Profile
Aristedes
What's a bad miracle?
Do they have a word for that?
He left behind his title a long ago but there was once a time he was known as Lord Aristedes of House Andraste. Although rejected by the very family he wishes to protect, his priorities remain ever torn between those he cares about and the heavy expectations he places upon himself.
He is rarely seen apart from his loyal servant, Hvass.
Details
PERSONALITY
Patient, empathetic, intense in a subtle way. Blessed with a good eye for people and the intricacies of various issues, Aristedes never seems to lack for things to do or projects to tackle, his eyes already set on the next task when the previous one has barely been wrapped up. He genuinely enjoys the hustle and bustle of it all, though, finding great comfort in the notion that there's still need for him and his gift, his many deeds serving as the proof of that.
On the flipside, there's a heavy, lingering sense of pressure hanging over him that never quite goes away. The weight of expectations of others - often raised impossibly high for the way Ari presents himself as - combined with his own ardent desire to help people around him come together to form an exhausting recipe for endless worries and a creeping sense of dread, making it rather difficult for him to admit when he's at his limit; when he simply can do nothing more. As a result he tends to place others' needs above his, especially with his magic showing him fresh horrors on the regular that are just waiting to happen.
It's a flaw he is aware of, but while reluctant to do less and trust people around him to do more in turn, Aristedes remedies some of the weariness he feels by focusing on the present and its little comforts. Intimately, happily, doing what he can to balance hard work with leisure and moments of stillness; the fruits of his labor that he so keenly hopes to preserve and offer to others as well. He enjoys pampering and being pampered, as well as physical affection even when emotional closeness might feel elusive - usually due to his own boundaries. He seeks stability above all else, predictability and a sense of being needed. Consequently the trust required for more deeply felt connections is nothing if not conditional to him, a rare thing that only a few have ever managed to attain.
He cares, intensely and truly, but from a safe distance. When it comes to showing his appreciation though, restrained or not on some level, it's a wholly different story and a quality of his Aristedes takes great pride in.
Charismatic, vigorously optimistic and headstrong both, the impression he leaves people with tends to be that of a genuine man who doesn't bother with hiding his shortcomings, but rather works around them. If there's something he keeps close to his chest apart from mutual trust, it's his darker cravings, the quiet side of him that is utterly tired of having to know everything; to always helm the ship that is his long life without a natural end in sight.
But if he is the lighthouse for people to seek out and look up to for safety, the one Aristedes sees in the exact same way is no other than his faithful servant, Hvass. His reprieve and heaviest responsibility simultaneously, he relies on Hvass immensely to keep himself rooted and to make sure he never loses that fire within, his sense of purpose that continues to guide them both through the ever changing times. There's little he wouldn't do to keep the man safe and remain worthy of his unwavering loyalty, going as far as willingly feeding the monster he tamed and called his. None has seen more of him (and in some ways so little) than Hvass, and their shared existence is that of multifaceted understanding, of trust and loyalty. For Hvass he is many things; affectionate and distant; adoring and terrified. Knowing how deep his servant's loyalty runs, it's not a thing to treat lightly and for that reason many of their more quiet, unspoken conflicts exist with Aristedes continuing to reaffirm their well-defined roles.
He needs Hvass and he needs that sense of purpose, and to risk losing that to some selfish whim is too painful of a thought to bear. It is enough that the people he cares about are safe and sound.
WC: 669
NOTES
- He was married in the past and had two children with his then wife, Elianore.
- Technically the great-grandfather of Lasair and Cyrille, but has come to accept the title of an uncle when it comes to him and his two great-grandchildren.
- His familiar, Luba, is in truth his companion's beloved pet. Or at least, used to be, for what inhabits the reanimated dog's body is doubtlessly not of this world. Looks like any other dog except when using magic, but even in those moments, apart from the faintly glowing eyes and somewhat translucent body, Luba is like any other dog with sharp senses, seeming to know instinctively when someone could use a little ball of fur curled on their lap, or have a ball thrown at their feet as a distraction.
- His birth sign is the perceptive Loom.
HISTORY
cw: consensual cannibalism (implied)
Once upon a time there lived a lord who could predict the future. He was a frugal but kindly man, ever vigilant to see to his duties. The land flourished under his rule and the once reviled noble house came to be loved by the people of the green valley, no longer deemed the outsiders the lord's parents had once represented. Soon enough, the lord was not only seen as their protector, but something more than a man, a blessing in the shape of one.
If there was worship, the lord pretended not to see it, the safety of his family and the villagers being all that mattered to him at the end of the day.
