Age:
Born 510AD [55 years]

History:
Kyrillos Iovia was born outside of Durostorum, Moesia on the 27th of Maius, 510 AD. His father, Eusebios Iovia, was a fisherman, and his mother died in childbirth. They lived in the city, near the port, and as a child his father taught him to swim and to sail along the Danube. But this was not good enough for young Kyrillos. In the bible he read of the lands of Israel, and Beersheba, and longed to see them, to go past the Black Sea, to Persia, Cathay, and Cipangu. There was only one clear way that Kyrillos could see the wonders of the world, and that was in the Army.

At the age of 15, Kyrillos enlisted in the Byzantine Army. A year later, in 526 AD, he met Belisarius while posted in the Schola Protectores Domestici. Following Justin I’s death in 527 AD, Justinian appointed Belisarius the Strategos of the Eastern Army. Belisarius brought Kyrillos to Persia to work in his cabinet. Kyrillos’ life was about to change for ever.

Early on in the Persian campaign, Kyrillos could control his carnal urges. However, as time went on, and his fellow soldiers engaged in homosexual activity, Kyrillos became depressed and increasingly lustful. After a raid on Nisibis, Kyrillos found a woman mourning over the dead body of her fallen husband, who he had killed, and took her. This began Kyrillos’ cycle of carnality, of which he is still trapped.

In 530 AD, Kyrillos took over an infantry contingent at the Battle of Dara. Despite being outnumber 50 000 to 25 000 men, Belisarius decided to attack the Persians. He ordered ditches dug along the main roads to prevent the Persians from using their cavalry, and positioned the infantry right in the centre. After several exchanges of arrows, the Byzantine decoy pulled the Persians apart, splitting the Persian Immortals in two. Half retreated, while 5000 Persians were killed by the Byzantines. Kyrillos pursued and killed the Persian General Baresmanes himself. Belisarius allowed the remainder of the Persian forces to escape.

The Persian campaign continued successfully. Kyrillos was able to keep his desires in check with his uncivilized system. The Byzantines made steady progress into Persian territory. But then came the Battle of Callinicum. Kyrillos was commanding a line close to Belisarius, and the Strategos being as he was, decided on standing a bizarre formation to confuse the Persians. This confused the Byzantine’s Ghassanid Arab allies, however, and allowed the Persians to break through the Byzantine flank. In the retreat, a volley of arrows was shot towards Belisarius’ position, so Kyrillos ran to protect the Strategos with his remaining line. He was shot with 6 arrows in the back, but continued to fight. The Byzantines retreated to the Euphrates, and successfully fought the Persians off long enough to ensure their escape. But there was much bad news ahead.

Justinian I signed the Perpetual Peace with the Persians in September of 532 AD. Between the war widows and the six arrows in the back, Kyrillos had contracted Encephalitis, and he began to deteriorate. Under the permission of Belisarius, he returned to Moesia to recover, and he missed the Nika Riots. After half a year, Kyrillos made a full recovery, and he spent the rest of the year getting back into shape for the Army. He was soon visited by Belisarius with a fitted suit of armor for him, and news of a new campaign.

In the late summer, the Byzantines set sail for the north of Africa. They landed at Lepcis Magna, and began their march to Carthage, taking cities as they went along. On September 13, 533 AD, the Byzantines met the Vandal army of Gelimer at Ad Decimum, 10 miles outside of Carthage. Kyrillos was placed in charge of a Kataphraktoi (Cavalry) line that met Gelimer’s brother, Ammatas, and Kyrillos himself killed Ammatas. After discovering that his brother was dead, Gelimer buried Ammatas on the battlefield, and the Byzantines went on the offensive. They routed the Vandal army, and marched into Carthage, welcomed with open arms (the citizens of Carthage at the time were Byzantine citizens, living under Vandal rule).

On December 15, 533 AD, the Byzantines met Gelimer and his brother Tzazon at the battle of Ticameron. They lined up in front of the city of Carthage, and faced each other. Yet again Kyrillos commanded the Kataphraktoi line. This time Belisarius ordered a charge to try and break the Vandals quickly. On the third charge, Kyrillos caught sight of Tzazon, and slew him within sight of Gelimer. Gelimer lost heart, and hence retreated. The Byzantines then marched on Hippo Regius, which opened their gates to them. The days of the Vandal kingdom were numbered.

