Leo Xanthus

Summary: Chef. Perfectionist. Abrasive personality and wicked temper. Worked at Philosopher's Stone Tavern for about 6 months before the staff rebelled.

Leo grew up in the capital city of Ionia, the second son of a life-long senator. His parents pushed him to be the best in everything he did. He didn't just pass tests, he excelled at them. He didn't just win debates, he buried the opposition with well-researched rhetoric and usually a few clumsily-veiled threats. He and his older brother competed in everything, and Leo usually ended up frustrated in second place.

He served his time in the legions as all good Ionian senator's sons did, keeping the peace in various outposts along the border with Alfinwald. He usually took on cooking duties in his tent, and sometimes for the whole century. He found he enjoyed cooking, the balance of salt, sour, and sweet made him feel powerful when he got it right, and like a raging failure when the ratio skewed in one direction or another. He internalized his parents' voices telling him to be the best he can be, and he always pushes himself to learn more.

After his years in the army, he came home. His father had made some bad deals just before his untimely death, so his brother Valerian inherited everything and left Leo with nothing. His mother passed soon after his father, not that she would advocate for Leo anyway. The brothers never got along, since each of them always wanted to outdo the other. Valerian took over the house and got elected to the senate in his father's seat, and he paid Leo to leave town and never come back.

Leo headed to the city where the less-desirable elements of society ended up: Fellport. He took jobs in various restaurants to learn from the best the city had to offer over the past 10 years, but his abrasive attitude ensured he made few friends along the way. More than once he got fired because he habitually yelled at prep chefs and bullied everyone in the kitchen except the head chef. The entire staff of The Philosopher's Stone Tavern went on strike after 6 months as manager instead of tolerating his verbal abuse, and the College leadership council asked him to leave immediately thereafter. He requires perfection, and he has no compunction about letting people know exactly how and why they fell short.

He initially studied poisons and ways to kill quickly when he thought he'd take revenge on his brother, but that opportunity passed with his banishment. Still, he feels there's no sense in having a skill and not excelling in it, so he experiments and studies whenever he can, continually increasing his knowledge of poison and physiology. Nobody knows about his proclivity for poisons, so nobody knows they can hire him for assassinations. Even the various criminal groups in town only know Leo as a loudmouth chef.

His wears his auburn hair short, though it spikes up and looks unkempt when he spends any amount of time working in the kitchen. He's mildly attractive and in his mid-30s, though his eternal scowl makes him seem older and darker. He focuses on his food for now, and he's plotting his next career move. He's been trying to get a job at the Sacred Squid for the past couple of years, as that's the hottest restaurant in town at the moment, but he's not confident he'll get their attention. He wants to open a high-end restaurant as close to Topside as he can afford, so he's usually found schmoozing the nobility in the Perfect Pint or the Steinkellar, trying to land a private chef position where he has total control of the kitchen.

Leo Xanthus
Human (Ionian) Assassin Rogue (Level 3) (Soldier Background; Chef Feat)
Str 12  Dex 16  Con 14  Int 12  Wis 14  Cha 8
Athletics +3, Deception +1, Intimidation +3*, Medicine +4, Perception +4, Sleight of Hand +7*, Stealth +5

Part of T.W.Wombat's Lore 24 project, detailing the world around Fellport.
For all city posts, see the Fellport Index. For posts about the wider world, see the Beneterra Index.