Lucien Micheaux

""You hear me, Aigaios? What about you, Oceanus? Don't run from the opportunity! Phorcys, help me kill them all. I'll build shrines, I'll make temples. Raze New Mycenae with us. Replace the Usurper.""

- Lucien desperately calling for aid from the sea during the Cull.

Lucien Micheaux is the only child of Yvette Micheaux, a mortal woman who was briefly a lover of Circe, the Greek Goddess of Sorcery. Aside from a couple other children of Circe, Lucien has no other biological relatives.

Appearance
In his first appearance, Lucien looks like a mess. Weeks of traveling alone left him with the look of someone who hadn't eaten or slept well in a very long time. His hair and nails grew long, and the clothes he was wearing were terribly stained. He also had a strange crown on his head, although it was clearly not made for someone with such a small head. It wasn't until his third day at camp that he was able to correct most of these issues with a little help from Seth Everett, the Counselor of the Muse Cabin at the time. From then on, Lucien has been able to shower and change into newer clothes.

After the events of the Cull and Lucien's return to Camp Half-Blood, he made it a habit to wear his armor or a simple hoodie most of the time.

Upon Entering Camp Half-Blood
Lucien is someone's whose early childhood warped them into a manipulative and often malicious person. To someone who's never provoked one of his outbursts, he'd seem like a strange and timid teen. These aren't inherently incorrect assumptions, but the same people might also call him 'polite and kind'. That's because it's the way he wants to be seen. He knows he's too weak to do many things alone, and his years with the Remnants have taught him that he has to either be useful or friendly enough to keep around a few meatshields. Lucien's nature as a deceptive and spiteful person have also made him into a very cautious person. If he doesn't consider a person dumb and easy to push around, his thoughts often shift to the person being a threat to him.

He is capable of respecting the accomplishments of others and being gracious in times when he's too preoccupied with own thoughts to be malicious. This can be seen during times where he's focused on completing a goal of his and someone helps him along without him pulling their strings,

Finally, it should be noted that Lucien harbors a lot of hate for all users of magic due to his own inability. In the cases where he's met his own siblings or children of Hecate, he's often broken out into an outburst and tried to get them far away from him. In the cases where he's thinking on people he's never met (usually the authors of tomes), he usually tries to mimic the steps they took to achieve their magic, all the while growing envious of their skill.

Fatal Flaws
Lucien is an extremely flawed character. To start off, his worse fatal flaw is Curiosity. Although he knows that there are many things he doesn't need to know, his drive for knowledge will often sabotage his own distrustful nature.On the other hand, this curiosity also allows him to still learn new things from people he hates. He can't will himself to just ignore these people, in most cases. Secondly, Lucien suffers from Hubris. He will never be able to rid himself of the belief that he could make the world better than any deity could, with the exception of maybe Prometheus. In practice, this leads him to doubt any authority at all and only fees his hate for the Olympians and the gods that follow their orders. Finally, Lucien often falls victim to Ambition that drives him to manipulate people and situations around him. It complements his Hubris very well, and coupled with Curiosity it drives him to desire knowledge/power.

Early Life
Lucien was born in 2018 as the unlikely result of one of his mother's flings. Yvette Micheaux was a young woman still in college, but she still managed to take care of her child for the next few years. By all accounts, the two of them were close, even if Yvette constantly had to leave him alone with babysitters and distant relatives so she'd be able to work. He had a few issues learning in his first few years of education, but he was always studying to fix his perceived flaws.

When Lucien was eight, his life took a harder turn. He was left alone with a mentally absent baby sitter, and his curiosity drove him to wander away from her supervision. Before he noticed it, he had wandered into a forest he couldn't find his way out of. Even though he was a child, he knew he wouldn't live long. Then he met Jaufres, a wandering Hyperborean Giant who took pity on what he knew was a demigod. It was Jaufres who kept the young boy fed and warm, as well as Jaufres who exposed the boy to the magical world he was living in, all simply by speaking to him in Ancient Greek. Eventually, after perhaps a month of travel, it was Jaufres who had instilled in him a dislike of some gods. Jaufres even took the boy to the group he'd call his "family" for a little while after.

