Adrien Victus

> ***“The strategist in me admires their brutality. The turian in me knows I'm watching the destruction of fifteen thousand years of civilization. My civilisation.”** - Adrien, about the Reapers; 2186 CE*
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Adrien Victus Verrikinus was the eldest child of Fabien Victus and his wife, Matidia Verrikan. and the older brother of Fabia Victus and Valexien Victus. He was married twice. His first wife was his bondmate, Saira Caesonia, with whom he had a son named Tarquin Victus. After the death of his wife and son, he would eventually remarry, to his late son's wife, Iacoba Parvus, with whom he had a daughter, Aritaea Victus, and a son, Malkum Victus. He was the paternal grandfather of Fidellion Victus.

Adrien became Primarch of Palaven at the outset of the Reaper War, after Primarch Regnaltus Fedorian I was killed by Reaper forces on Menae. He led the Aurelian Empire against the Reapers as an ally of Desolas Arterius II and was an instrumental force in the Battle of Taetrus and the curing of the Genophage. He was the first primarch to actively fight on the front lines of a war since the Krogan Rebellions, leading his troops to victory at Vallum. He reigned for 33 years and oversaw the reconstruction of Palaven and its colonies, refusing to be ceremonially anointed until every one of his people had their homes rebuilt, a display of solidarity which garnered him much respect from his colonial subjects. Colloquially, he is often called *Adrien Audens*, which translates as "Adrien the Bold".

## Biography

### Death and Legacy

#### Succession proclomation

Throughout his reign, Adrien experienced great amounts of stress, triggered by the burden of his duty and the grief of outliving his bondmate and their son; he blamed himself for the latter's death. While he never openly complained about his burdens or used them as an excuse to shirk his duties, the repression of such painful emotions eventually took its toll on his health.

After the reconstruction efforts he had ordered were finally completed, Adrien's health began to noticeably decline. He would eventually fall ill and was forced to remove himself from public life for the last few months of his reign. Now that his duty was done, it was as if his spirit desired nothing more than to join his bondmate in death. As his most senior duarch, Irix Coronati took on much of Adrien's duties in the weeks before his death, assisted by his fellow duarchs Achaeus Corinthus and Minin Resverix, and Adrien's grandson, Fidellion Victus.

In the days before his death, Adrien summoned Desolas to his bedside to proclaim him as his successor, in light of his status as "Saviour of the Galaxy" and explained how he outranked all other successors for unifying a galaxy, as Aurelion had once unified an empire. Desolas, dismayed and overwhelmed at the thought of being trapped inside a gilded cage, denied Adrien's proclamation and insisted that Irix Coronati be primarch instead. But Adrien made him swear an oath, asking that he protect their people and modernise the empire in a way that would continue to facilitate galactic unity. He understood that only Desolas, the man who had saved them all from extinction, would be capable of bridging the gap between such deep divides.

*"Aurelion made us to be the tip of the spear, the vanguard which devastates its enemies so completely that they can never threaten it again. But now we must transition. We must become the shield that protects this new, fragile peace. Our shared victories may be fresh now but we organics have short memories. This isn't about who gets to sit the Aurelian Throne. It is far greater than that. The **galaxy** needs you, Desolas. Turians, asari, salarians, humans, volus, elcor, hanar, drell, quarians, geth, krogan, batarians... Only **you** can hold us all together. Without you, all that you toiled and bleed for will fall apart."*

Reluctantly, and with bitter tears, Desolas agreed to swear the oath, begrudgingly recognising the wisdom in Adrien's words. He succeeded Adrien as Primarch of Palaven a few days later when Adrien passed away in his sleep. He led the empire in mourning their honoured war hero, a man whom he remembered as a close personal friend. Wanting to show Adrien the honour he deserved, Desolas proposed that the late primarch be recognised as a Living Spirit. The Council of Hierarchs unanimously agreed with him and voted in favour of Adrien's canonisation. Adrien was the first Living Spirit to be canonised in 1400 years, the last being Fidericus Mehrkuri in 800 CE.

#### State funeral and burial

Like all primarchs, Adrien was given a state funeral. All the members of the Council of Hierarchs attended, with other prestigious guests including the Citadel Council, the clan leaders of the Vol Protectorate, the Prime Minister of the Human Systems Alliance, the Matriarchs of the Asari Republics, the Dalatrasses of the Salarian Union, and representatives from myriad other alien governments. As was tradition, Adrien was embalmed immediately after his death (a sacred process which was conducted by his nephew, Justinien Victus) and had lain in state within Temple Palaven for the next seven days, during which time members of the public were permitted to pay their respects. On the eighth day, his body, which was draped with the flag of the Aurelian Empire, was carried out of the temple by seven members of his praetorian guard, to join the awaiting funeral procession outside. From there the funeral procession marched behind their late primarch from the temple to the spaceport, where an awaiting mortuary ship was docked.

Immediately behind Adrien's body, members of the old Imperial Family marched in lockstep - Adrien's wife Iacoba, his daughter Aritaea, his son Malkum, and his grandson, Fidellion, who was accompanied by his wife, Sarena. Behind them, the new Imperial Family - Desolas, his husband Nihlus, his sons Janus and Cassian, and his mother, Maea. Members of the public lined the entire route, wailing in grief and wildly cheering for the primarch who had led the empire to victory against the Reapers. Once the procession arrived at the spaceport, the turian national anthem *Die For The Cause; Stars Behind Me* was played by the 1st Legion's band as Adrien's body was carefully loaded onto the mortuary ship, accompanied by a retinue of spirit priests and his bereaved family and friends. From there, the ship then lifted free from its docking cradle and broke orbit, entering FTL with a course plotted for Bostra, the ancestral homeworld of House Victus.

When the ship landed at Petraea's main spaceport, Adrien's body was carried out by the praetorian guard to the Bostran anthem *Forged of the Desert Sands*, played by the band of the 1st Bostran Colonial Legion. From there it was carried through the streets of Petraea towards the city's ancient necropolis, hundreds of thousands of Bostrans lining the route just as their Palavenian cousins had done. Once the funeral procession passed inside the sacred burial ground the gates were shut behind it, allowing Adrien's family and friends the privacy they needed to finally say goodbye.

As the personal spirit priest of House Victus, Justinien presided over his funeral ceremony. He lit candles and incense sticks and beseeched the spirits to take into their company the spirit of his beloved uncle, to whom they all owed so much. He described his uncle as both a fearless war hero and tactful diplomat, who inspired great loyalty and selflessness in the hearts of his subjects, likening him to *Temerarus*, the turian spirit of boldness. He then sang prayers for the deceased as the assembled members of the funeral party individually paid their respects, placing offerings that would be buried alongside Adrien. The last person to pay their respects was Fidellion, who tearfully kissed his grandfather's death mask and swore an oath to uphold his memory by living according to his example. Adrien's body was then slowly lowered into his awaiting tomb by Justinien, which was then permanently sealed. Adrien was laid to rest beside the body of his first wife and beloved bondmate, Saira Caesonia, and the ashes of his eldest son, Tarquin Victus.

## Trivia

### Character colour palette

* **Plate Colour**: Two-toned; Smokey Grey (#726E6D) and Dune (#383533)
* **Skin Colour**: Quicksand (#BD978E)
* **Eye Colour**: Hazel (#8E7618)
* **Markings Colour**: Eggshell (#F0EAD6)