Cassian Chronos

*"Who am I to deny the ascension of man?"*

*- Cassian Chronos speaking to the people of Aurica Major.*

Cassian Sylvester Chronos is a Prisoner within the city of Aurica Major, between Outer and Inner Abaddon. He is a tall, bulky individual with noticeable luminescent eyes in well taken care of clothes. He is a generally rude individual with a strong Irish accent, and tends to take leadership of whatever situation he is in rather quickly.

Though rude, he seems to mean well in most situations, even having a more heart-to-heart conversation with the Unchained Prisoner, where he explained his intentions in helping the six make their way to Gahenna, to stop the dilapidation of Abaddon.

## Details

### Connections

Henry Davos, Anthony Junior, Dr. Marrow, Auricas Ecclesia

## Description

Cassian is 190cm tall, and weighs 88kg, with a bulky muscular physique. He has pale rough skin, with brown crudely slicked up hair and a maintained stubble. His eyes are noticeably luminescent and icy blue. In clothing, he sports a white collared shirt paired with a black tie, and a gray waistcoat. He has a pair of black gloves covering up scarring on his hands, and wears a black belt with an off-gold shotgun holstered onto it. He has a knee length brown dusty overcoat, with black formal trousers and black pointed shoes.

## Ardent Capability

Cassian is physically strong, however claimed a lack of superhuman ability. He holds peak human fitness. He seems to be able to manipulate and engage with metal of varying kinds, whether this is his own ability or that of his so called "friends", is unknown, though he does have access to it. He physically transformed Val's body, forming a radio in his chest, and is repeatedly associated with metal.

## Character

Cassian Chronos is notable for his hand as one of the three founders of Aurica Major, as well as its smaller counterpart Aurica Minor. He is revered among the townsfolk, with multiple statues in his honour scattered around the city. He is revered for his progression of the city's industry, laws and luxury, he owns multiple factories of varying kinds across the city, including metal factories which create parts for the creation of industrial tools, weapons and augmentations, though the latter has not seen public access.

Cassian seems to have the heaviest hand in actually running the city, having displayed the most interest and passion in the city itself, compared to his counterparts Marrow and Anthony, which both seem more interested in their own goals. Although he does hold interest in the city, he has a notably poor relationship with Marrow and Anthony, both of which resent him for a reason not entirely clear, although his repeated strong disagreements with the two are likely part of the reason. Cassian's insistence to keep the Prisoner in the city even after their intrusion in Marrow's laboratory, and his assurance to the Prisoner that he meant well in wanting to see them succeed was heavily opposed by the other founders, so much so that the only way he could convince them was to offer his own resignation should the Prisoner offend the city again. All this coupled with his rude demeanor makes Cassian a generally disagreeable person in his environment, even if he does mean well.

Cassian also appears to be against the Auricas Ecclesia, having spoken poorly about them in the past, a notably different view from his subordinate Henry who had a more neutral view on the Ecclesia. Cassian's paired extreme hesitation to allow the main Prisoner to enter the Aurican Temple creates a clear connection between Cassian and the Auricas Ecclesia, suggesting a history which caused his disdain.

Cassian also has a notable distaste towards nobility and higher society, seemingly in belief that despite his own position, he does not consider anyone to be above anyone else, and believes it important for all to work as one.

## Story

*Extract from a biography on Cassian Sylvester Chronos in the Official Librarium of Aurica Major.*

"Cassian Chronos was originally a resident of Paradise, specifically in the city of Deephaven, a technologically advanced and large city with a network of criminal activity, Cassian spent much of his time climbing the ranks of one of said criminal networks, and eventually raised to overtake what was in practice, a criminal syndicate. He worked not as an intensely evil person, he was in fact responsible for an overall decrease in violent crime within the city, and he was certainly a man of values, he was a professional, and deemed himself far from the animalism of murderers and thugs.

Over time, he grew tired of his work, and wanted to do something more impactful with his life, which caused him to begin seeking information on stronger leadership, winning over an audience, and in making the most of his form, which is when he began to exercise heavily, and spend most of his time reading old books and texts, he became a rather large individual, gaining a peak human physical stature.

