Ard'n Darkblade

Picture coming soon, promise!

Character History

        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.  

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