Thomas Drakon

"'Doesn’t matter what the nobles or the mobs say. Doesn’t matter if the whole country decides that something wrong is something right. This guild was founded on one principle above all else: the requirement that we stand up for what we believe, no matter the odds or consequences. When the mob and the whole world tells you to move, your job is to plant yourself like a tree beside the river of truth and tell the whole world - 'No, you move.'.'"Thomas Felix Lee Drakon is the Prince of Orlais and the Commander of the High Dragon Adventurer Company for the Crusader's Guild. He is known as the rebel prince of Orlais for going off and travelling the world to adventure at the young age of eighteen. Along with the rest of the High Dragons, he is a key player in the Origins story arc beginning in 9:40 Dragon.

As the firstborn son of Emperor Emile Drakon and Empress Anastasie Drakon, he is the heir to the Orlesian Empire. Having been dissatisfied with his royal life up to this point and struggling to find out who he is, he has set out on his own to define his personality and his legacy as the leader of the High Dragons.

Appearance
Thomas is a young man of obvious orlesian heritage. He’s athletic, taller than average, and currently in his physical prime with no signs of that stage of his life stopping anytime soon all thanks to a life of constant physical training and a healthy schedule. With a lean, but still fairly muscular figure weighing in at just under two hundred pounds, he’s got a lot of power behind the swing of his sword of the arrow he draws. On top of that, his bloodline is host to a variety of royalty and heroic figures that contribute to good genetics. And overall, combining that with his regal looks, he’s a pretty good looking guy.

With a fair complexion, his skin is still as smooth as a baby’s bottom as he hasn’t had to do a ton of physical labor besides training in his life. His skin is creamy and white with the finest lotions having been applied to it every time he bathed for all of his young life. He has a couple of very light scars on his face from a history of issues with acne, barely noticeable in most lights, only really visible to the naked eye when you’re up close and personal with his face, otherwise they just look like lightly colored freckles. While he has a couple of scars on his ankles and one or two on his body from horsing around as a child, other than that, his skin’s in great condition for someone who used to struggle with acne problems.

Thomas has a handsome face that shows off his noble birth quite well. A good hairline frames his face quite well, with a widow’s peak possibly showing signs of his hair thinning and him going bald over time, but he’s a far shot from that. Strikingly blue eyes that are pretty large for his family sit atop a ridged, strong nose of average size. A strong jawline sets the foundations for a larger mouth that helps project his voice when speaking publically. In regards to facial hair, he keeps his face shaven for the most part, but he’s aware that if he let it grow, he could have a pretty bushy and long beard if he so chose.

His hair is very, very dark brown from both his father’s and mother’s sides of the family. It contrasts well with his lightly colored eyes and fair skin. It’s quite thick and can get easily greasy without constant washing, at least once every day. It shines in the sunlight, with its dark brown color reflecting heavily while exposed to the day’s sky. Thomas generally allows it to grow to about medium-length, sitting upon his head and drifting below his jaw, but not much further than that for now. As he grows more accustomed to adventuring life, he may let his facial hair and his normal hair grow out considerably, but for now, he has stuck to his youthful style.

Armor & Apparel
While living in Val Royeaux as royalty, Thomas’ sense of fashion was no different from other orlesian bourgeoisie his age. Modern, stylish, and flamboyant, with his family often going over the top to appear more powerful during public outings. He never minded this part of being a prince and thought that being fashionable was actually somewhat nice. However, as he started travelling on his own, he took to a much more muted sense of style with a simple tunic, trousers, boots, and a padded jacket to cover his body and act as defense in battle.

If anything, he resembled more of an average fereldan peasant who worked the lands of Arls, Banns, and Teyrns, with slightly more up kept clothes. Other than that, he wore a belt and an ornate sheath that carried his sword, The Imperator, a long one-edged blade. He purposefully wears very little clothing that could be identified as noble or royal so that he can’t be picked out from a crowd for his adventures. However, he does miss the fashion sense he once had, and in private, he's known to wear pretty high quality and even formal wear.

