Roman Sionis (Black Mask)

# Black Mask

## Roman Sionis

Black Mask

*Description Here ~ Justinian*

## History

### Early Life

Roman Sionis was born into the Sionis family, one of Gotham’s elites and a staple into the transitionary age of the early 80s. Throughout the entirety of his childhood, Roman was showered in privileges and statuses that his parents could never live without…. Both facets of the upper-class that he never placed much emphasis on. Though it was through elaborate balls and masquerades that Roman’s parents lavishly spent their wealth on attending and hosting – parties that the young boy grew to despise, along with his parents… parents who sought clout with yuppies as compared to their own son. Each gala that Roman was dragged to he was forced to wear a mask… masks that hid the pompous faces of each entitled individual in Gotham. Those very masks he once resented became a fixation, acquiring each one that he could to remind him of what his parents cherished over their child: expressionless faces. False faces.

In adolescence, Roman was introduced to the love of his life, Circe… a less than reputable individual who had stolen his heart two-fold. They met while Circe was on contract in Janus Cosmetics, the industrial powerhouse behind the Sionis family fortune, and it was in her that Roman was able to find a human that understood him…. That he did not feel betrayed by for merely existing. Fearing the repercussions of his parents for pursuing a woman of low social standing, Roman kept his love affair a secret, bringing her to the many banquets that his parents drug him too…. Hiding Circe behind the masks that his parents clung to so dearly. All of it was for naught, all of the pleasant interactions in the presence of masks, for his parents still forbade that Roman should have any interactions with a commoner…. A person that might damage the reputation that they both sacrificed everything to achieve. That was Roman’s final straw. For more than a decade, the youngest Sionis had cursed the name of his parents for bringing him down a path of falsehood, for subjecting him to a secondary role as his parent’s primary focus was on how they appeared to others. The cycle of pain had to be stopped. Roman would find peace in his deteriorating mental state… and it would come at the expense of his parents.

During his mid-twenties, Roman formulated the plan to have his father and mother assassinated… to be rid of their hypocrisy for the rest of time… All in the name of his love, Circe, and the sanity that had abandoned him long ago. On a cold night, when only his parents resided within their mansion, Roman Sionis set the place ablaze while barring each door and window. Neither of his parents escaped the flames, and the authorities never suspected the aspiring businessman of any foul play… Leaving him in the clear to forge his own destiny, free from the influences of his kin.

Roman took over operations at Janus Cosmetics, another ugly beast that showed the lengths that his parents went to achieve the prestige they desired: it was on the verge of bankruptcy. Through clever calculations and loans, the newly minted CEO was able to keep the business afloat for a number of years before less-than-ideal means had to be utilized to fund the plummeting coffers of Janus Cosmetics…. Methods that  fueled the bloodlust of Roman Sionis. Just as his parents wished to prove themselves through money, Roman wanted to become independent, to lash out to the world on the strength that he had long repressed… the voices in his head that had been begging to be unleashed upon the world one way or the other. That anger was channeled through the construction of an ebony mask, using the wood from his father’s casket, to create the moniker: The Black Mask. This new persona was able to spur about a new criminal organization in the Gothic City, one that began small but steadily served its purpose. The False Face Society each donned masks similar to that of Roman’s, a sight that set them apart from the rest of Gotham. Drugs and firearms – both were the two concrete pillars that the Black Mask used to prop Janus Cosmetics back into a reputable business… though with every passing year, Roman meddled in the criminal underworld far greater than that of his legitimate business – a sign of the tragedy to come.

The mayoral election of 2018 saw Roman Sionis backing the candidate Oswald Cobblepot on the bid that the Penguin would turn a blind eye to the actions of the False Face Society should he win…. Though that move also brought him under the scrutiny of city officials. Multiple investigators were hired to vet the cosmetic business, and even though the paranoid CEO believed he had covered each of his bases…. He was snuffed out by the Batman, the newest pest of Gotham City. Before being detained, Roman snapped mentally, purging the entirety of his organization to try and instill order…. Murdering all those that had dabbled in the affairs of Janus Cosmetics… even his beloved Circe, a woman he no longer felt affectionate towards. Only one survived, his closest confidant: Cori Nugent…. Who he left in charge of his empire, to keep it warm for when he should return from the confines of Arkham Asylum – a destiny he knew was only a matter of time.

That escape came upon the shoulders of Helena Bertinelli and Basilio Falcone, an unlikely duo that sought the criminally gifted Sionis to bring them Gotham on a silver platter in exchange for his freedom. It was an offer that Roman dare not refuse, and one that he could use to his advantage. Upon being freed, along with a new employee in that of Poison Ivy, Roman made it his prerogative to take his revenge on a city that had cast him aside. Aside from the gang wars that began shortly after his release, the Black Mask was opportunistically employed under the League of Shadows to provide them with safe passage into Gotham’s harbor, as well as military supplies for the occupation that was to come. Allies were a rare commodity, yet Roman seized the occasion to distract his enemies… letting the key to all of Gotham remain only an arm’s reach away. Poets say that a dish is best served cold…. But to Roman, it is best served while bathed in blood.

## Powers and Abilities

### Skills

* **Logistics**
* **Expert in torture**
* **Criminally minded**
* **Peak conditioning**