#cirianaster

From left to right-

Declan- Cirian’s foster brother who was separated from him by circumstance when they were young, Declan has grown into a reclusive, spiteful, brilliant young man.  They were reunited when Declan attempted to murder Cirian 6 years after their separation.  Cirian has worked to restore their relationship and to try to make up for the years Declan suffered at the hands of a well-connected nobleman, both out of guilt over never coming to find Declan and a sense of possessiveness for the foster brother that was brought up solely to be his childhood companion.

Kalen Dren-  Kalen is a respected nobleman of Adamasa, a devout Paladin of the true church of Torm, and a confidant to Cirian as they work to improve the lives of those at the poorest levels of Adamasa.  Kalen runs a shelter for the homeless while Cirian works in the shadows to bring justice for ordinary civilians who can’t fight against nobles and connected government officials that misuse their powers to exploit and abuse Adamasa’s citizens.  Kalen and Cirian operate quietly as members of a sect that the official church of Torm consider heretical and dangerous.  While they are friends, that relationship has been uneasy at times because of the atrocities in Cirian’s past.  But it is because of who Cirian was, and who Kalen hopes he can become, that Kalen acts as both a stalwart champion of his cause and a watchful guardian ready to protect the rest of the world from Cirian should he fall from his current path.

Bolin- After a stint at the adventurer’s academy, training in combat, Bolin, the crown prince of Adamasa, returned home strong, confident, and cocky, but under all the bravado, he is still the same sweet, dorky kid he was when he left.  Cirian advocated for him in going to the academy, hoping it would help him grow into the role of the king of Adamasa.  Cirian and Bolin became friends while Cirian served as a military adviser to Bolin’s father, King Deming, during the occupation of the Drow and undead.  Their friendship was cemented after Bolin was nearly assassinated.  Cirian had been framed for the crime, but Bolin always believed he was innocent.  Once Cirian was exonerated, he hunted for a cure to the persistent poison that Bolin suffered from and eventually restored Bolin’s health.  During Bolin’s illness, Cirian was won over by his altruistic and idealistic nature.  He found himself completely charmed by how naturally kindness, empathy, and optimism came to Bolin, especially in light of how difficult those concepts have been for Cirian to grasp.  Cirian and Bolin bring out the worst and the best in one another, often acting like childish idiots whenever they’re together, but both pushing each other to be a better version of themselves.

Quinten Sun-sage- One of the civilized world’s most famous and respected adventurers, Quinten took in Cirian after his parent’s deaths and raised him as a son and squire.  Quinten is perpetually humble, and his gentle parenting style and consistent example of treating others as if they were as important as himself, if not more so, helped start Cirian down the path of understanding and valuing ethics and morality.  Quinten was the first person Cirian ever truly respected both for his calm demeanor and his ability to handle any situation that came their way with the wisdom and foresight to turn even the worst disasters into something small and manageable.  Cirian considers Quinten his father in every respect but birth, and has had a hard time accepting that the strongest man he has ever known is aging and one day may not be there when Cirian needs him.

Vester Belknap- Belknap and Cirian have had a contentious relation ship from the start.  Cirian initially came to Adamasa to work under Investigator Belknap on a team attempting to put a stop to a gang war that had been raging for many years.  Belknap took him on as a favor to his old friend Quinten.  The investigator was one of the few who could see through Cirian’s careful facade and beneath it all he saw was Magnus- Cirian’s arrogant, self-centered father.   His hostilities towards Cirian’s late father grew and Cirian became a stand in for the years of unresolved anger that Belknap had been carrying with him.  And Cirian was happy to oblige him in being insubordinate and antagonistic out of spite for being treated poorly for crimes he had not committed and out of irritation that Belknap could so easily see through him.  The worst part was that Cirian could see the ways Belknap was like Quinten- the ways he was a good person beneath all the fighting- and it drove him mad how much he wanted- needed- Belknap’s respect.  Even after they stopped working together, Cirian still sought him out, and for some reason, Belknap didn’t turn him away.  Each time Cirian’s world was crumbling and changing, Belknap was there to help keep it from falling apart entirely.  Eventually, Magnus was buried and forgotten, Cirian was on his way to becoming a better man, and Belknap had turned into someone Cirian relied on, no matter the circumstances.  They still fight, and antagonize one another, and to the average observer, they may appear to hate one another, but the true hostility dissolved a long time ago.  But for as easy as it was for Cirian to see Belknap’s value, Belknap has a hard time seeing it for himself.  He had become a high-functioning alcoholic long before Cirian had ever even been born, and as much as Cirian wants to help him, it may be that the only thing he can do is to be there with him when Belknap eventually drinks himself to his grave.

Cirian Aster-  Cirian’s path has not been an easy one.  For the past year he has climbed, trying to become someone he can be proud of, all the while wondering if that’s a place he can ever really reach; if he’ll ever feel like he can stop apologizing for who he is; If he’ll ever stop feeling so exhausted... and so alone.  He’s not perfectly disconnected from people anymore, but he’s not able to be perfectly like them either.  He thinks of himself as a broken thing, just half made and never completed, looking in from the outside, fighting through life, not knowing what he’s aiming for.  He hasn’t been happy in a long time.  He knows he hasn’t been happy since he left Asmodeus, since he realized the truth that people matter... And he knows now that he could never be happy even if he went back to the way things were before.  He’s stranded himself.  The only way he can move is forward.  Whenever he is called, he fights fiercely, laying down everything he has, not sure if he can even die.  Wishing he could.  But so many people need so much of him, that he carries on for them, even though he’s sure he will never be enough for any of them.  His silent hope is that someday someone will tell him he was enough... That everything he is and everything he has done has meant something.

Ard Marston-  Cirian inherited Ard when he came into control of both of Adamasa’s foremost gangs while working under Inspector Belknap.  Ard had been muscle for the Adamasan Kings, but once Cirian took over the Kings and Tunnel Snakes, he combined the groups into a new gang, burying the old organizations in the past.  He recognized Ard’s intelligence and the way he had with the men of the gang and made Ard into his second in command in public operations.  He and Ard share a common goal of protecting and rehabilitating those in the gang and giving opportunities to those who had been most hurt by the siege of Adamasa.  Ard acts as an adviser to Cirian, and beyond that, Ard is a devout follower of Torm and a decent opponent to keep Cirian’s chess skills sharp. 

Tristan-  Cirian’s man in the shadows and second in command of all clandestine operations in his gang, Tristan is one of the few men Cirian has personally recruited outside of his gang’s original members.  As an orphan raised by a group seeking to turn him into a spy at the highest levels of society, Tristan has a skill set that is hard to come by, and Cirian relies on him heavily and trusts him implicitly.  He says little, but his actions speak only of loyalty.  Tristan would and has gone to hell and back when Cirian needed him to, braving the Underdark in the company of their enemies in order to enact a plan to save Adamasa from a Lich.  And Cirian would go to almost any lengths to protect him and be the man Tristan trusts him to be.

Victor Fulton-  Raised by Alistair from childhood, Victor was one of many failed attempts by Alistair to create a successor.  Victor was brought up among a group of other children to be cruel and sharp and clever, but he could not cut off the human desire for companionship that Alistair considers a fatal weakness.  Victor escaped Alistair as a young man and founded a powerful mercenary group that operates in the north. Accompanied by his daughter, Pista- the child he stole from Alistair- he now seeks to destroy Alistair and everything that he’s worked for and to restore the woman he loved that he had to leave behind.