Profile
Nestor Nikolakis |
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Information |
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| Name | Nestor Nikolakis |
| Species | Merman |
| Gender | Male |
| Born | 16 BGE Ducal Palace, New Atlantis |
| World | Asleep Universe |
| Occupation | Prince of New Atlantis (16 BGE - 10 AGE) Duke of New Atlantis (10 AGE - 34 AGE; 36 AGE - 39 AGE) Grand Duke of New Atlantis (34 AGE - 36 AGE; 39 AGE - Present) Head of Household (33 AGE - 37 AGE) |
| Native language | Novoatlantean |
"BEHAVE!"
- Nestor to his children (repeatedly)Appearance
Nestor had sky-blue skin, complemented by long sapphire-blue hair. By age 16, he'd already grown a full beard and moustache, causing him to look older than he actually was to many people. Most of the time, he tended to go out in his military uniform, consisting of tarnished second-hand bronze armour, and a 3-metre golden trident for use in combat.
By his early fifties, Nestor still had his beard and moustache; however, the sapphire-blue colour was beginning to turn grey with age. He'd long since upgraded his bronze armour to a gold-plated steel equivalent. He still carried a golden trident; however, this was shorter and meant primarily for ceremonial use, as he had retired from the battle field in order to command his military forces from behind a desk.
Now aged 72, Nestor's scales have faded to almost white, and his hair has gone completely grey. He still has his beard, but it's become increasingly untidy, as he's no longer able to take care of it himself. He's mostly confined to his bed, and his muscles have withered away; however, he still stubbornly wears his old suit of armour.
Personality
The young Nestor was very studious and focused on his military training, and disliked anything which distracted him from this. While this allowed him to excel in his studies, it did cause him to view other activities (such as housework and social events) as distractions from his, and so, outsiders tended to view him as lazy and antisocial.
35 years later, Nestor was still involved in the military; however, he was no longer so single-mindedly focused on it, as he had been able to make time for family matters. His new priority in life was to do whatever he thought best for his three children: Lysander, Aliana, and Meriandra. He could come across as blunt and harsh - but, ultimately, he did this because he genuinely cared about them and would fight for what he believed was right for them.
As a military leader and strategist, Nestor was unmatched by anyone in the history of New Atlantis - and, therefore, was a valuable person for any ruler to have on their side. In addition, he was adept in hand-to-hand combat when he needed to be, thanks to his experience of using his trident. Unfortunately, his single-minded focus on the military caused him to plan through battle strategies all the time, stopping him from thinking about anything else. This meant he struggled to concentrate on other important tasks: he missed important details in everyday conversations, and didn't look where he was going when he was off the battlefield, causing him to land in multiple humiliating accidents.
Later on in life, Nestor brought his previous obsession with military matters under control. However, he still retained his characteristic clumsiness, as he carried lasting injuries from his previous mishaps. These eventually caught up with him, leaving him weak and bedridden - but still determined to keep the castle in line. This frustrated him immensely - causing him to grow increasingly impulsive and cranky, as he tried to carry on exerting some form of authority over his former subjects.
Relationships
Cassandra - Nestor's long-suffering wife, who married him in two months after he became Duke of New Atlantis (largely because she felt sorry for him). She provides a much-needed voice of reason in their relationship: she's usually found explaining to Nestor why his latest outrageous plan isn't going to work. She's practically the only person who can control Nestor's impulses (usually by threatening to shove a fresh avocado into his mouth)
Lysander - The eldest son of Nestor and Cassandra. Unfortunately, he has inherited most of his father's annoying habits (including his clumsiness and impulsiveness), without inheriting any of his mother's qualities. As a result, both of his parents viewed him as a major disappointment - sparking a conflict which ultimately led to Lysander forcing Nestor out of power. It didn't last, though - and, once Nestor was back in power, he and Lysander were no longer on speaking terms.
Aliana - The second child of Nestor and Cassandra. She has always been Nestor's favourite child, on the basis that she has proven more intelligent and promising than Lysander. However, there is still friction in their relationship: Aliana has a mischievous streak, and she enjoys playing practical jokes on her father whenever she gets the chance (for example, shrinking him to the size of a pea).
King Thomas Lennart - A constant presence in Nestor's life, from a very early age. During childhood, when they were princes of neighbouring kingdoms, they were close friends and allies. However, they were both very impulsive - and thus, the friendship often grew tense: when they became rulers, their realms even ended up at war with each other. However, even after the friendship fell apart, Nestor never stopped completely caring about Tom - and, once the war was over, they did at least attempt to mend their friendship.
