Darius Sand

Born a bastard in 422 to the merchant Zenobia and her one-time lover, Lord Arthur Dayne. He currently serves as the Castellan of High Hermitage.

## Appearance and Character

With blue-purple eyes and light blonde hair, Darius possesses all of the features that his father's house is famous for. Despite the Dayne's being known for their martial prowess, this is the one area where he differentiates. He is of good physical standing, however, he does not possesses the warrior build of his forefathers.

Darius can often come off as cold and calculating. He often shows little in the way in emotions and rarely gets over emotional on anything. That said while he can hardly be claimed as the premier diplomat of his time he does possesses an equally, if not more, valuable skill set. He is brilliant in the field of numbers, a trait that was shown early on when he played games of chance on the streets as a child. He is confident as an individual, never fearing much in the judgment of others.

## History

### Stars Guide My Path (422-435 A.C.)

Darius’ was born on a sandy roadside alongside The Red Mountains in a tent surrounded by friends and adopted family. Despite many of the people surrounding him in his first moments having no relation by blood they would be family in all but name. His mother, an adventurous woman by the name of Zenobia, was a member of a semi-nomadic caravan group that crossed the mountains of Dorne through treacherous passages and unsafe roads on a daily basis. He was conceived after his mother slept with Lord Arthur Dayne on a one night stand. Despite the risks of carrying a bastard and the availability of moon tea Zenobia would never even consider once abandoning the pregnancy.

As a child, Darius was a quiet boy. He had little of the silver tongue of a merchant but had all the talent of a banker. Whereas many of the younger members of the caravan would test their luck in the markets, Darius and his small group of close friends rather explore the great buildings of the towns and cities the caravan stoped at. With his inherent skills in numbers, he would take to playing games of chance on the streets, using the money he earned to stuff his little arms with books and lore. Despite his mother not sharing his interests, she would encourage it, more happy to see Darius taking enjoyment out of something then interested in pushing her own agenda. It was largely thanks to her encouraging and confident nature that the two would share a very close bond. Despite never even meeting his father Darius would never long for him, the strength of his mother combined with the fatherly attitude of the older member of the caravan would be ample substitution for the absent Lord Dayne. In truth he would never feel jealousy towards with legitimate siblings either, the thought of the wealth and prestige that came with being a Dayne was not one that dominated his waking thoughts. He was his own man, he didn’t need a name to get satisfaction from life.

As he grew older his talents for numbers would be put to use in the caravan. Even at the young age of 13, he had unparalleled intelligence. The job suited him greatly, he had literal interest in haggling, less so negotiating. This wouldn’t be his only point in divergence, however, where as many of the younger members of the caravan became taking interests in more romantic pursuits Darius had no interest in the fairer sex. He would take one of his friends from childhood as his first love. The two boys had been close since they were toddlers but now it reached a physical dimension. As it was a Dornish caravan the relationship was not questioned by the other members, most thinking it a little queer, especially coming from an already strange boy like Darius. Darius himself would hardly care at the rare glances thrown his way, he never was one who lived under the judgment of others.

Life would go on, relationships would come off and on but never on bad terms, he was not the type of person to get overly emotional, even on matters of love. Sadly, happiness is a fleeting thing. It was on a windy night in late 435 that Darius’ mother would pass away from a sickness she had picked up at the previous town. Despite being racked with pain and weakness she had ended the final moments in the world with the same confident smile she had worn her entire life. Her final words would be a last few pieces of advice to her still young son, encouraging him to continue forging his own path in life and to remain strong. She would pass shortly after. Even with the death of his mother he would not cry, not because of the stociism he was so famed for, but to honor his mothers' last words. Despite the grief and pain ,he felt inside, he kept the tears in.

### A New Dayne (435-437 A.C.)

He would remain with the caravan after the death of his mother, but with the only real thing tying him to them gone he would begin to contemplate a life outside the extended family he had grown so accustomed to. He still had his talents for numbers and with all the books he read a talent for engineering as well, all he needed was to find somewhere to put his talents to work. Though he didn’t know it yet that opportunity would come in the form of his legitimate half brother and heir to High Hermitage, Viserys Dayne. The young Dayne was in a turbulent point in his life, scared from his recent kidnapping and an emotional wreck the two would meet after a chance encounter. The two would be riding in the countryside of High Hermitage, Viserys having recently lost a duel in one of his practice sessions took to riding to take out his frustration.

