#janus lockwin

[ask-the-medieval-sides]

Janus took a deep breath in as he examined some berries on a bush. “Actually Virgil, I find it quite refreshing here if you find a relatively safe place. That said, there are no truly safe places here.” “That’s part of it’s charm! Anything could jump out of the bushes or trees or rivers or shadows or, well, anything really and just kill you at any moment!! Isn’t that exciting??” Janus and Virgil both looked at Remus’ eager face, wearing skeptical expressions. “No,” Janus finally said. “I think that actually living is far more beneficial, and being given a heart attack is certainly not on my bucket list, thank you very much.” Remus blew a raspberry at him. “Bor-ing. Try it sometime, it might get you into the spirit of things. Get it? Spirit of things?” Virgil unsuccessfully tried to disguise their snort of laughter as a cough, causing a wide grin to spread across Remus’s face.

[ask-the-medieval-sides]

Janus, I get how Pat inherited the role as Roman's advisor, but how did you become Remus's?

Janus visibly stiffened at the question before relaxing again. "Well, Remus and I grew very close over the years. Our late king noticed that and offered to arrange for me to receive training to become his advisor. I agreed, partially because otherwise Remus would've been assassinated within the week after his crowning." He was silent for a moment before adding, "Remus' father was... a good king." He turned away and started looking through the drawers of his dresser for different clothes.

[ask-the-medieval-sides]

More random stuff about them all. (Seriously, I have so much random stuff about them.)

Remus enjoys scaring Virgil and Janus in the middle of the night. He’s more successful with spooking Virgil, but he’s gotten Janus a few times too.

Janus loathes it when people say that he should ‘get back in touch with his family’ or that ‘his family probably really misses him.’ In fact, he doesn’t even like them being brought up.

Virgil tends to absentmindedly fidget with random objects to the point where they start getting ruined. A few good bags, shirts, and small wooden objects that they own have gotten severely worn out this way.

Logan tends to hyperfocus on books they’re reading or tasks that they’re doing. It usually takes saying his name to snap him out of it, which he has stated is “unpleasantly jarring.”

Patton’s like Remus in the way that he really want to make physical contact with people, whether through hugs, holding hands, bumping elbows, anything. Pat is just a bit more gentle about it.

Roman is constantly calling Logan a nerd, but actually reads a lot in his spare time and has practically memorized dozens of stories and plays. (Ask him to summarize a story for you and he’ll do it in the most entertaining way. He’ll also summarize/skip some parts if he just decides to tell a story.)

[ask-the-medieval-sides]

Asks are now open! Feel free to ask the characters (and us!) any questions!!

Logan: Shouldn’t some questions be-?”

Pat: Aw, Lo, I’m sure these kiddos will be perfectly fine with their questions!

Roman: Don’t overthink it, specs! They decided to visit, they get to ask questions and talk with us!

Virgil: ...Why would they want to ask us questions?

Remus, covered in filth and with tears in his clothes: Because we’re all just that fancy!!

Janus, eyeing Remus’ outfit: That must be it. There are definitely no other possible reasons why they’d want to know anything about us.

[ask-the-medieval-sides]

In Dramomor, Roman is loudly talking to Patton and Logan in the library. He seems to be in the middle of reenacting something. Patton seems enthralled while Logan stares into the distance, clearly bored.

In Malluidour, Janus and Remus sit at Janus’ desk and Virgil is sitting on Janus’ bed, playing with something under their cloak. Janus seems to be  exasperatedly explaining something to Remus, who’s clearly not listening to a word he’s saying.

[ask-the-medieval-sides]

The forests were silent, with very few sounds aside from rustling and birdsong. Remus finally broke the silence, stretching his arms in the air. “It’s boring here too. Dee, do you think we’ll find that hydra-goose thing again that we found last time?” Virgil spun to face them, eyes wide in horror. “You found a what?” Janus rubbed his left temple, shaking his head slightly. “You really had to bring it up now of all times, didn’t you Remus? No, I doubt we will since we’re heading in the opposite direction.” Remus pouted. “Damn.” They perked up again. “Do you think it’d come if we screamed loudly enough?” Virgil shot a glare at Remus, who grinned delightedly back at them. “Remus, you better not. You know I already dislike going out into these woods...” Virgil shuddered. “They’re so quiet all the time... Except the spirits are sometimes...” They trailed off.

