held dear Lucius believed he had little to fear and following his graduation from the [i]Adoge Ludus[/i] news reached Vectis that Ryanna had been exposed, manipulatively wedded to the powerful Lord Eyrial Elireth, and bore child. Additional reports soon arrived regarding the fact that slave ships carrying Valanian captives had been seized within Vectisian and Ivalian ports while enroute to other nations throughout the globe. Compounding these revelations, word reached Altair regarding Rothion and Marianne's declarations of dead along with Conqvist's growing hold over Voltas along with reports that Sarifen commanded, Valanian auxiliaries were challenging a guerilla resistance operating throughout Valania's countryside. These developments surfaced a restlessness not unmatched since the day Lucius watched the Sarifens overrun Voltas and though embarrassed, admitted to a new found thrill towards fighting, killing, and exacting revenge. The news of his younger brother Rothion's death proved especially disturbing and shook him so dearly that he vowed to hunt Emperor Aryanpur and his family to a man, even if his reputation suffered. His pursuits brought him back through Carcassonne's Northern territories and into Sarife's heartlands, where upon his visits to Orad and other Sarifen cities became too great to count. Many incidents involved masking the crown Prince and Princess of the Sarifen Empire and through almost animal-like stalking, found their traits to be both likable and genuine. The realization that they shared more in common than he would have liked caused him much distress and conflict, given that his burning desire to murder Emperor Aryanpur's entire family and slowly begun fade. One day, in the burning autumn sun, an enormous earthquake engulfed Orad and the unthinkable happened as Lucius risked his life to rescue the Sarifen heir and his sister. The altercation unknowingly brought Valania and Sarife's Crown Princes in company and not long afterwards, the three soon shared a close bond. Lucius found almost inseparable and for a time, learned much regarding Sarife's more favorable qualities as well as its ancient traditions. He quickly came to consider both Bahramesh and Farah close to his heart, whilst visiting Orad though he could never forgive their father and the Empire's power mongering aristocrats for the suffering that it caused both him and commoners alike. Sometime later, Lucius was mistaken for one of the Emperor's escaped Valanian slaves and arrested following a city-wide manhunt. The altercation temporarily landed Lucius within Orad's most repulsive dungeons; however, through Prince Bahramesh's rhetoric and display of remarkable fighting skills, Emperor Aryanpur became so impressed that he issued a decree that decidedly spared Lucius life while elevating his status to that of a closely guarded court entertainer. This unusual circumstance also granted the Valanian Prince freedom to roam the royal grand palaces and hanging gardens, something he enjoyed thoroughly as continually plotted to assassinate the Emperor of Sarife with a complete and burning hatred. Lucius' fortunes were short lived, however, and before he could formulate a viable assassination attempt could be before various intelligence agents operating within Orad's palaces recognized Lucius' true identity, whereupon they immediately alerted the Emperor and his most trusted Zhayedans. Exposed and facing enemies on all fronts, Lucius launched an audacious escape and managed to steal the Emperor's finest steeds before outrunning pursuing Zhayedan teams. His ordeals while on the run only hardened his resolve and he soon found himself working along the coastlines, where he quietly rejoined various Valanian resistance circles. Following his arrival, the beleaguered insurgents found a steadfast aura of nobility surrounding his every visit whilst his clear, soft voice, impressive intellect, and natural oratory skills acquired whilst residing within Vectis commanded both attention and extraordinary respect. Not one to idle, Lucius soon proved his abilities as both a master strategist and tactician in addition to his remarkable fighter prowess as Valanian resistance efforts under his command yielded spectacular advancements in the drive to cripple Sarifen occupational strength. Throughout his efforts and bids to convince his oppressed countrymen, Lucius found himself at odds with various Valanian resistance leaders whom accused him of treason for acting against various Valanian auxiliaries. Lucius' famed answer involved the reality that Valania could not afford to allow traitors of any kind to exist and that without unwavering dedication towards its peoples, Valania and her resistance resembled nothing of reputable value. His words managed to earn greater support in his bid to punish Emperor Aryanpur and his aristocratic retinue ... --- [u][b]Another Note:[/b][/u] Just thought I might also throw another [url=http://www.infinitelooper.com/?v=1odL9XoN7qQ]soundtrack[/url] your way to chew on during the intermission before the IC. [i]Enjoy ...[/i]