Story
Early life
Prince Nestor was born in the year 16 BGE, to Duke Nikolas III and Duchess Lyra. He was the royal couple's second child - but sadly, his older brother Nikolas died in infancy, and thus, he had no siblings growing up. Instead, his closest friend was Prince Thomas, the young heir to the throne of Lennart Kingdom. They had their first meeting in the year 15 AGE, when both of them were still babies - and, thanks to Tom's tendency to cry, Nestor took to calling him "Waa Waa". At this point, Nestor still hadn't developed any sense of morality - and so, he attempted to play dangerous tricks like shoving Tom into the fireplace (but fortunately, Nikolas and Lyra were always on hand to stop this!)
As his parents' only surviving child, Nestor was spoiled in his pre-school years. He was allowed to get up to immense mischief, breaking his father's possessions, and even damaging the pearly throne from which he ruled. At this point, Duke Nikolas recognised that young son's misbehaviour couldn't go on forever - and so, at the age of 6, Nestor was enlisted into the military academy of New Atlantis.
At first, Nestor was an unruly student who refused to obey orders. However, after a series of beatings by his superiors, Nestor got the message, and began to focus on his studies. He soon began to display immense potential - and, by the age of 16, he was earmarked to lead the Novoatlantean fleet in battle once his training was complete. Unfortunately, his focus on his future military career left him with little time for a social life or any other interests: he maintained his friendship with Prince Thomas, and also became friends with Alexis (a half-human, half-merman who had trained alongside him), but rarely socialised beyond this small group. He did make some exceptions to his distaste for non-military activities when women were involved; however, his lack of experience here invariably caused his approaches to end in embarrassment (worst of all, when he approached Diane and promptly forgot her name). Other than female family members, the only girl he's able to talk to is a 10-year-old street merchant named Cassandra (whom he met by chance when he stumbled into her apple cart one day).
First reign and fatherhood
In the year 10 AGE, Duke Nikolas III retired in order to become a priest, and the now 26-year-old Nestor became the new Duke of New Atlantis. That evening, the now 20-year-old Cassandra offered to be his partner at the dance to celebrate his accession (albeit only because his attempts to attract other women were still failing miserably, and she felt sorry for him). Surprisingly, the two stayed together from there, and married a year later, making Cassandra the new Duchess of New Atlantis.
After two years of marriage, Cassandra gave birth to Nestor's first child, Lysander. The young, mischievous couple initially struggled to adapt to the responsibilities of parenthood, and the infant prince grew into a troublesome toddler. They resolved to do better with their next two children, Aliana and Meriandra - and so, Nestor brought his military values into the family, disciplining his children harshly when they created trouble. However, he always did this out of love, and he was never needlessly cruel to his children: indeed, when his high standards were met, he rewarded his children accordingly (particularly Aliana, who grew to be his favourite - to the point of being spoiled!)
Duke Nestor remained in his position until the year 34 AGE. At this point, Lysander forced his 50-year-old father out of power: Nestor had grown unpopular with his own subjects, as he had been neglecting the non-military aspects of his role. However, his peerless skills as an admiral ensured that he remained commander of New Atlantis's armed forces after abdicating. In addition, he retained his position as head of the royal household, keeping a watchful eye over his daughters Aliana and Meriandra, and their friends Lydia and Frederick.
A year later, in 35 AGE, Thomas's son Kyle arrived in New Atlantis. Thomas had seemingly been killed in the year 30 AGE, when King Kei and his forces stormed Lennart Castle - and Kyle had been put to sleep for the intervening five years. Nestor was happy to take Kyle in, but he adopted an especially harsh disciplinarian attitude towards the young prince, for a variety of reasons. First of all, Kyle had caused Nestor multiple headaches by behaving immaturely for an 18-year-old: thanks to his five-year-sleep, he was mentally still a 13-year-old. Secondly, Nestor spoiled his own children when they were young - especially Aliana - and he wished to avoid making the same mistakes with Kyle. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, Kyle was displaying some of the same tendencies as his apparently-deceased father Thomas - and so, Nestor wished to prevent the same fate from befalling him.
Eventually, to the immense surprise of all, Thomas was discovered alive, hidden in an obsidian cube in an antiques store in Black Shard Cliffs. As a result, Nestor and Thomas worked together to depose King Kei, with the assistance of Kyle's earth magic. Their joint efforts were successful: Kei was deposed and imprisoned, Thomas was reinstated as King of Lennart Kingdom, and Kyle moved back to Lennart Castle with him (after a romantic relationship with Aliana had fallen apart).
