Damien Cross
The Prince
Eyes:
White
Hair:White
Skin:Pale
Height:6’0
Weight:175
Gender:Male
Name:
Damien
Last name:Cross
Alias:The Prince of the Underworld
Species:Arkanian
Age:25
Gender:Male
Family:House Cross
Faction:Unaffiliated
Force Sensitive:No
Homeworld:Coruscant
Damien Cross
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The Heir Apparent - Birth through Childhood
Damien was born the first son of a set of twins in 849 ABY to the Cross crime family’s head, Lord Asher. It was obvious at a young age that Damien was not an ordinary child. He did not cry or ask many questions. The boy’s early life was marked by a quiet intensity that many would consider unsettling. It was merely a product of his circumstance, however. An upbringing as the heir to an influential crime syndicate was anything but normal, and Damien did not have the luxury of growing up naive or guileless.
Damien and his brother Allan were afforded education that would benefit them later in their professional lives. Their father took them both under his personal mentorship. To the former he taught the art of the deal. When to compromise and when to be unyielding, when to take what belongs to you and how to get others to do it for you. To the latter he showed the way of the enforcer. How to give with one hand while stealing with the other, how to impose fear upon those that you control, and those that you wish to control. The two were his perfect successors. Damien, the leader that could rival even his own cunning, and Allan, the boy forged into a weapon. Together, he knew they would be unstoppable.
“My boys, your ancestors were industrialists and statesmen, men of great standing and stature. You will not be them. No, you will be better.” - Lord Asher Cross to his newborn sons.
Shoes to Fill - Adolescence
Coming into his manhood, Damien was entrusted with more and more responsibilities by his father. He organized smuggling operations and oversaw roster changes. His father even began to attend political and criminal gatherings with Damien, introducing him into the world’s he intended him to one day conquer. Damien formed his own connections in these settings, expanded the influence of his House and its grip on the world of commerce.
When Asher Cross was murdered Damien found himself shocked. Not because of the loss of a family member, or any of the traditional sentimentality that came with it. But because he had figured the man invincible. Damien took care to remember his own mortality, to never grow so comfortable that anyone would have a chance to eliminate him.
“Answer me this, brother. If your workshop goes up in flames what do you do? Do you weep and wish for a better lot in life? No, you pick up your tools and you build back again. And if your tools go up in the flame, why, they are called tools for a reason. They were meant to be used.” - Damien Cross to his younger brother Allan Cross after the death of their father.
The King is Dead, Long Live the Prince - Adulthood to Present
If Asher Cross had been a king to the underworld then Damien figured himself an uncrowned Prince. He took up the Cross Export Corporation and all of its assets and set his sights on the future. The connections he had garnered - both through his own political acumen and through his father - were used to expand House Cross’ influence even further. He wanted to rule the whole of the Corusantii underworld. And he didn’t want to stop there.
Damien Cross’ goals have never been clearer. He seeks to sit atop a gilded throne, no matter the amount of blood he’ll have to shed to achieve it.
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+Ruthless - Ruthless: Damien will do anything and everything to achieve his goals, regardless of moral ramifications.
+Courtly - Damien can seal a deal both in commerce and in the political game
+Arkanian Brilliance - Damien’s Arkanian heritage has gifted him with an above average intellect which reflects in his daily dealings.
~Detachment - Damien emotional detachment has left him almost incapable of forming strong bonds. Most people are tools to him, with few exceptions.
~Bloodline - His Arkanian heritage has made him the Lord of a criminal syndicate, but House Cross is unable to shake its disgraced image.
-Physically Weak - Damien is nothing more than average at personal combat, most trained fighters would be enough to do him in.
-Inferiority- Though more an unconscious limiter, Damien unwittingly considers himself below his father, and does not know if he can live up to the standards placed upon him.
-Expansionist - Damien has a one track mind when it comes to his organization, he is always looking to expand. -
Name:
Allen Cross
Relation: Brother Opinion: Fond
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The origins of the notorious House of Cross are as ancient and steeped in tradition as the founding of it’s home planet Arkania itself. It is said the progenitors of House Cross were holy men, though this does not mean they were benign ones. The early Cross’s used their influence to dig deep roots into the bloodlines of Arkanian nobility. These roots flourished into fruitful bearings for the family, as House Cross established itself as true, pure, Arkanian aristocracy.
Through these efforts, the House habitualized the use of corruption for its own selfish means.
And as the immemorial proverb goes: Old Habits Die Hard.
Moving forward, the men and women of Cross utilized whatever methods they deemed necessary for advancement. Nothing was too low for them, not larceny and not murder. Not so long as they could convince another soul to wield the knife. And this ideology became something of a motto for them. Getting some hands dirty wasn’t a problem, so long as they weren’t yours to wash.
The family rose to prominence after breaking into the diamond market. There were never enough of the Arkanian commodity to go around, and the Cross’ knew this well. From diamond extraction they moved to exporting, and once they controlled ports criminal activity became all the easier. They ruled their domains with an iron grasp of controlled fear, yet they knew how to motivate their underlings. It was all about the profit margins, every item sold or smuggled brought in more wealth for the House, and in turn, they shared more with the soldiers that served under them. The Cross crime syndicate became a well oiled machine, with moving parts that all knew their role, and not to overstep it.
The crackdown of law enforcement upon House Cross was something of a recent development. The Lord at the time, one Adamo Cross focused too little on his political connections and too much on his corporate developments. The result was less favors from higher up, and eventually, the rug being pulled out from under them. The criminal elements of the Cross Export Corporation were seized by authorities, or, at least the ones they could find. Lord Adamo was tried for the long list of crimes he had committed, and through a series of pulled strings and called favors he managed to save his head, though his family was forever disgraced. The main branch of House Cross was banished from Arkania, never to return in their lifespans.
Lord Adamo relocated what he could of the company’s assets to Courscant, the rest he left to the Cross’ that hadn’t been exiled. Coruscant could have been a fresh start for the Arkanian exiles - would have been - but a Cross knows nothing of purely honest dealings. Lord Adamo used what resources he still had to make a foothold in Galactic City’s underworld. The House established itself and its goals, but the Lord squandered his opportunities. He remembered the bitter sting of defeat from Arkania and refused to experience it again. House Cross was brought to the brink of ruination under his leadership, too focused on maintaining their meager gains than expanding into new territory. A change had to be made, and it came in the form of Adamo’s heir, Asher Cross.
Asher forced his father out of the Lordship, making him renounce his position as head of House. He embraced the family's tradition of taking what he wanted by any means necessary, and he found that it worked. The Cross Export Corporation bloomed under his authority. He achieved legal venues of revenue that he used to invest deeper in his control of the planet's underworld. House Cross’ influence grew so much that its rise could not go unnoticed, not by potential allies and certainly not by its enemies. For every official Asher bought or company he subsidized he gained another target on his back. Eventually the prize grew so prolific that someone decided to collect. Asher Cross was murdered, and control of his company fell to his twins sons Damien and Allen.
Allan had always shunned the responsibility of leadership, but Damien - the older of the two - was as ruthless and unyielding as his father had ever been. The House of Cross’s story begins here. It has been seven years since Damien became the head of the family, and he has slowly been gathering allies and assets, all with one goal in mind.
Rule the underworld, or die trying.
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Just getting started!