Lucius Draconus

Lucius Draconus was born in the Imperial city of Skingrad. He was a former mercenary, vampire. For most of his life as a member of the Bloodlet Throne coven, Lucius spent his time travelling between Cyrodiil and Skyrim. Despite this, he participated in several battles, and became known as a fearsome and clever fighter. He was one of the first to join the Bloodlet Throne coven. And, one of its most important members.

Early Years 4E 161- 4E 180
Lucius Draconus was born in the Imperial city of Skingrad, Cyrodiil, in 4E 161.An only child, he was raised as the heir of the Draconus family. His father, duke Gaillis Draconus, was a highly regarded member of the Skingrad court. He was regarded as one of the most influential members in the Skingrad court.

Lucius was introduced to many of his fathers friends and acquaintances, and was taught the nuances of court life. By the time he was ten, he had learned how a young noble should behave, both in and out of the company of equals. He spent most of his time tutored in the fine arts, and learning how to read and write.

A few years later, Lucius developed an interest in the sword. Delighted by this discovery, his father encouraged him, and even went so far as to secure the services of a master duelist from the Imperial city. After a year of practice, Lucius was regarded as one of the youngest, and most skilled duelists in Skingrad.

Late into his teen years, Lucius developed a small amount of magical ability. Though this was nothing to warrant joining the mages college, he drew the interest of several mages. Lucius eschewed and formal training, learning what he could from various spell books he purchased from shops in the city. However, he preferred the sword over the spell, and was seldomly seen flaunting his magical abilities.

Trial of Gaillis Draconus 4E 180
When Lucius was nineteen, his father was accused of passing information information on troop movements and plans to the Aldmeri Dominion. He was subsequently charged with treason, and taken to the Imperial city for questioning. Though he was, eventually, cleared of all charges, Gaillis never recovered from the ordeal. To make matters worse, his political opponents heaped ridicule on the Draconus family, and Gaillis died several years later. This lead to the Draconus family losing much of their status in Skingrad, and left Lucius being unable to live up to his fathers legacy. In effect, the family no longer qualified as nobility.

Mercenary 4E 181 - 4E 201
"I'm no enemy of yours. I'm here for the rebels"- Lucius Draconus

After the loss of his noble status, Lucius turned to mercenary work, in order to keep himself, and his family alive. Usually, he took small jobs, such as clearing out bandit camps, or exterminating goblin caves. This made him enough coin to get by, and though he was far from content, he enjoyed putting his swordsmanship to good use.

Lucius worked as a mercenary for most of his young adult life. This lead to him garnering quite a reputation in Cyrodiil and beyond. However, in the year 4E 201, the demand for mercenaries in Cyrodiil itself was waning. With rebellion springing up in Skyrim, Lucius traveled to the tundra province in search of coin. When he arrived, he realized that the rebels were putting up a much more organized fight than the Imperial Army had bargained for.

Because of this, Lucius was immediately given the job of clearing passes that lead from Cyrodiil to Skyrim, in Falkreath hold. He accomplished many of these tasks quickly and efficiently, defeating dozens of Stormcloak rebels. Unknown to him at the time, Lucius' actions had gained the attention of Salthar and his brother. While clearing a cave that the Stormcloaks had been using as their base of operations, Lucius was very nearly killed by the Stormcloak commander, but was rescued by Vengar Vivarian.

Grateful for the rescue, Lucius agreed to listen to the vampires proposal. Salthar offered to support Lucius' family, if he would join the coven. Intrigued by what Salthars planned 'new order' contained, Lucius agreed, and was turned by Salthar himself.

Civil War 4E 201 - 4E 202
"Salthar Vivarian sends his regards" - Lucius Draconus to warlord Harghest.

In the early months of the civil war, Lucius was sent to the Breton homeland of High Rock. His mission was to recruit forces for the growing Bloodlet Throne coven. While in High Rock, he had several hostile encounters with Glenmoryl Wyrd vampires. Though he defeated them without much difficulty, and completed his mission, before returning to Skyrim. Afterwords, he was placed in charge of supervising the reconstruction and expansion of the Bloodlet Throne.

For the majority of the war, he served as a spy for the coven. He masqueraded as an Imperial noble in the Imperial city. In this capacity, he collected and sent information to the Bloodlet Throne. This allowed his fellow vampires to avoid Imperial attacks and scrutiny. He forged an alliance between the coven of the Red Lotus, based in Cyrodiil.

In the later months of the war, Lucius was recalled to the Cyrodiil-Skyrim border, searching for even more recruits for the coven. While near the city of Bruma, he discovered a party of Stormcloaks travelling incognito. He followed them for a while, but was ambushed by vampires from the Imperial order of vampires. Though he defeated them, he lost track of the Stormcloaks. The smell of blood and smoke drew him, and he discovered a village, its inhabitants killed, and burnt to the ground. He also found Severus Valte, kneeling among the bodies of his family. Sensing the younger Imperials desire for vengeance, Lucius offered to turn Severus, and became his mentor, later becoming a good friend of his.

Near the end of the war, Lucius lead several brutal attacks on both Imperial and Stormcloak camps. Later, he joined Salthar at Karthspire, and joined in the fighting there. After Salthars' supposed death, he rallied as many coven members as he could, including several members of Salthars' Blackguard, and retreated to the Bloodlet Throne. There, he held the fortress against several attempts by feral vampires to seize it.

