Umbertus

He was a Roman missionary named Umbertus, who had accompanied Germanus of Auxerre on his second journey to Insular Britain, along with his companions Severus and Hilary. Originally from Alexandria, he had pursued his studies in Taurasia.

Abbot Umbertus was an imposing man—not through physical strength, but through the depth of his intellect. He always wore a worn monastic robe, stained with ink and marked by years spent leafing through parchments. He embodied the archetype of the learned Roman monk, more concerned with logic and doctrine than with the mysteries of the world. His abundant, carefully groomed beard, streaked with grey and black, bore the marks of time. He had a serene appearance that inspired respect, and even fear. His hands revealed a man far more accustomed to reading manuscripts than to manual labor.

From the moment he arrived, he stood apart from the other monks, for he wore the Roman tonsure. His broad, balding forehead seemed shaped for reflection, while his thick eyebrows gave him a piercing gaze. Behind his keen, scrutinizing eyes lay an insatiable curiosity, capable of probing both books and souls. His finely sculpted aquiline nose added to his air of a thinker, while his delicate lips often murmured Latin words, as if he were conversing with the ancient authors he studied tirelessly in his struggle against heresies—such as Augustine of Hippo, Gregory the Great, Ambrose of Milan, or Jerome of Stridon.