But with ardent reverence came violent disappointment, vitriol brought to life by the uneasy news uttered by weary travelers and refugees from the distant hills alike. A monster was roaming about, hunting, devouring people and not only in the woods, but in their people's dreams as well. It would be only a matter of time before it'd reach their corner of the world.
The lord promised to protect his people, but despite the sentries he sent out to patrol the villages, the tide had already begun to turn. While he tried to peel behind the veil of time to find the necessary means to subdue this new terror, the beast continued its rampage undeterred, and by the time it found their town, it wasn't alone in its dark malice. The lord faced the beast alone while his castle was torched by the once reverent villagers; fought it, conquered it, but neither to maim or kill, for the beast had one more victim that none had known to even look for. The lord spoke its true name, hidden deep within the nightmare the beast had pulled him into. Bound by words as well as the chains he'd seen in a vision and crafted accordingly, the grieving man was brought back to his senses.
He won, but the fight had taken its toll. The lord had reached out for the mage stuck in a beast's skin, but by doing so he had extended his hand to something else, too. Something much more foul. It had whispered to him over his shoulder and given him the strength to face Hvass, the terrible wolf, but alongside the power needed came a life immortal, and the heavy strain it all took on his body.
Aristedes' reign as a lord ended in flames, his slumbering body carried to safety while the Andraste home burnt down and his family fled in panic, set to never return to the valley. Assumed dead by his unaware kin, he was left in a decorated tomb, placed to rest upon cold stone by those few faithful to him who had survived the chaos.
Born as the sole heir of Melita and Nikandros Andraste, Aristedes' life was rife with heartache from the start with his sire's slow descent into alcoholism and their House's struggles to maintain amicable ties with the villagers under their rule. The problems didn't break him though. Rather, he grew up to be a determined young man, keen to learn from the mistakes of his forebears. Aristedes committed himself to the people, lending them his magic and help readily, and for a while things were good. Really good in fact, with his arranged marriage with Lady Elianore eventually blossoming into a loving relationship and remaining that way up until the night of violence, leaving an emptiness in Ari's heart he's never been quite able to remedy.
All that belonged in the past now. In that forgotten tomb he would sleep in for years, untouched by time or decay, until one day something stirred the darkness he had been claimed by. A knight clad in black armor roused him, his magic and vigor returned to him in a ritual of blood, but the knight wasn't alone. Hvass, the man he had saved all those years ago, was there as well, having returned to guard Ari's tomb from any intruders. He had no other place to go to, his home and family both lost long ago.
The beast swore loyalty to Aristedes, seeking to serve his savior and the lord accepted him with a gentle smile, but he was blind to Hvass' warnings about the silver-tongued knight, Mordreaux. The dark-haired traveler offered the directionless lord not only means to help stabilize the area, the lands having fallen into disarray after he'd fallen into deep slumber, but also comfort - all of which Ari welcomed in his longing and grief for what he had lost in his attempt to save the beast.
He fell in love with the knight, but Hvass had been right - the lord had been nothing more than means to an end, left astray a second time once his usefulness had been spent and Mordreaux had gotten his wish. His magic bled dry, Aristedes fell asleep again, but this time it was only days later he was woken up again. It was all thanks to Hvass, ever heedful, and in a moment of bitter determination Aristedes made a pact with the man. He would give him purpose and in turn Hvass would lend him his strength when needed, just like he had promised in that now distant nightmare of frost and blood-stained snow, and were the beast underneath the man's scarred skin try and break free from its bounds, the lord would sate its hunger with his flesh and blood.
Never again would Hvass have to hunt against his will, that he promised.
A long time has passed since then, but it was only about 15 years ago that the curious pair found themselves in Ivras, the land Aristedes' family had rumored to have settled in three generations ago. That they had, much to his relief, but it was not kindness his descendants met him with. Apart from the occasional courtesy calls, he was disallowed from aiding the family, its struggles growing only more numerous in the recent years. Yet his hands remained tied and to soothe his heartache, Aristedes turned his attention to the matters of the common people and mages alike instead.
As a city official situated in Faline, he's had plenty of time and means to make himself useful, seeing to maintaining the peaceful co-existence of mages and the rest of the populace to the best he can, but the connections he forged with certain members of the Order and King's court have proven increasingly less and less reliable, even antagonistic towards the ideals he has strived to upkeep, and so with changing times has come change of methods. Deeply concerned for the current state of things and where the Order and the kingdom as a whole is headed, he has aligned himself with the recently established Mage Court.
