Caius March - "Oberon"

[Oberon]

He who fights with monsters might take care
lest he thereby become a monster.
And if you gaze for long into an abyss,
the abyss gazes also into you.

Face Claim: Ralph Fiennes
OOC Name: Cassiopeia

CHARACTER NAME: Caius March AKA "Oberon"
AGE:  36
CURRENT RESIDENCE: Teronna

APPEARANCE: Caius is a handsome man, although not in a particularly eye-catching way when he is still. No, it is the way he speaks and moves when he is passionate that draws most people's eyes. He is fervent in his beliefs, and unafraid to scold, beg, or weep if it will draw others to his cause. His earnest eyes and charming smile make him appear easygoing and harmless, most of the time. His dark hair is wavy, about to his chin, and constantly disarranged. His wife used to make him tie it back, but without her to remind him, he has fallen out of the habit. 

While he is not obviously muscular, Caius is in excellent shape, and he still works with his blacksmith's tools to help provide weapons to the Unseelie.

MARITAL STATUS: Widower

FAMILY MEMBERS: Deceased - Wife: Marianne March & Son: Gabriel March || Older Brother: Ruairc Cathain

POSITION/OCCUPATION: Leader of the Unseelie court

GRAMARYE GIFT (if any): Motivation. Caius has the uncanny ability to find a person's motivator, their  "why" for everything that they do, whether it is family, loyalty, money, vengeance...he can identify it after only a short time spent with a person. Once he knows it, he is then able to exploit it for his own purposes. He has sworn to use his ability for "the greater good" but his idea of "good" and others' do not always align.

PERSONALITY:  Caius's ultimate motivation in all things is to pursue a Teronnian future in which all mystics are free to live their lives without persecution. Ideally this will also involve mystic leadership of the nation--the way he believes was intended by the Gods. Magic is a gift and a blessing from the Gods, in his mind, and therefore those who have that power are chosen by Them. 

Caius is not an evil person. Not truly. He is willing to do whatever it takes to pursue his goals, and unafraid to take drastic measures, but he does not harm anyone unless it is necessary. He wants desperately to make his wife proud, and believes that she is watching over him. He often speaks to her when no one else is around.

Among the mystics, outside of battle, Caius is a calm, kind person. He takes the time to get to know each of his followers, encouraging their accomplishments, getting to know them and their families, and being as family to each of them. He genuinely values each of them, and will mourn the loss of any compatriots. He works hard to make good use of each person's strengths and abilities to better the whole. 

Caius is a man with a long fuse, but when angered, he becomes almost another person. The depth of his grief and rage are revealed, and it is difficult to break his trance before he does irrevocable harm. The fastest way to anger him is to insinuate that his family was worthless, or to harm one he cares for in front of him. Anything else will take far longer. 

Wait a second, have you come so far for it to end like this?
This is the challenge
I dare you to take a hold of that darkness from deep down in you
Get back up, what are you so afraid of?

LIKES: justice, magic, children, the forest when it is quiet
DISLIKES: nobles, inequality, being insulted
HABITS: runs his hands through his hair when stressed, gets overheated when upset
SELF IMAGE: Caius sees himself as very much a normal man--he has no illusions of being a god or a prophet to the mystics. He is aware, however, that the disorganized mystics needed a leader to be effective, and he sees himself as somewhat of a sheepdog--nudging them into motion and biting at their ankles when necessary. 
REPUTATION: Caius has two very different reputations. Among Wardens and non-mystics, he is known as a dangerous man, conniving, traitorous. They believe his is motivated by greed and violence, that his delusions of mystic rule are actually a ploy to make himself king. 

Among Mystics, Caius is seen as more of a savior-archetype--he is charismatic and compassionate, pushing the Mystics to seek what is rightfully theirs. His pleas for unity among the mystics and that it is necessary to defend themselves have found the hearts of many mystics and led them to his cause. 

HISTORY:
Caius was the normal son of a normal man, a blacksmith. He grew up living a normal life. He noticed, certainly, that his father's gift with metal was beyond anyone else's, but the man never made a show of it, so neither did his son. It came as quite a shock to him when, at age 16, his father abruptly made him promise never to mention it aloud to anyone. It wasn't until he heard what had happened to the queen that he understood.

In his early twenties, Caius began to realize that his innate knowledge of what made people who they were, what drove them, was his own kind of gift. Like his father, he kept it secret. Secret, that is, until he met Marianne. She was the kindest person he had ever met, someone whose true motivation was to make the lives of others better. She had a gift of her own--a talent for conversing with birds. She could learn their calls and mannerisms, and those that came to know her often stayed near her little florist's stand, bringing her gifts and watching over her. She fed them breadcrumbs and chatted with them as if they were people. Caius was enthralled. He fell for her in only a few days, although it took far longer to convince the florist to marry him.

Finally, a little over a year later, the two of them were married. When Caius was 23, his wife gave birth to a beautiful baby boy, who they named Gabriel. The two of them were happier than ever, and things seemed to be going smoothly for the two of them as the boy grew. 

Five years ago, when Gabriel was 8, he shared a secret with his best friend: that his mommy could talk to the birds, and that so could he. He didn't know that his friend's father was listening...a man who was a warden. 

That night the March home was raided, and both mother and child were killed. Caius walked in just as the attackers were preparing to leave. He doesn't remember what happened, only that the next thing he knew, he was standing over the body of a young man whose head he had bashed in. Caius wept over the bodies of his family, but he had no time to stay and bury them. Determined to avenge them, he vanished into the night. 

Since then, Caius has been working to build the future his wife and child deserved: a place where they would have been treasured instead of murdered. While he originally was working with his brother Ruairc Cathain , the two separated over one central conflict: Caius is willing to do whatever it takes to reach his goal, even if it means killing innocents and doing collateral damage.

This conflict led him to create the Unseelie Court, a gathering of mystics who are willing to kill to ensure that they are given their rights. The king has long since used violence to scatter them like cockroaches in the light--it is about time that someone gave him a taste of his own medicine. Without organization, the rogue mystic attacks have done nothing, but in a group they could be unstoppable. They will not rest until the "mad tyrant" is removed from his throne, and mystics are allowed to live free. 

[ Soleil ; Lunari ]