Lucian Aurelianus

[SomeSanity]

𝖢𝖧𝖠𝖱𝖠𝖢𝖳𝖤𝖱 𝖲𝖧𝖤𝖤𝖳

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Tier 1 Echo-Lucian Aurelianus​

Statistics​

STR​	CON​	AGI​	INT​	HP​	MS​
5​	3​	0​	-2​	18​	9​

Techniques​

TECHNIQUE NAME | TIER | COOLDOWN​	DESCRIPTION​
T2 - BRACE | PASSIVE NO COOLDOWN​	Use strength to brace against incoming attacks. The Echo uses their Strength Modifier instead of Intuition for their Defense Rolls​
T1 - BLOOD OF SHINDAI | PASSIVE NO COOLDOWN​	MONK PUNCH The Echo calculates their Unarmed damage as 1d4 instead of 1d2, and they count as Light Weapons.​
T1 - HEEL KICK | SWIFT ACTION 3 ROUND COOLDOWN​	Slap ‘em with ya feet. The Echo makes an Attack up to a range of 3 Blocks using their Strength or Agility Modifier, dealing 1d2 + the chosen Attribute on a successful hit.​
T1 - SPINNING ELBOW | SWIFT ACTION | 5 ROUND COOLDOWN​	How’d you get your elbow to do that? The Echo makes an Attack within 1 Block using their Strength or Agility Modifier, dealing 1d2+1 + the chosen Attribute on a successful hit. If the attack lands, the Echo applies the Concussed I tag to the target until the end of their next turn.​

EQUIPMENT​

HEADWEAR​
CHESTWEAR​
LEGWEAR​
FOOTWEAR​
OFFHAND​
MAIN HAND​

RACE​
HUMAN-ATHAR TIER ONE​

EVOLUTION I - KINSHIP​

The Athar appears as a soft and soothing light to animals, making it far easier for them to relate/tame/get closer to them.​

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Lucian Aurelianus

By Cryptid_Sidus
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𝑷𝑹𝑬-𝑬𝑳𝑺𝑨𝑹
𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝑳𝒊𝒆𝒖𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑺𝒐𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝑨𝒓𝒎𝒚
𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑭𝒍𝒂𝒘𝒆𝒅 𝑾𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒐𝒓

𝑳𝒖𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒃𝒐𝒓𝒏 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒂 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒈𝒊𝒐𝒖𝒔 𝒎𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒚 𝒇𝒂𝒎𝒊𝒍𝒚; 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒇𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒖𝒊𝒔𝒉𝒆𝒅 𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒌 𝒐𝒇 𝑮𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑮𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒍 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒅𝒐𝒎 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒄𝒉 𝑳𝒖𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝒉𝒂𝒊𝒍𝒔. 𝑯𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓, 𝒇𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒕 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒂 𝒄𝒓𝒖𝒆𝒍 𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒕 𝒃𝒊𝒓𝒕𝒉. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒊𝒆𝒓𝒄𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒄𝒉 𝒐𝒇 𝒂𝒏 𝒖𝒏𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒆𝒄𝒉𝒐𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒌𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒉𝒆 𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅, 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒍𝒚 𝒅𝒂𝒎𝒂𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈. 𝑻𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒔𝒘𝒊𝒇𝒕𝒍𝒚 𝒌𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒅, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒂𝒎𝒂𝒈𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒂𝒍𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒚 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒅𝒐𝒏𝒆—𝑳𝒖𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒏'𝒔 𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒉𝒚𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆, 𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒗𝒖𝒍𝒏𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒔𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒔, 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒄𝒉 𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕 𝒑𝒂𝒊𝒏.

𝑻𝒐 𝒄𝒐𝒑𝒆, 𝑳𝒖𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒑𝒍𝒖𝒈𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒅𝒉𝒐𝒐𝒅, 𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒐𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒄𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒏 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒍𝒖𝒈𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒗𝒆𝒔. 𝑾𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒑𝒍𝒖𝒈𝒔 𝒅𝒖𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒕𝒚, 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒂𝒍𝒔𝒐 𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒂𝒊𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈. 𝑯𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒐𝒓 𝒇𝒐𝒐𝒕𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒑𝒔, 𝒔𝒐 𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒅𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒚 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒍𝒊𝒑𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒐𝒓 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒕𝒔. 𝑯𝒊𝒔 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏, 𝒉𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓, 𝒎𝒂𝒅𝒆 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒂𝒏 𝒐𝒖𝒕𝒄𝒂𝒔𝒕. 𝑯𝒊𝒔 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔, 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒃𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒇𝒖𝒍𝒇𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒂𝒎𝒊𝒍𝒚’𝒔 𝒍𝒆𝒈𝒂𝒄𝒚, 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒗𝒆𝒔 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒉𝒊𝒎. 𝑨𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒍𝒍, 𝒏𝒐 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒂𝒄𝒄𝒆𝒑𝒕 𝒂 𝒔𝒐𝒍𝒅𝒊𝒆𝒓 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒃𝒆 𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒂𝒑𝒂𝒄𝒊𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒚 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒔 𝒔𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒂𝒔 𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒐𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒑𝒍𝒖𝒈𝒔.

𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝑳𝒖𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒅𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒅. 𝑯𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒓𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒍𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒍𝒚. 𝑯𝒆 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒃𝒂𝒕 𝒔𝒌𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒔 𝒅𝒂𝒚 𝒂𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒅𝒂𝒚, 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒂𝒔 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒔 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒑𝒆𝒆𝒓𝒔. 𝒀𝒆𝒕 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒑𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝒐𝒇𝒇, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒆 𝒒𝒖𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒍𝒚 𝒓𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒌𝒔, 𝒂𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝑳𝒊𝒆𝒖𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒃𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒈𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒔𝒊𝒙𝒕𝒆𝒆𝒏.

𝑯𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓, 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒂𝒔 𝑳𝒊𝒆𝒖𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒅 𝒔𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒚𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒔 𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒂𝒎𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒄𝒌 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒅𝒐𝒎. 𝑯𝒊𝒔 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔, 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒉𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒇𝒍𝒆𝒆, 𝒃𝒐𝒂𝒓𝒅𝒆𝒅 𝒂 𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒑 𝒕𝒐 𝒆𝒔𝒄𝒂𝒑𝒆 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒄𝒓𝒖𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒍𝒆𝒇𝒕 𝑳𝒖𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝒃𝒆𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒅. 𝑺𝒕𝒖𝒏𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒃𝒓𝒐𝒌𝒆𝒏, 𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒊𝒈𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒉𝒊𝒎𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒇𝒂𝒕𝒆. 𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒂𝒔 𝒉𝒐𝒑𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒅 𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒕, 𝒂 𝒈𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒑 𝒐𝒇 𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒇𝒊𝒔𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒎𝒆𝒏 𝒐𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒂 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒑. 𝑳𝒖𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝒂𝒄𝒄𝒆𝒑𝒕𝒆𝒅, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒆𝒆 𝒚𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒔, 𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎, 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒇𝒊𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒓𝒆𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒄𝒖𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒓𝒚 𝒔𝒌𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒔, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒖𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒃𝒂𝒕 𝒂𝒃𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒆𝒔, 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒍𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒐𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏 𝒖𝒔𝒖𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚.
𝑨𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈, 𝒂𝒓𝒅𝒖𝒐𝒖𝒔 𝒚𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒔, 𝑳𝒖𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝒃𝒊𝒅 𝒇𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒘𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒔𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒎𝒆𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒆𝒕 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒐𝒏 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒐𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆. 𝑼𝒏𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒖𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒚, 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒄𝒌 𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏—𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒑 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒐𝒏 𝒓𝒐𝒄𝒌𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒂𝒏𝒌. 𝑯𝒆 𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒗𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒚 𝒄𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒂 𝒍𝒐𝒈 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒖𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒘𝒂𝒔𝒉𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒐𝒄𝒌𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝑴𝒂𝒏𝒂𝒂𝒏 𝑷𝒐𝒓𝒕.

𝑫𝒂𝒛𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒐𝒍𝒖𝒕𝒆, 𝑳𝒖𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒉𝒊𝒎𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒂 𝒏𝒆𝒘 𝒂𝒅𝒗𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆, 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒇𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒘𝒂𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒉𝒊𝒎.

𝑬𝑳𝑺𝑨𝑹
𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙒𝙖𝙧𝙧𝙞𝙤𝙧 𝙎𝙢𝙞𝙩𝙝
𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙩𝙩𝙞𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙧𝙚𝙙𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙙

𝑳𝒖𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒂 𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒃𝒖𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒇 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝑬𝒍𝒔𝒂𝒓, 𝒂 𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒔𝒆𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒅 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒂 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒓𝒆𝒅𝒆𝒎𝒑𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒂 𝒄𝒓𝒖𝒄𝒊𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒅𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒑 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒔.