Unlike many of his compatriots, he does not wish to eradicate the Order in totality, seeing its value for people like his dear servant, who fell victim to his own magic and would have remained so, were it not for outside intervention. What's yet to come though, even his premonitions can't say for certain.
WC: 1193
Updates
What has happened since then
Aesthetic
Premonition
Disclaimer: His magic will never be used without OOC consent.
Aristedes' gift, to put it simply, is to see into the 'future'. In truth, his visions are closer to possibilities than actual prophecies; warnings and guidelines in the form of fleeting images that arrest all his senses, and it's up to him to make any actual sense of them. No other powers guide him but his own. With the future remaining ever malleable, he most often uses his magic to seek answers and possible solutions to various issues, rather than make definitive statements based on what he sees, instead hoping to reach a desirable end with his actions in the present with the acquired knowledge.
His magic can be divided into two main skills:
Passive: Visions that occur on their own, varying from brief glimpses to all consuming sights, that leave him shaken once they fade. He often has no way of knowing when or where these visions take place, but for the most part they tend to connect to his own life in one way or another. Irregularly regular in occurrence, he has learned to block out the murmur of some of the smaller, at times bothersome peeks into the many what-ifs of his life and those he surrounds himself with.
Active: A purposeful attempt at divination, where he tries to pinpoint a specific future event that is likely to occur. Chasing the white rabbit that is leafing through the thousand everchanging futures everyone possesses at any given time in the hopes of finding the desired one leaves him exhausted, and can result in Aristedes falling into a death-like slumber he can't wake from on his own if pushed past his limit. He can also use purposeful premonitions as a second sight of sorts in moment to moment interactions, essentially trying to see one step into the future to prevent or avoid harm (usually), or simply latches onto one potential future, diving deeper into it, curious to see where it might lead.
Cost: Magic use fatigues the caster. (0, just for flavor)
- Using his magic extensively leaves him tired, unnaturally so if pushed too far. Albeit lacking visual flair, his magic has always been straining to use, leeching off of his vigor that must be replenished but while rest and some food often does the trick, there have been a few instances where his corruption has allowed things to go too far, bending his body's limits. The result is a sleep of death, where nothing less than specific magic or another mage's blood will stir him.
Cost: Magic use is painful for the caster. (2)
- Headaches, migraines, sick feeling in the pit of his stomach. The ways overuse of his magic can affect him are many, but the most common pain he has to deal with is a headache of some sort.
USE & LIMITATIONS
Powerful as he may be, his magic isn't all-in-one answer to his or anyone else's issues. Although the limits of his visions are few and far between, they are just as suspectible to the whims of fate. Nothing is certain, not even that is often deemed inevitable and in that notion Aristedes takes great comfort in.
STAT & ITEM LOG
PURCHASE HISTORY & STAT CHANGES
- Summoning Circle (Mod reward). 02/02/2023.
- Pact of Fortune. 02/02/2023. Aristedes never sought to become an immortal.
- Handmade Idol. 02/02/2023. Aristedes can use weapons with his telekinesis.
- Extended telekinesis. 02/02/2023. Can reach further with the telekinesis.
- Animal communication. 02/02/2023. He understands the tongue of the beasts.
- Stat Token (x6). 07/02/2023. +6 Discipline
- Familiar Scroll. 22/02/2023. In the past, he summoned a magical familiar and brought a dear pet back to life.
- Enhanced Familiar. 22/02/2023. His familiar shares his magic to an extent.
- Feast of Flowering 2 Event Reward. 16/04/2023. +1 Power.
- Stat Token (x3). 28/08/2023. +1 Power, +2 Discipline.
- Holy Water. 03/09/2023. Hunt item, used.
- Great Hunt (Aleister). 14/10/2023. +2 Power, participation reward.
- December 2023 Prompt. 04/01/2024. -1 Cost.
DESIGN NOTES
▸ Cervine- Red deer with a silken, unicorn-like tail
- His backlegs resemble that of a wolf
- Fur is longer around his neck and chest
- Eyes have a reddish hue to them, somewhere between cognac brown and umber in truth
▸ Human
- Sleepy eyes, sharp eyebrows; essentially cursed with a resting bitch face
- Willowy frame. Masculine in a particular way
- Long auburn hair, often partially braided or otherwise tied up
- Has various small scars, the most notable ones being the scarred runemarks on his collarbones, carved there by his own hand
- Straight nose, very refined facial features. Gets visible freckles during summer
- Around 5'8" tall. Looks about 35 years old.
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