Introduction to the Remnants
Although Lucien was introduced to the mythological world by Jaufres, it wasn't until he was taken to the other demigods that he began to develop his skills and malicious tendencies. The group he was introduced to were the Remnants, an organized band of demigods and legacies who followed the teachings of the late Luke Castellan's demigod army. Due to his former clan's affiliation with that same Titan supporting faction, Jaufres was able to negotiate on behalf of the young Lucien. Lucien was reluctantly accepted in the Strategos of the time, leading him to become a member of the Remnants at an early age.

During his first year, Lucien was quick to get acquainted with his 'new family'. The Remnants had once been forced to migrate north to avoid the influence of the Olympians, but by the time Lucien became a member, they had set up in an abandoned estate in Quebec. The Remnants organized themselves by where the lived in the estate, so when Lucien arrived he was put under the charge of Sadie Foster, a Legacy of Nemesis and the leader of the third floor. Sadie and Lucien got along initially, but as the months went by and Lucien became more of a liability, her attitude towards the young boy changed. He was given every tedious assignment she was sure he couldn't screw up, and she also began to influence others around to floor to pressure the young boy into training. Lucien's lack of combat reflexes meant he could never take to the training, and so the young boy's only change was growing resentment for the authority of the Remnant leadership.

Lucien Micheaux, Son of Circe
At the end of his first year with the Remnants, Lucien's growing resentment with the authority of Sadie Foster lead him to try and seek different ways to strike out against her. He had long had an instinctual interest in the mixing and brewing of substances, but as a normal child he'd only really put this to use when helping his mother cook or make smoothies. His hate for Sadie drove him to another use for his skills. Since he couldn't fight his fellow residents of the third floor in retaliation to their pressure and demands, he figured he would make them regret being rude all the time. When he found a moment to be left alone, he gathered random ingredients from the storage room and experimented with making different mixtures. When it became his turn to help with meal preparation for the third floor, he put his creations to good use.

The result of this event was one that Lucien would never forget. Almost every Remnant at the mess hall would suffer from a variety of unpleasant, although non-lethal effects. They turned on each other quickly, so many of them sure with a hundred percent certainty that their rivals had been the cause of their misfortune. Then, at the height of all the chaos, they all turned to look at him. In the very moment that Lucien had begun his path to become a master of poisons and potions, he had been claimed by Circe.

If it had not been for Jaufres, the upset Remnants surely would've made quick work of the young boy. However, with all the unpleasant effects they were going through, all of them could not help but hesitate at the idea of taking on a protective Hyperborean giant. In this brief moment of hesitation, another person would also come to the boy's defense. A fellow child of Circe, Valerie Sabatier, had immediately seen a use to keeping him around. After she explained that Lucien could obviously be taught to properly harness his skills, everyone who's opinion truly mattered was convinced. Even Sadie, who had been the primary target of Lucien's actions. And like that Lucien began his life as a Child of Circe, with hate on everyone's mind, and an older sibling who saw some potential in him.

Abilities & Tools
General Abilities= Although he is the Demigod child of Circe, Lucien is far from a powerful individual. Whether he is the way because of bad luck or a curse is unknown to him,but he was very clearly born without any means of keeping himself alive in the mythological world.
 * Dyslexia: Lucien's brain is "hard-wired" for reading divine Ancient Greek instead of mortal languages. Although he technically knows French and English as well, a lack of formal education coupled with this ability means he finds it far easier to read and write in Ancient Greek.
 * Dreams: Like most demigods, Lucien has dreams that occasionally show him events occurring in the past and present. In Lucien's case, he attributes these dreams as being sent by his mother to send him astray. Due to a deliberate effort of his own, he is able to repress these horrible dreams with his own concoctions.
 * Intellect: What Lucien lacks in combat ability, he has intellect. He tends not to show it in social settings, but when the child of Circe can isolate himself from the world, he always returns with new ideas and inventions. He feels most comfortable surrounded by tomes, and he is constantly thinking up new experiments he wants to test out.

