Lucius Cassius

Imperial Nuisance

About

Name: Lucius Cassius

Gender: Male

Race: Garlean

Age: 26

Sexuality: Gay

Nameday: 12/28

Height: 6'5

Personality: Shy and reserved, he can most often be found towards the back of a room, not fond of interacting with others unless they initiate the conversation first. Speaks with a slight accent, unfamiliar to most in Eorzea.

Physical Traits: Tall and lanky, with pale skin and freckles dotting his face as well as a blind right eye. A long scar over the right side of his face, one over the bridge of his nose, and one across the left side of his mouth. Has a white, oval-shaped Garlean eye on his forehead.

IC Jobs: Gunbreaker, Archer, Machinist

Backstory:

Born in the Imperial capital of Garlemald, Lucius was the third child of Octavia and Antonius Cassius. His family would continue to grow, and he would soon become one of seven children in the household: Aeliana (F), Marcius (M), Lucius (M), Vita (F), Tullia (F), Marilla (F), and Septimus (M). He grew up in the lap of luxury, afforded all of the benefits of being raised in one of Garlemald's many noble houses.

His father Antonius taught at the Magitek Academy as a music professor, and it was from him that he realized his greatest passion in life, music. Antonius was thrilled that his son would show an interest in his life's work, and they quickly developed a special bond over their love of music. Lucius received the finest education that Garlemald had to offer, and was tutored by his father in various instruments until he was 13, when Antonius fell very ill and passed away from complications just a few short months after.

The Cassius Household
(From the left: Octavia, Lucius, Marcius, Aeliana, Tullia, Septimus, Marilla, and Vita)

Gravely wounded by the death of his father, Lucius took it upon himself to help raise his younger siblings, looking to his eldest brother, Marcius, as a father figure for the next years of his life. He continued his education, being accepted into the Magitek Academy and continuing his education there. Marcius had been training for most of his life to join the Imperial Army and enlisted the moment he turned 18. He had a successful military career for 3 years, when a Cereulum spill caused an explosion in the Castrum he was stationed in, claiming the lives of Marcius and several others.

With the second death in the family, the Cassius household was shaken deeply, and Lucius' mother, Octavia took things the hardest. The loss of her husband and her eldest son sent her spiraling, and in the throes of her grief, she told Lucius that she wished he had died in his place.

Deeply wounded by his mother's words, Lucius enlisted in the Imperial Army, looking for an escape from his grief as well. He would struggle his way through training over the next year, still rather thin and weak, but stood out to his superiors for his sharp intellect and deadly aim with a gunblade. After a year of training, he was assigned to the VII Legion, serving under Legatus Nael van Darnus.

His first deployment would be his last, sent with the rest of his legion in the Eorzean invasion, where they met the forces of the Eorzean Alliance at the Battle of Carteneau. Amidst the chaos of the battle, Lucius was wounded by the emergence of the Dreadwyrm Bahamut from the red moon above, shrapnel slicing through the right side of his helmet and damaging his eye. It was here, laying in the rubble of the decimated battlefield and seeing the fiery skies above that awakened the echo in him before falling unconscious, the last thing he heard being a mysterious voice, uttering three words on repeat.

"Hear... Feel... Think..."

Lucius awoke several days later to a desolate and abandoned battlefield, somehow spared the same fate as many of the burned and charred bodies around him. Half blinded, he managed to find his way off the battlefield, escaping through Coerthas to Gridania, where he hid in the forest from Gridanian patrols and bandits alike for several days.

Lost in a foreign land and with an infection from his untreated injuries, he passed out in the forest; where he was stumbled upon by a young woman picking herbs named Celine. Thinking he was an injured adventurer due to his odd garb, she brought him back to her home deep in the Shroud where she lived with her parents, a retired Elezen soldier named Alberre, and his Hyur wife, Odette.

