Name: Hadrian Evaristus of Olencia
Sex: Male
Age: 40
Occupation: High Commander of the city of Olencia
Status & Rank: Lord High Commander
Roots & Origin:
Hadrian was the middle child in a family of six in Olencia. His mother was a peasant, but turned Lady Marquess when she married his father, and his father a Marquess of Olencia by inheritance. He had two sisters, one older and one younger, as well as a single older brother. The youngest sister died from illness, and his older sister is a Slayer. His older brother is currently a librarian.
His mother wasn't that much. Really, she was a peasant. His father had been a Viscount at the time. The two met in a pub. After a courtship that lasted five years, the two were married. At that time, Hadrian's grandfather died, and his father turned into an Earl. Albeit a minor Earl, as his father wasn't so keen on rivalries like the rest of the House. When Hadrian turned High Commander, after a few years his family's status was upgraded to Marquess of Olencia.
His mother comes from Ivria. His father was from House Taran, although he IS related to the King, he isn't that pure in blood to take the throne. Even if they did try, he would just refuse the Crown.
Appearance:
If you were to take one look at him and state that he is rather muscular, that would be a lie. He is lean, and sinewy. While Hadrian may not look it, he is in fact stronger than a raging bull. You just don't see it. He is, in fact, very good at hiding his strength. It worked great when people are surprised he could stop someone with a gigantic sword. Surprise is after all, one of his specialties.
He has bags under his perpetually sleepy seeming hooded eyes, a result of the recent inner turmoil in the city. He is scarred in several places over his body. He's not extremely ugly or extremely attractive, he's just so-so. Unless someone focuses on him, they won't really know he's there, just one of the crowd. A good thing when you're High Commander.
He wants his hair to be a dusty blonde, but unfortunately, Hadrian doesn't get the dusty blonde hair of his mother. He gets the dark hair of his father that goes down in waves on his head. It is messy, disorganized and pretty much gets in the way when he's fighting. Hadrian just lets it have its way. He's tried to fix it, but hell; it has a mind of its own. Hadrian respects that.
His father's eyes are a steely gray, so Hadrian has that too. Gray orbs, but they aren't pinpoint like his father's, who simply creeps him out, but they're the gentle almost perfect shape of his mother's.
He considered tall for his age. He is slightly tanned. His mouth is normally in a frown. His eyes, during battle, are soulless and cold. Out of battle, they are warm and friendly. He has a scar over his right eye; a testament of his dedication to House Taran when he defended Penril from an assassination attempt.
So for a summary, Hadrian looks like his father and his mother, a genetic mix so unique, in fact, it's strange.
Strengths:
Hadrian's best trait is loyalty. He is loyal only to the King, and would give his life for the man, despite the fact that the King was likely to die first. He is loyal, so loyal in fact, that he is bordering fanatical.
He is vastly intelligent and puts it to good use. He is an excellent strategist and nothing, save perhaps the Ablest of the Slayers, can defeat him in a battle of wit.
He's strong, perhaps one of the strongest in Olencia in terms of physical strength. He may not look it, but he could probably stop a huge piece of timber headed his way. That is, if he was in peak physical condition. Unfortunately, his sleep schedule's been going haywire recently due to the uprisings developing in Olencia.
He is unrivalled as one of the best swords masters in Olencia. He could use any sword, be it a huge unwieldy one or a thin rapier, and he could disarm you in five seconds flat. Daggers, he's familiar with. Though not as skilled with daggers as he is with a sword, he can still use those to create some havoc.
Weaknesses:
He has, unfortunately, a short temper. Anything that pisses him off immediately gets hurt. Severely. He tries to keep his temper in control, but then sooner or later the dam breaks and the surrounding populace better duck behind a barrel or anything that can possibly save them from his rage.
Another quirk of his is his constant need for praise. He lives on it, and would expect others to live on it too. Most unfortunate for the people that don't give him his due.
He has this small streak of insanity he gained from his father. While the streak doesn't show itself often, it does show itself at the most awkward times when the people around him are starting to think he's insane.
He doesn't like anything out of order. He will personally see to it that if anything is out of order, he will spearhead the operation to bring it under control. Riots to him are a no-no.
Recently though, he's taken to snatching bits of sleep when he can, leading to several awkward situations wherein he falls asleep at the most inappropriate time.
Like the High Commanders before him, Hadrian has his pride. If you ever, EVER make a snide little remark about him or his job, you will DIE. If you call him old, he will personally see to it that you get the most painful execution EVER, complete with townspeople holding torches and pitchforks.
Magic: Hadrian is aware that magic is destructive, being the High Commander and all, but he doesn’t really do magic. If he tries, he just looks constipated.
Personality:
He is a loner by nature, but he is polite and loyal to what he believes in. He is a trusty friend and an excellent warrior in battle, and is vastly intelligent, although with a small dash of insanity that he inherited from his father.
When not actively agitated or angry, he displays a fairly calm and contemplative personality, possessive of what he is sure is his. He is extremely loyal and focuses mostly on survival and completion of his duty at almost all-costs, preferring to save the lives of his comrades first than anything else.
