Liam Ardenthal of House Hayes, known as the Upstart King, is the heir to House Hayes and King of the Nmerian Host. Born in Gurdacrest shortly before the demon plague, Liam is of mixed Atlanian and Nmerian heritage, with tanned olive skin, cropped black hair, green eyes ringed with red, and a burn scar along his left shoulder blade from drake fire that never fully healed. Though he appears to be in his late twenties, his life has already been shaped by war, inheritance, loss, and an unexpected claim to kingship that many would never have predicted for him.

Liam was born the son of Lolan Ardenthal, Protector of the Realm, a position inherited from Andrew Hayes when Hayes attempted to retire. His family’s life was marked by the disastrous Movai iron war, where Liam’s father was permanently maimed and Lord Lisbith Duron’s husband and son were killed. The event left lasting scars on House Hayes, Lisbith, and Hayes himself, while also shaping Liam’s distrust of Movian intentions. In the aftermath, Hayes used his influence to secure Liam a place at the Royal Academy and trained him in esoteric magic, eventually gifting him the Black Scale, a defensive magical item that became one of Liam’s most important possessions.

Liam’s life changed again when Paloa identified him as having the strongest Nmerian genetic markers needed to take the full power of the Blood Chalice and claim the title of Nmerian High King. What might have remained an obscure bloodline detail became a crisis of succession, legitimacy, and survival. Liam was chosen by the Blood Chalice and then had to fight off all contenders to secure his place. This transformed him from a shy young man into a more outward, risk-taking, and boisterous leader, though some aspects of kingship still sit uneasily on him. He can inspire confidence and lead men well, but he remains awkward with social cues and quick to anger when others posture, delay, or waste time.

As King of the Nmerian Host, Liam must hold together rival Nmerian factions, manage trade networks, and convince figures such as the Lord Admiral of the Sea and the Titanreaver of the Giant Slayers to work toward a common future. He is pro-Nmeria and supportive of the Treaty of Unity, but his politics are practical rather than theatrical: stability, cooperation, trade, and survival matter more to him than ceremony. Physically and temperamentally, Liam is a brawler-king, favoring gauntlets, armored fighting gloves, and katars over more courtly weapons. He is a great leader of men, an unmatched hand-to-hand fighter, and a man who learned confidence because the throne gave him no choice.

On a personal level, Liam still struggles with intimacy and courtship. Many eligible women have pursued him, but he often drives wedges into potential relationships through awkwardness, emotional hesitation, or an inability to read the moment properly. Kusha, daughter of Andrew Hayes, has come closest to winning his affection, but both of them carry soldierly mindsets that complicate tenderness. Liam is therefore both king and unfinished man: brave, strong, loyal, politically burdened, socially imperfect, and still learning how to be more than the Upstart King the world forced him to become.

Upstart King

Heir to House Hayes and King of Nmeria

Liam was born right before the demon plague, appears to be in his late twenties.

Male

none

Liam keeps his black hair short and cropped, a practical style suited to someone who has spent much of his life training, fighting, traveling, and carrying responsibilities he did not expect to inherit. It is neat enough for a king when it needs to be, but plain rather than ornamental, reflecting his discomfort with excessive courtly display. The cut suits his brawler’s build and soldierly habits: direct, low-maintenance, and difficult to grab in a fight. Even after becoming the Upstart King, Liam’s hair keeps him visually grounded, making him look more like a capable young commander pulled into kingship than a man born hungry for ceremony.

Black

5'10"

165lbs

Liam’s most notable identifying mark is the burn scar along his left shoulder blade, left by drake fire and never fully healed. The scar is more than an old wound; it is a visible reminder of the dangers tied to House Hayes, the conflicts that shaped his youth, and the kind of violence that follows those who inherit old responsibilities. It likely remains tender, discolored, or magically resistant to normal healing, making it something Liam is always aware of even when others cannot see it. Combined with his green eyes ringed in red, the scar gives him a quietly marked quality, as though his body carries proof that kingship, bloodline, and survival have all burned themselves into him.

Liam is tall, muscular, and solidly built, with the practical strength of a brawler rather than the refined build of a court duelist. At 5'10" and around 165 pounds, he carries himself with compact power, broad enough to look dangerous in close quarters but still quick on his feet. His body suits his preferred weapons—gauntlets, armored fighting gloves, and katars—because he fights best where distance collapses and strength, nerve, and instinct matter most. He does not have the ornamental polish of a prince raised only for display; Liam looks like someone who has trained hard, taken hits, and learned to win by closing in rather than standing back.

Liam has tanned olive skin, reflecting both his Atlanian and Nmerian heritage. His complexion is warm and sun-touched, darker than many northern Atlanians but carrying the olive undertone associated with his mixed bloodline. It gives him a grounded, active look, especially alongside his cropped black hair, green eyes ringed with red, and compact muscular build. Rather than appearing like a sheltered court heir, Liam looks like someone shaped by training yards, travel, old fortress stone, and the hard responsibilities of House Hayes and Nmeria alike.

