“Subtlety and Sleight in the right hands is more effective than might.”Name: Rouen Tertius Fulgarius
Age: 78, Looks like a middle-aged man
Gender: Male
Race: Human/Storm-Spirit
Weapons: A regular steel great-sword
Abilities/Powers:Blessing of the Stormfather- The Fulgaris family began with the marriage of a man to a spirit. From this lineage, Rouen can draw physical strength and endurance with the weather. His power peaks in the midst of thunderstorms.
Storm-Spirit Lineage- Members of the Fulgaris Family are extraordinary long-lived due to their half-breed lineage, and also have the mental instabilities that accompany it. They reach their prime at the age of 50 with an average lifespan of 150 to 200 years.
Lightning-Touched- Rouen’s body can generate an electrical current. He can use it to shock foes that physically contact him. He can also manipulate naturally occurring lightning by using his body as a channel to smite enemies.
Talents:Excellent Hunter- Rouen revels in the excitement of the hunt, and enjoys it as a pastime. He has yet to rank less than third in the yearly midsummer boar hunts.
Experienced and Dirty Fighter- He fights dirty with little regard to notions of honorable combat. Something that he learned from his early years in the Kingsguard pulling night patrol duties with the city guard.
Detective- He has over fifty years of experience in criminal investigations from petty thievery to serial murders.
Personality: Scholarly, Bipolar, Perfectionist, Art-Lover, Self-Righteous, Contemplative
Biography- Legend claims that the Fulgaris family, rulers and honorable stewards of the inhospitable islands known as the Stormlands, was founded when a mortal man married the daughter of the Stormfather. Their coupling resulted in beings neither fully human nor spirit, but shared the blessings and the curses of both.
Rouen, fourth son of the 25th Count Fulgaris was expected to do as other extra sons and daughters of the Kingdom’s nobility, which is find a profession away from home and live a quiet life avoiding causing trouble for the primary heir.
He did exactly that by being elected to the Kingsguard at the ripe age of 20 under the rule of King Valerian’s father.
The sudden rise of a Fulgaris to the Kingsguard at the time was scandalous. The Kingsguard were selected from the finest knights in the realm. Paragons of Humanity. The strange vassal family from the Stormlands however had a haunted reputation. Rumors had it they were wraiths, the progeny of human and spirit. Their motivations were unclear. Their unnatural nature was also rumored to made them suffer from madness, and thus unable to be trusted.
Rouen’s first years in the Kingsguard were spent overcoming the prejudice against his lineage. He conducted the dirty jobs that other knights didn’t want to partake in. Duties such as Night patrol duty, 24 hours vigils, criminal investigations. As a direct result, he eventually made connections with less reputable figures in the Kingdom. He became knowledgable on the structure of the Kingdom’s criminal underworld. Mob bosses, smugglers, thieves, illegal guilds, and practitioners of forbidden magic . This didn’t help build him an honorable reputation but the results of his undertakings built credibility with the old king.
Thus, ten years after his ascendance to the Kingsguard Rouen’s position was set in stone. He founded the Society of Veiled Men, covert operatives that worked hand in hand with him to defend the Kingdom from unseen threats. The black stain of his family would never disappear but he gained a newfound respect.
However, things changed immediately with the sudden death of the King and the ascension of his heir, Valorian Lionfury. Where others saw the new ruler’s stoicism and unbending nature as a virtue, Rouen only saw ignorant stubbornness which would lead to disaster.
He remained loyal to the crown despite the conflicts he had with its holder. He supported Valorian through the civil war, where information gathered from his Veiled Men, ultimately led to the capture and execution of the so-called traitorous younger brother.
However, their disagreements were heated and often explosive. Several times Rouen was nearly relieved of his position from the Kingsguard. The simmering point of their relationship came to a heel when it came to dealing with the town of Rung where, against Rouen’s counsel, the King wiped the town from existence.
Since then, he avoids prolonged conversations with the King. Important information he instead relays to Ser Jamie Clayne, the only member of the Kingsguard Rouen trusts completely.
For 36 years Rouen worked for the Kingdom’s benefit, and the stress of his position and his long tenure have seemed to taken a toll. The lines of age show prominently on his face. He has grown more manic in his interactions with others. His mood more unpredictable. Some see it as the mental toll of being a member of the Kingsguard. Others however, believe that his half-human nature has caught up to him, and that he is succumbing to the madness of his family blood.
