May's Character of the Month: Iach

Iach was born and raised in Idyllin.  Eldest child and son of Iadryn and his wife Adelos, Iach was raised a warrior's son.  Iadryn his father was one of the leading Idyllinae men, and when King Arorhroth sent for the wisest men in the kingdom to be his counselors, Iadryn was chosen of all the Idyllinae.

  When Iach was eight or nine years old, he began a war band with his friends.  They practiced archery and swordsmanship together, and when their fathers would go out to hunt down a Peerthigrin that had been in the area, the boys would accompany them.  As they got older, they became more and more capable of doing so on their own. 

   But when Prince Aramoth moved to Idyllin, Iach had met his match.  He was bested in a friendly swordfight and, finding that Aramoth was the Prince, knew he had found a born leader for his war band.  He instituted Aramoth as their leader, stepped down to second in command, and became Aramoth's best friend.

Iach has blonde hair, blue eyes, and a earnest, friendly personality.  The character quality that best describes him is loyalty.  Iach is inherently loyal, especially to his best friend, Aramoth.

Iach remained loyal to Aramoth as well as the High King when many others fell away.  Though more suited to be second in command than a leader, Iach stood up for what was right and proved his loyalty by being the first to pledge allegiance to King Aramoth, when older men hesitated.

Iach genuinely cares about people.  He loves his sister Iachin dearly, even when she goes through rebellious and trying stages.  He doesn't just pretend like her sin is okay, but he lovingly tries to bring her back. 

Iach did not marry until he was around thirty, well above the Basileian average, but despite this he became the father of fourteen children who grew to love and serve the High King.

Aramiel: April's character of the month

Aramiel.
Born in a cabin in the woods after her father's death, Aramiel had an unusual start.  Her mother died soon after her birth, leaving Aramiel to the care of Bagria, an elderly woman who was her mother's friend.  Before she even reached the age of seven, Bagria too died, leaving Aramiel to fend for herself off what was in the cabin, and what she could find or kill. 
   Before long the little girl's provisions ran out, and she wandered into the nearest city, the City of the King.  Completely unaware of matters of state, she found to her surprise that the King was her grandfather, and her father had been the heir to the throne before his death.  Word on the street was that the King had a grandson, the current heir.  Startled by this turn of events, Aramiel knew where to go.  The next day she spent in the grand library in Ewythrin, reading page after page of the huge, leather-bound volumes written by the Kings of Basileia:  The Annals of the Kings of Basileia.  True enough, she found that she was the grandaughter of the King, and that she had a brother three years older than herself, named Aramoth, who had been staying in Ewythrin.
   Hearing that there had been a battle shortly before in Ewythrin in which most of the men were killed, a great fear filled the little girl's heart.  She hurried through the city to the tombs, afraid that when she arrived, she would find that the brother she just found out about would have died in the battle.   There she was found by Eytrine, an Ewythrinae maiden, and given food to eat and a place to stay, as well as being told that her brother the Prince was not dead, but had only moved to Idyllin.

Aramiel then moved in with her brother Aramoth, who was living with Ynyth and Gwynarae Tamam in Idyllin.  There she learned to swordfight and perfected her  archery skills, as well as learning how to be a godly woman from Gwynarae.  A little while later the entire family moved to the City of the King, where they stayed in the palace with Aramoth and Aramiel's grandfather the King.  During the war after her grandfather died, Aramiel was left as the princess regent, acting her brother the King's role as judge and sitting on the golden throne while he led the men in war.  When the need arose, she led her people in a defensive battle until her brother and his troops could arrive to relieve them.

Aramiel grew to be a godly woman and a great encouragement to others.  She married later than most Basileian girls, but when she did marry she and her husband raised fourteen children to love and serve God.

Aramiel loves long and beautiful dresses.  She loves the beauty of a sword but if forced to fight prefers to be at such a distance that she can use a bow.  Her favorite colors are pink and red.  She has long brown hair and brown eyes.  She is not as short as Eleutheria, but she is not tall either, rather being of a somewhat average height.  She loves to ride her horse and she loves to garden.

Stay tuned for our featured character of May!

Prince Aramoth: Featured Character this month: March

I don’t want to spoil the story for you in case you haven’t finished it yet, so this month we are featuring Aramoth.

Aramoth has dark brown hair and eyes, is taller than average, and due to intense physical discipline is stronger than anyone his age.

So much for physical appearance, now on to character.

Aramoth is a strong leader, with wisdom beyond his years.  Due to early hardships such as the death of his parents, he developed a quiet and serious personality.  He can be fun, but he is thoughtful and deeper than most.  Nothing about him is frivolous. 
   His favorite weapons are his bow and his sword.  He is also good with knives and his quarterstaff, but finds the bow and the sword to be the best weapons, when on hand, to use against an enemy army.  He enjoys practicing archery, fencing, knife throwing, and practicing with his bow staff and his quarterstaff with his friend Iach, and the eighteen other boys in their war band.
   Aramoth is a gentleman in the best sense of the word.  With a strict sense of propriety, he exacts from himself the highest standard, so that few could find fault with his actions.

Aramoth is a true Christian and his goal in life is to glorify God in all that he does.  As the leader of his country, he takes his responsibility to heart and strives to lead his people in righteousness.  He understands that as the leader, it is his duty to tell others what to do.  If he personally believes something is wrong, he knows it is his duty to forbid it.   He does not stand on ceremony and would never dream of saying, “Well I personally think it is wrong, but I would never tell someone else they shouldn’t do it.”  Aramoth knows that as King it is his duty to tell others what they should do, and he takes his responsibility to God and to his country seriously.

Aramoth loves children and babies, and is delighted when he gets a chance to play with them.  However he does not act in a patronizing way towards them, but treats them as equals.

Aramoth is the only son of Aroroth and Mayhiyel.  His father died when he was three years old, his mother a few months afterwards.  Aramoth was sent by his grandfather, King Arorhroth, to Thurwyn, to be raised by Rellon of Thurwyn and his wife.  However, at the age of six, when Thurwyn was besieged, he was removed to Ewythrin for safety and placed under the care of Athoran and his wife Gwynarth.  Rellon died in defense of Thurwyn.  While living with Athoran and his family, Aramoth began intense training in the use of arms under Athoran’s daughter, Gwynarae.  When Aramoth was eight years old, Athoran was killed by Peerthigrin while traveling back to Ewythrin from Idyllin.  When Aramoth was ten years old, Gwynarth too died.  Left to the sole guardianship of Gwynarae, Aramoth left Ewythrin with Gwynarae during the siege of Ewythrin.  They crossed the hills into Idyllin, where Gwynarae married Ynyth Tamam of Banoch.  Aramoth remained in Idyllin living with Ynyth and Gwynarae Tamam until he was thirteen, at which time he and the Tamams relocated to the City of the King, shortly after the siege of Banoch.  Aramoth then lived in the palace with his grandfather, Arorhroth, until his death shortly after, at which time Aramoth, the next in line for the throne, became the King.  But from the time he was ten, Aramoth looked on Ynyth and Gwynarae Tamam as his parents.

Stay tuned for more updates, including April’s Character of the month!