Despite having never met Viserys recognized Darius, already at his young age he had begun to look much like his father at his prime. Inheriting much of the Dayne looks such as the light blonde, almost silvery hair and purple-blue eyes, luckily he had avoided inheriting his father's traits of drunkness and self-indulgence. The two would become fast friends. Darius becoming much-needed support and practice for Viserys. While Darius did not quite have the same need for Viserys as Viserys’ need for him he found the young heir a fascinating figure, it was a bonus that he also found the Valayrian’s exotic features quite fascinating as well. The two would spend hours talking, dueling, and discussing. This would continue until the caravan packed up, Viserys would see Darius off in a heartfelt goodbye, the emotionally unstable Viserys not quite able to keep the same collectedness that Darius was able too.

It was a year later when they next returned to the dusty hills of High Hermitage, setting up in a long-abandoned castle, they could go through their normal routine of unloading their goods and preparing camp, little did they know that what was to come was anything but their normal routine. It was early the next morning when the drum of hooves began to be heard in the distance. Shortly after a dust cloud began to pick up and in it, figures could be vaguely made out. Many of the more experienced men understood what this meant. A raid. They made what last-minute preparations that they could. Darius and a few others would build makeshift barricades in the fort walls and preparing extra weapons. Soon the bandits were upon them. They fought back well, the lightly armed bandits had trouble breaching even the decayed fort they hid in. Despite the bandit’s inability to breach the fort they still would cause casualties, after an hour of fighting several members of the caravan would be dead with more injured. The odds were even, the bandits heavily outnumbering the caravan with a steady stream of reinforcements while the caravan was well armed in a strong position, that was until a third factor arrived. Viserys leading a group of calvary smashed into the bandit rear causing a mass panic, those who weren't cut down in the initial charge fled to the hills to regroup and recover.

Once the battle was done the two brothers reunited with Viserys asking Darius to come with him to fight the rest of the bandits. Darius would except, while he was sad to leave the family he had lived with his entire life behind he had long since felt it was time to move one, besides, he was eager to avenge those who fell in the siege. The two brothers would ride off, Darius quickly becoming Viserys’ prime advisor. The more collected and long term thinker Darius would prove instrumental in reigning in Viserys aggressive impulses, combined with his knowledge of harsh terrain fighting, Darius would be a major asset in the battles to come.

At least the fighting was nearly at an end, the army of High Hermitage had cornered the last of the bandits to a long forgotten stronghold in the mountains. The fortress may have been small and in decay but it was not weak by any means. The fort dug into the mountain behind it, rather than a wall the back of the fortress was the mountain itself, an unscalable stony outcrop that would be impossible to assault. Their only advantage was that the frontal walls were decayed enough that even light artillery could bring it down.

It was early in the morning when just that happened, a large hole was punched in the wall. Viserys would lead the charge from the front, cutting down several bandits before taking a large slash across his chest and stomach. Viserys would survive, albeit with another scar to add. It was while recovering that the relationship between the two brothers would become something more. In a rare moment of passion for Darius as while the two were alone in a tent, he would fall upon Viserys. The mixture of lust over Visery’s features and attraction to his personality, along with the fear of Viserys’ near death was too much to contain for him. This would be the start of a relationship that would last until Viserys’ betrothal.

### Stars Rise and Fall (437-Present)

With the eventual victory in the siege the two would return to High Hermitage, with Lord Arthur Dayne being largely out of the picture, Viserys would become defacto Lord, with Darius as his castellan and lover. Their relationship would continue to bloom, often the two would spend long nights together when no one was looking. Darius, being a much more emotionally stable and self-confident person was always able to keep control over himself, Viserys did not quite have the same attitude. Viserys’ attraction to Darius was much more heavily emotionally based than physically, as time wore on this would start becoming more and more apparent to Darius. Darius would unintentionally become the commanding figure in Viserys’ life as his older brother increasingly looked to him for advice and support. Though the relationship continued and even at the worst of times it could hardly be called overly unhealthy, Darius’ would start to have doubts on the long term viability. He knew he had to act when the announcement of Viserys’ betrothal to Larra Dalt was released. In one of their father’s last decisions as Lord, it was announced that within a year the two would be married. Understanding that Viserys’ had to go through with it as part of his duties as future lord Darius would act. In a night of pain, especially on Viserys’ part, Darius would end their illicit romance, encouraging Viserys’ to find happiness in his wife to be. While angered, Viserys would come to understand it and they would go back to just being brothers and friends without too much of a hitch. It even had a surprising effect on Viserys’ as much of the emotional fragility that he still held was hardened, leading him to emerge as a much more self-confident individual.

With that affair out of the way, Darius could put full focus on his role of Castellan. He would greatly boost the economic situation of High Hermitage, filling the coffers with more gold than ever under Arthur, who also died around this time. With the increased income, he could begin his plans of not only rebuilding High Hermitage, but improving it to new heights.