𝑾𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒅, 𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒎𝒆𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒓𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒇—𝒂 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒆𝒔𝒄𝒂𝒑𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒅𝒐𝒘𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒖𝒇𝒇𝒐𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒆𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒊𝒕𝒍𝒆 𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒖𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒊𝒏 𝑺𝒐𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒓𝒊𝒂'𝒔 𝒉𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒚. 𝑭𝒐𝒓 𝒐𝒏𝒄𝒆, 𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝑳𝒖𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒏, 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒂𝒏 𝒆𝒎𝒃𝒍𝒆𝒎 𝒐𝒇 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒐𝒓 𝒂 𝒔𝒐𝒍𝒅𝒊𝒆𝒓 𝒅𝒆𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒚 𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒌. 𝑯𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒉, 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒂 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆 𝒐𝒏 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒎𝒔. 𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒗𝒊𝒐𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒂 𝒇𝒐𝒐𝒍'𝒔 𝒉𝒐𝒑𝒆, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑳𝒖𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝒒𝒖𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒍𝒚 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒓𝒆𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒗𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒇𝒓𝒂𝒈𝒊𝒍𝒆.

𝑬𝒍𝒔𝒂𝒓 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒊𝒎𝒎𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒖𝒏𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒕. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒇𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒔𝒕𝒇𝒖𝒍. 𝑭𝒐𝒓 𝑳𝒖𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒏, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒊𝒎𝒎𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒗𝒊𝒔𝒄𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒍. 𝑯𝒊𝒔 𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒎𝒔𝒐𝒏 𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒊𝒓𝒆—𝒂 𝒓𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒄 𝒐𝒇 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆—𝒃𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒏 𝒖𝒏𝒄𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒚 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒆𝒎𝒃𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒍𝒐𝒓𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑪𝒓𝒊𝒎𝒔𝒐𝒏 𝑳𝒆𝒈𝒊𝒐𝒏, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒄𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝑴𝒂𝒏𝒂𝒂𝒏, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒎𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒆𝒑 𝒅𝒐𝒘𝒏.
𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒃𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒔𝒖𝒔𝒑𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒐𝒏.

"𝖱𝖾𝖽 𝗅𝗈𝗈𝗄𝗌 𝗆𝗎𝖼𝗁 𝖻𝖾𝗍𝗍𝖾𝗋 𝗈𝗇 𝗆𝖾"

𝑺𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒍, 𝒂𝒎𝒊𝒅𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏, 𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒏𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒐𝒖𝒍. 𝑶𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒓, 𝒂 𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒅-𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝑳𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒓𝒑𝒆, 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒐𝒖𝒕. 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒎𝒆𝒕 𝒃𝒚 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆, 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒘𝒐 𝒘𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒚 𝒔𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒔 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒅𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒌𝒔 𝒂𝒕 𝒂 𝒃𝒂𝒓. 𝑶𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆, 𝑳𝒖𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝒃𝒆𝒈𝒂𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒆𝒆 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒔𝒉𝒆𝒅 𝒉𝒆’𝒅 𝒉𝒂𝒅, 𝒂 𝒃𝒐𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒎𝒕𝒉 𝒊𝒏 𝒂 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅 𝒈𝒓𝒐𝒘𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒄𝒐𝒍𝒅𝒆𝒓.

"𝖨 𝗆𝗂𝗌𝗌 𝗒𝗈𝗎, 𝗆𝖺𝗍𝖾"

𝑷𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒇𝒍𝒆𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒖𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝑳𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒓𝒑𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒂𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒅.
𝑳𝒖𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒔𝒌𝒆𝒕𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒆𝒂𝒑𝒐𝒏 𝒃𝒍𝒖𝒆𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒎𝒐𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒉𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒕𝒔 𝒆𝒄𝒉𝒐𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒕𝒔. 𝑯𝒆 𝒃𝒐𝒍𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒐𝒔, 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒑𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒓𝒖𝒏 𝒃𝒚 𝒄𝒖𝒍𝒕𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒘𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆𝒔 𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑵𝒂𝒂𝒍𝒌𝒂. 𝑨𝒓𝒎𝒆𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏 𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒅𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏, 𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒂𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒓𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆. 𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒏𝒐 𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒐𝒍𝒗𝒆, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒇𝒖𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒆. 𝑳𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒓𝒑𝒆 𝒇𝒆𝒍𝒍.

"𝖶𝗁𝗒 𝖽𝗈𝖾𝗌 𝗂𝗍 𝗁𝖺𝗏𝖾 𝗍𝗈 𝗀𝗈 𝗍𝗈 𝗌𝗁𝗂𝗍𝖾 𝖾𝗏𝖾𝗋𝗒 𝗍𝗂𝗆𝖾?"

