Shad Hyperion

[Swift_Assassin]

Name: Shadrach “Shad” Hyperion
Age: 19
Gender: Male
Nation/Allegiance: Etruria
Appearance/Description: Born with hair like barley corn that is almost always associated with his family, Shad can be easily identified in a crowd. He inherited his amber eyes from his mother and his looks from his father. He has a birth mark an inch from the corner of his left eye, that would normally by hidden in his hair. He currently has his hair cut short, which he originally cut so he could start anew before he took back his lands. Now he keeps it short because he found it easier to manage.

His current wardrobe consists of a byzantium-colored long coat, the bottom of which is separated into four quarters, meaning, front left, front right, back left, back right. His coat has a thin chainmail inner-weave, to serve as armor, as well as a decorated armor that protects his shoulder-blades and the back of his neck that rests under his hood. He also wears scale pauldrons with red trims.

Shad has recently moved onto wearing a purple long sleeved shirt with a popped collar and a cuffs. His pants are black and he has new boots in the style of his father's formal wear. As the shirt was made from leftover material and was made with no access to a smith, it lacks the traditional chainmail inner-weave of normal Hyperion outerwear. So he has acquired a set of armor to wear as well. A cuirass; a spaulder, couter, and vambrace on his left arm; and a pair of greaves all in a dark green color. He also has a dark purple glove with dark green metal plates on his left hand, to help reinforce it after the damage he inflicted upon it.

Shad is a struggling optimist. He always tries to see the good in things, but the world around him always seems to try to bring him down to earth. He hates to see people wronged and tries to help them, but he is slowly getting over that compulsion due to the events around him. It's slowly becoming a daunting task to try to help when a whole nation was just stripped of its freedom and religion.

Bio/Backstory: Ups and downs. Nothing better explains Shadrach's life story. Born into the noble Hyperion family of Etruria, Shad's early years were better than most. Though his family was oft looked down upon by other Etrurian nobility due to their deficiency in magic, his forefathers had success leading Etruria's infantry and cavalry units in times of war and peace.

His father, Daren, married a historian in service to him. His mother Kelsey was part of a long line of mages, most of whom had served as historians, aides, and tacticians for the Hyperions. They fell in love, but Daren also had a mind for the future. He hoped that this marriage would help future Hyperions learn to become magi like his his wife. He made sure Shadrach had all the best teachers, but like most other Hyperions, Shadrach didn't show magic potential. Instead, he taught him to fence, like him and his father before him. Shadrach learned the basics, but the first low of Shadrach's life hit him. And it him him hard.

Daren had just become the family head after his uncle bequeathed the title to him. What started a normal day had turned into a massacre. Tyber Fen, head of the Fen family, had lead his household guard, as well as a unit of soldiers to arrest the family on crimes of treason and attempted murder. The two families fought over their keep, but the Hyperions couldn't stem the oncoming tide. Daren's cousins, Bishop and Dieter, as well as his uncle, the former head Ludwig II, were the first members of the family to be slain, having been in the courtyard at the time of the attack.

Daren sent off Shad and his nephew, Lennox, to the family's manor in Ostia to hide. During this, his father Arron, was killed in secret by the man behind this whole debacle. He would also send off his brother, Maddox, in hopes that he would protect the kids. Unfortunately, Maddox would flee in the opposite direction. Maddox's wife, Briar, would become yet another casualty. By day's end, Daren surrendered to Tyber, to protect his pregnant wife. Two weeks later, Daren was beheaded. The next day, his family was pardoned of all crimes. Six months later, his wife would die during child birth, leaving a baby girl to be raised by the Fens.

All of this was unknown to the duo as the fled to Ostia. Two eight-year old boys, naive to the world around them, were forced to live by themselves, in a manner of speaking. For the first few years, they still had gold in their coffers in the manor to pay for the servants and food. They were forced to grow up fast. Living in a foreign land that was increasingly hostile as the years went on. Shad resorted to selling off possessions with no knowledge of their true value, while his cousin Lennox became a pit fighter to raise money. Once they both raised enough money, they hired people to finish their training. After their training was finished, they felt they were ready to return.

Lennox took his own way, accompanied by a man he claimed was a relative. Shad, however, went a different way. He soon found himself a companion in his maternal uncle, Wolfram. Wolfram was a walking history text, with knowledge of the other families, their lineages, and their pasts. Most importantly, however, was his magic. He was a practitioner of magics of both the dark and nature variety and dabbled with summoning willing spirits from the dead. Wolfram would bring out Shad's magic potential, which he rarely used, but appreciated the ability to use it.

The master and student traveled to the capital to request an audience with the king. While there, they thwarted an assassination attempt perpetrated by Wolfram's former student. It turned out they were too late. Another Hyperion, by the name of Faustus, had claimed their lands. Shad, however, was given a claim to it as well, being the designated heir by his father. The king informed Shad that if he could take the lands, he would have his blessing.

Shad and Wolfram went back home for the first time in years and immediately were taken to the Fen Estate to speak with Tyber Fen. It was there he learned of his baby sister Maria. Wolfram would also summon the soul of Daren Hyperion to speak with Shad after eight years apart. Tyber acknowledged Shad as Daren's heir and promised his support, but warned that Shad would need to get the support of other nobles in this affair. He feared that it would look like Shad was a puppet of the Fens to help influence affairs in their favor.

Before embarking on what would turn into a two year affair, he visited his old keep, meeting his first unlikely ally, the middle son of his sworn enemy, Leon. He would participate in a small wedding ceremony the next day, giving away his childhood crush and who was supposed to be his bride to Leon. For his troubles, he promised the support of him and his younger sister Carla when the time finally comes.

During this time he would learn that Lennox was telling the truth about his companion. His traveling partner had been Corin, Leon's older brother. Corin used Lennox to help him find Maddox, and struck him down before Lennox could be reunited with him.

During the next two years, Shad would gain supporters to his cause and assemble a small army to take on Faustus. He would help distant family members, former enemies, disgraced nobles looking for redemption, nobles looking for a way out of bad deals, and others.

In what would be just two months before the reformation of Lycia, Tyber lead a small army with the intent of reclaiming Shad's lands. While Tyber's forces collided with the mostly mercenary army of Faustus, Shad, Wolfram, Leon, and the just arriving Lennox, used the confusion to infiltrate the keep. Lennox took on Corin, with Leon preventing reinforcements. Lennox would reclaim a very tempermental family sword and kill Corin with it.

Shad and Wolfram came face to face with Faustus. During the past two years, Shad had recovered an old 'walking stick' his father used. This walking stick was actually his sword, the Schiavona, a magic version of a rapier good against mounted and armored troop, disguised to be as innocuous as possible. Using the Schiavona, his youth, and his speed, he slew Faustus and reclaimed his lands.

But it like ten years earlier, another low hit. Lycia had become an empire. As a man who lived in Ostia for years, the king choose Shad to be one of Etruria's representatives. Shad didn't find himself qualified for the kind of situation he was put him. He had finally brought his family together and now it looked like war was on the horizon.

Within a year, relations had soured between the two nations and Shad began wondering why he bother if this was his future. When the news of this church arrived, Shad became scared. He almost never used magic anyway, but his sister was being trained as a mage by his uncle. Fearing their safety, his arranged for a place for them to live to Bern should the worst come to pass.

Then it happened. Lycia attacked. Wolfram and Maria left immediately for Bern, traveling through Sacae to get there. When Etruria becomes annexed by Lycia, the Hyperions are one the few noble families left in the country, due in part to their lack of magic use. Shad looks to leave the keep in Tyber's hands and retreat to Bern to help, but is currently unsure of what he should be doing.