## The Fallen Artificer, Twin Brother, Protector Who Failed --- ## PERSONAL INFORMATION **Full Name:** Percy Talbain **Age at Death:** 20 (died 10123 A.P.) **Race:** Human **Title:** Prince of [[Polaria City|Polaria]], Royal Artificer, Magical Artifact Creator **Faith:** Not strongly religious, more focused on magical innovation **Status:** DECEASED - Died protecting Princess Fey from devils --- ## PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION Percy was a young man who embodied scholarly dedication mixed with royal bearing. His well-groomed blonde hair and introspective blue eyes gave him a thoughtful, intellectual aura. Often seen with glasses perched on his nose and a pocket watch chain visible, he carried himself with focused curiosity rather than martial confidence. At 5'10", Percy had a lean build—not the warrior's physique of [[Prince Toran Talbain|Toran]], but someone who spent hours at workbenches and study tables. His hands were precise, marked by small scars from working with magical tools and artifacts. He dressed practically when working, elegantly when required by royal duties. **Twin Connection:** Percy and [[Princess Zion Talbain|Zion]] were fraternal twins, though their interests diverged significantly. He pursued magical innovation while she focused on public relations, yet they maintained a close bond that only twins share. **Last Moments:** When Percy died, his armor was in shreds, his body bearing multiple devil wounds. He fell on his knees, whispering final words to Fey before a devil's burning blade ended his life. --- ## PERSONALITY & TEMPERAMENT **Core Traits:** - **Thoughtful and Personable:** Blended intelligence with compassion - **Innovative:** Constantly experimenting and creating - **Protective:** Especially of his siblings, particularly Fey - **Passionate:** Driven by desire to support kingdom and family through his creations - **Kind but Focused:** Could lose himself in work but always made time for people he cared about **Interests & Hobbies:** - Experimenting with magical artifacts and innovations - Stargazing and astronomical observations - Playing the harp (music provided balance to technical work) - Studying arcane theory and artifact creation techniques - Collecting interesting magical components **Relationship with Siblings:** Percy got along well with most siblings: - Close with twin [[Princess Zion Talbain|Zion]], despite different interests - Respected Aurora's magical knowledge, sometimes collaborated - Enjoyed philosophical discussions with [[Prince Tamen Talbain|Tamen]] - Tolerated [[Prince Toran Talbain|Toran]]'s impatience with magical theory - Protective of young Fey, though he didn't always understand her adventurous spirit --- ## ABILITIES & POWER **Class:** Artificer (Exact subclass unspecified, likely Armorer or Battle Smith) **Magical Innovation:** Percy's talent was creating magical artifacts that provided strategic advantages: - Defensive items for royal guard and military - Utility artifacts for kingdom infrastructure - Personal magical equipment for family members - Experimental devices pushing boundaries of artifice **Combat Capabilities:** Percy wasn't primarily a warrior, but he had combat-capable gear: - **Magical Armor:** Could deploy from embedded gems, covering him rapidly - **Summoned Weapons:** Axe that sprang into existence from armguard - **Integrated Offense:** Lightning blast from chest-mounted gem - **Defensive Systems:** Barriers and protective fields His fighting style was technical—using prepared tools and magical devices rather than raw martial skill. Against common foes, this worked well. Against the overwhelming devil assault, it proved insufficient. **Significance to [[Polaria City|Polaria]]:** Percy's innovative creations provided [[Polaria City|Polaria]] with strategic advantages. His loss meant not just personal tragedy but also the loss of his unique talent for magical innovation. --- ## THE FALL OF [[Polaria City|POLARIA]] (10123 A.P.) **The Devil Invasion:** When devils swept through [[Polaria City|Polaria]], Percy found himself with Fey, trying to escape the chaos. They fled through alleys, separated from other family members and guards. **The Encounter:** Percy and Fey encountered a dozen devils—bearded and horned—led by an Erinyes. Percy's protective instincts overrode caution. He deployed his armor, summoned his weapon, and fought to protect his youngest sister. **The Battle:** Percy fought valiantly: - His lightning blasts took down several devils - His axe cut through devil ranks with spinning strikes - He moved among enemies with artifact-enhanced agility - He held position between devils and Fey But he was an artificer