Lucian

The holder of the Worlds Swordsmanship Champion title, Lucian is one of Eifels most prominent celebrities. While he is easily recognized, he also has an insatiable wanderlust that keeps him from being pinned down in any one location for long, and a carefree attitude that takes most people by surprise, leading them to believe that this man could not be the same person who regularly defeats warriors from all over Eifel in swordplay.

His past can be described as "sketchy". For most Eiflans, he is the orphaned child of two simple country peasants who died of an incurable disease when he was just 4 years old. However secret documents kept in Virdeen's Grand Castle seem to tell a slightly different version of his life.

The Legend
Let me tell you a story now, About the wayward children of Virdeen's Royal Family. It is a secret story that is only known to a select few who live behind the walls of Virdeen's Grand Castle, and it tells of a tragic kidnapping and a famous Swordsman...

When he was just a boy, Lucian, the Prince of Virdeen, was kidnapped. The family was in a panic. No one knew why he was taken, or what the kidnapper wanted. No ransom note was left, nor demands or any instructions on how to retrieve their son safely. Lucian was just 4 years old at the time, and while the King and Queen were horrified for him, this would turn into an amazing adventure. For two years there was no sign of the boy, where he'd gone or what had become of him. Left behind to worry and mourn were his Mother, his Father, and his older sister, the crown princess Rei'li.

Two years later Lucian turned up at an orphanage, he was now six years old. He would stay there for another two years, before disappearing once more. There are a few conflicting stories circulating, mostly among the castle maids, since no one outside the castle is meant to know of his connections to the Royal Family. In one story, the boy travels with the kidnapper for 2 years, until he finally had the opportunity to steal a sword off of his captor. In the first display of the natural swordfighting talent that would make him world renowned, Lucian used it to slay his kidnapper and then made his way to the Orphanage from there, being too young to remember where his home was.

Another, less spoken of story tells that the kidnapper was actually Lucian's true Father, making him the product of an illicit affair. The man was an expert swordsman, and while no names were given it's implied that he was well known and liked in the castle and possibly in the public eye as well. This story says that the man took Lucian in order to raise him to be a great swordsman like himself, feeling that the courtly life was too sheltered for his own flesh and blood. However, after two years of traveling the land, teaching his son, and hearing from various sources about the Queen's grief and her tireless search, the man was overcome by guilt for taking the boy from her. Despite that she was married to the king, the Swordsman had been deeply in love with her, and didn't wish to cause her such grief.

Both versions agree though that somehow, Lucian arrives at the orphanage, which is rumored to be located in Ceria, at the age of six. His Parents were still searching for him even then, refusing to believe that he was dead. It took them another two years to track him down to the orphanage, by that time though Lucian's personality had grown into the one that people would know him for throughout Eifel, a carefree, casual person with a passion for the art of the sword. When he learned of the King and Queen's imminent arrival to search for their son, he escaped from the orphanage and disappeared once more. Helping him escape and at the same time leaving with him was a red headed boy named Tristan.

When the King and Queen arrived, they lined all the boys up, and the King stated that one of them was their long lost son, whom they had come to take home. When they examined the children though, the Queen exclaimed that none of them were her son, and weren't there any other boys there? When the Priestess that ran the orphanage checked the count, they realized the two boys were missing, but by then it was too late, Lucian and Tristan were gone. The King and Queen, while heartened that their son may indeed still be alive, had to return home to continue their duties as rulers of Virdeen. The Crown Princess was overjoyed to hear of her brother's survival however.

From there, Lucian began the journey that would take him all over Eifel. He traveled far and wide, learning swordsmanship from masters all over Eifel, both unknown and renowned. Aided by a natural gift for the art, he improved vastly with each location, and rose in the ranks of tournaments wherever he entered.

Although by this time he knew of his true heritage, he told all who inquired that his parents were simple folk who died of an incurable illness when he was just a boy. This story was given a sense of believability due to the fact that he had taken up residence years ago in a cabin in the forests around Ceria that had been abandoned for years, and even now the public believes that this is the house that his parents died in. He keeps the house fairly neat, though it can get dusty as he only visits there in between training journeys. He took up there not long after escaping the orphanage, as he and Tristan needed a place to stay. Usually he can be found sleeping in a hammock on the front porch.

As word spread of Lucian, the "undefeatable swordsman", his Parents learned once and for all that their son had indeed survived. Though they were relieved beyond imagining, and wished to reunite with their lost son, they could no longer travel freely around the world as they once had, their age and responsibilities keeping them almost entirely castlebound for the foreseeable future. So it was left to Crown Princess Rei'li to discover the whereabouts of her younger brother.

Rei'li, in contrast to Lucian, is an exceptional Archer, but feels she must refrain from entering competitions due to her well known status as the Princess of Virdeen. When she learned her parents could not go and look for their son she took it upon herself to search for him, making her technically the second child in the Virdeen Royal line to run away from home. For many years her search went unrewarded, as Lucian's wanderlust kept him constantly traveling and training all over Eifel.

It wasn't until Rei'li ran into Tristan, now Lucian's best friend and fiercest rival, that she finally got the break she was hoping for.

Tristan mistook the woman, who was traveling anonymously, as one of Lucians many female admirers, and directed her to his woodland cabin. He explained to her that Lucian stops there regularly to rest and relax, and that women are almost always welcome there.

After the initial shock of seeing his sister once more, Lucian welcomed her warmly, inquiring about her travels and what she had done in the years since his fateful kidnapping. While he didn't want to go back to the castle, Rei'li convinced him to write a letter to his parents telling them at least some of his life and reassuring them that he was doing well and didn't need to be fretted over quite so much.

After that, the two parted ways again, though somewhat tearfully on the part of Rei'li, and she returned home bearing the letter for her parents, which is one of their most treasured possessions to date. Whenever the World Swordsmanship Tournament is held, the King and Queen make it a point to go there in person, for the chance as seeing their son perform.

Finding that she liked being free from the courtly life (possibly as much as her brother does), Rei'li received permission to continue traveling, in order to improve on her Archery skills by learning from experts other than the ones the court could hire. Because of their separate classes, Lucian and Rei'li rarely travel together, though they both meet occasionally at the cabin, which Lucian told her she could use at her leisure. It's unknown how Tristan, the cabin's other regular inhabitant, feels about this situation. But it's likely that he doesn't mind the presence of Lucian's family members there.

Out of respect for her brother's desire to keep his heritage hidden, Rei'li makes no mention of him other than to tell people that she once had a brother by the same name, but that he was murdered as a child by a vicious kidnapper.