Troyllus Gladius
 Weapons: 2 |
 Items: 0 |
 Boons: 0
|
|---|
Character
Description
Troyllus is introduced as a grieving widower and single father to Skylark, hailing from House Gladius. His younger half-sister, Kestrel, and him originate from Cerul, as members of House Cirrus, but now both live in Arma. He is a paladin, devoted to Love and Longing.
Troyllus grapples throughout the matching season with finding a new wife, and stepmother for Skylark, and grieving his late wife, Aura, and honoring her memory. With growing tensions between his household and the Glaive family, a plot to take his daughter from him, and navigating the intricacy of courting Anri Claymore, Troyllus’ second time to the Matching Season is even more wrought and tumultuous than the first.
Standing at 6’2, Troyllus has a tanned complexion, deep brown eyes, and auburn hair with streaks of white and grey peppered through it styled in a neat pompadour, the sides of his head shaved to the skin. Cleanly blended to his shaved head, Troyllus sports a finely manicured beard with similar streaks of white and grey littering it. Troyllus is stern, devoutly committed to the oaths he makes, and a man of few words, but when he does speak, he has been known to speak with little grace. However, beyond that stern and somewhat harsh demeanor is a softness for his daughter and those he loves. Troyllus can often be found wearing a deep purple, almost black frock with a distinguished fur collar, finely embroidered waist coats with Gladius colors, and a cravat, most notably of red or purple.
Storylines
Background
Troyllus Ilex was the first born, and only son, of Viscount Rodrick and Viscountess Amara Cirrus. He was named after a renowned warrior who fought during the wars before the Matching Season, known to the history books as The Holly Knight. His childhood was a happy one, as he planned to follow in his father’s footsteps as a Cerulian Viscount, treating and trading with other houses. After each trip, his father would return with a gift for Troyllus.
When Troyllus was thirteen, Rodrick returned from a trip with another woman’s child in his arms. Amara begged and ordered Rodrick to get rid of the child, but he refused. On that day, Troyllus made three oaths to himself in the sept of Love and Longing. The first is that his father’s name would die with him and that he would not become the Viscount of House Cirrus. He also swore that he would love and refer to Kestrel, who was his half-sister, as his full-fledged sister. To him, they shared enough blood and she had done nothing wrong as she was a baby. He also pledged to protect her as best he could. Finally, he swore that when he matched, he would only love the woman he matched with and no other. He swore he would never waiver from those oaths.
The next 19 years were difficult for Troyllus. Amara did not hide her scorn for Kestrel and Rodrick continued to use his power and title to silence anyone in the family who tried to speak out about his actions. On top of all of that, for years, Rodrick had raged upon Troyllus for not attending the matching season, but each time, Troyllus refused. When Kestrel turned 20, Troyllus accompanied her to the Matching Season, wanting nothing more than to get her away from the Cirrus household, believing that if she matched she would be safe. Troyllus encouraged a match between Kestrel and Brezza Glaive. Brezza was a kind man who, Troyllus believed, would treat Kestrel with love and respect. He also surmised that if Kestrel relocated to Arma, no man could use their power or title to silence Kestrel.
After Kestrel matched, Troyllus returned to Cerul as he refused to match until he felt his mother was safe and could not be taken advantage of by his father. A little more than a year after Kestrel’s matching, Amara passed away. With both women in his life free from his father’s grasp, Troyllus left his father’s estate and Cerul, holding to his oath that he would not carry on the Cirrus name. At the age of 35, Troyllus attended the Matching Season with Kestrel as his escort. Most others attending were in their 20s, and Troyllus stood out as one of the older Unmatched. His sights were set on matching with someone from Eldron or Arma. During the opening ball, Kestrel introduced him to the Duchess of Arma, Aura Gladius. From the moment he saw her, Troyllus knew she was the woman he would match with.
