Caius Swain's page

Possessing strong Ulfen features, Caius’s skin is a lightly tanned bronze that serves to enhance his handsome appearance. His long blond hair and green eyes serve as a sharp reminder of his foreign heritage. A mountain of a man, Caius dresses in well-crafted and form fitting attire, striving to both show off his muscular frame and allow for freedom in combat. Ever pragmatic, Caius prioritizes function over form and can be seen wearing tough and heavy duty explorer’s clothes with ample pockets, and a thick cloak for warmth.

See: http://i.imgur.com/M6AAOal.jpg

For an Ulfen, Caius is reasonably well spoken and well mannered, though he carries an incredible competitive streak. He is intently driven to always be carrying his ‘share’ of the work and takes great care to never be seen as ‘slacking’ or doing anything other than his best. Often times his focused personality can cause him to lose sight of a situation, but it was a necessary survival tactic he developed to survive his years in the Arcanamirium. Not always able to shed the core of his Ulfen heritage, Caius believes in survival of the strongest and that it is everyone’s duty to ensure that their minds and body can meet any challenge thrown at them.

Born on Erastus 19th 4690, Caius was born in the far away city of Halgrim. In his early life, he remembers growing up on an Ulfen trade ship with his parents, Emma and Derak, as they traveled from port city to port city trading goods. Being drawn to the cosmopolitan island of Absalom, they established a small foothold there to better manage their fleet and business contacts. In early 4700s when tensions between Cheliax and the Linnorm kings grew too great and the Ulfen tradeships began to return in support of the homeland, Caius’s parents were late to follow. They were unwilling to take the journey home with Caius in tow, fearing while they were obligated to serve the homeland the chances of them making it back safely without fighting was low. They made a difficult choice and entrusted a young ten year old Caius to a retainer with the specification to have him schooled in the finest that Abalsom had to offer until they were able to return.

Caius received irregular letters from his parents over the next few years as aggression between Cheliax and Halgrim grew, until Cheliax launched a full out blockade of the Arch of Aroden cutting off all communication. The years slowly passed without any word from Emma or Derak until 3704, when White Estrid smashed the Cheliax blockade and sailed her shops right into Absalom. Able to demand an audience because of his heritage Caius finally received word of his parents. Well over a year before the blockade being broken, they had been captured by a Chelixan ship, and fed straight to summoned devils their mages commonly bound. They and their entire ship was lost to Cheliaxian brutality.

Shattered and unknowing what to feel, Caius threw himself into his studies, focusing on it to the exclusion of all else. One day shortly after turning sixteen Caius decided to sit in on the yearly open test offered by the Arcanamirium. With two years of study of focused study behind him, he was graded quite well by the tutors and was offered the rank of an apprentice. Without a second thought, Caius joined the Arcanamirium full time, throwing all his energy and talent into it.

Not content to only focus on bettering his mental faculties Caius expressed a great interest and skill in physical combat, relishing any opportunity he had to compete with others, and anything to do with sword play. His energy and desire ensured he was enrolled into a mixed training program focusing both on martial and arcane pursuits. Caius thrived on the brutality and competitiveness found inside the Arcanamirium, from being woken up at the crack of dawn for physical training, to being forced to calculate arcane variables while being doused by buckets of cold water, to unrestrained barehanded duels with other students. Caius set himself on a single goal, conquering the path of the Magus, the kind of mage they called him and his students.

As the years wore on Caius had to find ways to support himself, as the funds his parents left for him were spent, he apprenticed himself to the Arcanamirium’s forgemaster, learning how to shape metal with slow determination and complete focus at the task at hand. The day he was able to forge his very own scimitar was momentous and filled him with an indescribable joy. Always working to better his craft, Caius used what he learned to assist the forgemaster and was able to earn a respectable living, enough to support his tuition at the college.

Years later and now graduated, Caius has set his sights on the rest of the world. Not being content to sit and research his life away, he joined the Pathfinder Society in Absalom looking to apply his talents in a more practical direction, in the search for adventure.

