~Cornelius Ulysses Voss~
The Ruler

'let the sky fall at my feet,
and i shall rule the world'

||Role||
High Lord of the Autumn Court

||Name||
Cornelius Ulysses Voss

||Nicknames||
~Cory~
This is the only nickname he will accept, and only from people he is close enough with. If someone were to use this without permission, it would not be a pretty picture. To everyone else, he is 'High Lord of the Autumn Court'. And god forbid someone call him 'Cornelius' because he actually might kill someone.

||Age||
1206

||Gender||
Male

||Sexuality||
Pansexual

||Face Claim||
Vincent Von Thien

||Powers||
~Fire Manipulation~
Cory's ability to control flames is unlike anything most have ever seen. His power is outrageously strong, able to create and manipulate flames into towering infernos that far surpass the abilities of most high fae of the autumn court. He can burn down a fortress in minutes until it's nothing but ashes, or simply light a candle with the flick of a finger.

~Air Manipulation~
He can create tornados, light breezes, move objects with a simple gust of wind. He hasn't honed this power as much as his flames because it is far less intimidating, but it still comes in handy occasionally.

~Winnowing~
Like many powerful fae, Cory has the ability to winnow. This means he can transport himself from one location to another providing the place he's trying to go isn't warded against winnowing. It is a useful tool, for both escape and attack.

||Personality||
Cory is not a man to be messed with. He grew up alone, abandoned whilst surrounded by people who could've helped him, and he learnt quickly that the only person he could truly count on was himself. Everyone else was a disaster waiting to happen. Too many ulterior motives, too many tragic mistakes. Even the strongest fae was a risk because in the end, Cory knew why people were untrustworthy. Desire. Whether it was for wealth, power, sex, it didn't matter. One well timed bribe and even the most infallible people became weak. So Cory only relies on himself. He has advisors, sure, and servants, but the last time Cory trusted anyone was well over 1000 years ago and he's not planning on changing that anytime soon. On a whole, most people would describe Cory as a typical high lord. Ruthless, ambitious, intelligent. Not so much charismatic. He doesn't charm, because he doesn't need to. His humour is dry, and based on the knowledge that he is quite literally the superior to everyone in the room (apart from the other high rulers, but that's another matter).  He can be cruel, because he doesn't feel the need to coddle people. No one coddled him, and he's just fine (kinda).

Although most people wouldn't expect it, Cory is an avid learner. It is not obvious, and his intellectual pursuits are less about maths or literature or science and more about power. The way people conduct themselves and why is a crucial part of maintaining control, and that's exactly what he plans to do. He's worked too hard to lose anything else, and he'd rather die then admit defeat. He is easy to anger, but his anger is not explosive; it is quiet but destructive. Merciless. Someone could go for many years without knowing they'd angered him until one day realising their world had imploded slowly but surely and it was all due to one man. Despite Cory's arrogance, there is one thing he is not infallible to, and that's fear. A mate is supposed to be the other half of your soul, decided on by the gods above. But Cory watched his parent's mating bond destroy each other, and he can't think of anything more cruel than hating someone whilst knowing they were the only one you were ever going to love. So Cory doesn't allow romance into his life, mates or otherwise. Hookups are one thing, but no one sticks around for more then a couple of nights, and that's just fine with him.

||Background||
~The Siblings~
Three. That is how many children Fabian and Ralencia Voss decided to have from the day they found out they were mates, and that is how many children they ended up having together. Frederick, the eldest. A man of ambition and greed, who believed that the world he wanted to create was achievable only via bloodshed and destruction. A new world. Where humans were completely at the mercy of the fae and fae of a lower social class would be forced to respect their superiors. Then there was Petunia, the middle child. She had the beauty of a dainty flower and the instincts of a vampire bat. Her beauty was her dagger, and her weapon of choice was the poison that came from the very flowers she was compared to. And then there was Orpheus, the youngest. Sly, subtle, and overlooked but by no means any less deadly then his elder siblings. This trio were conceived, sculpted, and destined to be the next heirs to the autumn court throne. Every noble had a bet placed on who would take the throne when the time came, and even Fabian and Ralencia had their favourites. What no one expected was for Ralencia to fall pregnant for a fourth time. With a child that didn't belong to Fabian.

~The Chaos~
It was never confirmed officially, of course, because the idea of someone cheating on their mate, a high lord no less, was inconceivable. But out came Cornelius, with his brown curls and dark eyes, sticking out like a sore thumb when compared to his siblings. Fabian wouldn't look at his fourth child, barely acknowledged his existence. And Ralencia was so sick with grief over a relationship she'd ruined that she wasted away, barely sane by the time Cornelius reached adolescence. With his siblings prepared to fight to the death for the throne and no one to teach him, Cory only had one person he could rely on: himself. So he trained. He worked. He became a hidden threat that no one expected, and he made sure to stay out of his sibling's way. Until his mother finally passed away, when he was 106, and suddenly all eyes were on the Voss Children. Fabian was still ruling, brutal and merciless as ever, but suddenly there were comments about how weak he seemed. About his bastard child and unfaithful mate. About how he must be soft because Cornelius remained alive, living under his roof. And that is when Orpheus struck.

~The Order~
Orpheus killed his father without a struggle, using the fact that everyone underestimated him to strike quickly and without hesitation. In the aftermath, when everyone was reeling, he took down his sister with a single blade to the heart. And finally, when Frederick came to confront him in a fit of rage, he outsmarted him into falling into a trap he'd had placed and watched as his brother drowned in molten iron. Orpheus thought it was all over. After all, the only family he had left was his scrawny half-brother who had barely reached adulthood, who was so quiet that he'd earned the nickname 'ghost'. But Cory was not going to let himself be killed. So it was Cory who poisoned the wine his brother always drank, and it was Cory who watched him choke to death on his own blood. And when the nobles turned to the palace looking for an explanation, an answer, a lord, it was Cory who walked out of the palace doors with a crown on his head. Unwanted and unloved, but undefeated. Just the way he planned it.

||Quotes||
'if the gods have a problem with me,
they should come down here and say it to my face'

'let the world burn,
as long as I am untouched by the flames'

'power belongs to those who take it'

||Trivia||
~Highly adored by most autumn fae because he puts on lots of events and festivals throughout the year to cultivate court loyalty
~Not so adored by the autumn humans because he's entirely a dickhead to humans