Atlanian/Nmerian

Liam’s eyes are green with a distinct ring of red around each pupil, a striking trait that hints at the unusual inheritance tied to his Atlanian and Nmerian bloodline. At a glance they may read as simply green, but up close the red ring gives his gaze a sharper, stranger intensity, especially when he is angry, focused, or drawing on magic. The effect suits his place as the Upstart King: outwardly mortal and grounded, yet marked by old blood, strange power, and the deeper Nmerian legacy that allowed the Blood Chalice to recognize him. Combined with his black hair, tanned olive skin, and burn scar, his eyes make him look like someone chosen by history before he was ready for it.

Liam is distrustful of Movian intentions, a prejudice shaped by the disastrous iron wars and the maiming of his father. To him, Movai is not simply a foreign power or difficult trading partner, but the place where Atlanian ambition, resource hunger, and bad judgment cost House Hayes and House Duron dearly. His father’s permanent injuries, along with the deaths of Lisbith’s husband and son, make it difficult for Liam to view Movian dealings as harmless or purely commercial. He is not blindly hateful, but he is quick to suspect hidden motives, bad faith, or future betrayal when Movian iron, politics, or envoys are involved. This distrust also feeds his impatience as a ruler; Liam has little tolerance for posturing when he believes delay or pride can get good people killed.

Liam carries a burn from drake fire along his left shoulder blade that will not fully heal. The wound is not merely cosmetic; it remains a lingering injury, sensitive reminder, and possible magical scar tied to the violence that shaped House Hayes and the conflicts surrounding his youth. Even when covered, it likely affects how he moves at times, especially after strain, weather changes, or magical exertion. The scar reinforces one of Liam’s central truths: he may be a king, heir, and chosen bearer of Nmerian power, but his authority was not handed to him untouched. It was burned into him through survival, loss, and the responsibilities he inherited before he was ready.

Liam is a risk-taker by instinct, slightly boisterous when he feels confident, and surprisingly deferential around people with more experience than him. He did not begin life as a natural court presence, so some of his kingly confidence feels learned rather than effortless, built through being forced to fight for the Nmerian throne and hold it afterward. Around soldiers, adventurers, and practical people, he comes alive more easily, speaking plainly, taking action quickly, and inspiring confidence through courage rather than polish. In formal settings, however, he can miss social cues, grow impatient with posturing, or become visibly frustrated when others waste time on ceremony instead of solving the problem in front of them.

Liam is motivated by stability, trade, and the difficult work of getting the rival Nmerian factions to cooperate. He did not seek kingship as a matter of vanity, but once the Blood Chalice chose him and he fought off the challengers to his claim, he accepted that Nmeria’s future had become his responsibility. His greatest concern is turning the new Nmerian Host into something more than a gathering of competing fleets, old bloodlines, military heroes, and ambitious power blocs. He wants trade networks strong enough to hold his people together, political cooperation between the Lord Admiral of the Sea and the Titanreaver of the Giant Slayers, and enough internal stability that Nmeria can stand as a real partner within the Treaty of Unity rather than a temporary alliance held together by force and luck.

Liam’s greatest flaws are his quick temper, poor social instincts, and impatience with posturing. He becomes angry quickly when he feels people are wasting time, hiding behind ceremony, or acting important instead of solving the problem in front of them. This can make him effective in crisis, but difficult in court, where delay, performance, and careful wording are often part of the game. He is also bad at picking up on social cues, especially in romantic or highly political situations, which has damaged several potential relationships and made kingship more awkward than he would like to admit. Liam is brave, inspiring, and sincere, but he often expects honesty and direct action from people who are speaking in layers he does not naturally hear.

Liam is a natural leader of men, able to inspire confidence in soldiers, sailors, adventurers, and factional rivals even when he does not feel entirely confident himself. His strength as a ruler comes less from court polish and more from sincerity, courage, and the sense that he will stand in the danger beside those he asks to follow him. In combat, he is an unmatched brawler, especially with gauntlets, armored fighting gloves, and katars, using close-quarters aggression, physical power, and instinct to overwhelm opponents before they can control the fight. He also has enough magical training from Andrew Hayes to understand esoteric threats and defend himself with more than muscle alone, making him dangerous in the practical, hard-to-predict way expected of a House Hayes heir.

Liam’s hobbies are reading and adventuring, though both reflect different sides of the man he became. Reading gives him a quieter way to study kingship, history, magic, trade, and the Nmerian legacy he was suddenly forced to inherit, while adventuring lets him escape the stiffness of rule and return to problems that can be met directly with courage, fists, and instinct. He is not naturally comfortable with endless court ceremony, so travel, danger, and practical challenges often feel more honest to him than royal halls. Even as king, Liam remains drawn to the road, old ruins, dangerous disputes, and the kind of trouble where he can act as a person rather than merely as a title.

