Marcellus Vossler's page

Marcellus Vossler once had a promising future. A young, vibrant and patriotic sailor in service to Her Imperial Magistrix's Royal Navy under the rule of Carellia Thrune, he seemed poised to make a grand name for himself and bring honor to his name doing his nation proud. A single Andoran arrow had put an end to that in the blood-drenched Battle of Westcrown Harbor, burying itself into the young man's spine at the base of his neck, where the steel arrowhead still lies to this day. Marcellus was given what help the clerics could provide, but the injury had crippled his movements and for months, he could barely move. It turned out that the Thrice-Damned House had little use for the crippled veterans of a badly lost battle, and the injured soldier was offered a meager pension in Thrune's 'dumping ground' for reject soldiers - Longacre township.

In the months it took to return him from the front, Marcellus's condition had improved incrementally - enough that he could stagger around with a cane, just barely. In his anguish he sought the comfort of religion, beginning to attend services at the church of Iomedae. Sermons on the nature of sacrifice and heroism mollified his bitterness at being cast out from the Chelish Navy, and he began to accept his lot in life.

It was at the church where he met Isabella, and struck up a friendship with her. A beautiful young woman, Isabella's husband was deployed along the contested Andoran border. The Thrunes maintained that these soldiers were to defend against "Andoran aggression," but it was well known such soldiers were engaged in shady incursions into Andoran territory for the purpose of forcibly "repatriating" what Cheliax saw as treasonous Chelish citizens from within Andoran's borders. It was one one of these raids gone wrong that Isabella's husband lost his life. Devastated, Isabella turned to Marcellus for comfort, and the two quickly fell in love. They were married a year after Isabella's first husband's death.

The five years that followed were the happiest in Marcellus's life. For the first time since leaving the military, he was content with his role in life, and had plans to start a family with Isabella and have children of his own. Years of trying did not deter him at first, but eventually this dream began to fade as nothing worked. The realization that his family name would die with him began to gnaw at Marcellus, and began the downward spiral into despair that would grip him for years to come.

By now, Marcellus's injury had healed greatly. He still possessed little of his youthful flexibility, and stabbing pains shot through his body from time to time, but he could walk without assistance and no longer felt like a burden to those around him. He had become possessed of a nervous energy, needing to burn it off with rigorous exercise and physical training. It had been more than a decade since he had needed them, but he began to oil and clean his armor and weapons from his old military days, using them to drill and train once more to distract himself from his growing despair that his legacy would never amount to anything.

In 4707, a traveling evangelist of Iomedae named Ivanos Perevel stopped in Longacre. The townsfolk had never seen a cleric of the Inheritor capable of such blessings in diabolic Cheliax, and membership in the local church surged as a result of his short stay. While he was there, Perevel performed several 'miracles' for the town, using his divine magic to heal two men of blindness and one woman of a wasting sickness in her legs. Amazed, Marcellus pushed forward to be healed himself, dreaming of at last sleeping through the night without pain or sprinting again without doubling over in spasms. The healing powers of the goddess washed over him, erasing his pain... but for only a moment. With a terrible surge of agony, the spasms returned, causing Marcellus to cry out. Perevel examined the man's wound and explained that the injury was beyond his power to heal. The arrowhead, so long embedded in the base of his neck, had fused with the bones of his spine, impossible to remove. Marcellus was dumbfounded with shock. He had dared to hope his condition could be cured, and had those dreams crushed. In his fury he smashed a statuette of the goddess, rushing from the temple. He would never again return as a member of the church.

Isabella did not lose faith, continuing to pray to the goddess for guidance and strength for her devastated husband. Marcellus could not reconcile the powerlessness of Iomedae with his wife's refusal to abandon her beliefs, growing ever more angry at the woman for what he saw as a betrayal. He withdrew from her further, spending nearly a year drinking himself into a bitter fury each night, eventually growing violent. After one too many fistfights turned into incidents worthy of the Sheriff's attention, Marcellus, not entirely by choice, purged himself of his habit for drink and threw himself fanatically into his physical training once again. It has been more than five years since Marcellus has had a drop of alcohol.

In recent months, Marcellus has begun to suspect his wife has begun an affair with a man named Riley Kels, a musician much younger and handsomer than Marcellus, who is a devout follower of Iomedae and a close friend of his wife's for years. He has no proof, but in his mind the man's guilt is almost assured.

Today, Marcellus is a aimless man with tremendous passion but nowhere to direct it. Offered an opportunity to accomplish greater things by Cimri, he will at last have found a purpose once again, and a second chance to reclaim glory for himself.