𝑾𝒆𝒆𝒌𝒔 𝒑𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒅. 𝑳𝒖𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝒅𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎. 𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒉𝒐𝒑𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒂 𝒅𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒔 𝒍𝒊𝒆.
𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒐𝒄𝒌𝒔 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒇 𝒔𝒊𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆—𝑭𝒂𝒍𝒌𝒆𝒏𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒊𝒏 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒊𝒆𝒈𝒆. 𝑳𝒖𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒏, 𝒂𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝑬𝒍𝒔𝒂𝒓, 𝒓𝒖𝒔𝒉𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒅𝒆𝒇𝒆𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒐𝒘𝒏. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑵𝒂𝒂𝒍𝒌𝒂 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌, 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒍𝒆𝒔𝒔. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒐𝒔, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑳𝒖𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝒇𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒂𝒔 𝒊𝒇 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒏 𝒊𝒕 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒊𝒕 𝒅𝒊𝒅. 𝑾𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒔 𝒄𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒃𝒐𝒅𝒚, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒕.

𝑭𝒂𝒍𝒌𝒆𝒏𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒊𝒏 𝒇𝒆𝒍𝒍.

"𝖭𝖾𝗏𝖾𝗋 𝗅𝗂𝗄𝖾𝖽 𝗍𝗁𝖺𝗍 𝗉𝗅𝖺𝖼𝖾 𝖺𝗇𝗒𝗐𝖺𝗒𝗌. 𝖡𝗎𝗍.. 𝖳𝗁𝖾𝗒 𝖽𝗂𝖽𝗇'𝗍 𝗁𝖺𝗏𝖾 𝗍𝗈 𝖽𝗂𝖾"

𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝑬𝒍𝒔𝒂𝒓 𝒃𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒄𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏—𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝑰𝒎𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒔.
𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒄𝒆-𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒅 𝒄𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒂𝒄𝒌, 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒃𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒖𝒍𝒕𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒔 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒃𝒚 𝒈𝒓𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒔𝒒𝒖𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒆𝒔. 𝑳𝒖𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝒋𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒇𝒆𝒏𝒔𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒈𝒓𝒊𝒎 𝒅𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒘𝒐𝒏! 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒔𝒖𝒄𝒄𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒇𝒖𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒅𝒆𝒇𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒎𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒅𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒇𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒔.. 𝑳𝒖𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒆𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒂 𝒕𝒐𝒑𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒂 𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒃𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒕.

𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝑰𝒎𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒔, 𝒕𝒐𝒐, 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒕. 𝑰𝒕 𝒅𝒓𝒐𝒘𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏.

"𝖲𝖾𝖾 𝗒𝖾 '𝗋𝗈𝗎𝗇𝖽.. 𝖬𝖺𝗍𝖾"

𝑫𝒆𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒅𝒓𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝑳𝒖𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏. 𝑨𝒕 𝑴𝒂𝒏𝒂𝒂𝒏, 𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐𝒘𝒏𝒔𝒇𝒐𝒍𝒌 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑮𝒐𝒍𝒅𝒆𝒏 𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒄𝒆 𝑻𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒄𝒖𝒔𝒔 𝒂 𝒔𝒐𝒍𝒖𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏. 𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒏𝒐 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒏 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒇𝒓𝒖𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏—𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒐𝒔 𝒆𝒓𝒖𝒑𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒆𝒚𝒆𝒔. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒚 𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒔, 𝑻𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒈𝒖𝒂𝒓𝒅𝒔, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂 𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒑𝒂𝒊𝒓-𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒖𝒄𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒄𝒂𝒄𝒐𝒑𝒉𝒐𝒏𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏.

𝑳𝒖𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝒇𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒇𝒊𝒆𝒓𝒄𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒑𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝒊𝒏𝒋𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒊𝒏𝒇𝒍𝒊𝒄𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒚 𝒇𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒍𝒚 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒆. 𝑯𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒔 𝒉𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒌𝒔 𝒄𝒓𝒖𝒎𝒃𝒍𝒆𝒅, 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒅𝒘𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒓𝒆𝒅𝒖𝒄𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒓𝒖𝒃𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒆𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒂 𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒑. 𝑴𝒆𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒃𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒌𝒂𝒈𝒆.
𝑯𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅𝒏’𝒕 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆; 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒇𝒆𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒏𝒐𝒊𝒔𝒆 𝒍𝒆𝒇𝒕 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒊𝒏 𝒔𝒊𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆. 𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒔𝒆𝒆. 𝑯𝒆 𝒓𝒂𝒏 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒗𝒊𝒗𝒐𝒓𝒔 𝒕𝒐𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒂𝒔𝒕 𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒑, 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒑𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒓𝒂𝒈𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒐𝒘 𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒇𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒊𝒎.

𝑬𝒍𝒔𝒂𝒓 𝒇𝒆𝒍𝒍.