facing overwhelming force. The Erinyes was too skilled. The numbers too great. **Mindy Sofored's Intervention:** A woman in a black cloak—Mindy Sofored, the legendary Shadow—intervened. Her daggers pierced the Erinyes. She ordered Percy to take wounded Fey to safety while she held the devils. Percy scooped up Fey (who had been sliced and was bleeding) and ran. Mindy's intervention bought them time, but not enough. **The Final Stand:** Percy and Fey encountered more devils in the southern district—their fatal mistake, moving toward the heaviest devil concentration. A horde swarmed them. Percy unleashed everything he had: - Lightning from his armor - His hand-axe spinning in deadly arcs - Barrier fields to protect Fey - Every artifact, every trick, every desperate measure He took down numerous devils. He fought with the desperation of someone protecting family. But exhaustion and overwhelming numbers took their toll. **The End:** Percy's armor was shredded. He took down three more devils with waning strength before a burning blade sliced through his chest. He fell to his knees, watching helplessly as devils closed in on Fey. His last words, whispered through blood and pain: _"I'm sorry...sister."_ The sorrow in his voice was palpable. Fey screamed. Percy watched her fear and grief, knowing he'd failed. Then a devil's blade ended his life. **Fey's Capture:** After Percy's death, the larger devil sneered at Fey and commanded: "Summon [[Anam]], tell him we have found the youngest princess and prince." [[Anam]] arrived, took the terrified Fey, and left Percy's body in the street. Later, when [[Anam|the Withered One]] delivered Fey to Emperor [[Glasious]] of [[Askaria]], Percy was already dead—unable to save his sister from her fate. --- ## LEGACY & IMPACT **On the Royal Family:** _King [[King Leon Talbain|Leon]]:_ Percy's death is one of [[King Leon Talbain|Leon]]'s greatest failures as both king and father. His son died trying to save Fey, and [[King Leon Talbain|Leon]] couldn't prevent either tragedy. Percy's pocket watch sits in [[King Leon Talbain|Leon]]'s desk drawer—he sometimes winds it late at night. _Queen [[Queen Jena Talbain|Jena]]:_ [[Queen Jena Talbain|Jena]]'s grief over Percy is compounded by knowing he died protecting Fey, who remains captive. The tragedy has layers—lost one child trying to save another who's still suffering. _Princess Aurora:_ Aurora's guilt over Percy's death is profound. She was the most powerful caster, yet she was captured and tortured while her brother died. She should have been there. She should have been strong enough to save him. _Prince [[Prince Toran Talbain|Toran]]:_ [[Prince Toran Talbain|Toran]] wasn't there to protect Percy. This failure drives his current intensity and his desire for military action. He leads warriors now to ensure no more family members die while he's absent. _Prince [[Prince Tamen Talbain|Tamen]]:_ [[Prince Tamen Talbain|Tamen]] and Percy were close. Their conversations about philosophy and magic are gone forever. [[Prince Tamen Talbain|Tamen]] wears a small trinket Percy made for him and prays for his brother's soul regularly. _Princess [[Princess Zion Talbain|Zion]]:_ Percy was [[Princess Zion Talbain|Zion]]'s twin. His death devastates her in ways others can't fully understand. She lost half of herself. During her own torture under the Devil King, she sometimes saw Percy's face, heard his voice. His absence is a wound that won't heal. _Princess Fey:_ Fey carries the guilt that Percy died for her. His last words—"I'm sorry...sister"—haunt her in Askarian dungeons. She knows he died protecting her, and she couldn't save herself anyway. This guilt compounds her suffering. **On [[Polaria City|Polaria]]:** Percy's death represents loss of future innovation. His unique talent for artifact creation cannot be easily replaced. The kingdom mourns not just a prince but a brilliant creator whose work would have served [[Polaria City|Polaria]] for generations. **Artifacts He Left Behind:** Percy's creations remain in use: - Defensive items still protect royal guard - Experimental devices in various states of completion - Personal gifts to family members, now treasured keepsakes - Unfinished projects in his workshop, untouched since his death --- ## PERCY'S WORKSHOP **Location:** Percy maintained a workshop in one of the wizards distracts near the castle walls. After his death, it remains exactly as he left it—a shrine to interrupted genius. **Contents:** - Workbenches covered with tools and components - Partially completed artifacts - Research notes in his precise handwriting - Star charts and astronomical calculations - His favorite harp in the corner - Glasses left on