#[ 𝐕. | empire of the wolf ]

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Nahia: hey are you okay 

Nicola perpetually haunted by the mass atrocities committed by her imperial Roman forefathers:

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 @divinitywept liked for a little stater ( x )

She'd left Aureus tied to a nearby yew. Nicola of the Annaei had found others were more likely to listen when she had approached them on foot, rather than riding in like a centurion. Contrary to the beliefs of the Greek villagers who had directed her to this temple, she had not come here as a conquerer.

Her eye had been caught by the shrine just beyond. Delicate stone bore the shape of a large winged she-wolf, imposing in stature as it sat watchfully upon its pedestal. This statue is distinct from the ones she's in Rome; far more feathered, tail more distinct, a sigil upon its forehead she does not recognize. Romulus and Remus are nowhere to be found below it. And still the sight of it causes a sharp sorrow like a dagger in her chest. Gentle fingers reach up to gingerly run over its carved nose, her dark eyes somber.

Movement from the temple causes her head to sharply turn, her head jerks away as though the statue’s stone had turned to ember. The hunter recovers quickly, her steps full of resolve as she approaches the tall woman.

❝ Are you the High Priestess? ❞ She asks, and hopes the other is not alarmed by the crucifix around her neck. ❝ The villagers told me of your wisdom of the wilds, that I should consult you on the beast that plagues them. ❞

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[ v. empire of the wolf ]  - late roman empire

425 AD - Rome was not built in a day, and it did not fall in one either. After years of instability, the great empire has split into two, run by separate emperors, beholden to the same sense of greatness and destiny. In the West, the child-emperor Valentinian III has been placed on the throne- though most with eyes and ears are aware that it is his devoted mother, Galla Placidia,  who truly runs the Empire. Through this period of instability and turmoil, a hunter of the newly formed Order of St. George begins her journey. 

 Annaea Lupa is a member of the ancient gens Annaea, a clan of dreamers known for their love of literary pursuits, whose members include great thinkers and poets such as Seneca and Lucan. Lesser known in the history books is their love of power. Nico is the daughter of prominent Roman general and statesman Gaius Annaeus Lupus, a man eager to seize power whenever he can and often seen at Galla Placida’s side.

Devout Nicene Christians described as “friends of the Church”, her family is of great wealth and influence.  She leads a good life, having spent her childhood in her family’s expensive Roman villa, trying to keep up with three elder brothers. It distresses her mother, Claudia Atella, to see her prefer swordplay with her brothers over stitching fabric and racing horses over learning to be a good homemaker. Her need for adventure, for purpose, exists as a fire within her that even the stern reprimands of her oft-absent father cannot fully quell.

As she grows into a woman, her beauty, intelligence, and her family’s power make her a highly sought after bride. Annaea knows that it is expected of her to be married off to whomever her father picks. She has been taught to obey his decision. And still, it horrifies her when he announces her future husband- Cassius Rullianus, a widowed statesman known for his violence and cruelty. In the night, she takes one of her father’s horses and flees to the only place she knows she will be able to find shelter; as a deaconess of the Nicene Church. 

Her sanctuary here does not last long. Her father’s position prompts many parties to pursue her, going door to door in their search. If she is not killed for her defiance, she will be dragged back and forced to marry. The priest of the abbey she hides in, Father Boniface, gives her an ultimatum- she may either surrender herself to the state, or accept a role as a hunter for the Order, a position which will grant her to protection she needs and allow her to keep her citizenship. Annaea accepts, and in her new life, adopts a signa of her long forgotten praenomen, Nicola.

It is a treacherous journey filled with old gods, angels and beasts. Yet as Nico traverses the unstable lands her forefathers claimed centuries before, she is confronted with a horrible revelation- perhaps the real monsters are the ones who raised her.

*Nicola has a very unique name for this time period. In another act of defiance against the established order of the Empire, she usually refers to herself by her praenomen rather than her nomen ( Nicola Annaea Lupa ), a convention typically reserved for men. If your muse is familiar with Roman naming conventions, they will find it extremely odd. 

*A verse variant set in 316 AD will also be available and tagged as such- several years before Christianity becomes the state religion of Rome. The story is pretty much the same aside from the fact the Order is far smaller in this variant, known instead as the Brotherhood of St. Eustace. Nicola’s family are recent political converts to Christianity from Hellenic paganism.