"𝖨 𝗐𝖺𝗌 𝗍𝗂𝗋𝖾𝖽 𝗈𝖿 𝗅𝗈𝗈𝗄𝗂𝗇’ 𝖺𝗍 𝗍𝗁𝖺𝗍 𝗌𝗍𝖺𝗍𝗎𝖾’𝗌 𝖺𝗋𝗌𝖾.. 𝖡𝗎𝗍… 𝗂𝗍 𝗐𝖺𝗌 𝖺 𝖽𝖺𝗆𝗇 𝖿𝗂𝗇𝖾 𝖺𝗋𝗌𝖾."

𝑽𝑨𝑬𝑳𝒀𝑵
𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙒𝙖𝙧𝙧𝙞𝙤𝙧 𝙎𝙢𝙞𝙩𝙝
𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙆𝙚𝙚𝙥𝙚𝙧 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙍𝙚𝙙 𝘼𝙣𝙫𝙞𝙡

𝑳𝒖𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝑽𝒂𝒆𝒍𝒚𝒏 𝒂𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒆𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒂𝒓𝒅𝒖𝒐𝒖𝒔 𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒉𝒔 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒑. 𝑻𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒇𝒆𝒍𝒕 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒆𝒅—𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒎𝒆𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝑺𝒐𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒓𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒆𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒅 𝒂 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒂𝒘𝒂𝒚, 𝒚𝒆𝒕 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒓𝒆𝒇𝒍𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒂 𝒚𝒆𝒂𝒓'𝒔 𝒅𝒊𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆.
𝑯𝒆 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒆𝒎𝒃𝒂𝒓𝒌𝒆𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒂 𝒔𝒖𝒃𝒕𝒍𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒅, 𝒂 𝒔𝒊𝒈𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒆𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒚 𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒉𝒔. 𝑨𝒃𝒐𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒑, 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒅𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒃𝒍𝒖𝒓𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐𝒈𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓: 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒔𝒍𝒆𝒆𝒑𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆 𝒆𝒍𝒔𝒆. 𝑯𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒓𝒏𝒔.

𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝑽𝒂𝒆𝒍𝒚𝒏 𝒖𝒏𝒇𝒐𝒍𝒅𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒉𝒊𝒎, 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒊𝒕𝒔 𝒗𝒊𝒃𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒕𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒏𝒆𝒘 𝒃𝒆𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔, 𝑳𝒖𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒐𝒍𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒉𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒆𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒑𝒂𝒔𝒕. 𝑯𝒆 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒅, 𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒎𝒎𝒆𝒅 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒉𝒂𝒊𝒓 𝒕𝒐 𝒊𝒕𝒔 𝒇𝒂𝒎𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒂𝒓 𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒈𝒕𝒉, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒖𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒅𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒏 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒕. 𝑽𝒂𝒆𝒍𝒚𝒏 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒉 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒆𝒓, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒇𝒖𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒏𝒊𝒔𝒉 𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒅𝒐𝒘𝒔.

𝑪𝒍𝒂𝒊𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒃𝒐𝒕𝒉 𝒂 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒈𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂 𝒎𝒐𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒉𝒐𝒎𝒆, 𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒉𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒈𝒆 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑹𝒆𝒅 𝑨𝒏𝒗𝒊𝒍 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒇𝒍𝒚𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒅𝒆. 𝑯𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒆𝒘 𝒉𝒊𝒎𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌, 𝒍𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒉𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒎 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒎𝒎𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒐𝒂𝒓 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒈𝒆 𝒐𝒄𝒄𝒖𝒑𝒚 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒅.

𝒀𝒆𝒕, 𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒍𝒚. 𝑯𝒆 𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒖𝒔𝒕𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒕𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝑴𝒂𝒏𝒂𝒂𝒏, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒆—𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒔𝒕. 𝑫𝒆𝒔𝒑𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒔, 𝒊𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒂 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒎𝒆𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔. 𝑵𝒐𝒘, 𝒎𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒇𝒂𝒄𝒆𝒔 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒏𝒆, 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒂 𝒇𝒆𝒘 𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒉𝒆𝒅 𝒇𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒔 𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝑽𝒂𝒆𝒍𝒚𝒏. 𝑳𝒖𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝒑𝒖𝒔𝒉𝒆𝒅 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒅𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏. 𝑯𝒊𝒔 𝒅𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒘 𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒔 𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒖𝒊𝒍𝒕 𝒂 𝒏𝒆𝒘 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒊𝒕𝒚, 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒈𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒚 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒔. 𝑾𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒄𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝑬𝒍𝒔𝒂𝒓 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒔𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒕𝒖𝒅𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒉𝒊𝒎—𝒂 𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒊𝒏 𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒔, 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒉 𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈.





