"I don't care if I must spend centuries with you, demon. You won't put any more souls in Lucifer's hands while I live!"-Romanos Cypselos Moriades.
"Eugh, fuck - left Holy Water in the flask. Anyone got some whiskey? ... God, I need a nap..."- Roman Mordel
Name: Original: Romanos Cypselos Moriades
Current: Roman Mordel
Age: 27
Appearance: Roman has several scars from supernatural studies he performed early on in his immortality, mostly across his chest. His frame is lithe and weak looking, a reflection of his incredibly non-physical lifestyle that he tries to cover up with thick jackets and coats.
Personality: Romanos was originally a man of responsibility and duty, willing to sacrifice his eternal soul in order to restrain one of Lucifer's Generals. While he never sought out work and hardship and was often quite lazy, he would always rise up to the occasion in order to help those around him. His simple upbringing and lifestyle made it hard for him to understand the world around him, but he took things in stride and always tried to look at the positive parts of life.
If he didn't look the same, few people would believe Roman is that same man. Millenia of exhaustion, frustration, and corruption from his demon has left him an apathetic and cynical shell of his old self. He spends most days in a stupor - either from alcohol or from drowsiness. Worst of all, his years of study and learning have left him thinking that he is the smartest person in the room (and admittedly, he usually is). He keeps this unlikable persona in order to avoid getting close to any mortals, because he is terrified of losing more people that he cares about. The only thing that remained is that, no matter how much he denies it, Roman will take a bullet if it means someone else won't have to.
Biography: Romanos, much like his name implies, lived his mortal life in the Roman empire. He lived as the son of a street vendor, selling salted lupin beans, beef, and even fried fish. His life was very meager and simple, and while Romanos was often situated outside the Coliseum to hawk his wares, he only ever saw the inside after becoming a Host. To pass the time he mostly fished, lazing about and giving whatever he managed to catch to his father. The days passed peacefully, and while he lacked most comforts, Romanos was happy. Eventually, his father passed away from a heart attack, and Romanos inherited the responsibilities involved in the family business - though, without the experience and work ethic of his father, Romanos quickly floundered and began accruing debt. Only a year after his father's passing, Romanos was conscripted into the military to pay off his debts, and he would soon experience Lucifer's army firsthand.
Romanos would serve as a soldier for 3 years, him and his peers mostly acting as a distraction while monks performed the sealing of whatever demons they were facing. Romanos doubted he would live out the full 6 years of service required of him, and this acceptance of his mortality allowed him to perform his job much more effectively than those around him. One day, when the Roman army had pushed back Lucifer's army to the point that they reached one of the Generals - Sloth.
Romanos is still not sure how it happened - he had lived for so long, and the event was millennia ago after all. Maybe the original Host candidate was killed in the battle, or there was an error in the sealing, or Sloth simply preferred Romanos as a host. It doesn't matter too much, really. At the end of the day, Romanos was the new Host to Sloth. The few surviving Monks would retrieve his battered body, and bring him to a monastery to recover.
Romanos' body rapidly degraded with the lack of exercise, and the physical exhaustion he experienced from simple tasks made his job as a vendor an impossibility. His status as an immortal and his immunity to physical trauma meant that he had little means of harming himself to end his suffering - and when he brought up the topic, the monks had adamantly warned him of the severity of releasing a Sin back into the world. So instead, Romanos stayed in the monastery - over the next three decades, he would learn a variety of topics from the monks. Literacy, Greek, History, Religion, Lucifer and his Demons, and more. All Romanos could do was study and talk, and when he had absorbed everything he could learn from the monks, he commissioned a cart and left.
Romanos traveled the world over the coming centuries, constantly refreshing what he has learned and spreading it freely. In the beginning, he was quite optimistic - immortality had given him a chance at taking whatever he wanted from life for as long as he wanted. Eventually, Romanos took on students - one of whom he would fall in love with. Jin Lo came to study under Romanos to perfect his alchemical research, and the men fell for one another as the years went by. But no matter what kinds of alchemy or medicine the pair studied, Jin was destined to die as a human. In the later years of Jin's life, Romanos would commission a voyage to search for a demon that could be sealed within Jin to lengthen his life, just like Sloth had done for Romanos.
The search lasted 10 years and was unsuccessful. By the time Romanos had returned, Jin was long dead. He had passed from a heart attack, like Romanos' father.
Three days later, Genghis Khan along with a small army of demons invaded and captured Beijing. Romanos barely escaped with his life, and Sloth only bothered to reveal the reason behind their failed search in a dream that night. Lucifer had purposefully told his demons to be scarce so that Jin would die, and Romanos would kill himself - thus freeing Sloth.
Romanos was enraged at the revelation, and refused to commit suicide and give Sloth freedom. Of course, this was just what Sloth had wanted - if it truly desired freedom, it would not have informed Romanos of Lucifer's trick.
Romanos would fall into a depression shortly after this event, sleeping for three decades - it was only the intervention of other Hosts that had shaken him from the stupor, and he would eventually continue his studies throughout the world. In the late 1700s, he would adopt the persona of Comte de Saint Germain, and used his charisma to get close to many French nobles. He even had a close friendship with the french writer Voltaire, whose death sent Romanos into another deep depression.
With the death of his friend, Romanos moved to America and never took another student, afraid of being hurt once again. He would continue his studies across various colleges around the country, changing his name and identity every few decades to avoid suspicion. Several patents in the name of false persons (as well as a brief stint playing the stock market) meant that Romanos had little need for money. By the time he had adopted the identity of 'Roman', the only people he meaningfully interacted with were the other Hosts, and Sloth itself.
