Male

31

Full Name
Hæden Kingsguard (Tholtaban)

Nicknames
Hæd
Hæda (pet name by Ælli)

Primary Antagonist

Bellian

Wiry and long-limbed.
Narrow hips.
His body looks soft due to less-defined muscles.

At 188 cm (6 ft 2), Hæden is of average height for a Bellian.

74 kg (163 lb), of average weight for his height.

Strongly tanned with ruddy highlights.

Dark grey.

Dark brown, nearly black. Thick and wavy.

Cut at shoulder-length, worn loose and brushed back from forehead.

Clean-shaven. As is the custom in Gældorë, a man will only grow a beard once he becomes a father.

Sharp collarbones
Unusually dilated pupils
Left shoulder higher than the right
Cowlick at right temple which resists being brushed back
Glowing streaks of blue along his cheekbones that mark him as a kingsguard

As a kingsguard, his normal uniform consists of a blue tunic over undyed pants and shirt. He keeps it neat and clean.

ENTP

Highly charismatic and driven, Hæden finds his energy among those who share his ideals. He seems to be able to read people like a book and use it to his advantage, gaining their trust - and if that is impossible, coercing them into compliance. Where someone more balanced would use their perception and desire-to-please to better the lives of those around them, Hæden uses these to further his skewed idea of a better future.

Manipulative
Focused to the point of being unobservant
Emotionally closed
Self-loathing

Redemption
He despises himself (in retrospect) for going along with the values of his parents and the king, but mostly for agreeing to imprison other magic users. By freeing them he believes he can somewhat atone for helping to put them there in the first place.

Kingsguard: (yes, even though this is currently his job) Hæden has no sympathy for those in his line of work. He views them as traitors, just as he viewed himself.

Quick learner
Light magic
Communicating effectively
Resolving conflict

Glimsight
Having had over twenty years of experience, Hæden is proficient in his thread of magic. He can project light of varying intensity and colour (even intense enough to blind an enemy), create detailed illusions, veil things in the physical realm (i.e., invisibility) and in the liminal realm (i.e., hide the traces of magic).

Hæden can also send (~communicate telepathically), although as not many others are proficient he mainly uses this method of communication with Tani and his closest friends.

Jores

Jores was Hæden's friend and mentor while he was learning glimsight - almost a second father-figure to him, as his own was somewhat distant, though not uncaring. Before Jores's exile, Hæden hung on his every word, even going against his better judgment to do what he (mistakenly) believed the older man was asking of him. The loss of this relationship scarred him deeply.

After reuniting with Jores at the mines, the bond they had once had was lost. Hæden could see his late master's flaws and began to despise him for them, but he did not reveal his feelings. His demeanor toward Jores is polite, distant, and no more than it has to be.

Lord Rilvan

Though Hæden believes Lord Rilvan is weak and a coward, catering to the old man's wants furthers his own ambitions, so he does everything he can to remain in Rilvan's good graces.

Marand

Since the two men share close to the same ideals, they have formed a strong friendship. Marand is more reactionary and less patient than Hæden, but his respect for his friend keeps him from acting out - so far.

King Oronar

Hæden blames the king and his edict for not only the imprisonment of magic users, but for his own moral failings. But rather than seeking direct revenge, Hæden prefers to right this wrong in his own manner, and does not think Oronar worthy of his attention.

Gil and Ben

At the start of the story, Hæden does not know the boys, as he left Ardion when they were seven and six, respectively. But his dislike for the king filters down to the heir, and his dislike for others in his line of work extends to Ben, so it's (skilfully concealed) animosity at first sight.

Kingsguard at the Mines of Mandur

Service of the Seven
Following the tradition of many in the nobility, Hæden was raised to serve the Seven - the main gods among a pantheon of many deities. As an unmarried man, his daily prayers would be sent to Ramul, the god of agriculture and the hunt, but Hæden is lax in his religious devotion and while he believes these gods exist, he does not believe they interfere with the lives of mortals.

Once "his people" are freed, he aspires for them to form an independent nation, ruled not by a dictator but by those who are worthy among them.

Flaxen gold - the colour of bright light and Ælli's hair.