Celine and her mother treated his wounds but were startled to find the third eye upon his forehead and the imperial insignia hidden under the dirt and grime on his clothes. Once her father returned home from selling their crops in Gridania, he wanted nothing to do with the wounded enemy in his home, insisting that once his wounds had healed they would hand him over to the Wood Wailers the next time a patrol came near to be most likely executed. The family knew little about their unconscious soldier, with their only clue to his name or identity being the damaged military tag hanging around his neck.

He finally woke up in the cellar of their small farmhouse after a week of fighting fever and illness; where Celine introduced herself and apologized for the restraints that her father had placed on him. Lucius only knew a small amount of Eorzean at the time, but he understood her father's wariness and did not protest his imprisonment in his weakened state.

The shroud was a turbulent place in the weeks following the calamity, and the lack of soldiers keeping the peace meant that poachers and Ixali alike were free to roam the area unhindered. Just a few days after his awakening, Lucius was surprised by Celine and her mother being brought into the cellar and Alberre closing the hatch behind them. A group of Ixal had been spotted in the area and had already looted a nearby farm; heading in their direction. Through a small gap in the back wall, they could only watch as Alberre fought off the group, quickly becoming more and more overwhelmed.

Through broken Eorzean, Lucius begged Celine and her mother to unchain him and let him help to return the debt he owed them for saving his life. They released him, and with his last few rounds of ammunition in his gunblade, he fired on the Ixal attacking Alberre. The two of them managed to fight off the last of Ixal, but not before he took a blow meant for the older man, leaving a gash across the bridge of his nose.

Alberre was shocked that the enemy he had treated with such contempt had risked life and limb to save him, and gained a new sense of respect for the boy. He offered him a place to stay with them on the farm, working the fields and assisting him with the jobs he could no longer do in his older age. To avoid arousing any suspicion of their new farmhand's origins, Lucius agreed to go by a fake name outside the home, abandoning his old life.

With nearly every trace of his imperial origins hidden away, Alberre found an old silver circlet, perfect to hide the third eye upon his forehead. Lucius grew close to his new family; becoming a son to Alberre and Odette and like a brother to Celine. To anyone outside the family, he was Alberre's nephew, come to live with them after the calamity killed his parents; his odd height for a Hyur being written off as having some Elezen blood. During this time he also discovered the boon that the Mother Crystal had granted him alongside the echo, the ability to channel a small amount of his own aether, a feat unheard of amongst pureblooded Garleans like himself. This small gift allowed him to use aetherytes like his fellow adventurers, but at a much higher cost; as it would give him terrible aethersickness if used too often or at large distances.

Alberre taught him all that he knew, including how to wield the bow that he would carry with him for many an adventure. Soon enough, he would have to find his own way in the world, and after a few years of helping on the farm he joined the Order of the Twin Adder. After fighting to free Ala Mhigo with his squadron, and seeing so much of the destruction caused by the nation of his birth, he turned himself into the Adders, confessing his true origins and name. He was brought before the Elder Seedseer; Kan-E-Senna, who to his surprise offered him amnesty under one condition: that he would no longer hide behind a false name and return to his true identity.From then on, he loyally served Gridania as Lucius Cassius, Serpent Captain; trading in the bow for a more familiar gunblade. When the Garlean Empire collapsed, he volunteered to join the Ilsabard Contingent to return to his homeland and aid his people, reuniting with family who had long considered him dead.

Hooks

Accent: When speaking to him, those with a keener ear may notice a slight accent when he speaks, often more noticeable when angry or intoxicated. If your character has ties with the Empire or the Garlean Capital, perhaps they recognize it?Aethersick: When Lucius received the Echo at Carteneau, he also was granted the ability to manipulate a small amount of his aether, a feat unheard of in pureblood Garleans like himself. It comes at a price, however, attempting to use it leaves him drained and ill due to intense aethersickness. Perhaps you stumble upon him after teleportation, unable to move; or resting at an inn and looking unwell.

WIP