GAGE, Jaron Micah

[Jaron Gage]

JARON.MICAH.GAGE

PLAYED BY: David Agbodji

Bio Basics

Full Name: Jaron Micah Gage
Nicknames: Gage
Greek or Roman: Roman
Member of the Legion or Probatio: Legion
Cohort: First
Godly Parent: Neptune
Age: 23 years
Gender: Male
Sexual Orientation: Bisexual
Eye Color: Dark brown
Hair Color: Black

Personality

Likes
1. Tridents
2. Horses
3. All other equids
4. The color green
5. Cooking
6. Motown music
7. Red heads
8. Latin, specifically the Aeneid
9. Did we mention the ponies?
10. Misty mornings
11. Exercise and physical challenges
12. His journal

Dislikes
1. Horror movies
2. Gelatin
3. Overpowering perfume and cologne
4. Immaturity and rashness
5. Limits
6. Black olives
7. '90s boy band music
8. Caves
9. Chocolate
10. Scooters

Strengths
1. Physically strong
2. Experienced
3. Particularly strong connection with equids
4. Control over water and ice

Weaknesses
1. Undervalues emotions
2. Overly suspicious
3. Requires excessive debate/reasoning before agreeing with another
4. Overly independent
5. Tendency to be stubborn or rigid
6. Impatient with people

Fatal Flaw
1. Hubris - Gage has lived through a lot, and when you're the last one standing, it makes you wonder.

Gage has been through a lot, and it shows. He is more of a loner than he once was. "People skills" aren't really his forte, but surviving is. He has a tendency to be quiet, except when his passions are enraged, and then he can burst with words like a dam struck by a storming flood; it is not that he does not feel feelings, but rather he attempts to push them down, to focus on tasks and goals rather than the emotions that might accompany them.

Even though it might seem as if Gage is all serious all the time, he actually can have quite the biting tongue and is able to make a quick quip on the spot. Usually, they sting a little and could even sound pointed or passive aggressive, but that's not how Gage works. Face something head on, unless that'll get you defeated or killed. Instead of beating around the bush, Gage would much rather just have a mature confrontation of the issue and get past it.

Gage sees himself as neither a follower nor a leader. If he thinks that an idea is wrong, he will disagree with it -- very vehemently. If his attempts to sway the fool do not work, he'll go about doing his own thing, ignoring orders in a most un-Roman fashion. Before he left, he would never have done that, though he would have politely voiced his opinions, but after the quest, he no longer sees a need to refrain from preventing foolishness.

Indeed, foolishness is one thing that Gage abhors above others. Recklessness and immaturity light a fury inside him that little else can, for it is these traits and decisions that get people killed. And he will not wait for a person to learn on their own; Gage will take matters into his own hands to prevent disaster, even if that just means snapping at the potential perpetrator and shutting them down. Would this make him the greatest teacher? Probably not. He is merciless in his training, for the real world is harsher than even the strictest drill instructor. In a way, Gage could even be seen as ruthless.

With people, though, and social interactions, Gage cares little for power and less for social drama. Do they not realize that there is danger on the horizon? This isn't to say that Gage is unwilling to cultivate friendships, but he is very wary of such an endeavor, and even less so to pursue romance. These emotions cloud the judgment and result in the loss of what he cares for most -- so even though it seems as if he is a cold-hearted loner, Gage actually seeks only to protect and shield.

Powers

Gage is a common son of Neptune. He has lived for longer than some others, so he has had time to cultivate his powers and he knows where he is strongest. In truth, he is strongest in his connection with equids of all kinds, and even sometimes the occasional bull. His other powers are solely water based, for he can manipulate water and ice -- thus, he is resistant to cold and is able to breathe underwater, and he can change water to ice and vice versa. In general, however, Gage was not a particularly powerful son of Neptune by nature, except in relation to the equines, so all that he has has been achieved through hard work and the desperation that comes with near-death experiences. He's currently working on the ability to purify saltwater and make it freshwater (for Neptune was more the god of fresh water in the beginning than the entire sea, unlike his Greek counterpart, Poseidon).

