"Memento mori: remember that you must die."
BIRTHNAME:
Lucius Grimm
OTHER NAMES:
Grimm
AGE:
32
GENDER:
Male
RACE:
Human
BIRTHPLACE:
Woodsend, Amorynthia
RELIGION:
Ahimothian
HEIGHT:
6’2”
WEIGHT:
171lbs
APPEARANCE:
Averagely built and only slightly above average height, Lucius does not strike anyone as particularly heroic by the light of day. Even when clad in his robes, his appearance is more unsettling than valiant. His skin falls on the paler side, a result of many hours locked away in his shack, and his icy blonde hair betrays his Grimm heritage. His piercing hazel eyes glimmer with a suggestion of greenness in the right light, and have a certain hypnotic quality when gazing out from beneath his cowl. His left hand is often bound in rags or bandages; when exposed, a ghastly scar is revealed running along the width of his palm, often with the signs of a fresh wound. His presence in a room is decidedly uncomfortable; he seems to have a vague aura of cold about him, and says very little. He has a reputation for lurking, and often startles people accidentally due to the quietness of his movements.
SKILLS, STRENGTHS & TALENTS:
Lucius is a highly skilled practitioner in the dark art of necromancy, which affords him a number of specialist magical skills. Necromancy does not draw upon the natural arcana of the world like most magic; it is performed by channelling the power of death itself. Utilising this energy by sacrificing weakened enemies or exploiting their corpses, he is able to produce powerful effects. These can be destructive explosions and miasmas, or protective magical fields and portals through which to evade harm. These large feats of magic are ritual-based, and thus require a period of uninterrupted and very specific spellcasting to achieve.
In situations where more immediate magic is required, Lucius sometimes performs blood sacrifices; by cutting open his palm and allowing himself to bleed, Lucius gains access to deathly magical spells which affect the bodies of his victims. For example, he can cause excessive bleeding in his victims, or cause areas of their flesh to rot. These cruel spells require Lucius to make physical contact with his victim, often by wiping his blood on them. Similarly, he can create ‘blood bonds’ between two enemies, whereby any harm that befalls one party is replicated magically upon the other: effectively, killing two birds with one stone.
Not requiring himself to bleed or get close to his enemies, regular magic is the safest for Lucius to use. Trained in fire and ice spells at the Wizard’s Tower, Lucius is not well-versed enough in elemental magic to truly stand on his own two feet with it, but it does allow him to buy himself some time. More often than not, he uses a human skull as a magical focus in order to bolster his grip over fire and frost; without his focus, Lucius’ regular spellcasting ability is little more than beginner.
He does have skills outside of necromancy, too. He’s excellent with a knife, and can hold his own without magic against weaker foes. The sacrificial nature of his practice has forced Lucius to learn the basics of wrapping and treating wounds, but he does not know any healing magic. He also has little knowledge about wounds other than cuts; burns, breaks and disease are all things that would require a proper medic’s attention.
As a person, Lucius’ main strength is his unwavering loyalty. His devout upbringing and disciplined magical practice have shaped Lucius into someone who always sees things through; he will stand by his allies until the very end. He’s highly intelligent and fiercely curious, making him both a fast learner and a useful investigative eye.
WEAKNESSES & DRAWBACKS:
Much of Lucius magical discipline is inconvenient in the context of battle; yes, he is able to conjure devastating effects, but they require extensive rituals and even self-harm. Performing rituals leaves Lucius vulnerable to attacks, and if he stops to defend himself then the spell is ruined. Similarly, allowing himself to bleed for the duration of a battle is clearly dangerous; not only is he losing blood, but also exposing the wound to a variety of infections and diseases through skin contact with his enemies. For all the risks he takes to perform impressive feats of necromancy, his regular spellcasting ability is quite weak through a lack of training; should he be separated from his focus, his spells are barely above beginner-level. When fighting without magic, Lucius may be skilled with a dagger, but his ability ends there. He lacks the physical strength to fight with a larger weapon, or to cause much damage with just his hands.
A lot of Lucius’ necromantic potential is ignored as a result of his faith in Ahimoth. With ability such as his, Lucius could easily raise small hordes of the undead to do his bidding, but he believes it to be the ultimate sin to interfere with Ahimoth’s judgement: he has never even attempted to bring something back from the dead, and he never plans to.
It is perhaps because of this that Lucius was so affected by the exile he earned through his necromantic practice. He felt that he had been unfairly branded a villain by people who had once loved him, but who now pictured him as someone who wanted to cheat death and lead skeletal armies. The rejection he experienced affects him to this day, and he still finds it difficult to place his trust in anyone but himself. Similarly, he finds himself unable to easily earn the trust of others, due in no small part to the stigma surrounding his profession. Plus, all his time spent alone has significantly impaired his social skills; he has a reputation in Valeview as being somewhat awkward. His shy, hermitic nature mean that his observations, which are usually insightful and valuable, often go unheard.
ATTIRE:
Lucius wears fitted armour crafted from trollhide, famed for its durability and flexibility alike, with matching knee-high boots. Iron rings on his chest and waist offer some additional protection. On his left side is a hard sheath, in which he stores his athame, and a square leather pouch to house his personal journal. Two similar pouches hang from his right side, for keeping various belongings. He drapes himself in a heavy black cloak with a hood, which is thick enough to keep him warm without weighing him down.
WEAPONS:
Unlike most mages, Lucius owns no wands or staves. He fights almost exclusively with an athame; the blade of which is triangular, double-edged and forged by Dwarves in iron. The handle is beautifully crafted from onyx, into which a runic sigil has been carved. The weapon is used for physical stabbing and slashing, as well as being a conduit for magical attacks.
