Augustus Hadrian Invictus

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Astellian officer’s uniform =

Augustus Hadrian Invictus (often shortened as A. Hadrian Invictus in official documents) is a 23 year old Julian military leader who serves as the military governor of Provincia Raetia, and Dux of several legions there. Prior to that, he served directly under the command of Alexander Argeas, who also took him on as his apprentice. He has a slave named Nonus, is the lover of Amaranth, and has a daughter named Auriel. He wields the legendary sword known as the Sword of Paulus.

Appearance
Augustus is a tall man of 6'2" and of a well-built physique. He has a handsome face with long, brown hair and amber, almost golden eyes. He is as pictured to the right.

Personality
Augustus is many things: He is a glory-seeker, he is nationalistic, he is zealous, he is proud, and he is ruthless in battle. That said, he is also kind, charitable, theatrical, and amicable, not to mention diligent in all his pursuits and goals.

Early Life (Birth - 14)
Augustus Hadrian Invictus was born in 844 AD to Tiberius Hadrian Invictus and Philia Augusta Invictus in the capital city of Julia. Being a plebeian, he received a standard education. His father, who was a centurion in the legions, trained him in the arts of combat and tactics, wanting the young Augustus to follow in his footsteps and be a soldier. In his free time, he practiced speech and his guilty pleasure, theater.

Everything changed for the young Augustus when he was 13. At that age he met and fell in love with a young noblewoman named Aeliana, and over the course of a year, the two carried out a secret romance. The two were truly happy. However, one day Aeliana learned that her father had betrothed her to a senator, and she rushed to Augustus. The two eloped in an old church outside of the city and consummated their marriage in Aeliana's bed. The next morning, when Aeliana's father caught them, Augustus was forced to flee. Aeliana would be gone the next day, and Augustus never saw her again. Heartbroken, he grew depressed, and toiled through that depression through the next year. When he turned 15, as to escape his sorrows, he joined the military.

Adult Life (15 - Start)
In the military, Augustus found a purpose. He refined his skills with actual other soldiers, and his knowledge of war grew over the next few years. He escaped his depression, making many new friends in the military. By the age of 18, he was made an officer, and by the age of 20, a centurion. Due to his quick progression through the ranks, he gained the ire of many patricians, who scoffed at the thought of a plebeian growing so powerful so quickly. However, one patrician held the young Augustus in high regard, as it was around this time he gained the attention of the venerable Legate Alexander Argeas, who was descended from the founder of the Republic, Philip Argeas. Under Alexander's tutelage, Augustus completed his education and learned more of war than he ever could have imagined, earning quite the name for himself. He developed strong feelings of nationalism and religious fervor while in the legions, and a boisterous pride that would stick with him. It was also during this time that he met his best friend, the mysterious Alystra. She was a member of a secretive part of the legions, known as "The Scouts". They were unlike ordinary scout troops, and were experts in dangerous missions. After his promotion to centurion, which is when he met her, she quickly became his most trusted subordinate, whom he promoted to the rank of Optio (lieutenant), although he was terrified of her ability to seemingly be everywhere and also nowhere all at the same time.

During his early military career, Augustus fought many battles, most of them skirmishes with barbarian tribes or putting down rebellions, and as a Centurion, he learned much about command, and gained quite the reputation as a damn fine commander and strategist. The Senate began entrusting him with more and more tasks, such as diplomatic missions, despite his plebeian status. He was even sent to negotiate the purchase of Condottieri from Magnolion in 866. In 867, he was given a few month's worth of leave for his service to the Republic.

Plague Dragon Arc
In the year 867 AD, Nonus brought an unconscious Amaranth to the house of a 23 year old Augustus. After nursing her to health, she and Augustus became fast friends, the girl agreeing to travel on a dangerous quest with him - to kill the Plague Dragon in Egalstria. The two left for Egalstria, along with Alystra and a traveler from Bruoka named Avius. They gathered many into their party, such as Igni, Byrne, and the Paladins, by the time they reached Pietravalle, the capital of Egalstria. There, Augustus met Hana and Sir Klaus. Sometime later, Augustus' nationalistic and racist views came into conflict with Amaranth's, the two having a fight. Augustus then left the group to contemplate, with Alystra following him. He entered the Forlorn Whitewood, and met three forsaken comrades within it: Iam, the ghostly child of a friend long dead. Hope, an exiled Egalstrian noble. Yuuta, an exiled Koneko tribesman. With their help, Augustus confronted his past and his present, both re-seeing his romance with Aeliana as well as fighting a "Shadow Amaranth" in the forlorn lake. Amaranth being his shadow made Augustus realize something... He had feelings for her. After his triumph over the shadow, arcane powers awakened within him, and unknown to him, psionic ones too. Not too long after, he befriended (and nearly killed) a manakete named Ono, and Augustus and co. left the Forlorn Whitewood.

