Cunovellasus
- You may be looking for the Cunovellasus from "The Prodigal Sun".
Cunovellasus was a 1st century Briton, a prince of a "northern tribe" which was not historically meant to become involved with the Roman conquest of Britain, but were drawn into it by the War Chief.
Biography
Born in 7 AD, Cunovellasus was among the princes of a northern Briton tribes who were contacted by the War Chief via holographic Sontaran recon drones (GAME: "Non-Player Characters" [+]Part of The Legions of Death, Loading...{"namedpart":"Non-Player Characters","1":"The Legions of Death (game)"}) as part of his plot to derail the conquest of Britain, abduct Emperor Claudius, and take control of the Roman Empire. Presenting himself as a "war god" who dwelled in the Sacred Wood between Londinium and Camulodunum, he recruited these leaders into a cult of the "Inner Mysteries" and drove them to amass into a second army that would take Claudius's legions by surprise after their historically-established victory over Cattigern and Caractacus. (GAME: "The War Chief" [+]Part of The Legions of Death, Loading...{"namedpart":"The War Chief","1":"The Legions of Death (game)"}) Cunovellasus was, by then, betrothed to the sister of Princess Branimandua, who learned of the crusade as a result and decided to join in despite not having initially been contacted herself.
Earnestly believing that he had been called by the gods, Cunovellasus arrived in the Sacred Wood and was initiated into the Mysteries, i.e. taken down into the depths of the War Chief's TARDIS and brainwashed using the processing machines. However, even after his faith in the War Chief was made ontologically unshakable, he retained some of his careful spirit and common sense, and sometimes questioned orders; because of this, the War Chief dismissed him as leader of the coalition in favour of the more fanatical Calagundus. The changes in her brother-in-law-to-be's behaviour, however, were still enough to concern the non-brainwashed Branimandua, planting the seeds of doubt within her regarding the benevolence of the War Chief. (GAME: "Non-Player Characters" [+]Part of The Legions of Death, Loading...{"namedpart":"Non-Player Characters","1":"The Legions of Death (game)"})
All of Cunovellasus, Branimandua and Calagundus were present in the Britons' camp when some of the time travellers who had begun to investigate the War Chief's activities were taken there. If Mikhyl Nevenskoi was among them, Cunovellasus was the one to interrogate him. Later, when Branimandua began to speak out against the War Chief, Cunovellasus acknowledged that she was making good points until she began to describe what she had seen in the Sacred Wood, which contradicted Cunovellasus's own tampered-with memories, leading him to dismiss her words as "nonsense". (GAME: "In the Briton camp" [+]Part of The Legions of Death, Loading...{"namedep":"In the Briton camp","1":"The Legions of Death (game)"})
All of the War Chief's brainwashed victims were later freed from his control when the processing machines were smashed, allowing history to go back on track. (GAME: "Ending the Adventure" [+]Part of The Legions of Death, Loading...{"namedep":"Ending the Adventure","1":"The Legions of Death (game)"})
Physical appearance
Cunovellasus was a "broad-shouldered, powerful-looking man" with a "bull neck", distinctive "fiery red hair" and a matching beard. He was "slow-moving, stubborn, and immensely strong". (GAME: "Non-Player Characters" [+]Part of The Legions of Death, Loading...{"namedpart":"Non-Player Characters","1":"The Legions of Death (game)"})
Behind the scenes
The Fourth Doctor short story The Prodigal Sun [+]Loading...["The Prodigal Sun (short story)"] later featured another Briton by the name of Cunovellasus who was active during the Roman conquest of Britain, alongside another Calagundus. However, that Calagundus was a young boy from the same tribe as the story's Cunovellasus, a much older druid. As such, it is doubtful that they were intended to be the same characters as their The Legions of Death [+]Loading...["The Legions of Death (game)"] namesakes.
