Markus Justinius

wings not rendered in this artwork (but wings are always present)

Character's Name: Markus Justinius

Nicknames: Mark (to most), MJ (to one person only)

Age: He lies every time. Who knows. He's clearly an adult. 

Gender: Male 

Species: Kelahati (Crow)

Abilities: Smooth-talking, literally. He can talk his way out of damn near anything. Flight, his big black wings are not for show. General chumminess with corvids, it's how he gets his trade secrets. 

Appearance: 6' tall, 140 pounds, athletic build. He has broader than average shoulders, and thick chest and back muscles. His long legs are well-muscled, as he often has to sprint and lunge himself into the air to get airborne. He is often at the forefront of fashion, and inspires many designers. He enjoys the latest designs, the riskiest cuts of clothing, the adornment of sparkling gems and jewels. He has a face generally regarded as handsome but cold. His profile is fantastic, his stark angles making any silhouette of him striking. His hair, eyebrows and eyelashes are a glossy black, and well taken care of. His eyes are mismatched, the right iris black, the other gray. He has even, perfectly aligned teeth, but his smile is reminiscent of a predatory snarl. His mouth is wide, his lips thin. In the canvas of his face, it is like a well-placed gash. His skin is pale, almost gray in color. His long, thick, hair is layered and cascades down his back and shoulders. Though he likes jewelry, he doesn't like hair adornments because they pull at his hair. Aside from his wings, the only other tell that he is a raven kelahati is his laugh, an ugly thing that definitely sounds like the mangled caw of a coughing raven.

In his raven form, he is larger than the average raven, almost of size with a condor, and a beautiful glossy black. One eye is black, the other is gray and around his legs are gold bands with precious stones fit all around it. 

Personality: Markus is a scummy bastard, do not be fooled. Though he is shown to be warm and friendly in the public eye, he is actually a narcissistic, self-centered scumbag. He likes wealth, and he likes power and he will do just about anything to obtain it. Most people find that he is genial and interesting to talk to, and don't get that scummy vibe from him. This is because he is a charmer, literally convincing people that he is a good guy. He doesn't often show his true colors, and does a lot of PR work to show the public that he really does care about their welfare (spoilers: he doesn't). 

Though he is chatty and doles out flattery by the bucketload, he isn't flirtatious. Perhaps the only person in the entire world that could claim they have Markus's loyalty, with actual certainty, is the City Leader of Seliel (maybe not even him, though). Generally, however, his lack of promiscuity has more to do with his elevated views of himself, and less to do with remaining true to his current lover of many many years. 

One would have to do a lot of digging and uncovering to find that Markus is the hand behind anything shitty that happens in Seliel, but you can best believe he's there. Often, his insidious ideas are all it takes to spur action. 

History: Native to Seliel City, Markus had spent most of his life as a raven, if he is to be believed. Sightings of a giant raven amongst a conspiracy of ravens were common before Nathaniel was elected, however. Designers did not catch wind of the wealthy, and striking Markus Justinius until around then as well. Though in his raven form, he was a loathsome terror, as like to snatch the jewels from a woman's throat as to eat the sweet from a child's hand, the people have yet to connect him to the mean feathered beast, especially seeing as it stopped showing up around the time Nathaniel was elected as City Leader. 

The truth? Well what is the truth? Markus was probably born poor. He might have forsaken his bipedal form to eat and free himself from the shackles of poverty. He might have been an earnest thief turned sour from years and years of observation of the populace. 

Or, and this is far more likely, he was a bad little egg from the get-go. When he hatched, he cawed the loudest, ate the most, and might have shoved a few siblings from the nest. He might have been taught to be a raven by his parents and refused to be people on principle. Might have bullied his way into one of the biggest conspiracies in Seliel and subsumed others. He might have been the leader of such a conspiracy when one Nathaniel Abbey came to town. One Nathaniel Abbey might have been such a handsome thing, such a powerful and unique and delightful thing, that he decided they must be his. He might have seduced Nathaniel, might have turned bipedal simply for the advantage of effect on the other. 

The truth is, Markus is a really good liar. His stories either always change, or remain steadfastly the same (and ever as untrue). The easiest way to tell there's a subject he doesn't want to speak on, say, his history, is the amount of stories he'll make up about it.