Costas Voducce
I really wanted you to have that money, of course, so that this wouldn't turn out the way my boss expected, which is why, you know, it was insisted I come out here with this bloody truncheon. You see how that's on you mate, isn't it?
Social Rank: 9
Concept: Dispossessed Scion
Fealty:
Velenosa
Family:
Voducce
Gender: male
Marital Status: single
Age: 27
Birthday: 4/9
Religion: Pantheon
Vocation: Soldier
Height: tall
Hair Color: mud brown
Eye Color: stormy blue
Skintone: weathered tan
Obituary: Murdered in a robbery gone wrong, with all his possessions stolen from his room in the Unkindness.
Description: Costas is a wiry man of an athletic build found in all men of labor the world over. Commonly handsome, his otherwise manly stature is betrayed by a habitual, casual lean. Beard and scalp have been trimmed (surely with a dull knife) to the same length all round, revealing a leathery bronze complexion- the product of years toiling in the sun. These features, along the strong scent of salt spray and pitch, mark him out as a man of the sea. His dispassionate countenance reveals little of his thoughts to the casual observer, though in candid moments his tempestuous grey-blue eyes may flash with life, and an impudent smirk threatens to reveal itself from behind his lips.
Personality: Despite his slack posture Costas has the bearing of a man accustomed to receiving orders, if not necessarily completing them with gusto. Quiet and understated in proper company, nimble and colloquial in common, his honeyed voice strays between respectful and cheeky with equal confidence, oft-times within the same breath. While generally seen as even-tempered and patient in the pursuit of his duties, some few may glimpse moments that betray a more mercurial nature in the sharp gestures of his hands when explaining something of interest, or the habit of humming shanties to himself when engaged in idle activities. Possessing the air of a man professionally familiar with violence, his demeanor has been observed to become progressively more casual as moments of actual violence approach.
Background: Born Costas Voducce, the young third son of an unexceptional minor house expected only to live a life of relative obscurity tallying casks of wine and bolts of silk in one dusty counting house or another. His parents, notorious misers not much beloved by their liege or peers, spent little time on the twice-redundant son, boarding him at a series of schools only to ensure that he would not become an economic burden on the lineage. It had been three years since he had seen his family when he received word from his sister that the family was relocating their interests to a more favorable location in the Saffron Chain and that his brothers had decided he need not hasten to join them until his studies were complete. She begged him to join her so that their greedy brothers could be prevented from squandering the family fortune. All he need do was secure a ship to meet them mid-voyage along the secret route they had travelled together as youngsters on their family's ships. She had even arranged a ship.%
So it was that Costas Voducce brought ruin to his house. The ship he rushed to board, eager to reclaim a place in his family, was a pirate vessel. It did not occur to him to ask why, if his sister had secured the ship, she had not also provided the destination. A helpful Costas was eager to assist. It was not until the flags of his family's company were spotted that the pirates raised their own, and he was tossed in the hold. After the battle, he was tortured for five days before they were satisfied that he had no more information that could be made into a profit. He would have been dumped overboard there, throat slit, save for that the ship's navigator pointed out that he could use a man who knew letters if they were to command a fleet of prize ships.
For three years Costas swabbed decks, cooked meals, and copied endless nautical directives for ships in the pirate fleet. Never fully accepted into the crew, he was subject to routine beatings. When after one particularly rough drubbing Costas sustained a fractured arm that put him off his work for weeks, the navigator decided to begin training him in the sword so that he might defend himself. He took to it quickly, finding a talent completely unlooked-for and a sense of confidence he had never known. When three months later their ship was attacked by a rival band of pirates, Costas killed four himself. Though he was not added to the marines despite his skill, owing to his value as a navigator, he would be force to repeat the act many more times over the next four years.
While it was not a life full of much happiness Costas had come to accept his place, just as it was upended one more time. On a cold and moonless night, while seeking quarry closer than ever before to the southern ports, a patrol of Malvici pirate hunters caught them in a bad wind and a fierce battle ensued. Faced for the first time with the prospect of having to fight someone that wasn't a pirate, he made the decision to try to flee in a dinghy. Magata had other plans. A storm rose up during the height of the attack and he was quickly capsized as the engaged ships battered against one another in a cacophany of splintering wood.
