Arcus

"Arcus, the Archon of Fate, will fight for all that exists, no longer exists, or will one day exist. The right to choose our own path."

Nicknames/Other Titles: Demon, The Void Demon, Ceaseless Void, Bringer of Calamity, Heir Apparent, Archon of Fate, Ruler of Fate.

Class: Archon

Archon Title: Of Fate

Magic Caste: VOID MAGIC 

Race: Human/Eldritch Hybrid

Gender: Male

Height 6'7"

Age: ?? (Is always 18+, but Arcus does not know his true age. Stops physically aging after 30.)

Sexuality: Pansexual.

Birthdate: Age of Reunification, one thousand twenty-five P.V.E.

Home World: Haycleon

Birthplace: Tempesis Vessis

Appearance: Arcus has tanned, slightly rough skin that is without any scars or blemishes. Arcus has decent muscle along his body, mostly centered around his legs and his arms. Arcus' eyes are dark purple and glow at all times unless he is sleeping or extremely weak at the time. His eyes have bags under them, due to his poor sleeping habits and the levels of stress he undergoes. He does not have any body hair despite his head having plenty of it. The hair on his head goes down to his lower neck. Arcus sometimes ties it back into a ponytail. He keeps his bangs out of his face with his circlet.

Clothing

(When first encountered)
Arcus wears a tattered and dirty black cloak stained with mud and blood. He is often afforded little time to clean himself up, and if the weather is too cold he cannot afford to make an attempt at bathing or cleaning his clothing. He wears a pair of black pants and a white undershirt, both torn up and dirty. His clothing is made of a cheap material that can't insulate much nor do they have the best durability. His unique height means finding clothing that fits him is difficult, making finding replacements even harder. Anything he does replace is often wrecked rather quickly. He wears a pair of brown leather boots that are a tad too small and have the soles and treads worn down completely.

(Once he is safe enough to worry about his appearance.)
Arcus wears an outfit that is a cloak mixed with a coat. It covers and fits his body much like a cloak would, but with the sleaves and thickness of a coat. This outfit is mostly black, with five golden buckles that can be used to keep it closed. It ends just above his knees in terms of length. It has two small orange orbs on the sides of it, near his hips, which are fire magic crystals that allow the cloak to warm him up slowly. The inside of the cloak is a darker purple color and is very soft compared to the tougher texture of the outer layer of the outfit. The outfit also has a hood on it, with a black rope that allows the hood to be enclosed more around the wearer's head. The sleeves have golden zippers that run from the end of the sleeve up to the middle of it, allowing the wearer to shorten it if they want enhanced arm mobility or if the weather is simply too hot. The back of this outfit has a red symbol burned into it, that is always present. It glows brighter whenever Arcus is using magic.

Arcus has a pair of tight-fitting black gloves with an orange crystal on the top of each hand, also helping to keep him warm. The right glove has a permanent Symbol burned into it, which is typically invisible but can be 'felt' if one ran their hand along it. However, if Arcus is using a very specific type of magic, it will begin to glow an Azure color.

Arcus has a cape with him. It has five orange crystals along the bottom, providing a significant amount of heat to him. It also had a purple crystal in the center of it, adding enhanced protection from magical damage, to help meditate damage dealt from people sneaking up behind him. It has fragile fabric attaching it to his cloak, meaning if it is pulled on it will simply rip off of it, meaning someone can't grab it to throw him down or keep him in place. It too has the same red symbol burned into it.

Arcus has a pair of black boots that stop at his ankles. They are made of leather and have steel reinforcing the bottom of them to give him more footing and to make his kicks much more devastating. The boots have two gold buckles attached to straps that can be tightened or loosened.

Arcus additionally has a small metal circlet that he wears to keep his hair back, and a small metal chain he uses to tie back his hair so it doesn't get in his face.

Personality: When first met Arcus is a very all over the place person in terms of personality and action, attributed to his years of abuse and his lack of any kind of upbringing by any kind of person. Arcus will be extremely wary and absolutely against anyone approaching him or touching him, but yet he clearly will want these things deep down. His tone will waver, his stance will chance, he will try and fight his body's natural response to recoil away from touch but it is above him.

Arcus is soft-spoken for the most part, he likes to be passive when it comes to people. He is a listener by nature and won't typically raise his own concerns. He will let others walk on him if they are perceived as 'nice' by Arcus. (Which is literally anyone who isn't trying to kill him.) Arcus is extremely devoted and will go out of his way to stop people he believes are harmful to others, even if he ultimately gains nothing for it or it could be argued that he will end up doing more harm than good. Arcus is a stubborn person by nature, to the point of it being a virtue and a flaw.