By Qostus







HOUSE AURELIANUS

┌─── ∘°❉°∘ ───┐

Father
Grand General Valerius Aurelianus

By Viperos
Relationship with Grand General Valerius:
Lucian’s relationship with his father, Grand General Valerius Aurelianus, was one of constant tension, dominated by the heavy weight of expectations that suffocated Lucian’s true self. From a young age, Lucian found himself sacrificing his personal hopes and dreams in an endless effort to earn his father's approval—a goal that always seemed just out of reach. Valerius, a towering figure in both stature and reputation, expected nothing short of perfection from his children, and for Lucian, this meant living a life dictated by his father's rigid ideals.
Lucian altered even the smallest aspects of himself to meet Valerius's standards. He adopted a formal tone in his speech, suppressing the natural accent that his father found unbecoming of their noble status. Every conversation felt like a performance, one where Lucian had to carefully control his words and demeanor to avoid his father's disapproval. Isolated from society by Valerius's decree, Lucian’s world was reduced to the walls of their manor. Valerius viewed Lucian's ear condition as a crippling flaw—one that made him unfit for the outside world. It was an overreaction, treating a minor sensitivity as if it were a grave disability, but Valerius had little tolerance for weakness of any kind.
Friendships were a foreign concept to Lucian, something he could only explore through the pages of books. His father’s strict rules kept him away from others his age, denying him the simple joys of companionship, this rule was only lifted once he became Lieutenant. What Lucian desired most—a life of his own, free to pursue his passions—was something Valerius could never understand. Lucian had once dreamed of becoming a renowned baker, imagining a life filled with creativity and warmth, far removed from the cold steel of the battlefield. But that dream was swiftly dismissed. To Valerius, the idea of a noble-born son baking bread and pastries was an affront to their lineage. Instead, Lucian was pushed into the role of a military officer, a path that Valerius deemed suitable for the heir to his legacy.
Lucian’s passion for smithing, a craft he found solace in, was similarly rejected. Valerius saw it as a commoner’s trade, unworthy of someone of their standing. Every interest, every talent that Lucian developed outside the realm of warfare was quickly stifled by his father’s unyielding expectations. Valerius was a man of iron discipline, and he demanded the same from his children, even at the cost of their happiness.
For most of his life, Lucian lived under his father's thumb, bound by expectations he had never chosen for himself. The weight of those expectations crushed any sense of individuality, leaving Lucian to fulfill roles that he neither wanted nor excelled at. The relationship with his father was not one of love or understanding, but of duty and obligation—a constant reminder of the legacy he was expected to uphold.
It wasn't until the cataclysm struck that Lucian finally broke free of his father’s suffocating control. In the chaos that followed, he found a chance to step away from the shadow of Valerius, to finally forge a life on his own terms. For Lucian, the cataclysm wasn’t just a disaster—it was liberation.

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Mother
Lady Seraphina Aurelianus

Relationship with Lady Seraphina :
Lucian often found solace in his mother, Seraphina Aurelianus, though her affection was measured and rarely expressed with warmth. She, too, favored his siblings, particularly Cassian, who was set to inherit the family's military legacy, and Lavinia, who displayed a natural aptitude for courtly life. Yet despite her cool demeanor, Seraphina was kinder to Lucian than his father ever was.

It was Seraphina who occasionally allowed Lucian glimpses of a softer world beyond the rigid expectations of their household. She would sometimes invite him to join her in the kitchen after his grueling training sessions. Though Lucian was expected to beg for this privilege—a ritual that served as a subtle reminder of his place in the family—these moments were among the few where he felt a connection to her. Together, they would bake cupcakes and delicate desserts, a brief escape from the harsh military environment that dominated their lives. For Lucian, these moments of shared baking became small treasures, memories of a mother who, though distant, offered some semblance of care.

Seraphina herself was no stranger to the warrior's life. She had once been a fierce soldier, fighting alongside Valerius on the battlefield where they first met. Their union had been forged in combat, a bond of steel and strategy rather than tenderness. Despite stepping back from active duty to fulfill her role as a noblewoman and mother, she never fully let go of the battlefield mindset, raising her children with the same discipline and determination that had once defined her own life.

Though Seraphina occasionally offered Lucian small acts of kindness, she remained a product of her upbringing—duty-bound, reserved, and often aloof. Lucian longed for more, but he understood that her affection, as limited as it was, came in the only way she knew how to give. Despite the favoritism she showed his siblings, these shared moments in the kitchen allowed him to see a side of her that was less a warrior and more a mother—if only for a fleeting moment.

