Tanros Arikas

*"How should you understand? You must learn that what would be wrong for the common people is not wrong in a great lord such as I. The weight of our future is on my shoulders. I must be freed from all rules. Mine is a high and lonely destiny.”*

-Tanros Arikas

## History

A brilliant tech-mage and inventor of war machines, Arikas became the Mayor of Windemere of at a young age. Along with his longtime political ally, the engineer Valhik, he was elected to represent Skycity Alliance at the Holy Council, with the title of First Mayor. Idealistic and uncompromising, Arikas sought and attained unprecedented power for a First Mayor, transforming himself from a first among equals to something of a tyrant. He dreamed of conquest, of turning his war machines against the enemies of the Alliance and imposing his vision of technological and scientific utopia on less cultured nations. To this end, he allied himself with the Empire of Aglazdere, seeing the Padishah as a kindred spirit, and seeking to benefit from an exchange of ideas and technology. Over time, the alliance would begin to cool as the two leaders realized that they were not as alike as they had first thought. For his part, the Padishah began to see Arikas as a warmongering fool, someone best given a wide berth. Arikas came to view Padishah Rick as a traitor to the Gnomish race, nothing more then a greedy sky pirate who had sold out to humans for power and wealth.

## Personality

*"The philosopher may very justly be delighted with the extent of his views, the artificer with the readiness of his hands, but let the one remember that without mechanical performance, refined speculation is an empty dream, and the other that without theoretical reasoning, dexterity is little more than brute instinct."*

-Tanros Arikas

Arikas was a brilliant and haughty figure, one who bedazzled listeners with his erudition and technical competence. He saw things in broad strokes and minute data, with little room for the human factor. Obsessed with the design of war machines, it was only a matter of time before he would seek a way to use them. He looked down on other races and nations, seeking to cultivate them through conquest.

## War of the Philosopher-Kings

Still nominally allied with Aglazdere at the start of the War of the Philosopher-Kings, Arikas was reluctant to come to the Padishah's aid, seeing little benefit in a clash with the Final Empire. After the Dragonflight put Aglazdere in great danger and revealed the existence of Aurum, he would leap into action. Arikas envisioned the floating kingdom as a great capital for the flying Gnomish cities, with himself as the monarch. Uniting the sky cities under his command, he led a furious assault against Aurum, waging war with technological sophistication and passionless brutality. For a while, it seemed as though the Alliance had the upper hand, until Princess Cordelia gave in and made a pact with the demon lord Tolumvire. Wielding a abyssal blade forged with a shard of the demon's soul, Cordelia turned the tide of battle, driving the Gnomes back and killing Arikas and his second-in-command, Valhik. His rule would go down as a dark chapter in Gnomish history; a tale of unmatched hubris, visionary brilliance, and ceaseless bloodlust.