Arcus, despite being exceptional at it and often resorting to it, does not enjoy violence and absolutely despising killing in most instances (Save for when Arcus believes they 'deserve it'.) However, Arcus often enters a loop of self-hatred and despair due to not enjoying violence or death, but often lacking the means or knowledge to solve situations without resorting to them, due to them being the only things he has ever known. This results in Arcus becoming quick to anger if he feels a situation is slipping from his control among an ally or friend if they do not agree with him when he believes he has the best solution or argument on the matter.

That being said, his kindness knows no bounds, to the point where it can be detrimental to himself. Often sacrificing his own mental health and physical health and free time to everyone else around him. Also, due to his belief that if he isn't kind people will leave him, he is extremely hard on himself when he messes up and often believes and assumes people will not be able to forgive him. Despite this lack of self-forgiveness, Arcus forgives others fairly easily in most circumstances.

While normally soft-spoken, Arcus can become insanely passionate and even downright cunning and aggressive, especially as time goes on. There are even times where Arcus can become inspired to be very motivational, especially if one of his allies is in a very bad spot themself.

Arcus is very secretive, and while he isn't typically a very good liar, he is too stubborn to often give out such information freely even when called out on it. He can become particularly defensive about this fact. 

BACKSTORY

• What would you do if many faces all wished for you to look their direction, but you sought to see your own way?
  
  Arcus was created when his father infected his fetal stage with the Eldritch Parasite known as 'Arus', a Chimera version of an Eldritch force dubbed 'We of Many' by the Void Order. Arcus was the only success, all his other siblings before him were either crippled or killed by this Eldritch Force. However, that did not mean that Arcus was a 'normal' child.
  
  For the first two weeks of his life, he didn't cry and barely ate. He seemed to look upon everyone with almost an uncharacteristic scowl. He didn't react to stimuli at all, he seemed to almost be glaring at anyone who dared look his way. The strangeness he exhibited caused great grief within his parents and family, his mother especially who cried many nights wondering why he child was acting this way. However, after these two weeks he seemed to flip in personality completely.
  
  Going from a scowling and unemotional baby, Arcus soon turned into a bubbling and affectionate child who adored and outright demanded affection and attention from his siblings and parents. Outright crying or doing his best to try and relocate himself to where others were so they would hold onto him. He also ate a lot more, more than a baby of his size should. They were also so confused how he could eat so much yet not gain much weight.
  
  Cold was a constant issue, part of the reason he always wanted to be held was because he got so cold. So his family did their best to always keep him as warm as possible and ensure he was comforted. For four years, Arcus spent time being observed by his family and within their graces where he displayed an incredible affinity for magic power and understanding. However, none could have expected what happened next. Shortly before his fifth birthday, Arcus was stolen away from their family. They did not know how, or why, or who had done it...
  
  Arcus, all the same, was sent to Haycleon... where his story begins...

• Rise of a Demon...

  
  Arcus' Eldritch cells allowed him to survive and hide from his family on the world of Haycleon, hiding away his signature from them and keeping him sustained. Soon, Arcus forgot about his family, his young mind forging new memories in this strange land he found himself in. For two years the mage wandered 'alone' as the eldritch being avoided all contact with him, though would hi-jack his mind when needed to ensure his survival. But, one particularly harsh winter nearly killed the child, were it not for a man and his child stumbling upon his body lying in the snow and bringing it back to the village where he was nursed back to health.
  
  It was no doubt, that his survival was solely because of the lack of Void Mages in so many years. No one recognized the tell-tale signs at first, no one understood what they were dealing with. When Arcus awoke he was surrounded by strange faces, young and old, who treated him with compassion. For a brief few moments, it was heaven. The warmth of the village both literal and metaphorical brought nothing but happiness.
  But, one of the eldest in their ranks, upon seeing Arcus' eyes screamed bloody murder, calling him a 'Void Mage'.
  
  Rapidly, the situation spiraled out of control. And before Arcus could even comprehend what had gone wrong he was attacked by the elder member with a sharp object. When it pierced his flesh, the sudden rush of pain and panic resulted in Arcus accessing his magic, unleashing a shockwave that seemed to instantly kill the elderly woman. In the chaos and tragedy of this, the boy tried to flee but was tackled to the ground. The blow along with already being weak from the events of before, he passed out. The mage awoke later to find a horrific scene...
  