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Twin Brother
Cassian Aurelianus

Relationship with Cassian:
Lucian's relationship with his older brother, Cassian Aurelianus, was a complex mixture of rivalry, resentment, and reluctant admiration. From a young age, Lucian despised Cassian, who seemed to embody everything their parents valued—strength, skill, and most importantly, the lack of any physical weakness. Unlike Lucian, whose hypersensitive ears made him an object of pity and frustration, Cassian was celebrated as the ideal heir. This only fueled the tension between the brothers, as Cassian often played the role of the perfect son, basking in their parents' approval while Lucian struggled to meet their impossible standards.
Cassian delighted in tormenting Lucian, often ratting him out when he attempted to sneak out of the manor to enjoy a moment of freedom outdoors. Unfortunately for Lucian, his room was adjacent to Cassian's, making escape nearly impossible. Worse still, Cassian exploited Lucian's vulnerability in battle. Whenever their sparring matches grew heated, Cassian would ruthlessly remove Lucian's earplugs and scream, causing intense pain and disorientation. Lucian's ears would bleed, and the battle would be over before it even began. Cassian's pranks and provocations extended beyond the battlefield. He would devise cruel jokes that either hurt Lucian or got him into trouble. Yet, despite the pain these pranks caused, Lucian often laughed them off. Deep down, he longed for his brother's approval and affection, hoping that by enduring Cassian's teasing with good humor, he might earn a place in his brother's heart. In some strange way, these pranks shaped Lucian's own sense of humor, and despite his outward hatred, Lucian couldn't help but respect Cassian's resilience. He admired Cassian's tenacity, never giving up in battle or life, and even loved his brother, though he would never admit it out loud.
But everything changed the day Cassian's prank went too far.
It began like any other sparring session in the yard. The brothers were training with wooden swords when, suddenly, Cassian's sword snapped in half. Groaning in annoyance, Cassian told Lucian he was going to the shed to fetch a replacement. Moments later, the shed burst into flames. Lucian heard his brother's cries but, due to his ear condition, couldn't pinpoint the direction of the sound. Desperate and panicked, Lucian rushed into the burning shed to save Cassian. Inside, he was met with a horrifying sight—a limp body pinned beneath a blazing beam. Frozen in fear for a moment, Lucian finally mustered the courage to act. Ignoring the searing pain in his hands, he grabbed the burning beam and pulled with all his strength. His hands and sleeves caught fire, but he refused to let go.
With his fifteen-year-old hands, he managed to lift the beam, only to discover that the "body" beneath it was nothing more than a hay dummy dressed in Cassian's clothes. Cassian, expecting his brother to cower in fear, emerged from his hiding spot, only to find Lucian writhing in agony, his forearms ablaze. Horrified by the unintended consequences of his prank, Cassian rushed to his brother's aid, desperately trying to extinguish the flames.
From that day on, Lucian's relationship with Cassian was irreparably damaged. The burns on Lucian's forearms never fully healed, leaving permanent scars that he was forced to hide. Their father, Valerius, saw the burns as a mark of shame, not courage. Lucian was ordered to wear gloves at all times, concealing his disfigured arms as if they were something to be ashamed of, rather than a testament to his bravery. But the physical scars were only part of the damage. The prank left Lucian with a deep fear of fire, and any remaining affection he held for his brother was extinguished in those flames. What once had been a complicated mixture of rivalry and respect had now turned into something darker—resentment, distrust, and a lingering sense of betrayal.

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Younger Brother
Darius Aurelianus

Relationship with Darius:
Lucian found a rare source of comfort in his younger brother, Darius Aurelianus, who was seven years his junior. Unlike the strained relationships Lucian had with the rest of his family, his bond with Darius was one of warmth and companionship. Darius admired both of his older brothers, looking up to Lucian for his ferocity and resilience despite his ear condition, and to Cassian for his unyielding nature. To Darius, the flaws that defined Lucian in the eyes of others didn’t matter. He simply saw his brother as someone strong, someone worth emulating.

The two often found time to play together, their moments of freedom a welcome respite from the grueling training they both endured. Lucian couldn't help but feel pity for Darius, seeing him go through the same harsh regimen that had defined his own youth, and Cassian's before him. But Darius was different—where Lucian had been isolated and dismissed, Darius was showered with their mother Seraphina’s affection. He was her favorite, adored for his innocence and childhood dreams of becoming a grand superhero. His fantasies were a reflection of a world untouched by the harsh realities of battle, and Lucian secretly wished to protect that innocence for as long as possible.

