Horatio

Crown Champion Horatio Argris

Horatio was a Thesselian man who found himself somehow swept up into the politics and sovereign wars of the High Crown. He met a girl who saved his life; then he saved hers, and she saved his again. She introduced him to her parents, the royal family of Pianti, and he pledged his sword to their cause. She took the Pianti throne and he married her. He left for war, brought honor and fame to his name, and came back. His wife became High Queen, they had a son born when the moon ate the sun, and he marched off to war again with the weight of Crown Champion on his shoulders.
He didn't return.

Physical Description

General Physical Condition

Even in his later years before his death, Horatio maintained a healthy, strong physique. He had a sturdy, broad-shouldered frame and no bow to his back.

Body Features

He had numerous tattoos running up and down his back, interlaced with various scars. His hands were thick and calloused with a few burn marks from his early smithing days.

Facial Features

His face was rugged and angular, usually sporting a bit of scruff. Dark curls framed his cheeks, and his eyes were piercing despite their honey color. Most of his tanned skin was dusted with light brown freckles.

Identifying Characteristics

He had a thick pink scar running diagonally across his midsection from his first run-in with Visperus.

Physical quirks

He was left-handed and gesticulated wildly with his sword-free hand whenever rousing the troops or drunkenly regaling stories.

Apparel & Accessories

Horatio dressed in chain mail and silk-padded undergarments whenever riding into battle. Leather overlaid the mail, impressed with the High Crown's motif in blue and gold colors.
His ceremonial armor was much more grand and ostentatious with polished iron and filigree inlays. The ornate sword he wore with it was crafted by his own hand.

Mental characteristics

Personal history

Horatio had humble beginnings. He was born a blacksmith's son in Aesos, a small city in Southern Alleme. His father had bigger ideas for him, though. At eleven, he was shipped off to Bria to train as a warrior in Florum Ae. He proved himself a worthy swordsman and strategist in his schooling, although mischief and an adventurous spirit always dogged his heels. By the end of his training, he had as many merits as he did disciplinary notes.
For a few years, he took up work as a guard for hire in Florum Ae. One fateful job had him serve as a caravan guard traveling through the treacherous mountains of Mechan. The journey was harrowing, and he nearly lost his life for not enough pay. After that job, he returned to Florum Ae and caught the first ship heading back to the mainlands. For the first time in 15 years, he went home. He found his village in turmoil, torn apart by the local skirmishes and bandits, and his family dead or missing.
With nothing to bind him and with anger in his heart, he marched towards the heart of the sovereign lands to pledge his sword in stopping the fighting. On his way to Norteferro, he and the caravan he was travelling with was ambushed by a Visperus cell. A woman and her guards saved him, and he saved hers not soon after. He sustained a wound whose infection almost took him; by the woman's grace, he survived again. As they traveled back to Norteferro, they grew close, and Horatio learned that she was Sarefini, daughter of King Rosele and heir to the Pianti throne. As soon as they reached Norteferro, he pledged his sword to Pianti and its people. Soon after, Sarefini took Pianti's throne, and he married her.
He left her to fend off enemies on the sovereign lands' borders, in which his name gained great fame; he was called home when news of the High King's death reached his ears. With pride, he watched Sarefini be crowned High Queen, and in the passing of two years time, they had a son named Hesper. Horatio tried to be a part of Hesper's childhood and upbringing, but war sparked on the sovereign borders, and he was called away once more. This time, he carried the title of Crown Champion and all the weight it brought with it. In the Battle of the Burning Sea on the eastern coast of Motanu, he was struck down by an enemy sword. His body was returned to Norteferro on a bed of Thesselian poppies to a grieving widow and a fatherless son.

Sexuality

He was bisexual, loyal in the end to Sarefini, but he did have a few male partners in his early journeys across the lands.

Education

Horatio received sword training in Florum Ae, which boasts one of the best training academies in the land. His teacher also versed him in battle tactics, although it wasn't a formal part of his training. From his father, he learned metalworking and smithing. His education was rather lacking in academia, and while he could speak a few foreign tongues, his literacy was limited.

Employment

For a major part of his life, he served in Pianti's guard and later the Crown Guard. He eventually gained the title of Crown Champion.

Mental Trauma

He never truly reconciled with the death of his family and the razing of his hometown. He carried that grief and anger into each battle, although he rarely shared it with Sarefini or close friends.

Morality & Philosophy

Horatio believed in striving for peace, but he only believed that peace was attainable by force. Laying down and rolling over wasn't peace; it was giving in, and you would ultimately suffer more for it. While he fought fiercely, he never truly enjoyed the blood he spilled or the fame his conquests brought him. In the end, his philosophy became his downfall; he'd rather die in battle than surrender, and he never did surrender.

Personality Characteristics

Motivation

Horatio sought peace for the lands, but he was largely driven by quiet revenge for his family and home's destruction.

Social

Hobbies & Pets

Horatio grew attached to a bastoloe named Juniper in his training days in Florum Ae. When he returned home, he brought Juniper with him. Juniper loyally saw him through many battles, even saving his life a few times. After Horatio's death, Juniper was retired to the Ivory Palace's stables.

Wealth & Financial state

He had little personal value. His most valuable possessions were his family and his sword. His sword was locked away in Sarefini's tower with her after his death, and not even Hesper has seen it in years.

Ethnicity

Thesselian

Honorary & Occupational Titles

Crown Champion

Life

80 REA 136 REA 56 years old

Circumstances of Death

He was slain by a sword in the Battle of the Burning Sea

Birthplace

Aesos, Alleme

Gender

Male

Eyes

Hazel brown

Hair

Shoulder-length, red-black with soft curls

Skin Tone/Pigmentation

Tanned

Height

1.72 m

Weight

87.5 kg

Known Languages

Souroú, the language of his people, Talish, Nuthele, and Brashan, the tongue of Bria.