[ask-the-medieval-sides]

Important Areas

These are all descriptions of areas that will be appearing in this, and explain more about this world. All places described are on the map as well! However, it is a bit long (I wanted it to be clear exactly what I was picturing), so sorry about that. I hope you guys enjoy this though!! 

Roman | Remus | Patton/Pat | Janus | Logan | Virgil | Places

Malluidour: One of the two large kingdoms in the area, and ruled by Remus. Magic is widely accepted and used in everyday life. Streets are mostly made of packed dirt or cobblestones. It’s often foggy in the mornings, and rain is not uncommon.

The Wailing Woods: It’s composed mostly of coniferous trees. The ground is covered in  shrubs taking advantage of the little amount of sunlight that reaches them. Very little grass grows anywhere here except in gardens and clearings. The ground is uneven and mostly just dirt, rocks, and fallen pine needles. The grounds near the marsh are softer and closer to mud. Exploring them is not recommended, as many undiscovered and strange creatures lurk in them (Technically they may have been discovered, but the people who do discover them typically don’t live to tell the tale). 

Malluidour Palace: It towers over all of the surrounding buildings. It’s composed of a dark grey stone with silver veins. The base of it is covered with moss and vines. There’s a matching garden with walls surrounding it. Underneath the left hand wall and through some bushes is a hole to the outside of the castle. Indoors, there are old tapestries lining the walls and some of Remus’ more appropriate artwork that Janus and Virgil picked out. Furniture is mostly made of light wood or silver, with different colors for cushions, curtains, etc.

The Misty Marsh: It’s very muddy. When walking around, the ground feels like it’s physically trying to hold onto you. There are quite a few plants that use the large amount of water in the ground to their advantage. Foliage here leans more towards a muddy green color rather than the vibrant and dark greens in the forests. Never go digging through the mud. You may regret what you find.

Dramomor: One of the two large kingdoms in the area, and ruled by Roman. Magic is feared and considered a crime to use. Streets are mostly made of packed dirt or bricks. It’s often quite sunny or a bit cloudy.

The Whispering Woods: Trees aren’t grouped very close together. The rockier landscape deeper in here makes it more difficult for plants to grow, but many do anyway due to the large amount of sunlight and space available (Or possibly out of sheer determination. Who knows). At the front of the forest, plenty of plants thrive. Plenty of grass grows towards the front of the forest, but fades as you go deeper in. As you go deeper in, the ground becomes more uneven and treacherous due to the fact that the forest continues onto the base of the mountains. The ground is mostly dirt and rocks.

Dramomor Palace: It’s about twice the height of the surrounding buildings and sprawls across the landscape compared to Malluidour Palace. It’s made of warm beige stone with an almost pink tint to them. There’s a matching garden with walls surrounding it. Underneath the right hand wall and through some bushes is a hole to the outside of the castle. Indoors, there are old paintings lining the walls and some of Roman’s favorite pieces that he made. Furniture is mostly made of dark wood or gold, with different colors for cushions, curtains, etc.

The Spiraling Peaks: There are few trees. It gets extremely cold near the top, and falls can be treacherous. Some plants do grow, but they’re scarce the farther up you go. It (unsurprisingly) is very rocky. It’s largely unexplored, and climbing them is not recommended.

Neutral Area: This space is made up of plain grasslands and meadows, and has been where most of the fighting during the war has taken place. Weather varies greatly. All paths are made of packed dirt.

The Endless Fields: They’re fields. Not much to say about them, really.

The Viridian Valleys: They’re filled with flowers for the most part, but other things grow there too. It’s a bit hilly in places, but it’s mostly level.

Zolia: A small town. The locals are accepting of magic, but still quite wary of it. People are friendly and helpful at best, but are usually just polite to people passing through. Most buildings are small and filled with just the bare essentials.

[ask-the-medieval-sides]

How does magic work for different people

Remus perked up. "Ooh, well, see, there are three different types of magic users. Sorcerers, witches, and wizards! They each have different ways of most effectively casting spells. Contrary to popular belief in unmagical circles, these terms aren't at all gendered and are actually VERY different from each other. So, wizards use wands and spell books and sh*t like that. They need to memorize spells in order to cast them. Witches like Virgil also usually use books, but more for potion recipes than anything else. They sometimes have familiars too, which can be anything from an angry land squid to a cat to a dragon. Sorcerers like Janus seem to more just kinda-" Remus wiggled his fingers and made some noises. "He says that it's a bit more hand movements than talking, but even the hand movements don't seem to be entirely necessary. It just makes it easier to direct. Sorcerers still need a lotta books too to learn the-" Remus waved his hands about a bit and shrugged.

