La porte jetée, comme il s'est avéré, avait été le grand bouclier de Cyrus tout le long. Une fois son orgueil et sa joie maintenant couverts de chiffons sales pour éviter la reconnaissance d'un symbole tenu en si haute estime par ceux qu'il avait autrefois servi avec ou au-dessous et qu'il a maintenant comploté contre, cherchant à rembourser les atrocités en nature. Épargnant ces pensées, il prit plus d'efforts que ce qu'il mit pour lever son bouclier massif, à présent presque autant d'une partie de lui que de port d'armure lourde était, comme il entra dans le sanctuaire de la Fraternité par la porte maintenant déverrouillée et suivi par les deux qu'il avait salués et un tiers qui était arrivé peu après et dont il a rapidement ignoré pour le moment alors qu'il commençait à passer par la grande collection de livres dans la cachette, beaucoup d'entre eux anciens et relatifs au mythique, l'ésotérique et l'interdit.
Son éducation, peut-être la partie la plus difficile de son ascension à la chevalerie, a porté ses fruits après seulement quelques minutes de recherches silencieuses, presque frénétiques. Placer doucement à la fois le livre et la lettre qu'il avait reçue sur une table bien éclairée, il les a soulignés à ses... camarades. "C'est ce que je voulais discuter, une lettre que je ne pouvais pas lire tout à fait" dit-il, en le pointant "et ceci, le sens" qu'il a suivi, en pointant le tome utilement schématisé sur la vieille tradition draconienne et le symbolisme. "La liberté a un moyen de destruction, dit-il, ou alors je crois que c'est par ce livre. Je ne suis pas un pour les énigmes, et n'ai pas d'indice sur ce que cela pourrait signifier. Le document, cependant, je le reconnais maintenant. Cela faisait de nombreuses années que je ne l'avais pas vu, mais c'est certainement d'un petit village du Royaume ».
Il avait connu le village à l'époque parce qu'il avait connu Elised, si seulement en passant. Un très jeune enfant, peut-être pas le plus sympathique, mais certainement meilleur que beaucoup des autres nobles qu'il avait connus. Cyrus avait pitoyé le garçon après son affectation sous la direction de Raggemand de Highmount, une méchante personne avec une mauvaise habitude de briser ceux qu'il ne pouvait pas modeler à son point de vue, bien que, dernièrement, il avait entendu que le garçon était maintenant un homme servant directement sous la Reine. "C'est le village qui entoure le manoir d'Elised le Jeune" il était certain qu'il n'avait pas à expliquer la signification de ce nom à ses associés. "Je crois qu'il y a un voyage dans l'ordre, mais je n'ai aucune autorité sur cette question. Donc, The Owl, The Wanderer, The Smileing Death, ma proposition est simple".
« Je vote pour que The Owl et The Wanderer se dirigent vers le village pendant que The Smileing Death et moi restons ici pour remplir nos fonctions. Vous deux aurez une plus grande chance de passer inaperçue par rapport à un homme géant avec un bouclier de tour et une femme avec un scythe orné". Ce n'était pas la façon la plus pratique de résoudre les choses, mais voter sur des questions telles que celles-ci était un événement courant pour les rassemblements de Frères et peut-être l'une des raisons pour lesquelles les assassins préféraient généralement travailler seuls.
Bio time. I suppose Katrina could've killed Cyrus' sister, though it could very well have been anyone else.
Birth Name: Cyrus Reinhardt
Name origin: Derived from an old word for sun
Aliases: The Bulwark, apostate
Gender: Male
Skin tone: Dark
Hair Color: Greying black
Eye Color: Brown
Height: 6 feet 5 inches
Body Build: Extremely muscular
Faction: Brotherhood
Affiliation: Good-ish
Religion: Believes in the Gods, is currently having a crisis of faith
Birth month: Vitama
Mask appearance: Rather than wear a mask, Cyrus suplants it with his face-covering helmet
Appearence: Cyrus is an imposing presence even when unarmed and unarmored, a tall, heavyset, thickly muscular man whose skin shows remarkably few marks of blades or other injuries despite his hazardous occupation. He keeps his prematurely greying hair cut short and his beard neatly trimmed.