History

Claimed? Yes
How many years have they been at Camp? Arrived at camp when he was 12, was there for 6 years until he was 18, when he was sent as a companion on a quest. He reappeared only a few days before the monsters destroyed Camp Jupiter.
Other family members: Rose Zora Gage (mother, deceased); June Maya Gage (aunt, age 54)

Pre-Camp History
Jaron Micah Gage was born in Seattle on November 22, 1991 to a public school Latin teacher, Rose Zora Gage. From a young age, Gage had a connection to horses and other equines. If he went to a zoo, the zebras would all come to him, this little boy from the city. If he went to a pony ride, they would try to break loose from their handlers to nuzzle him. Gage attended public school and suffered from the usual demigod dyslexia, though his ADHD was much more subdued than his fellow demigods. His teachers recognized him as a bright boy, though, and some even tried to help him. It wasn't until he took Latin for the first time that he truly shone.

It was not to last, however. One day, Gage came home to find a flock of striges, the blood-sucking, yellow-eyed birds of Roman mythology, feeding on his mother, and they attacked him. Although he tried to fight them off with mere kitchenware, it was not a fight he could win, so he ran out of his apartment onto the fire escape. A piebald pegasus appeared, however, who had been flying nearby, and rescued Gage. His name was Maculosus, and he and Gage were fast companions. Maculosus took Gage to Camp Jupiter, and though he never stayed in the camp stables, he was never far, and the two became fast friends.

During Camp
It took very little time for Neptune to claim Gage, and even less for everyone to figure out who his father was, and it was not long until he was sent to Lupa, who granted him his SPQR tattoo. Thus, he worked his way up the ranks, never forgetting the sight of his mother's body nor his desire to uncover the truth of her death and claim justice for it. Meanwhile, he lived his life in Camp Jupiter, never leaving to visit relatives, though he had an aunt who would have taken him, and made friends, as any would. He matured, he went through drama, he did everything that teenagers do. Except a quest.

After six years, and watching many others his age be chosen, Gage was starting to wonder if he would ever be chosen (never mind the fact that six years is hardly a long time and that some people are never chosen at all). But he was a son of Neptune, and shouldn't that mean something? But then there was a prophecy, and Gage did not want to admit it, but he had a creeping, nagging suspicion that he might be the one, finally, to go.

Yet it was not to be. Instead, a girl, three years younger than Gage, was chosen: Janet Barlow, a daughter of Trivia -- not even a child of one of the Olympians, but one of a minor god. They were friendly to him before and during the quest, sure, but it still felt like a blow to Gage, though he did his best not to show it. Janet's first choice of companion was her closest friend, Briana Porter, daughter of Venus -- as in, the mother of Rome -- and an influential member of the Senate. Janet's second companion she wanted to be another of her friends, but the friend refused before the Senate even thought to ask for her, and so Janet turned to Gage. He later learned that it was from a suggestion from Briana, and she exchanged the granting of valuable supplies for his presence on the quest.

During Quest
The quest was to find and defeat Cacus, a son of Vulcan and a creature of great evil. The story was that Hercules defeated him long ago, but apparently he was preparing a return and was going to ravage citizens along the west coast. Maculosus joined the journey, providing Gage great comfort and even protection in several cases. They were ready, they were able, they were the chosen three who were going to save the lives of countless of innocents. They thought.

Their first and last stop was Sacramento. Janet interpreted the prophecy to mean that she would have to go north and inland, and who was Gage to question? There was a reason he was not chosen as the leader of the quest by the Auguries. They met with a man who claimed to know of their work, said he was sent by Olympus to give them guidance, and that this was quite regular on quests, to have a mentor or guide in the location. And who were they to know better? This man, a Mr. William Spike, turned out to be a manticore. He struck Janet with his tail and tore one of Maculosus's wings with his teeth. Although they escaped, Janet was dying and Maculosus was rendered unable to fly.

Briana and Gage began the return to Camp Jupiter, preferring saving Janet's life than continuing the quest with her dead, though Janet protested. Spike had followed them, however, and called forth giant scorpions to chase them further and further from San Francisco, with Janet growing weaker and weaker; Gage still is amazed at how long she lasted with the venom in her blood.