"Casting spells is also extremely draining for anyone who can perform it," Janus added. "You need to be careful to not overcast. To make this a bit less abstract and easier to understand, let's say that you have 30 energy. Challenging spells take 5 to cast, normal ones take 3, and simple ones take 1. Getting to around 5 energy is when you're more likely to faint from a lack of it. At 0 you're definitely unconscious and can take a few days to completely recover your energy. In severe cases it could even be lethal. You need to be very careful to not push yourself too much or you'll be in a weakened state. It's overall better to avoid casting as many spells as possible if you can succeed through other means."

"Witches tend to use less magical energy when making potions," Virgil said, tilting their head to look at the barely visible sky through the surrounding conifers. "It takes a whole lot longer to make them, but then you can use it at any time. As long as you've got the bottle of course. There are a lot of positives and negatives for any type of magic."

[ask-the-medieval-sides]

What are/were Remus's parents like

Remus flinched and Virgil looked at the ground solemnly. It was clear that neither of them wanted to speak, out of fear of crying, the tense atmosphere, the uncomfortable subject, or a combination of those factors. Janus coughed lightly and fiddled with his gloves. "Well, Remus' father was a very fair, wise man. He was often busy, but whenever he had time he would try to spend it with Remus. He even would ask Virgil and I about our days on occasion. More often me, but also Virgil. I think he may have-" Janus paused and then looked away, lowering his voice a bit more. "His mother is... quite ill. She's still with us, but she seems to be getting weaker with each passing day. We've tried several experienced doctors, but none of them have been able to figure out what's wrong with her. When she was in better health, she was a very strong woman. She always had this light in her eyes and was very straightforward about how she felt about anything, almost to a fault. She was also extremely skilled with longbows. Not an easy feat, let me tell you. She spent as much time with Remus as his father did. Right now though, she's bedridden and sleeps most of the time. Remus spends a lot of their evenings with her." A heavy silence fell.

[ask-the-medieval-sides]

Janus and Virgil stood impatiently beside the exit in Virgil’s small brewing room. They both turned towards the doorway as they heard loud footsteps running towards them. Remus swung himself around the doorframe, a wide smile on his face. “Hey guys!! Sorry I’m a bit late!” Janus sighed and Virgil snorted, opening the old wooden door that led to the woods. Remus barged past them, shoving the door the rest of the way open. “So, what are we looking for again, Virge?” “Fever bark, mustard seeds, and inkflowers.” “Oof, fever bark’ll be a tough one to find. All the stuff we need will probably be somewhere between the marsh and the forest.” Janus briefly scrunched his nose. “How lovely. We all can’t wait to see the marsh again.”

[It’ll take a while to get there. Maybe some questions will help pass the time?]

[ask-the-medieval-sides]

Virgil what do you think of Janus and Remus?

Virgil jumped, clutching their worn, patched cloak to their chest. "Oh, uh, hey there." Virgil shifted uncomfortably, unsure where to look. "They're okay. Remus can be a bit overwhelming at times, but they try to tone it down for me. Sometimes. Janus and I do argue pretty often, but I know he cares. They both do their best to listen and help me whenever they can." A faint smile crosses Virgil's face. "They're both a bit of a pain, but they're great in their own ways."

[ask-the-medieval-sides]

Hi guys

Roman and Patton jump, clearly startled, but Logan looks around, intrigued. "Greetings." Roman pulls out his sword, but is very clearly confused. "Where are you?" Logan lowers Roman's arm and begins to look into any spaces where a person could hide.

Virgil scrambles off of the bed, looking around wildly. Remus is looking around, excitement evident. Janus tilts his head thoughtfully. "Well, hello there." "Is- is that a spirit?" Janus rolled his eyes. "No, it's just someone who took an invisibility potion to break into my room to say hi. What else could it be?" Remus perks up. "Ooh, really?? We've never had any talk to us here before! The only ones I've heard are the wailing ones in the forest, and that's only sometimes!!"

[ask-the-medieval-sides]

Fun facts, anyone?

Logan identifies as agender, and prefers they/them pronouns, but is perfectly fine with being referred to with he/him pronouns. They also spend a lot of their free time in the castle library or observatory.

Patton doesn’t have anything against people capable of magic, they just feel that it’s dangerous and it would be safer if people abandoned practicing it. (There are a lot of legends of dangerous spell casters and soul loss through repeated use of magic.)

