Lycurgus

Caught between history and myth, no one is quite sure whether or not Lycurgus, the supposed founder of the ancient Greek city-state of Sparta, truly existed. Many of the most noted historians of the ancient world claimed that he was the one responsible for the power and dominance of Sparta, while others said he was nothing but a legend.    What is certain, however, is that even to scholars in ancient Greece, Lycurgus was a mysterious figure, who, by the admission of the philosopher and biographer Plutarch, had a history of conflicting accounts surrounding him.    To those who believe that Lycurgus truly existed, he was the youngest son of a king who ruled the land that would come to be Sparta. When he was a young man, both his father and elder brother died, leaving him as the inheritor of the throne.    His brother’s former wife attempted to woo him, claiming that, should he accept her hand in marriage and allow her to rule alongside him, she would abort the child she was carrying, ensuring no challenge to him. Lycurgus agreed, but said that rather than abort the child, it was to be brought to him when born so that he might deal with it.    When the queen did give birth, just as Lycurgus demanded, the child was brought to him. It was then, however, that he revealed his true intentions from the very beginning: he declared to the advisors around him that this child was to be their king. He thus abdicated his throne, becoming a steward for the kingdom until the boy came of age.    But, though he ruled justly, the queen took umbrage at his betrayal, and turned the ruling class of the city against him. He was driven from Sparta and set out on a journey around the Mediterranean. During his travels, he was said to have met Homer, studied politics, governance, and strategy in Crete and Egypt, and even hiked to India.    But while he did, his former city continued to decline. Desperate, the citizens of Sparta sent word to Lycurgus, and he quickly agreed to return and reform his home, now armed with knowledge from around the world.     Before he did, however, he consulted with the Oracle of Delphi. Some say he already had his own reforms in mind, and that the Oracle merely confirmed that his ideas were proper, while others said that the Oracle handed down the laws to Lycurgus in a fit of divine inspiration. Whichever the case, however, Lycurgus made his return to Sparta with the backing of the Oracle of Delphi.    When he arrived, Lycurgus gathered his followers to him and marched on the palace, where he convinced the king to join him in his reforms. With this accomplished, Lycurgus made the first moves to change Spartan society.    Yet he was met with much resistance from wealthy Spartans, who attempted once again to drive him away. One of them even managed to gouge out Lycurgus’ eye. But when asked what this man’s punishment would be, Lycurgus said that there would be no punishment, and instead, this man would live with him as his servant. Lycurgus treated his attacker with respect and spent time conversing with him. Within a few months, the man begged forgiveness, and Lycurgus let him go free, where he spread the word to other Spartans about Lycurgus’ gentleness, nobility, and generosity, marking the end of resistance to his reforms.    Following this, Lycurgus banished money and luxury from Sparta, had all Spartan citizens focus solely on military prowess and physical fitness, redistributed land, and instated a communal form of living in all aspects of life.    Once he was finished, he went one final time to consult with the Oracle to ensure these laws and systems were good, making all Spartans take an oath that they would not change anything until he returned with the Oracle’s judgment…
    And then he vanished without a trace. Beyond this final visit to Delphi, no record of Lycurgus exists. Many believe that, after he consulted with the Oracle, who told him that Sparta was indeed good, he travelled to Crete, where he took his own life and ordered that his body be burned to ensure that the laws he made, held in place by the oath of the people, would forever remain firm and unchanging.

