Concept Art 021: Commander Joaquin (Patreon)

Joaquin might look like a pretty stiff and square kind of person, but he is understanding, compassionate and always leaves room for humor dropping a little innocent joke here and there to brighten the mood. He along with Kaius' Father were the best knights of their time, so their feats and achievements are well known by most of the younger generation, especially since they took part in the war caused by the rebellion of Durashonia (to get their independence from Exicom), which earned them the respect of everyone in the kingdom. He and Kaius's father knew each other since youth and while their relationship might have not started in the best way possible, they quickly became good friends. He knows the kind of man Kaius's father really was, a good honorable man that cared for his family until the end, so he always regrets the fact that Kaius never got the chance to meet that person.

During one of the conflicts in the war, Joaquín found himself in a tight spot and when he was about to receive a final blow, Kaius' father intercepted it. As Joaquin was in shock seeing his friend slowly die, the man's last words were: promise me you would take care of Kaius, be the father that I foolishly could not be to him. The promise was engraved in Joaquins Heart, and he had all the intentions to honor it.

Kaius's father had a rough life,  he didn't come from a noble family like everyone used to think, as a humble man he had to climb all the way to the top with his blood sweat, and tears, and throughout the journey, he experienced how cruel and dangerous the world can be, life forced him to become tough, so when Kaius was born, he was decided to make his son someone strong, someone that no one could take advantage off, someone ready to fight back the malicious people of the world, in his attempts to do so he forgot to be the father that his son so desperately needed.

While Joaquin kept his word and looked after Kaius after his father's death, another figure would soon start to take interest in the boy, Lord Adonaios. Joaquin always told Kaius to not trust that man so easily since no person alive really knows Adonaios, but Kaius couldn't help admiring the lord of the midnight blades, especially cuz, unlike his father, Adonaios was warm and kind to him, always encouraging him to do and become better but showing his care for the boy.

Right after the famous incident that changed Kaiu's life took place, Adonaios appeared before Kaiu's horrified eyes, the young man was desperately trying to look for compassion and comprehension from his mentor, but instead, he was met with disdain and cold words "It seems everyone was right, you will never be as good as your father, in the end, you were nothing but a waste of time." Kaius understood immediately that the man he trusted for so long never existed and that he was completely alone. Joaquin is the only person besides Adonaios that knows what actually transpired that night and tried to protect Kaius as much as possible, however, the rumors started to spread and while Kaius wanted to fight them back Joaquin advised him not to, as it is better for people to believe whatever they want instead of uncovering the truth.

Joaquin was the son of a Durashonian mother that lived in Exicom as an immigrant, he and his little siblings knew how strong hard their mother had to work to keep their family afloat, and saw every day how the Exicom citizens would discriminate against her and treat her as less of a person (as of now I'm not sure about his father but maybe it was a wealthy Exicom citizen that got Joaquin's mother pregnant and left them to their luck, maybe he was married). Joaquin as the oldest brother in the house, put pressure on himself to become someone honorable who could take care of his mother and family, the easiest way to do so was serving in the army and getting promoted to their highest ranks, for a child of an immigrant there weren't many ways to achieve a better life. Back then he was more square, and methodical and wanted to do things the right way, following the rules, it wasn't until he joined the army's academy that he met this messy, careless young man that had a talent to get himself into fights and nothing but trouble, and that was Kaiu's Father.  

Welp, it seems I elaborated too much haha, I guess I thought of more things that would fit his story as I wrote more of him, I could lean more into what happened with Kaius but I think I'll talk about it when I put up a Kaiu's dedicated page with some roughs and new things.

For next week's post, my plan was to show you Vidia, the nun in charge of the Orphanage Basil lives in but if you want me to elaborate on Kaius' situation, we could do that, let me know what you prefer!