Oinkington

Paras Oykenzus is a boy born as an Abexilan native of the Atalian tribe who previously inhabited the northern plains of the Shurdal Peninsula on the central continent of Talasi. Currently living within the Third Kingdom of Grand Castell, he works to honor and succeed to Pigyas Oykenzus who passed away in the recent summer of 70 VE (January 10th, 2025).
== Biography ==
=== Upbringing ===
He was born in a village of natives who called themselves Atalian, who had been animating the lands before the arrival of refugees from Ratham. In this small tribal village, he lived together with his grandmother, an elder of the village, eversince he had lost his biological parents to a conflict with another tribe soon after his birth. At that time, he bore a quite common name in the village, "Ûrae Morweth" or "Morthûra," coming from the Atalian words for "thorny tree," a reference to the thorn-covered bark of acacia trees that dot the savannah plains.
However, in this time of relative peace, a sudden event would bring the tribe to an abrupt end. In the autumn of 47 VE, when Paras was only seven years old and the village had been tending to their daily activities, they were struck by major attack that laid ruin to a majority of the small settlement. In recent years, smaller-scale attacks, meager thefts and petty merchant scams had been of common occurrence. This incident, on the other hand, was of a scale that had never been seen before. Over the span of a single day, a great part of the village was left lifeless, and most of the locals were brought into submission to be turned into work slaves, with the exception of those incapable of such labor, including elders and the disabled.
Paras, who had gone on an errand, managed to escape the assailants' grasp despite attempting to return to check on the villagers' wellbeing and nearly being caught by a group of attackers who noticed him and chased after him. By a sheer stroke of luck, as he tried to escape by climbing the mountains, he came across the now-deceased Castellan Grand Councilor, Pigyas Oykenzus, and was rescued by him. The councilor, who had been staying at the estate of the House of Valtheim in Valathémas, had come to visit the condition of the old mountains and had passed the village only a few days earlier. He often visited the area, bringing provisions to the locals and ensuring they remained updated on matters of trade and politics. Under the councilor's care, the boy was given the name Paras Oykenzus. The name comes from the religious Castellan word for “spark,” symbolizing a bright new start despite the recent tragedy.
This incident occurred due to the village's significant lack of protection from external threats, which had previously been ensured by the Kingdom of Grand Castell. However, this protection had ceased two decades ago after the kingdom had lost its dominion over the mountains in Shurdal's mountain range in the fall of 27 VE. Afterwards, the kingdom would officially relinquish its claims to the territories in the summer of 28 VE (July 24th, 2024) with the signing of the Treaty of Telakúte.
== Self Portrait ==
=== Appearance ===
Paras has retained his youthful, boyish appearance, despite his naturally sharp and serious expression, though this does not undermine his warm and playful sides. On his face can be noticed two red spots which were traditionally done by the native Atalian folks. His eyes are olive green, and he tends to cut his dark green hair into fringes, letting some parts grow into strands that are woven into braids and adorned with gold jewelry. This gold jewelry was a personal purchase, serving as a tribute to the old Sawrimas mountains, which had previously been under Pigyas' rule. He made this choice after hearing his father’s story about buying a purple scarf long ago, inspired by a tale written by his old friend and Castell’s Grand Scholar, Elegius of Valles.
His build is relatively sturdy for a man his age, whose duties are mostly scholarly. This mainly comes from his regular volunteering to assist with manual construction work and which has proved to be a reliable way for him to maintain his musculature.
=== Attire ===
Paras is often seen dressed in a cream-colored camise, over which he wears a thin, purple palla and a set of armor. Pallas, like paludementums, are two types of gowns commonly worn in Castell. In fact, the purple dyes used in Paras’ palla are not to be overlooked, as they tend to be more expensive due to the alliums or dye mixtures needed to achieve this color. Purple is typically worn by Castellan nobles, but this specific shade of purple was particularly prominent in the old Castellan Heartlands back on Rathnir. It was obtained by crushing the locally mined lapis lazuli and redstone into dyes, which were then mixed to create the final purple dye.
