Claudius Victus

Claudius Victus Korilinus is the son and only child of Matien Victus and his wife, Laurentia Korilius. He is also the maternal grandnephew of Primarch Adrien Victus and the paternal second cousin of Primarch Fidellion Victus. He has been married twice; first to Lysia Marnek, which was an arranged union, and second to Julia Parnum, which was a love match. Claudius is the current parriarch of the Andromeda branch of House Victus. His current heir presumptive is his son, who is expected to succeed his father, barring the birth and promotion of any future siblings above his rank.

During the Night of Martyrs, his family was together when assassins murdered them. That night, he lost his mother, father, and his wife Lysia, who was five months pregnant.

Shortly after Antraxes was inducted as Primarch, Claudius tried to assassinate him. Antraxes neutralised him and had him tortured before he was exiled. He was found in his broken state by Cassian Arterius, who had him nursed back to health.

Claudius remained in seclusion with the Arterius family and joined them on the venture to the Andromeda Galaxy.

Claudius' late wife, Lysia Marnek, was the daughter of *Decurio*Kallum Marnek of the 9th Platoon, who gave his life to protect Tarquin Victus as he was attempting to remotely disarm the turian bomb on Tuchanka. Claudius and Lysia were third cousins; Claudius' great-great-grandmother, Kalla Marnek, was the sister of Lysia's great-great-grandfather.

## Biography

### Refuge in Andromeda

In Andromeda, Claudius underwent cybernetic surgery in an attempt to repair the damage inflicted by his torture. While he did regain most of his mobility he struggles with post-traumatic osteoarthritis in his hands and feet, caused by the repeating breaking of his bones, which he manages with physiotherapy and pain medication. Due to his injuries, Claudius struggles with tasks that required high levels of dexterity or walking and standing for extended periods. As such, he is unable to serve in the militia. When he does have to travel for extended periods or his pain becomes too acute, he uses a wheelchair.

Claudius is extremely close with the Arterius family, whom he lives with. He was formally adopted by Nihlus and Desolas Arterius but chose to retain and use his surname of Victus, out of respect for his blood family's memory. The concept of family legacy is very close to his heart, especially since he highly suspects he is the only Victus in the Andromeda galaxy. He continues to observe the traditions of House Victus and has begun to pen a new family chronicle to preserve its storied history. In accordance with Bostran religious tradition, Claudius maintains a family shrine, in which he honours the memory of his lost house and his murdered relatives.

After he had settled in Andromeda, Claudius finally bestowed a name upon his unborn son, which he and his wife had previously not decided upon before the time of her death. He chose the name Lysius Victus, in honour of his late wife and Lysius' mother, Lysia.

### Julia Parnum

Being conscious of the fact he is the only Victus left in his new galaxy, Claudius experienced psychological pressure to continue his lineage to safeguard it for the future. However, due to the unresolved trauma surrounding the deaths of his late wife and unborn child, he was afraid of moving on, believing that doing so would be a betrayal of their memory. However, he would eventually fall in love with a woman named Julia Parnum, a Milky Way historian, who shared his love of turian history. Over time the two became friends, with Claudius volunteering to help her with the establishment of a historical reliquary for the new turian colony.

When Julia begins to upload the genetic information of all the colonists into a new database, as per turian custom, to preserve their Milky Way lineages, Claudius finally confides in her about his Victus heritage. Surprised to find a member of one of the empire's great houses outside its borders, Julia questions him on why he truly came to Andromeda. Claudius tells her that he was seeking political asylum after Antraxes' coup and tells her about how his immediate family were murdered on his orders. He then shows her the new family chronicle he has been working on in his spare time, telling her about each of the people listed in it. Julia, equal parts fascinated and sympathetic, asks for permission to upload his work into her database, stating *"...What happened to your family is a part of our shared history. It would be an honour for me to preserve their memory for future generations."* Claudius, touched by her concern for him and her respect for his deceased relatives, agrees to her request.

In time, Claudius would open up about his experience of the Night of Martyrs to Julia. He tells her how Antraxes' crooked Blackwatch agents had infiltrated their home and massacred his grandparents, parents, wife and unborn son, and how he had tried and failed to avenge them by killing Antraxes himself. Overcome with grief, he tearfully recounts how he lay each murdered family member on the floor of their reception room, unable to carry them due to his injuries, and had draped House Victus banners over them to preserve their dignity. He then attempted to find a spirit priest to tend to their bodies but, due to the anarchy that had erupted in the city, he was unable to find one. Growing desperate, he had tried calling his uncle Justinien, who was a spirit priest on Bostra, but all communications in the city had been deliberately cut. Enraged and stricken with grief, Claudius eventually passed out due to blood loss while standing vigil at his family's side. He was later found by his cousin, Fidellion Victus, who had him immediately taken to the hospital. Fidellion then contacted Justinien, who arranged for House Victus' private mortuary frigate, the *THV Aeterna*, to collect the bodies of Claudius' family for embalming and burial on Bostra.

