Appearance

Physical Description

Gaius, despite being the scholarly type, is physically fit due to his extensive efforts working with metal to forge his armor. His frame is thinner than the average for a dragonborn, more lanky than broad.

Facial Features

The crest of his brow is flanked by more distinct plating scales, and along with the six smaller horns on his cheek structures, the oxidized green colored stripes which go down his neck and back also flank these structures.

Identifying Characteristics

The most defining feature on Gaius is the large scar on the left side of his face, recieved from an acid attack splashing through the eyehole of his helmet. Rather than losing the eye, the wound appears to have altered it, rendering one eye permanently fully emerald green, with a white pupil.
 
Subsequent inquires have revealed this to be the Mark of the Dragon, or simply a Dragonmark, from Trothar Ajagara.

Apparel & Accessories

Gaius wears a blue set of light scholarly robes over black leather pants. However, this is most often covered by his arcane armor, which augments whatever additional armor set he dons.
 
The arcane armor always manifests as sectional plated pieces of what appear to be bluish or silvery armor, with bronze accents and inlays of blue crystalline material meant to channel his body's natural arcane energies. The point where these energies are the most concentrated are a greenish crystalline color, similar to the color of his eyes.
 
When active, his helmet visually changes the appearance of his eyes, both resembling the more ethereal appearance of his now-scarred left eye. The fact that this was the case even before the scarring is a factor that Gaius himself cannot fully explain.
 
When his helmet is not active, Gaius frequently wears a pair of green-tinted bronze glasses. Their design helps reduce sun glare, though Gaius can see perfectly fine without them.

Mentality

Personal history

Born to human parents, in a small family, Gaius Vipsanius was always drawn to investigating local stories, trying to find the source of urban legends or myths. This led to his pursuit of higher academia, moving away from his family in the farmlands to attend the Academy of Rodot Kyme. His focus was historical research, aiming to be a scholar specializing in excavations and preservation of artifacts and texts.
 
Taking particular interest in the tumultuous and incomplete records of the Eastlands, Gaius worked on an expeditionary project in the region alongside several peers, notedly a close friend he’d made during his years in the academy, Ruphus Creavole. It was during one of these excavations that Gaius stumbled upon a chamber with the remnants of some form of ritual. Gaius had only managed to copy an etching of the engravings when the camp was attacked by one of the indigenous populations of goblinoids. Gaius immediately stepped up, ordered for the combat-untrained or less armored scholars to hide in the complex’s halls, and set off a noisemaker in the empty chamber. He managed to just barely escape notice, and the goblins were quickly trapped in the room by the scholars.
 
After returning to Central, Gaius pushed himself to translating the engravings he’d made a copy of, working out that it was some form of ritual of devotion, Draconic runes extoling the virtue of someone undergoing the process to be ‘reborn’ as a warrior, standing against threats to peace. That was when he heard ‘The Call’.
 
It was a simple inquiry, though it felt both internal and external. A politely intrusive thought, asking if he was willing or able to aid in this cause, the cost of his species inherent in the question. It took Gaius a while to consider the question – and also to make sure that the runes didn’t have any connection to nefarious forces – but in the end, he agreed to it, both for the sake of study and for the ability to better protect those seeking truth.
 
After the ritual – and allowing this process to be studied given its apparent rarity – Gaius set himself on the path of the artificer, feeling he could use his knowledge as a better shield than any sort of physical combat. It was after the death of his friend Ruphus that he eventually returned to the Eastlands, seeking to follow through on his goal of protection and investigation along with answering his friend’s last question.
 
During his travels and exploration of the Eastern ruins, he discovered the Construct, Pip. Initially extremely interested in trying to ask if the construct had any sort of memory of his former culture, Gaius ended up dropping this when Pip was both unable to and didn’t like recalling his past, wishing to move forward. His desire to preserve history did extend into wanting to help keep this construct safe, eventually coming to think of Pip as another friend. A companion on equal terms to the various other scholars or guards that he’s frequently worked with.

Employment

Gaius is a member of the Relic Runners, a subsidiary of Atam Inc.
Previously, he worked on several archaeological digs, initially only as a scholar, and then later as both scholar and defender.

Accomplishments & Achievements

Morality & Philosophy

Having studied the course of history, Gaius has grown a rather strong philosophy of self, and distinction of values.
 
Due to seeing the predictable patterns that occur when a people are presented with a negative force they cannot take their aggression out on, and subsequently displacing their frustration on the closest equivalent individual or group, Gaius has grown to strongly deny the concept of 'Sins of the father'. Unless the individual is propagating the same actions, the action of a predecessor or similar individual hold no weight in judgment.
 
Similarly, he holds firmly that people are able to change, for better or worse, and that the righteousness and merit of an individual can only be determined by their observable actions.
 
"Where you come from is not as important as who you are now and where you're going."

person.sexuality

I was warned about bards like you.

Known Languages

• Common


• Draconic


• Dwarvish

Personality

Motivation

Initially pushed to pursue the truth, and protect others who do the same, this goal has warped into a strongly held desire to prevent larger scale injustices. The secrets of the Geth Koz suggest a devastating collapse of civilization, and at least two groups within the Eastlands have emerged from the shadows that should be barred from gaining these secrets in full.

Savvies & Ineptitudes

Gaius, as an artificer, has picked up several different skills in crafting, though his primary specialties are in metalwork, armor and weapon smithing, runework, small scale engineering, and magical infusions. He frequently has tried to examine the work of others to glean ideas for his own inventions, including from archaeological findings.
 
His most notable weakness is social engineering. Lacking skill in charismatic efforts, though not entirely incompetent in such things, he is very grateful to have Pip around to prevent him from shoving his foot entirely into his mouth on occasion.

Personality Quirks

When Gaius is in a state of heightened frustration, he will take off and either put away or polish his glasses reflexively. This is often a subtle sign to the party that he's prepared for combat if it's necessary.

Social

Birthplace

Central Continent

Current Residence

The Eastlands

Contacts & Relations

• Pip, his best friend after the passing of Rufus Creavole. Strongly wishes to help in his endeavours, even if some of Pip's antics are embarrassing at times.


• Calli, who he considers a friend despite their initial team up having been one of business. Hopes that the feeling is mutual.


• Shush, another person he considers a friend, though is deeply concerned about choices he's made.

Family Ties

His human family still remains in Central, though Gaius has not visited much since The Call.
 
In conversation with Callie, he has admitted that his connection to his mother has soured in recent years, though the exact reason for this was not detailed.

Religious Views

As he has pushed further into the mysteries of the desert, Gaius has ended up resonating more with the values of Trothar that he's uncovered and been informed of.

Speech

His voice is calm and measured, the same as his human self had. There's a definite refined accent though it's unclear if it's from his time with family or a result of his years of education at Rodot Kyme that caused it.
 
Though, when in the throes of combat, his voice often takes on a more harsher tone, almost snarling, especially in states of heightened emotional stress. His belief is that it's due to tapping into his draconic nature more in those moments.