Theobold Cagus

Theobold the Brave

**Theobold Cagus** was an Argent half-dragon driven from his homeland under suspicion of being a monster before his true nature had fully become clear. Driven to the eastern land of Eliya, Theobold begun life anew as a career adventurer and "mighty warrior". Simple minded but pure of heart, Theobold possessed supernatural strength and agility, as well as several draconic powers that would later manifest on his journeys.

During the events of the Asevian's invasion of the world, Theobold played a vital part in stopping the war and slaying Avok Vos; the Mountain Tyrant, before he would ultimately pass away, leaving his friends behind.

## Information

### Origin and Upbringing

Theobold rarely spoke of his parents, but was originally raised by his father, a soldier of some modest experience before Theo was born, and Theo's mother- an argent dragon the soldier had met out of sheer luck during a deployment. The relationship quickly lead to the father being discharged and though he was initially happy to father a child with his lover, but this quickly turned to resentment as news spread of his bastard child and removal from service. The father's love became abuse as he found comfort to his own shame at the bottom of a bottle.

 Initially, Theo's mother had planned to abscond with him and abandon the child's father to his drinking, when the father had caught wind of this plan, he flew into a rage and became violent- forcing the mother to assume her true form in a moment of extreme stress kill him before he was able to harm the child. Fearing retaliation from the locals, Theo's mother had planned to leave with the child but a scaled monster was not something that could go unnoticed for long, and almost an instant a mob was upon her, forcing her to flee wounded and never to be seen again, leaving Theo to be raised by the town. Given the reverence of argent dragons things might have been different if the townsfolk were not so panicked and able to properly identify the mother for what she was, but she was not so lucky.

 Growing up Theobold was raised by the town's elders and did his best to help around town, but he never quite understood his own strength, and would often break three things before completing one chore. Although the hunters were able to make use of the boy's quickly growing strength, they found it a tad unorthodox with how he would handle the wild animals with his bare hands. On one fateful night, the town was beset upon by a feral shapechanger, driven mad by the return of magic to the world and trapped in the twisted form of bear and man. When the town was helpless to fend off the creature, a young and headstrong Theobold stepped forward to defend the townsfolk using nothing but his strength.

 Although the young Theobold sustained terrible, permanent injuries, he was able to slay the creature and save the townsfolk. Only, rather than being met with cheer, the town grew hostile when they came to realize that the young man had son of the monster that had attacked so many years ago, and they chased him out of town before petitioning a bounty for his death the next day. From then on, Theobold was on the run, and his ability to elude capture lead to him becoming unwelcome in Astria.

Travelling the world, Theobold struggled finding a place in the world and staying in control of his burgeoning powers. Traveling for nearly ten years, Theobold was faced with a lonesome, solitary life where his interactions and relationships with others were fleeting, at best. It was during this time that the half-dragon turned to self reflection and meditation, focusing all his efforts to keeping his emotions and strength in check. Staying devoted to his training throughout his entire life, Theobold became a talented martial artist and the progenitor of the supernatural Dragon Style, a martial discipline working in perfect harmony with his draconic heritage.

It was not until the events surrounding the Asevian Invasion that Theobold's solitude would finally end, meeting four individuals that he would call his friends, and ultimately give his life to protect.

### Arrival at Masara and the Asevian Invasion

Finding his way to the city of Masara within El Deya, Theobold wandered the city aimlessly until he happened upon an adventuring party headed by Zarak Al-Ahmad. Tagging along to explore the Tomb of Marratan, Theobold was placed alongside Lucien Lafayette, Gabrielle Moreau, Tark Zelhardt and Ishka Vural Yasar; four adventurers that the half-dragon would quickly grow attached to.

Within the tomb, the group of five alongside Zarak and Jaeryn of Ivryl discovered a mysterious orb that, when touched, froze time before it began to fill the five with unprecedented levels of power, augmenting their natural abilities and powers to an untold degree. It was this event that allowed Theobold to unlock the full potential of his draconic heritage unlike other half-dragons before him.

Theobold's four companions were constantly at odds with each other throughout the adventure with conflicting goals and beliefs, with Theo in the middle acting as a mediator. Theobold quickly became emotionally attached to his friends and his driving motivation was his vow to keep them safe. During Escha Artaryan's control over the Empire of Asevia's black & red dragons, Theobold strongly desired to subdue the baleful dragons peacefully. With the aid of Gabrielle Moreau, Theobold was able to deliver the killing blow to the Empress' most powerful dragon known as the Mountain Tyrant. It was at this moment Theobold believed that he had failed in his plan to redeem the dragons.

In his final moments on Esria, Theobold confronted Escha Artaryan for her crimes. Theobold knew that she was responsible for killing his mother Aelynvir, but rather than enact retribution, however, Theobold chose to offer forgiveness and a hug to his greatest enemy and murderer of his mother. In response, Escha drove her hand through Theo's chest, killing him instantly. Moments after his death, Lucien Lafayette chose to execute Escha himself and reveal to Ishka and Tark his gambit for power, offering the two an ultimatum; follow or die. In the following conflict between Lucien and Gabrielle versus Ishka and Tark, Ishka retrieved the Dragon's Legacy beside Theobold's corpse and used it to temporarily resurrect the half dragon.

As Theobold rose back to life, he was wracked with confusion and grief as he saw his friends fighting. In a moment of panic he rose his fist to attack Lucien, breaking his vow to keep his friends safe. The attack was futile, and met with looks of disgust from Lucien and Gabrielle, leaving Theobold dejected as they teleported away.

Although two of his four friends were gone, Theobold was able to say his farewell to Ishka and Tark, confessing he did not have the words to thank them enough for being his friends, and promising them they would see each other again, in this life or the next. Guided to the afterlife and heartfelt words of encouragement by Cuthwin Tiller, Theobold finally left the mortal world of Esria. Though heartbroken for having failed and left his friends, Theobold was reassured by the Archangel Israphel himself that the half-dragon had succeeded in saving countless lives, and that he would one day see for himself the legacy that he had left. At last, in Heaven, he was reunited with his mother, Aelynvir.

### Personality

Theobold was uneducated and absent-minded, lacking in basic knowledge but gifted with a heart of gold and a desire to do nothing but good for the sake of others, at any cost to himself. With no understanding of Esria's politics or the laws of heaven, Theobold did not care about the will of the angels and instead relied on his own intuition, often placing himself in great danger to protect others.

Theobold's driving philosophy was that all living things, even creatures as wholly dark as black dragons, were as capable of good as they were evil. Acts of violence would never right any wrongs committed. This ideology was put to the test many times during his life, but his constant acts of mercy were crucial in shaping the future of Esria.