""You're pissed because she didn't give you any way to defend yourself. And... Hm, your obsession with the Hyperborean story is probably because one of them was kind to you, helped you.""
 * -|Demigod Abilities=

- Sho Hakuda, soon after realizing Lucien's situation

As stated before, Lucien appears to have inherited very little from his mother Circe. He has the drive to learn magic and research it, but not the capability to cast it. He does however have the following:


 * Apothecary Expertise: While he may not attribute it to his mother, Lucien has been blessed with the ability to brew potions and poisons with ease. Ever since he was introduced to the world of Greek Mythology, his curiosity an inherent expertise has simply driven him to constantly mix ingredients together and enjoy the aftermath of the following experiments. Using this passive ability, he's brewed everything from lethal poisons to concoction of dreamless sleep.


 * -|Magical Items=
 * CrownOfTheRoi.png The Crown of the Roi: An open circlet of hammered celestial bronze, surmounted by nine black iron spikes in the shape of longswords. This crown was presumably forged for the leader of some Hyperborean clan, and following their destruction the only person to inherit it was Jaufres. It's the reason Lucien would always call his protector Roi, and although it has no apparent magical properties, Lucien wears it on his belt as a keepsake nowadays.


 * PrometheanKhopesh.png The Promethean Khopesh: A Celestial Bronze Khopesh forged by Forgemaster Brandon. When activated, the blade flickers to life and displays the scene of Prometheus stealing fire and giving it to humanity. When not in use, it can be made into a simple bronze ring.


 * Skull of Trisheros: The skull of Trisheros, the deified mortal in the Mycenaean pantheon that apparently served as a spiritual predecessor to the Greek Hermes and the Egyptian Thoth. During the cull, the alchemist had been reduced to to being a semi-divine mortal hell-bent on proving himself and regaining godhood. Through trickery and dirty tactics, the questers were able to kill him with Greek Fire. Lucien took the semi-divinity's skull as a trophy.


 * Skull of a Genius: The skull of Genius the Daemonic, the Genius that Lucien was forced to face alone during his mission to save King Hyllus of the Dorians from harm. During the mission Lucien took on the identity of King Iatrokles of Eborikos, but after he was separated from the rest of the army he was forced by the Genius to confront the reality of the situation. Ultimately, the Genius was slain and Lucien managed to take the creature's strange skull as a trophy. Due the Genii no longer existing, this is the only known physical skull of the species still around.


 * Armor of King Iatrokles: The Dorian Armor granted by King Hyllus to Lucien before the battle against the Mycenaean forces lead by Odysseus. It is not magical or special, but due to it coming from the start of the Bronze Age Collapse, it is an oddity that Lucien can't part with. To him, it also serves as a reminder of what he went through and saw during the events of the Cull.


 * Claw of a Genius: The claw of Genius the Wild, a Genius that once served the Mycenaean aspect of Artemis. It came under to possession of Hailey Lovett, a Child of the Mycenaean Circe after the Cull. When Hailey became a Huntress of Artemis, she gave the claw to Lucien as a parting gift. Although Lucien did not kill Genius the Wild, he gratefully accepted it due to the priceless nature of the claw. Due the Genii no longer existing, this is the only known physical claw of the species still around.


 * -|Poisons & Potions=


 * Kiss of Perses: A lethal concoction brewed from unknown ingredients by Lucien during the Cull. It causes a painful but slow death for mortals and monsters alike, but only when ingested or exposed to open wounds. Lucien's intent was to dump large amounts of the poison in New Mycenae's water supply to weaken and kill as many as possible before an assault by either the Old Gods of the Sea or Camp Half-Blood. None of these plans came to fruition, leaving Lucien when a large amount of lethal poison vials.


 * Elixir of Dreamless Sleep: A faintly sweet elixir made from a number of easy to acquire ingredients. Lucien mastered the recipe when young, and has been taking daily doses (with a few exceptions) since he was young. This recipe completely represses the prophetic and terrifying dreams that plague most demigods, and allows to them to avoid dreaming at all.


 * Decotion of Relaxation: A sweet and thick substance created from boiling a variety of herbal ingredients. It helps the user relax their mind, clearing any anxieties and worries for a limited amount of time. While it doesn't stop higher functions like critical thought, it is best of the recipe is used during extremely stressful situations rather than whenever the user desires. Due to its gooey texture, Lucien usually coats it on to things like apple slices rather than simply drinking it outright.