Roman has tried numerous times to fight off a dragon witch who lives in the mountains, but he can’t seem to catch her.

Virgil dyes their hair purple using inkflowers (a vividly colored and strongly pigmented plant found most often between the marshes and forest that is often used as a dye or ink, but also works as a weak antidote to many poisons) about once a month.

Janus is touch averse, but also touch starved. He’s often not okay with being touched when it’s not on his terms. He does try to give hugs or pat people if they’re upset (and he’s close to them), but is clearly quite uncomfortable with it. (Remus does tend to touch him anyway, but instantly stops if Janus or Virgil show any discomfort. Sometimes this results in them getting dropped on the floor.)

Remus is practically a magnet for dangerous plants and animals anywhere they go. They’ve also been trying to draw all of the cool plants and animals that any of them find. They’re not all in a book or anything, the pictures are just pinned on the walls of Remus’ room.

[ask-the-medieval-sides]

Janus Lockwin

He/him pronouns

Magic

He’s a sorcerer

He prefers illusion spells or convenient/helpful ones.

He has a few preferred spells, but he doesn’t like having people know all of them. Others aren’t usually very pleased with half of them either.

Preferred spells, difficulty, and description:

[Redacted] (Advanced): [Redacted]

[Redacted] (Medium): [Redacted]

[Redacted] (Simple-Advanced): [Redacted]

[Redacted] (Simple-Medium): [Redacted]

[Redacted] (Medium): [Redacted]

Childhood

The child of mid class nobles.

His parents always pushed him to do well with everything he tried.

Always was good with words and avoiding trouble.

Ended up being practically raised with Remus after meeting them.

Remus’s parents didn’t give him quite as much attention as Remus, but he was practically treated like a second son.

Many people find him aloof and odd, especially since he spends a lot of time with Remus.

The fact that he has two different colored eyes (his left one is green and his right one is a dark brown) freaks people out since that’s so rare.

Very observant. He’s practically a walking lie detector, which really unnerves people.

Often quiet, but was usually very sarcastic when he would speak.

Very sensible, responsible, and intelligent for his age, but has also always been quite secretive.

He practiced a lot with his magic from a young age.

He adores snakes, banter, success, warm blankets, learning about how people work, and sweet things

He met Remus while his father was at a meeting with the king. (He forgets what it was about.)

Remus had pestered him to join them when they were planning to steal some muffins from the kitchens. Janus finally relented.

When confronted about it later, Janus innocently stated that he and Remus had been outside looking for snakes. They technically had, but that was after the great muffin theft.

Remus pleaded with his father to let Janus stay and be friends with him. Janus didn’t mind, but he was amazed when the king readily agreed to talk to Janus’s father about it.

Janus was the voice of reason most of the time. The rest of the time, he encouraged the dumb stuff Remus did because he wanted to see what would result from it.

Virgil warmed up to Janus first. Whenever they’d start getting anxious, they started heading to Janus. Janus would always reassure them and tell them to take deep breaths.

Janus was secretly delighted to be the one teaching Virgil about the basics of magic.

Spends half to two thirds of his day with the two of them, but he quite enjoys his alone time too. Remus tends to disturb it though.

Over time, the three of them grew quite close.

They have arguments occasionally, but they don’t happen often.

Janus is a good person to have on your side. He makes sure that all of his friends are taking good care of themselves and takes care of them when they need it.

Currently

His weapon of choice is a shepherds crook. He knows it’s unusual, but it’s made of sturdy materials and is actually quite light.

People either adore him or loathe him. There doesn’t seem to be an in between.

The people who don’t like him think he’s a toxic manipulator. He tries to act like that doesn’t bother him.

While his biological parents are still alive, he hasn’t spoken to them in years and doesn’t feel the need to now.

It devastated Janus to find out that Remus’s dad was dead.

Janus tried to move on with his life after the funeral, to keep his head up for Remus and Virgil. He acted just as he normally would, but with more lighthearted sarcastic comments.

Remus had been acting like a zombie for days, but this seemed to help start pulling him out of it. Virgil seemed relieved by the familiar attitude Janus was presenting.

He wants the war to be over. It’s pointless and consuming resources that could be used for much better things.

He totally isn’t worried about Virgil or Remus going off to fight in it and ending up dead.

Janus has taken on most of the responsibilities of the king and advisor.