a book he was reading - The large cat Fey mentioned visiting **Family Response:** - [[Queen Jena Talbain|Jena]] can't bring herself to enter it - [[King Leon Talbain|Leon]] visits occasionally, sitting in silence - [[Princess Zion Talbain|Zion]] sometimes sleeps there, feeling closer to her twin - [[Prince Tamen Talbain|Tamen]] reads Percy's notes, trying to understand his brother's last thoughts - Aurora has reviewed his research for anything strategically useful --- ## MEMORY & REMEMBRANCE **How He's Remembered:** _By Family:_ Each family member carries different memories: - His kindness and intellectual curiosity - His protective nature, especially toward Fey - His passion for innovation and creation - His ability to blend technical brilliance with personal warmth - His music—the harp he played for relaxation _By Court:_ Percy is remembered as the scholarly prince who would have brought magical innovation to [[Polaria City|Polaria]]'s future. Nobles speak of his potential, now forever unrealized. _By Common Folk:_ Stories spread about the prince who fought devils to protect his sister, who died with her name on his lips. His death is seen as heroic, tragic, and deeply human. **Monuments:** A small memorial stands in the royal gardens: - Dedicated to Prince Percy Talbain - "Protector, Innovator, Brother" - Featuring his favorite constellation chart - Where family members sometimes sit in quiet reflection --- ## THEMES & SYMBOLISM **The Protector Who Failed:** Percy embodies the tragedy of good intentions insufficient against overwhelming evil. He did everything right—fought bravely, used every skill, positioned himself between danger and loved ones—and still failed. This explores how sometimes love and courage aren't enough. **Interrupted Potential:** Percy was 20, his talents just beginning to flower. His death represents all the innovations never created, all the music never played, all the future never realized. **Twin Tragedy:** Percy and [[Princess Zion Talbain|Zion]]'s twin bond makes his death especially painful. She survived her torture but lost her other half. This explores survivor's guilt and severed connections. **The Cost of War:** Percy wasn't a warrior, but war came to him anyway. His death shows how conflict consumes everyone, not just soldiers. **Memory as Burden:** Percy's memory haunts every family member differently. His death is wound that won't heal because Fey—the sister he died for—remains captive. His sacrifice feels incomplete. --- ## QUOTES ABOUT PERCY **King [[King Leon Talbain|Leon]]:** _"Percy died protecting Fey. My son gave everything to save his sister. And I cannot even retrieve her body—because she lives, enslaved in [[Askaria]]. How do I honor a sacrifice that couldn't save what it meant to save?"_ **Queen [[Queen Jena Talbain|Jena]]:** _"I keep his workshop exactly as he left it. His glasses on a book. His tools on the bench. Sometimes I stand in the doorway and imagine he's just stepped out, that he'll return any moment with that thoughtful expression and some new innovation to share. But he won't. He's gone. And Fey, whom he died to protect, suffers still."_ **Princess Aurora:** _"Percy died while I was captured, powerless. I am [[Polaria City|Polaria]]'s most powerful caster, and I couldn't save my brother. What good is all this power if I cannot protect the people I love?"_ **Prince [[Prince Toran Talbain|Toran]]:** _"My little brother died fighting devils while I led warriors elsewhere. The tactical choice was correct—my force held a critical position. But tactics don't ease the guilt. Percy should have had Dragon Warriors protecting him. Instead, he had only his own courage, and it wasn't enough."_ **Prince [[Prince Tamen Talbain|Tamen]]:** _"Percy and I discussed philosophy, the intersection of magic and faith, the nature of creation. Those conversations are gone. I wear the trinket he made me and pray for his soul. But I also pray for Fey, because Percy's last thought was of her, and she remains beyond our reach."_ **Princess [[Princess Zion Talbain|Zion]]:** _"He was my twin. We shared a womb, shared birthdays, shared so much of life. And then devils took him, and I felt something break inside me that will never heal. Sometimes I still reach for that twin connection, forgetting for a moment that he's gone. The absence is worse than the memory."_ **Princess Fey (from captivity):** _"I'm sorry...sister." Those were his last words. He apologized to me. He died protecting me and apologized for not being enough. I hear his voice in nightmares, see his face in every moment of despair. Percy gave everything for me. And I'm still here, enslaved, and his sacrifice changed nothing."_