#◜❝ 𝙽𝙿𝙲 𝙿𝚁𝙾𝙵𝙸𝙻𝙴𝚂. ⟩⟩ and this little beast was nature’s own error. ❞◞

[incendiorum-arch]

[ NPC PROFILES 1/? ]

NAME. col salvienus. NICKNAMES. n/a.

BIRTHDATE & AGE. june 8th, 240 C.E., 1,782 yrs. GENDER & PRONOUNS. cis male, he/him.

HEIGHT. 5’8”. NOTES ABOUT APPEARANCE. slim build. short-medium length black hair, the longest strands brush the bottom of his ears. blue eyes. straight, wedge-shaped nose. face is often serious, but he has a charming smile when he needs it. always stands straight and stiff.

OCCUPATION. CEO of venator shipping company, which conducts maritime trading. he is also, most importantly, leader of the hounds. LIVING SITUATION. various apartments across the world. a permanent, favorite penthouse in france.

FAMILY. lucius salvienus (father, deceased), currently unnamed mother (deceased), iovita salvienus (parent, alive).

TRAITS. persuasive. hypocritical, dangerous, manipulative, merciless. cunning. charismatic, diplomatic, born leader. ambitious.

what is one of the worst things that you, as a roman citizen could do?

commit patricide.

and yet, col still did it. to wonder about his thoughts or his struggles with this concept would to be afford a murderer sympathy. he deserves none. only the lonely child deserves any ounce sympathy. the one coerced down a path he could never turn back on. or perhaps the most sympathy should go towards his parents: the one killed, and the one left to pick up the shattered pieces.

col salvienus was born in northern rome. his mother died during childbirth, leaving lucius to care for him, alone, while also juggling a group of people who kept the peace between nonhumans and humans. col was a rather serious and solemn child - truthfully, he only opened up when he met iovita, who showed him their magic and gently encouraged col to learn about his own. in the witch’s presence, col turned into a smiling, giddy child. the fact that his father left often became a lesser pain. he had iovita to rely on, even if sometimes iovita seemed a little irritable. a little mean. but they never turned this ire on him. col could touch their arm and the witch would smile instead. he had less luck when iovita turned glassy-eyed and distant. but eventually the witch would come back and smile and show him something cool to do with his magic.

and then, the first step to tragedy - iovita fell in love. pierced right through the heart by cupid and tied just as fast to their lover. they followed lucius all over the empire and col, once again, found himself alone. he was older now, but still hurt. he wasn’t bitter yet. that would come later.

during the times he was no longer watched by his parents’ careful eyes, more radical members of lucius’s group would talk to them. they were good and kind, at face value. they told col they were sorry his parents were gone. that they were sorry he felt so lonely. but they also asked, “why couldn’t you go with them?” at first col had frowned and shrugged. but, eventually, he also found himself asking why couldn’t he?

more questions. more carefully placed statements. iovita is a bit dangerous, don’t you think? didn’t they say they’d be back by today? lucius was supposed to take you hunting with him, wasn’t he?

and there… there came the bitterness. and it festered for years. iovita was dangerous. and volatile. and they used their magic for it. other witches did too. so much violence and anger and hatred were reacted to with magic. what a dangerous tool. lucius didn’t see that. he always grew angry when he heard col say these things. but…

col grew older. grew more set in his ways. when lucius ignored the voices of the group who spoke more radical ideas, col listened. how could these people be wrong? they had always treated him with such kindness. lucius always choice peace first and foremost. violence was a very, very last resort. and col saw weakness with this. a witch like iovita… a witch like iovita was always dangerous. iovita could not control themself. and many others could not, either. not to mention many, many other supernaturals.

but lucius was immortal. col could not wait until time took it’s natural course to secure leadership of the group. so, he took matters into his own hands with a poisoned bottle of wine. it should have killed both lucius and iovita, but in a split-second decision, iovita turned down the bottle and instead watched their husband die slowly.

col took over the group from there. renamed it the hounds. he didn’t see the point of peace like his father had. col was merciless. and he had every ounce of leadership in his bones that lucius did. from this moment, the hounds grew and grew and grew, until they were an empire.

in 1654, col created venator shipping company, wedging his foot into maritime trade. the company has persisted into the modern era, and has existed for 368 years, helping fund the hounds as well as provide work for any hunter who desires it.

an empire, indeed.

[incendiorum-arch]

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