Overview
Aelius is a Thalassai imperator based in Chronasis and one of the commanders of the Thalassai legions. During the Fall of Malverand, he uses the name Ignatius, serves in the Order of Thalion Zenith, and becomes one of Thalion Zenith's closest military allies. In the restored present he resumes Thalassai command work after stasis and fights beside Thalassai, Haverloch, Morozkaya, and the Order against Raphael and Zain's Ulzathir forces.
Appearance and Demeanor
Aelius is a large, muscular fire mage with fire-red hair, red or fiery eyes, and an intense heat aura. After living through the Fall of Malverand, his hair is streaked with gray and his face has aged. He often carries the Glaive of Frost and Fire, which he uses as both a heavy weapon and a focus for plasma and resonance attacks.
Aelius is confident, direct, teasing, and practical. He is playful with trusted allies such as Hadrian, Cassian, Zayren, and Thalion. He maintains disciplined command and a readiness to use overwhelming force. He is protective of Thalassai, loyal to Thalena's vision, and steady under battlefield pressure.
Abilities
Aelius specializes in fire, resonance, and plasma magic. Plasma is a form of fusion magic, and his combat style mixes white-hot fire, molten heat, plasma bolts and beams, resonance barriers, soundwave-like shockwaves, and destructive resonance effects. He can use fire and air for rapid movement and support, including high-altitude breathing aid.
His heat aura and raw essence make him dangerous even before he draws on weapons or artifacts. He can fight at imperator scale without a shard, trains elite mages, pressures half-god opponents such as Zhulkar, and joins John / Jin in killing Raphael during the ancient Maraveth battle. In the restored present he channels plasma and resonance through the glaive, throws it in combat, and uses its weight with fire propulsion.
Aelius once wielded a second-generation god core. Before the long stasis crossing, Eira connects Ignatius and Zero's severed god-core hands to the stasis machinery; afterward, Aelius and Zayren no longer wield those cores.
History
Aelius was the son of Pyrenis's former archon of fire and his wife. A volcanic eruption near the city killed his parents after they saved Pyrenis, and Thalena adopted him that same day. He grew up in Stella Aeterna as Thalena's son and Zephyra's adopted brother, then trained under Hadrian after his fire-mage pranks made military discipline the practical answer.
Aelius rose into the Thalassai legions, became imperator of Chronasis, and commanded alongside Hadrian and Marcellus. His victories in the Celestial Games helped establish his military reputation, and Thalena trusted him with Chronasis's defense and legions.
During the Stella Aeterna timerift, Aelius is pulled into Varnhallow with Xarion, Thea, Zayren, and others. During the Fall of Malverand, he takes the name Ignatius after a legendary archon of fire among his ancestors. As Ignatius, he is Thalion's closest military ally, pilots and fights from skyships, guards Helena and Sephara during Order missions, and is Thalion's second-in-command while the Order destroys Malverand's remnant guardian powers.
After the Fall of Malverand, Aelius and the other displaced survivors from Thalion's Order enter stasis to wait out the remaining three millennia and return to the present. He emerges weakened, trains to regain his magic, and resumes his imperator responsibilities in Chronasis. His older appearance comes from the years he lived in the past before stasis. After Raphael's revival and Zain's takeover of Ulzathir, he trains Maric for the Attack on Ishtanur, fights at Ishtanur, retreats when the astragons warn of danger, survives the hurricane near Kaldaryn, and travels to Thalassai before the Attack on Pyrenis.
Relationships
- Family: Thalena is Aelius's adoptive mother, and Zephyra is his adopted sister. His biological parents died saving Pyrenis from the volcanic eruption.
- Closest Allies: Thalion / Xarion, Zero / Zayren, Hadrian, Cassian, John / Jin, Isandriel, Thea / Titania, Vianna, Kren, Aldar, and the Thalassai legions.
- Order Ties: Under the name Ignatius, Aelius serves the Order of Thalion Zenith and is Thalion's second-in-command for military matters.
- Aelius trains Cassian, commands Virel during Virel's Thalassai infiltration, joins Jin in killing Raphael at Maraveth during the Fall of Malverand, and later fights Eremion's forces around Maraveth and Zain-aligned Ulzathir commanders during the Attack on Ishtanur and Attack on Pyrenis.