Gaius
  1. Characters

Gaius

Player (Destrukktokonn)
Player
The Sylvan Glade in Drakonias

 

Early Life

Gaius was born in The Sylvan Glade in a small village near the Seraphine Waterfalls. The Waterfall near the village was home to a strong Fey known as The Lady of the Falls. Gaius spent his entire life in this village. As he grew up, he was raised to be a paladin. His home life was fairly normal and he was raised up believing in Avaija and the importance of family. Through his upbringing and training, he was always taught to be strong, ready, and capable of fighting, but never use it as the first option. Combat was drilled but emphasized as the weapon of last resort. To try and seek peace before resorting to violence.

When he reached adulthood, he became a fully fledged paladin, ordained under Avaija and was essentially "knighted". His ceremony was conducted by an Aquatic Elf cleric of Avaija, Sharena, before The Lady of The Falls who granted him a personal sword. Gaius and Sharena fell in love and married shortly after. The two of them together began a large family, having five children over the course of their time together.

All was not peaceful in their village however. Due to its distance from the kingdom of Frecia, it was seen as a prime target for Marktinlan forces to invade. Being a paladin and a defender, Gaius would often be called to defend his home, the Waterfall, and the Glade alongside the Frecian forces.

 

The Incident

On one of these fateful invasions, Gaius was called to the defense of the Glade, once again leaving his village behind. However, this particular attack was unlike the others. While Gaius and other fighters were away, fending off the invasion party, another warband had been sent around while their main forces were diverted.

The smaller warband was able to invade the Seraphine Waterfall, making it to the village and further than at least Gaius had ever known them to reach before. The warband expected an easy victory, but were met with unexpected resistance from those in the village. The resulting battle was fierce, resulting in casualties on both sides before, in an act of violent retaliation, the invading warband decided to completely destroy the village out of frustration. Few managed to escape, and it was unclear if they got what they came for, but when Gaius returned home, it was all destroyed.

In the chaos and battle, his home was destroyed, and his wife and children were killed. Devastated and heartbroken, he retreated into himself, sinking into depression, unsure of what to do. He was spurred onwards by visions from his deity, urging him to continue his life. Unsure what to do, but feeling he couldn't bear to remain in his village for fear of the painful memories, he decided to wander. Before leaving, he visited The Lady of The Falls to return both his sword and Sharena's spear. Instead, she asked him to find what he could of his family's possessions and bring them together. Combining them all, she created for him a new weapon, a glaive, to serve as a memento, and bid him travel in peace.

 

Currently

Gaius travels to aid people. He finds comfort and joy in bringing peace and helping people. He particularly tries to help those that cannot find help, seeing them as being most in need of understanding. He isn't naive, and can tell when someone is being evil or manipulative, but he is patient with those that he feels can or want to change.

He is deeply scarred by the loss of his family and tends to go out of his way to not think about it. From his faith and upbringing, he feels spurred on to try again. He knows another family won't replace what he's lost, or even heal the pain. The fear of losing his family again drives him away from forming romantic attachments, as he tries to keep people at arms distance. 

The Story

Gaius alongside Gidget caught wind of a hiring event that was occurring in Noctilis. After the inquiry with princess Diana Voxville, they were hired on to participate in an expedition to Kawit. Here is where he was instructed to be an escort and protect the princess by any means necessary. It was at this time that it was revealed that Gaius is quite the eater. He enjoys his plates of food at any given time unlike most elves that are around, the complete opposite of Diana herself. 

After signing the contract and heading out on their journey, Gaius was primarily took the reigns of the carriage. At one point Diana sat next to him holding onto the reign while he kept watch. The two shared a bonding moment with one another relating similarities to their pasts. Diana showed Giaus the amulet she kept close to her. This was an amulet that once belonged to her mother before she passed. Similarly Gaius pointed out a set of earring he wears. 

During their travels the group was encountered by a band of bandits. Gaius protected to princess to the best of his capabilities but she was struck with a slash to the leg. He continued to protect her until there was only one sole survivor left. Picking him up by the collar, he questioned the intentions of the bandits. The response he got was simply that they were in a fanciful carriage and the princess could be a hostage. He and Gidget tied up the hostage to be turned into the soldiers when they reached Myzopodis.

They made their way to the city and the docks where Diana would instruct them to visit the town or walk around the ship while she takes care of things with the captain. The group began to discuss the travel that would be at hand before Gaius caught Ryver sneaking up on them. He called out to him which caused him to reveal himself and run up to Gidget. They watched as he fondled her but he revealed that he too appeared to be a half creature of some kind. He welcomed them all aboard the Mad Hatter telepathically while they were introduced to a few other members of The Aces. Deino Jormun, Natsuru, and Temple where all present on the main deck to introduce themselves to their temporary crew members. Temple went ahead and showed off his centipedes and asked about any dietary restrictions. Gaius was quick to share that there certainly wasn't based off of the many waffles and pancakes he had eaten so far on their trip. 

