| Matthias | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Home City | Imperial City, Balmora | ||
| Location | Imperial City. Balmora | ||
| Race | Argonian | Gender | Male |
| Level | 70 | Class | Crime Lord |
| Services | |||
| Available | Available whenever you can find him | ||
| Training | Long Blade, Sneak, Mercantile | ||
| Other Information | |||
| Health | 668 | Magicka | 426 |
| Faction(s) | Clan of Blood and Shadow, Thieves Guild, East Empire Company, House Hlaalu, Dark Brotherhood | ||
HistoryEdit
Matthias was born into slavery, and did not see much of the Black Marsh. He was sold to a sympathetic Dunmer family, with a mother named Shiva Rethan and her two sons, Dalyn and Shad'Artael. She removed his bracers and raised him like a son, and his two brothers grew to appreciate him.
Shiva and her two sons had become frustrated with their poor lifestyle and discussed scrounging up just enough money to buy a slave, if not for work, something to make their lives more interesting. They decided to take a chance and even though buying a slave was just going to bring another mouth to feed, it turned out well for them.
They met Matthias, an oddly non-argonian name, as a six year old child caged in a Telvanni's slaver market. Unlike the rest who were a mix of frightened, angry, or depressed. This particular argonian was calm, if a bit solemn, well spoken and intelligent (for a six year old, anyway). When they inquired on his name, it was a mystery to the slaver... except the fact that he was born in Morrowind. Less of a mystery was his intelligence, where an apathetic mage allowed a young argonian access to his personal library.
Shad'Artael was impressed, being a mage's apprentice himself (he and Dalyn were approximately 10-12 years old). He begged his mother to purchase Matthias.
And they did, but he was raised like a family member, no slavers bracers. He was their brother.
He was too young to remember a life of slavery, and therefore doesn't really know what it's like beyond his own personal encounters with them. He grew to be more apathetic towards it to anything.
Shiva's biological two sons had splintered into various houses. Shad'Artael had delved into necromancy, an art only House Telvanni could agree with. Dalyn joined the Imperial Legion, and then House Redoran. Matthias himself gained a penchant for deception and thievery, and quickly funded his adoptive family's extravagant lifestyle, giving him ties to House Hlaalu. He stayed with his family for over ten years before finally growing up and moving on with his own goals. To this day he still maintains contact with his brothers on various occasions. His mother, has disappeared. They assume death.
One thing of significant note, regarding his voice and why he is able to appear so extravagant even to those who have a lower opinion of the beast races. Matthias still has the low, scratchy growl under his voice but it is much more subtle and turns his voice a bit deeper. Most are intimidated by this outlandish voice of his, but he balances it out by being rather cordial in his affairs.
His life did eventually take a darker turn as he delved into a more deep-seeded life of crime. His most common scam was to sell various mid-to-high end wares (mostly of the armor and weapons variety), then stealing from the town, moving onto the next and selling to them what he had stole from the previous town. He rarely ever saw life inside a jail cell, as they could rarely pin a crime on Matthias, and his silver tongue and friendly demeanor got him out of most guardly encounters.
As his town-to-town scam became more known, he was forced to halt. And so did his income, he resorted to joining the Thieves Guild (to which he advanced among them very rapidly, earning a Master Thief title), and he gained many connections and contacts... Just as he did within House Hlaalu.
As for general faults, he's not proficient in every single weapon type out there, nor the defenses against. Anyone with a spear or pike could probably route Matthias in a combat situation. Same goes for various other weapons.
Despite being a moderately decent strategist, he only sees short-term goals. (Short term, mind you, could mean 10-20 years or more in this situation). Mostly regarding his criminal empire, it has a habit of crumbling down around him every now and then as he gets complacent and the local authorities ruin him. But, he generally bounces back.
The Clan was slow to start but through his many contacts, Matthias gained an underground repertoire, and gained many people under his rule. He started with Balmora, as it was an important central Market area (especially due to the expansion). He ran drugs, alcohol, and prostitution. He eventually branched out into several cities, and even moved into Cyrodiil.
This all encompassed about a ten year time frame.
Not all of his soldiers approved his rule. Periodically he would have an assassination attempt on himself, very often within his own people. That was when he spent several months learning how to sneak efficiently... in heavy armor. It was no small feat, but he realized he needed a firmer hand. Not only with his own Clan, but he needed to intimidate any who planned to do him harm.
Matthias never had an intense lust for power, but when he was approximately thirty years old, he felt older than he actually was. He accomplished so much in a short amount of time. It dawned on him that he needed a much greater lifespan than he had. He spent years seeking the favor of various daedric princes to help him achieve this goal.
He caught the eye of one specific prince, Boethiah, the prince of deceit, conspiracy, and murder. It is no surprise that Boethiah greatly favored Matthias' activities in Tamriel. Other than the odd couple of tasks Matthias performed, Boethiah took note of his actions and rewarded Matthias with the One True Goldbrand, as a symbol of Matthias' station in Tamriel. It simply showed up on Matthias' bed one day, it took him weeks to find out its source. The artifact effectively symbolizes Matthias being a direct arm of Boethiah's wishes. In truth, the prince orders Matthias nothing, and simply enjoys watching him work. He is one of the few that helped grant Matthias an extended lifespan.
VvardenfellEdit
Most of his early life has been spent in Morrowind, though he is still considered an outlander. That doesn't stop people from respecting, or being intimidated by him. After a while, even the Cammona Tong started giving him a wide berth.
