Chartrulean

Chartrulean is the main protagonist of The Madness of Chartrulean. He is a messiah-like figure called the Etruvian, and was raised by Maldoro in the Jhardeho Temple. There, he received care and an education from his matron, Shan, and Prior Magogoso.

Despite his messiah status, he lacks compassion or any real fundamental understanding of humanity. He prefers isolation and experiences extreme social anxiety in public places. He has a bad temper and little regard for the feelings of those around him.

After losing a good chunk of his abilities following The Calamity, he begins to see those around him as people and develops an awareness for how his words and actions impact those around him. Some of this comes at the behest of his mentor Admiral Lapadine, who encourages him to develop leadership traits.

## Chartrulean's Story

### Childhood

Chartrulean spent the first three years of his life at Boethema Labs. He is a product of bioengineering, and does not have known parents. His official designation from Boethema is Etrurial 4012, as he was the 4012th product of the bloodline of Etrurial. It wasn't until he was taken to the temple that Shan gave him the name Chartrulean, meaning "truth seeker."

For most of his childhood, Chartrulean was shielded from the outside world. Maldoro raised him under very strict guidance, forbidding him from indulging his senses. He was taught to suppress any and all emotions and desires, not form attachments, and focus only on gaining spiritual enlightenment for the sake of humanity. Over time, and as a result of his harsh upbringing, he became unsociable and treated others with contempt.

When he was still just a child, he was forced to consume thorbraxas root during a ritual, which put him in a heightened state of perception, and he was able to invoke the Starmaker, Jhardeka. It was during his trance-like state that he was shown glimpses of the future, which.

Because he was so young, the experience took a toll on him mentally, physically, and emotionally. He is now forced to carry the visions he perceived as a child with him through adulthood and base all his decisions off of them.

### The Seminary

When Chartrulean was a teenager, he was allowed to spend several years in Idrica at the Seminary to study Arcas' past. He studies engineering but was notoriously a poor student. He skipped classes and spent most of his days exploring the seminary, solving puzzles, and memorizing the contents of the seminary's extensive library. He was fascinated by art and machinery, and wanted to learn more about Arcas' history with technology.

It was here that he met his only friend, Yoba. Frustrated by his own inability to see the world a more "human" perspective, he asked Yoba to teach him how to be compassionate. In return, Yoba asked Chartrulean to prove that the Starmakers are real. This instigated a friendship between the two. They spent most of their time debating history and politics.

The seminary is also where he found "something he wasn't supposed to see" which severely altered his view of the world. Shortly after making this discovery, Maldoro forced him to return to Simitu and resume his studies in the temple. He was cut off from Yoba, and Maldoro sought to reform him. He barred Chartrulean from the temple archives and limited the information he could access. However, Chartrulean felt his mind had been opened to a greater purpose, and he openly denounced Maldoro and announced his intention to harness Azurea and turn it into usable energy. For this, Maldoro banished him.

### Exile

Maldoro made a public spectacle of Chartrulean's exile, which was attended by a large mob. Chartrulean was forced to walk a gauntlet, where people were allowed to throw objects at him. Despite his fortification against his emotions, and his preparedness for some level of humiliation, the event left a sour taste in Chartrulean's mouth for the general public, and their quickness to form a mob mentality.

In general, he does not hold the populace in high regard, and often drums up his exile as an exemplification of humanity's darkest and least redeemable traits. He struggles to see his contributions to humanity's future as genuinely altruistic, and uses those he trusts as a moral compass. He keeps his eye on the future "potential" of humanity, and views its current preservation as a means to that end.

After his exile, Maldoro was going to force him to traverse the Blighted Valley on foot--which would have meant certain death. However, Magogoso has smugglers move him to Idrica, where he lived in secret under the care of a woman named Ioanna. He spent his time in the seminary where he met Dr. Fillion. FIllion's penchant for finding ancient relics—including old technologies—made them fast friends and allies. It was at the seminary that Chartrulean continued to develop methods for converting azurea into raw energy.

Admiral Lapadine learned about Chartrulean's intentions with Azurea, as well as his whereabouts, through Magogoso. It was Lapadine who identified the potential of Azurea as a means for winning The Long War. He was dispatched by King Starbringer to relocate Chartrulean to Astreus Labs, where he would be given all the necessary resources to continue his research.

### Astreus Labs and The Long War

Chartruean was brought to Astreus Labs without a formal education in engineering or technology. Most of his knowledge was derived from books, some of their contents going back thousands of years.

