Early Years 68 BCE – Born as Gaius Artorius Merula, a son of a patrician and senator of good standing.
58 BCE – Develops a curious ability to manipulate metal and spends many an hour when he is not being tutored playing with the ability. An accident with a slave has him pulling back from using it openly, but he regularly practices in private moments. A gift from the gods, he thinks, but even gifts can be a curse. 52 BCE – Began his cursus honorum, entering military service for the customary 10 years. Served as tribune laticlavus in Legio VIII.
52-46 BCE – Served in the last years of the Gallic Wars, through Caesar's Civil War and to the last battle of the Legio VIII before it was disbanded.
45 BCE – Began to push his ambitions in Rome, becoming Quaestor. Married a woman from another patrician family.
44 BCE – Witnessed the assassination of Gaius Julius Caesar, firmly in the camp against the assassins. When Caesar's heir, Octavianus, arrived and reinstated Legio VIII, Gaius toyed with the idea of re-joining but instead focused on his civil career.
41 BCE – Became an Aedile, managing Rome's temples and markets, and organising games and festivals.
37 BCE – Elected Praetor Peregrinus, Gaius presides as chief judge in trials involving foreigners. His shining star begins attracting attention, not all of it good.

Gaius, Ancient Strix 36 BCE – Soon after, Gaius caught the attention of a few notable figures in Rome's political theatre. These new friends introduced him to ways to court popularity and public opinion, inducting him into the Cult of Trivia, the Roman Goddess of sorcery and witchcraft.
34 BCE – Gaius maintains his membership in the Cult with zeal, the ambition of advancing in influence turning into genuine interest and faith in the Cult.
33 BCE – Soon, Gaius was one of Trivia most faithful, the priestesses murmuring to him about favours from the Goddess once the time was right. His wife, not one as taken by the Cult as Gaius, worried at the nature of the favour.
30 BCE – After the unrest from Octavian's campaigns against Mark Anthony, the Cult of Trivia celebrated Compitalia alongside other cults and common worshippers of the household and crossroad gods. Gaius had enthusiastically agreed to be the guest of honour for the late-night ritual, the priestesses of Trivia and Mania joining together for a vital ritual to guarantee prosperity and safety to Rome in the years ahead. In truth, Gaius was the sacrifice, but the interplay between the Priestesses faith in their Goddesses, the faith of the attendees, and the power of the Goddesses themselves, resulted in death taking hold of Gaius but not ending his existence. He had become, in essence, a humanoid Strix.
30 to BCE – In the years after his transformation, life changed drastically. He could no longer walk in the daylight, but with the Cult wrapped around him and as strong as ever, he was protected, even if he could not function normally. Some bitterness arose at the loss of normality, but he had no choice but to make his unlife work.
20 BCE – Gaius' nature did not have a positive impact on his personal life, even if he was thriving among the religious echelons, his family life took a dive. His wife was horrified, soothed only by his newfound abilities,

The Monster of the Wilds 14 CE – After the death of Augustus, Gaius left Rome, tired of political machinations and with no real cause that interested him. He followed Germanicus into Pannonia and Germania, becoming a spectre haunting mutinying Legionnaires and barbaric locals.
17 CE – He flitted through Germania, fascinated at the barbarism of the Germanic peoples and ignoring Rome and its politics. He wandered along the Rhine and the Danube, tracing the very edges of the Empire that Augustus had established. He was little more than a ghost to these distant outposts, taking what he needed and leaving them alone, digging deep into caves and dirt to sleep out of the sunlight.
20 CE – It did not take long for rumours of monsters in the dark to start up around Gaius' presence. Some came to know him as the Strix he was, an ill-omen that promised death or illness. Soon, it became too dangerous to act the role of the monster, and he returned to civilisation.

