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Ard'n Nachthalm
Date of Birth: 580
Race: Human
Homeland: Stonewood
General Information:
In the year 580, a boy was born in Stonewood to a
middle class soldier and his wife. They named the child after a
place they had both heard about in folktales throughout their
childhood, namely, “Ard’n Vale”. In lore, “Ard’n Vale” was a valley
between dark mountain passes. While noticing the infant child as he
nestled between fallen trees shortly after his birth in the forests
surrounding Stonewood, Ard’n’s father, Einherj, thought of the
“Ard’n Vale”, for it was a refuge for all beasts and persons. There
between the protective logs, Ard’n was a part of nature. The cycle
and connection of all in life and death became apparent to his
father. The Darkblade family name is a translation into our common
tongue from an original language spoken by Einherj’s family’s
ancestors. According to the research Einherj has done on his
personal history, their original family name would have most likely
been either “Dunkelhalm”, or “Darnkschkerte”, depending on whether
the family’s original tribe of barbarian hunters before civilization
were of the central/forest or northern/ice blood line. Ard’n’s
mother, Miran’Tya, came from an upper middle class family of wizards
and sorcerers. She was trained in the arts of celestial magic, as
were all her sisters.
Ard’n Darkblade was drafted into the Elysian military at a young
age. Due to his family’s ties in the noble community, he was placed
in one of the least dangerous areas of the military, namely foreign
communication. During some of the various conflicts with the
barbarians during his service, Ard’n was instructed to learn the
common dialect of some of the tribes his company was in contact
with. He began to do more than just learn the language of the people
he was supposed to possibly one day call “enemy”, for soon he was
living more in the tribal villages than in his own barracks with the
Elysians. His superiors thought that such behavior was acceptable,
as they thought Ard’n to be playing the role of an excellent spy.
However, the friendships he made in the barbarian community became
so strong, that he could no longer feel comfortable giving up all of
their secrets and plans to the Elysians, which he overheard over
many an ale. A certain captain of Ard’n’s Elysian unit became aware
of this fact, and having sympathy for the barbarians himself,
arranged for Ard’n to be relieved of his duties with an honorable
discharge, before he might be asked to betray his barbarian blood
brothers.
The newly aquired freedom came with a price, however, for as Ard’n
was no longer an active soldier, technically he had to leave the
fort and surrounding area and report back to Glavorn before
officially given permanent leave. He said his farewells to his
barbarian allies, and made promises to find them again.
Back on the homefront, Ard’n’s parents were known by all to be an
interesting couple. It was known that they were experts in the
barbarian ways of life. Even Einherj met Ard’n’s mother through her
father, who was a wizard that had a peculiar interest in the
barbarian’s hatred towards celestial magic. The daughter was
beautiful and skilled in the arts of her craft. Miran’Tya was her
name, and before long she and Einherj fell in love, and moved to a
farmstead outside of Stonewood within the year. After little Ard’n
was born, Einherj made occasional trips to the barbarian lands to
find old friends met on campaigns near the barbarian borders, to
trade goods, and share stories. He promised Miran’Tya and Ard’n that
he would take them along once the next winter had passed. This
promise he kept, and in turn every other year or so did the family
repeat this journey to the wilds. As Ard’n got older, his father
taught him the ways of the blade, and his mother trained him in the
ways of casting from the stars. Growing up in the farmstead outside
of the city, Ard’n became the friend of animals, and learned many
ways of survival in the wilderness. Two other boys were Ard’n’s
brothers, namely Honus and Lan. The brothers left home for the
military at different times. For Ard’n it was in the year 594. After
their service, the brothers adventured for a year or so, and then
began to part ways and seek their lives in different places. They do
meet and fight alongside each other on occasion, but not as much in
recent years.
Throughout Ard’n’s youth, he had continued to spend time with the
barbarians during his many travels with his father to their lands.
He had always admired the mysterious barbarian shamans, and hoped to
one day understand their ways more. Because of his use of celestial
magic, the barbarians never trusted him philosophically as much as
they did his father, but on a personal level, he got along with many
of the brethren quite well and made lasting friendships.
After leaving home from Stonewood and living on his own, Ard’n began
to find that his training with the two-handed sword and celestial
magic was not serving him as well as he would have liked. He
witnessed his many comrades healing their own wounds, causing
destruction to their undead enemies, and fighting effectively and
bravely with shields in one arm. Ard’n became determined to learn
the skills of Earthen magic and to use a longsword and shield. This
he could not do with ease, for his training was in his current
weaponry for many years. It did not take long for Ard’n to realize
that his only choice would be to search for the spell components
necessary to have a Spirit Forge ritual cast upon himself. One of
his highly honored comrades, San-Drax Nightson, also wished to have
a Spirit Forge ritual cast, so the two agreed to share resources and
find the components. In this endeavor they succeeded during a
gathering in June, 600. By depleting all of their resources (and
some of that from friends), they both managed to afford the
components and have their spirits built anew, and learned their new
skills.
Now, Ard’n walks the forests and villages of Elysia as an Earthen
Templar. Unknown smiths built his sword and shield, but the
paintings on both were done by his own hand. He travels with the
barbarians and others of the Evermore House, and notices an increase
in their trust for him since he no longer casts from the stars.
Ard’n hopes to live a full life of high adventure with just the
right amount of danger, and like his father, learn about all the
lesser-known cultures of his world.
Player Name: Dave Fox
E-mail:
templarsking@hotmail.com
Website:
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