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Zenos viator Galvus

Outcast

Eldest son of Varis zos Galvus, second Emperor of Garlemald, Zenos yae Galvus was groomed from birth to succeed his father. However, history would come to know him by another name: Zenos viator Galvus, kinslayer and outcast, whose misdeeds threw the Empire into a turmoil from which it would not escape.

Blessed with martial and intellectual gifts, Zenos ever stood apart from his peers. He was raised among the sons and daughters of nobility in the hopes that he might find companions to advise him in his future role, but none proved his equal. Though the crown prince scorned the naivety of children and deemed his elders unworthy of respect, he eventually found joy in hunting — in the primal desperation of the beasts who fought violently to survive. Zenos savored pitting his strength against theirs, and even after he became a military leader, this remained his sole pleasure.

It was after Zenos was appointed imperial viceroy of the provinces of Doma and Ala Mhigo that he would encounter prey of a different stripe: the Warrior of Light. Aided by the Eorzean champion and [his/her] allies, a band of rebels grew bold enough to draw the crown prince’s attention, leading to their first altercation at Rhalgr’s Reach. Alas, the Warrior of Light was soundly defeated that day. While a subsequent clash in Doma resulted in a similar outcome, Zenos grew more fascinated with the beast he dubbed “the champion of the savages,” electing to spare [him/her] a second time in the hopes [he/she] might grow into an even greater challenge.

In time, the Warrior of Light and [his/her] allies led an army to Ala Mhigo, and with [his/her] comrades engaged Zenos a third time within the Royal Palace. In that battle, the legatus realized that this was his first and only rival, and after luring [him/her] to the gardens atop the palace, Zenos used his artificial Echo to become one with the captive primal, Shinryu. For the fourth time he fought his prey, but on this occasion the Warrior of Light emerged triumphant. Having experienced a transcendental joy beyond any he had ever known, Zenos took his own life, unwilling to live outside that fleeting moment.

Yet in embracing his stolen power, Zenos had rewritten his fate. His essence did not return to the Lifestream, but instead possessed the body of another. In a cycle akin to that of the immortal Ascians, the erstwhile prince leaped from vessel to vessel, until he found one with which he could return home to Garlemald. There he was reunited with his original form, which had been occupied for a time by the Ascian Elidibus, and was thus resurrected body and soul.

His first act following his return was to murder his own father. This was not out of malice, but jealousy — Emperor Varis had set his sights on the Scions of the Seventh Dawn, and Zenos was loath to share his quarry with another. For the returned prince, who had known the exultation of a warrior’s death, the purpose of this new life was clear: to confront the only soul he would deign to call friend, and reclaim the bliss he had known only once before.

As Garlemald teetered on the verge of collapse, Zenos was approached by the Ascian Fandaniel, who laid bare the truth of the star. Together the two formed the Telophoroi, who schemed to usher in the Final Days. They sowed discord across the realm, channeling aether from the Lifestream into the Tower of Babil, that Zodiark Himself might be liberated from His lunar prison. In this they did succeed — but before Zenos could seize control of the primal and battle the Warrior of Light, he was betrayed by Fandaniel, whose subsequent death at the hero’s hand set in motion the Final Days. Zenos was still desperate for his long-desired rematch, but understood that the Warrior of Light was too distracted by the fate of the star to accept his challenge. And so, in disappointment he quit the field and vanished from the world’s stage.

Zenos spent much of his self-imposed exile contemplating how he might obtain his heart’s desire, but his answer proved simple. He would aid the Warrior of Light in [his/her] struggle, and to that end he assumed the form of the dragon once more and flew to the edge of the universe. With Zenos’s aid the threat to all life was laid low, and when the dust had settled, the Warrior of Light at last granted his wish.

Zenos viator Galvus now rests at the edge of the firmament, and none but the Warrior of Light can attest to his final moments.