Overview
Lucilla is the head consul of Theryssa in Pelagia, the daughter of Nerissa and Isandriel, and a long-lived half-god politician who wields divine, earth, temporal, and balance magic. She downplays her fighting ability. She is a trained combatant with an inherited unmaking power.
Appearance
Lucilla looks like a beautiful young woman despite being about six centuries old. She has vivid purple eyes and long black or nearly black hair; heavy divine magic use turns her eyes more blue-violet and brings brown and gold through her hair. Golden inscriptions across her skin form the longevity spell that sustains her life beyond human limits.
Lucilla often wears deep blue robes suited to Theryssa's oceanic culture and to the head consul's office. During combat training with Nero, she wears lighter clothes that leave more of the golden inscriptions visible.
Personality
Lucilla is playful, flirtatious, politically sharp, and guarded. She teases Renneth, Maric, Nero, and Nerissa, while honoring promises and using misdirection when politics or survival require it.
Lucilla prefers neutrality and tries to steer Theryssa away from Gabriel and Raphael's plans, especially once Xalmyrra becomes the target. Her loyalty to Theryssa and Thiravos remains strong. She rejects Nerissa's willingness to sacrifice innocent people or draw the island nations into Gabriel and Nerissa's attack on Xalmyrra.
Magic and Abilities
Lucilla has strong essence senses and can read Renneth's unusual age and timeless quality. Her magic includes divine healing, large divine shields, enchantment, fusion of earth and divine magic, traces of temporal magic, and rapid blink movement through the air.
Her golden body inscriptions are her longevity spell. She creates it with earth magic, divine magic, and traces of temporal magic. The spell is partly inspired by Isandriel. Her divine magic and half-god heritage also extend her life; the inscriptions carry most of the effect.
Through Isandriel, Lucilla inherits balance magic and the power to unmake essence. She can break matter into dust and can sever a god from the God Realm. During training with Nero, she pretends the power is far weaker than it truly is so Nerissa, Gabriel, and the invading fleet will underestimate her.
History
Nerissa trains Lucilla from childhood to become a consul. Lucilla grows into Theryssa's head consul, governs from the Pelagia Consulate, and maintains the island nations' long isolation from mainland Valrindor.
Centuries before Renneth arrives, King George of the Blackcrag Dominion comes to Pelagia seeking an alliance against Shroudvale. Lucilla refuses to send Theryssa and Thiravos against Shroudvale and the essence shapers, and negotiates an alternative: Blackcrag teaches the island nations improved essence-engine construction, while Lucilla bears an heir for George's line. Nero is the child's father and later delivers the infant who becomes Garrik to Blackcrag, where the arrangement remains secret.
When Renneth and Maric reach Pelagia with Brontes, Lucilla receives them at the consulate, recognizes Renneth's unusual age, tells them that Nerissa is her mother, and joins Renneth's search into his past as Pyragos and his history with Thiravos. She forms a close bond with Renneth and wants to visit Xalmyrra with him.
After Gabriel pressures Theryssa and Thiravos into Nerissa's attack on Xalmyrra, Lucilla resists the plan while outwardly complying. During Nerissa's Invasion of Xalmyrra, she shields herself from Orin's resonance attack, positions herself where the skyships cannot fire freely, and knocks Xalmyrran mages unconscious while healing them through the blows. When Nerissa tries to kill Orin, Lucilla turns on her mother, severs Nerissa from the God Realm, and unmakes her. She then introduces herself to Orin as Theryssa's head consul, apologizes for Nerissa's invasion of Xalmyrra, promises to make it right, and joins him to stop Nerissa's surviving forces in Erenmyr.
Relationships
- Nerissa is Lucilla's mother, former trainer, and the divine power behind much of Theryssa's politics until Lucilla turns against her.
- Isandriel is Lucilla's father. Nerissa keeps Isandriel's paternity secret for centuries, though Lucilla senses Isandriel's paternity after meeting him in Pelagia, and Nerissa confirms it during Nerissa's Invasion of Xalmyrra.
- Nero is Lucilla's long-term ally in Theryssa, her sparring partner before Nerissa's Invasion of Xalmyrra, and Garrik's biological father.
- Garrik is the secret child Lucilla bears for Blackcrag's royal line.
- Renneth and Maric become personal allies during their stay in Pelagia, and Lucilla refuses to support Nerissa's attack on Xalmyrra.
- Orin survives Nerissa's attack because Lucilla intervenes, and he then joins her to contain Nerissa's surviving forces in Erenmyr.