[quote=@RomanAria]
[hider=Liviana Traianus]
[center][h2][color=b069d4]Liviana Decima Traianus of the Lusitanian Empire[/color][/h2]
[img]https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/23/c6/bd/23c6bd3a281a5d988dc1114b45cf7075.jpg[/img]
[sub][b]Personal Motto:[/b] [i]"I’ll either find a way, or I’ll make one." -[b]Hannibal Barca[/b][/i][/sub]
[sub][i]“Leave a mark on this world, Livy. Leave it big enough for me, too, cause I’m not gonna be here long enough to make one myself.” –[b]Lucian Catilina, her former betrothed and best friend.[/b][/i][/sub][/center]

[b][u]Nickname:[/u][/b] Liv, Livy to friends and family. 

[b][u]Birth date and age:[/u][/b] March 15th; currently 16.

[b][u]Sexuality:[/u][/b] Asexual. 

[hr][center][i]“I mean, I know I’m not much to look at, but why does everyone insist on talking down to me? I’m not stupid just cause I’m small…”[/i][/center][hr]

[color=b069d4][center][b][u]In Depth Appearance:[/u][/b][/center][/color]
[center]Even though Lusitanians tend to be small (With women an average of five feet even, and men an average of five feet five), Liv is almost impossibly tiny, standing a proud four feet four inches tall and weighing a whopping sixty pounds. She supposes she’s pretty enough, in kinda a childlike way – and she is still frequently mistaken for a child despite her best efforts. There’s not a feminine curve on her frail frame, which only adds to her childish appearance. Her hair is long and curly, dark brown, and it quite refuses to be tamed with the possible exception of being pulled into a ponytail. Sometimes. Bright blue eyes, often heavily lined and brightly shadowed in a vain effort for maturity, peer out from a pale face that is typically streaked with a fair amount of makeup, as always in an effort to appear “older”. 

Her clothing style is simple and elegant; she favors her people’s traditional clothing of long, loose dresses, always with sleeves, even in the heat of summer, and leather sandals with elaborate straps, even in the winter. She usually wears light colors, usually whites and pale blues and lavenders. Often she will also have a vivid scarf, usually purple but sometimes bright blue, wrapped around her body and sometimes over her hair as well.

It should also be noted that eternally on her person – even when she sleeps and bathes – is a thin silver chain necklace with a tiny locket on it, engraved with the letter L. Inside the locket is a photograph of herself and Lucian posing at the piano. She also wears a somewhat longer, plain cord necklace, with her silver lunula amulet tied into it. (As she is still unwed, she wears her people’s traditional crescent moon amulet called a lunula that brings her under the protection of  the maiden moon goddess.)[/center]

[hr][center][i]"My duty is first and foremost to my gods, second to my people, thirdly to my family, and only lastly to myself. What I desire doesn't matter."[/i][/center][hr]

[center][color=b069d4][b][u]Personality:[/u][/b][/color]
[u]• Determined • Intelligent • Outspoken • Creative • Self-Conscious • [/u]
Liv is, to put it in the words of her eldest brother, a “four-foot-four firecracker”. She’s not afraid to use her intelligence to get people to do what she wants them to, and is usually quite successful, well, until anyone mentions her lack of physical strength, and then she wilts. She is forever an intellectual, perking up at the very mention of debates or mental challenges. She can be quite outspoken when she chooses to be, and is never afraid to stand up for what she believes in – if never for herself.

Despite her young age she has a very strong sense of honor and duty. Her duty being to keep her own empire and people strong, and if that means being sent off to marry some man she doesn't know, then so be it. She's quite pious, devoting a portion of each day to her worship of the gods in her people's pantheon.

Liv has done everything she can to uphold the honor of her family – with the exception of her love of music. Despite the fact that music, as an art form, is treasured in Lusitanian society, it is deeply frowned upon for any member of nobility to put themselves on the spot for something so public and open to ridicule as a musical performance – and it is considered a shameful decadence to take time out of doing important, directly useful things to work on something so frivolous as music.[/center]

[b][u]Likes:[/u][/b]
[list][*]Literature
[*]History
[*]Playing piano
[*]Psychology
[*]Tea with milk and honey
[*]Drawing
[*]Debating
[/list]

[b][u]Dislikes:[/u][/b]
[list][*]Closed-minded fools
[*]Being mocked for her size
[*]Playing piano
[*]Modern clothing – far too indecent.
[*]Fighting
[*]Petty argument
[/list]

[b][u]Fears:[/u][/b]
[list][*]Losing her loved ones
[*]Death
[*]Hospitals
[*]Obscurity/nothingness[/list]

[hr][center][i]"But what do I desire, you ask? I just want to leave a legacy for the world, and it seems like people see me as nothing, when I'm stuck in this sad little body. But my gods have given me a purpose and so I will do my damnedest to make it happen."[/i][/center][hr]

[center][color=b069d4][b][u]Biography:[/u][/b][/color]
[hider=wall of text warning] 
The youngest of ten children, (with seven brothers and two sisters) Liv’s value to her empire and family was always rather minimized. After all, Lusitania is first of all a military and trading empire, making its wealth from conquest of smaller countries and providing a safe place for merchants to run their businesses, and it would speak ill of the empire if such an… unimpressive specimen as Liv were ever to hold a prominent place.