When he next awoke, it was to the prodding spears of Malvici bannermen who found him floating among the wreckage. He would have been put to the death there, had not one of them spotted the seal of a noble house on the simple leather strip he wore around his neck. Though long since dispossessed of its lands and titles, the name of Voducce would have a final grace to extend to its last scion.
Name | Summary |
Alaric | Rugged looking chap, not much of an idealist evidently. But he must be a talented captain if the Grand Duchess has put him at the helm of the Carlotta. |
Apollis | A diligent man, I'd bet. Sorta gruff but you can tell he's getting shit done when you're not looking. Maybe I'm just projecting that on him. I sometimes do that. |
Arcelia | I have never known what to think of Costas. He is an interesting man but I just have never known what to think... There seems like something there, some depth that begs to be reached out for. Yet at the same time? Do I dare? |
Artorius | A good friend and a rather impressive warrior. I recall meeting Costas for the first time when I first returned to Arx with Serah. He was a rather kind man, and even treated Serah extraordinarily well. I'm happy I could have met one of my cousin's most trusted individuals, and even happier that I had a chance to spar him, even though I did not succeed, if not only barely. Happy to have such an individual on our side. |
Caelis | Straight to business and no-nonsense. He takes guarding Calypso very serious in every battle they've been in and she's not been harmed that Caelis can recall. He's a fine captain and worthy of respect. |
Caspian | Seems to be the kind popular with the ladies. I get it though. |
Cybele | Southerner with a good understanding of cats. Even busy cats. |
Darrow | I met him with the late Baroness Kima Saik - and made two comrades in arms, despite declining their invite for...Lyceni wrestling. |
Echo | Costas has got an amazing vocabulary and a quiet, unassuming presence. He comes across as very sharp and clever. Something about him just makes me hope that I never get on his bad side. |
Ectorion | Captain of the Carlotta, his ship sounds like an impressive feat of engineering, and I hope to see it some day..which with the way things go, no doubt will happen. |
Edain | The Sword of Southport is a hard man to figure out. However he believes that Oathlanders have superior aerodynamics to Thraxians, so clearly he has a fine eye for quality. I think I like him. |
Harald | A capable sailor and swordsman, in service to a capable house. His manner is as it should be. |
Leola | I like the man. I do. He's rough edged, sure, and salty as any sailor, but he's honest with it and I can't complain of that. There doesn't seem malice in him as much as a reluctant acceptance of pragmatism over some very worn idealism he tries to hide. Costas, you don't need to hide it. |
Lucita | Sword of Southport, a dangerous yet respected ex-pirate. He's interesting to watch in interactions with others. |
Luis | Also stubborn and wanting to hold onto his whiskey, which is an important think, can't fault a man for that. |
Marian | I have a feeling that me and Costas in this together. Let the two generals fight it out while I take on this Sword. He's probably like me, more of a in your face, hand to hand than sit at the general's table and make the strategy. |
Monique | Good head on his shoulders. Not fancy. There's probably more there hidden under the surface. It is Arvum, after all. |
Norwood | A blunt man, and clearly not from around here. He seems wary of just about everything around him. |
Petal | I didn't learn much about him, but he seems the type who learns more about those he is speaking with than they learn of him. He also had a welcoming and unrevealing air at the same time. He seems descent and self-controlled. |
Reese | He is pretty smart and alert! |
Sebastian | Trouble. Delightful trouble. It's been far too long and there has been far too little mischief. This will be rectified soon. |
Skye | He has excellent taste in whistling tunes. It brought back a good memory and for that I'm grateful. He was very polite and respectful. I don't know if our circles will meet again but definitely brightened my day. |
Stefano | A taciturn man, the new Sword of Southport. Seems a sturdy soldier. |
Talen | Costas is one of those men that remind Talen of himself in many ways. A loyal hound to its master, yet with its own mind and able to stand on its own. If he would've been born an Artiglio, it wouldn't have surprised him, not at all. That said, he wasn't. He's Malvici's and more importantly, Calypso's kept man. A loyal vassal's vassal. A sound resource. Good enough that he's now the Captain of the Carlotta -- a Lenosian-class caravel. |
Theron | The Sword of the Malvicis is dutiful and seems to be more on the quieter side than otherwise. I've heard rumors of his prowess in combat but I've yet to see it, so hopefully we'll get to spar, sometime. |
Zalika | He sought me out about an intriguing commission. |