Remus has been desperately trying to get Janus to take more breaks at reasonable hours and to work less.

He’s trying to teach Remus how to do more of his work, but Remus isn’t really understanding it.

Has noticed that Remus has been acting more strangely than usual. He’s been making sure to try and give him the emotional help he needs when he can.

Janus has noticed that Virgil’s gotten much more quiet recently and is attempting to keep a close eye on them in his free time.

Roman | Remus | Patton/Pat | Janus | Logan | Virgil | Places

[ask-the-medieval-sides]

They all continued to chat as they moved towards the marshes, pushing through brambles and avoiding getting whacked by low hanging branches. Remus tried chasing some unusual fauna, often either losing track of it or being dragged back by an irritated Janus or Virgil, and occasionally both. Remus also kept a constant stream of chatter going. Janus didn’t bring up the work that he and Remus had left at the palace, instead attempting to relax and tease the others. Virgil mostly walked in silence, sometimes joining Janus in pointing out flaws in some of Remus’ suggestions, especially with the ones where Janus DIDN’T point out the clear idiocy of the plan. Virgil enjoyed times like this. Times when they felt like they weren’t under nearly as much pressure and could just bask in the warm atmosphere provided by their friends. It always made them feel so much... safer.

“How would I be able to make myself into one of those dehydrated corpses?” “Do you mean a mummy?” “No, not a mom. You’re the mom friend, I can’t just take your role!! But when I’m dead, how can I be all shriveled up and bony but still have skin on?” “Well, you could do that using chemicals, probably a boat load of salt, or by going somewhere cold enough to freeze your body.” “Okay, when I die or am super old or just bored or something, you two are in charge of getting my decomposing body to the caves!! Those are pretty cold!” “No, Remus, that’s a terrible plan.” Twigs crunched loudly under their feet in the pause after Janus said that before he finished, “It’d be more effective if we brought you to the top of the mountains.” Virgil buried their face in their hands. They could hear Janus’ smug smile as he said that. “Sounds like a plan! Ooh, would you two be pulling my brains out through my nose and stuff too??” “No Re, just no. That’s disgusting.” Virgil grimaced at the thought, “Janus, why are you encouraging him?” Remus and Janus broke into laughter at that, and Remus shoved Virgil’s shoulder teasingly. “Oh come on! Janny could do all the gross stuff and you could watch!!” “Absolutely not. I wouldn’t get near your corpse with a ten foot pole, much less pull out your brains with a little hook. You’ll have to hire someone to do that.”

[ask-the-medieval-sides]

Can I ask Virgil Janus and Remus what they were doing?

"Dee was making me do paperwork!!" Remus flung himself back into his chair, a wide grin on his face as he looked around the room, unsure where to look. "And emo here has just been hanging out on Dee's bed! I dunno what they're doing here. We're not even doing anything interesting." Janus snorted. "Well, while you may not find your work interesting, it's required. And I can't keep spending half of my days doing all of your work." Janus turned to Virgil. "But Remus has a point. Weren't you planning on practicing your brewing today?" Virgil's ears reddened. "Well, I was going to, but it turns out I'm running a bit low on fever tree bark and mustard seeds. I could buy the mustard seeds pretty easily, but the bark is more expensive. And, uh, I'm also basically out of my inkflowers... I was hoping that you two would be able to go with me when you were done."

Remus bounded towards Virgil, scooping them up and giving them a tight hug, but they startled struggling so Remus instantly dropped them. They gagged, taking deep breaths on the floor. "Remus, when did you last bathe?" "Two hours ago," Janus said dryly as he stood up. "Well, it’s not like we were going to get much done anyway... Remus, go to your room and change into more appropriate clothing for collecting magical ingredients. We don’t need to give the tailors and seamstresses even more of your ruined clothes.” “Okey dokey, Dee!” Remus started to tug their clothes off and Janus slapped his arm. “Damn it Remus, I said in your room. Despite you spending the majority of your time trying to get into or stay in my room, it is not yours.” “Actually, as king, all rooms here count as ‘my room.’” Janus rolled his eyes and shoved him out the door. Remus stuck their tongue out at Janus before waltzing off.

“Virgil, that goes for you too. Your normal clothes would work perfectly fine, but change if you’d like and grab a few empty pouches. I’ll grab us snacks and water before we leave.” Virgil nodded sheepishly and walked out as Janus added exasperatedly, “Who knows, maybe Remus will actually be able to focus after they’ve gotten some of their energy out.”