Lord (Sir) Justin t'Acuto

Gilles Chevalier as Justin t'Acuto

CHARACTER BRIEF

Full Name:	Justin t'Acuto
Byname:	N/A
Age:	30
Date of Birth:	11 Juin, 1836
Kingdom:	Couviere
House:	Acuto
Title/Profession:	Lord/Sir
Position:	Lord
Place of Birth:	Garfana

FAMILY

Father:	Anselm t'Acuto
Mother:	Rosa t'Acuto
Siblings:	Artos and Beatrice t'Acuto
Spouse:	None
Children:	None

Background

Justin is a Lord of House t'Acuto and a knight of good reputation. A loyal man and one who as much an engineer as a knight. Taking part in the closing years of the Thirty Years War and the Tirian Crusade. He has also helped King Maris' efforts to rebuild the infrastructure of the kingdom after the Thirty Years Wars, and even leading the efforts to repair the fortifications of Valetta following the Battle of the Three Crowns. A task that would take four months, ending in Septembre 1866.

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Born in the year 1836 on the 11th of Juin to Anselm t'Acuto and his wife Rosa, Justin t'Acuto is the brother of Artos and Beatrice t'Acuto. Due to the age gap however, Artos and Justin were never close or spent much time together. By the time Justin was born Artos was already a squire working to earn his spurs. As a result, when Justin grew old enough to understand such things Artos was already a knight, and the younger brother growing up on the stories of his brother's efforts and childhood stories of the ideal knight merged.
This led Justin to greatly admire his brother and want to become a knight like what he thought his brother was at the time someday. In truth is wasn't until Artos returned home to marry Lucia and sire Jordan that Artos and Justin physically met for the first time, given Artos was away from home for so long due to his duties as a squire and later a knight in the war.

Justin would end up a milk brother to Ignacius Roxburg by necessity resulting in the two becoming inseparable as they actually grew up together. Due to their bond it wasn't long before the t'Acuto family requested Ignacious becoming Justin's companion, combined with the similar age of the two. In truth it was Justin who first started calling Ignacious 'Ig' as a nickname, though this was originally due to the young Justin's difficulty in trying to pronounce the other boy's name. The nickname would stick and continue to be used into the future.
What followed was a fairly standard aristocratic upbringing for both boys. Learning their letters and High Imperial, though not all the same lessons were learned. Justin had similar interests to Ignacious, but not all were equal in that regard. Justin would learn the virtually dead language of Arendran as he had a more scholarly lean for example.

As a nobleman, Justin would also learn skills of use to the nobility such as heraldry and horsemanship. He even developed an interest in engineering, especially for the design and maintenance of fortifications, something it turned out he had a natural gift for.
Artos still did what he could to help and protect his family, which led to Artos, when the time came, arranging for Justin and his childhood friend to both be squired. Justin to a respected knight and Ignacious the the chief man-at-arms of said knight. Ignacious had been included due to Artos and Justin corresponding since Justin could write legibly, and Justin mentioning his Milk Brother so often in such letters. It was during this time Justin's horsemanship would improve and he also was taught the other skills of a knight and even tactics, which his keen mind took advantage of. This knowledge of tactics would develop later on various battlefields till the young man grew more competent in that then his ability to lead troops.

This arrangement further cemented the camaraderie between Justin and Ignacious - which they carried into the final chapter of the Thirty-Years-War, witnessing the close of it first hand. After this, at Baron t'Acuto's behest, they moved their training to the final chapters of another stage, wherein they participated in trying to lose as little ground as possible in the Tirian Crusade; an ultimately failed endeavor, as the actions here served only to stall the barbarian's advance.
After the Tirian Crusade, Justin and Ignacious were to be knighted back at Sealight, and a small party set out with them. Along the way, the small band got lost in the wilderness and came across a small village called Merth. Initially welcoming, the villagers tended to their needs and even offered healing to one of their number who had fallen ill.

The next morning things began to grow strange. The sick knight was no where to be found and the locals could only offer that the ill sometimes did strange things and suggested searching the woods nearby, a search that revealed nothing. Returning at nightfall the gates were barred and the locals hostile to any attempts to pass back into the village.
The party forced their way through the gates, unwilling to endure the strange behavior of the locals further and wanting answers. There was a short skirmish before the larger numbers forced the party to fall back to the largest house of the village. While regrouping to consider their options, they stumbled upon the answers they sought. In the structure were clear signs of human sacrifice. War was one thing to witness, this another.