Eventually, he decided to abandon his criminal past, travelling to the city of Aeryos, which was across the ocean on another continent compared to Deephaven. Here he decided to become invested in politics, garnering attention and support from a large audience due to his speeches of equality and increased benefit for all, tearing down the idea of nobility. His strength in speech came from his knowledge, being deceptively smart, especially as he was often prejudiced due to his rude and loud demeanor as well as his large stature, he came across as a brute despite outwitting opponents.

One day, during his efforts in climbing the city's political ladder, he disappeared, gone from Paradise, taken by the Gravetender to Abaddon in order to serve as Prisoner, yet he had no Eidolon guiding him, he was a Drifter, a form of Prisoner who does not have an Eidolon, and who does not experience the influence of Gahenna. Upon his landing, he quickly found his way to the closest city, Origin, the Hearth of the World. Within Origin he found himself surrounded by power and force far beyond past self's scope in Paradise, here being human made you nothing, as only those touched by Pale Gold saw their efforts rewarded, it was a living nightmare for him, a human who sought equality.

With his world upheaved, he decided the first course of action would be leaving Origin, and travelling to the City of the Sands, Aurica. It was the second largest city on the border of Inner and Outer Abaddon, and it was a city of far predominantly humans, ruled by the Auricas Ecclesia, a cult in worship of the Mistful Presence, Auricas. Here he found opportunity, he was among his own people again, and he had no past to drag him down. He made his way into the city, worked for taverns and factories and eventually raised enough status to wish for honourary membership of the Ecclesia, to which he was granted after his charisma won for him once again. He had now partially joined the leadership, and had access to their speakings and meetings, which allowed him to build knowledge of this place. He learned that the Auricas was not entirely in agreement with his philosophy, he knew that this could not be his permanent ally.

One thing the Auricas did have, was power. Strange power, the 'Deitic' they worshipped was like nothing he had seen before, a force which responded to their calls, it watched over the city according to the Ecclesia, and he felt it true. It inspired Cassian to seek tomes and texts on the workings of the Deitics, which as far as he knew before, was simply mythical ramble. He learned of the Deitics deeply, and grew invested in the Auricas Ecclesia. Eventually however, the Ecclesia disappeared without a trace, and the temple locked away. Cassian picked up the pieces, gave inspiration and motivation to the people, and took over together with Dr. Marrow and Anthony as the New Founders, the Council of Aurica."

During the events of March Onward, Cassian has played a relatively major role, debuting in Episode 1 and being the first voice the Unchained Prisoner heard that was not of their own. He had somehow planted small rounded communications devices in various places along the Prisoners' route, including in the corpse of some large creature, and in the catalogue of a wanderer. He helped to guide the party's path out of Outer Abaddon and into Aurica, as well as warning them of dangers such as the Scavengers.

Upon reaching the city, Cassian informed the Prisoner group of his location, which was at one of his metal factories near the center of the city. Here he introduced himself, maintaining his rude personality, yet acting more genuine than normal. He explained to the party his intentions, speaking on the decaying environment within Gahenna, as well as the party's role as Prisoner being important in keeping the City, and much of the world itself from falling into a dark depression. He promised to get the party to Gahenna. The overall plan changed after a break-in by the Black Hand, who stole Athena, the group's companion, and Cassian gave his word that he would support the party in finding her.

Eventually, after the incident at Marrow's laboratory, Cassian would once again show his support of the party by interrupting the trial which was to expel the Prisoner group from the city, back into the Outer Abaddonian wastelands. He promised that the Prisoner group would be useful, and better the city, and promised further that he would resign his position if his word did not hold up, which convinced the other two founders, and revealed a clear animosity between the founders. After the trial, Cassian moved the management of the party to his close subordinate, Henry Davos.

After the transition to Henry, Cassian has been less involved directly, with Henry assuring the party that Cassian no longer monitored the group's activity, although Cassian did seem aware that the group was being teleported to Marrow's laboratory, suggesting he still does keep watch on the Prisoner group's situations. Despite this, he takes little or no hand in their activities. He did strictly deny entry to the Temple of Aurica, however, after being pressured by Henry, Marrow as well as Anthony, he let up, allowing the party entry to the Temple.

> *"Scavengers Lads, Run!"*
>
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## Trivia

* Cassian's favourite food is grain porridge.
* The name Chronos can be associated with Time, as it is the name of the Greek titan of time, Chronus.