Vladicus

Vladicus, a strange old man that has been obsessed with experimentations using the minds and bodies of his subjects. He was thrown out of the mage college he was a part of for his strange interests. Afterwards, he moved around the world from place to place, leaving behind the results of his work with tales of his misdeeds not far behind. These stories started to grow as time passed, until his infamy preceded him as he traveled.

Eventually, as he was in the middle of trying to start something in the Empire of Aphem, a civil war broke out between the different noble families after the death of the Emperor. Some of the western nobles approached Chepesh to create an elite unit of soldiers that would help them win the war. With their support and facilities, he was able to initiate a program where young children of the common folk were rounded up and experimented on by him and his assistants. He could finally truly do what he had dreamed of for so long. These children were specially selected for something that Vladicus thought showed potential, and afterwards they were simply taken—from the streets, their backyards, even hauled out of their bed. These children would never be seen again by their families.

# **Spoiler**

One of his assistants had a child that showed much potential—an Agarim child. The Agarim subjects showed much more resilience to the experiments, so they were his favorite. The child, called Wilhelm, was given up willingly by his parents. Being so callously tossed away and experimented on by his parents scarred Wilhelm's mind for life.

The experiment showed much promise, but before it started to bare its fruits, the war took a turn. The wealthy merchants based around the Empire's largest and most wealthy city of Uyazhen started to push back against the warring noble families, since the common folk were suffering under the strain of a war that had been going on for years. The merchants were getting aid from the Da’Jelam Freestates, which was a collection of pirates, merchants, mercenaries, and other freedom loving individuals. After such a long war, the nobles had been weakened enough that the merchants were quickly able to beat them back and even carve out a piece of the country for themselves. The nobles were forced to make a truce, among themselves and with the merchants. The remainder of the Empire of Aphem was divided into two parts, each going to the leading noble house among the two factions that emerged through the war. Two new kingdoms, East and West Aphem, as well as the Mercantile Republic of Uyazhen, emerged from the ashes of the Empire.

# **Spoiler**

After the war ended, the support for the project went as well. Chepesh was forced to lend money to finish his work, but luckily the subjects that survived were developed enough that he was able to have them perform duties which could repay some of his moneylenders. After several years, the debts were largely paid of, and Chepesh had his subjects shaped up into proper units that could perform duties for him. One of these was a job to oversee a ritual to trap some spirits that had been haunting a count, called Adovardo dePaulo, that had been granted land and his title as payment for his role during the war. The trap would be the count's newly born bastard grandson, Luciano. Chepesh sent out the promising son of his assistants, Wilhelm, as his first assignment. He called this force the Sanguine Sentinels.

— Iohannan — Kor — Laina — Luciano — Maeve — Mirus —
— Novacarius — Radha — Tiana — Wilhelm — XQ-305 —

— Isaac — Pyka-Rai — Syndroska —

— Thulian† — Rahakh — Fortemus† — Francesco — **Vladicus** —