Armament
As a new adventurer to the scene, Thomas has yet to amass an armory of weaponry of which he can choose from. Currently, he only has a few weapons at his disposal and he's still trying to figure out what his style really is when it comes to combat. He is quite the swordsman, however, and has gravitated to training with and using his steel one sided blade, the Imperator, was a gift from his uncle Gilles. It belonged to his father, Emile, for many years up until Emile gifted the blade to his wife’s brother. The Imperator is a reliable blade that works as bludgeoning weapon as well on its other side like a charm. Having been training to use this weapon since he was a child, Thomas is now working on mastering the art of one-handed sword fighting.

Another combat skill of his taught from a young age is his archery, which leads to his secondary weapon. Thomas utilizes a simple often used by the elite of the Redcliffe guard, who loot these bows off of bandits that attempt to cause trouble on the countryside. It is a powerful, ornate bow that he has only recently become skilled in using. Finding this bow after he ventured out on his own, he realized he preferred shortbows to longbows due to their increased maneuverability and power.

Battlemaster

 * Combat Roll: Agile in combat, Thomas is known to use his athleticism to his advantage, rolling and leaping around the scene to make his opponents guess where he’s coming from next. He'll often follow up a combat roll with a feinted slash at his opponent, opening them up for them to be run through with his sword. His experience in free running all over Val Royeaux makes him a proficient acrobat, allowing him to fly over his environment.

Vanguard

 * Cutting Words: Thomas is known to many as quick-witted and charismatic. He is able to turn the tide of a battle one way or another by using the power of speech for his own gain. He insults or goads enemies into making mistakes, taking the opportunity to allow himself or his teammates to attack.

One-Handed Weapon

 * Pommel Strike: While you’re dealing with Thomas dodging and parrying all of your strikes, he will continue to make you guess what he’ll do next by using the butt of his sword or the broad side of the one sided blade to attack, knocking the enemy loopy. So while an enemy is focusing on trying to get past his defenses, it leaves them wide open for Thomas to stun them and finish them off quickly.
 * Turn the Blade: Taught swordsmanship by the Grand Duke Valmont himself, Thomas picked up a variety of advanced tricks during his training, one of which made him a demon during duel competitions. When blocking, he’ll turn his blade at the last second, parrying all strikes with weapons that come his way to the side. Along with his agility in combat, this makes him very difficult to get a hit on via conventional means.

Archery

 * Long Shot: While a proficient swordsman, Thomas received archery lessons for much of his life, and has recently begun using a shortbow in combat. With his shortbow’s power, he’ll sit at the very back of the battle, sniping enemies from afar with pinpoint accuracy. While he isn’t known to stay in one place for long, he may stay still at the beginning of the battle and open it up with a well-placed shot.
 * Leaping Shot: More in-line with Thomas’ combat style as an archer than his Long Shot ability, after opening up a battle, if Thomas opts into using only his bow, he’ll be moving around the battlefield swiftly. And while vaulting, jumping, sliding, and more, he’ll pepper shots at the enemy throughout his athletic displays. This has the added effect of allowing him to dodge many incoming attacks while shooting enemies from far off.

General

 * Navigation
 * Singing

Physical

 * Athletics
 * Riding Mounts

Communication

 * Persuasion
 * Diplomacy

Knowledge

 * Knowledge of Lore
 * Tactics

Crafting

 * Writing

Combat

 * Archery
 * Medium Armor
 * Swordfighting

Early Life
Born in 9:22 Dragon on the first of Kingsway to Emile and Anastasie Drakon, Thomas’ birth was celebrated across Orlais in an Empire-spanning Drakonian Parade, a loose string of parties all dedicated to an event involving the Emperor or his family. Born on the first of Kingsway, many believed that was a sign from the Maker that he was destined to be a heroic Emperor one day like no other, the first of his kind. Emile was very proud of having a son and hoped that he grew up to be everything everyone expected him to be one day. Anastasie was overwhelmed with the attention, having been married to Emile a year earlier as part of an arranged marriage between the Drakon and Valmont noble families.