Lucian tried, in subtle ways, to push Darius away from the life of a soldier. He saw how the militaristic expectations of their noble family were slowly beginning to shape his younger brother, and he wanted to show Darius that there was more to life than the sword. But it was a difficult task, given the weight of their family's legacy. Still, Lucian persisted.

Late at night, he would sneak into Darius's room and share with him the knowledge he'd gained from books. Darius, being much younger, had not yet learned to read well, so Lucian became his teacher. He told him stories of the vast sea, of lands far beyond their kingdom, and of peaceful pursuits like cooking and fishing—activities that offered an alternative to the relentless demands of their military upbringing. Lucian wanted Darius to see the world as a place full of possibilities, not just a battlefield.

These secret lessons became a source of solace for Lucian. In those quiet moments, he found a sense of purpose beyond his own struggles, a way to nurture and protect the brother he cared for so deeply. Darius represented the innocence and hope that Lucian had lost long ago, and being with him allowed Lucian to reconnect with a part of himself that had been buried under years of discipline and duty.

Lucian always found comfort in Darius's presence, cherishing the bond they shared. Despite the brutal world they were born into, Lucian hoped that his influence might guide Darius toward a different path—a life not solely defined by the sword, but by the beauty of the world beyond the battlefield.

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Younger Sister
Lavinia Aurelianus

Relationship with Lavinia:
Lucian’s relationship with his younger sister, Lavinia Aurelia, was marked by tension, manipulation, and an underlying sense of responsibility. Lavinia, just a year younger than Lucian and Cassian, was favored by their mother much like Darius. From a young age, it was clear that Lavinia was exceptionally gifted. Her intellect far surpassed that of her peers, and her sharp mind earned her comparisons to great politicians and rulers. However, this brilliance came at a cost: it inflated her ego to dangerous proportions, leading her to become a bully within their household.
Lavinia wielded her intelligence as a weapon, using her cunning to manipulate and belittle her siblings. Lucian, Darius, and even Cassian found themselves targets of her cruelty. She thrived on control and dominance, using her wit to cut down others in ways that left deep emotional scars. Even their father, Valerius, wasn’t immune to her coldness, though he largely ignored her behavior, deeming her a project for Seraphina to handle. Valerius couldn’t be bothered to deal with Lavinia’s attitude, focusing instead on his more direct military matters, while Seraphina indulged her daughter’s intelligence, further enabling her behavior.
Lucian often found himself in the role of protector, especially when it came to Darius, who was Lavinia’s frequent target. She saw Darius as the easiest to manipulate, viewing him as the youngest and therefore the most vulnerable. Lavinia tried to force him into doing her chores, commanding him as if he were a servant rather than a sibling. But Darius, despite his youth, rarely went down without a fight. He had a resilience that surprised even Lucian at times, standing up to Lavinia’s bullying with a determination that mirrored the strength their family was known for.
When Darius’s defiance wasn’t enough to fend off Lavinia’s schemes, Lucian or Cassian would often step in. Lucian, in particular, took it upon himself to shield Darius from their sister’s cruelty. He understood the emotional toll her manipulation could take, and he couldn’t bear to see Darius crushed under the weight of Lavinia’s clever but cutting remarks. Protecting Darius from Lavinia’s bullying became a regular part of Lucian’s life, and though it exhausted him, it also gave him a sense of purpose within the family’s chaotic dynamics.
Despite Lavinia’s brilliance and her mother’s admiration, Lucian saw through her facade. He recognized that beneath her arrogance lay insecurity—an unrelenting need to prove herself superior to everyone around her. Lavinia’s bullying was her way of asserting control in a household where each child was vying for a place of importance. Lucian couldn’t help but pity her, even as he resented the pain she caused. He knew that her intelligence, if channeled differently, could have made her a powerful ally rather than an adversary.
But Lavinia’s pride and cruelty kept any chance of true sibling connection at bay. Instead, Lucian remained distant, always on guard to protect those he cared about from her relentless bullying. Though he wished for a different relationship with his sister, one built on mutual respect and understanding, the reality was far from that. Lavinia’s brilliance made her formidable, but her lack of empathy made her dangerous—a force Lucian had to navigate carefully within the already strained fabric of their family.

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[SomeSanity]

Changes -
New google doc (thank you pluto)
Removed information that is now on the doc
Turned the lore vomit into a spoiler