#arth things

“The Guard dies, it does not surrender.”

General Pierre Cambronne, Battle of Waterloo

Some may call the border wars of the Marcherfolk brutal, even monstrous - but we know well what Silvermoon has forgotten. It is reflected in the glassy eyes of children torn from their mother’s breast and dashed against the rocks. It is echoed in the anguished screams of villagers tortured beyond healing and left to die, with only the memories of the suffering of their loved ones who could not survive the torment. It is tasted in the tang of blood that taints the river long after it no longer runs red.

In the Marches, we are reminded daily that the Sin’dorei may win a thousand wars against the savage Amani, but we can only ever lose one. The Amani do not want peace - only death. The only choice before us is whether it will be ours or theirs.

Is there one event or happening your character would like to erase from their past? Why?

The Fall, naturally, but that is not an interesting answer. He would not have married his first wife - not because he did not love her, or that their relationship was anything but good, but because he ended up failing in his marriage vows, leading to their ultimate divorce.

Some might remember his long, careful, courting of Aervin, with its (to those who supported the pairing) obnoxiously slow pacing and will-they-or-won’t-they vacillation. Those who do might be surprised that this is because of guilt over prior relationships he had (in his mind) ruined by moving too fast - he had been engaged three times before finally marrying Aervin, breaking it off within a year for the first two. He married the third - which lasted more than a year, but less than two, after a bare few months’ courtship. Toward the end of time, they had three children together - triplets.

The divorce was sudden and, some would no doubt say, rather melodramatic on Arth’s part. He and the Retribution - a semi-secret organization formed to quietly handle internal issues in Quel’Thalas and perform black ops abroad - had been commissioned to hunt a traitor Blood Knight, then went on to fought a shadow war against a demon lord. Two, in fact. However, some Retribution operatives were pardoned criminals originally wanted for insurrection, after they waged a vigilante campaign against the Order of Blood Knights to weed out corruption themselves (including the one who the Knight-Lord who pardoned them would later send them to hunt). When their leader, a warlock named Najla, returned, the “Retribution Civil War” broke out as the pardoned criminals resumed their vigilante campaign. That story is irrelevant to this one, but gives some background.

As one might imagine, Najla was very charismatic - and very cunning. Peace was restored after Najla brought Arthamir back from the brink of madness brought on by severe sleep deprivation and the sheer stress of fighting former friends and even family, leading him to broker peace in return for their returning to service in the Retribution, albeit with Arthamir taking full responsibility for their actions. He attributed this decision to owing a debt to Najla, who would go on to save his life multiple times over he course of what (highly classified) records call Operation: Retribution.

Eventually, however, she began to act strangely, and was eventually announced to be wanted again - however, she claimed to be innocent, something she had never done before. She and Arthamir had grown close over their service together, despite the fact that they were both married. Even so, Najla was easily able to convince him to help her, even at the cost of leaving his wife to hide out with her in the wilderness - and when it was discovered that it was an impostor who was deliberately trying to set key members of the Retribution up to be disavowed or otherwise stripped of their ability to do their jobs, he was forced to admit that she had manipulated latent romantic feelings for Najla, despite birth of them being married.

Aghast, his guilt quickly spiraled out of control. Seeing his actions as making him entirely unsuitable for being a husband OR father, he forced through a divorce, in hopes that his wife would be able to remarry before her unborn children could realize they were, de jure, illegitimate. He paid - and pays - generous child support, and ensured that they receive a good education and would have good employment when they grew up, acknowledging that they are his responsibility even still. He does not recognize them as his, however, fearing what might happen if political enemies get their hands on them and use them to force a claim war after his death; he will not risk having his children fight each other.

What’s your character’s ranking on the Kinsey Scale?

What are your character’s most prominent physical features?

Most people think of his hair and his scars. He wears his hair long, just past his shoulders. It is very thick and of a bright, vibrant red, like molten copper. He considers it his most attractive feature.

30 Days of Arth (archive; 6-25-18)

Describe your character’s relationship with their mother or their father, or both. Was it good? Bad? Were they spoiled rotten, ignored? Do they still get along now, or no?

Arth’s father was Lucais nee Suncrown, Lady Myrana’s consort. They had a very good relationship - Lucais taught his son how to ride, how to fight, and how to behave, drilling the notions of valor, honor, and magnanimity into him. Lucais had taken to his wife’s Tyrellian culture like a duck to water, so he also taught him all the old songs and tales. Arthamir’s good nature and boisterous personality comes from his father, and he enjoys a place of love and honor in Arth’s memory; indeed, when Lucais became a Knight of the Silver Hand, Arthamir leapt to follow him into the order, abandoning a potential career in the Royal Guard, which was considering him for candidacy. Arthamir also absorbed some of his father’s faith, though he never quite embraced the human-style Light worship his father and fellow Paladins practiced. However, Lucais was very much the “friend” parent, the nice parent. Which brings us to...

Arth’s mother, the Lady Myrana Tyrellian, Head of her House. She was an aloof and reserved woman, not given to expressive emotion. Those who knew her well had no doubt that she loved her husband and all her children more than life itself, but she was not what one might call affection, particularly to Arthamir himself. As the eldest child, he was destined to succeed her - which meant that his early decades were spent under her tutelage nearly every moment he was not learning the “fun” lessons of fighting, socializing, and storytelling from his father. Myrana was a demanding and unrelenting teacher, praising only the truly extraordinary and criticizing the smallest mistake. Arthamir loved his mother, and always made excuses for her, but his feelings of inadequacy in her eyes damaged their relationship. Still, he recognizes that he owes to her the more cerebral aspects of his education: history, geography, justice, statecraft, the courtly graces, and battlefield strategy and tactics to name a few, as well as the finer points of Tyrellian honor. A Magistrix of note, she also tried to teach him what she knew of magecraft, but he had neither the talent nor inclination to manage more than the most basic of spells, and only managed to retain a few relatively simple cantrips.

Neither parent spoiled him, though. While his father was not strict, per se, he made sure to always present at least the facade of a united front with his wife, and personally believed strongly in self-discipline and a work-before-play mentality, somewhat softened by his attitude that work can be and often is enjoyable in its own right. He was not showered with gifts, either; if he wanted something, he would be made to work - anything from squire-work to learning the basics of a (relatively respectable) craft; this is how he learned the basics of smithing, which came in handy after the Fall, and where he acquired much of his academic knowledge and oratory skill (“work” from his mother usually meant something similar to an essay, book report, or presentation). More mundane “chores” were available, of course - he frequently babysat, entertained, and mentored younger relatives. Tyrellian tradition emphasizes family ties, so nannies are replaced with living with and learning from an older relative - especially the children of he Head of House. As heir-apparent (and a very social creature), Arth spent quite a bit of his time with younger siblings and cousins.