"It is skill, not power, that wins wars. Learn all you want of your arcane craft, just remember that when the fighting starts you need a General at the head of your armies, not a Warlock." —
Lucius de Clare to Sith Knight Kaidan
Lucius de Clare, Marshal of the Armies of Tof, Death Dealer and Executor of the will of the Tof King, Sereno. In the span of his life, Lucius has spilled enough blood to fill the oceans of Tof three times over. In defense of his honour or upon the will of the King, it matters little. His hands are stained as red as the blade of his lightsaber, and he revels in it.
~ Physical Appearance ~
Large for a human, de Clare towers over most others with ease. Add to this his sheer girth, and the man does not blend into his surroundings. If anything, his attitude enhances his nearly titan presence. Bull necked and thick armed, not only does de Clare appear capable of grappling with a fully-grown Wookiee, he has. And he has won. No one mistakes him for a simple tough guy. Looking into his eyes, you find yourself looking into a very calculating and very sadistic mind. The pools of dark brown can hide many secrets, but they can also hint at the horrors he has caused. It is often said that if you can bear to meet his gaze for long enough, you will see the faces of the millions of souls that he has dispatched to the grave.
People often hear and feel him before he arrives. His heavy boots will thump loudly along corridors, announcing his near arrival. In the dungeons of Castle Tof, or wherever he might be summoned by the Supreme or King Sereno, his footfalls against the stone floor are likened to the final beats of the condemned’s heart. He is almost always seen in his uniform - the dark olive and gray Tof uniform with the green armband and green sash. He considers himself an officer first, a Sith second. The only consolation he makes to his standing as a Sith are the lightsaber housed within his baton and the great coat he wears instead of the cloak favored by many other Sith.
The white marks of scars stand out against his tanned skin. Tanned from the hours he spends swimming the oceans of Tof around the Castle or at his private estate upon the Sea of Tenebrae. His left arm bears a spider’s web tattoo. The tattoo is the subject of much speculation between those who have seen it and those who have heard of it. What those who have seen it more than twice do know is that the design seems to change, a new thread is added from the last time they saw it. Many speculate that each thread upon the scarred, tanned and muscled skin symbolizes another life snuffed out by Tof’s own Field Marshal.
~ History ~
Beginnings
Born into one of the older families of Chandrila, Lucius grew up balking at the democratic nature of the planet. Every citizen had a direct vote in government affairs. Such democracy destroyed the power of the old aristocratic houses, such as his. What he found worst was the way in which most of those families didn't care, believing fully in their Democracy. This outraged the young de Clare and led him to many extremes. Already seen as an outsider in Chandrilan political and social circles, de Clare distanced himself further from what were proscribed norms. As one of the old families, he was expected to act with decorum - instead de Clare entered into fiery diatribes. As an aspiring officer, he was expected to know the niceties of riding, shooting, hunting and swordplay, these were the only accepted forms of recreation in the Chandrilan Military Tradition. Lucius learned these, but also became a follower of smashball, shockball and limmie.
An advocate for force, Lucius de Clare was seen as an oddity. He had the same arrogant and argumentative nature as his fellow Chandrilans. His break from the norm shocked many in society, and even further in his acceptance to the Caridan Military Academy. Near outright fights erupted regularly between the senior and junior de Clare when the latter informed the former of his application. Never resolved, the matter was dropped and Lucius attended. Upon returning from the Imperial Academy on Caridia, gazzetted a Lieutenant in the Navy, Lucius quickly worked to bring the family's finances under his control. He contracted the murder of his brother, sisters, and personally saw to the deaths of his mother and father. Although the circumstances of their deaths were peculiar, the government was unable to find evidence against him and the de Clare family fortune was his.
Live By The Sword...
Three years after the death of his parents, already a Commander in the Imperial Navy, Lucius was charged with the torture, and subsequent deaths, of several members of the de Clare Household Staff – the oldest case dating back to when was only thirteen. With his options limited to imprisonment and running, he ran. Quickly moving large sums of money into numbered accounts, he fled Chandrila and the Imperial Navy. A marked man, he had few options and for the longest time flew between outback settlement to outback settlement in the Outer Rim.