They reached Yosemite National Park and camped, trying to lose the manticore and scorpions on their tail. It did not work. Janet, in a moment of feverish energy, sneaked away in the dead of the night, determined to free them from this peril. They found her body beneath a grinning manticore. This time, they were able to defeat him, banishing him back to Tartarus for at least a short time. Maculosus was sent with Janet's body back to Camp Jupiter, his wing healed enough to carry a petite girl, and left with the promise to return.

Briana and Gage grieved, but they knew they had to continue now, for her sake, exhausted and low on supplies as they were. Reviewing the prophecy, they suspected perhaps they should go to Death Valley, though neither would have much power there. Several times, they contemplated contacting their divine parents, but each time they had reason not to -- usually because they were not granted with the proper funds and means to do so. Were they watching their children suffer, though? Gage still had never met his father, and it was growing more and more so that he suspected he never would wish to.

The two remaining campers grew close, and though they traveled near and far, growing as obsessed with the quest as Janet was, it seemed that they would never succeed. After a long time seeking the cave-dwelling Cacus -- years, even, they did not return for years, and Maculosus could not find them -- Briana suggested that they stop, that there must be another quest assigned. They should return home, or even settle down. They could live together, content, couldn't they? But Gage would not allow it. He must succeed. Briana followed.

They ended in Los Angeles, outside DOA Recording Studios. Monsters appeared, too many to fight, and although they tried for a time, it became clear that they would not win, and so attempted to flee, but got split up in the chaos. Gage was able to escape into the surrounding countryside, but he had no idea what happened to Briana -- he feared she was dragged into the Underworld.

While wandering, Maculosus found Gage once more, and the two soon found a cave together by a small collection of homes. Gage believed he had found Cacus, and all thought of seeking entrance to the Underworld to find Briana was gone -- he needed to finish this, once and for all, and then he could find her, and maybe they could go home, wherever that was by this point. And there was a monster inside the cave, indeed, a powerful, fiery, bloodthirsty one, but whether or not it was Cacus is unknown to Gage. Maculosus sacrificed himself to save Gage, and Gage only suspects he defeated the beast -- but he did not see the dust after stabbing it. Instead, there was a burst of fire, and Gage had to run or else die.

Exhausted, wounded, and alone, Gage had nowhere to go and nobody to help. It was only at this point that Neptune appeared to him, and Gage did not even realize it was he until after. It was a friendly surfer-dude who gave him shelter and water, which Gage used to heal himself, and warned him that he would be hunted for a while, and that he was alone, that seeking Briana was a folly. Gage did not believe that, but he did not have the strength to argue, and he had to rest. And there was no way he could go back now, not after his two fellows were gone, dead.

After the Quest
So he ran. Gage went to his aunt who lived just outside Philadelphia. She took him in, and she confessed that she knew about his father, just as Gage's mother did. The two soon lived on the move, never staying too long in one place, for fear of the monsters that could follow. Would there be Furies, he wondered? Would Briana feel betrayed? Did he betray her?

Finally, only very recently, they stayed by the Rocky Mountains, where Gage worked with taming wild horses. One day, one escaped from its pen, and he had to follow it up into the mountains. There was a cave. For a reason beyond his understanding, Gage entered, unsure of what he sought or expected. It was empty. He returned to his aunt and told her he had to go, he had unfinished business, and so he rode all the way back to Camp Jupiter, speaking very little even to those he had known. And a few days later, the camp was destroyed and they were forced to take haven in Camp Half-Blood.

Back in Camp
Gage has revealed little of what happened. He confirmed that Janet died, killed by a manticore, and that he found a monster in a cave, and that he and Briana were separated during a fight. He did not ever say the time span of these events, nor did he disclose why it had taken him years. His only quest, not even his, and he failed.

The Player

What can we call you? Rabiddog
Where did you hear about us? Ad hopping!
What is your favorite type of food? um I will eat anything but actually, I love pretty much everything. Maybe cheesecake? I feel as if this is a code thing and I'm failing it.