Following the Aura and Troyllus matched, and returned Arma as Duke and Duchess. For the next two years, Troyllus and Aura performed their duties to Arma, meeting with many of the other houses of Arma and Eldron, acting as emissaries of the empire. One of their favorite places to visit was the Silversole estate, as Troyllus enjoyed playing Dragon Chess with Leopold and Aura found great pleasure in perusing the vast library in the estate. During many of their travels, Aura would also insist on visiting and spending the night in haunted places, as she wanted to see a ghost in real life.
Two years after Matching, Troyllus and Aura welcomed their daughter, Skylark Amara Gladius. For the next seven years, the Gladius and Glaive families were close, often spending summers together in their mountain villas, where Skylark loved spending time with her Aunt Kestrel and Uncle Brezza. Everything was perfect for the little family of three until, less than a year before the current Matching Season--after nine years of marriage--Aura got sick. No matter how much he tried, no matter how hard he prayed to Love and Longing, could not heal her and she would not get better. With Troyllus and Skylark by her bedside, Aura passed away.
Troyllus retreated into himself, his grief overtaking him as the person he loved with all of his heart, who he had devoted himself to, had died. Because of his withdrawal, Estella Glaive and his sister were forced to step up and watch over Skylark.
Not only was Troyllus grieving the death of Aura, but he was also having to grapple with the horrific realization that he would have to return to the upcoming Matching season and rematch, or be forced to return to Cerul, losing his title and lands, but most impactful, he would lose his daughter.
Castleton Part 1
Troyllus and Skylark traveled in a carriage to the Glaive Estate. Skylark, unfamiliar with wearing formal dresses for such lavish events, pulled at her dress against Troyllus’ urging. From all the tugging and pulling, Skylark ripped the seam on her frilly tulle dress just as they arrived at the Glaive estate.
After Kestrel helped Skylark find a new dress, putting her in a fiery red gown, Troyllus assisted Estella to the carriage. Estella offered Troyllus some advice to have an exit plan. Troyllus traveled in the carriage with his brother-in-law, Brezza, and with Skylark to the docks of the Arma airships that would take them to the Castle. As they boarded the airship, Troyllus noticed her talking to someone, assuming it was an imaginary friend. He told her that Aura would be with them throughout all of the upcoming season.
Before the opening ball, Skylark sat in Troyllus’ room going over the potential unmatched her father would be meeting later that night. She wanted him to dance with Soar Claymore. Troyllus took her consideration to heart, then asked Skylark for a dance, as he was out of practice.
Lady Estella Glaive escorted Troyllus to the opening ball, as Kestrel had to remain behind with Brezza to watch Skylark. There he met and spoke with Anri Claymore, when the floor of the ballroom opened up and a pit of spikes appeared. They made a deal that if Anri helped him get home to his daughter, he would protect Anri, her sister, and her cousin throughout the matching season. Upon making this agreement, their platform began to move.
As their platform moved horizontally across the ballroom, Gilgamesh von March III jumped onto their platform and threatened Troyllus, telling him to leave Arma or he would make an orphan of Skylark. As Gilgamesh stood before them, he pulled out his sword, said “Kestrel” and the swing erupted in flames.
Troyllus and Anri fought Gilgamesh, each laying sweltering hits upon one another. Gilgamesh stabbed Troyllus and brought him within an inch of his life. As Gilgamesh was about to kill him with a fiery blast of Burning Hands, the magic from the connection between Anri and Skylark’s patron wrapped around Troyllus, shielding him. With this final usage of magic, Gilgamesh fell, leaving Troyllus and Anri alone on a single tile. The ballroom returned in place, Troyllus being held by Anri. He sobbed in her arms, seeing how close he was to death and losing his daughter. Seeing she had been burnt by Gilgamesh’s flames, Troyllus healed Anri with his Lay on Hands before healing himself.
Together, they left the ball, racing through the Ton back to the Glaive estate where Skylark was being watched by Kestrel and Brezza. Troyllus entered the house to find Skylark waiting for him, with her belonging by her side, at the bottom of the stairs. She told him they needed to quietly go to the Claymore estate, then, upon meeting Anri told her she looked like her mom. The three made their way to the Claymore estate, unsure of what awaited them for the rest of the Matching Season.