 * Philter of Intoxication: A tasteless and clear poison made from unknown herbal ingredients. It causes the person who drinks it to go through all the effects extreme intoxication, and can also be exposed to blood for a lesser effect. It is best utilized when Lucien either needs to trick someone into giving information or simply hinder their motor functions. Demigods and beings with Mental Fortitude would not be affected by the mental effects of the potion (meaning critical thinking and speech are unaffected), but they would still be hindered when it comes to motor functions.


 * Elixir of Enhanced Awareness: A bitter yellow substance created from a mixture of herbal and unknown ingredients. It tastes horrible, but puts the user's body on a state of alert. Through this effect, it gives its user a heightened sense of awareness, as well as quicker reaction times. The downside is it all speeds up the user's heartbeats and makes them feel pretty bad. During combat when adrenaline is high, the elixir is perfect for keeping its user safe from attacks. Outside of combat, you might as well consider it a panic attack inducing liquid.


 * Draught of Hallucination: A not-yet-perfected recipe, meant to imitate the effects of drinking the golden blood of Genius the Daemonic. It is thick, tastes heavily of chlorophyll, and induces mild auditory and visual hallucinations. It was created by Lucien to help him brainstorm by giving his thoughts a separate voice, but the recipe proved useless in that regard.


 * Tonic of Mercy: A white substance that tastes vaguely of peppermint. It numbs the tastebuds, and after a few minutes will effectively serve as a strong painkiller that allows the user to ignore the feeling of injuries without the mental effects of mortal painkillers. It is not addictive, but repeated use will lead to diminished effect.

Friends
Jaufres=

Jaufres, or Roi, was the Hyperborean Giant who found Lucien as a young child and served as the Child of Circe's introduction to the world of gods and monsters. While Lucien was initially scared of the giant, the two grew close in the month they spent travelling the wilderness together. Even as their travels brought them different groups of people that would serve to warp Lucien's personality, the demigod remained incredibly attached.

It is because of Jaufres' own opinions against the gods that Lucien holds the religious views he does now, especially regarding the Titan Prometheus.


 * -|Mina Grey=

Mina Grey, sometimes called Spooky by Lucien, was one of the two campers which went on the quest with Lucien to save Zeus on Mt. Olympus. While initially only tolerating her due to his duty, the prolonged journey and her ability to relax during the terrible mission made him grow rather fond of her. When the Lucien managed to free Zeus on Olympus, it was Mina who managed to keep his ego in check as he attempted to fight everything that came his way. Before the end of the Cull and Kronos' Time Break, the two departed with her cheering him up with the promise of pie.

Family
Yvette Micheaux=

Yvette Micheaux was Lucien's mortal mother and one of Circe's few mortal lovers. Although she was initially very burdened by the unexpected child, she still chose to raise the boy despite the difficulties. The two were very close, although they rarely got to spend much time together over the years.

Lucien last saw her when he was eight, and as a result he is under the assumption that she must've perished during the Cull.


 * -|Circe=

Circe is the Titan Goddess of Sorcery, as well as the child of Helios and Hecate. She is Lucien's godly mother, although the two never interacted during Lucien's early life. This, along with Lucien's lack of magic and hate of the gods lead to him despising his godly mother for what he saw as denying him his birthright.

When the two of them finally met each other during the 2035 Camp Olympics, Lucien did not hold back in calling out Circe for her failings and perceived slights against him. Due to him being her son, the Goddess of Sorcery punished him by turning him into a guinea pig for a few weeks as opposed to simply killing him. Understandably, this only made Lucien hate her more.


 * -|Hailey Lovett=

Hailey Lovett is the child of Circe in her Mycenaean aspect, a fact that lead her swap sides quite a bit during the events of the Cull. While Lucien usually hates his siblings and former Mycenaeans, Lucien met Hailey after both of them had been cursed by their mother for disrespect. Lucien grew to tolerate Hailey out of sympathy for her getting her magic stripped away, and also because Hailey shared the same opinions about Circe in Lucien's trying times as a guinea pig.