As can be inferred, the provenance of this gown is that of Paras’ adoptive father’s wardrobe, which contained a variety of gowns he possessed both for casual-wear, official and ceremonial occasions, including druid robes and this very one. However, since this gown was made to fit a larger man, it ended up being slightly too large for Paras and required for him to tuck part of it into the cuisses of his armor to be worn with more comfort . With this same sense of comfort, Paras never grew accustomed to the closed shoes worn by most Castellans. Instead, he's prefered continuing to use sandals, a staple of his birthplace's footwear.
His armor includes standard-issue Konushite armor reserved for Whaler guards, which had been transported by Pigyas and his expedition party during their journey to Abexilas. However, his regularly worn armor also includes more personal elements, with his gorget having been gifted to him by Pigyas, who, in his old age, had no use for it.
Furthermore, as part of the Oykenzus inheritance, he received a full netherite set, accompanied by a netherite underdweller sword, which Pigyas used to brandish in his days as the garrison commander of Konushum back on Rathnir.
== Legacy ==
=== Ancestry ===
Paras Oykenzus has as many known biological family members as adoptive ones, with an adoptive parent and two older siblings.
=== Achievements ===
Having integrated into the Castellan culture at a young age, he aspires to leave behind undeniable proof of his existence, igniting a flame of life which would never go unnoticed and one to last down generations forever. As much as he seeks to achieve the grandest ambitions, he holds just as dear the wish to do so with a warm heart—one not frozen by fear but ever-blazing with hope.
=== Works ===
As an architect and son to his father,—who himself had taken up the position of the nation's head architect—Paras has conceded to the grand implications of his profession. Most importantly, the death of his father not only meant that the position of Chief Architect had now been left vacant, but instead that so many of his father's project were left either ready to be constructed or still in the works. As such, in his lack of experience, using these grandiose plans for the nation's organization and new structures, Paras would come to the decision to look over these project and to the ones even completed, many needed to be partly reviewed so to fit the new dynamics of the nation.
Amongst these, Paras would most notably look back at the numerous prototype plans of the nation's layout, including fortified walls, roads and settlements and would directly edit them to find a design that would work most efficiently but be equally as pleasant to visit. With this, his work on planning out a definite road system to span all over the nation was put into motion in the summer of 73 VE (January 20th, 2025) with the nation's Grand Council giving Paras the approval to carry on the project. Over the next 2 years, Paras would sketch up his plans and get into contact with numerous artisans to prepare for the roads construction. Now, the winter of 77 VE (February 3rd, 2025) and most preparations have been completed and the roads are expected to have been fully constructed by 83 VE (February 28th, 2025). 
In parallel, Paras pursued the reconstruction of Saradimas which had existing walls and turning the town into a proper fortress, fit to house both soldiers, citizens, foreigners but also scholars and priest, following the recent replacement of the Lord Protector by the previous king, Wesllyn Castellan in the Fall of 73 VE.
His current bibliography as a writer is empty but he has aspirations to use the countless stories and morals he was told of his adoptive father's tales to fill in the empty lines of this tale of a long life, which he had begun recounting in his travel journal, a diary so to say.
== Trivia ==
* He was first taught basic skills by his grandmother, including weaving, herbalism and botany.
* Having been taken in by Pigyas, his education was overseen by him, alongside Pigyas' two Whaler guards, Fi and So, with whom he had grown closest. Under their teachings, he learned to read and write in both Castellan and Traveler's Tongue, alongside a general education in arithmetic and etiquette. Alongside these fundamentals, he developed an assortment of survival skills and the basics of specialized swordsmanship. Additionally, Pigyas would gift him small hand-carved figures on multiple occasions and later taught him woodcarving while all three were traveling on journeys, often for diplomatic missions.
* He is right handed.