In his early life, Thomas was spoiled heavily by his family. He reveled in all of the privileges that royalty offered him. He enjoyed the latest toys, best clothes, praise from all of his subjects, and lavish meals from the cooks of the Orlesian Palace. Even as he grew older, he never grew numb to the pleasures of being a prince. Many theorized that he naturally understood his pedigree and his soul took pride in being the future Emperor of the Orlesian people as the Maker ordained. In actuality, he just enjoyed getting most of the things that he wanted. Especially the food, taking a particular liking to Rivaini-style jerk meats and Fereldan-style roasts as he grew up.

At around the age of three, Thomas’ sister was born to similar publicity. The masses cheered for their Emperor, siring yet another child with his beautiful wife. Anastasie was particularly happy about Teresa’s birth, having always wanted a daughter since the time she was a child. Emile loved his daughter and named her Teresa after his own mother. Thomas himself wouldn’t leave the room where Teresa was even while a Drakonian Parade was raging outside the palace in Val Royeaux, allowing only his parents to join him and visit. He became a lot more protective as a person and stubborn from that day onward.

Growing up around other noble families, the De Chalons caused annoyances for the Drakons fairly often. While there was no outward aggression from their end, they made it clear that they were not fans of the Emperor and his noble family. The family boys would bully Thomas quite often as a child, making fun of his large mouth and how he’ll never be nearly as cool as his dad. This started to breed an insecurity complex in tandem with his family and servants expecting him to not only become as capable of a leader as his father, but overcome him eventually. The De Chalons boys came after him so often that it prevented Thomas from making friends with any other noble boys, isolating him from the time he was a child from everyone else.

Eventually, when Teresa became old enough, the De Chalons boys turned their attention to her. A few times Thomas caught them making fun of her hair, which was usually quite frazzled as she loved washing her hair but hated drying it, and her fashion, which was quite simple. However, Thomas defended her enough and got into several fights with the De Chalons boys that they eventually turned their attention back to him and left his sister alone. When he would complain about this to his father or mother, he would often get a smirk, a shake of the head, and a “boys will be boys”. Nothing ever came of it.

Teresa felt useless, being defended all the time as a young girl. When the De Chalons boys left her alone and Thomas was the person she was always around, her young mind couldn’t quite comprehend it, but she started to resent him. While he did help her out of this bullying situation, he turned the attention away from her and didn’t even allow her to do anything about it. That resentment turned to a need to prove herself better and from then on out, she started fancying Thomas her rival and tried to one-up him at everything much to his chagrin. While he often just wanted to spend time with her normally and treat her like his goofy little sister, she always wanted to argue or fight with him or compete at something. This drove a wedge between the two, even though Teresa followed him around like white on rice.

Education & Training
Anastasie Drakon ensured both of her children’s academic success while they were growing up by personally handpicking the finest teachers in their empire to tutor them regularly. She had grown up with a difficult educational situation, having received hers in chunks due to complications with her own family. She believed education mattered very much for her kids and always took an active role in making sure they got all of their studies and work done. Gilles Valmont, Anastasie’s brother, who had been around Thomas since he was born as he was an active member of their household, was brought in by his sister to teach Thomas the ways of tactical strategy and combat for when he eventually usurped his father’s throne. Teresa joined in on these lessons as often as she could, again wanting to rival her brother in every aspect.

Gilles and Thomas became close during these training sessions. Thomas lacked a strong male figure in his life growing up as Emile was rarely home, citing that he had imperial business to attend to. His role model ended up being Gilles as his uncle showed him what a true nobleman should be like. This culminated when he was a preteen and Gilles gave him a gift. The royal sword, The Imperator, which had originally belonged to his father. Thomas fell in love with the weapon and trained with it as often as he possibly could. When Thomas met Arl Hauser from Redcliffe during a gathering of nobles, he received advanced training with the one-edged blade and grew to like fereldan swordfighting.