Although Lucien would probably hate her more if he knew all she was hiding, so far Hailey is the first half-sibling to really be tolerated by the Son of Circe.

Rivals
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Enemies
Trisheros=

""The greatest and the cleverest, he was. Greater even than Odysseus. He built the tombs of the Pharaohs and slew the monsters that were the plagues of the Mycenaean Tyrants. They both made him a God. In Africa they knew him as Thoth, and the Dorians called him Hermes. But his name was Trisheros, Thrice-Burned, Thrice-Fooled, Thrice-Corpse. Look upon his head, ye punies, and despair.""

- Lucien, mocking Trisheros' monologue while holding his skull.

Trisheros was a skilled alchemist and hero during the early Bronze Age. Apparently, due to his intelligence and heroism, he was deified by the Dorians and Egyptians, making him an origin point for the gods Hermes and Thoth. At the time of the Cull, he was longer an immortal god, but he did possess skills past that of any demigod.

In the quest to rescue Zeus from Olympus, Trisheros served as the first challenge Lucien and his group faced. Through dirty tactics and trickery, the group was able to cause Trisheros to get arrogant and die via Greek Fire. Since that incident, Lucien has been carrying around the Skull of Trisheros due to a newfound belief that killing 'gods' was possible.

While Trisheros was alive, Lucien seemingly both respected, feared, and hated him. This was because he related to the semi-divinity over being the smartest man in the room and manipulating others, but still envied the amount of power and control Trisheros had. This is not too dissimilar from other figures Lucien constantly reads about, such as Serapis and Ptolemy I.

Trivia

 * Lucien's basic concept is based off another character very briefly played by MandarinB by the name of Faustin Marcotte. The author has only a few vague memories of Faustin's character, as well as a handful of storymode drafts. Lucien's concept was based off Faustin's selfish thoughts in the aforementioned drafts.
 * On a similar note, Lucien shares a similar name to a couple original characters by MandarinB, such as:
 * Lucius Artorius Proculus, a Roman Demigod and eventual Praetor of a Camp Jupiter RP.
 * Luciano Fontana, an exiled prince with an interest in the occult.
 * Luciano di Morenti, a cultist in a roleplaying party game.
 * Lucien's alias Iatrokles is his author referencing the account username /u/ModernPharmakeia.
 * The term Pharmakeia can either be 'Sorcery', a variant on the word 'Poison', or just a word relating to 'Medicine'. (Although the initial intent was for the 'Sorcery' meaning.)
 * In the name Iatrokles, -kles is derived from kleos, the word for 'Glory. Iatro- on the other hand has a meaning along the lines of 'Healer', 'Healing', and 'Medicine'.
 * Therefore, /u/ModernPharmakeia could be 'Modern Medicine' while Iatrokles could be 'Glory of Medicine'.
 * Lucien loves pie. He hasn't had much since his early childhood, but he takes any opportunity to eat it.
 * Due to some time as a guinea pig, Lucien has adopted some qualities common in the species. He now loves vegetables, and is more dependent on human interaction.
 * According to the traditional 'Dungeons and Dragons' Alignment System, Lucien would be deemed Neutral Evil.
 * He doesn't advertise this very much, but Lucien is really good at putting on different voices.
 * When at his most comfortable in camp, he usually speaks with a high-pitched American accent. English words come easily to him. His voiceclaims for this 'mode' are Derek Stephen Prince's Kokichi Oma and Fuyuhiko Kuzuyru.
 * When he's playing the part of Iatrokles Soter or confidently making a speech, he makes his voice a lot deeper. He's prone to speaking really loudly and shouting when he does this. His voiceclaim for this is Chris Tergliafera's Gundham Tanaka.
 * At his most vulnerable, he usually forgoes other accents and speaks with a heavy Québécois accent. He's not particularly scared of speaking this way in front of people, but he prefers not to since it reveals where he's from. There is no decided voiceclaim for his normal voice.
 * As shown when he visited to past in the Battle of Save King Hyllus, he speaks Ancient Greek with a heavy Québécois accent, regardless of how he tries not to.