The group fought their way back out, as most had no stomach for this and wanted free of such an evil place. Once at a fall-back location at the edge of the village those who were to troubled to continue remained. Justin, Ignacious and one other were not satisfied by this and sought vengeance for the evils they had witnessed.
According to Justin there was nothing holy or innocent left in that village, only base monsters who held no value in human life. As the locals thought they had won, the three made their way back into the village. The fight that unfolded some might argue was honorable, some might claim it was bold and brave, others might say the three fighters were driven to the brink of madness by the horrors. Whatever the truth might be the three fought those left in the village, slaughtering every last individual till none but they were still alive. The place of evil had been cleansed, and that is all that mattered. The bodies of the victims were given what last rites they could be given, while the remains of the villagers were given as little as possible without possibly risking some unspeakable horror coming forth from their remains.

It was here that the lives of Justin and Ignacious would finally part. Both had been affected by the encounter, where Ignacious felt a strong desire to learn more of such evils to bring about their end, Justin preferred to try and forget the horrors witnessed. Which he largely did, aside from occasional nightmares where the memories haunt him some nights. Though they parted on good terms, where Justin felt the sting of no longer being with his life-long friend, he could only admire his fellow knight's desire to serve the faith and so bore Ignacious no ill for his decision.
Upon his return home Justin would take part in a boar hunt in the forests of t'Acuto lands in a celebration of Justin earning his spurs and for the harrowing experience at Merth. As it turned out Justin himself would be the one to end the life of the boar, which was a large specimen, larger then expected, and nearly killed Justin himself twice. The head of the beast was mounted and hangs over the fireplace of Justin's private chambers to this day.

There is a mutual respect between the brothers though as knights, and the code that Justin lives by does indeed bring pride to his brother's heart. Justin came upon this code after seeing the behavior of real knights both good and bad, as opposed to the stories of knights. One night at a camp during the war the brothers discussed the code knights live by, and Justin had explained his personal philosophy in the matter.
"Whether man or woman, all should have a code they live by. A force to drive them to greatness and motivate all their actions. An ideal that can never be obtained, yet the individual must know it is an unobtainable goal yet still strive for it. All actions should be weighed against that code, for that is what defines one's true worth. My code if that of the knight and I aim to live up to it as best I can. I will fail in the perfection yet I will always strive for it."

In more recent times the brothers have bonded in their own way, while they might not be considered 'friends' as they do not spend all their time together, their mutual respect and duties as knights still allow them to share enough in common to be close.
With war dying down, and periods of peace coming in, Justin would shift from being a knight of some skill to building on not only the skills he had but others as well so he could better serve in the future.

In his time as a knight, Justin has proven himself loyal, answer any call to fight, and when not fighting dividing his time between designing fortifications as a hobby, which he is said to have many drawings and models of, or taking part in tourneys. He is a cunning and well-read individual, given he grew up with access to the library House t'Acuto is known for. He has shown to be capable of shrugging off injuries that would lay many men down, seemingly as though he doesn't even feel pain at all. He is known to be a survivor of the Merth Village incident by those who are aware of the story. He also has a good reputation as a respectable, honorable, and largely if not completely chivalrous knight.

Justin's skill in engineering has had its fair share of use. After the Thirty Years War, he assisted King Maris' efforts to rebuild the kingdom's infrastructure, helping to rebuild the walls of Valetta after the first Siege, and helping to fortify Avondil during the Tirian invasions of the year 1865.
More recently Justin was part of the party that smuggled supplies into Valetta following the Battle of the Breach, given a knight and skilled engineer would likely be useful in helping to better reinforce the breach before the next attack, and was on-hand when Richard Toulan is arrested after Sir Joffrey strips him of command. When additional supplies are discovered and distributed Justin instead worked to ensure the breach was as secure as possible by the morning.

Justin then takes part in The Battle of Three Crowns and when word arrives of the attack on Rovilon, Justin is among those who stay behind to secure Valetta. Mostly leading the effort to repair the fortifications, as he had previously helped to repair the walls after the first Siege, also being the only trained engineer present. The repairs to Valetta would keep Justin busy for the next four months.