Korvus Castus

Princeps Korvus I Castus  was a human noble of House Castus and was the 9th Princeps of the Caelish Princepality. His official titles were stylised as Korvus Victor Castus, 9th Princeps of the Caelish Princepality, 4th Triumvir of the Northern Triumvirate and Protector of Caelum. As an NPC, he was played by Breadgar.

Appearance
Korvus is pale in complexion and is considered handsome by the Caelish. He stands at 6 ft 3 inches and is tall amongst the general populace. He has brownish/reddish locks that cover half of his ears and is very muscular and intimidating in stature. Throughout most of his adult life, he has sported a brownish beard and stubble, which are well groomed. Although he is 57 years of age, he still looks like a man in his prime.

He wears black noble robes with golden linings and the crest of a golden griffin is sewn on the shoulders.

In battle, he wears half plate armor and an eagle helmet with mail pants.

Personality
He is stern but fair and leads his people to an honourable and bright future. Those close to him often remark him to be kind and quiet in personality.

He stands as the hope of the Caelish in a time of mourning, with the losses suffered in the Ork War still fresh in the memories of the Caelish. Korvus bears no hatred towards the Orcs and is tired of bloodshed. He is, at his core, a man of peace.

Background
Born in 289 AFT, Korvus was born to Caem Castus and Lariel Castus in a time of peace. His father was a man who prefered reading and learning than the martial arts. His mother was the person of action who took to combat like a duck to water. Growing up, Korvus shared many traits of both his parents. He proved to be a keen learner, absorbing his education but also proving to be an excellent warrior, inheriting his mother’s prodigious skills. As he grew, his relationship with his parents were very close, with Korvus idolising his father for his wisdom and idolising his mother for her strength.

Caelish-Ithilian War - 300 AFT to 306 AFT
Tragedy struck Korvus at the age of 13, when his father was killed in the battle of Uthun, struck down by Gor Calamatos. His family imploded with the death of his father. His mother became cold and distant to everyone but Korvus, his grandmother died of a heart attack upon hearing the news while Korvus was left without a father and a heartbroken mother. His mother mourned Caem’s death before taking a strategic role in the war effort when the war reignited in 303 AFT.

Korvus took no active role in the war until the very last months of the war. He accompanied his mother’s new army and helped liberate both Castle Asurial and Aeritium where he proved his worth killing numerous orks and even a few ogres and trolls, despite his youth and inexperience. Korvus would prove himself worthy of his mantle when he single handedly defeated M’roth Calamatos in an honor duel. By ending the war, Korvus found himself covered in glory as he returned to the Caelish a victor and war hero. It would be some time before his mother would lessen her anger towards him for foolishly charging ahead and risking his life in the honor duel rather than let a more experienced warrior fight M’roth.

In Times of Peace - 306 AFT onward
With peace finally settled, Korvus returned to Caelum as a hero. Despite feeling unready, Korvus nonetheless took his place as Princeps and began his reign. The first few years of his rule was heavily focused on rebuilding. The Border Territories were all but destroyed with every settlement there sacked. The first five years was spent on a massive rebuilding campaign where every settlement damaged or sacked in the Outer Territories was rebuilt or fixed. The Border Territories were left as the Caelish wished to rebuild their outer defences before fixing their borders.

Meeting the Rowdypuffs and Death - 342 AFT
In the year 342 AFT, Korvus had reigned as Princeps for thirty six years. His reign was one marked by peace, as he strove to ensure peace was had by all and that the Princepality was ruled fairly and honourably.

In 342 AFT, he started receiving reports of small villages going dark and being found empty with its inhabitants gone. He would receive Intel on the disappearances in the form of a report delivered by a newly formed adventuring group called the Rowdypuffs. He would interview them on their part in the Skirmish at Humil and decided to make use of their talents by hiring them to do missions for the Princepality.

In July 12th, he was informed whilst sparring with his son Abel, that the Rowdypuffs had returned early from a mission he had assigned them and rushed to the Council Room to interview them. It was here however that he found out his uncle Marius Arlington had betrayed the Rowdypuffs. The shock almost paralysed him but he regained his composure. A scuffle ensued when Marius ordered the soldiers present to arrest the group but one of the soldiers revealed themselves to be Dawning in disguise who knocked out the other soldiers and was about to subdue Marius when Marius unexpectedly banished Dawning with unknown power and put the group into stasis. Marius turned his attention to Korvus and attacked him with Ann's swords, which he had telekinetically lifted and manipulated into attacking Korvus. Korvus summoned a sword magically and fended off Marius's attacks but when he turned his back to Marius, Marius fired a magical blast at Korvus which stunned him. Vulnerable and defeated, Korvus could do nothing as his uncle plunged Ann's twin swords into both of his shoulder blades. Korvus was brought to his knees and looked at his uncle in the eye as Marius summoned Ann's claymore and plunged it through Korvus's chest. Korvus gasped in pain and the last thing he saw before everything went dark was a golden griffin flapping its wings towards him.