Barbarossa Magnus

## History

Born in Catania to a minor family of knight's & mage's who served the Crown of Catania as agent's of the king of the time, Magnus grew up with a relative silver-spoon upbringing with his five other siblings; Three younger sisters, an older sister & an older brother. In their retirement, his mother & father have returned to the family lands and manage it quietly, though since Barbarossa is not the firstborn of his family, he has no birthright to return to, instead wedded off to a family of elves to cement a marriage alliance due to the rising ambition of House Magnus at the age of 20.

Barbarossa, nominally known as Magnus because its easier to remember and say, began his colorful start as an adventurer in the service to the greater realm at large. Participating in many military operations across the twin continents from the siege of Ashuru to purging beastmen in the wild lands & fighting demons in the crusade of Thel Modir. He has built his reputation as a capable, if pragmatic battlemage who is not above fleeing a fight if it means living to fight another battle, or whenever he vastly feels he is out of his depth to be able to do anything.

## Appearance

Magnus stand's about 6'2 and weighs about 200 lbs. Physically, Magnus is a remarkable, attractive male of his species. Highly intelligent with well-rounded phyisical characteristics and lustrous youth and hair to make other's envy him. Aside from his iconic double-belt he wears around his waist fitted with his weapons & other magical gear, he wear's a long & luxurious red & gold robe with black scholar garbs underneath. Unlike other adventuring contemporaries who wear leather boot's and other durable gear, he simply wears leather sandals & white bandage cloths around his arm wrapped down to the tip of his finger's.

More remarkably, he is not seen anywhere without his large metal box which contains some of his most favorite pastime drug's. He claims that they help open up his mind, but this remains to be seen.

## Personality

Magnus can best be described as 'someone without a backbone' to an outside observer, but really Magnus grew up on fighting and conflict. Cutting losses and retreating to safety when the odd's are against you is a perfectly legitimate strategy to him. Honor and fighting to the death is for the silly and weak. If you fight, you go for the killing blow and fight as dirty as you need too or you die if you do not.

That doesn't make him a hardcore war enthusiast, battle-junky or otherwise. Magnus is a intelligent & learned, if somewhat of a rulebreaker but he's not harmed anyone who has not deserved it. He is kind & gentle to his friends and family. Most importantly to the children of his favored concubine Alexandria. He has somewhat distanced himself from his first wife, but only because she has a big responsibility to her people and cannot always entertain the foreign battlemage's lust & whims. Being an avid man of vice, he can be easily found anywhere where drug's and women are in equal access.

Magnus is deeply loyal to Catania however and is a patriot. That does not mean his own interests are not in play due to this, just that he will always act favorably in the interest of Catania. He is quick to dismiss any criticism of Catania, sighting it as a land of free and good people who know what the right thing is to do compared to others such as the people of lightreach who bend to the will of some random undead nobody has ever heard of. An exaggeration, but its politics and if it makes him look better, its fair game to use it.

For Magnus however, it was not all power, well-off familial relations or simple military achievements, but his exact habit to be somewhat of a hazard and clown wherever he went. Having access to great destruction powers made him dangerous, but it also made him erratic and unpredictable and highly violent when motivated. Having discovered the secret's of true destruction, the knowledge frayed the edges of Magnus sanity and he turned from worshiping Nethys to Rovugag, who through his domain of destruction could introduce him to even greater powers that can help him unmake reality.

## Friends

* **Summer & Winter:** He views the fey positively. Then again, the two seem to enjoy Magnus extensive knowledge of Arcane & Esoteric matters.
* **Duke Prospero:** The two seem to be kindred spirits at least by Magnus due to his rather lax personality.
* **Riki:** The blacksmith has worked on weapons for Magnus before and is the only known Dragoncrafter within the realm of Catania, thus the overlapping profession of adventure has caused them to work on occasion. Magnus does not view Riki as a social equal however for obvious economic reasons
* **Duke Marcus Arcturius:** A bright young leader who will definitely go far in life. The two have had cause for political unity every now and then, considering the events of greyhold, but he does not outright trust him either. Politics are not personal and if it would benefit the Duke to stab Magnus in the back, he most likely would. Hence Magnus favors him while also remaining highly distrustful. He will never outwardly say or show that however, because what's worse than a political ally and potential rival is one who knows the angle you are working.
* **Alexandria:** A Ashuran concubine he took as one of his lovers from the locale, Magnus enjoys an extremely cordial and friendly relationship with her.
* **Grant:** The good boy. The bestest boy.
* **Countess Mesri:** is first & currently only wife, he has a somewhat tenuous relationship with the elf. Their marriage while cordial in private was largely arranged by their parents when they were younger. Magnus nor her had any say over it, so they agree to let their private affairs remain to the discretion of each other as long as it does not cause undue scandal. In exchange for this understanding, they are to aid each other in political matter's when the need arises and is necessary.

## Foes

Magnus is not the sort to really view people as enemies. He does have a lot of political opponents in the form of his contemporaries and is generally speaking always willing to sign up for an alliance against them or otherwise. That said, there are groups he does not outright trust but will not go out of his way to harm either. They will fall in this category as well.

* **The Obsidian Seers:** Magnus was warm to the idea at first, but quickly found himself chaffing under their guidance and rules and quickly broke it off. Ever since then he has seen the seer's as rivals who are a tad too meddlesome to do anything easily. He is also jealous of the fame and renown they have acquired, alienating himself further from their oversight and command. They can expect no aid from him, at least not without mollifying his pride enough to get him to do something.
* **Bolverk:** Magnus dislikes the half-dragon on principle, believing him too rigid and rough. He learned some secrets of destruction from him that set him on the path he is on, but he largely distrusts bolverk. He recognizes and despises the invidual's power, but would prefer to coexist rather than destroy each other.
* **The Brotherhood:** Magnus did not like what they were selling but more than that they are highly militant and nationalist which is a cause for concern. Any association with them would be to undermine their goals and influences.
* **Clan Starfox:** Magnus has both aided and hindered the clan in the past, but that does not mean they are politically or socially on the same side. Rather Magnus sees Liana as an airhead that can be easily manipulated and with her growing influence, she will be more trouble than any help she provides.

## Goals

He is a generally competent individual, but he's prone to extravagant personal vice's such as drugs, women and money. Many of his personal decisions could be traced to a desire to acquire more power. For what reason? Many speculate on this but Magnus desires security. Security for his dynasty, security for his wives, concubines and his children, the security of his power and wealth. These are things that deeply motivate and drive Magnus thirst for power & knowledge and the more he possesses of both, the more secure he will be in his position.

In this way, some people might think his goals lawful if he wish to secure his dynasty, but rather he wishes to rule the way he lives, like a king and despises laws and rules in general. If he could get away with doing something he wants without the consequences then he absolutely would, hence many of his goals can be amounted to wanting to be a law abiding citizen on the surface but be driven by opportunism, pragmatism and a healthy desire to carve out ones own space in the world beneath that.

Magnus also has a slight obsession with immortality, and believes that conflict will eventually teach him the secrets to eternal life, something he wants so he can continue to enjoy more of what life has to offer.