Caius sat patiently in a plush leather chair as he waited for the session to start. He hadn’t quite paid attention to what the professor and his students were looking for when they asked for volunteers for a research session, only that successful completion would net him fifty gold pieces. Fifty! A broke student like him couldn’t turn that down. Especially since all the ones with sense and money wouldn’t take him up on arm wrestling or swordplay betting anymore.

The lights in the room shifted so he was centred in the room with a pure white spotlight, preventing him from seeing further than ten paces. He heard the sound of something being dragged across the room, and saw two large crystals on stands pushed just at the edge of his vision. A glance behind told him another was there as well.

“We apologize for the wait. But we are ready to begin.” A female voice spoke out from somewhere behind the light. “What is your favorite word and why?”

“My favorite word?”” Caius paused to think, not expecting a cerebral question. “I don’t think you realize that asking a Magus’s favorite word could leave you blind, dumb, wet, or nursing a painful erec-Ah!” Caius shouted as something from outside the light shocked him.” Well perhaps the last one is better not spoken of in such polite company.”

“Your answer? the voice replied coolly.

“Perfection.” Caius said with a nod as if agreeing with something in himself. “To me it is possibly the noblest goal, if impossible to reach. To hone every single fibre of your body and mind to make it be the absolute best it could possibly be, if even for an instant. To me it represents hope and dedication of realizing your innermost potential. Just that goal in itself…is…perfect!”

There was a pause after Caius finished his answer, he watched the crystals turn a pale blue.

“What is your least favorite word and why?” A very male voice asked this time around.

“Another word question is it?” Caius frowned, what sort of research study was this? Would he have to pet a unicorn, milk a stone, or something equally ridiculous? Wishing he had read the advertisement closer he replied flippantly. “Well for this. I would have to say ‘Failure’.”

“An odd response you think? Well the word itself is contradictory and effectively meaningless. Any failure can simply be described as ‘Success in reaching an undesired outcome.’ How can you fail, if you have succeeded in failing? Don’t worry; it was hard for me to understand at first. A few shots of whiskey should do the trick though. Look are we finished here? I think I’m wasting your time.” He tried to stand up, but found he couldn’t.

The crystals surround him all turned red with his last statement.

A different voice again, Caius couldn’t place it. “What is your biggest regret?”

“Regret? It is hard to say. I right now I regret not reading what this research was for. But really, I regret my parent’s death. They made their money with their bare hands across the seas and because of a few devils and demons, they were killed. I regret their death, I regret that I wasn’t strong enough to save them!” Caius felt emotion, anger, bubbling up from somewhere deep within, why had he said that?

The crystals turned green.

This time it was the woman’s voice again. “As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?”

“You ask a very complicated and hard question to answer there. Caius said feeling a strange emotion building in him “I grew up in Absalom…effectively the capital of the world. I saw people come and go from all walks of life. You what to know what I wanted to be?”

“I wanted to be one of them! An adventurer, a made merchant, a military general, I didn’t care. I wanted to be someone. A person people nodded to when you saw them walking on the street. Someone who could solve problems, right wrongs, wrong rights, someone who had a chance to change the world with their own hands, with their own skill.”

The crystals changed color once more, this time a bright yellow.

“If you had one wish, what would it be?” the mystery male’s voice asked once more.

“Well, save the easy one for last I guess? Caius smiled with a laugh. “Time. Time is what I would wish for. There is never enough time in a life to do all that there is to do, to learn all the things that there is to learn. We are all forced to cut corners, and look at the little things here and there and be happy with our little slice of life. If I had a wish, I would wish for time. To achieve everything I ever wanted to achieve, to be the person I know I could be. ”

There was a pause, the crystals dimmed and slowly vanished from Caius’s perception. “Thank you for your time. You may go now. Exit to the left.

Caius felt a force lift off of him that he never realized was there replaced with a weight in his lap, hefting the pouch, it jingled with the sound of coins. Standing up and making his way Caius sped out of the chamber muttering under his breath. “Damn enchanters and their stupid projects!”