Claudius describes visiting his family before their joint funeral, accompanied by his uncle and cousin. Upon seeing their perfectly embalmed bodies wearing their lifelike death masks, he had begun to weep. When he asked about the fate of his unborn son, Justinien gently told him that he had embalmed his body to the best of his abilities but confessed that, due to the fact the boy's body was not fully developed, it had proved a very difficult task. He then presented Claudius is a tiny cryogenic stasis box, which contained the remains of his son, wrapped in white linen. Justinien asked if the boy had a name - something which he required to be able to probably perform the funeral rites - but Claudius was unable to answer him, collapsing into a fit of unrestrained grief and cursing himself for having survived. Back in the present, Claudius confesses to Julia that he feels ashamed that he never gave his son a name, for a spirit without an identity was doomed to wander the Void, forever searching for the way to Eternity.

Julia, now crying herself, placed a hand over his. *"I...am so sorry, Claudius. I don't know what else to say..."*

*"There is nothing to say, other than I should have died with them. I should have died when I failed to avenge them. Yet, here I am...still alive. This is my punishment for my failure, as a grandson, a son, a husband, a...f-father. The Spirits have a twisted sense of humour."* Suddenly, feeling overwhelmed by the images flooding his brain, he began to apologise profusely for his behaviour before abruptly leaving, leaving Julia standing alone in the middle of the library.

Julia chose to give Claudius some space for a few days after his explosive confession, for fear of triggering him further. However, Claudius misinterpreted this as rejection and grew ever more melancholy, believing that he had ruined their friendship with his depressive outburst. Noticing his adopted son's unhappiness, Nihlus discreetly went to Julia and asked her to visit Claudius, explaining that Claudius was very fond of her and was afraid he had spooked her off. Julia agreed. The next day, she surprised Claudius with a visit, which brightened his mood immensely. Once again he began to apologise profusely but she stopped him, telling him that he had nothing to be sorry for. The pair of them then went for a stroll to clear the air and take Claudius' mind off the past.

Overlooking the colony, as the sun began to set, Julia broached the subject that Nihlus had raised with her the previous day. *"So, I hear that you are fond of me."*

Claudius blinked. *"What? I mean, yes, yes, of course. We're friends, aren't we? Wait...who said that?"*

Julia laughed, amused by how flustered he was getting. *"That would be telling."*

Claudius cleared his throat awkwardly, his throat visibly flushing blue. After a long silence, he spoke. *"Well, whoever it was, and I have a pretty good idea of who...they're right. I **am** fond of you. Since coming to this galaxy, you're the only new friend I've managed to make. Everyone else just looks at me with pity. But not you. You actually seem to like me, for who I am..."* he trailed off, clearly embarrassed. Julia came to stand next to him, placing a hand over his, as she had on the night he had told her the truth about his family. She waited patiently for him to continue, stroking the back of his hand with her thumb. *"....Your friendship means everything to me. When I'm with you, I feel like I can just be...Claudius."*

*"You always were 'just Claudius',"* Julia knelt beside him, looking directly into his steel grey eyes. *"And I am very fond of 'just Claudius'..."*

Claudius attempted to swallow away a lump that had formed in his throat but found that he couldn't, his mouth suddenly bone dry. He tried to speak but all that came out was a raspy squeak of a sound. The way that her sapphire-blue eyes blazed in the dying light of the evening sun seemed to enthral him, their deep gravity slowly drawing him into her orbit until the pair of them were so close together, their beaks brushing, forehead plates touching. He paused, his breath coming in tremulous pants, his heart hammering against his ribs, unable to move. Then she was kissing him. After being momentarily frozen in shock, his eyelids fluttered closed as a wave of endorphins flooded his system, overwhelming him with contentment. He allowed himself to kiss her in return, albeit still rather timidly, gradually losing himself in her touch. But a sudden pang of guilt struck like lightning through his heart, forcing him to pull away. Julia blinked, confused.

*"Claudius? What's wrong?"*

*"I-..."* he began. A ghostly image of Lysia flashed across his vision, her throat slit, her eyes glazed over in death, laying in a pool of her own blood. His eyes were misty with tears as he reopened them. *"...I-'m sorry. I shouldn't have. Forgive me."*

*"It was I who kissed you; you needn't apologise."*

*"No, it's not that. It's..."* Another image of his later wife was dredged up from his memory, wrapped in white linen, wearing a death mask of brown zircon and moonstone, its painted turquoise eyes staring up at him, unblinking, as he wept over her freshly embalmed body. He began to silently cry.

Julia seemed to realise then, her eyes widening. *"...You're still grieving. Spirits, forgive me, I was out of line. I should never-..."*

*"No,"* Claudius interjected, grasping her hands in his with desperate need. *"You weren't. I **wanted** you to do it. I still do. But...every time I close my eyes, all I see is Lysia..."*

*"Oh, Claudius..."*

## Trivia

### Character colour palette

* **Plate colour**: Vampire Grey (#55504E)
* **Skin colour**: Smokey Grey (#78706E)
* **Eye colour**: Dove Grey (#6D6C6C)
* **Markings colour**: Double Spanish White (#E6D7B9) (originally White, faded with age)