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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Paka" data-source="post: 1468867" data-attributes="member: 100">E-mail from another player: Caelius is obviously Roman, or at least he's part Roman, with that nose and square jaw and green eyes. But, his cheekbones and straight black hair point to some injun blood. Also, he's pretty red-skinned, but it could be all the time he spends in the sun tendin his land. He looks to be about 30 years old, but it's hard to tell, he's so weathered by what must've been an outddor life before he came to Little Pyramid. Cae came to Little Pyramid about three years ago, bought a small plot of land on the outskirts (in full with cash!), and set up a small farm. Over the years, he has kept almost completely to himself and doesn't even seem to be a resident of the town most of the time. He tends to his crops and his chickens and comes to the town market when he needs supplies or has a surplus of eggs or corn to sell or trade. He lives alone in the small house and doesn't bother nobody. He's got an injun-lookin horse and a small pack of mutts. He don't attend no temple--Eqyptian or Norse; no one's seen him praying to the Four Directions either. Maybe he prays to Roman gods or none at all. For all that he normally keeps to his lonesome, once in a blue moon, he comes to Kef's, sits at the bar, and drinks himself unconcious. He doens't talk or make time with the ladies; he just drinks. Well, that's not totally true. When he's drunk as a skunk, he sometimes talks to Khat a little. What he says, though, only him and Khat know. All in all, he's an odd one. The rest of the story: Caelius was born of the unlikely but loving union of a Roman soldier and a Cherokee woman. When he was born, he got a Roman name from his father but not much more. When he was a small boy, his father was stationed elsewhere, and he left his half-breed son behind. Cae grew up in his mother's tribe and eventually was given the name Small Eagle in deference to his Roman heritage. However, he was always known as a person reluctant to take sides, indecisive, of a divided mind. He was sometimes called Snake With Two Heads--usually behind his back. Although his mother's people accepted him, Cae never felt that he was a part of their culture. He went through all the rituals: he sweated, he drank the Black Drink, he ate the sacred mushrooms, he kept vigil in trees, and he hung from the hooks. Never did he feel the spirits. Never did the hawk or the wolf call his name. Deep in his heart, he knew that this was because he was a man of two peoples and had never chosen which path he would follow. If he wasn't happy, at least he was safe and had his own life. All that changed because of Wolf Craving Blood and Bold Dog. Bold Dog was the new chief and Wolf Craving Blood was his brother. They incited other villages and clans to make a real war against the Romans. They wanted to kick them off Turtle Island once and for all, back to their lands of goats and olives. Their raids against the Eagles become more violent and more frequent. Finally the Romans grew tired and set out to exterminate all the Cherokee. When the scouts alerted the village that a large force of Romans was coming, Caelius was paralyzed with conflicting feelings. He couldn't help either of his peoples kill the other. At the last minute, he fled. He took off into the woods. When the battle was over, he returned. The village was devastated. His lodge was mostly burned. In the rubble, he could see that his mother had died defending her other children. She had earned great honor in her last moments. He buried her as properly as he could, although he did not remember all the songs that should be sung to the departed. He was 15. After this, Cae went west, telling himself that he was seeking freedom. During his travels, he lived as he could--by stealing mostly. He stole a pistol from a sleeping mail carrier and made himself into a good shot. He came to the great prairies of the Pawnee and the Lakota and, recently, the Egyptians. Out there in the dust and sage of the Shoshone, in a town barely fit to be called such, Cae met another traveller, another outlaw. This man was a red-haired Norseman as mean with a hatchet as he was with a pistol. He went by the name Red Gun. After a night of cards and drink and talk, Red Gun took Cae under his wing. Together they robbed their way across the plains and badlands. Injun, Egyptian, Norseman--it made no difference; if you had valuables you were fair game for the pair. On top of being partners in crime, they were also partners in the bedroll. Caelius and Red Gun were together for several years. They swore to each other every oath you can think of and then some. They told each other only death would part them. But there came a morning when Caelius woke up alone and cold in his bedroll. Red's horse and pack was gone. Next to Cae pack was his share of the gold from their latest robbery. And that was that. Red did a good job of covering his tracks. Caelius went a little nuts for a while. He stayed out in the badlands searching for Red sometimes and other times just wandering in a fog. He didn't care if he lived or died or about anything. How long this went on, Cae doesn't know. Eventually he came to his senses. He decided he couldn't keep up a life of crime; it wouldn't feel right without Red. He decided to settle down in the first town he came to. That town was Little Pyramid. Even though he's gotten over Red as much as he can, Cae has sworn to himself that if he ever sees Red again, he's going to make him tell him why he left. And then he's going to kill him. To shoot him right between the eyes. Cae had settled into a sort of life in Little Pyramid. It was a lonely life, but he didn't much want to socialize anyway. He had his crops and his dogs. It was a quiet life that suited him fine. And then here comes Red again to mess it all up, to take all the feelings that Cae had put in jars on a high shelf and smash'em all over the floor. Red come through Little Pyramid with a gang of sunovabitches shootin' things up and rapin' a girl and robbin' the pyramid. Well, he wasn't gonna get away with it. He's gotta pay for that. And for somethin' else.</blockquote>

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