Return to Rome 29 CE – Gaius returned to Rome, his restlessness settled, and he sought luxury and pleasure instead of the tough, dirty life of a monster on the fringes. After such a long time away, his previous status was dust to the ravages of time, so he began ingratiating himself. It kept him busy and entertained, an elegant distraction compared to his monstrous behaviour before. He discarded his nomen and cognomen but keeps his praenomen out of sentiment.
30 CE – Ingratiating himself with the Praetorian Guard, he whispers poisonous ambition into the ears of the prefect Lucius Aelius Sejanus. Directly or indirectly causing the arrest and exile of Agrippina the Elder and most of her brood.
31 CE – When Sejanus becomes co-Consul with Tiberius, Gaius whispers the truth of Agrippina's fate to the Princeps, resulting in Sejanus' death and Gaius' position as a trusted advisor secured.
37 CE – With Tiberius dead and the Senate ignoring the dead Emperors will, Caligula became the new Emperor. Gaius, ever ambitious, inserted himself into Caligula's orbit.
40 CE – He entertained himself with Caligula, the unstable boy the perfect target for frivolous and ridiculous suggestions, Gaius' mischief resulting in a declaration of war on Neptune, and other amusing distractions.
41 CE – Growing bored with Caligula, Gaius does nothing to save the Emperor when the Praetorian Guard and Cassius Chaerea assassinated him. The Strix settled into the tunnels underneath the Imperial Palace to hide and watch.
69 CE – In what came to be called the Year of the Four Emperors, Gaius saw Galba, Otho, and Vitellius struggle for the position of Emperor, before the final accession of Vespasian. The struggle was amusing to watch, the unrest beneficial to the Strix as a supposed bad omen. There was plenty of blood to be had for his survival.
79 CE – The Eternal City continued; the old Roman Strix was disinterested in politics for now. Mount Vesuvius erupted, Gaius happily far away from that, and Domitian rankled the Senate with his military pageantry.
128 CE – Time marched on. Domitian was replaced by Trajan, Trajan by Hadrian. Emperor Hadrian was an unpopular emperor but a skilled architect. Curiosity around this skill had Gaius engaging a little more with the living beyond simply feeding off of them and manipulating them, interested in the advancements, the new use of volcanic ash in cement, the revolutionary designs of cupulas Hadrian's sprawling domus at Tivoli.
181 CE – Antoninus Pious replaced Hadrian, then Marcus Aurelius had his time, with Commodus quickly ruining the stability the past eighty years had enjoyed.
186 CE – With the Antonine Plague hitting Rome again, the death toll increasing and culling his feeding grounds, Gaius disappeared from his dabbling in Rome.

Life in Roman Britain 208 CE – He reappeared again in Roman-controlled Britain, next to Septimius Severus, for the invasion of Caledonia. After the death of the Emperor in Eboracum, Gaius turned Britain into his wandering ground, exploring the Roman cities, getting to know the Britons, and feeding when hungry. He tricked and entertained himself with the humans as a raven, learning about the Pictish and Celtic way of life.
306 CE – He re-entered the political stage during Constantius Chlorus's campaigns in the north of Britain. A dip back into Roman civilisation and Roman conquest, which ended similarly as the previous. At the Emperor's death in Eboracum, he begins thinking Britain is cursed for Romans.
383 CE – In Segontium, he found himself whispering in Magnus Maximus' ear to begin a revolt, resulting in Gaius having influence over the man holding much of the western Empire under his fist. It was a short-lived revolt, lasting only until 388, but Gaius was satisfied with the trouble he had mixed up.
409 CE – With the Roman rule in Britain fading, Gaius takes on the role of a warlord, taking advantage of the loss of order and support.
446 CE – The Romans ignored the Britons appealing for help against raiding Picts and Scots, but Gaius threw himself into the conflict, building a power base, even knowing his time out in the open was limited with his weakness to direct sunlight.
577 CE – At the Battle of Deorham, Gaius' career as a warlord and pretend-Briton was over, with the Saxon's taking over the cities of Glevum, Corinium Dobunnorum, and Aquae Sulis. He faded away here, presumed dead by his followers, starting again afresh.
610 CE – Next, he appeared sailing into Constantinople in Heraclius' company, deposing the unpopular Phocas. In Constantinople, he joined a small group of the undying such as him, who had a loose alliance between themselves and settled in to stay, having exhausted his amusements with human warfare.
626 CE – The Sassanid Persians and the Avar's siege of Constantinople was a particularly significant annoyance, but the undying took to harrying the sieging force during the night, drinking and eating their fill from the city's enemies while they avoided suspicion within the walls of their home.
718 CE – After a century filled with sieges, Gaius left his life in Constantinople, the group disbanding as the undying scattered.

