Caelus Thane
”This... this I know is right.”
Appearance
Caelus is a figure that at first glance is the appearance of most guards or soldiers - grizzled features and a strong yet thin frame. While far from being exceptional in height or build, Caelus is not afraid to show the experience and years he’s spent fighting and in service, and even at times of rest he’d be hard-pressed to appear without seeming at least somewhat prepared for something to jump at him. Hazel eyes stand out amidst dark skin, sunken yet bright and ever-alert, while a scruffy beard framed his chin and mouth and long back hair is pulled back into a messy excuse of a bun. At rest, his features are often seemingly more downtrodden, though that’s not to say that a smile can’t ever be found on his face.In terms of clothing, Caelus most often wears heavier cloaks, jerkins, and tunics amidst light metal armor, most often just greaves and boots with a shirt of chainmail over his chest. Mottled shades of green, blue, brown, black, and gray make up the colors of his wardrobe, and colors of red are often avoided in his palette due to the association he makes in mind with the shade. At his belt is often holstered his longsword, held within a leather sheath engraved with a faint symbol of a reared lion, and a second smaller blade for moments of emergency or convenience of a smaller blade when it’s needed. Signs of travel and wear are almost as present about the man as is his care for his appearance, and while he dresses simply and nicely, his clothes are often covered in dust and his boots and gloves in dirt and mud.
Personality
Caelus is a very quiet individual, reserved and staying away from the center of attention - a lasting quality from his time serving in the Anirian Guard. It’s this reserved trait about him that can make him seem either rather modest, to those of a similar personality, or more often standoffish or aloof, neither of which are necessarily true. When in moments of celebration, Caelus isn’t opposed to allowing himself to be uplifted, but more often than not he has a rather serious personality, focusing on the matters at hand and trying to figure out within himself the conflict that has been occurring ever since he resigned from the Black Guard.Caelus is duty-bound, and having seen very rough combat first hand he knows when and when not to take risks, though he sometimes lets his own bias into the equation, often choosing himself to undertake dangerous tasks instead of others. Valor and honor are two of the largest things that Caelus cares about for himself, and he does his best to go out of his way to ensure that he can protect others from harm for the idea of the “greater good.” He believe strongly in fairness, balance, and sacrifice, and he’s willing to follow those tenets an extreme amount if it means helping those around him and protecting those he cares about.
Strengths and Virtues
Caelus is an individual who is hardened by years of battle, and faced with an inner conflict based on his prevailing sense of duty versus right and wrong. This sense of duty has kept Caelus treading on a path that has seen him trying to help others, which he’s done to the best of his duty all his life and why he continued to serve as a guard even when his time of forced service was over. It would be hard to force him to act selfishly or turn against those he’s sworn to protect and defend by any means short of magic, and any type of corruption of personality is in general hard for him due to how lawful he is. His greatest virtue is perhaps loyalty to virtue itself, and while good does not often mean nice, he tries his best to not bother others with his own feelings.As an former Black Guard, Caelus is also an incredibly skilled fighter, and while lacking any magical training (save for how to fight against magic-users), he is experienced with fighting against some of the worst enemies imaginable, thanks to the gear he was provided by Vel Anir and to the strict training he received. Even without his enchanted weapons or armor, Caelus is able to hold his own with just his simple sword quite well against even some of the more dangerous opponents versatile in physical combat, and he’s able to think on his feet and use cunning as a secret weapon alongside brawn and dexterity. Of course, fighting magical threats and monstrous beasts are also two of the important skills that he’s carried over into his recent life.
Of course, another thing he learned from the Black Guard is how to move stealthily and how to remain anonymous, and while his tour has ended with the Guard he still carries some vestiges of the awe and aura that he carried as one of the mythic warriors. Versatile in many skills, moving through the dead of night without being caught and riding were two of the most important ones he’s retained, as such skills extend to flying dragons or sneaking around sleeping beasts and avoiding conflict where it can be avoided. Without magic and with armor his ability to sneak is far less than those who’d devote their life to roguish acts, but Caelus is still somebody who, if they wished to, could very well hide in the chaos of a desperate moment.
Weaknesses and Faults
One of the key faults to Caelus’s personality is the inner turmoil that he holds over the matter of duty versus doing what’s right. For a long time Caelus believed that many of the things taught to him were the sole truth about the world, such as the fact that dragons are evil creatures that deserved to be purged by steel and spell, but such ideas are now much more complicated when he realized that some of those teachings that he took for scripture are now one-sided and false. When pressed into doing what he feels is his duty versus what he feels is what’s right, it’s unpredictable as to which one he would turn to, and it leaves a lasting inner conflict within him that can make him vulnerable to manipulation relying upon his constant desire to want to both follow his duty and do what’s right (if the latter of those two is obscured).On more notable weaknesses, Caelus as a fighter is an expert when it comes to the ones that he’s most trained in, and while outside of it he has some general knowledge, but using weapons beyond swords and blades he’d be at a huge disadvantage and could be beaten by many other combatants without much of an issue. Caelus is versatile in the weapons he knows how to use, but his versatility in weapons beyond those specific few is one of the key weaknesses, alongside the fact that he lacks much of the magical protections that kept him from being so easily disarmed and weakened by magic - knowledge and training can only go so far, after all.
Another weakness is that Caelus has trouble holding himself back when he feels somebody else is endangered, often to his own detriment. If it’s the matter of saving the life of somebody he knows, he would charge headfirst into the “lion’s den” without any fear for his own safety, and while such valor is impressive and helped to earn him his rise through ranks, sometimes it takes someone else to force him to realize that running headfirst into the depths of danger could only result in himself getting hurt or killed, and that his valor isn’t able to save everybody. It’s not the idea that Caelus thinks he’s immortal, but rather than fact that he feels often that if he tries just a bit harder, he can solve the problems that he wasn’t able to prevent before.
Background
WIPBelongings/Items
- ”Lionheart” - a steel longsword
- A steel shortsword
- Chainmail armor
- Black Guard insignia
- Personal insignia (rearing Lion)