The isolation of royalty began to take its toll. His father and mother were always too busy to spend time with him, particularly his father who he rarely ever saw. At least his mother was in their general vicinity. He had no friends other than his horse, Sparrow, who he spent a lot of time with between training sessions. Feeling lonely as other boys would bully him and his sister constantly wanted to cause conflict between the two, he turned to reading to occupy his mind and pass the time. There, his passion for heroism grew. He grew infatuated with the idea of becoming a hero of justice when he grew older. A legendary adventurer of sorts like Calenhad Theirin, who he idolized. He started to set the foundations of a reputation as a troublemaker by going on fantasy adventures he’d make up in his head around the palace with his sister following close behind and trying to join in and show off.

When creating stories on the fly bored him, he would sneak out into Val Royeaux and cause trouble with merchants and guards for thrills, knowing they wouldn’t reprimand him due to who he was. A little manipulative voice in his head started to grow, realizing he could use strengths of his to get people to do what he wanted one way or another. Despite having his fun, these little excursions often earned him punishments from his mother along with scoldings from Gilles, occasionally from his father as well. The guards who he toyed with would spread negative rumors about the boy that echoed within the noble families about him being a handful.

Teenage Years
As a teenager, Thomas’ reputation as a troublemaker grew as he became more and more dissatisfied with his life and more confused on who he really was as a person. He had been told since the time he was a small child that he was destined to be an emperor, but besides that he really didn’t know what else defined him other than being his father’s son. And his father was so rarely around in his life, he felt that it was unfair to him to have his existence defined by a man who didn’t take an active role in raising him. Beginning to realize that with where his life was headed, creating a heroic legend wasn’t very realistic, he spent time reading more books, shirking his studies, and getting into short relationships with common women.

His time with common women caused him to see what life was like through a normal subject’s perspective. He saw all the things that made life what it was for the average civilian. All the ups and downs of normal lives and he began to envy it, spending nights upon nights over at whatever girlfriend he had at the time’s house just so he didn’t have to go home. He was growing more and more disillusioned and annoyed with the political power plays he saw his family committing and other families committing on his. The secrets of royalty were a pain to keep and he rather spent his time talking about books with poverty-ridden peasants who had been to the local library enough times to understand what he was talking about. He would take long rides on Sparrow to get his mind off things during this time and became a proficient rider as well.

The reputation about him becoming a devil-may-care rebel prince stemmed from his years as a teenager. For every night he spent away from the palace, sending the guard into a tizzy trying to find the young man and bring him home, he earned more ire from the city’s police. For every merchant he teased and every “fantastical adventure” he’d imagine himself going on in the public eye, the more the masses grew worried about the boy taking over from his hardened, militant father and working with such a respectable man like Gilles Valmont, who his father was close with. For every time he rode his horse Sparrow through the streets and caused public annoyances, the masses rolled their eyes more in his direction. The women he was seen spending time with made his mother upset, who tried to introduce him to noble girls like himself that could not only give them more influence, but make him happy too. All of it created rumors and spread negative words about the prince. He was well aware of his reputation and despised it like everything else in his life at one point. He couldn’t have cared less what the public thought of him, he didn’t even know what to think of himself yet.

Discovery of the Royal Affair
Finally, on his eighteenth birthday, Thomas was no longer considered the troublesome boy. He was now a man. He enjoyed a raucous ceremony put on for him by his parents in the Winter Palace of the Orlesian royal family. For once, he let his troubles slip away as he let himself get engrossed with the celebration for him and him alone. However, on that night, Thomas wanted to speak to his father. He had very little interaction with him comparatively to other sons and their fathers growing up and he felt like he needed some advice of where to go from here now that he was considered a man. During the festivities, he slipped off and went to his father’s chambers.

There, things changed for the young prince. He opened his father’s bedroom door and walked right in on a sight he could barely comprehend. Gilles, his uncle, in bed with his father, making love to one another. This shocked him to the core and the two men stopped what they were doing at once. Emile, who had no idea how to explain this situation, stayed silent and ashamed throughout all of this, sitting on the bed and covering himself. Gilles tried to speak to Thomas and explain the situation. He revealed that Emile and him had been together for many years, even before Anastasie and Emile had been married. Emile was gay, he was not attracted to his mother at all and sired two children almost by force. While Thomas had no problems with homosexuality, this was the straw that broke the camel’s back with his relationship with his father. He yelled at the two of them and stormed out of the room, disgusted with the secrets of royalty once again.