Lycurgus was the younger of the two children of the king of what would become Sparta. In her youth, where her brother was boisterous and charismatic, she was quiet and enigmatic, preferring to keep her thoughts and personality to herself.    Lycurgus grew up surrounded by violence, with her father dying at the hands of rioters. When this happened, the throne passed to her brother, but it wasn't long before the corrupt elements within the government came bubbling up, ending with Lycurgus' brother dying in mysterious circumstances...    Plotting to ensure her own power and survival, the former queen offered to marry Lycurgus, and said that in exchange she would have the child she was bearing aborted, thus guaranteeing the throne to Lycurgus and herself. Agreeing to her proposal, Lycurgus still begged the queen not to endanger her health, and said instead that she would personally deal with the child after the birth. Believing that this show of emotion, the first she had ever seen from the cold woman, was a sign of genuine, naïve love, the queen agreed.     But when the child was born, Lycurgus revealed her true colors, and the long game she had played to keep her thoughts and emotions hidden away from those around her who would take advantage of them. She declared the newborn as king, and said she would merely be his steward until he came of age.    The queen, infuriated by Lycurgus’ deception, turned the nobility and advisor’s against her, forcing Lycurgus to flee.    For years afterwards, Lycurgus wandered the world, learning and growing in wisdom and determination. After years, she received a letter from a small group of nobles back in in her home city: corruption and anarchy reigned supreme. They needed a truly righteous and benevolent leader to save them.    Lycurgus immediately set off for her old city once again, clutching in her mind the ideas she had learned from across the world. She stopped only once at the Oracle of Delphi, to gain blessing for her plans to fix her city. The Oracle told her that, should she put her reforms in place, her city would be the mightiest city in all of Greece. And as a token of this truth, Lycurgus received a piece of Apollo that was unified with her very flesh: a mark of her unerring justice.    Upon her return, the nobles who had written to her gathered and marched through the riots and madness. As Lycurgus and her men approached the palace, the king fled in terror to the temple to seek sanctuary. Lycurgus entered alone to face the fearful monarch, but explained she was not here to kill him but to save Sparta, and asked him to join her, an offer he gladly accepted.    Garnering more and more followers with her leadership and the blessing of Apollo, Lycurgus gradually retook the city and set about restoring order and remaking society. Of course she continued to meet resistance, particularly from the nobles who had benefited from the corruption, and who were still led by her former wife.    The culmination came when one noble offered to assassinate Lycurgus. When the time came, however, the attempt was unsuccessful, with Lycurgus only losing an eye.    Furious, the people sought to execute the would-be assassin, but Lycurgus forbade it, and instead, had the man live as her servant. It was in the course of his servitude that the man saw that Lycurgus truly was a good and just leader, and, having been one of her most staunch opponents, once he was released from bondage, convinced the other resisting nobles of Lycurgus' virtues.    In the end, the queen stood alone against all of Sparta, and fled far away rather than bow to Lycurgus’ new order.    With no more resistance, Lycurgus went about with her reforms, essentially creating Sparta as it is known today. Once she was finished, she went once more to the Oracle, making the Spartans swear that they would not change anything until she returned.
  When she arrived, the Oracle informed her that Apollo decreed her reforms perfect, and thus, to ensure their survival, Lycurgus took her own life, casting herself into the crevasse above which the Oracle sat, and binding the people to the laws of Sparta with the death of a divinity.    Yet instead of passing on, Lycurgus chose to make a contract with the world upon her death, becoming a Counter Guardian that would return to save it from threats should Sparta ever not be there to do it themselves.

The easiest way to describe Lycurgus would be ‘tomboyish’. Yet such a description would not do justice to someone who is far less abrasive and rash than a certain treacherous knight who has monopolized that term for so long. Beyond the initial impression one gets of her of a friendly and rugged soldier-type, she possesses a great deal of introspection, maturity, kindness, and even gentleness. She spends a good deal of time thinking about or interacting with others, attempting to bring out what she sees as the best in them while not compromising her own morals or sense of self.    She very much enjoys physical pursuits, as well as leisure and time off. She understands when it is time to work, and when it is time to rest, recuperate, and just have fun.    On that note, Lycurgus does like to poke fun at people, but it’s almost always in a good-natured way, and when it comes to her allies she always stops before it goes too far. One of her favorite ways to get people to rise to new challenges, however, is through well-placed barbs at their pride.    She does not fault people for their limitations, as she knows that all people have them. She faults them if they choose to stop trying to go beyond them. Even then, rather than wholly despise them or give up on them, she would try to push them to take on new challenges and to continue fighting and striving for new heights. She will coax them to keep on rising through both “carrots” and “sticks,” attempting to not only change their behaviors, but their whole mindset as well.    In terms of her relationship with the Master, she very much expects them to obey her in all matters except for combat (when she unfailingly and loyally follows their commands). But what and where they eat, what they do for fun, when and how much they sleep, in all of these things and more, Lycurgus will unceasingly try to get the Master to obey her.

