Novus
an equine & cervidae rpg
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Novus closed 10/31/2022, after The Gentle Exodus
Pilate
Inactive Character
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Age:

11 [Year 499 Fall]

Gender:

Male

Pronouns:

He/Him/They/Them

Orientation:

Homosexual

Breed:

Finnhorse X

Height:

15 hh

Health:

11

Attack:

9

Experience:

23
Offline

Last Visit:

04-30-2022, 02:41 PM

Joined:

12-11-2019

Signos:

1,095 (Donate)

Total Posts:

51 (Find All Posts)

Total Threads:

3 (Find All Threads)

My parents tell me I am a prince. When I say that I think I look more like a god—like Solis with his body wrapped in flames, like Medusa, who has my same snake-hair—they laugh. They will regret it soon.




I am no taller than the rest of my family, and not much differently built. We are all similar in stature, with broad, straight noses, low shoulders, and deep chests—not slim enough to be mistaken for a Hajakha, not muscled enough to be Sevettan. The peasants say my siblings and I are too alike to be naturally made. The rumor is that my mother, whose witchery has never exactly been proven, made us from the Oasis’ wet sand like playthings, two at a time.

Adonai and Miriam the Elder. Hagar and I. Then the girls (and Corradh who is nearly a girl as far as responsibilities), who prove the two-by-two theory wrong, though not necessarily the rest of it: Ruth, Corradh, Esther, Delilah, and the one we don’t talk about, who would (if she were still alive) be Miriam the Younger.

Adonai and I are the oldest boys, and I think we look the least alike. For one, I am much handsomer. Also a little taller and a little leaner. A lot darker, like water at the bottom of the Oasis, or shining-wet rocks. And I am not lying when I say that I look more like a god than any of the rest of them: I am the only one of us, besides my mother, with a pattern of scales in glossy green and gold. The patches on my hips and neck are especially pretty in bright light. My tail is thicker, more pure black, a spilling inkwell. My eyes are brighter amber than any kind that could trap a bug.

And of course there are the snakes.

They grow from the place I should have a mane, sprouting from the base of my neck, the space between my ears, and all the way down my neck. They are absolutely identical, thick, thrashing things the same sheen as my scales, with small, hard, black eyes. They are always judgmental but mostly silent. I have never heard them speak.

But sometimes—in my sleep—they start to hiss.

“It is a foolish myth, but I do understand the origin of the peasant story in which Lady Keturah made her children from sand; for they are all unnaturally alike, both in looks and in disposition. The second prince of House Ieshan may be the lone exception.

He is quite polite. Considering his upbringing, this is not unique, but it does not cease to surprise me each and every time we meet. He speaks in a manner that suggests he takes pride in being an academic—very articulate. Very concise. The thing I notice about his speech, though, is its vagueness. Even when asked direct questions, the second prince speaks in riddles. He is sly. It is, at present, impossible to tell whether this is a conscious choice or something forced into him by his parents. It makes our sessions exponentially less fruitful.

In the classical senses of the terms, I would venture Pilate’s id exercises more significant power over his personality than the ego or superego. He is morally upright, to be sure, but only in the way his family expects of him, which entails an especially maniacal enthusiastic worship of the sun god. Solis himself takes pride in many aspects of the id; therefore the second prince’s tendency toward arrogance, impatience, and disregard for personal boundaries is, from a psychiatric standpoint, completely understandable.

Yet I find myself feeling more sympathy toward him than his siblings. Growing up in the shadow of the first prince must have been incredibly difficult, especially after Adonai’s… accident. Pilate seems to me the most emotional of all the Ieshan heirs, despite his lack of willingness to show so. He spends more time with the peasants than any of the rest of them and gives away the lion’s share of his royal allowance to Solterra’s starving masses. When in the company of someone he trusts, he is surprisingly and truthfully warm; as we spend time together, he becomes increasingly good-humored, even-tempered, and understanding of others’ interior worlds. I am always pleasantly astounded by the affability he shows me when he thinks I am not paying attention.

I do not think he is any more dangerous than the rest of his line. Nor do I think he is capable of anything even remotely as awful as the court has suggested of him. In my professional opinion, I advise the prosecutors turn their sights to another suspect: the second prince is, without a doubt, innocent.”

- a notarized letter from the designated psychiatrist of the Solterran Higher Courts.

Adonai, the first Prince of House Ieshan, Eminence of the Gods and Solterran Cleric of Virtue, was always meant to become Head of House.

The eldest son of two intersecting lines of Solterran nobility was made for nothing else. Even the conception was a matter of utility. Until his siblings were born, he was not granted even the slight freedoms of playing with children his age. From sunup to sundown the first Prince was trained in the arts of royal life: he learned of his House’s history and the history of Novus; great works of literature, and why they should be considered so great; science, mathematics, astronomy, politics—anything and everything a maybe-king would need to be successful.

The next children were born as quickly after one another as they possibly could be. Then Adonai’s pool of peers was nominally bigger, and the Ieshan heirs, like most siblings, grew close enough to be called friends. To the outside world, the goings-on of the house appeared completely normal, at least as normal as the noble families ever got. Adonai, his siblings, and his parents attended worship. They publicized their charity works. They funded scientific research, studied newly published works, spent much of their time after the rebellion making sure their name was not dragged too far into the mud.

