Character Name: Ontus Marsil
Alias: The Prince of Poison, The Black Spear of Elinhir
Class: Honourable Rogue
Alignment: None
Occupation: Thane of Solitude (Almost always absent from court)
Birth Sign: The Serpent
Currently Resides: Mostly roams Tamriel, although is in possession of a large manor home in Hammerfell, Elinhir.
Hometown: Solitude
Age: 42
Race: Imperial
Gender: Male
Factions: Imperials, Solitude Court, Family
Worships: Acknowledges the gods but respects them all equally
Appearance:
Height- 6'3"
Weight- 160 LBS
Eyes- A sharp, piercing black
Hair- Pitch black, short
Skin: Olive/Tanned
Scars- A small cut across his upper chest
Description-
Ontus has a lined face with thick, large eyebrows, black eyes that are piercingly intimidating yet show a certain warmth and a wide but sharp nose. His hair is short and pitch black and, though should be receding slightly, he wears it forward, similar to a Caesar cut. Marsil's features are also quite rugged and attractive somewhat. Despite not being built well, he has trained since he was a child with many weapons and has reached a top physical condition. Though he may look a small man of average strength, he's far from an average man in power. He typically wears lightly dyed fine clothes in public, though embroiders them in gold with his personal emblem, a small, thin vial of poison. This earned him the nickname, "The Prince of Poison", that and his penchant for crafting the most deadly poisons and coating his weapons with them. In battle he dons very different attire: he remains lightly armoured so as not to not restrict his mobility. He wears light greaves, gauntlets, shoulder guards and a raiment with his emblem emblazoned in black in the middle. The armour itself is made of boiled leather and made more for movement and aesthetics than actual protection. Atop the armour is scaled and underneath he wears a precautionary layer of mail. Finally, he wears a visor-less elven helmet, specifically crafted for him as a token of goodwill by the Thalmor in order to smoothen their unsavoury relationship. The helm is, like much of his apparel, decorated with the vial on either side, and on top is the shape of a rising sun gilded in with ebony, enchanted to improve his alchemical prowess.
Personality:
Laterality: Right-handed
Sexuality: Bisexual
Marital Status: Divorced, Currently with another women
Positive Traits: Cunning, Calculating, Moral, Honourable, Intelligent, Witty, Long Memory, Caring
Negative Traits: Proud, Short-tempered, Hotheaded, Sarcastic, Confident, Impatient And Vengeful
Likes: Challenge, Vengeance, Promiscuity, Humour and Victory
Dislikes: Failure, Feeling Underwhelmed, Those Who Wrong Him Or His Family
Fears: Nothing Specifically
Aspirations: To exact vengeance for the death of his cousin, Jarl Elisif.
Quirks: Will often make jokes at inappropriate times.
Description-
Ontus Marsil has a sharp tongue and he isn't afraid to use it. He often jests and insults people, and does not care what people think of him for it. He often purposefully starts a feud for his own amusement or gain and passes it off as a slip-of-the-tongue. He's also very intellectual. Having once studied at the College of Winterhold and various other places he has amassed an archive of knowledge, utilising it to his advantage in the real world. Now however, the Black Spear of Erinhir wants vengeance more than anything else in the world. He wants revenge for the assassination of his cousin, Jarl Elisif, who was recently murdered at the Dragonborn Anniversary celebrations.
Fighting Style:
Weapons: Spear, Sword and Crossbow
Description:
As a principal, Ontus prefers speed over strength when it comes to fighting. Thus, his two favoured weapons are the spear and sword. The Prince of Poison earned his name for his infamous technique of costuming both sword and spear in deadly poisons. He has trained in both alchemy and combat since the age of eight, even briefly learning alchemy at the College of Winterhold before growing bored. He was trained well and uses speed to his advantage, making many cuts to ensure his venom's spread through the bloodstream. He is a very talented swordsman, capable of great feats with a blade, though compared to many is still not exceptionally skilled. Therefore, he aims to cut instead of kill and dance around his opponents until his venom takes effect. However, he is most skilled with his spear; his prowess in Erinhir's tourneys earning him the respected nickname of, The Black Spear of Erinhir. Marsil is incredibly efficient with the weapon to the point where he has not even enchanted it to benefit him. It is possible that nobody could rival his fighting with a spear, although that isn't to say a master of another weapon could not defeat him, especially given that a spear shaft can be cut in half with minor effort if given the opportunity. The only difference between his spearhead and any other is that it is of Daedric make, and just as deadly as the Daedra themselves. Finally, the Black Spear is a talented marksman with a crossbow, capable of great accuracy and, as is his modus operandi, poisons his quarrels.