Baudelius of Frankia, advisor to Charlemagne 730 CE – Gaius made his way into Frankia, adopting a Frankish name. Carefully, he toned down his Roman mannerisms knowing that the Romans were not remembered with fondness among the Frankish. He made his way into the Merovingian court and spotted quickly that they were not the true rulers, even if they had the title of king. Curious about this balance of power, Gaius introduced himself as Baudelius to Charles Martel who, as Duke and Mayor of the Palace, was the de facto leader of the Franks.
750 CE – Gaius remained a supporter to the Carolingians, using his abilities to suggest and charm to gain a modest position where no one would look too closely at him. When Pepin the Short gains the Kingship with the blessings of the Pope, the Merovingians are no more.
768 CE – Gaius followed the Carolingian armies, observing and helping the Frankish kingdom expand until the death of Pepin the Short. He returned to Frankia with the body, witnessing Charles and Carloman being given joint Kingship. It was with Charles that Gaius attached himself, watching the expansion
775 CE – As a member of Charles' scara, Gaius diverts suspicion through calculated hypnotism and bribes, but ultimately, he made sure he was well-liked. His avoidance of religious symbols made things tricky, but he pantomimed well enough. Charles was too busy with his military campaigns to worry about one of his skilled warriors not going to church.
799 CE – With no small amount of glee, Gaius observed Pope Leo III struggle to retain his hold on Rome and turn to Charles for help. The coronation of Charles as Imperator Romanorum was a quaint and amusing thing, Gaius recognising the conflict that would come from the certainly more legitimate claim of the Byzantines.
803 CE – Gaius was one of the commanders of the Bavarian army that Charles sent into Pannonia to end the Avar confederation. It was here he again disappeared, letting the humans draw what conclusions they would.
814 CE – A decade later, Gaius visited Charles at Aachen, finding the Carolingian and Emperor of the Romans ill with pleurisy and at death's door. His old friend expressed no surprise at Gaius' unchanging appearance, long since suggested to ignore it, but Gaius told Charles the truth of it then, even offering to give Charles the gift of eternal life. The pious Emperor turned him down, horrified, but was soothed through supernatural means to forget before it could start any trouble.

Artorius, warrior for hire 978 CE – Taking on a new name, one more familiar to him, Gaius returned to Britain. He adopted the guise of a wandering warrior, recruiting and enthralling a group of skilled individuals to follow him. He turns their specialisation into nighttime strikes, playing to his strengths and aware of his limitations.
1066 CE – The conflict leading to the Battle of Hastings had the odd mercenary company busy enough. In the aftermath of Godwinsson's death, Gaius and his band were hired to retrieve the body by Godwinsson's mother. This mission failed, their nighttime strike going wrong and the band losing control of the body. Gaius himself was cornered and had most of his body hacked apart. Unknown to his attackers, he could recover even if it would take time.
1066-1070 CE – He fled to Londinium, going aground and withdrawing from any attempt at engaging with the outer world beyond surviving while the eldritch magic that kept him in the world of the living worked to reform his body.