After a time, Adonai’s parents died. Peacefully—his father a few months after his mother, as if he were following her somewhere for perhaps the last time.

Adonai ascended to his father’s position with little fanfare. He was five at the time, well-suited to being in power, and the general consensus of the Ieshan children was that Solis was quite correct to have made him the Head of House. With him in power, they would never want for anything; and with the rebellion fully dealt with, and the aftermath beginning to ebb away, it looked as though the House was far from any kind of trouble.


"His Majesty Prince Adonai of House Ieshan was brought to me by his brother, the second Prince Pilate, at 0400 hours this morning. The Second Prince seemed to be in a significant amount of distress, which surprised me until Adonai entered the office to be examined.

A background of the patient: Prince Adonai is six years of age, fifteen point two hands of height, currently a healthy weight, and according to my records has no history of previous health conditions. He serves in a position of political power, which Prince Pilate tells me is the main source of his feelings of intense stress.

As for my examination:

Prince Adonai is awake but does not appear alert. He either refuses to or is incapable of making eye contact, and he does not respond to my or Pilate’s questions, only to the sound of his own name (and even that is with some inconsistency). He recognizes Pilate but cannot exactly place why.

Prince Adonai has no open cuts or gashes, significant bruises, scars, or other visible physical injuries. But in other ways he appears quite sickly. His eyes are bloodshot, with very small pupils, and they contain a significant amount of dried mucus; his temperature is slightly increased; upon physical examination of joints and the neuromuscular system, it is revealed that Adonai is suffering from partial paralysis, with decreased muscular control from the legs up and debilitated speech.

I have sent the Princes home with orders for Adonai to rest and a package of calabar bean to be administered by Pilate once a day."


“The testimony of Dr. ______ proves a lack of improvement in the condition of First Prince Adonai.”

“And has Dr. ______ been able to diagnose what, exactly, Prince Adonai’s condition is?”

“There are various—constraints, which have made it—well—“

“Well?”

“I—well, I am under the impression, considering the First Prince’s lack of previous health constraints, that this is either an extremely uncommon case of partial paralysis due to a new allergy, or that he is being poisoned."

“Poisoned?”

“Yes. That was my initial prognosis. But the consistency of the First Prince’s symptoms would mean that the poison is being administered at the same time and in the same amount each day, which would be impossible unless the distributor has complete and continued access to Adonai. So [weak laughter] unless someone wishes to prove one of the siblings has done it—“


It is spring of 504 and I, the Second Prince of House Ieshan, am now the First. My siblings and I have agreed unanimously that Adonai’s current predicament makes it impossible for him to participate in politics successfully, especially considering the current climate. It is our understanding that this decision is smiled upon by Solis as decreed by His disciples.

May He smile upon your children.

(A letter posted to the Heads of Houses Sevetta, Azhade, and Hajakha, written in Pilate’s own handwriting.)

Active & Parvus Magic





Passive Magic





Bonded & Pets





Armor, Outfit, and Accessories

Pilate is hardly ever found unadorned. He has a penchant for finery of all kinds, but most often he is found in a simple Grecian tunic. Made of white linen, clasped at the chest with a broach of gold and whose center is a shining rock of obsidian, Pilate's cloak drapes loosely over his shoulders and across his back, covering the lion's share of his scales. He is also quite fond of layering a beaded necklace partially under the cloak, and keeps his tail pinned partially in place with a corkscrew shaped pin also made of gold.




Agora Items & Awards



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Miscellaneous

The snakes have a mind of their own.

Of course, the limitations on what they can do are severe, considering their proximity to Pilate's head, but they pretty often choose to remind him of their autonomy (usually at inopportune times). Why he was the only one of his mother's children to inherit her "curse", no one knows, but Pilate seems to take an awkward kind of pride in them. They are kept alive by a strange and very limited charm, unable to converse with each other and not needing to eat but otherwise akin to normal snakes.

Some people say they are alive in the way of all the Ieshan children—not born naturally, but made of sand and charmed to join the land of the living.



*Staff edit: Due to our character design rules being changed April 2021 (now all recognizably-equus fantasy designs with aesthetic, non-harmful designs aspects can be joined without items), this character's passive magic is no longer needed! The cost has been refunded and the item removed from their inventory.



Played by:

RB (PM Player)

DeviantArt:

beccazw    //   

Discord:

none

Staff Log




Saved incentives/prizes: None.



12/28/19 Character application approved, +20 signos for character ref, approved outfit & passive magic upon acceptance -LAYLA
01/27/20 Moved from Day Court Scholar to inactive. -SID
02/27/20 Account reactivated. -SID
06/25/20 +3 EXP for 3 year OOC anniversary. -SID
12/20/20 +1EXP for visiting on Dec. 20th of advent calendar. -LAYLA
12/21/20 +3EXP for completing 5 threads, TID5323, TID4865, TID4675, TID4494, TID4464. -INKBONE
12/21/20 +6EXP for 1st and 2nd year OOC anniversary (06/19/17). 3rd year already claimed on 06/25/20. -INKBONE
12/27/20 +40 signos for completing TIDs 5323 & 4865 -LAYLA
04/04/21 +1000 signos and removed passive magic item from inventory & records. Passive magic (for snake hair) no longer needed for this character due to the April 2021 design rule changes. -INKBONE
04/17/22 Moved to inactive from Day Court Scholar during EOY507 AC. -INKBONE