Biography and Exposition:
Ontus Marsil was born in Solitude the sole child and heir of the Marsils, a wealthy family with a long bloodline. His father was an Imperial by the name of Adrian Marsil, who hailed from Skingrad, having acted as Count for a brief period during the Great War while Count Hassildor was occupied. Adrian was the youngest of two, his brother, Tacitus Marsil, was very much the opposite of his brother. Where Adrian was calm, calculating and callous, to some degree, Tacitus was rash, hotheaded and yet honourable. Both however were men of tradition, and both had vastly contributed to the wealth of their family.
Tacitus preferred a life of adventure, travelling the world and bringing glory to the Marsil name. He rarely stayed in the same location for more than a month and attempted to evade his duty to his family in-place of a more glorified lifestyle. Adrian had instead developed a taste for the quiet life, and dabbled in the politics of the Empire and Skingrad in order to maintain the Marsil name financially.
During the Great War with the Thalmor, Tacitus returned home to Skingrad and, while Hassildor was occupied, Adrian reigned as count. He was neither respected nor feared by the populous, but did a seemingly adequate job of keeping things in order. It was during this time that Adrian fell in love with his future-wife, whom he soon married thereafter. As soon as Janus Hassildor was ready to reclaim his seat, the Marsils decided to flee to Skyrim in order to evade the encroaching Thalmor army.
Adrian and Tacitus began to host marriage talks for the latter. Tacitus agreed to marry into Solitude’s second most wealthy family, marrying a nord woman. The Marsils were now firmly rooted in Solitude, and owned the Proudspire Manor near the Bard’s College. Soon Adrian and his wife gave birth to a boy, naming him Ontus. Sadly though, Adrian’s wife passed away shortly after giving birth, and Ontus would never know his mother and Adrian grew cold and detached.
As Ontus began to grow, he learned to respect his uncle, fear his father and learn from both men. He became a strange facsimile of both their personalities combined, and showed the temperament and flare of Tacitus with the intellect and cunning of Adrian. He exemplified both their best and worst traits. Soon however, Tacitus too had a child, a girl by the name of Elisif. She was more reserved than her father, and seemed to inherit all from her mother and naught from the Marsil line.
At the age of eight, Ontus developed his profound interest in combat and even some darker arts. He trained with a sword to begin with, but soon found that he was more proficient with the use of a spear. The boy then trained almost constantly, and if he weren’t found training he would be found reading. Ontus was also very close with his cousin, Elisif and they spent a lot of time together and loved each other as brother and sister.
By the age of seventeen, Ontus had truly grown into himself. He was now the witty, fiery and calculating man he would be forever more. His skill with blade and spear was now exceptionally commendable, and his knowledge had surpassed the levels of most. He had now developed an excessive interest in alchemy, and proved a gifted crafter of potions. Now, his personality was more profound and it would be his barbed tongue that would get him in trouble and bring shame to the Marsil name.
Ontus publically ridiculed the patriarch of a local family, and his arrogant child, Erikur. The lord was so offended that he challenged Ontus to a public duel in the old ways of the nords. Despite showing little care for nord culture, Ontus accepted nonetheless, knowing all too well that his opponent knew little of his combat prowess. The duel was to be until the other yielded. Both men fought ferociously, but it was Ontus’ sword that prevailed. His opponent had suffered several minor wounds and was satisfied that the duel was lost to him and thus surrendered. No one realised that Ontus had poisoned his sword.
Being but seventeen, Ontus had not quite thought through the consequences of his actions and desired the death of his opponent and wished to see his family crumble. Within the next few days, he succumbed to the poison, and Adrian was left with no choice but to exile his son in order to appease the Court of Solitude and to preserve the good name of Marsil. Erikur henceforth referred to his father’s killer mockingly as, “The Prince of Poison”, in order to chastise the dishonour in his killing and him no longer being a respected noble. Ontus bade farewell to his family and friends, and then left to travel the world as his uncle had once done.
