Circumsessor

"Besieger"
filius Pollex, of Houses Savacion and Derleth
apprenticed 373, mage 398

A member of Bethelion's third graduating class, he nearly chose to become a Touccian, having trained extensively under [T59b]. However, his experiences on the rogue hunt convinced him that a life spent cooped up in covenants making items was not what he desired, so he choose to complete his training under Pollex. Of the Savacion arts, siege craft always interested him the most. Desiring somewhere to practice this art, but distrusting the arch-conservative Quintus Oppacans who oversee the war against Piccaria and wanting to make a name for himself doing something few other magi had done, he set off for Gaetan shortly after his graduation. He had become particularly interested in Gaetan after Pastor returned from a (successful) expedition to steal away an extremely gifted magical child who was touted as a great omen by the Gaetani.

At the time of his arrival, the Wide Valley, the northern-most region of Gaetan, had recently begun to tolerate traffic with foreigners (mostly Ventrians). Quickly allying himself with an expansionistic local ruler, Circumcessor set about conquering the valley. The war for the Wide Valley dragged out over the next 15 years, during which Circumsessor repeatedly sought out and gained the assistance of both Bethelionites (particularly the Touccians and the Savacions) and the more war-like Savacions (including Calvus). Toward the end of the war, he also sought out the aid of the Wendellian Savacion, Meles, and the Wendellian Christopherian, Chirothecarum Caesiarum.

After the war, he convinced the prince of the Wide Valley to sponsor a University, so that his new aristocracy could be trained in the Choleic culture, and so that the magically gifted children of the valley could be directed into the Order, rather than the local priesthoods. He returned to Bethelion, where he succeeded in convincing the newly graduated mage, Leonis Lenis, and eventually half the graduating class of 417, to come up to Gaetan and found a new university.

In 417, the new university was founded as the covenant of Manu Tenere ("to hold in one's hand").

Circumcessor participated in the second rogue hunt, travelling with the elementalist Savacion Aestus Fornax and happening to arrive at Isrillion just before the trial of Tennellus. Initially relatively unconcerned with what was obviously some sort of power game for the political mages of Leo Compulsus (of whom one, Javert, was his elder brother), he became much more interested after the murder of Meles and the discovery of the Last Hope Conspiracy. By the end of the hunt, he was deeply disturbed by the extent of the conspiracy and the discovery that his brother Javert was central to it. The evidence, however, was sufficiently damning and incontravertable that Circumsesor accepted the conclusions of the investigation. His friendship with Aestus Fornax was severly tested when Aestus slew Javert, but he remains oddly grateful to Aestus for providing his brother with a honorable death in combat.

At the House restructure in the wake of the second rogue hunt, he joined Gens Derleth under the leadership of Caligatus, and is generally assumed to be Caligatus� heir-apparent as the Dux of that Gens.

Having recently returned to Manu Tenere, and having aided his old ally Calvus in founding Nimus Animae, he has begun to turn his attentions to the next war with Gaetan.

Always counting himself too busy to raise an apprentice during the war, Circumcessor has become deeply involved in the training of several of the students at Manu Tenere. His first likely students will graduate in 435 (Manu Tenere held off from taking magical students until 420).