On 5-15-24 I redeemed an All Levels Reward token split between my characters.
Tiberius gained 12 mastery points on top of the 24 he started with.
On 7-27-24 I redeemed an All Levels Reward token split between my characters.
Tiberius gained 16 mastery points.
Much of Tiberius’s life has been typical for his station and sex. Burdened from birth with the expectations of his house, as a child he wavered wildly between studious obedience and short, rebellious tantrums. His magic showed early and strong – to his parents’ great relief – and he was singled out from among his siblings and cousins. Grandfather Lukios took a personal interest, finding in Tiberius a second chance to rear a suitable heir. (With too kind a heart and only a minor talent for Umbramancy, Fulvius, Tiberius’s father, would never do.)
The old man was hard to please. Easier by far to bleed a stone than to get a kind word out of Lukios. Still, that made Tiberius’s pride in making Grandfather crack smile all the more fierce. When he wasn’t studying or practicing his magic, he was shadowing the old man through every Magisterium meeting and memorizing the names and talents of Umbra’s rivals.
Competition between all branches of the House remained strong until after Tiberius came of age and returned from compulsory service. By then, the future seemed set, the friendships and alliances drawn. For nearly two decades, Tiberius spent much of his time steeped in magical research – and all the rest acting as a proxy for Grandfather.
In late 9:43, the old man presented one final demand: marry. Show that he’d take that step to protect and perpetuate House Umbra and he would finally step down. At an absolutely skeletal ninety-eight it was more respect than ambition that compelled Tiberius to agree.
But a suitable match was difficult to make. Marry a woman of a higher house, and the marriage contract would certainly stipulate that her first several magic-gifted children would belong to her house of origin. Marry someone of like station … Well, that would come with its own risks. Verax and Pavus were too weak – and Serpentis were already intermarried to Umbra through a great uncle, a sister, two cousins, and one nephew.
No, he’d have to go abroad. But no one expected it to take years, least of all Tiberius. By the time news of the barrier reached him, he had settled in Orlais. The Great Game reminded him of home, in a way, with a lot more masks and fake smiles. It amused him for a time, playing the dangerous Tevinter nobleman for the court, a great source of curiosity at every fête.
As the border remained closed, the game lost much of its appeal. Tiberius sank into a deep depression as he reckoned with the loss of the life he had spent every waking moment building for himself. He sent his footmen away and holed up in his rented lodgings most nights. When the demon began to share his flesh, he hardly even noticed.
A flash of teeth in the mirror. A rime of ice on his morning teacup. Numbness in his fingertips. He’d studied demons for years but this had been one question that always eluded him: what was it like to be an abomination? Maybe he’d write a book on it, and that would make it home someday.
Then he met Mélodie Nicollier. Close to his age but yet unmarried, she was thought of as something of a spinster, overlooked in his initial months in the capital. Now that didn’t matter anymore. She forced Tiberius out of his shell and he loved her for it.
The marriage contract was drawn up, the dowry paid from his personal coffers to raise her family out of genteel poverty, the date set. Tiberius was hopeful about the future, uncertain as it was sure to be. And then Mélodie passed – a wasting illness that Tiberius suspects Despair was somehow responsible for.
The Nicolliers needed that gold. They pleaded and panicked. They had a second daughter, a mage, and wasn’t that even better? Everything could go on as planned. In the face of their desperation, Tiberius was far too tired to argue.
Connections
Lyric Oatshield (38, fiancée, played by Bach)
Akibrus Blaine (39, it’s complicated, played by Ivy)
Enzo Pavus (45, amatus, played by Meira)
Malachai Valentius (45, lifelong friend, played by Meg)
Tacitus Ursus (41, house umbra seneschal, played by Headwires)
Demetrius Arvina (54, lord archon, played by Bach)
Ophelia Jolfy (38, magic student, played by Sedation)
Novella Tilani, Malik Vrai (acquaintances, played by Ivy and Sedation)
Lukios Umbra (grandfather, 105, head of house)
Fulvius Umbra (father, deceased)
Calpernia Umbra (mother, 73)
Several younger siblings and a couple dozen more distant relations, officially recognized as members of House Umbra. (For related PCs, please DM me! I’d be happy to collaborate.)