CyrodiilEdit
Matthias has extended his Clan activities in Cyrodiil. Knowing it was too dangerous to immediately establish himself in the Imperial City, one of his first locations was setting up in Bruma. His first operations were 'secret meetings' in the Mages Guild while everyone slept.
Thankfully this didn't last long as he located the Thieves Guild -and- the Dark Brotherhood, he gained more stable bases. It's unknown whether or not Matthias is trying to unite warring underground organizations or not, he may think they're all too stubborn to unite under the Clan.
He gained a stable home in Skingrad as well, a fact he doesn't make very well known. When pressed on his place of residence, he refers to Anvil (To which his brother does have a manor), or possibly Bravil and Leyawiin. Those are only half-lies, as Matthias enjoys those places due to their population of fellow beast-folk.
However, the reason Matthias hides his Skingrad Manor, is that's where he stores a lot of his collectibles. Armor, weapons, sentimental trinkets. Still, he took many notes from Divayth Fyr's style of guarding treasures. Matthias does not shed any tears for any lost goods, but he still has mechanical traps along with various guards in and around his house. (The outside ones look like civilians, to not draw attention). Inside, various trusted assassins or mages under his employ.
He also enters from an alternate entrance, making sure he does not make his prime home obvious to enemies or would-be thieves.
SkyrimEdit
Mostly abandoning his last name as his family name went into disuse, lost in the lines of death and fading in history, Matthias eventually found himself in Skyrim. He was captured near the border between Skyrim and Morrowind, selling large amounts of weaponry to the Stormcloak rebellion faction. This was nothing new in Matthias' usual criminal empire (Which, once again, fell into hard times). Though his near-beheading offended him which spurred him to offer more direct aid to the Stormcloaks in his free time when he's not building up his Clan in Skyrim.
He is no fan of Ulfric, but he keeps his allegiance to the coin and they're both fully aware of that.
He discovered a daughter a few years back, who revered the stories of him, even while the mother cursed his name. The daughter, named Dib, found Matthias in Western Morrowind while he was doing some business, and they got along fairly well off the bat, as they held similar philosophy. He became more than her father, he became a mentor as well. In fact, she was captured with him on the borders of Skyrim while he was doing his weapons dealing, and they were separated temporarily. Dib in her cleverness, eventually reunited with her father around Riften, they both headed in that direction as soon as they heard the Guild had a hold there.
His daughter eventually began to find her own way in the world, still being a part of the Guild, and her father's Clan.
He eventually settled down, buying a House in Riften. He woo'd a dark elf in Whiterun after he hired her blade for a short time, and gifted her an ebony sword and shield, along with a high ranking imperial armor that he gained during his time with the Stormcloaks. They eventually married, and she lives with him in his Riften home.
Now, that's not to say he's completely retired. As Karliah once said, "Can't afford to get rusty, now can we?". He's just as criminally active as he ever was, and it's not hidden from his wife at all. (When the Thieves Guild armor is recognized and they're known throughout the holds, it'd be too difficult to keep that secret so Matthias informed her when they met, just about. She didn't mind.)
He continues work with the Guild and even some side bits with the Dark Brotherhood, just as he had two centuries before.
"Business" PracticesEdit
Matthias generally poses as an extremely well dressed merchant. But given his extravagant appearance, this still turns away customers as they already distrust someone who is trying so hard to impress. However, on the outside, his wares are innocent enough. Matthias sells anything of moderate worth. Hard-to-get alchemical supplies, gems and jewelry, dwemer contraband.
However, he is a very avid collector and distributor of various arms and armor. Mostly of the longsword variety, and expensive armors.
That's his cover. As for the actual Clan of Blood and Shadows, it operates deep underground (figuratively, and literally). It has an emphasis in political assassination, very often killing off their own competition. But they are for hire as well.
Matthias has strongarmed many Red Light districts and gets a cut from prostitution and any pleasure-clubs, even if women do nothing but dance. He's also allied with various Skooma, Moon Sugar, and other drug trades. Even to the extent of creating his own plantation on an off-beat island. It brings in massive revenue for his Clan.
PersonalityEdit
Matthias is capable of encompassing a range of moods and emotions, as any normal person does. Thankfully he's not difficult to read. Most of the time he can be a rather chipper argonian with a subtle, dark sense of humor.
However when he armors up and assumes his "Clan Leader / Crime Lord" role, his voice takes a dip in volume and speaks very calmy and seriously. It's usually when he's in this mood, people watch how they talk to him.
Personal AbilitiesEdit
Due to his avid collection of arms, he is very capable swordsman. He knows very little of shields, and simply prefers to do everything he needs to do with a simple katana, maybe with a potential tanto offhand for defense, but unlikely.
Notes/TriviaEdit
The brothers:
- I was 10+ years younger than I currently am when I started playing. As such, all of these character names are not the same as when I first created them. As I got older, I matured and fixed their names.
- Matthias began as Mephisto. Then Mithril. Then finally current.
- Dalyn began as "Hemotep". He was also once Sun'Delyn, then consolidated to Dalyn.
- Shad'Artael began as Naruto. Since it was ganked from an anime I didn't even like, I switched a couple of letters and made him "Naturo". However, that didn't work either and was finally changed.
- Shad'Artael derives from the german word for "skull", Schädel.