Sin:The sin of Sloth is that which settles and seeps in. Unlike the Sins of Desire - the Greed, the Lust, the Gluttony - Sloth is not an active pursuit. Instead, it is a sin of omission - of convenience. Sloth is in the student that oversleeps and misses their classes, the employee that coasts on the minimum work necessary, and the king that leaves responsibilities to his advisors and lives a life of leisure. Sloth is delicate in its temptation - another 5 minutes of sleep, which turns to 10, and then an hour. At that point, why even go to work today? While the other Sins are similar in nature, Sloth is the most capable of taking a mile when given an inch.
Sloth is not simply laziness, or not working - it is ignoring your responsibilities, apathy, and coasting on the least effort possible. Sloth does not care for the crippled who cannot work or the homeless who beg on the streets. Escaping Jury duty, pretending to be sick to avoid work, accepting a C instead of studying for an A - that is where Sloth feeds and festers.
As a General of Hell, Sloth (much like their name implies) was one of the least active - not even a single person was directly killed by Sloth, and the sealing of Sloth was less difficult than some minor demons. However, while Sloth lacked direct combat potency, it served as a vanguard that other demons rallied around, attacking humans who were stuck in Sloth's frozen sphere. Quite often, entire armies would simply give up and leave when faced with Sloth, their will to fight drained as soon as they enter the battlefield.
Calling upon the power of Sloth, Roman is able to enforce the stillness and apathy that Sloth embodies. An area is established around Roman, roughly 10 meters in radius, and anything within begins to slow. Fire eventually stills and snuffs itself out, Water begins to chill and freeze, and movement is like trying to wade through molasses. The effect is stronger the closer one is to the center, with bullets freezing about a meter or so from Roman. Even the mental abilities of those within are slowed, people growing more apathetic and less willing to harm Roman the closer they get. While the host can concentrate to lessen the effects on allies in his aura, this drains him faster physically. And Roman himself cannot move around while the aura is established, forced to end the effect if he wishes to relocate.
The only reason Sloth is still within Roman is because it enjoys being sealed. Away from Lucifer, Sloth may rest and do nothing as long as it wishes, never forced to act or do battle. The only thing that awakens it from a peaceful slumber is when Roman calls upon its power. Conversation only occurs while both of them sleep, within a shared dream - though even that is rare. Their relationship is less like that of a trapped demon and a human, and more like two acquaintances who are stuck on the same project at work. If someone looked at them without context, it could even be described as friendly.
Curse: In order to minimize the amount of time that Sloth is called upon while also preventing the Host from killing himself, Roman's curse has been one of exhaustion. Physical effort drains him, to the point where sprinting can knock Roman out faster than anesthetic gas. Even light activities, like walking and holding things, lead to Roman growing so tired and weak that he must sleep for 12 hours a day to function properly. Roman is quite dissatisfied with his life because of this, but the recent inventions in the last century have made a mostly non-physical lifestyle significantly more tolerable.
Likes: Sleeping: Unlike some of the Hosts, Roman indulges his Sin quite often. He sleeps 12 hours a day on average thanks to his curse, but during the height of his depressive episodes, he would sleep for years at a time, only waking every few days to eat and drink so he wouldn't die. Thankfully, with the advancement of technology and a much better quality of life for the handicapped, Roman is (relatively) happy in the modern day and mostly sleeps to sustain himself.
Movies: Ever since the early 1900s, Roman has been quite a fan of movies. He had grown bored of reading to satiate his boredom, and movies were a much more interesting and cheaper alternative to plays. Roman is especially fond of Westerns, having been one of the many people to set out on the Oregon Trail.
Studying: One of the few things that Roman does to feel productive. To keep himself from falling to his Sin, Roman is diligent in studying new topics and fields as much as he can. History, languages, engineering, and more. He's currently getting into computer programming and is quite a fan.
Music: Roman had attempted delving into various Art forms, and found success in a few (and had even been the artist and author of a few Medieval encyclopedias) - but his passion lies in Music. He is skilled in a wide array of instruments, from harp and lyre to the guitar and piano. Music is both the best way to keep him awake, as well as the best way to put him to sleep.
Dislikes: Sports: Both playing and watching. His Curse makes it so that most physical activities are barred from Roman, so he tries to avoid watching something out of his reach. The only ones he was really into were Gladiator battles and Chariot duels - now
those were sports.
Exercise: Roman 'exercises' once a week, doing light weightlifting and a very short jog. Even this is incredibly strenuous for him, however, and he only does so to prevent his body from atrophying. Despite knowing he needs it, he still despises the activity and must do it within the safety of his home.
Connections: After forming several close bonds with mortals throughout his life and being grief-stricken every time they passed, Roman has given up on forming interpersonal bonds with any non-Hosts. As a result, he is scared of becoming close with another person who he will eventually outlive, and his abrasive personality is a defense mechanism to compensate.
Nosey People: Roman prefers staying in his private space, and intruding on that is a quick way to get on his shit list. Of course, there are exceptions - he had spent a few decades in the late 1800s in New York City, and grew quite close to his neighbor who gave him extra meals and pastries that she had cooked.
Quirks: -Roman is capable of lucid dreaming, but he rarely does so. Instead, he prefers the dark emptiness that comes with sleep.
-Within the library of his home is a variety of books from the last few thousand years. Roman hasn't read any of them in a while, however - he much prefers PDFs.
-Despite knowing how to and it being one of the few activities that he doesn't get exhausted from, Roman refuses to drive. He instead relied on taxis and carriages, and thinks he's an idiot for not coming up with Uber.
-Hates sweets.
-Gets incredibly aggressive if anyone brings up the scientific inaccuracies of the past. Don't even get him started on the whole 'germ theory' thing-
"How the hell was I supposed to know?! YOU CAN'T SEE THEM!!!"
