Background
Aulus was born late, in comparison to the rest of his kin, some 400 or 300 BC, from the clouds that shrous Olympus, where he was nurtued by the dryads and his brethren. The nymphs recognized in him the spark of intelligence which had once belonged to the great Chiron, and subsequently to the less famous Pholus, and was now found again in young Aulunth, whom they titled Chironides, assuming that he had inherited the older Centaur's spirit. He did not disappoint, but among training in the vales below Olympus at shooting and wrestling with his brothers he wandered the mountainsides in search of the herbs with which he could make the potions that heal and sustain gods and heroes. He took to the lyre and the cithara and became a bard, singing of countless deeds with flawless memory. He calculated the circumference of the earth using a stick and the rays of the sun and his natural genius. He grew into a wise seer, one who could read the signs of the sky and those of the steaming entrails on the altars, and only was lacking a pupil, as Chiron had taught Heracles and Achilles and Ajax of yore. Feeling the need to find a new crop of heroes to herd toward greatness, he took his leave of Olympus and began to make his way in the world, north, and then east. Many were the people and many the customs he met along his way, passing from Russia into Canada and thence making his way south and east, passing into the United States in Minnesota, where he stayed for some time, until the deeds of a new crop of great heroes came to him by force of news and rumor, and he made his way to New York, where there seemed to be the greatest accumulation of them. The concept of heroic tutelage was somewhat out of date, but Aulunth (now just Aulus) got his hoof in the door of a beauty parlor in a less fashionable part of town, just mopping the floors and washing windows, but soon absorbed enough of the craft that he proved the equal of any technician in the shop. The shop soon got enough business to move to a nicer area, bringing its powered clientele with it in an effort to normalize their presence. Aulus himself makes good money and usually gets awesome tips, as his time usually comes with some manner of advice or imparting of wisdom from ages past, or, for those in need, with some divination. It might not be Chiron's cave with the young Achilles playing on the lyre, but it'll do, in its own way.
IC Events
Traits
- Olympian Centaur: One of the Cloud-Born Centaurs, Aulus is mighty of frame and of fortitude. By no means is he invulnerable, but unpowered physical attacks are easy enough for him to shrug off; bullets won't glance off of him, but they may lodge shallow in a muscle rather than penetrate into his vitals; he is a match even for those with supernatural strength, but will fall to the likes of a Hercules or a Thor. He has a constitution to match his frame, is seldom sick, and can drink whole gallons of wine before beginning to feel the effects. He can run up to forty miles per hour at a full gallop, carry up to a thousand pounds of material before becoming fatigued, lift up to a ton and drag up to two tons.
- Lore: While most of the Olympian Centaurs are a wild bunch of marauders, there are scattered among the group a small number of wise centaurs who are masters of Olympian and mortal lore. They are the teachers and advisors of great heroes and have brain to match their brawn. They can mix the sacred healing potions that heal the sick and cure wounds. They know countless epics and can sing the deeds of man, god and monster with perfect recall and perfect pitch to a number of instruments. They are naturally attuned to scientific advances and can gain mastery over new skills with ease, as well as picking up new languages at the drop of a hat.
- Divination: In addition to mundane knowledges, Aulus has also learned how to read a variety of omens. His particular skills lie in reading the flights of birds and weather signs (augury)— the shapes and directions of clouds, types of precipitation, lightning, shooting stars, although he was also trained in reading the entrails of slain animals (haruspicy). He can read clearly about past events, present circumstances and even possible future outcomes through this style of divination. He is further knowledgable in the art of astrology, and can, given the exact details of a person's birth, draw up an elaborate astrological chart giving important events in a person's life and information about that person's fate. But the chart can be gravely mistaken if the details provided to him are off even by a little bit.