Name: Thevros Arden
Gender: Male
Race: Jantari
Appearance:
Age: 63
Abilities
Average Jantari environmental sensitivity and telepathy, but unusually high empathic reception. May have occasional slight power of suggestion (spontaneous and uncontrolled), but hard to say because he has a relatively high level of charisma and ability to persuade.
Equipment
He is a pacifist, and as such carries no weapons. He wears simple robes in accordance with his dedication to a life to the Eternal Flame and wears a pair of gauntlets that distort space and gravity with electromagnetic power to do things like dodge blades and redirect projectiles.
Bio
In his past, Thevros was a fast talking, charismatic snake oil salesman. He grew up poor on the streets of a forgettable town that barely fell under the purview of the Empire. Jumping from scheme to scheme, he eventually stumbled upon his cash cow.
Knowing that many in the Middlelands were provincial, religious folk, he would travel from town to town with a unique opportunity. The story told to followers of the Eternal Flame was that the Solarium in an area called to the spirits of the departed loved ones who had died and collected them into itself. He staged demonstrations in which he would take the Solarium into his body (by ingesting it) and could in turn bring messages from beyond the grave.
The demonstration was, of course, purely illusion. His “messages” would be collected ahead of time by a carefully curated team of agents who would work to discover people's personal secrets and stories. And, having “consumed” the Solarium in an area, he would move on to the next town.
All went well for a time and was very profitable, until one tragic day came. A young boy, unabashedly in awe of Thevros and his “power”, took a Solarium fragment from an old vibroblade he found in the wilderness, removed the safety measures, and swallowed the raw Solarium in hopes that he too could speak with the dead.
It resulted, of course, in an inevitable and incredibly painful death. Thevros, already grief stricken as he had taken a liking to the boy, found his problems compounded as the angry townsfolk raided his belongings and found all of the stolen Solarium. They beat him mercilessly and left him impaled on a stake at the edge of town, bleeding out the last of his life.
As luck would have it, he was happened upon by a party of pilgrims, devotees of the Church of the Eternal Flame. They were able to patch him up enough to survive, and surprisingly, even when they found out about his schemes and how he had defamed the Church and its teachings, they still continued to care for him and aid his recovery.
Taken aback by the selflessness of these followers, he sat with them and listened to their interpretations of the true meaning and significance of the Flame. Before long, his heart was touched and he decided to become an acolyte himself, swearing that he would use his abilities from that day only in ways that would make amends for his past.
The time came for his pilgrimage into the world as his rite of passage. He left the enclave and headed out, a path that eventually led to a chance encounter with Deckard and his crew. Intrigued by the diverse company he kept, Thevros saw traveling with them as a chance to explore the true motives of the Gracians, and to have easier journeying to the numerous holy sites that he wanted to see.
That is where he is now, and while their tendencies to start a scuffle are distasteful to him, his presence often provides a necessary balancing force in the crew. He also provides a certain legitimacy as an official member of the Church order, allowing him to grease additional wheels than they'd normally have access to.
Personality
His once jovial demeanor scarred by the tragedy, Thevros is generally a man of few words. He is perpetually curious, especially about the Gracian culture as they do use Solarium in ways the Church finds frivolous. However, his views are more relaxed because they are also often used to improve the quality of life for the Gracians, which to him is more acceptable than used as a weapon. In fact, his gauntlets are powered by Solarium as well which is technically forbidden, but he is practical enough to not want to travel defenseless.
He likes simple pleasures, such as philosophical conversations and a well cooked dinner. As for dislikes, there are few, with the exception of those who mistreat children. This likely stems from his guilt of having seen firsthand what happens when the impressionability of young ones is exploited. In those cases, you almost get the impression that his pacifism could end up taking a back seat to blind rage, at least until he can gather himself.
As for the current conflicts, he sees himself as more of a passive observer than any meaningful part of them.
Relationships
Deckard: “Ah, to be human. Their great blessing is that they actually might live out their short lives before they really reap the consequences of a life so recklessly lived. The captain is a good man driven to opportunistic endeavors by the difficulty of his circumstance, but nonetheless approaches his jobs with a level head and fierce protectiveness for his crew. In all, a worthy and respectable leader.”
Vendro: “I find it difficult to know whether to admire or pity him...I don't know if what they did to him is a gift or a curse. On the one hand, he gets to live a sort of continued life, but on the other, how much of him is machine and how much is living? How can we know how much free will he truly has? Of course, I have come to enjoy his company and would never forsake him, though I do wonder about what comes of the soul when there is such damage to the vessel?”
Caspra: “I'd be foolish to say that I don't have some admiration for her brilliance. Some of the more outlandish things she claims remind me of my old days of schemes and deceptions, yet my empathic sensitivity indicates nothing that she says is contrary to what she truly believes. This of course means that her grasp on reality is tenuous at best. Nonetheless, I will often engage in spirited discussions with her, constantly plumbing the depths of her stubborn refusal to believe that the world can't be picked apart piece by piece--some things are not meant to be known.”
Thane: “ He's a quintessential soldier. I may disagree with his methods, but he carries himself with honor and is efficient, practical, and skilled. He lacks even more than most the attitude of superiority that I always thought Gracians to have, being most concerned with the well-being of everyone BUT himself in most cases. As for his conversational style…well, let's just say I wouldn't go to him for reassurance about a situation. But I always get the sense that with or without words, he is always formulating a plan in case the status quo suddenly gets messy.”
Other characters:
To be determined.