Admiral Lapadine details the account in Story Compendium 2, "The Berserker":

> "Our hope was to build a new type of ship that would be stronger and faster than our current fleet. The Rau could engineer lots of ships very quickly, and could do so in space. Even though our ships were technologically superior, we knew it would only be a matter of time before they would break through our defenses. We were desperate.
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> Chartrulean’s expertise was mostly the result of independent study, which contradicted what we would have required of a normal engineer working at his level. Our first series of setbacks originated from his inexperience. He showed a base understanding of engineering language, but much of it was, for lack of better words, antique. There was no questioning his talents, especially with the metaphysical. But we had a hard time translating his theories to hard science. He was simply on another level.
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> Chartrulean also had several unusual methods of working. For one, he always seemed to be in conversation with himself. Often he would get stuck on a problem, disappear, and emerge hours later with the answer. He learned formidably fast, and the amount of information he could process rivaled any computer. But the more he learned, the more he wanted to control. He was irrevocably driven, and showed blatant disregard for others. He pushed away collaborators, especially those who contradicted him.
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> Slowly people left the project due to his toxic behavior, and for a while we didn’t seem to be making any progress. To make matters worse, all initial tests were failures. We were close to shutting the program down when Chartrulean asked to travel to Idrica. He returned with nine strange youths, all refugees of the pariah race, Jhardekai. It was then that things took a turn.
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> Like Chartrulean, these youths had extraordinary physical and mental abilities. They were ideal soldiers with unrivaled combat perception and heightened intuition. They also helped us explore new possibilities for psychokinetic weapons and other interfaces. The most gifted of the Jhardekai, Havelion, became Chartrulean’s protege. Havelion was the only person who could challenge him, which ultimately contributed to the development of better, stronger weapons.
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Havelion's Journal chronicles these events from the Paladins' point of view, detailing the mental, emotional, and physical hardships that The Nine's development entailed.

> "His mind is always a few steps–generations, even–ahead. It’s almost like he absolutely doesn’t care what happens right now. How he feels, how we feel, if we live, if we die, none of it. It’s all a means to some far-future end, which is why I guess he is the way he is."
> "He kept us in the simulations for sixteen hours. It was really bad. I was convinced that today, of all days, someone would crack. Not one of us did, not even Famke, who looked like he might die at the end of it and had to be carried to the infirmary. I don’t know if I’m proud or worried that no one is standing up to this abuse. There are only thirty hours in the day, he can’t ask this of us. The simulations are really stressful, and to go that long without a break is that much worse. If this continues, I’m going to say something."
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Havelion's Journal is releasing bi-weekly on Patreon.
After a year of rigorous testing and development, Chartrulean had developed nine prototype interceptors, which were called simply The Nine. In addition to that, teams within Astreus were actively building azurea reactors appropriate for several on and off-world uses. Lapadine write:

> It was through Chartrulean’s camaraderie with Havelion (and I’d like to think somewhat myself) that he learned how to work with others and be forgiving of our faults. He learned to trust us, and even recognize his own areas of weakness. Other great minds eventually returned, and the program stabilized. The azurea project ultimately succeeded, “The Nine” were born, and the rest is history."
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### The Calamity

The Nine were pre-emptively deployed in a battle against the Rau at the urging of several generals working under Admiral Lapadine. A large Rau fleet were approaching Arcas in a direct affront. Once deployed, however, the generals walked back on their strategy almost immediately, giving the excuse that bolstering their defensive line had taken priority after they caught sight of the size of the attacking fleet. This left The Nine completely on their own against 900 Rau warships. Despite the odds, the paladins were able to work as a team to deploy their ultimate weapon, a canon that combined the energy beams of all nine ships into one deadly energy beam. The blast also eliminated many enemy ships within a wide radius of their location.

However, during the canon's deployment, something unexplainable happened. The ships ceased to respond to the paladins' commands, apparently exercising free will. This overloaded The Nine's systems and caused a mysterious mutation in the azurea that infected the operators, leaving paladins Ditran and Homena in critical condition.

The canons were stopped by Chartrulean through psychokinetic means from a distance, which also left him scarred. The mutation was nicknamed the berserker.

The Nine destroyed a large battleship and scattered the attacking armada, which caused the remaining fleet to double back. The blast both scared and intrigued the Rau, who agreed to a ceasefire shortly afterwards. Even though the event, which people referred to at "the calamity," was a success, those close to its events viewed it at a red flag for internal tensions to come. Admiral Lapadine fired the generals who abandoned The Nine, and accusations of bribery and bigotry were levied against them.

Chartrulean laments bending to others for political reasons.

> "The generals set us up to fail, and it almost worked."
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## Abilities

Chartrulean is Etruvian, meaning he has the advanced gifts of all three starmakers: an elevated mind, body, and spirit. He can enter a state of heightened reality called "the void" . While in the void, he can slow time, view people and objects in ways beyond the visible spectrum, and conjure visions. He uses it as a gateway to his mind, where he has built several metaphysical chambers where he stores critical information and memories.

Physically, Chartrulean is Jhardekai, meaning he has the ability to conjure azurea through touch through his azurea epicenter. The Jhardekai nervous system is different from human's, and is designed to carry azurea in the form of energy. This becomes significant in Astreus' development of technologies that enhance this natural ability and turn it into weapons, wearable armor, and other technologies. Azurea also provides nourishment, giving Chartrulean the ability to go longer periods of time without a need to eat, exercise, or drink water. This helps him during extended periods of meditation.

Chartrulean is taller and broader than average men, and has denser bones and muscle tissue. He rarely uses these advantages, and instead focuses on his mental abilities to aid him in his work.