Equipment:
-Full suit of armor: A nondescript full suit of armor of adequate quality which piles layers of protection on Cyrus. In order: padded clothes, chainmail and a suit of full plate, painted white, including a face-obscuring close helmet which doubles as Cyrus' Brotherhood mask. Rather than wear a black cloak he wears a black, hooded surcoat which helps to hide his white armor and he usually carries his helmet in a bag along with some other base belongings.
-Flanged mace: A heavy mace where the head is constructed out of 8 flanges (protruding metal edges) rather than just being smooth or knobbed. Comparatively inelegant but highly practical weapons, flanged maces can not only deliver crushing blows which can deal damage against well-protected opponents but also outright dent or even penetrate armor and shields. This particular model is somewhat larger than average and best wielded with two hands, though Cyrus is able to make good use of it with just one.
-Shield of the Kingdom: A rectangular black metal plate, slightly curved inwards and tall and wide enough to completely cover its wielder, decorated with the Kingdom of the Night's heraldry. Utilized only by the strongest men in the realm's army, it serves as a physical representation of the knights' oath to protect the Kingdom of the Night and to wield one is regarded as a badge of honor.
Backstory:
Born a commoner, Cyrus' parents died of a plague early in his life, leaving him and his sister Julia alone and impoverished. Cyrus worked tirelessly to provide for his sister, taking on any job he could no matter how demanding or hazardous until he was scouted by the Kingdom's military because of his large size and already noteworthy strength. Promised a decent life for his sister should he perform well in the military, Cyrus accepted the offer without a second thought.
So driven, he rapidly rose through the ranks, further developing his body into a lethal weapon and distinguishing himself as a determined, highly loyal man. Even those who scoffed at his humble origins could not deny his many virtues and the intensity he showed in his duties and so Cyrus' knighthood became a foregone conclusion. Less predictable was his appointment as the bearer of one of the Kingdoms' greatshields but few argued, for Cyrus seemed born for the role.
And for a while, Cyrus' life was good and simple: he was a knight of the realm, sworn to protect the Kingdom of the Night, and his sister could live in relative comfort. And then Bellatrix was crowned and conjurers outlawed. To his great surprise, his sister was branded as one. Neither of them had ever know, and he tried to save her, first by diplomacy and bureaucracy, then by pleading, finally by aggression and force, but it was all in vain and Julie's life was taken by another member of the Knights.
Mad with grief, Cyrus went on a rampage, his strength amplified to a level never thought possible. Carrying only his massive shield with him, he avoided and resisted all attempts at stopping him until he finally escaped the kingdom, battered, bloodied and declared a traitor and an apostate, but alive and fueled by rage. It was then that he was contacted by the Brotherhood. Though assassins, they had use for one such as him, one who could assault enemies head on either as a lure or as a legitimate threat. Cyrus agreed and now he lives his life as part of a band of outlaws, assaulting the Kingdom he once swore to protect in revenge for the blood of his kin.
Strengths:
-Freakishly strong and resilient, able to shrug off wounds, fatigue and other debilitating effects that would fell lesser men and still deliver devastating blows.
-Unlike many others, Cyrus realized that a mere man, even one like him, would not always be able to win battles on strength and ferocity alone and thus trained hard to develop his skills in melee combat. Though he specializes in wearing full suits of armor and using a large shield and bludgeon to overwhelm and overpower opponents, he's generally adept at fighting hand to hand and can employ other approaches if need be.
-Armor is like a second skin to Cyrus, he's able to practically live in full gear to no detriment to his health.
Weaknesses:
-All that heavy gear means he isn't the most agile guy around while wearing it.
-Will go out of his way to draw attention away from his allies and to himself.
-Doesn't employ ranged attacks or set up traps, always fights head on.