Liam is a shy man forced into boldness by kingship, inheritance, and survival. Before meeting Hayes and being drawn into the struggle for Nmerian rule, he was quieter and more reserved, more comfortable following capable people than standing at the center of history himself. Being chosen by the Blood Chalice and forced to fight off every contender to the throne changed him, making him more outgoing, risk-taking, and willing to command, though the confidence still feels learned rather than effortless. He is sincere, brave, and inspiring when action is needed, but awkward with courtship, ceremony, and subtle social games. At his core, Liam is an accidental king with a brawler’s courage and a shy man’s heart, still learning how to carry a crown without losing himself beneath it.

Goat dumplings with yogurt

Badgers

Gauntlets, armored fighting gloves, Katars

an Ironwood bracelet Kusha made

Yellow

Liam is the King of the Nmerian Host and co-leader of the Nmerians, though his rule is still young, contested, and shaped by the unusual circumstances of his rise. Chosen by the Blood Chalice and forced to defend that claim against rivals, he occupies a kingship built from bloodline legitimacy, personal combat, political necessity, and uneasy factional cooperation. His occupation requires him to stabilize trade networks, unify competing Nmerian powers, negotiate with Atlania and the other Treaty of Unity realms, and keep figures such as the Lord Admiral of the Sea and the Titanreaver of the Giant Slayers working toward the same future. Though tied to House Hayes by upbringing and inheritance, Liam’s daily work is increasingly that of a practical king: holding together a people who did not all choose him willingly, but now need him to succeed.

Liam is strongly pro-Nmeria and supportive of the Treaty of Unity, but his politics are more practical than ideological. As the Upstart King, his first concern is holding the new Nmerian Host together long enough for it to become a stable people rather than a gathering of rival fleets, bloodlines, and military factions. He favors trade, cooperation, and careful alliance with Atlania and the other treaty powers, because he understands that Nmeria’s strength depends as much on ports, routes, contracts, and shared interests as it does on bloodline legitimacy. He is not interested in empty displays of kingship, and he has little patience for factions that posture instead of solving problems. Politically, Liam wants unity without stagnation: a Nmeria strong enough to stand on its own, but connected enough to survive in the wider world.

Liam practices a mixture of Stanzgarian religion and Atlanian Mysticism, reflecting the divided and layered world he belongs to. Through House Hayes and his Atlanian upbringing, he understands the mystic traditions of Atlania: household spirits, sacred places, inherited obligations, and the old sense that land, oath, and memory carry spiritual weight. At the same time, his ties to Stanzgar and the wider Treaty of Unity world expose him to Stanzgarian religious structures, giving him a broader spiritual outlook than a purely Atlanian noble might have. Liam is not especially theatrical in his faith, but he takes oaths, duties, ancestors, and sacred obligations seriously. As King of Nmeria, his religion is likely practical and syncretic: he honors what helps bind his people together, while avoiding the kind of rigid doctrine that would fracture an already complicated host.

Liam’s job is to serve as King of Nmeria, holding together the new Nmerian Host while balancing rival factions, trade interests, old bloodline claims, and the expectations created by the Blood Chalice. In practice, this means acting as mediator, war leader, trade organizer, and symbol of legitimacy all at once. He must get powerful figures like the Lord Admiral of the Sea and the Titanreaver of the Giant Slayers to cooperate, while also proving that the Upstart King is more than an accident of blood and circumstance. Though he remains heir to House Hayes, Liam’s daily work is the survival and stabilization of Nmeria: keeping its people united, its trade routes strong, and its place within the Treaty of Unity secure.

Early Dry Season

Liam was born in Gurdacrest the son of the Protector of the Realm (akin to a national police chief, a position the man inherited from Hayes when he tried to retire). Eventually Liams father, Hayes and Lord Lisbith's husband and son would be called on to fight in the Movai for iron. This went horribly for the Atlanians, Liams father was permanently maimed and Lisbith's husband and son perished. Hayes and Lisbith are still emotionally scarred by the incident. Hayes used his position to get Liam into the Royal Academy and trained him to a degree in esoteric magics. This proximity led Hayes to gift Liam a defensive magical item known as the Black Scale. It also brought him to the attention of Paloa who was in the process of finding specific individuals with Nmerian genetic markers that would allow them to take the full power of the blood chalice and take the title of Nmerian High King. Liam had the best markers and then fought off all takers to the throne. He now has to deal with being the king of the new Nmerian Host and get the Lord Admiral of the Sea and the Titanreaver of the Giant Slayers to work with him for the betterment of the Nmerians.

well educated as a king should be

A black wyrm gifted to him by Lela, and a Badger

Liam has trouble getting close to women, many eligible bachelorette's in the kingdoms have been persuing him on and off, and he always seems to drive a wedge in the relationships. Kusha daughter of Andrew Hayes has been the closest to for the two to win each others affections but they both have the mindset of soldiers and it has gotten in the way.