TOOLS:
As his non-necromantic magic is comparatively weak, Lucius uses a human skull as an off-hand focus through which to bolster his magical strength. He also carries a small bag of bones, which he believes he can use to divine messages from the Beyond.
PERSONAL ITEMS:
A number of ornate rings have been handed down through the Grimm family for generations; Lucius wears one such ring. It is pure silver of the finest quality, set with a sharp cut onyx rock. Along the inner band is an inscription pledging the servitude of the wearer to Ahimoth. He also carries a journal, bound in batwing leather; what he actually writes in there is unclear.
The Grimm family have lived in Woodsend for generations; well-known for their involvement with the Church of Ahimoth, some of Woodsend's most respected priests have been Grimms. The family are known to be devout in their servitude to the Stern Judge, as well as for throwing some of the best dinner parties in town.
Lucius Grimm was raised by his clerical father, Alistair, following the tragic death of his mother during childbirth. The Grimms were already a notoriously hardened folk, but Carmen's untimely demise only toughened her widower further. Still, he made sure Lucius was well looked-after; Alistair's responsibilities meant he was often obscenely busy, but the churchfolk were charmed by Lucius and always seemed willing to watch over him.
Growing up in the chapel was always going to have an effect on the boy, and Lucius was as devout to Ahimoth as any of his forefathers. It was assumed that he would follow in their footsteps, eventually leading the sermons himself and passing on the baton to his own offspring when the time came. And so it came as quite the surprise when, aged twenty-one, Lucius announced that he would soon be leaving Woodsend.
As he grew up, Lucius had become increasingly interested in his mother. She had been an accomplished healer, and pouring through her old journals had revealed to Lucius that individuals would come from as far afield as the First Capital to benefit from her magical prowess; she had even been called to the Palace on one occasion. All of this fascinated Lucius, and he became somewhat enamoured with the idea of training as a Mage himself. And so it was decided: he, too, would study at the Wizard's Tower, following in his mother's footsteps.
He didn't need to spend long at the Tower before realising that he was in his element; it was apparent to all those who knew him that Lucius had inherited his mother's talent for spellcasting. It seemed, however, that Lucius had a curiosity and a thirst for knowledge that set him apart from his parentage; while Alistair was contented in blind servitude to Ahimoth and Carmen was disinterested in learning magic outside of healing, the same drive that urged Lucius to leave Woodsend now compelled him to learn more.
After finishing his Basic Level classes, Lucius decided against specialising in Healing, having developed an interest in Elemental magic; perhaps driven by the symbolic connections to his beliefs around life and death, he chose fire and frost as his focuses for his first year of study. Whilst he excelled in his studies, catching the attention of several of the Tower's teachers, he began to grow frustrated when they denied his requests for additional classes. The Wizards were insistent that the mark of a good Mage was discipline; once he had finished his studies in frost and fire, he would be able to choose a new specialism - but not until. Of course, 'no' was not the answer Lucius wanted to hear, and so he took matters into his own hands.
With charm and light-fingered skill, Lucius was able to obtain a key for the Wizards' legendary library. It was here, deep beneath the Tower, that he would sneak to each night in order to conduct his extra curricular research. He read in brief about all sorts of fantastical magic: oneiromancy, metamorphosis and even alchemy were all documented in the library, and the wealth of offerings here that ought to have been available for general study only added to his initial frustrations with the Tower. But it was one tome in particular that caught Lucius' attention; bound in dark green leather, with an ornate pewter skull affixed to the cover. It bore no title, nor did it credit any particular author... But upon scanning the first of its yellowed pages, one word seemed to burn brighter than the rest: necromancy.
Everything Lucius knew about the so-called dark art told him to put the book back or, better yet, burn it. And yet, there was something beautiful about the way the author spoke about life and death; there was an intoxicating quality to the idea of utilising the very essence of everything his God stood for. It seemed to make perfect sense to Lucius that he would come across this path... Perhaps, as the son of an Ahimothian priest and an accomplished Mage, it was his genetic destiny. Enamoured with the idea of forming a deeper connection with both his God and his ancestry, Lucius read on.
He had covered considerable ground by the time he was eventually caught reading from the tome some months later, which became quite the scandal across the Tyrranian magical community. There is much communication between alumni of the Tower, and talk of a star pupil turning to the dark arts was shocking enough to sting many a graduated mage's lips. Lucius, of course, was disgraced, and immediately expelled from the Tower. Feeling defeated, Lucius headed home.
It was perhaps a mistake to expect a warm welcome: the townsfolk were both frightened and furious; Alistair himself was overcome with shame, his only son turned against the ways of their God. Lucius tried to explain himself: that he was using necromancy to connect directly with Ahimoth; working to his teachings rather than against them. But it was useless, and his words fell only on deaf ears. Estranged by his family and the people he'd grown up with, Lucius left Woodsend once more... This time, he realised, would probably be the last.
Alone, he headed East, eventually settling in the quiet village of Valeview. Here, on the borders of the vast Tumek desert, Lucius lived in exile; rarely speaking to his neighbours and focussing on truly perfecting his craft. He would spend his entire days studying the notes he'd made at the Tower and practicing his rituals into the night. In truth, some of the villagers suspected him as the star of the infamous tale; he who had promised to become a prominent figure in the magical community, but caved to temptation of the Dark Arts. Even now, ten years later, whispers fly around the village about the true identity of their most reclusive resident.