  Everyone was dead. Torn apart, limb from limb. There were no survivors, none that he could see. Such a sight was difficult for such a young child to comprehend, but he was old enough to be aware that your head should remain attached to your body, and that none of them moved or did anything when he tried to talk to them or help them. And their blood coated his body...
  He broke down and cried- it was all he knew how to do. What could have possibly happened to cause this? What went wrong? He had not understood what even made them change, just earlier he had been playing with these children, and now... now...
  
  When the fires died out in the homes, he had to flee once again. As it became too cold to stay. Unbeknownst to him, someone had survived the attack...
  The Elderly Woman had survived. And when a trade caravan came through and saw the bloody massacre, the last of her strength was devoted to warning them of what had happened. That a Void Mage had done this, a Void Mage killed everyone and destroyed everything before she too succumbed to her injuries and the cold. Word began to travel and soon, people who went looking started vanishing... only their bodies to be found weeks later completely torn apart and eviscerated.
  
  From this carnage and death, a new tale was spun.
  The "Void Demon" was born.

• Heartbreak

  
  Arcus had no idea about the events that were transpiring, at a young age he constantly blacked out and would awaken somewhere completely different. Though, as the years progressed he was slowly slipping into these states less and less, which meant as he got older he began to encounter these people more and more face to face. This usually resulted in Arcus fleeing instead of fighting if he could help it, but soon there were times when he couldn't flee. A time where he... was forced to kill.
  Forced to take lives. Each death felt like another etch into his soul, another wound that never closed.
  
  One day, when Arcus was about eleven in the coldest of winter, he stumbled upon a building in the middle of nowhere. It was full of people, but Arcus had no choice. He hid inside of the building, where he sheltered for warmth. But, someone found him. A child, around his age. Arcus' fear grew, he could feel this fainting feeling he normally got around danger...
  But the boy smiled at him, and offered him a hand. The feeling grew stronger, but Arcus was reminded of all the times he fainted and something terrible happened to people...
  He fought it, he fought like hell, he pushed down this feeling and grabbed his hand tightly, and squeezed it.
  
  His name was Cassius.
  He had a friend now.
  
  He learned from Cassius that this place was an orphanage. A place where kids were sent who had no parents. Arcus was Cassius' little secret, and they spent the entire winter season together. Arcus came out when everyone else was asleep, and they would spend many hours together talking and doing quiet activities together. Cassius even threw Arcus a mock birthday party and got him a present. A ring, made out of a large bolt. Filed down to fit a finger inside of it, with both their names etched into it. Cassius told him that it was so if Arcus ever had to leave, he would never forget him.
  It was one of the only times Arcus had ever cried due to happiness rather than pain or sadness.
  
  But one day, someone had found out about Arcus and Cassius' meetings. Arcus knew he should have left as soon as the snow started melting, but he didn't want to leave Cassius. Kids got adopted in orphanages, what if he was taken and he had no idea where he went?
  A new threat descended upon the Orphanage, the Light Mage Accord. They stormed the orphanage looking for the Void Demon, but found nothing, and Cassius refused to rat out his friend. He had told Arcus to leave, so they would not find him and eventually give up. The Accord, they did not give up. They set the building ablaze and began to destroy it with their magic trying to flush out the Demon. The building burned to the ground, with no one allowed to leave. All perished inside. Arcus was too late to stop it, or save his friend.
  
  And for the first time in his life, Arcus felt pure heartbreak. Felt pure sorrow, but most dangerous of all, he felt rage.
  Arcus took their lives that day. Not out of self-defense, or because his Eldritch Horror willed him to do so. But because he wanted to. He wanted to make them suffer, make them pay. He wanted vengeance, and he bathed in the fires of hell to wrought it upon those who had burned this once happy place to the ground. By the time dawn broke, there was nothing but ash and corpses strewn about, including the Accord. Some were torched alive in their own flames. Others were ripped apart by invisible forces, one particular Light Mage had been beaten with a steel rod until they stopped moving.
  He fled, knowing there was nothing else for him here.
  
  And of course, the Accord when they sent reinforcements to check on why the original group had not returned had no context for the situation that they saw. No, instead there was only one obvious conclusion in their minds:
  The Demon had killed everyone, every light mage, and every man, woman, and child in the orphanage. Using this leverage they managed to procure more political sway and more supporters, and rapidly ramped up their efforts to kill the Demon once and for all.

• Rebirth

  
  Arcus spent the next few years in exile. Hiding away from the world, angry and distraught by it. Feeling as if there was no escape except for violence. Consumed by his own negative emotions, the mage began to self-destruct. Until one day, Arcus was again forced into a town due to the cold weather. However, deciding against making the same mistake as last time- the mage opted for a cellar to hide in, detached from the buildings nearby. It was cold, but it was secure, and he would have ample warning if anyone set foot in there. Only, Arcus did not realize someone was already in here. So weak and near death that he had not picked up on their life signature.
  
