Tullus

NAME: Tullus Cominius (formerly Tullia Cominia)

AGE: 22

P.O.B: The Golden Arch Ranch

OCCUPATION: Junior Officer with her Legion

DESCRIPTION: Is fairly tall at 5' 10", with long dark brown hair and warm brown eyes. She has a fairly weathered complexion from years in the sun and bright, white teeth that flash in her warm, friendly smile. She is generally laid back with little temper but once her hackles are up woe betide her antagonist! Her voice is warm, like the Mediterranean but carries the air of one who is used to both giving and obeying orders efficiently. She is fit and hardy from her life as a soldier and will usually be seen wearing her lorica segmenta and a long cloak inlaid with wolf fur. She also carries her ivory-hilted gladius at all times.

PERSONALITY: Tullus is a friendly, outgoing person who will generally think the best of everyone until they prove themselves truly disagreeable. She is the sort of person that is both easy to converse with and listen to, as she has an agreeable nature and sense of humour. Tullus is also fairly ambitious and entertains hopes of one day becoming a Centurian and eventually a General within her Legion. She is fairly confident and comfortable with both herself and her abilities and has developed a strong will for survival. Tullus is a good, trustworthy friend who would lay down her life for those she cares for and sometimes those she does not. Tullus gets on quite well with children and hopes to have her own family in the future.

STRENGTHS: Is an excellent fighter, a fact that has kept her alive until now. Tullus has good people skills and is an agreeable person who is generally liked in the circles she travels in. Tullus is also laid back which makes her approachable to most people, including the soldiers under her command. She is a skilled rider, a fact that is not surprising given her upbringing. Tullus is a natural leader which makes her particularly suited to her line of work.

WEAKNESSES: Tullus' easy going temper means she is rather tractible and may be yielding to a friend's wishes. However oneof her greatest weaknesses is that once she has formed an ill-opinion of someone she is totally unforgiving. It takes a lot to earn Tullus' hate but once you do it's there for life. Tullus is ungifted with magic and as such is suspectible to the magic of others.

FATHER: Antonius Cominius

MOTHER: Aemilia (deceased)

SIBLINGS: Iuliana - elder sister. 24 years old. Married.
Virgilia - younger sister. 19 years old. Unmarried.
Claudius - younger brother. 18 years old. Unmarried.

COMPANIONS: Travels with her large female dog Discordia and Eversor, her war stallion. Tullus is a generally agreeable person so she is usually well liked wherever she goes. She has already established a friendship of sorts with Otik Crottia and Kitala Startrodder at the Mourning Star Inn.

BRIEF HISTORY:
Tullia Cominia was born and raised on the Golden Arch Ranch, second child of Antonius and Aemilia. Antonius was a reasonably affluent horse dealer and Tullia grew up surrounded by horses.

The young woman's life was fairly comfortable and she spent her days in training young horses and in admiring the beautiful country surrounding her home. However the time soon came when she should have been thinking of marriage. She was 16 now and her father impressed the need upon her.

Tullia spurned this idea, she wanted to train horses and see the world, not be saddled with a husband and children so young in life. She and her father argued bitterly on this point until Antonius, enraged at her insolence, laid down an ultimatum, "Either you choose a husband and quit my house for his or you may make your living in any way you choose, but you shall not live under my roof!" Tullia was furious at her father and in her outrage yelled back "I would rather take my chance in the arena than yield to your rediculous threats!"

Antonius, wild with ire, took his daughter at her word and within the hour had dispatched her to the custody of his friend, Robertus, who trained fighters for the arena. Tullia could hardly believe that her father had taken her so literally but she was determined that now she had made this choice she would stick to it.

The majority of her fellow trainees were male and most were heavily muscled. The end of the first days training found Tullia bruised and battered as she had never thought possible but despite her injuries she forced herself to dine with her fellows and appear as normal as possible. Her agreeable manners soon made her a favourite within the small group she had attached herself to and her new friends were only too keen to show her the ways of combat.

Tullia learned quickly and well, the soft country girl was moulded into a hardened warrior with ambition to match her agreeableness. She worked when the others had gone to bed and before they arose in the morning, she was determined to be a success.

Eventually the training drew to an end and it was time for the fighters to prove themselves. One by one they signed the contract of the arena that bound them to remain for twenty-five fights, after which time (if they were still alive) they could make their living in another trade or remain at the arena.

Tullia awaited her first fight with a mixture of apprehension and fear. Her friends yelled encouragemnt to her as she walked up the ramp to meet her first foe, a battered gladius in her right hand and an aged buckler upon her left arm. It was not immediately apparent to the crowd that she was female and indeed her name had become corrupted from the feminine Tullia Cominia to the masculine Tullus Cominius, as word of mouth is wont to do.

Her first battle was furious, her foe was bigger and physically stronger but she was swifter. She managed to catch her opponent's axe on the buckler and with a vicious swing she parted his head from his neck. The crowd went wild as Tullia raised her sword above her head, the token display of triumph, warm blood spattering her face. The chant went up "Tullus Cominius! Tullus Cominius!"

After that Tullia was known as Tullus and she grew to be a favourite with the crowd. Eventually she had twenty-five wins and her contract was completed. She wondered how she would make a living now, but she was not left to wonder long. She was approached by an army recruitment officer who was keen to have such a notable warrior in the ranks. With no better prospects Tullus joined and was soon a junior officer.

She travelled with her Legion which brought her to the area of the Inn of the Mourning Star. Like all soldiers, Tullus likes to partake of the occasional drink and her reasons for being at the Inn are no more elaborate than to enjoy a little alcohol.