vengeance Casius Flann, Mesmerist

[Phntm888]

Hell's Vengeance - Stat Block

WIP

 

Backstory and Appearance

Backstory

Casius is the youngest son of Eggerton Flann, Baron of Nurless, an insignificant flyspeck of a barony far from the center of Chelish power, Egorian. His older brother, Brutus, is set to inherit the barony, and so Eggerton spends all his time the older son, not concerned with the younger at all. Casius’s mother wasn’t particularly nurturing, either, spending much of her time either bitterly complaining about how she no longer graced the opera stage and the rest in her room with fainting spells. Casius was mostly raised by a combination of nannies and governesses, many of whom would only be employed for a year or two before his mother fired them for some offense that only existed in her mind.

The only strong, central figure in his life was Damodus Crenn, his father’s master-at-arms. Responsible for teaching Casius and Brutus how to fight with weapons, Crenn was also a former Chelish soldier and hard disciplinarian. He handled Casius’s bouts of insubordination with a hard beating, and Casius quickly learned to tow the line with him. It was likely Crenn’s hard discipline that kept him from becoming a complete scoundrel in his early years. That would soon change, though.

As Casius approached his teenage years, he began noticing that, when he ordered the halfling servants to do something, sometimes they would go glassy eyed before obeying his commands. He began noticing it with other people, as well, growing up. There were other things, as well - if he focused his attention on someone, he could make them feel pain, and they always seemed to be more susceptible to his suggestions. Unsure of the source of these strange powers, Casius decided to test them - on Damodus Crenn.

The next time he was insubordinate with Crenn, he focused on him as he approached, and ordered him not to punish him for his insubordination. Crenn stopped in his tracks, met Casius’s eyes - and then obeyed his orders. Casius was thrilled. He now had the key to near unlimited freedom - but first, he needed to understand it. The only way he would do that was by attending a wizarding academy. Approaching his father, he used the same trick to convince him to send Casius to the Egorian Academy of the Magical Arts. It worked again, and Casius was soon bound for Egorian - along with a guaranteed allowance, courtesy of his mother, since she was just as susceptible to his gift.

Once at the Egorian Academy, he began learning about his gift, trying to understand it. Although he did well learning the basic foundations of magic theory and spellcraft, he also learned that whatever his abilities were, they were not magic of the sort taught by the Academy, and for that he had no gift. After only a year, it became clear to his instructors that he would never learn, and so he was informed he would not be returning to the Academy. Disappointed, but understanding, Casius had learned enough to be able to shape his gift. Where students of the Egorian Academy memorized spells and cast them using words, gestures, and sometimes specific materials, Casius’s gift instead relied on emotion and thought. It came to him as naturally as breathing, without the need for study.

Still, Casius enjoyed life in Egorian, and knew that once his father found out he had been kicked out of the Academy, he’d be stuck in Nurless for an interminable time, he instead made sure that the message he’d been kicked out never reached his father. He faked grades, told them it was going well, and redirected the money that his father paid to the Academy to his own pockets. Given freedom for what felt like the first time in his life, Casius rented a flat in the capital and spent his days honing his gift and his nights drinking and carousing with other young nobles. Life was good for him - too good, as it turned out. His father sent a letter to the Academy for Casius, telling him that he would be visiting him while in Egorian on business. The Academy sent a letter back, informing his father that Casius was no longer a student there. When Casius went back to visit on his “break”, his father confronted him about the deception, and Casius learned just how limited his gifts were. By the time his father was finished, his allowance had been revoked, the false tuition payments would cease, and while his father didn’t completely disown him, he did tell Casius not to return to the family seat until he could pay back the money he’d misappropriated.

Suddenly cut off from his financial source, Casius desperately gathered together his resources and tried to figure out a way to avoid death and starvation on the streets - an embarrassment, to be sure. Desperate, and still possessed of his finery, he hatched what seemed like a foolish plan - use his gift and apparent position to swindle others out of their money. He was incredibly nervous the first time he went to try it, although he’d chosen his target well. She was an aging baroness with a penchant for forgetfulness and no heirs. Her mind was surely already weak, and he would be able to easily take advantage. Over a couple of months, he was able to ingratiate himself to her, and then manipulate her into leaving a portion of her wealth to him. He didn’t kill her - he actually didn’t need to, as she ended up tripping down a flight of stairs. The success of his plan emboldened him, but he also knew he couldn’t become complacent. He began moving from place to place, targeting elderly nobles with no heirs for his scheme. It was while he passed through a village called Longacre, a place full of people like Damodus Crenn, that he met a woman named Cimri.

Appearance

WIP

Meeting Cimri

”You’re different.”

Casius looked up at the woman who’d approached his table in what passed for an inn in the village of Longacre. The place clearly didn’t have anyone worth fleecing, but it was too late in the day to press on to the next village. At least the wine was decent. She had short dark hair, dressed in fairly ordinary clothing. He noticed the kukri at her side, though - she clearly wasn’t just some village girl who thought him handsome. Putting on his most winning smile, he said, ”Am I? What makes me different?”

Taking a seat, the girl said, ”You look like someone who enjoys the finer things in life - not like the usual travelers who come through.” Leaning forward, she said, more quietly, ”You also look like someone a friend of mine in Egorian told me about - someone who managed to get a nice old lady to leave him some money, despite not knowing her. Cheeky little scam, that one.”

Casius kept his smile on his face, but in his head began making contingencies to kill the woman and leave her body in a ditch somewhere. Just as quietly, he responded, ”Well, whatever passing resemblance I bear to this scoundrel, I assure you it’s just a resemblance. Is there something I can do for you?”

The woman chuckled. ”Relax, I’m not gonna turn you in. In fact, I could use a little help with something - I’ve got a job that needs doing, and your talents would be quite helpful. It pays really well, too. What do you say?”

Casius, cautious, said, ”I’d say maybe, but I don’t work with someone I don’t know the name of.”

Smiling, she said, ”Of course. Where are my manners? Cimri Staelish.” She stuck out a hand. Reaching out, Casius took her hand, shook it, and said, ”Casius Flann.”

”Nice ta meet ya, Casius. Now, let’s have a drink to our new partnership.”

 

 

Edited September 28, 2023 by Phntm888 (see edit history)

[iantruesilver]

Good story. Love the whole fleecing old women thing. Looking forward to the build.

[Phntm888]

Thanks. The MW Sheet is mostly done - I just have to put equipment on it.