Gaius I Vardyn

Emperor Sylus I Vardyn (half-brother)

Emperor Darius II Vardyn (brother)

Empress Dyanna Vardyn (sister-wife)

Lucian I Vardyn (nephew)

Emperor Gaius I Vardyn, better known as Gaius the Vile or Wicked Gaius, is the fourth Emperor of Andvar. His is regarded as one of the worst Emperors in the nation's history, having given himself over to the worship of the demon lord R'zator, taking many of his female relatives as wives, plunging the realm into chaos and sacrificing his own children to a demon lord. His seven years in power are known by historians as the Reign of the Lecher, and his rule saw the country sent into madness, mostly due to the influence of the Cult of R'zator. His corrupted reign nearly undid the work of his father, Emperor Darius I in forming the Empire of Andvar, and his nephew and successor, Lucian I, spent much of his own reign attempting to heal the wounds his uncle had left upon the realm.

## Biography

### Early Life

Gaius was born during the final years of the Heroic Era. His father would one day become Emperor Darius I Vardyn. Gaius was the youngest of his father's children by his second wife, Fierna Karrovil, having an elder half-brother, Sylus, an elder brother Darius, and an elder sister, Dyanna. The first few years of Gaius's life were spent in the Crimson Keep, while his grandfather, Saint Kryxus, still reigned. When Kryxus took his own life, Gaius and his siblings were told by his father that their grandsire had grown weary of life, and simply wished to pass on the mantle of rule.

As most of Gaius's father's time was spent tending to the realm, and his older siblings assisted Darius in that venture, the primary source of affection in Gaius's life was his mother Fierna. Gaius was very attached to his mother during his early years, scorning any wet nurse and refusing to be weaned until he was four. It was at that age when Gaius was taken to Wyrm Isle by his sister Dyanna, where he bonded with a golden wyvern hatchling that he named Mydas, having picked the beast out due to his splendid coloration. This would result in him later taking a golden wyvern as his personal sigil

As he grew older, Gaius took up training at arms with his elder brother Darius and sister Dyanna, though he was too young to assist them and their father in his Conquest. Gaius entered princedom and his pubescent years, he discovered his greatest passion was found between a woman's thighs. Charming, handsome, and most importantly, royal, the young prince soon began dallying with fisherwives, whores, and the ladies of his father's court.

### Descent into Darkness

It was in the year of CE 11 that Gaius first encountered the woman who would be his doom. Rayna the Red, she was called, for the fire in her hair. She was a recent arrival to a brothel that the prince frequented, and quickly became the most expensive whore there, which attracted his interest. Before every one of their dalliances, Rayna would pray to a black idol of a horned man with emeralds for eyes, and each one of the couplings that followed was thereafter astounding in pleasure.

## Physical Appearance

Originally, Gaius was a slender, graceful, and handsome youth, possessed of the pale hair and red eyes typical of those of the Vardyn bloodline. However, his years of debauchery, excess, and corruption as Emperor led him to becoming pudgy and round faced, with his pallor becoming blotchy and unhealthy in appearance.

## Personality

Gaius was clever and charming as a youth, but always was noted as a selfish, ostentatious, and greedy. He was known for his voracious lust, and enjoyed using his influence as Prince to bring any woman he desired into his bed. After taking up worship of the Cult of R'zator, Gaius sank further into his vices, and eventually refused to restrain himself at all. He became lazy, spiteful, and corrupt, yet still maintained his cunning, and managed to arrange the assassination of his elder brother, Darius, and steal the throne.