The Byzantines returned to Constantinople in 534 AD. Belisarius was granted the last Triumph ceremony ever given. 2 years of peace followed for Kyrillos, which he found resolved in church and training. Finally in 535 AD, Justinian resolved to conquer as much of the former western empire as he possibly could. Kyrillos was deployed with the Byzantines to Sicilia, and they marched from Messina to Trapani. Under the leadership of Belisarius, the success continued, and the Byzantines marched on Napoli and Roma in 536 AD. Mediolanum was reconquered in 537 AD, and the last remnant of Ostrogothic resistance fell at the city of Ravenna in 540 AD. Belisarius became extremely popular after this conquest, and Emperor Justinian grew jealous. He sent him to fight a losing war in Syria in 541 AD, and Kyrillos was sent with him to command the Kataphraktoi. After negotiating a 5-year peace with the Persians, Justinian sent the two back to Italy. The Ostrogoths had mounted a counter attack by 544 AD, and reconquered Mediolanum, Napoli, Ravenna, and Roma. Belisarius was sent without supplies or reinforcements, and was doomed from the start. After a largely unsuccessful 4-year campaign, the jealous Justinian replaced him as Strategos with Narses in 548 AD, and Kyrillos was forced to part ways with his old friend.

In July of 552, the Byzantines under their new leadership faced off against the Ostrogoth forces of King Totila at Taginae. To open the event, a Byzantine deserter came out and issued a challenge for single combat. Narses, who was 72 years of age at the time, sent out Kyrillos to deal with him. Consequently, Kyrillos decapitated the deserter within seconds, and returned to his post with the Kataphraktoi. Totila came out, and performed an elaborate equestrian war dance exercise, and then proceeded to eat lunch. The Byzantines saw this, and followed suit, eating lunch, when Totila took the occasion to charge the center of the Byzantine ranks. Narses was expecting this, and had his archer shoot a volley of arrows at the charging Ostrogoths. He then commanded Kyrillos to come around the side, and had his Kataphraktoi attack the flanks. During the attack, Kyrillos spotted Totila, and decapitated him as well. Briefly thereafter Narses ordered a general advance, and the Ostrogoths broke rank and ran.

After their success at Taginae, the Byzantines marched on Roma, and then besieged Cumae. Teia, the new Ostrogoth king, gathered his loyalists to try and relieve the siege, but was ambushed in October of 553 AD at Mons Lactarius, in Campania, near Mt. Vesuvius. On the second day of the ambush, Narses ordered Kyrillos to charge the body of the Ostrogoth ranks. Teia ordered the same kind of tactic, and the two cavalries charged each other. On the second charge, Kyrillos spotted Teia and ran him through, impaling him with a polearm. The Ostrogoths lost heart again, and fell quickly to the Kataphraktoi.

Following the success at Mons Lactarius, all of Italia fell in Byzantine hands. After Narses repulsed a Frankish and Alamanni invasion in 554 AD, Justinian named Narses Prefect of Italia, and Narses promoted Kyrillos to Strategos for his years of distinguished service to the empire. However, Kyrillos was beginning to lose his mind in his old age, and after seeing visions of Jesus Christ, resigned from his position and went on a pilgrimage to Bethlehem, Lake Tiberius, and Jerusalem. He blamed his leave on his progressively worse chest pains, and was not questioned. Kyrillos traveled west thereafter, at the pleading of his vision, and visited Alexandria, and Carthage. In 557 AD, Kyrillos retired back to Durostorum, and fell slave to endless nightmares. Jesus told him not to rest, but Kyrillos ignored this and began his long deserved retirement. It is then that Kyrillos sank into madness.