02/08/1277
(Ebarta - day of light - the first day of the week)
(Cistal - month of new grain)
(Moon - full moon)

Early Life

Hæden was born to Lord Tholt and Lady Simborël in Ardion. As the third and last son among four children, he wasn't in line to inherit much in the way of land or wealth, and so when he showed an affinity for glimsight at the age of eight, his parents found him a place learning magic at the royal court.

Hæden was apprenticed to Jores, a skilled glimseer. He made several friends among his classmates and was highly devoted to Jores. The magic of illusion paired well with his charismatic and mischievous personality.

Upheaval

The restrictions surrounding magic tightened during the years Hæden served as an apprentice, until, when he was fifteen, tragedy struck and apprentices in all threads of magic, barring glimsight, were refused licences. Hæden's master, Jores, disagreed strongly with King Oronar's edict and was sentenced to the mines for his insubordination.

Hæden would have stood by his master if not for Jores's plea for the young man not to waste his life. So Hæden swallowed his true feelings and his conscience and, misinterpreting what Jores had said, chose to work for the king. His previously caring nature hardened into a mindset of "I must do what I must to survive". He used his skill in glimsight to apprehend other users of magic, although he let some off with a warning whenever he could.

After four years of this, twenty-year-old Hæden was tired and bitter. He asked to be taken from the task and was relocated to the Mines of Mandur, guarding those who had been sentenced there for their illicit use of magic. It was there that he was reunited with Jores.

Recent Years

Far away from the scrutiny of the king and those who upheld the laws, Hæden was free once more to act according to his own values. He identified a greed for comfort in the mines' overseer, Lord Rilvan, and together they released docile prisoners into the service of Rilvan and his family, instead of confining them to the backbreaking work of the mines.

He grew distant from Jores. No longer did he share the same values as his old master - Jores still believed the king could be made to see reason, but Hæden knew all too well the only way to find justice for those wronged was for them to take it in their own hands. He remained cordial on the surface, having honed the ability to show people the face they wanted to see.

His great plan was to free his people - all of them, whether harmless or violent. And he came across prisoners who shared his vision - two among these were Marand and Ælli, a broken young woman who had been imprisoned at twelve for firedancing. Though they could never spend more than a moment in each other's company, Hæden and Ælli fell in love.

Three years before the story begins, a prisoner named Tani managed to escape. Hæden apprehended her and promised not to turn her in to the guards if she agreed to work for him. With her as his spy, he was able to do more behind Rilvan's back.

He freed, with Rilvan's permission, several kindlers to work in a smelting operation that was slated to bring Lord Rilvan more fortune. Marand and Ælli were among them, as well as a particularly violent offender who managed to escape and make his way to Ardion. Hæden informed Rilvan of the escape, but they agreed that it was too risky to inform the king or any of those close to him.

Parents

To Hæden's parents, working with magic is a 'lesser' occupation. Magic is a thing of the past, not as powerful as it once was. Society has moved on, and their King was right in outlawing the unstable practice. It was only because Hæden's older brothers were taking care of the more important things that Hæden could be trained in such a passé occupation. Certainly he is talented, but is he truly useful to the family?

Needless to say, Hæden does not see eye to eye with his parents. Having found friends at the mines, he has no desire to return to them, though, to keep up the image of dutiful son and keep bridges intact, he responds cordially to his mother's monthly letters.

Ælli

Hæden couldn't care less that Ælli's from the lowest social class. He loves her fiery personality and the way she understands him, even though she believes the blame he puts on himself is misplaced.

Character image created using the Sci-Fi Warrior Dress up Game by Azaleas Dolls

Ælli - ['æli] - AL-ee
Bennadan - [bɛnɑ'dɑn] - ben-ah-DAHN
Gilandar - [ɡɪlɑn'dɑr] - gill-ahn-DAR
Hæden - ['hædən] - HAD-n
Jores - ['dʒɔrəs] - JOR-us
Marand - [mɑ'rɑnd] - mah-RAHND
Oronar - [ɔrɔ'nɑr] - oh-roh-NAR
Rilvan - [rɪl'vɑn] - rill-VAHN
Simborel - [sɪmbɔ'rɛl] - sim-bor-ELL
Tani - ['tɑni] - TAH-nee
Tholt - [θɔlt] - THOL-t