Character Highlight - Octavious Brusselthorpe

posted: 30 November 2019

Octavious Brusselthorpe, looks more like a young noble than a grimy assassin. An image he cultivates purposefully. A spy for hire by nobles, wealthy merchants, and occasional arch-mages and high-clerics to find information, acquire goods, or discretionary assassinations quietly accomplished one way or another.

His family is originally from the city of Pure Thought where they still reside in a large villa in a nicer part of the city in a comfortable lifestyle. He had a few close friends and lived an ordinary well to do childhood... mostly.

An uncle Bradford Brusselthorpe instructed “Octy” in the art of spying to prepare him for the family business since the age of eight. Playful games to exercise hiding, moving silently, parlor magic tricks, and later technical skills in picking locks, disguise, and deceit. Octavious has always been nimble and quick of wit, so he excelled naturally in the tasks put before him until the day he was let in to the family business.

Octavious’ uncle is a reliable and trustworthy contact who acts as a liaison to a network of other spies and criminals. They both know know how to get messages to and from each other, even over great distances; specifically, They know the local messengers, corrupt caravan masters, and seedy sailors who can deliver messages for a price reliably.

Octavious has been mostly successful in the minor jobs he was entrusted with, so He decided to use those talents to make his way in the world and of course support his family by taking on bigger jobs.

Early in his career Octavious escaped certain death in a botched heist to acquire some valuable goods for a local noble. He quietly believes it was the intervention of the god Sylvanus  which saved him. Octavious shall forever be a follower if only as a lay person.

Worse, during that operation one of the members of the team, an adventurer named Marwan Redwood, was captured and formed a hateful grudge against Octavious soon after. Octavious feels the blame for the rift falls on his own shoulders.  After Marwan’s subsequent short imprisonment Octavious arranged for his escape at great personal cost and personal risk. Even though Marwan was freed by his once comrade, a grudge stands nonetheless and Marwan often acts as a rival, and disruptor whenever he can in his drive for revenge.

A romantic passionate relationship with an high elven merchant noble Jessiya Suryan-na ended with bad feelings last year.  While they can still be civil in public, she is angry Octavious walked away from her -not realizing it was for her own safety to keep her from becoming a pawn in one of Marwan Redwood’s plots for revenge. Octavious wishes things were different, but cannot bear to see her hurt for his own mistakes.

So now, with no attachments other than a family clan of assassins, Octavious set out to grow the family fortune, and find daring jobs to do so.

Octavious lives by an honor code:

1. Loyalty to family - above all else.
2. Don’t kill for free - it’s bad for business.
3. Avoid collateral damage -it attracts attention.
4. Never break trust with those on an operation - professional courtesy.
5. Never steal from those who are innocent/poor - they will only make your job harder.