The Wolf of Cornaeth, The Wolf-Father, Knight-Legate, General, Lord and Archon are all titles accredited to the man whose name is cast down in history as Markos Leocadus. He is a man of imposing stature, stoic demeanor and regal semblance who claims lineage from the land of Cornaeth, once a province of the Valradic Empire and now his own dominion, presiding as Sovereign of Cornaeth It is a land known for three things, mountains, metal and warriors which suffices to say reflects in the values of its people and their regent. In a similar sense, Marcus's repute is composed of three principal aspects, foremost that he is a peerless tactician and master strategist, a general who has proven himself time and time again both on the battlefield and otherwise, his mastery of such aspects allows him to carefully manipulate, monitor and intervene in the state of affairs presiding over Tyranoth post-Valradic civil war.
On account of his possession of the Leonine sword and other presumably arcane powers, Marcus is possessed of preternatural martial skill and the capacity to do harm to near any kind of foe whether of the mortal realm or otherwise, sparing tavern tales may be accredited to him but his work to hold the balance is kept under an oath of secrecy, Marcus is a member of council, an order of enigmatic yet powerful individuals across Tyranoth, whom have come to an "understanding" to cooperate when there is a particularly grave danger threatening the realms such as outer-realm incursions, necromancers or otherwise. Marcus is far from a noble and upright warrior however, he is a prudent and cunning man that takes great pleasure in stoking the flames of his ambition and engaging in the political arena, a man bred on the battlefield could never be content with life within the court, he has allies and he has enemies, he has performed acts of virtue and acts of vice and your own context decides your judgment of him.
The story of Marcus is invariably linked with that of the Valradic Empire and its tragic or fortuitous fall. A tale of an accomplished military leader betrayed by his own state labeled a renegade, and forced to fight a war on two fronts both against enemies within and beyond the borders, a battle that had no fortunate end and one which did not grant him a death. Rather Marcus would go on in a contemplative purgatory and as his penance, he would attempt to use the rest of his days to attempt to bring a semblance of order and stability to a realm ravaged by strife, war and far worse horrors than the mortal mind could eschew.
Markos Leocadus, Prodigal Son of The Noble House Leocadus, and as with all Leocadus men sworn to the service of the Emperor as the Hierarchs of the Cornaethian Wolvenborn legion. As was the custom of the Leocadus, only daughters were raised as part of the family and the sons were given as tithe to the service of the Emperor, steeped in martial tradition and raised as an orphan travelling between military camps and academes across the Empire, the honor of his bloodlines rested upon his shoulders yet the steel of his cornaethian constitution saw him through these trials, his mentors taught him in great length what but one father couldn't hope to accomplish, the very greatest of veterans and masters within the Empire selected to mentor these select honor-bound children. And as such Marcus learned and then thrived, there were those within the camp who could not and did not persevere through the trials and still more that saw the flames of their ambition extinguished within but a few campaigns and battles, but Marcus perhaps by virtue of divine providence or the gift of his bloodlines excelled. His family met an unfortunate demise upon a river barge that sunk within the newly expanded northern territories whom his father had slaved to capture and no sooner were they lost, by this virtue he earned his correspondence with the two men he would come to serve over his tenure. Emperor Theodor Arenicos II, chosen of the Conventus (Ecclesiarchy, Senate and Judicial Triarch) came to the throne during a time of tumult, decline and political turmoil.
Emperor Drosius Neretzes, his predecessor, in contrast had expanded the Empire to its then greatest extent and was a hero. Arenicos was a capable leader but more suited to the affairs of the throne than the battlefield, he had plans that needed the right men to put into action and perhaps by divine decree, Marcus and his contemporaries convened with the Emperor. Arenicos exercised imperial right in improving the status and power of the Valradic Legion giving the military great power and influence to counter-balance the Conventus as the last 10 emperors had been murdered, if not for the Praetorian Guard being reinstituted he would have likely met the same end. Marcus gained control of the Wolvenborn, Legio XIX " Lupor Ferox ".
Marcus had the distinct honor of leading innumerable campaigns and expeditions across all of Tyranoth, he had managed to expand the borders of the Empire beyond even what Emperor Neretzes had accomplished and though the glory of this went to Arenicos, Marcus was instrumental in the brief calm before the storm brought as a result of the great wealth and power brought by this rampant expansion. Despite his talents he had made quite a few enemies within the nobility and conventus as a result of his stubborn uncompromising and ruthless attitude, unfortunately for the Conventus, Marcus was almost always on campaign so never stood trial for his grievances despite their orders and petitioning of the Emperor furthermore, The Legion would not tolerate one of its officers being subject to the law of the commons.
It was a time of glory, gluttony and abundance but none can deny it came at the cost of great bloodshed and misery for Valradia's contemporaries, though they brought culture, knowledge and civilization it was always at the end of a spear. The barbarians licked their wounds as their grudges simmered, barking curses of vengeance that their pagan gods eventually answered. Such is the way of history. Marcus's youth was a time of intrigue, adventure and accomplishment, a young man that had earned his reputation through surpassing every trial that the fates threw at him.
The period which followed the Pax Arenicos was known as The Great Sundering, over a period of a decade and a half, the Valradic Empire entered into a brutish short and vicious state of decline that culminated into a five year civil war and then disintegration. Several events occurred during this period, wars of defence, reconquests, diplomatic parlay, assassination, supernatural events and disasters that took up the Empire's resources to contain and control but by far it was political turmoil and civil strife that ate away at the Empire's core while it's walls deflected every fulminant tide. The legion and the conventus had always been at odds, neither were particularly favorable and both vyed for influence over the imperial throne, Arenicos was faced with a goliath task which no one man could hope to accomplish, with the woes of age upon him and his own influence declining he spent the last of his years desperately trying to keep peace and order, the buzzards standing at the ready for when he grew frail.
Arenicos was duly assassinated by a north-man who had found his way into the praetorian guard, a radical who exacted vengeance and was forgotten to history thereafter, it was a plot to install Andron Theodorus, Arenicos's nephew upon the throne, a sadistic emperor who catered to his own whims and was influenced by the Conventus, letting them do the policy work. The Conventus sought to increase the power of nobles, institute mercenary armies and grant autonomy as a way of controlling the volatile empire, reforms which should have worked in theory but effectively tore the Empire apart, naturally these unpopular reforms were contested and the brutal Valradic Civil War erupted. The legions stationed mostly within the central provinces at this time were overrun by mercenary and barbarian armies, states began to split, the mercenaries were paid in land not gold and Valradia's borders shrunk, before an eventual multi-front invasion by several former vassals and opposed states.
Marcus was branded a fugitive and brigand during this time and had no choice but to partake in the chaos as a " Condotierre ", a mercenary, his motive for doing so was vengeance for the decimation of the legion. Marcus viciously and brutally sacked the city-state of Aurelia where many nobles and judges took refuge, it was a pyrrhic siege which was followed by a massacre, Marcus amassed wealth from this venture and upon his return to Cornaeth, assumed command of the garrison manned by the last legion, his legion. He organized a coup against the Valradic nobility at Leonine Castle during the night, the nobles were executed and Cornaeth declared his independence. When questioned regarding claims of treachery and treason Marcus simply remarked " When we live amongst wolves, we must grow fangs " and the moniker, " Wolf of Cornaeth " stuck from that day, which Marcus clearly honors with the direwolf cloak, originally a mark of office in the legion and now his namesake.