Col, from rags to riches 1200 CE – Londinium continued to grow, becoming the biggest city on the Isles and the easiest place to hide for a Strix needing shelter and food. Gaius became Col, initially nothing better than a beggar and vagrant as he slowly worked to establish himself. Nighttime was his haunt, weakened and twitchy, feeding off the less fortunate and thieving from the wealthy to start a nest egg. 1349 CE – When the Black Plague hit London, Col was in the middle of it all. While the disease threatening his food source was alarming, he nonetheless used the pandemic to his advantage, a series of property take-overs enabling him to increase his wealth without it appearing suspicious or alarming.
1381 CE – Gaius ran into trouble during the Peasant's Revolt, cornered and caught by the unwashed masses who weren't interested in much other than raging at their perceived injustices. Burned at the stake, Gaius was reduced to a charred body, a scene of horror once the rope burned, and he crawled out of the flames, screaming and rapidly approaching unconsciousness. The peasants fled to a man, only Gaius' helpless thrall to bear witness, and they brought Gaius to a nearby dark, dank cave to wait out the sun until he could safely return to his estate.
1475 CE – As London evolved and time marched on, Gaius got involved with the merchants, using the wealth amassed during the years to fund trading and merchant ships. The Hanseatic league was fostering the very beginning of future English dominance of trade.
1565 CE – With the start of the Royal Exchange and the East India Company and trade expanding into the new world, Gaius found himself becoming something of a major trader, attaching himself to the companies producing wealth by way of smart trade and some careful use of hypnotism.

Guillaume Blackbird, merchant 1640 CE – Gaius embraced a life of obscurity. He applied what he'd learnt through the centuries to his mercantile business, going through gains and losses and relying heavily on his thralls to do business during the daylight. It was easy to be branded an eccentric, but with enough money, it was simply exciting for onlookers.
1642 CE – As the English Civil War began, Gaius continued his business, carefully keeping an eye on where the tide of the conflict was tipping and working to maintain his wealth and resources. He cared not for either side of the conflict.
1649 CE – With the country in upheaval, Gaius recognised he needed the support of other undying. Finally giving up his loner ways, he established contact with a few other lone undying in the area, the group of them tentatively establishing a small alliance amongst themselves.
1660 CE – After three civil wars, the Londoners finally welcomed a new king, and things stabilised, allowing the undying time to enjoy the relative peace and false sense of security that came over the citizenry in peacetime.

Arthur Blackbird, industrialist 1700 CE – With a business maintained through middlemen and thralls, Gaius maintained his wealth through his business, the idea that it was owned by the same family persisting without anyone thinking to wonder at the similarity between fathers and sons. He departed London, ready to let the business run itself.
1800 CE – Gaius took up the opportunity to wander, slowly winding through Europe, to Asia and Africa. He explored the things of his past, ruined cities that he remembered, having heard of them when he was alive or visited. He dipped back into old monstrous habits, lurking in ruins to eat his fill and, feeling mischievous, frightening curious humans.
1914 CE – Because of his wealth, Gaius neatly avoided being among those who were forced to join the war effort when the Great War broke out, instead playacting the wealthy beneficiary and advancing his own agendas.
1939 CE – Similarly to the Great War, Gaius focused on the home front but fled London when the Blitz started up. Blood was harder to get in the smaller villages, but he maintained a few thralls as his manservants, allowing for access without needing to endanger himself. A few close calls, but everyone was far more concerned with the threat of German spies.

The Computer Age and Easthaven 1945-1989 CE – Gaius focused his money on technology, fascinated with computers and the rapidly advancing electronics coming into play. With a few smart investments, he secured his wealth for the future. Microsoft. Apple. Missing out on Google, but he had enough to last himself and his for quite some time.
1990 CE – Seeing opportunity abroad, Gaius finally left the Old World and headed to the New World. He relocated to Easthaven, a small promising city where he could unfold and find new ambitions in a new world. In Easthaven, he initially kept to himself, taking the measure of these American humans and seeing how far he could push it.
2016 CE – The anonymous tech magnate found himself running for Mayor, winning the election thanks to his access to funding and clever manipulation. He became known as a somewhat eccentric mayor, appearing seemingly out of nowhere to cheerfully frighten his aides. At outside events during the daytime, he is largely represented by an army of aides, terrifically skilled at their jobs.