Unlike her siblings, Liv was never physically strong or traditionally beautiful. A chronic illness – sickle cell anemia – has stunted her growth, and various complications from it have left her with a ruined immune system; a seasonal cold is enough to leave her in bed, too weak to do anything, for a week or more, and she still to this day puts up with the periodic pain of it. But what she had, that most of her siblings did not have, was an intellect to rival any show of physical strength and an iron determination to see her projects through. Her siblings were wary of her for it, until they realized how fragile her self-confidence was. All they had to do was imply uselessness – or just mention the name “Lucian” – and she’d break down.

About Lucian – Lucian Catilina was her best friend until they were twelve and fourteen. The son of a minor noble family, albeit one that was very old and very rich and had ties all across the empire. They’d started their education at about the same time – Lucian had delayed starting school for two years for his own health issues. Oddly enough, they met on what was to be the first day of school for a bunch of the palace kids – neither of them had been able to attend for their own medical reasons. That day the six-year-old Lucian had wobbled over to Liv’s bed and ordered the nursemaid to put her in a wheelchair and take her downstairs to the piano. He played all the nursery rhymes he ever learned and taught her how to play them, too, though at that point she was too weak to even properly strike the keys. They would meet for piano lessons once a week, or twice a week at first, but as they grew older the lessons grew in length and intensity – Lucian seemed desperate to learn, and then teach her, as much as he could. It wasn’t for a few years before Liv finally realized why. Sure, she’d known something was wrong but she hadn’t known what, hadn’t even wanted to think of what it might’ve been. 

Their parents had agreed to have them married as soon as Liv came of childbearing age. This agreement was made when they were eight and ten. Still Liv refused to think of why this was being so rushed, or why Lucian seemed so desperately driven.

Until the day when eleven-year-old Lucian pulled himself through the door to their classroom, his body folded into a wheelchair. He held her hand and told her that he had muscular dystrophy and was going to lose his ability to play piano within two years and likely die within another three after that. And after that they spent hours at the piano together, both of them pouring their lives into it around whatever bit of schoolwork either of them had.

It was just a few days after Liv’s twelfth birthday that Lucian was taken to the hospital. He was under intensive care for several weeks, no one allowed to visit him. Liv spent that time, all those long empty hours, at the piano learning Lucian’s absolute favorite piano sonata – mozart’s piano sonata number 11. The one he’d had to give up on when his fingers had quit working right. About three weeks after he’d been taken in, she got the phone call that it was the end, got on a plane, went to visit him for the last time. She’d brought a keyboard along with her, of all things, and sat next to his bed and played the sonata for him and then held his hand and cried and cried.  She’ll never forget the way he was laid out on the gurney, machines forcing air into his lungs and his heart to beat. She’ll also never forget the way, when she’d finished playing, that his fingers twitched around her hand, the way the corner of his mouth tilted slightly up into a tiny version of his signature half-smirk. And then he died.

She’d placed the coin in his mouth, kissed him away into the underworld as was her duty as the “spiritually closest” relative he’d had. She’d placed the wreath on his head before he was lowered into the ground, and she played the sonata – rather than speak – during the laments offered at the ceremony. 

After that, she didn’t speak or touch a piano again for three years. She seemed to be an empty shell. Oh sure, she went through the motions in her classwork and other more practical things she was intended to learn, but there was no life in it. It’s only recently that she’s taken to heart his last request – that she make a mark on the world.

It was decided that Liv would be sent to Aciras, the first Lusitanian princess sent there in the course of history. She had to be sent off rather quickly (sixteen being already abnormally old for a noble girl to remain unmarried, at least by Lusitanian standards), before her people could start wondering whether there was some… other reason for her to not be married yet. (Spoiler alert, but there’s a reason. Her medical issues have rendered her infertile.)

While realistically she knows that being married off is the best situation ultimately... she can’t shake two feelings. The first being that she’s being unfaithful to Lucian, the second that she’s just being shackled down and made unable to ever fulfill her promise to him.
 [/hider][/center]

[center][b][u][color=b069d4]Theme Song:[/color][/u][/b] 
[sub][i]I know it said “required” but… don’t you think for someone with as tense of a musical background as Liv, a theme song would be somewhat pointless? If you must, call it the piano sonata.[/i][/sub][/center]

[center][b][u]Color = b069d4
Faceclaim: (young) Jodelle Ferland[/u][/b][/center]
[/hider]
[hider=Andronikos Telesphorides][center][h2][color=e1c756]Andronikos Telesphorides of the Athenian Federation of City-States[/color][/h2]
[img]http://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/thedescendants/images/f/fd/Cameron_Boyce_(1).jpg/revision/latest?cb=20140617163822[/img]
[sub][i]"I declare that later on, even in an age unlike our own, someone will remember who we are."[/i]-[b]Sappho[/b][/sub][/center]

[indent]Andronikos Loukianos Telesphorides[/indent]

[b][u]Nickname:[/u][/b]Anton (his preferred anglicized name), Niko (to friends/family ONLY)

[b][u]Birth date and age:[/u][/b] 25th May. Currently 19.