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Quick NPC description for Nicola’s colt/stallion Aureus

- Aureus is a Nisean horse, an ancient precursor breed to the modern Akhal-Teke. He has standard buckskin coloring with iridescent golden sheen, is 15.3hh at shoulder. His markings include a star on forehead, white socks on both back legs, pastern marking on right foreleg.

- His name is rather topical, meaning “Golden” in Latin, the iridescent sheen of his coat reminiscent of a popular golden coin of the same name used in the 3rd century.

- Nisean horses originated in the northwestern corner of the Sassanian Empire, an extremely hostile rival of Rome. Their limber builds and wispy manes make them distinct from sturdy and elegant Roman horses. Nevertheless, they were coveted for their speed and hardiness. Many Nisean horses  were captured and taken to Rome as spoils from skirmishes with the Sassanians, and sold to the highest bidder. 

- Aureus was not originally intended to be a riding horse, but one used for chariot racing. Ownership and breeding of chariot racehorses was reserved for the highest echelons of Roman society. This included the statesmen Gaius Annaeus, who took a liking to the Nisean for their distinctive looks and speed. In their childhood, Nicola and her brothers were forbidden from going near these prized racehorses, but the young girl could often be found near the Villa’s pastures, watching them from afar. 

- It was both an open act of spite and desperation that Nicola took the four year old colt from her father’s stables and fled into the night, Aureus taking off at such a speed that the young woman nearly fell off his back. In the years since, he has carried her from one end of the Roman empire to the other, the two having formed a very strong bond. 

- He is intelligent and quick to learn, in addition to being sweet natured. Often he will rest his nose on her shoulder when they are at rest. Being a hot blooded animal, he tends to be sensitive and nervous, looking to her steady guidance. He is extremely skittish and hard to handle by strangers, having a very strong tendency to bolt, but will often warm up to Nico’s longtime companions.

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 @vinduri​ asked  “ there  seems  to  be  some  kind  of  mistake . ” from giulio 

Her features remain as stoic as marble, even with the feeling of those obsidian eyes boring into her.  It had been that gaze that had caught her attention first, and then the feeling of dread followed. She knew the presence of others like Marcus Julius Aquilanus, of something old and sinister.  Her mind had gone back to when she’d ridden into Antioch days before, when a small group of workers had nearly trampled over themselves to meet her with fearful pleas and words of compatriots who had vanished without a trace. She had dismissed their testimonies at the time, just as other passerbys had done. People disappeared in cities such as this all the time. 

She understood now.

Nicola of the Annaei lifts her cup of wine to her lips, her own gaze remains fixed on the decadent music and merriment that fills the ornate peristylium. Mingling around the trappings of a lavish banquet are the laughing faces of Antioch’s elite, ignorant of the danger that stood just beyond them.  As an honored guest of the governor, or rather, his conversation piece for this evening, she had taken great care in keeping this very subtle confrontation in their view. The stray, curious glances that would occasional make their way in her direction offer some protection, or so she’s inclined to believe.  

❝ I have found that I rarely make mistakes in matters such as these, Marcus Julius. ❞   She calmly answers, keeping her posture at ease. ❝ And if my forefathers’ testimonies hold any truth, I know you Julii are not ones to distance yourselves from your work. No matter how unpleasant. ❞ 

He bears little similarity to the others she has encountered. His ability to have this conversation in the rays of the setting sun confounds her, as does his seeming resistance to the peristyle’s ornate mosaic of Christ just beyond them. What she does understand, very well, is what the Julii are capable of, and she acts accordingly. 

❝ It would behoove us both not to cause a scene in front of these good people. ❞ Her voice is low, sickeningly soft. ❝ Any sort of... hostility would be harder to conceal than the misfortune of a few proles, I imagine. ❞ 

In different circumstances she may have laughed at the sheer irony of the situation. One of gens Julia walking among the living dead, in tandem with the empire they had built. Lucan himself could not have conceived of something more poetic.  

❝ I wonder, what would drive a man of the Julii to deal in this sort of black magic? ❞ Her fiery brown eyes finally, briefly flicker towards him.  ❝ Is it power that you want? ❞