Prince Caius Valardin
Lead, follow or get out of the way.
Obituary: Slain leading the Valardin and Telmar column at the Battle of High Hill Crossing.
Description: He is a tall man, lean with broad shoulders and a rangy build, a body made of heavy bone and ropy tendon rather than an abundance of flesh. His hair is thick and dark and at some time his nose has been broken. Deeply set hazel eyes are shadowed by brows that are often drawn together thoughtfully over his broken beak of a nose. His features are marked with a myriad collection of small scars, most easily glimpsed on the battered knuckles of both hands, creases here and there of flat scars that ache in damp weather, especially dense across his shoulders and right side. His scars and a sprinkling of grey in his close-cropped hair and beard mark a more weathered passing of years.
Personality: Caius is intelligent, commanding and deeply loyal. It was his loyalty to his wife that saw him step away from the world when he lost her and it was that same loyalty, this time to house, that brought him back. As for the brashness and anger of youth, it finds occasional purchase in the man he is now, though a more thoughtful approach to the ties between people, houses and duty shape his actions in maturity. Since the loss of his wife, he struggles to navigate his own sense of duty and honor, often using it to set boundaries about himself even as he looks to re-engage the world.
Background: As a prince of Valardin his youth was a series of predetermined benchmarks. Fostered to an ally of the family at the appropriate age, squired when he'd proven himself worthy and skilled enough to not get himself killed or worse make an ass of himself and shame the knight to whom he was squired. Knighted when he came of age with other squires of the same year and skill set, Caius spent his twenties on one campaign or another, doing his share of fighting the good fight.
Taprooms and taverns filled the spaces between fights, a near decade of ultimately wasted years until he'd matured enough to long for something more. He eventually matured enough to think first - then think deeper - before reaching for his sword. He'd finally steadied in his late twenties, become less of a wild eyed fighter and begun to explore the years of diplomatic training that had been long buried in his education.
It was in this transition that he would find himself on the business end of a mail-clad fist in one of his last regular visits to a tavern. Unintentional as it was, he was left with a broken nose and two black-eyes as a result. Caius would face endless weeks of laughter when his comrades and fellows learned that the knight who'd smashed his nose was the Lady Brennan. For him, however, it was the catalyst for his determination to win the heart of the Lady Knight. Two years of effort and persistence followed before they were betrothed properly then wed.
One thing that Caius would often preface any statement about his wife were the words, 'My Brenn, she does have a temper' often said with a contented smile and no small amount of affection. Not every marriage is built on a great romance, in fact, most marriages are built on common ground and the need to establish or cement networking and ties that bind. Caius and Brennan were a fly in the mix, genuinely fond of each other, genuinely well-suited for one another and, by all rights, happy with each other. Thus, in the usual passing of time their first child was born, and five years later, a second. Only months after their second child was born Brennan was visiting family when the worst of all nightmares came to a head, culminating at the Tragedy of Sanctum. His wife was one of many that died that day, but Caius was deeply affected by her loss.
He retreated from the world, taking only the household staff that would keep everything running smoothly and focusing himself on his children and the management of the family estate and assets. Eventually, he was called upon by his family to engage once more, to take up the duties of a child of Valardin. Reluctant but duty-bound, Caius returned to the vanguard of house affairs.
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