Eight months into his flight, Lucius de Clare was approached by an acquaintance who knew vague details of his background: that he was an ex-Imperial Officer on the run. The man offered him a job, and a chance to flex his military muscle. Lucius joined the Rebel Alliance and became a fleet strategist. Quickly training and bringing the pilots of the Rebellion's Y- and B-Wings into top shape, he became a strategist and planner in the Alliance for his ability to conduct bombing raids on installations and torpedo runs on convoys with marked success.
Following the Rebellion's victory at the Battle of Endor, de Clare found himself tied to the, newly christened, New Republic's Second Fleet, in charge of coordinating bomber and heavy assault units. His past, however, quickly caught up with him. Upon liberating the Core Worlds from Imperial control, Chandrillan authorities sought to arrest and imprison the man who was tried in absentia. Lucius ran once more, leaving a bloody swath of dead Republic officers behind him.
The Imperial Remnant
This time, his escape took him back towards the Outer Rim, and the border sectors between the nascent New Republic and the Imperial Remnant. The area was rife with engagements and skirmishes. It proved profitable for the young fugitive, who had escaped with a B-Wing Heavy Assault Fighter. Although not a fast ship, the armaments made it something to be sought after, and he found work as a mercenary. Flying for whatever pirate captain or private contractor needing that little extra firepower. It was in one of these engagements, serving as an escort for a convoy carrying munitions to a Republic friendly station. The convoy was hit, and hit hard. The puzzling thing about the raid was that the raiders jumped in a MC80 Star Cruiser, which the convoy had mistaken for a Republic escort…until the X- and Y-Wings opened fire. Seeing that the convoy was outgunned and outclassed, de Clare prepared to make the jump only to get hit with several ion blasts. His ship disabled and floating dead in space, he could only watch as the Y-Wings disabled more craft, including some of the X- and Y-Wings that were also guarding the convoy. As the MC80 came closer, he felt his B-Wing snatched up by a tractor beam and pulled towards the metal behemoth.
Upon the MC80 he was offered a choice, die there or serve one of the many factions that the Empire had splintered into. He chose to join the Empire once more. This time, he would do so using the Republic's own ships against them. The faction used Rebel/Republic ships in an effort to sow confusion in the Outer Rim. Named "The Infiltrator Wing," the ships duties were to conduct the same commerce and supply raids that the Rebellion once conducted upon Imperial shipping. Only, in the process of their raids, many sectors in the Outer Rim became wary of Republic forces, thinking them to be little more than pirates.
In his new "home," Lucius advanced once more. He came to command a bomber squadron, and his knack for taking down the big capital ships while avoiding the fast fighters became legendary within the Infiltrator Wing. In his time in the Infiltrator Wing, he came to train, serve with and serve under some of the finest that the Infiltrator Wing had to offer.
During this time, too, Lucius was recruited into the Wing's meager Sith Imperium. His talent for plotting bombing raids, and for picking and opening in the heat of a run stemmed from a connection to the Force. Here, his gains would be more moderate and modest in comparison with his pilot career.
Exile & Return
Unfortunately, his steady rise did nothing to curb his more sadistic appetites. With mounting crimes of an ever increasingly perverse nature, the Wing exiled him upon many charges. Little is known of his time in exile. All that is known is that he spent many years conducting operations for, and acting as an agent of, Sith Knight Kaidan. When the Sith Imperium was dissolved to internal feuding caused by the service of Lucius de Clare in the name of Sith Knight Kaidan, the Wing required its former strength. Lucius was not far down the list of names that they would re-enlist...
The Iron Marshal
His return to the Wing would not be uneventful. The arrogant aristocrat stroked no egos and minced few words. His criticism of the Command Staff was unrelenting. However, his strategic ability would not be dismissed. During the Civil War that encompassed the Imperium, de Clare would be present on the field for the so-called "Red Faction," counter-marching and making liberal use of the "maneuver sur les derrieres" at the strategic level. Although unable to force a decisive battle or gain a decisive win, the method of deployment and counter deployment kept the enemy faction on the defensive.
