Valerius Metellus
by Giulio Caroletti7th Ambyrmont 976, Kantridae, Duchy of Kantrium, Thyatis.
Lucius Valerius Metellus.
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The man who sits in that chair, at the General's Inn of Kantridae, is not a common man. Although he seems lost in a daydream, and his eyes seem like stirring at something we don't know; although he seems to be just one of the hundred of visitors that has passed through the inn this day...well, that man is none other than Lucius Valerius Metellus, known mostly as Valerius, the first son of the noble Metellus, one of the most important nobles of the Duchy of Kantrium.
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History: Lucius Valerius is the first son of the senator Severin Metellus. The Valerius-Metellus family is very old, and is one of the most important in the duchy of Kantrium, but it is also a senatorial family, with a seat, assigned to its leader by family right, in the Thyatian Senate.
Lucius Valerius was apparently destined to pursue the political career, but the father's plan for him was thwarted by the joint decision of Valerius and of the younger brother Damian (who had lived with his uncle Publicola for several years due to a mental problem, by the time seemingly cured) to leave for the virgin lands of Karameikos in AC 993, where they found wealth and fame adventuring under the assumed name of Boar brothers (Valerius was known as Jacob, Damian as Harold), and Valerius found a new mission in the defence of Nature as a Ranger.
Returning home in AC 1001, without Damian, who had decided to settle down in Specularum, Valerius entered the University of Biazzan, which he left in AC 1005 to enter the Army and fight the Alphatians. He always felt that this was his duty, although he never liked the motivations that brought Thyatis into the war, and has never been an Alphatiaphobe like his brothers.
Soon, he was employed for special tasks in the Army, given his adventuring experience. He spent three years on the Isle of Dawn, living mostly in the forests, and acting as a guerrilla scout. He was seriously wounded in Ambyrmont 1008, and was near death, but was saved by an Alphatian traitor, Manuela Blanche, whose mother was Thyatian, who brought him to Dunadale. Manuela had become a Thyatian spy, but she was uncovered and executed in Ekto two months later, while Valerius was still recovering in Dunadale. Valerius left Dunadale soon after hearing the news, and was able to sail to Port Lucinius and take part in the last battles of the war under the command of Iulius Sergius Scaevola in the XXth Cohort.
In AC 1009, when the war ended, Valerius left with honour the Army, and returned to Kantridae. He has built a small cottage in the mountain woods and spends most of his time there, training, walking, and writing.
His first poems, published under the assumed name of Jacob Boar at the start of AC 1010, are very renowned by literary critics in Thyatis.
Personality: Valerius is a very active man, lost amidst several interests that absorb all of his time: he is a musician, an adventurer, a scholar, a poet, a forester. Valerius enjoys art in all its forms, is very interested in magic, and loves with all his heart Nature. He is a very positive man, who likes life and people, although this has never made him a dupe. He doesn't agree with the intrigues his older brother plots, nor with the cold attitude of Quintus, but loves both. He is intimately Thyatian and loves his nation, but he doesn't like the aggressive nature of its politics, and dislikes war, even if he has fought in the Wrath of the Immortals War.
Appearance: Valerius is of medium height, with quite long curled blonde hair, and brown eyes; he is a quite strong man, well-trained and muscled, but less than his brother Damian. Valerius is a beautiful man with a vaguely dreaming appearance, something that make him even more attractive to women...
Stats (OD&D, AC 1010):
Ranger 23
Str 14, Int 18, Wis 12, Dx 11, Con 12, Cha 17 Alignment: Neutral good