🌻luze

Arundolyn and Rostam are two members of the Knights of Favonius who lived 500 years ago. They don’t appear in the game and are only mentioned in some artifacts and weapons, which explain that they aren’t really known.

Arundolyn was known as the Lion of Light and became Grand Master, while Rostam received the title of Wolf Pup at the age of 27 and was the right-hand man of Arundolyn. They both were very strong knights and played an important role: Arundolyn didn’t have a vision, but he had extraordinary strength and was able to fight with a sword and a claymore. Meanwhile, Rostam’s bladework had inspired the Favonius Bladework; and it is even said that no one has ever matched his ability.

They also were great leaders: the titles of Lion and Wolf are given to knights who have a great leadership potential and are destined to become Grand Master.

They fought on the land of Khaenri’ah to defend their homeland during the Cataclysm. And when the knights came back to Mondstadt, it was without Rostam who died. Since then, Arundolyn never fought again.

About their relationship:

(please remember that this is my own interpretation of their characters and their relationship, based on official informations)

At first, Arundolyn and Rostam were rivals, probably because both of them wanted to be knights. Later, they became childhood friends and shared their first adventures together.

The Brave Heart artifact set focuses on Arundolyn and his relationship with Rostam. I’ve read many times every artifact set and weapon centred on them, but Brave Heart owns a special place in my heart, because it shows how important Rostam was to Arundolyn.

Every artifact of this set is one of Arundolyn’s memories with his closest, dearest friend. He cared about Rostam more than anything else: remember, Mondstadt was menaced by Durin and needed his powerful Grand Master, but Rostam’s death has affected Arundolyn so much that he left his title and never fought again, even though his dream was to become a hero, even though his homeland needed him.

One of Brave Heart artifacts is the Crown of the Brave. It is a keepsake of a day he spent playing with Rostam. “Many years later, this wreath of flowers, though crudely made, would seem more precious still than the power a master of knights held…”: a crown of flowers that is more precious than the title of knight for a man who had always dreamed of heroism, if it’s not a proof that Rostam was more important than anything else, I don’t know what it is. And it’s one example among many others.

Rostam cares about Arundolyn as well. He dedicated his life to defend Mondstadt, as a knight but also in the dark: Rostam was a kind of Darknight Hero, doing the dirty job that couldn’t be done by a knight. But I read the Defender’s Will artifact set, and I personally believe that it is not Mondstadt he wanted to protect, but those he loved: Arundolyn and Rosalyne, with whom he was in love. Why? Because every time the defense of Mondstadt is mentioned in the Defender’s Will artifacts, Arundolyn and/or Rosalyne are mentioned. Mondstadt is seen by Rostam as the “land that his friend and superior loved” (Guardian's clock).

According to the canon, Rostam was in love with Rosalyne, and she loved him back. But I personally feel like Rostam was in love with Arundolyn as well.

Indeed, I find that there are some similarities between her and Arundolyn in their relationships with Rostam. One of them that is really interesting is the notion of time. Time is something that Rostam doesn’t have: “there was never enough time”. As I said, he dedicated his life to the protection of Mondstadt and the people he loved. He accomplished his duty as knight in the day, spent his nights doing what he couldn’t do in the daylight. “Only when he gazed on that maiden in the square, could he think upon things he had no time for. Only then could he think about his own future…”. What Rostam wanted and needed was time he could spend with those he loved. He gave hourglasses to Arundolyn and Rosalyne; which can't be referring to anything else than the time he wanted to spend with both of them.