Steal this Fantasy Villain: Gaius of the 32nd Legion

I promise, this is the last of the crew, and I’ll do something different next week.

It is well known that a handful of years ago, Lucius’s countrymen invaded the city state. Lucius did what a lot of ex-legionaries did and strapped his armour on, grabbed his shield and gladius, and went down to the docks to help repel the invaders. This made it a lot harder for the invading army than they would have liked. The packed and winding streets meant that it was near impossible to maintain unit discipline, and the fact that the people fighting them were often wearing the same armour made it very dangerous indeed. On several occasions units fell to pieces for minutes at a time before regrouping to take another stand. This carried on for hours.

Lucius was there, and almost died defending his adopted home from the soldiers of his past existence. So was Gaius, but on the other side and totally unaware of man who might once have called him a brother, and who would one day do that very thing. In the final hour Gaius’ unit was once again pulled apart and scattered. The invading army had not expected so much resistance, especially since their government had deep pockets and had bribed at least a couple of watch cartels to back down from the fight, or throw in with the invaders. The city folk were not going to go down easy though.

When Gaius looked for his fellow legionaries they were turning tail and heading back to ships that were already burning in the docks, and he was surrounded by city folk. It was all over, far quicker than it had any right to be. But he was far from an idiot, and knew his options were limited. He had already spotted others from his home land fighting against him, wearing armour that matched his own. All it took was swiftly pulling his double crossed belt off and dropping it before anyone noticed, and he should be fine. The belts were new, only issued to the rank and file three months ago, and set the invaders apart. Then he just started shouting abuse at his fleeing comrades. He knew less than a handful of words in the language of the city, but jeering and insulting seemed to be the order of the day.

For the next week he survived by theft and intimidation, taking food and money as and when he could, but trying to keep himself from being noticed. Luckily, it was men from the northlands who were taking the brunt of the city’s distrust. Many of the watch cartels who had sided with the invaders were made of men from the snowy north, and as such they were hounded and abused in the streets, many taking the worst possible punishment for such betrayal.

Eventually Gaius was caught with property that did not belong to him, and had to run through the city to escape being brought in front of the law. His lack of understanding of the native tongue would certainly do him a disservice, and could easily lead to him being uncovered as an invader. So he ran until cornered, and then fought. It took longer than it should have done until he realised that he wasn’t fighting men in uniform, but what looked like dock hands and barge-men. He was still outnumbered though, so asked for mercy.

Luckily for him, one of the men spoke his language, and after a few minutes hasty translating, the situation was explained. Well almost, Gaius knew he was still in danger so fabricated the truth somewhat, claiming that he had peeled away from the invading force as soon as they had landed, and had been hiding since then, stealing to stay alive, not trusting that the legions wouldn’t return. He must have been convincing as the men led him away and fed him in a watering hole called the Silver Skrite, The food was terrible, and the beer worse, but he made a couple of friends, and even got some dog’s body work to tide him over.

It was never going to be enough to keep him going though, and before long he was asking for other better paying jobs. And then one night, he found himself back in the Skrite, stood in front of an ex-legionnaire and a red headed archer, getting told what would be expected of him in the criminal cartel known as the Lethain Umbruc. He has since worked side by side with the crew, trusting to his guile to keep them from the truth, and struggling daily with the idea that he is know a career criminal. There may never be a way back for Gaius, but as long as he keeps the crew on side, he should be safe.

Using Gaius in a game.

•  Gaius is a big lad, barrel chested and broad across the shoulders. Any criminal gang would be happy to have him on side, and he has spent many a year in the legion training to be a soldier. Useful for almost any game.
• If you’re using the crew at all, he’s a well respected member, but quieter and less prone to drinking than the others. Probably for fear that alcohol might loosen his tongue and cost him his secret.
• If the players have it in them, they could offer him a way out in exchange for information on the cartel.
• Gaius is the only member of the crew is not a criminal by choice, but by necessity. To cover up for this, he has become a master con man, capable of fooling some of the sharpest minds in the cartel. If something pushed him far enough, he would be a force to be reckoned with as a master criminal.