Rough sketches 008: Kaius (Patreon)

Since we have been talking about Kaius through the backstories of other characters, I tough it would be the perfect moment to talk more about him and his situation.

As you now know, Kaius comes from a noble family, a father of humble origins that climbed his way up with honor and sacrifice, and a mother of noble upbringing that decided to follow her heart. Kaius certainly had all the commodities expected of a noble family but he always felt isolated, as a kid he felt others only got closer to him because they were interested in his father, and his Father's reputation felt like a burden, a standard of what he had to become, he couldn't be less than that.

As a result  Kaius never felt like he was enough in any capacity nor that his father was proud of him, the scolding and stern demeanor of the general made his son believe he was nothing but a disappointment. (now we know that this was his Father's way to make him stronger so he could face the world on his own, but that doesn't excuse the damage it did to his son's sense of worth.)

After his Father died in the war, many people tried to approach him and his mother, some in preoccupation and others seeking a way to take advantage of their situation, no matter what Kaius was told by all of them, it only reaffirmed that Kaius needed to fill his father's shoes as soon as possible in order to protect his mother, but he was only a child. It was only a matter of time before Lord Adonaios, leader of the Midnight Blades, would put his eyes on the son of the legendary general of Exicom. However Adonaios was nothing like those weasels, he made sure to let Kaius know how much potential he saw in him and tried to give him comfort when no one could, Adonai knew exactly what to say to the kid that lost one of the most important things in his life, his childhood.

Adonaios became his mentor, and so Kaius's journey to becoming a man began. With the right guidance, Kaius started becoming one of the best young knights of his generation, but his mind was set on achieving the only thing his father could not, becoming the Midnight Blade to represent the kingdom, he thought that if he did that he could prove his late father and everyone that doubted him wrong, but in reality the only one that he wanted to prove wrong, was himself. Eventually, Kaius succeeded and became the idol of the nation, a Midnight Blade, and his feats started to be well known.

However power comes with a cost, and sometimes it is more than we're able to pay. After a midnight blade candidate has been selected and given a test period, they have to go through a confirmation ritual in which they make an eternal vow to become the blades of the ekpyrosis. In order to prove their faith is strong, they have to accept the second gift from God, the Midnight Queen, a sacred flower believed to hold power forbidden to humanity. This flower is inserted in the host through inflicting a small wound in their body and as the flower tastes blood, it automatically makes its way into the new vessel. However there is a piece of information that is only revealed to those inside this circle, the flowers contain what common people could call a "Curse", the Children of Adam.  These entities you could call demons or Archons, are actually fragments of Adam Kadmon, small pieces of his existence that through the human vessels of the midnight blade can act in Adam's name. While his Children started like copies, eventually each of them developed a sense of identity, something that Adam lacks. Thus Kaius accepted to be the host of one of these demons in order to gain the power he always wanted (in a sense there was no going back, he knew too much).  He was promised by Adonai that while the power was dangerous he knew Kaius was strong enough to eventually be able to control it.... but sadly that wasn't the case.

The new Midnight Blade soon was granted a troop which Noah Norwich eventually joined against his Older brother's desires. One day they were assigned the mission to investigate the sudden death of some villagers from a town not far from the capital, it is mentioned that some unknown beasts were sighted nearby. When they finally found the beats they realized they were the Corrupted, humans with immense amounts of Magh that were unable to harness it, the magh starts mutating the body and affecting the mind until the subject has no sense of self, only primal instincts. These situations are uncommon and many ignore their true nature, many believe that corruption is infectious like a disease but it hasn't been proven.

Whatever might be the case, the inhuman beasts surrounded the troop and quickly started to outmatch the Exicom forces under Kaius's command. Kaius started to feel the pressure and in a desperate attempt to put a quick end to the menace, he tapped into the power of the midnight queen, maybe against Adonai's warnings. What happened next was nothing but horrifying, Kaius's appearance changed drastically turning him into a black demonic figure, this demon then proceeded to easily annihilate the corrupted like they were bugs, Noah and the other soldiers were rightfully shocked and frightened before the sight of their leader behaving like a monster out of control. When the corrupted were no more, the young knight terrified tried to call upon his friend:

-Kaius?- Noah asked only to get the following response from a voice that could not belong to anything human.
-Ŵ̸̮H̸̙̾Õ̶̞ ̶̢͝Ỉ̷̖S̶̲̊ ̵̦̄K̴̛̭A̵̭͗Ī̷̮Û̷͇S̶͔͝?̵̙̑??

The demon quickly massacred the knights that once called him a friend and left nothing but unrecognizable pieces of flesh covering the area. Kaius opens his eyes not knowing what happened just to realize he is covered in blood and surrounded by mangled corpses that formerly were his friends. Adonaios quickly appears before his eyes and as the young man tries to explain himself, Adonaios can only express his disappointment.
-I was wrong about you...how could I have put so much faith in a useless kid hiding in his father's shadow, you are nothing but a failure, and this proves that's all you ever be-The lord said aiming to destroy what was left of Kaius' dignity.

- From tonight, I revoke your title as a midnight blade and any leak of private information will end up with you and your mother's death...and another thing, don't look for me ever again, I have no time to waste with lower-class knights; if you can even be called that after this.

Kaius never understood why he wasn't killed that night, Midnight Blades are never relegated from their position, the only exit is death, so why? what's this supposed to be his punishment? if it was, it was only the beginning. Not long after the incident some villagers claimed to have seen what happened and started calling Kaius a monster infected with corruption, a fair assumption considering the limited information they have on the issue, however, the reality while not far from it, is more complex, the involvement of the ekpyrosis, the midnight blades and these "demons", not to mention that Kaius' knowledge of the secrets behind the offerings and the reapers, the chaos this information could cause and the danger that could put on Kaius' mother life... yet who could believe him? He never felt so alone, but true solitude might have been better, cuz since that night took place Sabaoth, the demon he has inside him, is ever present in his mind, terrorizing the man with twisted thoughts day and night.

The curse of a demon makes itself evident in the body of the host through the Curse mark, appearing as tattoos across the body, the more the body is covered by these marks the more the curse has developed. What does that mean for Kaius you may ask? well in his specific case it means that when the Midnight Queen develops completely inside him and his body is fully marked, Kaius as the individual we know will die, and his mind will be corroded and replaced by the demon's, becoming nothing but an empty vessel. The midnight queen grows during nighttime so Kaius avoids sleeping during the night to prevent its development. If he has no other option but to sleep during the night he must take a special medicine that slows down the development of the flower.

UFF sorry for the long plot dump, I get excited and can stop myself hehe!

Tomorrow I'll post a little illustration of Kaius and Asher and maybe explain a bit of what goes through Kaius' mind in relation to the curse and how this affects his relationships with people, especially with the party and Asher.