Kyrillos was a much changed man from 557 AD to the end of 559 AD. He was unkempt, his skin had thickened and hardened severely, and his breathing had became much worse. His visions of Jesus Christ had increased in frequency, and the more he tried to ignore them, the deeper he sank into madness. Belisarius had not seen Kyrillos in 11 years, and was shocked to see him a hermit. Kyrillos quickly snapped back to reality at Belisarius’ mention of a final campaign. The Slavs and Bulgars had crossed the Danube River, and were making an advance on Constantinople. Belisarius offered Kyrillos the command of the Kataphraktoi, and Kyrillos jumped at the offer. They rode from Durostorum to Constantinople to meet with Belisarius’ newly granted Northern Army, and marched north to meet the Barbarian forces descending upon the city. After a number of skirmishes with Kutriguri Bulgars, the Byzantines gained the upper hand against their aggressors, and drove the barbarians north of the Danube in 560 AD.

By late 560 AD, Kyrillos’ visions fired up again, and he began dreaming of a white waterfall. After leaving the army on his 50th birthday, he set his sights east, for the wonders of Asia, Cathay, and Cipangu. He crossed Turkey by foot, and rode across Persia and Parthica by horse. By 561 AD, he had reached Cathay, and his vision told him to begin searching for the white waterfall. His breathing remained poor, and the frequency of his visions increased again. He was now seeing Jesus with him all the time, but not encouraging him, but mocking him for failing to find the white falls that he was sent out to find. In 562 AD, Kyrillos came to Cipangu, and after months of searching, finally found the white falls on his 52nd birthday. He descended upon them, and found a great sword at the base of the falls, almost 5 feet in length, and weighing only 3 lbs. 6 oz. He grasped it, walked 100 paces from the falls, and collapsed into a deep sleep. In his dream, a vision of Jesus Christ appeared before him and begat a red dragon. The body of Jesus fell lifeless, and grasping the sword, Kyrillos slew the dragon. The nightmare then transformed into many bizarre demons, who bit and stung at Kyrillos, that Kyrillos slew one by one. Finally, the nightmare ended, but he was visited by two visions.

The first vision found him resting on a cloud, in a tranquil garden, found him resting on a cloud, in a tranquil garden. In front of him he saw the most beautiful woman that he had ever seen, and she spoke to him:

“You do not need to know who I am, you need only listen. This sword that I grant to you is like the swords that my people have begun to make to protect themselves from aggression and tyranny. This is not a gift, mind you. You must go to the other end of the world, and retrieve the sword of a High King. You must mate with a woman that is life, for you are death, and stay with her until she gives birth. You must then take the son away from her, and instruct him to be a master of all forms of war. When he is of age, he will be called here to fight the red dragon. The blades will be his tools. Now go.”

The second vision found him on his face, in a body of light:

“I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty. Do not be afraid, for I am with you. The red dragon comes to destroy my creation, and it is from your seed that it shall not devour the righteous. I bid you go west to the ends of the Earth, to Britannia. You shall not be alone, I my one and only son shall be with you on your journey.”

And with that, Kyrillos left for Britain…

Physical Description:
Kyrillos is a battle-hardened man. He is relatively fit for his age, broad shouldered, well-muscled, and his arms and legs are the size of tree trunks. However well-built he is, Kyrillos’ body is covered in scars. His many campaigns in the armies of Belisarius and Narses have tendered him many wounds. His nose is permanently deformed from countless breaks, and his cheeks are hollow from several fractures. Prominent arrow scars mar his back from the Battle of Callinicum in 531 AD, and his body is patched with a variety of other scars from his campaigns in North Africa, and Italy. Kyrillos’ face has fallen now, paled, lips thinned, eyes sunk, and his skin has been marked with age. He is not a pretty sight. His eyes are a silvery blue, while his hair is quite grey with age.

Personality:
Kyrillos has the mindset of a soldier. His 35 years in the Byzantine army have numbed him to the pain and suffering of the world, the death of friends. This makes him suspicious, and a bit tight of purse. He is a devout servant of Christ, so he would not submit himself to the temptations of homosexuality in the army; however, the long periods of time that past without women made him lustful. To keep his urges in check, he developed a somewhat ruthless system; take whatever woman that he widowed, and then leave her some spoils, and depart. This made Kyrillos develop a deep vengeance; every man that stood in his way stood in the way of him satisfying his carnal urges. By satisfying his carnal urges with the war widows, he would avoid doing it manually, and therefore, avoid committing a carnal sin. Since this vengeance prevented Kyrillos from sinning, he reasoned himself to believe that it was god-given, and that his war was a holy war. This series of logic made him more religious, more vengeful, and more lustful all at once. He retired after Belisarius’ last campaign at the end of 559 AD, and wandered the east searching for meaning, and bringing himself closer to Christ. He spread the gospel wherever he went, and though he now satisfied his urges manually, he traveled with what he believed to be the Holy Spirit, and that could shrive him afterwards. After returning from the east, little has changed about the old soldier.