Laying in bed that night, Thomas panicked. He realized his life was just going to continue being this. Keeping secrets for people he hated, pulling political power plays over and over again on enemies and friends alike, and acting superior and righteous simply because he was born into the right family at the right time. He had no friends. His sister wanted to beat him at everything. His uncle and dad were sleeping together. His mom, unaware, was cold and disappointed in him. The common folk of Val Royeaux could only fill that void so much. At that point, he opened up a book on Calenhad Theirin he had not read in many years and reread the entire thing that night. He decided then that his life as a disenfranchised prince needed to be put on hold. He had a dream to accomplish.

When they had returned home from the Winter’s Palace, Thomas told his family that he was leaving to travel and adventure. They were equal parts surprised, angry, and upset at the news, but Gilles and Emile offered little resistance to that considering the taboo knowledge the young prince had. Not taking no for an answer, he got an adventurer’s pack together, brought his Imperator, took his horse Sparrow, said goodbye to his mother and sister, and set off down the road.

With the Crusader's Guild
It was very shortly after the news came out that Thomas Drakon had left the Orlesian Palace to go adventuring that he was contacted by Arl Byron Hauser who he had met years ago, who gave him lessons on fighting with the Imperator. He told him of an adventurer’s guild that the Divine herself had contracted him to create and run. Travelling from Val Royeaux to Redcliffe in Ferelden, the boy was quickly brought in to become the new Commander of the High Dragons due to his skill and noble birth. He now sets off to make a name for himself, accomplish a dream of becoming a hero of justice, and find out who he truly is in this world he found that he understood very little of.

Friendships

 * Sparrow: The trusty steed of Prince Drakon and a Ferelden Forder horse, Sparrow is Thomas’ pet and arguably his best friend. He has known Sparrow since he was ten years old as he was a brand new horse in the stables that was gifted to him by Gilles Valmont when they were first beginning mounted combat training. Naming him after a bird he read about in his studies at the time, Thomas has always cared for Sparrow and taken him on as many of his adventures as he could. When he left the Orlesian Palace, there was no one he’d rather have with him than his mount. The two still travel together to this day with Sparrow having found a home in Redcliffe Castle’s stable.
 * Arl Byron Hauser: Having had met years prior at a friendly gathering between Fereldan and Orlesian nobles, Byron took a liking to young Thomas. When the young man set out on his own to discover himself, he heard of the Chantry attempting to put restrictions on mercenary work with the Crusader’s Guild. Travelling to Redcliffe, Arl Hauser met Thomas and brought him into the organization, giving him his own adventurer company to oversee. The two trust each other very much and often confide in one another about their feelings and other issues they are dealing with. Thomas fancies Byron as a mentor figure and has learned much from the older man, being one of his only close friends.