Moments later, Diana returned to pulled the group aside. She explained to them that they were going to be doing some work on the ship in exchange for the travel fare. She also shared how there may be further risk of an attack based on what had happened to the crew days prior to this. She assured everyone that this was the low risk option as the other option was to much a risk and required them to be with the soldiers. In this conversation Gaius also learned that Diana had a slight fear of the ocean. He assured her that she, and Gidget who had the same distaste for sailing, were not going to be alone in this. However, he referred to her as Delthea.

Ryver butted into the conversation and fondled Diana the same way he did to Gidget but he was quick to grab her arm and escort her off of the vessel to the nearest tavern. Diana inquired to the group on whether or not they had any experience in regards to formal introductions of royalty. Gaius shared that he had been around the idea far too much but he was familiar with the ideas behind everything. Edmund chimed in with an example Diana requested as they further their discussion on what to expect upon their arrival. She explained that Walden Stein would present and to be prepared for the site that they would be witnessing.

That night Gaius did not sleep. He remained awake to his own thoughts and noticed that Diana was awake as well. When the others were abruptly awoken, they all got to work before setting sail. As they were far enough away from Divelinson the warmer ocean air starting coming through. However, Gaius' stomach started to turn. He headed the words from Deino and approached the side of the vessel to see whales swimming. Diana came to his side to see the site as Ryver jumped into the water to show off his skills. Not a moment too soon did Gaius notice other shapes within the water. Ryver was bucked out alongside sirens that would attack them. 

Gaius' goal was to protect the princess, he remained close to her before Ryver had dragged her under into the waters. Eventually when she was back up on the deck, his first thought was to make sure she was ok. She assured she was before she ran off to face one of the sirens with one of her inventions. The fight came to an end with some of the sirens fleeing the scene. 

Even though the battle came to an end, Ryver's behavior still was strange. Before too long, Gaius and the others found themselves being captured by Ryver and others. With the ship taken over they were all separated and Gaius was brought to the Badlands.

June 8th, 2023 October 13th, 2023

Trivia

  • Gaius has to eat a lot
  • He is no stranger to eating sweet sugary things. 
June 19th, 2023

Type
Player (Destrukktokonn)

Race
Half-Elf

Families
Gaius' Family

Gender
Male

Pronouns
He/Him

Abilities

Barbarian

Path of the Dark Side - Subclass

The Emotions that empower a rage can include anger, pain, or sorrow. Those on the Path of the Dark Side harness these negative emotions into an umbral power not unlike that of the Shadowfell. These dark knights endure as much harm as they can muster then unleash it back onto their enemies.

Vengeance, self-loathing, or the desire to protect others are among the many reasons a barbarian would seek this path. The Dark Side welcomes both the saviors and the destroyers. 

Dark Knight

3rd-level Path of the Dark Knight feature

At 3rd level, you can withstand the burden of your ebon armor. You gain proficiency with heavy armor and you gain the benefits of raging even while wearing it.

Your armor helps suppress your feelings until they're ready to be unleashed. While you are wearing heavy armor and you're not raging, you can add your Rage Damage value to ability checks and saving throws against attempts at discerning your intent, emotions, or thoughts. 

Soul Eater

3rd-level Path of the Dark Knight feature

Also at 3rd level, you can turn your suffering into strength. When you enter your rage and at the start of each turn you are raging, you can choose to take an irreducible 1d6 damage. Until the end of that turn, your weapon attacks deal extra necrotic damage equal to 1d6+ your Constitution modifier. 

If you score a critical hit while Soul Edge is active, you gain temporary hit points equal to the necrotic damage dealt.

If you are below half your maximum hit points, you can choose to maximize both the damage you take and the necrotic damage you deal with this feature.

Shadow Wall

6th-level Path of the Dark Knight feature

At 6th level, you gain resistance to necrotic damage.

Additionally, you can draw harm away from others. When a creature within 15 feet of you takes damage while you are raging, you can use your reaction to take that damage instead.

Dark Mind

10th-level Path of the Dark Knight feature

At 10th level, your imposing presence aids you in both combat and in conversation. You can interrogate a creature alone for at least 5 minutes. At the end of the interrogation, you can make a contested Charisma (Intimidation) check against its Charisma (Deception) check. If you are successful, you can ask it up to three questions, which it must answer truthfully. 

The creature has disadvantage on this check if you have damaged it in the last 24 hours and it either is below half its maximum hit points or if it was knocked unconscious within that time frame.

Once you use this feature, you can't use it again until you finish a short or long rest. 

Quietus

14th-level Path of the Dark Knight feature

At 14th level, you can sacrifice yourself to end your foes. When you hit a creature with a melee weapon while raging, you can expend up to half your hit die. Roll the expended hit dice and both you and the target take additional necrotic damage equal to the number rolled, ignoring resistance. 

Once you use this feature, you can't use it again until you finish a long rest. 

Connections

Description Entity Location
Friend Albrun
Husband Magik Heart
Father Delthea
Father Eitri
Ally Gidget
Teammate Edmund
Teammate Winston Constantine
Teammate Reno
Hired Diana Voxville
Patron Avaija