Activities after the war 4E 202 - 4E 205
After Salthar Vivarians return from the Summerset Isles, he rewarded Lucius by promoting him to one of his top lieutenants, and named him castellan of the Bloodlet Throne. Lucius continued to faithfully serve Vivarian, and was trusted to oversee several operations in Falkreath hold.

He was also chosen to lead a force of thirty vampires to take fort Snowstone, a Dawnguard base, near Falkreath. The battle was a decisive victory for Lucius' forces, and he personally killed Bjorn Steelhelm in battle, and saw to the capture of Danna Starflower, the fort commander. Afterwards, he returned with her as his prisoner, and turned her over to his fellows at the Bloodlet Throne.

Ending the Dawnguard
Lucius was involved in the battle of Dayspring Canyon, on the 3rd of First Seed, 4E 205. The battle lasted for three days, and ended with Cellan of the Dawnguard, being slain by Lucius in personal combat. He later participated in the siege of fort Dawnguard, and fought by Salthars side during the battle inside and around the fort.

As castellan
"Lord Vivarian put his faith in me. There is no greater honour"- Lucius Vivarian, upon being made Castellan.

When Salthar departed for Falkreath, Lucius was trusted to keep order as castellan. He worked closely with Vengar Vivarian to co-ordinate coven agents abroad. When orders from Salthar arrived, directing the coven to redouble their recruitment and double the guards in the hold, Lucius ensured the orders were carried out. When Vengar departed the Bloodlet Throne to assist with recruitment efforts, Lucius was solely in command.

While in command, he noticed that mortal hunters and guardsmen started disappearing at an alarming rate. This was the only warning he and the coven received before the Blight attacked. He lead the defense of the fortress himself, slaying dozens of 'Corpsers' by himself. The battle was a victory for the Bloodlet Throne forces.When Salthar returned, Lucius returned the throne to him.

The Soul Reaver
''"I won't ask you again, boy. Give me the scroll." ''- Lucius Draconus, to Elric Galthin.

After the Blight conflict was over, Lucius was put in charge of hunting down a scroll that would reveal the location of a powerful artifact. He lead a group of two dozen vampires into a series of underground catacombs, in order to capture the artifact. At the same time, Elric Galthin, a young Imperial working for the knights of the Silver Flame, and a group of cultists, made up of worshippers of Molag Bal, and Boethiah. Lucius' vampires and Elrics companions arrived at the catacombs slightly ahead of the cultists.

The two groups engaged in a vicious running battle, that encompassed most of the catacombs. Once the cultists arrived, the two sides temporarily teamed up, until the cultists were forced to withdraw. Ultimately, Lucius failed to acquire the scroll, but had Elrics group tracked to the location. Unknown to him, the cultists recovered from the battle in the catacombs, and pursued, leading to the battle for the Soul Reaver.

Personality and traits
Lucius was known as a calm, and cunning individual. His values very much matched those of his lord, Salthar Vivarian. Lucius preferred to try coercion and negotiation before outright violence, if he could. Though he had absolutely no qualms about retrieving an object or piece of information through torture. Though his early life as a mercenary made him quite pragmatic, he became completely dedicated to Salthar and his new order after meeting the Altmer vampire. Lucius was not entirely without compassion, however, and displayed such when he offered to turn Severus Valte, after finding him among the bodies of his family. He harboured a deep dislike of most Imperial nobles, viewing them as some of the reason his father died. He saw himself as a gentleman, and strove to conduct himself like one, whether in the Imperial court, or Bloodlet Throne.

Abilities
Flight- Lucius, like Salthar, and most other high ranking members of the coven had the ability to fly. Like Salthar, his most common form during flight was that of a man sized bat, though he was seen to have been nothing more than a shadowy form trailing darkness.

Chill- Mortals near Lucius felt an unnatural chill.

Quell- Lucius had the ability to diminish, or outright extinguish most flames.

Magical abilities- Lucius became a talented spell caster, specializing in destruction and alteration magic. By 4E 205, Lucius was able to easily dispel most spells aimed at him by dedicated mages and other spellcasters. However, due to his preference for swordsmanship, Lucius never mastered more than a few advanced spells.

Swordsmanship- Lucius Draconus was a superb swordsman, and took every opportunity to utilize his skills. He preferred a mixed style of fighting. A 'gentlemans' style of fighting, which included fencing and dueling manuevres from the Imperial court. He mixed this in with the savage close quarters style he picked up as a mercenary. This made him a highly disciplined, yet unpredictable opponent. Few, if any, in Skyrim could match him blade to blade for more than a few seconds.

Possessions
Draconus longsword- Lucius longsword, passed from his great-great grandfather down through the centuries, eventually finding its way into Lucius' hands.

Draconus family ring- Though lacking any magical powers, the ring marks Lucius as the head of house Draconus.

Clothing- Lucius typically wore dark clothes, knee high leather boots, and black cloak, when not in combat.

Physical Appearance
Lucius was tall, standing at exactly six feet, and thin, though his seemingly frail form hid great strength. He was described as 'aristocratic' in bearing, making every move deliberately, rather than casually. He had fair skin, long, scarlet hair, that reached down slightly past his shoulders, and forest green eyes, tinged with red.