A day later, when Ono sensed an evil presence, Augustus and Alystra (riding on Ono's back) rushed to it, knowing it was the Plague Dragon. Augustus and Alystra assisted those who were fighting it: Amaranth, Klaus, Lothar, Hana, and Lycoris. However, soon enough the dragon became the least of their worries. With the rebirth of Calystegia within Amaranth, a process which Augustus accelerated with his return, the party was forced to fight Calystegia-Amaranth, with Amaranth being freed... At the cost of her left arm. The dragon fled, with Augustus and Klaus giving pursuit.

After arriving to help out, the dragon was inevitably defeated. However, during the battle, Augustus' best friend Alystra was killed, crushed to death by the dragon. This battle pushed Augustus to his very limits, his psionic powers coming to light alongside his magical ones. So, the time came for Klaus to fulfill his destiny and slay the dragon. However, he did not, opting to preserve his own life at the cost of the dragon not being truly dead, destined to revive eventually. Augustus, blaming Klaus for making Alystra's death and the whole journey in vain, lashed out at Klaus, denouncing him. Augustus then took his leave from the group. However, he came back to say his final farewells, and due to that, was witness to the sacrifice of Hana. Augustus' respect for Hana's bravery overcame, for a time, his disdain towards Klaus.

Later that evening, Augustus had a talk with Amaranth, which led to the two confessing their feelings towards eachother and started a relationship.

Soon after, Augustus and his companions returned home to Julia, where he was offered and declined a triumph, opting to give Alystra a glorious, state-sponsored funeral. It was during this time in the city that he discovered he had a secret daughter, born of his missing first wife. Her name was Auriel, and he took her into his care, quickly bonding with his child. After the funeral, he remained in the city, even though Amaranth left.

The Eagle Grows Hungry: Stories from the First Helvetic War
In late July of 867, the city of Trevorum was sacked, with huge Julian casualties. After travelling to Trevorum's ruins to check to see if his parents were alive, Augustus discovered they had been slain. Sent into a frenzy, Augustus swore vengeance. With the people of the nation worked up into a fury, Augustus asked prominent senator Palpatus Zifear to propose to the Senate that Augustus be given command of an invasion force. He agreed, and the two began working together to avenge the great tragedy at Trevorum. In this, he was granted the title of "Dux" and put in charge of a large invasion force of tens of thousands of men. Augustus launched his attack on the Raetic Confederation, the group of Helvetic Tribes that sacked Trevorum. Accompanied by two other military commanders, known as Comes. They were named Flavius Augustus Stilicho and Vettius Argorius Praetextatus. Over the course of several months he campaigned in Raetia. The first battle between Julian and Raetic forces was the Battle of Gallo, in which Augustus, despite a fire tornado, won a decisive victory for the Republic. He followed this victory up with another at Alaricund, where he captured the chieftain's daughter, Emma, after beating her in single combat and securing the surrender of her forces. Having occupied Alaricund, victory was in sight for Julia. However, disaster struck at Hermann Forest in the north of Raetia, in which three legions came into combat with the forces of Chieftain Erik of Raetia. He decimated the Julians at Hermann Forest using his geomancers and killed Comes Praetextatus, sending his head back to Augustus at Alaricund. Augustus was consumed by both wrath and sorrow, and swore further vengeance. Early that November, the Julians and Raetians had their final showdown in the plains between Alaricund and Gallo, in which the Julians attacked the Raetians in the fog, ambushing them. The Raetians were defeated once and for all, with Augustus slaying Erik in single combat. The war over, peace had come.

Augustus cemented his popularity with the people by ushering in a revitalized age of Julian expansion and "Spatium Vivendi" - "Living Space" for the people. He sold the defeated Emma as a slave to one of his men, Caecilius Severus Flavianus. In mid November, he received a triumph in Julia. That day, November 23rd, became known as Conquest Day.

Journey to Astellia
On the day of Augustus' triumph, Amaranth was freed from her imprisonment on Astellia and returned to the surface, to Julia. She arrived at the triumph and bore witness to a great parade in his honor, as well as to the public humiliation of Emma. After their fateful, emotional reunion, Amaranth spent the night at Augustus' home, where the two shared an intimate night together. The next morning, Augustus and Amaranth departed for Astellia along with a number of comrades, so that Augustus might lend his strategic mind to the Resistance's cause.

Upon arriving on Astellia, Augustus and his companions were immediately engaged by a number of Asterion security officers. Dispatching them, they made to exit the Astellian royal palace, led by Felicia to the Resistance's main base. There, they were united with both Resistance commander August Katsuragi as well as Diana and Avius, who had stayed behind. Amaranth then led Augustus to the base's information and computer room, where he spent the next two weeks learning everything about Astellia's military technology as he could.

In Battle
Augustus was trained by both his father and Alexander in combat, and as such, is an extremely skilled swordsman for his age. He also knows some rather powerful magics, such as arcane magic and telekinesis, and he even knows how to wrestle.