[b][u]Sexuality:[/u][/b] Heterosexual

[b][u]In Depth Appearance:[/u][/b]
Standing a full four inches above the average for Athenians, Anton is a proud five feet, eleven inches. His eyes are a deep coffee brown, his hair a dark shade of brown that is often mistaken for black. Much to his chagrin, the bridge of his nose and his prominent cheekbones are dusted with a liberal sprinkling of freckles, which really detract from the whole “regal future king” look… depending on how desperately he wants them gone, he will sometimes raid his sister’s makeup kit and apply a thin coating of foundation before any formal appearance. 

His body is well-built, if a bit on the thin side – his muscles are wiry, not bulky. He’s been through some amount of physical training as the city states require all young men to go through basic military training, regardless of if they intend to stay in or not. In attire he foregoes cultural norms in favor of something more stylish and business-conscious – his go-to outfit is a fitted black business suit, usually over a white or blue shirt and a black tie.

[b][u]Personality:[/u][/b]
[center][u]• Pretentious • Intellectual • Proud • Confident • [/u][/center]
Anton is smart- and knows he is, and isn’t afraid to flaunt it. And, as he was given the best education his country has to offer, he has quite a lot to flaunt. He is always polite, of course, and knows how to do the customary bowing and scraping to other dignitaries, but as soon as the formalities are done he has to be top dog. And in most cases he can be, out-logicking or just out-talking the others around him. 

[b][u]Biography:[/u][/b] The second of four children, and the eldest son, Anton is set to inherit the throne of Athens and therefore become the head of the Federation’s council- in charge of making all of their economic decisions. With this birthright comes great responsibility, responsibility that his parents have done well to prepare him for. He’s had tutoring in every subject that can be thought of, extensive counseling in politics and economics, and regularly sits in on the Federation’s meetings.  He’s as well-prepared as any royal he’s ever met.

Now all that is left is to find a queen to bear his children. He had been married at the age of fifteen to one Lucretia Traianus, a cousin of the Lusitanian royals who was not directly in the line of inheritance but nonetheless was an arrangement set to make goodwill and seal trade deals between the empire and the federation. He’d never really liked her much, she was too plump and had no sense of grace, but he grew to- tolerate her, at least- in the three years they were together. Barely six months ago, his queen inexplicably grew rapidly sick and quickly died, just a few weeks after the joyous news that she was at last pregnant. An autopsy revealed that she had miscarried- and then bore the pain and blood in silence, with some of it festering inside her, until it had infected her bloodstream and she had died. 

Desperate for a new queen, if only to uphold his family’s honor, he has come to Aciras without a proper betrothal. He knows whom he would /like/ to marry, of course- it would be the best for both her country and his- but as the first time she is promised to another. 

[b][u]Other:[/u][/b] Faceclaim: Cameron Boyce // Color: e1c756[/hider]


[hider=Athens and the Federation of Citystates]
Athens is the largest of a string of independent citystates along the coasts and islands of what is Greece on the modern map. Several generations ago they all agreed that, while they each fly their own flag and run their own government, they should have a council to ensure that they are all working towards the same goal- their populations, ranging from 7 million in Athens to a few thousand in Ithaca, are not formidable enough on their own to have any sort of bargaining power, nor military advantage.

The Federation’s primary revenue source comes from trading and shipping. Greece has always been renowned for its navy, and as technology has changed so has the application of it. Conveniently located in more or less the center of Europe and Asia, with ports that don’t freeze over at all, the Athenian shipping lines are known as some of the most efficient on the entire globe.[/hider]
[hider=Lusitania]
Lusitania, formerly one of the Roman provinces, has since overtaken its mother empire. Its capital city is the old Rome, though it has expanded into a bustling metropolis of about two million people with an eclectic fusion of the original architecture and modern structures. Despite the evolution of their city, the Lusitanian people, especially the nobles, are notoriously fussy, maintaining the old-world values of marriage and beliefs in the balance of family- that is, males hold all the power while females are just there to look pretty and be a trophy on their husband’s arms.

In terms of economy Lusitania is primarily an agricultural exporter – grapes, olives, peaches, plums, and pretty much everything else. All that fertile Mediterranean soil and relatively small, widely-distributed population centers. They have a long-standing contract with the Federation for reduced shipping tariffs that let them keep their prices low. In regards to military they also don’t have much of that but they keep a contract of nonaggression and mutual aid with the Federation and their kick-ass navy.[/hider]
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