Here's Page 2 again, a little better-defined in ink. Color should follow shortly in a week or so.

My last principal character to be featured, Anastasius, is unique among the ones I've profiled so far in that he is the only one who is fictional.  However, the order he belongs to is not.

Anastasius is the leader of the monastic Order of St. Severinus, who, coincidentally, is the saint that prophesied that Odoacer would become King of Italy.  At this time in their history, they are housed in Romulus's last-known residence, a monastery on an island in the Bay of Naples that had previously been a fortress, which itself had previously been the villa of a Roman Republican general. This general was reported to have had a large library, and I figured there was no reason that could not have been passed along to the monks, as well as built upon over time, as there is a rich tradition of monks being custodians of ancient knowledge. Seemed a no-brainer to make them the keepers of Romulus's history as well.

Anastasius is in his early seventies at the point that he meets Procopius. His face is the very definition of "careworn," with a conscience and a stubborn belief in the goodness of men to match. (He also bears an accidental resemblance to one of my favorite college professors!) While on the surface he appears to be little more than a passive observer of great events, he bears close watching in this story, and plays a significant role in the shaping of its final outcome.