(no subject)

[exsecutus]

PLAYER

Name: Cee!
Age: old mrs old
Contact: PM or plurk. you know me.
Other Characters: Val de Foncé
Interests: I want to play an assassin with principles who messes up some stuff because he's a picky asshole and then peaces out. I also want to play a plot helpful sibling.

CHARACTER

Name: Nikos Averesch
Canon/OC: OC
Journal: exsecutus
Race: Human
Nationality: Nevarren
Occupation: militant activist
Division: scouting maybe?? not sure
Mage or Not: nah
Age: 30

History

Nikos is the son of a minor Nevarran nobleman and the fourth daughter of an Antivan merchant prince. He, his twin brother (Kostos), and their younger sister (Keto) spent their childhoods in relative comfort in Cumberland. When Nikos and Kostos were about six, Kostos began acting strangely. He would burn hot or cold in extreme degrees, he would talk to nothing at all while ignoring Nikos (much to Nikos' frustration). This was either magic or madness. The former would be cool, because this was Nevarra, but the Averesches did not give Kostos up to the Circle right away, preferring to keep all their beloved children close to home.

Kostos' magic in fact became a game among the siblings, until one day, while playing out in the gardens, Kostos did not electrocute a nearby beetle, but instead electrocuted his siblings. Nikos was burned. Keto was killed.

The incident was more confusing than it was formative, and for awhile, Nikos was not even certain that it had happened. Trauma, coupled with the fact that their parents did not address Keto's death as Kostos' fault, left Nikos in a grey state and he did not come to blame Kostos until after Kostos had been taken to the Circle. Nikos, now alone, missed both his siblings terribly, and he went through tumultuous and sulky phase. And though he was prone to fits of anger, he found that he could not verbalize his feelings when writing to Kostos--which he did, regularly--because letter-writing was his moment of contact with a brother he still loved.

Nikos continued under that same comfortable wealth that his status allowed. He was privately educated and attended school in Cumberland where he showed no particular interest in any subject. He was naturally good with weaponry--he favored knives--and with figures. The latter encouraged his father to give him charge of the family's books and accounting after completing his education.

Except, while at school, Nikos also used his skill with numbers to play a lot of cards. He fell in with a crowd of disaffected noble sons and daughters, and began picking up on their ideas. It helped that the de facto leader of the students, Caspar Perakis, was devastatingly handsome and deeply inspirational in his speech-making. Nikos found himself swayed to belief in Caspar's ideals and impatience with the turgid monarchy of Nevarra. Caspar became obsessed with assassinating the ailing king, and Nikos did all that he could to help Caspar.

Caspar threw in the group’s fortune with a powerful alignment of Nevarran nobles who shared his goal. Their cause was power; Caspar’s was change. In the end, the nobles sold out Caspar, and Caspar and Nikos (who would have done the deed) were nearly captured the night before the assassination was to take place. Caspar, Nikos, and two others from the group fled Cumberland and made for Antiva. The whole House of Averesch soon followed, and took up residence in Lady Averesch’s ancestral home.

Nikos has remained in Antiva ever since, somewhat on the run. His name is dirt in Nevarra, there is a price on his head; his parents have him home for the holidays and send him money as they are able. He has never lost the ideals that Caspar instilled in him, but has developed a bit of a superiority complex about said ideals. Associated still with Caspar and his spy network, the Spider's Children, disdainful of nobility but never refusing the allowance from his parents, Nikos sulks in Anitva.


Personality

Nikos is sarcastic, sulky, and moody. He likes to drink wine, play cards, and talk about assassinating political figureheads.

In his childhood, Nikos could be kind of a bully, and spent a lot of time pushing beetles under his sister’s door to frighten her. He liked to dance, he liked to fight, he liked to be dirty, he delighted in being macabre, and spent many an afternoon playing Human Sacrifice with his siblings.

Keto’s death changed him, in that it confused him. Mostly it interrupted a happy childhood. Separated by death from one sibling and by distance from his twin, Nikos was left lonely. He still bears his physical scars from the incident on his right arm, and though he briefly blamed Kostos for Keto’s death, he lacked conviction in that belief, because he loved Kostos too much to believe any malice from him.

There is a latent and gruff love under Nikos’ bitter outer shell. Love is what allowed him to understand Kostos. Love is what made him fall fully in with the dissident student group. Inspired by the strength of Caspar’s beliefs, as well as his killer abs, Nikos began to see the world a little differently. He began to understand his privilege through Caspar’s lens and to question the things that he had been given as a result of his high birth.

He was not--and is not--as brave or as selfless as the true spirits out there (like Caspar), but he can be moved to bravery if given the correct leader. And, if given the correct leader, he is deeply loyal, and will move whatever pieces he needs to move to protect that leader and ensure their safety. When Caspar and Nikos reached Antiva, Nikos used his mother’s Antivan contacts to set them up in a comfortable townhouse in Antiva City, and allowed Caspar to use those same contacts to develop his spy network, the Spider’s Children.