The day after the event of the ball, Troyllus sent Brezza a letter, urging them to meet. He also wrote a letter to Soar and Anri Claymore. To Soar, he asked if she would allow him to court Anri through the Matching Season. For Anri, he thanked her for saving him from the opening ball and if she would honor him by allowing him to pursue her.
Troyllus and Brezza met at a tea shop the next day. During their visit Brezza told him what had occurred at the Glaive estate and they discussed how they would move forward through the matching season. In a moment of heartbreak regarding his sister's actions, Troyllus shared that Kestrel had promised to be by his side when Aura had died, less than a year prior. Learning that Brezza had spent the previous night in the sept of Lugh Le’mon’k, the Demigod of Citrus, Troyllus offered for Brezza to stay at the Gladius estate for the remainder of the Matching Season. As they spoke, Skylark brought a pink-haired gnome, named Keen Melody, to their table who informed Brezza that an announcement was in the Ton Talk that Kestrel was pregnant.
The day of the Armadeum/Torrent Ball—known as Snow Day—Troyllus, Anri, and Skylark went to the ice-skating rink for a date. While there, they were each turned into animals by a Chaos Goat. Skylark was turned into a snow leopard, Anri was transformed into an elephant, and Troyllus was turned into a mallard. Troyllus and Anri watched the children play as animals, having a moment to connect with one another, when the ice rink melted and they all turned into merfolk. As they splashed around, Troyllus felt a butterfly of tenderness and love build in his chest, a feeling he hadn’t had since Aura’s passing.
Castleton Part 2
As Anri bursts through the doors of the Gladius estate following the Armadeum/Torrent Ball, Troyllus is showed by the fear and dire need from Anri to see if Skylark is safe. Following her upstairs, seeing that her feet are bloodied and battered, Troyllus tried to understand what happened. They rush up to her room, where Skylark is sitting in her bed, holding her chess piece, now shattered. She says that everything was alright and that she was speaking with the voices before telling Anri that she loves her and goes to bed.
Closing the door to Skylark's room, Anri collapses, and Troyllus goes to prepare a space in the study for her before returning and carrying her. Once in the study, Troyllus cleans and tends to Anri's feet, while pressing what had happened to cause her to rush back in such a state. When Anri says she tried to meet with Prince Elyan of Cerul, Troyllus tells Anri about his past, how his father had an affair with another woman which resulted in the birth of Kestrel. He also told her of the oaths he made during this time, to spite his father and his betrayal, informing her that he could not love her because of the sacred vow he made all those decades ago.
Troyllus returns from speaking with Kestrel when he finds Skylark sitting on the steps. She asks why he would tell Anri that he couldn't love her and why he was lying. Troyllus tries to impress upon her that he made a vow and he couldn't break it, and she tells him he is being dumb. He asks about the voices Skylark is hearing, noting that he only heard one the night before. Skylark says she is speaking with the gods, those who have passed on, but mostly, she talks to mom, and that Aura also thinks Troyllus is being dumb. They both just want him to be happy, and don't understand why he won't let himself be happy. Troyllus promises for the both of them, he will try to be happy.
At the Cloud Ball, Troyllus and Anri walk arm-in-arm with one another. He promises he will stay by her side the whole night and there is nowhere else he would rather be. He wears a purple cravat with a jeweled pin of the broken bishop and pawn piece that Anri had gifted to him. During the ball, while speaking with Mimi, the Demigod of Shapeshifting, and Arialoth Welkin, they overhear an altercation between Tier and Benjamin Armadeum in which it is revealed that Benjamin is married and has a child, and that the Empress is dead.
Credits
Jacob (he/him) plays Troyllus Gladius, a recent widower and single father who has been forced to return to the Matching Season to find a new Match or lose everything he holds dear. Jacob is a writer, holding his MFA in Creative Writing, a cosplayer and costumer, digital artist, and professional Game Master. He doesn’t decide what he works on, his hyperfixation does.