Amusingly, Ontus found that he enjoyed his exile more than court life, and travelled to all nations but the Summerset Isle and Valenwood. He journeyed south and briefly studied at the Arcane University in alchemy, but then left and competed in the arena. Though an incredibly successful combatant, he grew bored of the ranking system and the lack of change and thusly left.
Then, he journeyed east to Morrowind and Blackmarsh, starting a mercenary company at the age of 24 and garnered a reputation as one of the most fearsome band of fighters in Tamriel. Their leader was respected and his once mockingly used insult, “The Prince of Poisons”, was now used in awe of his talents. The Prince made a large fortune from this mercenary company but grew bored of working for money with little to no change or creativity in his assignments.
The Prince of Poisons then journeyed back to his homeland of Skyrim and studied at the College of Winterhold, fully mastering alchemy and delving briefly into alteration magic. Then he had heard that the city of Erinhir in Hammerfell was under siege from the Thalmor, and that they had sent an emissary to offer him payment in order for his help. Accepting the offer, also harbouring a cold dislike of the elves due to the untold death in the Great War, he lead a small group of Redguard warriors and successfully freed the small city from the Thalmor’s grasp. In order to ensure that no further hostilities took place between them, the Thalmor crafted him his signature helmet and bestowed upon him a new emblem for him to use in-place of the old Marsil icon: a vial of poison.
At this point, the citizens urged him to take up residence in the city, and so he used his wealth amassed from his mercenary company to pay for the construction of a very large manor home in Erinhir. Ontus was soon stylised as "Prince Ontus/Marsil", informally due to the adoration of the people and his authority there. He remained there for a short while and got married, though the marriage was short lived and they divorced. Then a letter arrived. His father, Adrian Marsil had passed away, but in his last moments told Tacitus to tell him that he'd forgiven Ontus for what he'd done, and that he was proud of all his son had accomplished. The wealth of Adrian, unsurprisingly, went to Tacitus and Elisif, however this did not bother him.
The people who had heard of his feats, weapon, armour and chosen place of occupation began to refer to him as, "The Black Spear of Erinhir", and so that became his most popular nickname. He soon heard that his cousin, Lady Elisif was to be wed to High King Torryg, and that now Tacitus had passed away. He wrote to her expressing both his condolences and congratulations, and hoped to be able to return to Solitude soon. Though his exile had ended years ago, other duties and interests had kept the Black Spear occupied.
Erinhir would host many tourneys, all of which he took part in, Ontus emerged triumphant. He began a relationship with a beautiful local Breton called Sosia (whom he had four bastard children with), though he still warmed his bed with many others whether she was present or not. For many more years he lived like this until the age of 32, at which he heard of the murder of Torryg and the coming of the Dragonborn. Despite his interest in how events would play out, he made sure to play little part in anything, and waited for a year until finally returning to Solitude and taking his place as a Thane by his cousin's side. By this point, the Dragonborn's time had come and gone, and it had become custom to host annual celebrations in his honour. Ontus grew very close with Jarl Balgruuf the Greater, frequently visiting Whiterun and occasionally hunting alongside him. He maintained a close relationship with Elisif, and now all of the Marsil family's wealth had passed to him.
For the next ten years Ontus would manage his duties as Thane of Solitude, Head of the Marsil family and his role in Erinhir with surprising ease. He regularly visited Solitude, Whiterun and always spent half the year back with his family in Erinhir. On the day of the 10th Dragonborn Anniversary celebrations, Ontus Marsil, Sosia and their children were heading for Solitude but due to unforeseen weather were stuck in Whiterun. Though he was happy to be with his friend, Jarl Balgruuf, he was saddened that he could not introduce his family to Elisif and spend time in the capital. However, later that day, Balgruuf was assassinated and an unprepared and unarmed Ontus only just protected his family from two assassins, suffering a large slash across his chest before he could dispose of them. While recovering the next day, grieving for the loss of his friend, he learned that Lady Elisif too had been murdered. Now, all he desires is revenge against the culprits who killed his close friend and cousin; hearing of a group willing to help him fulfil that exact goal, he began his journey to Fort Frostmouth, eager to gain his vindication.
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