Step 1: Write at least 5 concept elements that you feel are important to your image of the character.
1. Marcellus is a middle-aged man, full of aches and pains from his days in the army, but rigorously trains his body to remain in the healthy physical condition of his youth. He refuses to admit it to himself, but he harbors an absolute fear of growing old, weak, and infirm.
2. He is married, and while he has abandoned the church of Iomedae, his wife has not. Their religious differences are a source of conflict between the two, and he is beginning to suspect she wants to end their marriage, driving him to grow more controlling and possessive of her.
3. Marcellus is self-focused and hates having to rely on anyone else. He is far more likely to take the direct path to whatever his goal may be - marching directly through a patch of thorns rather than searching for another way around - rather than risk attempting a more clever plan which might fail. If he understands the consequences of his actions, he would rather accept it and push forward, rather than risk uncertainty.
4. Marcellus is tough. He has received near-mortal wounds before and the risk of death does not phase him, if only because he believes himself to be too stubborn to die. He over-estimates his own resilience, but he is still capable of enduring injuries which would cripple a lesser man.
5. Marcellus is callous. He is not vindictive, but he is vengeful. If someone has wronged him and not been punished, his anger burns hot. He feels this way about the Church of Iomedae, feeling abandoned by both the goddess and her faithful.

Step 2: List at least 2 goals for the character.
Character Goal: Marcellus wants to be given the respect he feels he deserves, and to accomplish something significant under his own power before he dies. His thoughts turn to his eventual death every morning when he awakens and feels the ravages of age begin to prey upon him, and his struggle to "achieve more" will never truly be over. He would be sorely tempted by the prospect of bargaining his soul for restored youth, particularly eternal youth.
Player Goal: I want Marcellus to be consumed by his insecurities. He understands strength and power, not subtlety and peace. Throughout the course of this game, he will destroy his marriage, cause irreparable harm to the liberty and happiness of his nation, and ruin the lives of many - but he will achieve his goals even if it means the destruction of everything else around him.

Step 3: List at least 2 secrets about your character. One is a secret the character knows, one is a secret that involves him but that he is not actually aware of yet.
Marcellus Knows: Marcellus's fears are his greatest secret. While he projects an outward appearance of brutality, resiliency, and stoicism, he suffers from numerous insecurities and often feels that all of his goals have eternally been out of his reach.
Marcellus Doesn't Know: His wife is pregnant with his unborn son, a fact which will shock him to his core. After years of trying to produce a child, Marcellus believes himself to be infertile, as his wife had a child from a previous marriage who died in infancy. If he discovers her pregnancy, his first thought will be that she carries another man's child.

Step 4: Describe at least 3 people that are tied to the character.
Friendly: Marcellus's wife, Isabella Vossler. Born Isabella Flynn, Marcellus married the widowed but young and beautiful woman shortly after retiring from his time at sea in the Chelish navy. She still manages to love her husband, but worries that his newfound paranoia and jealousy are changing him for the worse. His suspicions that she may be unfaithful to him are unfounded, but he is driving her away by becoming more and more controlling and possessive. She has grown closer to her Iomedean faith as a result, which only fuels his anger.
Friendly: Zachariah Mechler was Marcellus's shipmate onboard the Stygian Lash warship in the Battle of Westcrown Harbor, and fellow resident of Longacre. Perhaps each others' only true friends, the two are close companions and confidants, respecting one another for the bond they shared in battle. Mechler is satisfied with his new lot in life, however, while Marcellus is not.
Hostile: Riley Kels, a musician and passionate supporter of Iomedae's teachings, is the man responsible for re-igniting Marcellus's wife Isabella's passion for her faith in the Inheritor. Marcellus blames Erven for his wife growing more distant from him, and even suspects that she is having an affair with the man (which is false). He can prove nothing, but he has made no secret of his hatred for the man.

Step 5: Describe at least 3 mannerisms, or quirks that your character has.
1. Marcellus has a wild-eyed and crazed stare when in battle, gripping his wickedly-barbed heavy flail with knuckles turning white from the strain. He shrugs off injuries with a stone-faced stoicism, seeming to his opponents to be immune to pain. He treats every skirmish, no matter how small, as a deadly affair worthy of the utmost seriousness.
2. He talks down to people he doesn't respect, especially young people. In youth, he sees everything he wishes he could possess again - health, vigor, and potential. Secretly, he is envious of them.
3. In combat he has a tendency to bark orders, and expect them to be obeyed. He is not the most clever tactician, but he is confident that strong leadership is better than a wishy-washy leader taking the time to think things out when a single sword blow could end a life.