Second reign
By the year 36 AGE, Duke Lysander's youth and inexperience was causing the realm's fortunes to tank - which even led to the people missing Nestor. As a result, Lysander was forced to abdicate, and Nestor temporarily came out of retirement to rule in his place. The idea was that Aliana would spend the next year training to become the new Duchess - and, until she was ready, Nestor would hold his old position as Duke.
However, matters were complicated when King Thomas was found to be abusing Kyle back in Lennart Castle, by keeping him locked in his room at all times, unable to go outside. Cassandra agreed that this was unacceptable - and, she and Nestor launched an operation to break Kyle out of Lennart Kingdom. This was successful: Kyle was moved back to New Atlantis, where he and Aliana reconciled and resumed their romantic relationship. However, it enraged Thomas, who believed that, as Kyle's father, he had the right to keep him in Lennart Castle. Their dispute devolved into outright war: Thomas launched an assault on New Atlantis, but was quickly defeated and captured.
When Thomas was imprisoned in New Atlantis, Nestor spoke to him - and quickly deduced that something was wrong: this was not the Thomas that Nestor knew from his childhood. As a result, he took Thomas to the Academia Magesteria, so that its most experienced medical wizards could investigate him. Nestor's suspicions were confirmed: Thomas was acting under the influence of dark magic, which had likely leaked into him from inside the obsidian cube. The wizards attempted to de-corrupt him - but sadly, their efforts were only partially successful, and since the people of Lennart Kingdom were growing impatient to have their king back, Nestor reluctantly released him.
The feud between Nestor and Thomas continued - and combined with his duties to his own realm, and his obligations to his children, Nestor was growing increasingly stressed. As a result, Cassandra persuaded Nestor to hand over the 'Head of Household' title, which allowed him to focus on his realm and his children. However, Thomas made another attempt to reclaim Kyle: after force had failed, he instead turned to deceit, by falsely claiming to be gravely ill, so that Kyle would come back. This trick worked - and Kyle returned to Lennart Kingdom, only to find that he had been lied to. Once again, Nestor's armies had to break him out - but sadly, Nestor's younger daughter Meriandra was captured in the process. Aliana held Kyle responsible for the capture of her sister - and their relationship was brought to the brink of collapse.
Eventually, Meriandra was freed, and Thomas reluctantly accepted that he was never going to get Kyle back. As a result, the dispute between the two rulers gradually petered out - and Nestor was free to concentrate on domestic and family matters. In particular, he was very insistent that Aliana should marry: most young princesses were married before age 20, but Aliana was nearing 25, and Nestor was embarrassed that she didn't yet have a husband. Thus, in spite of Aliana's and Kyle's numerous past issues, he began preparing a wedding for them, in an attempt to pressure them to fix their issues. Fortunately, with his and Cassandra's help, they did - and finally, in the year 39 AGE, Kyle and Aliana married.
Retirement and later life
Shortly after Kyle and Aliana were married, Nestor abdicated once again (this time for good), and assumed the honorary title of 'Grand Duke'. This allowed Nestor to advise the new Co-Dukes Kyle and Aliana, veto one of their proposals each year, and rule in their name when they were unavailable. This actually happened quite a lot: Aliana had five children, and spent much of her first few years as Duchess on maternity leave, allowing Nestor to co-rule the realm while she took care of her small children.
By the time Aliana's children were old enough to not need their mother's constant attention, Nestor was finally able to pursue a more relaxed lifestyle. He and Cassandra took several vacations, to visit parts of the world that they he had a chance to go to while he was ruling (for example, the distant Damuyagi Islands). Unfortunately, as the years went on, Nestor's past injuries and declining physical strength made travel more and more difficult. His last public engagement was King Thomas's funeral, in the year 53 AGE, where observers noted that he looked very frail. He was, to his immense dismay, too weak to be one of the pallbearers for Thomas's coffin; however, he did deliver a reverent and respectful eulogy, which downplayed the disputes of their later years as rulers, and focused instead on the happier times they had enjoyed together.
In the three years since King Thomas's funeral, Nestor has not left the Ducal Palace of New Atlantis. He spends most of his time in his bed, where his loyal wife Cassandra stays by his side and attends to his basic needs. He's usually chained down to the bed to stop him from rolling off - although he is sometimes allowed out onto the balcony overlooking the castle gate, in order to dismiss the persistent rumours of his death.
Despite his sad decline, Nestor is still respected and loved by his family - especially Aliana's 10-year-old son, Nestor Jr, who always enjoys speaking to his grandfather and copying his old tricks. Whether the young Nestor will live up to his old namesake's legacy, however, remains to be seen.
Trivia
Nestor speaks three languages: Novoatlantean, Standard Lennartine, and Modern Archonian.
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