  Arcus witnessed a girl, a few years younger than him, severely beaten and abused to the verge of death. The mage did not know what had been done to her, and he knew he should just leave her. These people always sold him out or attacked him, and yet... he couldn't help but remember his dear friend, his Cassius. His eyes swelled with tears and he approached the small girl, cradling her in his arms and comforting her as he tried to tend to her wounds. The mage managed to stabilize her, and knew he had to get her to someone... had to give her help...
  
  Then, the cellar door opened and someone began to climb down. The mage noted how the girl in his arms trembled and clung to him, despite saying nothing this entire time, she clung to him for comfort. For a brief moment, Arcus wondered what could drive someone to seek him for comfort. As his eyes turned from her to the figure who came down, he saw a man. A figure that brought a whimper to the girl's throat, and brought in his hands were tools that held dried blood. In an instant, the mage understood who this was. Yet, his brain could comprehend it. Why? Why would someone do this? Who would do this?
  
  The man did not seem to realize who he was before. He shouted a threat, but Arcus doesn't even remember what it was. Just the aggression, the panic, perhaps at his little secret being revealed. The mage, only did what he knew how to do. He used his magic. In a blind, brief fit of pure malice, the mage obliterated his being, causing so much devastation to the person that no one to this day can recall his name. Or his face. Just his actions were remembered, but no details could be recalled of who he was. The attack was enough to set off Light Mages for kilometers around, so Arcus huddled the girl into warm clothes and left behind his original cloak with her, before leaving as quickly as he could.
  
  The mage found that in this encounter, there was more to this world than hating him. There were people far more twisted than he was, even if he killed people... it was in self-defense, and he never relished or tried to prolong suffering or cause it. In this revelation, the Void Mage found himself staring off into the Void with a new resolve. To help people, people like that girl... who were alone like he was. But unlike them, he wasn't powerless. Perhaps this accursed, demonic, horrific power could pave way to something good. He could use this power that had no capacity for anything except destruction, to destroy those who would do such horrific things.

• Conspiracy

  
  Arcus spent the following years disrupting slave routes into Lucrum, destroying their operations when he could. Or hitting bandit camps when he found them, bringing down chaos and destruction to those who would kill many for their own selfish gain. Arcus began to cause ripples within many communities, slowly but surely there were those who began to question if the 'Void Demon' was really as evil and bad as they originally thought... but the Accord pushed back hard, people began to go missing who voiced this. Hell, even people Arcus spared from a fight began to go missing. This wasn't something that Arcus found out right away, but eventually discovered and began an investigation.
  
  Arcus, rather than run, pretended to flee in the next engagement he was in before following the survivors. Who were transferred to multiple different areas before finding that higher-ranking mages within the Accord would execute select figures. Those who were weak from the fight, or who began to doubt the Accord.
  They were killing people to keep up this lie...
  Arcus before, understood that there was a reason people disliked him. Because of the stigma attached to his power, something he hated but understood. But this? This was too much. Arcus intervened, saving one from certain death. They cursed him, saying he had ruined their life either way before fleeing into the woods. It stung, but he felt he did the right thing.
  
  Following this, he explored the camp where he came across something... While he did not know how to read, the plans indicate some kind of large metal object on rails, and he understood ice mage symbols. They were going to build a weapon, a cold weapon. They seemingly had finally pieced together his weakness and were planning to launch a weapon capable of destroying him utterly and completely.
  
  Arcus weighed his options, at first, beginning to genuinely consider if it would be easier to lay down and die. But something came to him, a revelation. Arcus wasn't smart, but he knew a lot about magic. And just by the images alone, he could tell that there was far too much being used here. A weapon of this scale would drastically alter Terra, and perhaps, even all of Arcadia. Maybe even all of Haycleon itself. The mage decided, that this time, he had to go on the attack. And so, he did.
  
  Launching a surprise attack on the unfinished weapon, Arcus crippled the weapon of war to the point it was nothing more than a useless hulk of twisted metal. This is where Arcus encountered his first-ever Lux Elite within the Accord. Arcus fought them to the brink, throwing everything he had. While he got in blows, it wasn't nearly enough. But just as it seemed like death was about to claim him and he blacked out, he woke up somewhere else again. However, Arcus returned and saw that there were people amongst the train, looking through debris, trying to find anything usable or any survivors...
  