Hadrian is duty-oriented. He believes that duty, as always, comes first and that friendship ends when he goes all 'High Commander'. Hadrian dislikes snobbish people, or those that don't respect the law.
Either way, while the king's sick, he has been ruthlessly ratting out all offenders of the law. He believes in only one rule, and that is offenders of the law are NEVER granted immunity. He would even punish himself if he broke a law. That's how dedicated he is.
Or rather, some people view him as a fanatic. Hadrian hates those people too. He would like to turn them out to the gallows and hang them, but then the King gets the final say. Hadrian respects the King's opinions. He didn't become High Commander by disobeying the King.
History:
Whatever you ask, I will serve.
In Hadrian's early life, the only thing he could remember was the death of his two sisters. While he knew that the Slayers did good in their world, he couldn't help but hate them as he saw the empty bed in her room. He couldn't help but hate the time when his sister fell sick from simply running with him and his older brother through a light drizzle of rain.
The first sign of his military prowess was when he was taught the mandatory swords lessons when he was a boy of ten years. His instructor saw his potential, and in turn told his father, who was very proud. He told his son if he wanted to be a soldier.
Hadrian said yes.
He worked harder then. His brother went on to be an apprentice in one of Ghayth's libraries. Hadrian was hell-bent on becoming like 'those men in armor'. He idolized them, wanted to be exactly like the High Commander in those days. He was chosen as one of the few youngsters to enroll in a military academy, and by the gods, Hadrian would make his parents proud.
In those days, Hadrian, despite his status as Lord, was bunking with other new recruits. He was fine with that. He had to work harder than them in that case. Status and wealth were useless here. Hadrian was quite aware of that.
He had to do mundane assignments that other Lords of his age would cringe at or mutter in disgust. But not Hadrian. To reach the top, he had to start at the bottom. He worked harder than all the others, eventually reaching the rank of Captain by eighteen.
At that time, he had one assignment he would regret forever. At the death of the King's wife, he had to guard the newest Crown prince, named Penril. Hadrian did everything he could, even having one of his recruits to follow the young Prince into the bathroom, but all was in vain.
In the darkest silence of the night, a Slayer came to the castle. The Slayer seemed intent on getting to the Prince. The mysterious intruder easily dealt with Hadrian's troop, and soon it was only him and the man at odds. Behind Hadrian was the door to the Prince's room.
He had asked then. Why were they going after the Prince? The man in turn replied that the boy was going to be a Slayer. Hadrian tried, he really did, but he was defeated as well, pinned helplessly to the wall by invisible magic as the stranger took the boy.
Of course, all this is listed in a report, and Hadrian promptly got his demerits and he would've been stripped of his rank if it wasn't for the King. After that tiny incident, he worked harder. He had to be a High Commander. Had to be!
Reaching the rank of High Commander by the age of thirty five, Hadrian was now satisfied with his rank. His dream come true, really, but that nagging incident with the Crown Prince Penril still was in his mind, even after all these years. His single failure in his entire military career.
Being High Commander was hectic. He was constantly being called on by the King to police the streets of Olencia. Even then, the threat of a coup hovered in the background. He couldn't sleep decently anymore. He was always being called on for new orders or raids to vanquish the criminal presence in the city. Out of service, the King upgraded his family's status to Marquess of Olencia, and Hadrian was hereby called 'Lord Evaristus'.
He was worried even more by the King's ailing health. Recently though, he has found out that Penril, the barkeep at the Prancing Pony was in fact alive AND Ablest, leader of the Slayers. He couldn't bring himself to hate the boy, of course, despite Penril's stubborn refusal to take the Crown. His loyalty lies in House Taran alone. He's also found out that his sister was alive and a Slayer as well, and his attitude towards them changed entirely. It seemed that House Taran would finally step down the throne, and it worried him when it seemed that the other Houses were getting ready to pounce on the throne after the King's death.
King met Prince, all went well until Penril lef tthe city. Leaving the city in the hands of Major Ghern, Hadrian went off to find Penril, telling only Ghern of his location.
However, whatever the result, Hadrian would serve.
Trivia
- Likes dogs, horses, and pie.
- Has two dogs; Fode and Beed.
- Has two homes. One in Olencia itself and the other on the outskirts. Very nice - two small things.
If his father is a Duke, he would be related closely to the King, so I'd prefer if you made it a lesser nobility. (You can see the outline for that in the Regulations forum.) And also, unless it's a much smaller rank, Hadrian would be "of Marlas/Ghayth/Calandae" versus "of Olencia." Sorry, that wasn't very clear in the names part.
And a very tiny comment - could you up the age that he became Captain to like... seventeen? It doesn't have to be much, but I think that fifteen is just a bit too young. Seventeen or even sixteen would be fine with me though.
Awesome bio. You definitely earned your position.
Edited. :D
Changes:
- Am now a Lord out of service, but started out as the son of an Earl.
- Upgraded captainacy age to 18.