Ardell Halla-caithon

sobekstar

Info


Created
6 years, 7 months ago
Creator
sobekstar
Favorites
4

Basic Info


Nickname/Alias:

Hlaiwa-tathar (Sickly Willow) | Hlomia-tathar (Poison Willow)

Pronouns:

He/Him

Orientation:

Bi, probably

Race:

Elf

Family:

Keletheryl (father, deceased), Priya (mother, deceased), Vrandell (brother, living)

Occupation:

Prince

Physical Description:

Small and slight, seems insubstantial most of the time. Pale gold skin, long and straight silver hair, silver eyes. Delicate features with a beauty mark near his mouth. Port wine birthmark over the right side of his face, forearm, side, and leg.

Personality:

Easily embarrassed and sometimes shy, unsure of himself, trusting, loyal. Can be a little spoiled and recalcitrant.

Voice:

High and thin, sometimes cracking

Profile


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A "cursed" elven prince. 

History:

Before Ardell was born, the royal augur read signs that he was to be a cursed child, that he was going to bring misfortune to the kingdom if he wasn’t aborted. Ardell's parents - King Keletheryl and Queen Priya - refused to give up their second son and instead brought in mages and pellars and elven healers, seers, sorceresses, anyone who promised they could repress the curse. It’s questionable if anything they did made a difference, but bad luck arrived at the castle the same moment as Ardell, starting with the weakening and eventual death of the Queen a few months after he was born.

He was a sickly, small thing from infancy on, taking all kinds of illnesses and fevers that meant he was more familiar with the confines of his bedroom than the castle for most of his formative years. Keletheryl did all in his power to protect Ardell from the whispering rumors and vicious hearsay that blamed him for every thing small and large that went sour in the kingdom, but as Ardell grew, he inevitably came to realize that the staff, the servants, their subjects all believed him to be a blight. People looked on him with open fear, and even Keletheryl's own advisors began to corrupt his name in the old tongues from Hlaiwa-tathar (Sickly Willow) to Hlomia-tathar (Poison Willow).

Ardell found a stalwart defender and unshakable friend in his elder brother, Vrandell, who had never put stock in the idea that Ardell was cursed. There was more than one "diplomatic incident" when a quarrelsome Vrandell shouted obscenities he was far too young to know at important dignitaries because they said something untoward about Ardell. Vrandell would often secret Ardell out of bed when he was well enough, and they'd get up to mischief throughout the castle and the grounds - stealing candies from the kitchens, playing army in their father's study, wrestling with the hunting hounds in the stables. It only stopped when they were roughhousing in the fields beyond the castle walls and Ardell slipped and fell into one of the livestock ponds, then Vrandell nearly drowned to save him.
The incident shook Ardell deeply, and he began to withdraw from both Vrandell and his father and began to listen more to the black voice of his insecurities. He began to feel like being near people he cared about would only bring them harm, and it was already bad enough he was propagating misfortune just by existing.

Ongoing story:

Boop

The truth of the "curse":

Ardell has in him a truly rare and unique form of (mostly) unconscious magic. It's a magic of forced outcomes, of unfortunate probability, and - ultimately - a magic colored by belief. The more Ardell believes himself to be a blight, guilty of just existing, then the worse the magic is, the more damage it can cause. It becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Only as an adult (and only after he realizes it's inborn magic and not a hex on him), does Ardell start to take steps to control and leash his magical abilities. After significant, arduous training, he learns to repress it somewhat and to even use it consciously as any mage can use their magic, but he can’t help but wish that it was gone entirely.

Strengths/Weaknesses:

+ Naturally possesses super powerful magic
- Does not easily control that super powerful magic

+ Very good at supporting others
- Very bad at believing in himself

+ Once he makes up his mind, he sticks with it
- Can be a bit of a stubborn prick about it

+ Inherently good-hearted
- A little too gullible


Trivia:  Would 100% run an #AESTHETIC tumblr blog. Surprisingly good at identifying birds.

Recommended listening/reading: ( nothing yet )

( Here's his tag on tumbls )