Motivations:
Kyrillos’ motivations are somewhat surprising. He seeks peace with himself and with Christ. His deepest desire, though he is old, is to find a fertile wife, make love to her, have children, and to settle down; to end his constant cycle of carnal sin, and to end the thirst for death that results from it. With heir and without sin, Kyrillos can die a satisfied man, at peace with himself and Christ, and find his reward in Heaven. His haggard appearance does not help his situation, so he seeks money that he may attract a mate that he finds desirable. To acquire wealth, he is currently seeking employment in Eburacum.

Disadvantages:
Note: None of this would be determinable by the current technology in the game, except for the Encephalitis.

Kyrillos is a paranoid schizophrenic. His visions and communication with Jesus Christ has actually been paranoid delusions perpetuated as a defense mechanism to help him deal with traumatizing experiences in his life, allowing him to justify his rape of war widows, wanton killing, and other crimes against humanity.

Earlier in his life Kyrillos suffered from Encephalitis. Doctors at this time knew it only as “brain fever” and could not cure it. Luckily, his strong immune system was able to get rid of the virus; however the damage that occurred has already taken its toll. His paranoid schizophrenia can be accounted to the aftermath of the disease, as can his symptoms of the Kluver-Bucy syndrome; hypersexualism, placidity, and tactile exploratory behavior (TEB). His paranoid schizophrenia is allowing him to slowly conquer his placidity (he has been developing emotion since his retirement 6 years ago, though he is still numb during combat), however his hypersexualism and TEB are still problematic. This causes Kyrillos issues with his overactive desire and socially inappropriate licking and touching, making him somewhat revolting to some audiences. (Don’t worry, I’ll keep the posts PG, however this is just an explanation for some actions that Kyrillos might perform.)

Another disease that Kyrillos suffers from is Scleroderma. This is a chronic disease that occurs when the body produces too much collagen. It causes the skin to thicken and harden, and can eventually affect the internal organs. Kyrillos’ Scleroderma spread to his lungs, causing him excessive pain in his final campaigns, hence prompting him to retire. His condition did improve, however, during his journeys in the east, leaving him with hardened, thickened skin all over his body. Unfortunately, the Scleroderma has also spread to his gastro-intestinal tract, and though not lethal, causes him severe heartburn. The disease causes delayed stomach emptying to aggravate the heartburn as well as cause bloating, nausea, and vomiting. As a result, Kyrillos maintains a strict and limited diet, and keeps himself regular, lest he be seriously incapacitated.

Heirlooms:

• After his retirement from the army, Kyrillos ventured east searching for meaning, fighting his breathing problems onset by Scleroderma. In 562 AD, he came to Cipangu, and there, guided by visions of Jesus Christ, he came upon an Odaichi sword inside the Shiraito-no-taiki. After leaving the falls with the sword he collapsed, and fought exotic demons with the sword in a nightmare from hell. He arose a week later; his breathing healed, and had another vision of Jesus Christ. This time, it told him to return west, to the other edge of the world. And so Kyrillos left Cipangu with the blade in his possession.

• Byzantine Lamellar armor: Belisarius gave this to Kyrillos as a gift during the campaign against the Ostrogoths. Kyrillos is barrel-chested, and a normal Klibanion did not fit him comfortably. This Klibanion can fit a man 56” around the chest (fitted for Kyrillos) instead of the standard 48”, and the cuirass has pauldrons at the shoulders and tassets belted at the waste. Lamellar is made from small plates of Courbouilli (hardened leather) laced together, overlapping each other. This provides two layers of protection that is light, strong, and rustproof. This particular Courbouilli is 16 Oz., which means that the leather is a quarter of an inch thick. This provides particularly light, strong protection.

Kyrillos' Story

Death and Renewal

The End of the Road

The Walking Wounded

The Punishment Fits the Crime

Tales and Visitations