[@Shu] Well, here ya go. Let me know if I made any timeline errors or if I took too many liberties. [hider=Totally Not The Future Emperor] [b]• Character Name:[/b] Justinian Tiberius [b]• Nicknames/Alias:[/b] Gungnir (the name he uses while in Skyrim), Justin (usually only used by close friends and family) [b]• Character Race:[/b] Half-Nord (his father was an Imperial) [b]• Gender:[/b] Male [b]•Character Appearance:[/b] [img]https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BfqsyoKCUAECurc?format=jpg&name=medium[/img] (Ignore the armor, this is a face-claim only) [b]• Short Biography:[/b] Born in Bruma in the year 4E 170 - just a year before the start of the Great War, to Freyja and Quintus Tiberius. In many ways, Justinian's story begins where Quintus's ends. Quintus Tiberius was a Knight Captain of Blades, a faction of Imperial Agents sworn to the service of the Emperor himself. Throughout history, the Blades have served as the Emperor's bodyguards within the heartland, or as his secret eyes and ears throughout the other provinces. Quintus had joined the Blades at a relatively young age, where he met the young Freyja during one of his many routine visits to Bruma while outside of Cloud Ruler Temple. Freyja was a fiery Nord woman and the niece of the Count and Countess of Bruma. After some years of friendship and later courtship, the two eventually married. And yet, mere months after the birth of their first son, Quintus was called away to serve the Empire in a war against the Elves. Quintus had made a name for himself in the war, managing to pull victory from the jaws of defeat in multiple engagements. And yet, despite all this, the Empire eventually capitulated to the demands of the Aldmeri Dominion. Unfortunately for Quintus, he was outside of the Empire's borders at the time of the White-Gold Concordant being signed, behind enemy lines in Thalmor territory in fact. As part of the White-Gold Concordant, the Blades were officially disbanded by the Emperor and dissolved. Those outside the borders were on their own, forced to go into hiding as the Thalmor Agents hunted them down one by one, Quintus included. In the end, the only thing left of him Freyja and the young Justinian had was his Akaviri sword, which the Thalmor had delivered to them after the execution. Officially it was touted as a courteous gesture, but unofficially everyone knew it was really just a warning. A similar gesture had been done for all the Blades who had been captured or killed during the War, and the underlying implications was obvious to everyone. Anyone who dared to defy the Dominion in the future would suffer this same fate. Justinian grew up knowing his father only through stories told by his mother and others. They all painted the picture of Quintus having been one the great heroes of the Empire during the war. But Justinian found a different takeaway from the stories. His father hadn't just been a hero who died for his country, he'd instead been fed to wolves by it like some kind of sacrificial lamb. Why had the Emperor relented? Why had he signed a treaty that ended up sentencing so many of his loyal agents to death? It was like Bruma, and the entirety of Cyrodil, was no longer the home it was supposed to be. Justinian instead felt like a stranger, someone who didn't truly belong. Eventually he'd had enough of living under the rule of someone he believed was a cowardly excuse for an Emperor. He stole his father's Akaviri Sword and left home, traveling toward the Northern Border to his mother's homeland - to Skyrim. But even in Skyrim, things were not much better. With the rise of the new High King, anti-foreigner sentiments ran rampant throughout the Holds. In fact, Justinian had had to lie about his parentage just to avoid being thrown out of towns or villages. Thankfully, by adopting the name Gungnir, he was able to pass himself off as a native Nord, at least to most folks anyway. But what to do? It seemed no matter where he went, Justinian felt like an outcast. In Cyrodil he felt like a stranger in his own home, and here in Skyrim he may as well have been an unwelcome outcast. If Tamriel even could still be saved from the encroaching Dominion, would it even be worth saving in this current state? [b]•Personality and General Disposition:[/b] Believe it or not, Justinian indeed still holds to the ideals of the Empire. Well, those of his father more specifically. The Empire had, at one time, been a great power in the world and at times, a force for good. That was all during the 3rd Era, a time known largely for the reign of the Septim Dynasty. But those were the ideals that Quintus had fought and died for, and they were the ideals that Justinian had come to adopt himself as well. But the Empire in its current state is something Justinian loathes to look at. He sees it a rotted shell, a warped and twisted shadow of what it used to be... of what it [i]should[/i] be. And frankly, he's come to view Skyrim in much the same light. These lands were once the homes of great men and women, Heroes whom Justinian believed would be disgusted to see what they had become today. Politics aside, Justinian views much of the world around him through a more cynical lens, or as a "realist" as he would put it. He's quick to point out when someone's foolhardy idea is likely to get people killed, but not willing enough to intervene on anyone's behalf. At least most of the time, anyway. There are times when his better nature gets the best of him and he *does* intervene to save someone. Above all, Justinian lives by a simple motto, one engraved onto the blade of his father's sword in the Classical Cyrodilic tongue: Semper enim libertas. Always for liberty. [b]• Allegiance/Loyalties:[/b] Justinian has no current loyalties, save perhaps to his family back home. He used to stay in touch with his mother via letters, but those have become much less frequent after she recently assumed the rulership of Bruma and became its new Countess. [b]• Equipment/Gear:[/b] An Akaviri Sword that once belonged to his father, a sturdy crossbow and quiver of bolts, a set well-worn but dependable leather armor, and a backpack containing a few misc essentials such as rope, torches, and etc. [b]• Skills and Ability:[/b] Justinian posses no training nor talent for magic of any sort. He's rather skilled with his sword, as he had spent much of his formative years secretly using it to teach himself swordplay. But Justinian is also smart enough not to rely solely on the blade to solve his problems. Over the years, he's become a fairly adept marksman with a crossbow, and isn't afraid to use it to pick off as many enemies from a distance as possible before finally engaging in melee with them. And beyond that, Justinian is not above the utilization of traps, poisons, and other such tactics to cripple his enemy before moving in for the kill. [/hider]