Demetrius Beck

Archmage Demetrius Beck, Master of History, is an Arcadian Archmage and former adventurer.

## Appearance

Demetrius is a human man, shorter than average, with red hair and bright blue eyes. There is a thin white scar encircling his right wrist. His ceremonial archmage robes are royal blue.

## Personality

Demetrius is generally reserved and composed. He tends to get lost in his own thoughts. Unless he is with people he is comfortable with or in an important meeting, he rarely talks and only speaks when he thinks it is necessary. When he talks, most people consider him charismatic, though he becomes uncomfortable when people point it out.

Demetrius is kind and tries to help people when he can. He also has a love of history.

Demetrius suffers from nightmares about his time as Kyle Strickler's student, and his time as Theodosia Marquette's captive.

## Biography

Demetrius was born in 1580 PS. He had a happy childhood until his parents mysteriously died when he was 12. Unbeknownst to him, Demetrius's parents were killed by Kyle Strickler, the Archmage of Research and headmaster of the Midmoor School of Magic. Shortly after their deaths, Kyle offered Demetrius an apprenticeship.

Demetrius's training at the hands of Kyle Strickler was cruel and torturous, and he suffered harsh punishments when he failed to meet Strickler's expectations. Strickler also occasionally messed with his mind and his memories with his magic. Demetrius was at one point forced to help torture one of Strickler's experiments.

In 1598, Demetrius formed an escape plan and escaped from Strickler's tutelage. As he was running away, he encountered Averford Gallus, a half elf warlock. Averford helped him escape and invited him to stay in her home. The two of them lived at the edges of Arcadia for a time, completing little odd jobs for various guilds. Eventually, they met monk Xiao Kai and barbarian Ziya Niano, and Averford called her brother Verin Gallus. Together, the five of them formed an adventuring party.

In 1606, Demetrius eventually got the courage to expose Strickler when he heard that he had already gotten a new apprentice. His fellow adventurers immediately agreed to help. They located Stickler's secret laboratory and convinced his new apprentice, Giorno DiGiuseppi, to testify against him. With the evidence brought forth, the Arcadian Archmages voted to oust him and imprison him. Following the trial, Demetrius offered Giorno a place to stay at his home, feeling guilty for all the hurt he'd indirectly caused him.

Strickler was replaced by Jayda Haro, whom Demetrius was wary of. He decided to stick around the Archmages to see what kind of person Jayda was. His worries were assuaged one night when he witnessed the way Jayda treated a mistake their apprentice, Regina Nightshade, made. He and Jayda became good friends.

Shortly after Strickler's imprisonment, Demetrius, Verin, and Giorno were captured by Theodosia Marquette, who was also called "Strickler's Butcher." During their time as captives, Theodosia severed Demetrius's right hand. They were saved when Kai, Zietur, Jayda, Averford, and Anabel Gallus stormed the stronghold and Anabel killed Theodosia. Demetrius's hand was able to be reattached.

In 1607, after Vivian Marquette was ousted from the Arcadian Archmages for various crimes, Demetrius was voted to take her place due to the name he had made for himself while adventuring and exposing Strickler. Although he was reluctant to take the position, Verin, Jayda, and his friends encouraged him to take the position to have the power to prevent more incidents like what happened with Strickler and Marquette.

Demetrius's work as the Master of History often brought him to the Arcadian palace to work. He met the princes of Arcadia through Anabel Gallus, since she was a member of the Arcadian Crown Guard. Since then, Demetrius often visited the princes. Demetrius also asked Jayda for a job as a professor at Midmoor; they obliged.

### A Tale of Two Kingdoms

Demetrius is seen but not named in the prologue, where a young Adrien and Florien are seen clinging to him while their father is enraged. He ushers them away from Escadus as his rage grows.

## Relationships

### Family

Demtrius considers his entire adventuring party his family despite their lack of blood relation.

* Verin Gallus: Verin is Demetrius's partner. They became close friends once they started adventuring together, before becoming romantically involved. Demetrius considers Verin to be the person who knows him the best, the one who witnessed him as his absolute lowest and still decided to stick with him.
* Averford Gallus:
* Xiao Kai: Demetrius and Kai are close friends, despite their contrasting personalities. Demetrius came to trust her after he broke through her hard exterior and saw she was a good person at heart who wished to bring justice into the world. Demetrius considers her a sister. Not being able to contact her through the war took a toll on him.
* Zietur
* Anabel Gallus: Anabel is his sister-in-law. Demetrius and Anabel became close during their work at the palace.

### Friends

* Jayda Haro: When Jayda first became an Archmage, Demetrius was wary of them due to his experience with Strickler. Demetrius did more work at the palace to subtly spy on Jayda to find out what kind of person they were. His worries were assuaged when he saw the way they interacted with their own apprentice, Regina. Demetrius felt bad for spying on them and confessed what he did, but Jayda understood and forgave him. The two subsequently became close friends. Jayda was one of the people who encouraged Demetrius to take the offer of becoming an Archmage to incite the changes he wanted to see.
* Genna Turunen: Genna and Demetrius are in a book club together and seem to be good friends with enough context to message each other semi-regularly.

### Enemies

* Moiyro Maddalark: Moiyro Maddalark is a former Midmoor professor. Even though Demetrius thought him a little strange and a little too chaotic, they once got along well, even collaborating on an endeavor to banish the spirit of Zav'ida Zistal to the afterlife permanently. However, Demetrius renounced Maddalark after it was discovered that he was keeping a young Mal Wrayburn at Midmoor to study. Though he let Maddalark go, since his position as an Arcadian Assembly archmage wouldn't allow for him to personally fight Maddalark, he warned Maddalark never to return to Midmoor and promised that if they ever met again, he would not show mercy.

## Abilities

### General Abilities

* Magic: Demetrius is a skilled magic user, particularly with transmutation magic.