Personality

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Empathetic || Compassionate || Mindful || Reserved || Quick-tempered || Susceptible || Over-thinking ||

Neither charming nor diffident, haughty nor humble, Leith doesn't strike an outstanding personality next to his peers. Nevertheless he has made a niche for himself among them; with an observant outlook and carefully chosen words, he tends to fall into the role of mediator or listener. For the most part he embraces this position. He enjoys being able to grasp and act on those interpretations, and to be privy to layers beyond the surface.

Understanding others lends to his understanding of self as well. Aware of his fuse, with effort and knightly training Leith has tempered his anger to fall less on the explosive side like his brothers' but in turn it simmers unsettling. Struggle as it may be to curb such flaws, he does not concern himself with saving face if there are more pressing matters, believing that pride stands in the way more often than not.

And yet for all his confidence, many times a respectable amount of assertion escapes him. While Leith does not believe this of himself, he leans towards the passive ilk, relying on superior opinions as the final say. Heeding others' ways and wills for a great deal of his life has ingrained in him an accommodating nature but slow to offer his own thoughts, and when he does misjudge a situation he ruminates in circles over his faults.
In contrast, for the rarer cases where he is without a doubt of his stance, Leith can be frustratingly adamant and biting in over-defensive bouts. Carried away by unchecked honesty in moments of lost patience - for he has much to say that he usually does not - his slips of the tongue inevitably end smothered in regrets and apologies, sincere or feigned. Superficial as it is, he fears to fall short of people's hopes and the expectations of his perceived roles.

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History

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[Childhood, 0-30]

Leith Aurélien shared much of his childhood with his identical twin Liam, a bond their other siblings lacked with the decades between them. They began knight training together although Liam drifted from that path as soon as their magic developed. Leith was hardly lonely among their lord's other squires, but he did not socialize well without his brother, and rather than grow out of his meekness he nurtured that shell.

Evading certain arrangements as they turned 25, Liam sought to attend an institution in the capital and implored Leith to accompany him despite their differing studies. Leith was all too aware of his brother's compromised reasons behind the city flight - and moreover he shared those same desires, so he allowed excitement to guide his thoughtless decision, driving enough for even his diffidence to stomach a father's temper.

Living apart from the family came with its own hurdles, spoiled as they still were in care. But to direct themselves was liberating. They strove to mature on their own, discovering whose and what companies they admired, and yet Leith still balked at his twin's mimicked virtues, awkwardly parroting the adults above as if wearing others' faces would make his any different. Puzzling as he found those efforts, he too grew into his place within their community, and they both became the people they wanted to be: compassionate, amiable, charitable... so on and so forth. On the surface, at least.

[Templar squiring, 31-67]

Finding little ground attending his brother's healing lessons - he shied from illness far too quickly - and weighed by guilt of running from commitments, Leith resumed his knight training in the templar wing with their vidames' blessings, mentored by his father's friends. Like this he put his all into a routine he discovered he could barely manage, but he feared to disappoint more than he wished to play. Even with the new sister back home and the hiccups within their lot, little of the Zelders' domestic issues affected Leith directly; in fact, it was because he was so uninvolved in the mires of others' affairs, friends or family, that he began to embrace the faultlessness of observation. Objectivity, respect, logical solutions - all things fostered simpler from the sidelines. In contrast to his childhood, his time separated from his brother taught him that he was perhaps a little boring but less hopeless in company than he had believed, and reticence afforded him valuable strengths as an adult.

[Templar knighting & continued service, 68-150's]

By his late sixties, Leith at last ventured into the ranks of the Templars. With no plans for the future beyond service, he spent his earlier knighted days nursing an unwelcome apprehension regardless of all the reassurances he would grow into the role. How long would he stay like this? Would there come a time he could develop other aspirations than following orders? He wanted more yet settled with what he had, restless as he remained after grasping his goal of forty years.

This complacent questioning changed when the odd assignments and leisures sent him with others outside the Delverne State. He thought little of the human cities despite relations among those, for nothing could compare to the sanctuary of home. But after one such excursion and a heated exchange, Leith re-examined the prejudices of his upbringing and the faults of his stubborn aloofness; that a friend could so willingly cut ties over a difference in views, over irrefutable verity... he was as astounded as he was stung. The last thing he wanted was to be forgotten for who he was yet remembered for terrible, truthful words he wasn't. Though it was just one farewell of many to be, those criticisms stayed with him.

His eyes opened to more than his inherent arrogance. The world was vast beyond his knowledge, and ever so slowly he discovered a taste for travel separated from other duties. Recent-met company only encouraged the flavour, and old family friends' wisdoms sounded that much more encompassing as Leith contemplated stepping down from his century-long service.

Perhaps in ten, twenty years, for the seasons passed quickly as he entertained the thought.
But his budding curiosity of worldly scopes could only emerge at unfortunate timings. Delverne, patient and biding, had claimed their stakes in the war.

8291-8294:

The 8291 ventures to the human cities were brief, duty-driven. While he saw discontent in their eyes, he wished the Amedrans would understand their upset for themselves; that if they had nothing to hide, then they had nothing to fear.

What he couldn't fathom, two years later, was the degree of utter depravity that would set dragons upon innocents; or rather he could understand perfectly well, disappointing as it was, and reprehensible acts from a base lot justified the State's anger. His division made way for the leywoods with their fellows - and parted without.

Although Leith had been to more of the kingdom than the rest of his insular family combined, he had never visited the cities alone. Hopelessly lost in colourful Amedra after the mess of the expedition, to his fortune (if not his purse') quicker-witted company on the sympathetic side found him first. Of no use remaining in the human cities, he made his way back to Delverne's borders, ruminating on what he'd seen and what his relations- on both contended sides - saw from their home. He began to spy the minute tensions of the few who thought otherwise of prophecies and conquests, and reflected on his own.

Were mundane desires and wills worth so much less than faith? Or was it because their faith lacked that they held no confidence in the divine? Ever yielding, Leith kept his musings to himself, swept along by the fervour caused by the recent miracles.

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Current:

To see what was to come and to have a hand in shaping the future- though tentative with such expectations, he followed suit. Blessed and burdened now with the oath his fellows took, he carried on with his orders as a Templar, consoling as he was of other's divisive differences and his whimsical entertaining of futures outside of service, whatever lay ahead. (...)

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Additional Info

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• Blossoming characteristics: glow on hair (exception of some bottom layers), eyes, certain areas of skin (ear tips, palms, rest is hidden)
• Favours one-handed swords and maces. Left-handed.

• Compassionate yet not selfless, empathetic but not always forthcoming. Hard-earned tolerance aside, Leith tends to quietly judge more than he should (as weathering complaints does things to one's trusts), being far from honest in the interest of kindness unless bluntness is necessary. But he is not a natural in conversations directed to himself and can at times offer peculiar responses, born of over-thinking and guesses at what he thinks people want to hear.
• With that said he still reserves his traditional opinion of humans and half-elves despite his desire to see past his learned prejudices. In his attempted impartiality he prefers not to interact with them if he can help it, defaulting to laconic politeness (within Delverne).

• Favourite pastimes include reading, riding and music. He plays the harp, still working on mastering the larger pedal harp (if ever)
• More contact-oriented in spite of (or perhaps because of) his subdued manner. Would seek big hugs while his twin went for the equivalent of a handshake.
• His second given name (Aurélien) is his maternal grandfather's, who had a rightly more fitting shade of hair to match.
• Not a drama queen but a dumps king sentimental, introspective, writes Sad Diary Entries when feeling the Blues. Also terrible at poetry. He knows this. But he still tries

Relationships