Megale Rhetra

A Noble Phantasm based on Lycurgus’ greatest feat: the creation of Sparta with the proclamation known as the Megale Rhetra. Just as she did in the past, this NP serves to “create Sparta” within the era Lycurgus has been summoned to. Unlike what one may expect from hearing that, however, it is not a kind of Bounded Field, and does not directly transform the World into some sort of territory.     Rather, Megale Rhetra transforms people and their way of thinking and acting.    It is a unique system of Magecraft that was placed within Lycurgus’ body upon her first visit to the Oracle of Delphi. When released, it functions as a powerful, contractless mental attack that can stir the hearts and minds of allies and enemies alike to truly believe in everything that Lycurgus says and does. Those affected by it will rapidly become influenced by the values and abilities of the ancient Spartans. In other words, they cease to be just who they are, and become “Spartans,” with all that implies. With this, even a great deal of ordinary humans could be transformed into the equivalent of very low-ranking Servants, while Servants could be further empowered by the Spartan code, which privileges courage, strength, duty, and loyalty.    And where there are true Spartans, those who follow and embrace the culture, ideals, and systems laid down by Lycurgus, that place must in turn be Sparta. With this, she is able to indirectly create a territory, as Sparta is not found in a place, but is rather in the spirit and mindset endowed to those who call themselves Spartans. If enough “Spartans” are present, they can even change the world around them into a modern Sparta, without the risk of the World collapsing it.    Additionally, the bonds between those affected by this skill will increase, giving them almost supernatural awareness and coordination with one another, increasing all of their parameters even further, so long as they fight together.    The unknown target number and range of this Noble Phantasm is indicative of the fact that, hypothetically speaking, it could continue to grow indefinitely as more and more people became influenced by Megale Rhetra.

Teleftaío Ikhōr

An esoteric Noble Phantasm that represents Lycurgus’ last act: the choice to take her own life in return for preserving the laws of Sparta.    In exchange for her own life, Lycurgus is able to enforce any sort of contract, so long as the other party agrees to the terms: that she will die in exchange for the binding to take place. This could range from simple contracts such as not being able to harm another person for all time, to more complex ones, such as the upholding of certain rules for a populace.    Naturally it would be much harder to meet the conditions of the latter, however, once the condition is met, the contract created is nigh unbreakable, even by high thaumaturgy.

When summoned, Lycurgus appears as a tall woman (184 cm) in her late 20s to early 30s. Much like Leonidas, she has tanned skin and red hair, though both seem more lively in color than his, as she is closer to the “source” of Sparta.     For clothes, she wears a red and gold waist cape, as well as a short red ordinary cape. Other than that, she really only wears a black leotard with a hole in the midriff. The sparse amount of clothing reveals a build of lean muscle, as well as the same kinds of red tattoos that Leonidas has.     What really sets her apart, however, in her gold and red cybernetic enhancements from Apollo’s Aletheia. This includes a huge triangular blade that can both cut and fire beams of energy that has been grafted to her right arm, a golden eyepatch over her left eye, golden plates on both of her shoulders, an exoskeleton of boots and greaves fused into her legs, and, where her heart should be, a magical energy reactor, the glow of which can be seen through the cracks between the metal aperture that covers it. One can see where the technology fuses into her by the lines of gold, which connect to her red tattoos. The graft, however, is quite well done, and has, for the most part, left minimal scarring.