If Nikos does not believe, then he will not act, and will spend the rest of that time at the back of the room, making sarcastic comments under his breath. He tends to over exaggerate the things that he has seen and done, and considers himself more world-weary than any of his fellow dissidents. He is not shy about rolling his eyes when some bleeding heart gets on a tear, and he will interrupt or stand up and leave if he does not agree. He remains a valuable figure in that he has a lot of contacts--many of them lesser nobles--and he is still skilled with the bow and with the knife, though his excessive drinking has left him softer in the stomach than he was as a callow assassin of nineteen.

But it is very difficult to convince Nikos to act, because he has swathed himself in a hard protective shell of bitterness. Caspar was not jaded by their youthful failure. Nikos was. He was frightened for his family and for Caspar, and he was angry that they were so easily betrayed, all so the nobles in question could remain in good standing with a king they were plotting to kill. The winds of change did not favor Nikos’ cause, and he hates those winds to this day.

He is not very obedient, unless an order comes from someone he loves and trusts. He is not very interested in cooperation, unless he’s told to cooperate. And he’s not very interested in casual conversation, but his brusque sarcasm has a sort of charm to it. If you can take the shade.


Opinions & Affiliations

the Chantry - A necessary institution that needs heavy revising and some serious internal shakeups to remove any hint of an Old Guard that keeps everything the way that it is.
the Mage/Templar War - Mages are more on the side of right and good than everyone thinks. Templars have proved to be assholes. Most mages are also assholes. Rebel mages are assholes that have been pushed into an unenviable place and into situations largely beyond their control and it isn't their fault but they still need to sit down and shut up and get organized.
Thedosian race relations - Largely ambivalent if a bit more traditional in his prejudices. Defaults to human superiority while acknowledging that the superiority of humanity has made life difficult for lesser citizens, which is something that needs to change. Likes dwarves best of all because he has spent the most time among dwarves (thanks Cumberland) and dwarves are pretty cool with just getting down on a bottle of wine and playing some cards.
Nobility in general - Scrap it, start over.

Nikos' primary extracurricular involvement is with an Antivan/Nevarran spy network that goes by the name of THE SPIDER'S CHILDREN. I promise it sounds cooler in Antivan. The group was founded by Caspar Perakis, and partially funded/supported by Nikos. Caspar uses the network to trade intelligence from other countries, largely Antiva and Nevarra--and to move resources and supplies to rebel cells working against oppressive monarchies or other overlord types. It's all very black market and under the table, with appropriate drama and secrecy.


Adaptation Notes

N/A.

Strengths & Weaknesses

STRENGTHS.
- Lots of noble contacts
- Lots of underworld contacts
- Key and founding member of the Spider's Sons
- Assassin. Pretty good at it.

WEAKNESSES.
- Not easily convinced to participate in causes.
- Not easily swayed toward causes.
- Does not really like anyone (3-4 exceptions only.)

Inventory

- 2 knives, Antivan, very nice
- 1 small bag of coins
- 1 gold ring with an inlay of emeralds, very nice
- 1 set of fine-but-worn clothes
- 2 traveling cloaks, one nicer than the other
- 2 bottles of Antivan wine
- 1 folio of paperwork, secret
- 1 set of writing materials (ink, parchment, sealing wax, etc)
- Very nice boots


Motivation

He's here to stop idiots from assassinating the right guy for the wrong reason.

SAMPLES

ONE.
letter writing rp

TWO.
There is nothing in this world that Nikos likes so well as wine, and he would be the first to say it. In fact, he is, now, saying it.

"An inferior vintage." The weight of his words carries a certain professional opinion, or at least gives the impression of a certain professional opinion. Nikos holds his glass up to the grimy tavern window and squints at it, with a likewise expert eye. The light that comes through it is dim and murky, as befits a red wine.

He turns the glass to the left, and then to the right. Then he takes an abrupt quaff. Swallows.

"Barely drinkable." Another quaff and swallow, and he smacks his lips, with a hint of disgust. Barely: here is Nikos, draining the glass all in one go. He sets it down on the tabletop somewhat heavily, and grabs for the jug. Depressingly, it is empty. With a scowl, he pushes it aside, and leans back in to pick up right where he'd left off, in the conversation he'd been having before he had paused to comment on the wine.

"Do you know, what it is that causes the greatest rebellions of any country?" A general lecture. Isn't that what everyone came to the tavern for today? This man, specifically, was stupid enough to start a debate about the duty of a citizen. Shouldn't a man be quiet and accept his lot in life? Shouldn't he learn to be at ease with his situation? For it will not change soon. Ah. Now, that, Nikos can speak to, and he is. And he continues, now: "A rebellion does not just happen. It is caused. And the cause can be summarized in a word: unhappiness. When any body of people feels great unhappiness and dissatisfaction, they will rise up in rebellion. Preceded, first, by grievances, and demonstrations--the symptom of the disease, the warning--and then the spark--and then, it happens. Untangling which part is which is a chore for the scholars and the scribes. For example--"

As punctuation, Nikos grabs for the man's cup of wine.

"Is this the grievance, the demonstration, the spark, or," and when he raises the cup to his lips, his voice echoes inside of its depths, "the rebellion itself?"

And he drinks. Another pause, to consider. Then he shakes his head, and hands it back to the man.

"Still inferior. At least it is wine. My unhappiness is quenched."