Hullo. Since the Legion is lacking a 2nd-in-command, I'm filling it up with Lucius Valerius Poplicola, a character of mine that I've developed a long ago during the events in PoP Aftermath RP.
Order of Choice: The Shadow Legion
Name of Person: Lucius Valerius Poplicola
What is your story of how you came to be with an order:
Being a peasant living in one of the villages that supplied Cez, Lucius always had the Legion in mind. Not that he particularly wanted to join them, but they had always been kind to the villagers. They weren't nearly as ruthless as the Knights of Lion up north; or as ruthless as they were told to be. Perhaps the rumours lied. That happened a lot back then, and in fact the situation hasn't changed an inch from what it was. His life, however, soon became meddled with the army. He was recruited from his village to serve in the Pendorian Royal Army, and due to his determination and courage especially against the Snake Cult, the officers saw his potential. They had been informed to tell the Shadow Legion if there were any potential young recruits in the army, and so it happened that Lucius received an invitation from Marcus Caldius Merula, Grandmaster of the Shadow Legion, to their headquarters in Cez. He was accepted to a trial period, which he passed excellently; he was just 21 years old back then - and already a legionary. A year after him joining the Legion, strange new began emerging from the Northwest. A great fleet had been spotted; a great war was about to begun. The recent acts of aggression by and against Madame Ursula had fueled the fires burning in the Veccavian hearts, and they had decided to land a fleet in Pendor and invade it with an army about as massive as the Royal Army was, if not a greater one. Pendor was in dire need of armies, but only three orders could be of any help; the Silvermist Rangers, the Knights of Eventide and the Shadow Legion. Lucius had to march to Stormcliff Cove, soon to be the site of the greatest battle ever seen in Pendor. Lucius had volunteered to impersonate the King during the battle, later acting as the Silvermist Constable's assistant during the battle and fighting with the Silvermist Rangers. From that day, the Legion and the Silvermists were bound by a friendship, which later escalated into an alliance. Lucius had had a major part in this friendship, and for that and all his valiant deeds Marcus had chosen him as his personal advisor. He was the second-in-command of the Legion now, raised in rank above all else quicker than one could've thought. In no more than one year and three weeks his life had turned from a peaceful agricultural life to leading an army.
Perks: Fast, professional, talented, (very) lucky.(He was one of the few to remain unscathed after the battle of Stormcliff Cove.)
Weaknesses: Loyal until death to Marcus.
Equipment: The customary Shadow Legion gear, plus a masterwork Empire Broadsword which goes well with a pack of Balanced Javelins. He is one of the most merited members of the Legion.
And, if I might include, a RP sample featuring the character. Call it fanfic if you wish.
Upon Calradia
Lucius comes from a distant continent called Pendor. The only thing that the others know about Lucius is that he is an official ambassador of Pendor sent by the King himself to expand relations with Calradia. Pendor has been united by it's king only recently, and many people call him a hero. However, Lucius is not directly related to the King, except that he once impersonated the King to draw the enemies' attention. Lucius, being young(he's only 25 years old, he has long brown hair and he's around 188 cm tall.) and full of enthusiatism, is very generous with information; he has told many things about himself and Pendor, for example that he fought against the Veccavians and the Amalan Snake Cultists who both invaded Pendor. He also told that his commander is Grandmaster Marcus Caldius Merula of Cez. Lucius doesn't have any bodyguards, since he is an excellent soldier and he carries his usual legionary equipment: A perfectly balanced strange-looking broadsword with a shield and a set of black metal armour. He also has fine suits with him that he prefers to use when in the court. He is always available for harmless chit-chat or more serious business. In short, he seems like the perfect man to become an ambassador.
Lucius had arrived at Sargoth a week earlier as the ambassador of Pendor sent by the King himself. There had been news of a great meeting of nobles in a small country called "Lowlands" in Calradia, and the King had finally decided to take action. Diplomatic relations were decided to be forged with the nations of Calradia and Lucius was sent there as an ambassador. Lucius's arrival to Lowlands was a rather dramatic sort, one that not many visitors get when they enter a new country. He was ambushed by three bandits, who demanded his money and weapon for him - they thought that Lucius was an easy one. They were all mounted, but Lucius tricked them to dismount. Then he scared the horses away and killed the bandits one by one, and his trusty blade spilled yet more blood - his first blood in a foreign country. And hopefully the last one too, he thought as he began climbing up a small road leading to a small hill. Lucius was rather exhausted by the week-long journey; his last stop had been two days ago and he could only sleep a few hours per day. That should hopefully change soon as the meeting would begin, and Lucius hung himself on this thought, urged himself to continue by simply thinking about the rewards.
(You may wonder why Lucius was so weary and tired after two days of riding, since many nobles and commoners commonly practise riding and are excellent horsemen. In order to answer this, we have to delve back into his background - he comes from Pendor, where fighting varies a lot. There are the infantry - and archer-based armies in the West, cavalry-based armies in the middle and balanced armies in the East. There are also the Noldor(who basically excel at everything), and the Jatu, who are expert horsemen. Then there is the Empire, remnants of the once great Baccus Empire which invaded Pendor long ago. Nowadays it is unified under one banner; under the true King's banner, and he rules the old lands of the Empire now. But all the knighthood orders survived, they kept on going despite of their setbacks. Only one of them was eradicated; the Order of the Lion, who died to the last man at the siege of Sarleon. But enough of the background. Lucius comes from the Shadow Legion, who have excellent infantry and cavalry, but there is a lot of infantry and only a few cavalrymen. Some legionaries also don't like horses, and thus join the infantry instead of the cavalry. And there is an another thing - you have to be a Centurion to receive one of the famed Ironbred Stallions. Many legionaries simply refused to train to become a horseman, because the chances of becoming one are slim. Lucius was one of these legionaries, and although he did not train to become a horseman, he still spent a large portion of his everyday life with horses due to his assignment. As time passed, he also began to develop some form of skill in riding, and although he never became an expert rider, he got closer than one would believe of a regular legionary like him. Although he was skilled in riding, he didn't have the endurance to spend long amounts of time on horseback - Lucius hates the stench of horses and the roads which hadn't been taken care of for years - it was even worse in Calradia, where they called a narrow line of dirt in the wastelands a road.)
A magnicifent sight was revealed to Lucius when he slowly climbed up the hill, reaching the top of it in a few seconds. The sun was shining high up in the sky and thousands of light reflections reflected from the lake surrounding a large town with a castle in it. The castle was on the right side of the town while the living areas, taverns and shops were on the right side. One large drawbridge connected the town to land, and it was currently down. Serfs, peasants and soldiers ran in and out of the great gates to complete their duties. Lucius chuckled; it was almost too mediocre for Lucius to stand without laughing. He neglected the urge to laugh out loud and continued to inspect the lands ahead of him. There were two castles, one on the each side of the town, protecting it from dangers. Many smaller outposts were scattered around the area.
This place however, as fair as it was, was not Lucius's final destination, for Lucius intended only to sleep and restock here. His destination was "over the hills and far away", as someone famous had once said.
