Psaltarian in the Imperial Clergy AU
I'm a big fan of this guy!
Psaltarian, like I said before, is a Cardinal for the purposes of this AU
He's actually currently the oldest Cardinal alive (beware an old man in a profession where men die young), and most Cardinals look to him for guidance and an understanding of scales of threat
He uses this trust to help subtly promote Marika's ideas and ideals for the Empire, even encouraging Cardinals to ignore very small scale problems in Primo, Secondo, and Terzo's territories
He and Nihil are friends, despite Nihil's lack of discipline, and when Nihil came to Psaltarian to share his worries over his children being assassinated, it was Psaltarian who suggested he and Marika take them
Psaltarian and his sons Copia and Perpetua have a mildly complicated relationship
He trusts Copia to have the strength to do what is necessary, which causes him to be overly critical and harsh of the mistakes C makes, but also the son he trusts to assist him
Meanwhile, he has his doubts about Perpetua and his loyalties, so he tends to spend more time with him, trying gently to correct him
Psaltarian is also head over heels in love with Marika
It kind of throws him how she's barely aged since they met, so he tends to be very romantic about any of her signs of aging (he loves her crow's feet)
While they unfortunately have to spend a lot of time apart due to their jobs, he calls her nightly (or whatever counts as night in his ship's cycles)
Psaltarian's specialty as a Cardinal is not against a specific threat, but in the spell he's mastered to mange his crew
Psaltarian manages (though tries to only use when necessary) a psychic link to each of the people under his command, with the ability to listen in, speak to, and even take control of the bodies of those he sends out
Because of this he prefers to work with highly skilled and trained specialists, or on occasion, training those with potential
Because of this, his crew is extremely loyal, having been hand selected and having enough trust in him to be able to analyze their minds and get them out of trouble when they need it
He also has no particular love for ghouls, finding the effort to try to keep them human-like too much work, and their subsequent lack of creativity and initiative annoying
He keeps a few around to manage his paperwork/do general ship upkeep and nothing more