  He saw the Lux Elite had been brutalized. Completely unlike the others he had been forced to kill. It made Arcus' stomach churn with discomfort and displeasure. The mage moved on from them, but shortly after the train went critical. It exploded, showering down cryonic magic upon the land, bringing about a very early winter. Arcus was forced to move southward, and for a brief moment in time he remained among the lands of Tenebris and Lucrum, where he struck more slave encampments and lines from Lucrum when he wasn't forced to shelter from the harsh northern winds flowing down from Terra.
  
  Arcus understood now, more than ever though, that there was something wrong within the Accord. Too many things weren't adding up before, but now they were creating weapons that seemed to lack any regard for others getting hurt in pursuit of his life. The mage realized something had to give, something must be done. Arcus waits out the winter, before pressing onwards, back towards Terra.
  Arcus has to do something, he isn't sure how to accomplish what he wants exactly... but...
  He has to find a way to end this misconception and force out the darkness within the Light Mage Accord.

• Complications

  
  Arcus began his campaign by laying low, as many believed the frost had killed him. Communication between Lucrum and Terra was practically non-existent and when it was pursued, it was horrifically slow. Using this time, Arcus pushed into places he had not ventured before. Even getting into the Capital of Terra, Menhir briefly in search of what he sought. There, he discovered there was a set of Void Ruins nearby that had only recently been unearthed- apparently, due to robotic lifeforms digging their way out and attacking nearby farming villages.
  
  Arcus pushed into that area, where he encountered many Accord soldiers rummaging in the underground facility, and where lots of battle was being had. Rather than engage in combat with either side, he took this opportunity to sneak deeper into the building where he came across a strange robotic creature. It was, doing something to people. A machine that was killing people in a specific way, stabbing something into their spine and back of their head, and draining their magic.
  Arcus felt a strange feeling deep within his stomach and in his hands, as if his magic was pulling him towards the machine. Arcus was somehow able to interface with it, the creature obeying his commands. Arcus issued three commands, one. Free those whom had not been killed yet. Two. Mark himself as the priority one target for all automaton aggression to buy people time to escape. Three. Initiate a self-destruct by overloading its own magic. And thus, the machine blew itself up.
  
  Then, the automatons began to ignore the Accord, and instead, targeted him. The mage fought for a brief moment, before realizing that there were far too many of these things, so he fled to recuperate. It was incredibly uncanny fighting something that used the same power as he did. It was not something he had ever had to face before. While fleeing, he got lost. Eventually, stumbling upon some kind of gateway system, and seeing no other option, fled through a portal and ended up being transported to a strange location...
  
  Arcus destroyed the gateway on the other side to prevent them from following, before continuing ahead. There, he found what seemed to be some kind of ancient tomb for a singular individual. Arcus couldn't read, but he felt something rather odd. It was as if something was slowly tugging him along, pulling him towards a particular section. There, he found a strange sword that seemed to have belonged to the late mage this tomb was dedicated to. Grasping onto it, he felt some kind of deep feeling that this was what he was supposed to do-
  So he took the blade for his own, before leaving the tomb.
  
  Arcus found evidence of other battles soon after, signs that other robot lifeforms had crawled their way out of the underground and had begun to attack anything in sight. Temporarily, Arcus decided to halt his ventures into discovering the Light Mage Accordance's corrupt underside and focused on dealing with and trying to uproot these Void Automatons and stop them from massacring innocent people on the surface, and try to figure out why they were doing this in the first place...

• Divergence...

  
  This is where Arcus' path branches.
  
  This is where his story changes.
  
  How will you affect his ultimate outcome? Will you assist or hinder him? Set him down on another path altogether?
  
  This is where your fates will intertwine...

• Cascading Worldline

  
  For one reason or another, Arcus is forced to venture to another world. Perhaps it is to lay low or gather strength after a set back, perhaps something requested his aid from beyond these worlds and dragged him to another place. Maybe the Void Automatons managed to break through Haycleon's barrier and have assailed other worlds and Arcus followed. Whatever the reason is, Arcus is not where he should be. This leaves him open to forces who have not taken kindly to Void Mages venturing around in the past, and, leave him exposed... no longer hidden by the veil around Haycleon. What will become of him? In this strange new world...

• Archon Rising

  
  Whether you were born to this world or were somehow thrust into it- you've now ended up on Haycleon in one of its most turbulent times since the Void Incident a thousand years ago. Whether you chanced a meet with the Void Mage, were originally supposed to hunt him down, perhaps saved by him, or some other option- you've now become entangled in his affairs to stop the Automaton threat and root out and expose the corruption within the Light Mage Accord. This will not grant you many allies, and it will be far from easy.
  But he promises he will have your back, and never abandon you.