Family

 * Emperor Emile Drakon: Thomas and Emile are apart of a strained and complicated relationship. On one hand, Emile loves his son and has treated him well his whole life. On the other, Thomas doesn’t think Emile was a very good parent to him at all while growing up, very rarely taking an active or participating role, mostly providing his son with affection and letting him figure most of it out for himself. Emile struggles with his own identity as the Emperor and has trouble teaching life lessons to his son considering he’s not so sure of them himself. When Thomas discovered that Emile was cheating on his mother with his uncle, Thomas was furious and lost all respect for his father from that night onward. Regardless, it was difficult to deny that Emile was a capable leader and proud warrior regardless of his faults or identity crisis... or that Thomas did truly love him deep down inside.
 * Empress Anastasie Drakon: Anastasie is a kind, but stern mother to her children. While always cold, Thomas would admit that she was a good mother who tried her best for her family. She participated in her son’s and daughter’s education, helping provide them with everything from lessons in language, math, art, and more to training in swordfighting and archery. While her children were soon to outgrow her in terms of skill and knowledge, she still imparted life lessons and harsh punishments for mistakes they made in public. She often treated Thomas harshly due to the fact that he was considered somewhat of a troublemaker growing up. While their relationship wasn’t very affectionate, Thomas did love her all the same like with all his family.
 * Princess Teresa Drakon: Teresa has always fancied herself as Thomas’ rival. She has tried to best him or be better than him at everything they’ve done together since they were children due to her being the younger sibling and likely not to take the throne of Orlais when their parents pass on. Regardless, she admires her big brother quite a lot and loves him dearly, despite finding opportunities to one-up him at every turn. When Thomas left the Orlesian Palace to set out on his own, she was furious her brother left on a quest to find himself, partially because of him leaving and partially because she was jealous she couldn’t do the same.
 * Grand Duke Gilles Valmont: Gilles Valmont, the Empress’ brother, has a difficult relationship with Thomas. Having always been a strong male presence in his life, Gilles often trained Thomas in the ways of combat and military strategy while he was growing up and even helped tutor him on his academic courses on occasion. He was always friendly with his nephew and enjoyed his company, seeing much of himself in the young man and allowed himself the fantasy, at times, of imagining him as his own son. However, Gilles had been Emile’s longtime lover, and when Thomas found out about this, he was furious and felt betrayed by the Grand Duke. He has cut off all contact with him despite Gilles trying his best to mend the relationship and keep tabs on him, worried sick and guilty over what had happened.

Romance

 * N/A: Thomas has had multiple crushes on girls growing up and had a couple of short relationships with common women (much to his family’s dismay) during his teenage years. However, none of them were particularly notable and he has yet to find someone he could truly call his partner or equal.

Allies

 * Orlesian Empire: Being the Prince of the Orlesian Empire and the first-in-line to take the throne when his parents pass on, Thomas is about as close with the Orlesian Empire as you can possibly get. However, due to him travelling on his own and taking time to himself to go on adventures, many of his people are wondering where he is and are unsure if such a troublesome young man with a reputation like his is truly suited to take on the mantle of Emperor in the future. And Thomas himself is not very interested in receiving help from Orlais whatsoever, preferring to be on his own entirely. In saying that though, his people would come to his aid on a moment’s notice if asked for.

Rivals

 * De Chalons Noble Family: Growing up, Thomas received a lot of bullying and ire from the De Chalons family. Multiple of their sons treated Thomas like a commoner, insulting and attacking him behind closed doors. Despite Thomas complaining often about this, nothing was ever really done on the idea that “boys will be boys”. Many of the senior members of the family also looked down on the prince, as they pined for the throne themselves and thought that the troublemaking teen had no business running an empire like Orlais. When Thomas left the Orlesian Palace, the De Chalons rejoiced, hoping he would never come home and that his younger sister Teresa, who they could manipulate into marrying one of their sons, would take the throne.

Memorable Quotes
"Doesn’t matter what the nobles or the mobs say. Doesn’t matter if the whole country decides that something wrong is something right. This guild was founded on one principle above all else: the requirement that we stand up for what we believe, no matter the odds or consequences. When the mob and the whole world tells you to move, your job is to plant yourself like a tree beside the river of truth and tell the whole world - 'No, you move.'.""-Thomas, on the subject of morality in the face of adversity."

Notable Kills
Thomas has yet to kill anyone with his blade or his bow, having only injured bandits in the past. He does not look forward to the inevitable day when he has to take another man's life, but knows that day will likely come sooner rather than later. Until then, he will stay his blade whenever possible.
 * N/A: N/A.

Main Theme(s)

 * Two Steps From Hell - Heart of Courage

Battle Theme(s)

 * Rei Kondoh - Destiny (Ablaze)

Social Theme(s)

 * N/A - N/A.

Romance Theme(s)

 * N/A - N/A.

Trivia

 * Thomas Drakon was initially an NPC in a Miscellaneous Roleplay in Dragon Age: Divinity's sister server Mass Effect: G.U.A.R.D.I.A.N. When Divinity was being created, he was initially intended to be played by the co-founder of the server, Anti, but then Sam swooped in and stole him out from under his nose like a true scumbag.