This game of cat-mouse continued for a year, until Lucius found himself following his remaining enemy to the planet of Tof. Arriving there, he was forced to work with the leaders of the planet whom he had little tolerance for. Despite this, the combined efforts of the Tof forces and de Clare's Red Faction proved to be more than enough to quell the Sith Imperium "threat". Impressed by de Clare's tactical cunning, the Tof King, Sereno had his military blockade the departing Red Faction.
Infuriated, de Clare nearly retaliated against the captors, however he was interrupted by the transmission from the King himself. The man offered him a place as Field Marshal of the Armies of Tof, a position he unofficially assumed while hunting the Sith. Seeing the greater power he would yield, and freedom, Lucius promptly accepted.
~ Combat ~
Lucius IS an aristocrat. Since a child, he was trained in the "approved" sports of his station. Real "sports" as some of his blue blooded compatriots would attest. Hunting, riding, shooting and fencing. As a youth, dueling was the vogue craze of the offpsring of the well to do, and Lucius took to it readily. Dueling became an almost fanatical pass time. Every insult was repaid with a slap and a challenge of "grass before breakfast." de Clare earned his scars and stripes, but never forgot his blue blooded heritage, and his style of fighting reflected this. He proved it with every thrust, every parry, every riposte and every strike. He became a competent duelist by utilizing every resource at his disposal : size, strength and intellect.
In addition to being a master fencer, Lucius has a background as a pit fighter from his underground days while fleeing in the Outer Rim worlds.
Lightsaber
Most notable about Lucius's lightsaber is the hilt. The hilt is part of his Field Marshal's baton. The elongated hilt allows Lucius to easily switch between one- and two-handed styles, allowing him to make full use of his strength. The baton was fashioned when he was bestowed with the title of Marshal of the Armies of Tof. The lightsaber, in the silver shaft was placed in a hollowed piece of mahogany, which was inlayed with the Imperial Eagle of his family, and the cross of his Lord’s house. The baton was capped, on one end was the emitter for his blade, and on the end was his own personal seal, a rampant wolf. The baton is heavy and sturdy enough for him to use as a striking weapon, which has happened often. Many an enemy, or even a failure of an officer, has had their skull caved-in by the heavy metal and wooden baton. Lucius has dabbled in the form of Djem So. (any artists capable of rendering/drawing this?)
Weapons
In addition to his baton and lightsaber, de Clare has access to a plethora of bladed weapons. A particular favorite in his collection is a lightly curved scimitar.
Lucius also carries several iron spikes on his person measuring from 6 to 9 inches in length. Driving an iron spike through the skull is his favored method of execution. Lord Vader choked people, Grand Admiral Thrawn had his pet Noghri, de Clare has the iron spikes. The heads usually hang from the spike afterwards as a display of his brutality.
Standard
Gules, a tower guarded on four sides by rampant wolves of sable, at the points of the saltire; upon the corners Death's Head and the crossed baton. The red represents de Clare's military fortitude. The four wolves represent "Captaincy" - command of Sereno's troops as well as the forces of Tof, the Infiltrator Wing and the Chandrilian Military. Placing the wolves, at the edges of the saltire, represent de Clare's willingness to endure any setback and hardship, to overcome and remain standing. The tower represents his unfailing loyalty to his King above all others. The Death's Head is the symbol of Tof's Death Dealers. The crossed batons his rank as Field Marshal. (any artists capable of rendering/drawing this?)
~ The Force ~
Unique amongst the Sith, Lucius is a minimalist when it comes to direct use of the Force. All his life he has learned to rely first upon his physical strength, dexterity and wits before resorting to flashy displays of force power. Even in the Imperium, once he had learned to master control of his body and mind, then, and only then, did he begin to learn to augment his physical abilities with the Force. Learning to endure greater strain upon his body, to continue fighting when fatigue creeps into his enemies. With mastery over himself, mastery of the Force, it seemed, became all that much easier.
