Arthur

*I have a thing for fire.*[src]
Arthur on his fondness for explosive weaponry

**Arthur** is Mélie's twin brother. He is a young thief, a looter, and has a penchant for causing distractions, allowing for ease of escape.

## History

### Background and Early Life

Arthur and his sister, Mélie, once lived with their abusive father. After "one beating too many", they ran away and since then have been living on the run and turned to thievery to get by, combining his talent for distracting with her talent for lock-picking.

### The Ravens' Spoils

In November 1348, Amicia de Rune, her brother Hugo, and their friend Lucas encounter Arthur and his sister after having snuck through a recent battlefield, where the two have been looting the corpses. A soldier of the English Army catches them but is then distracted when Mélie blows Amicia's cover, which allows Arthur to help her tackle the soldier and flee. This, however, causes the de Runes to be caught, so Lucas convinces the twins to help rescue them for a reward (which is not forthcoming as the children are bereft).

### Damaged Goods

After being taunted by an English officer, Amicia is surprised to see Arthur sneak up to and then open her cage. Scaling the wall of the English fort, he provides Mélie and the de Runes with distractions to help sneak past the soldiers. When Lord Nicholas shows up, Arthur throws an explosive barrel to scatter them, and later sets the camp on fire with an even bigger explosion, resulting in him being caught while Mélie, the de Runes, and Lucas were able to escape.

### The Path Before Us

Arthur is sent to the Bastion to be tortured for information, barely surviving the experience. While imprisoned, he notices Béatrice being taken to be tortured and happens to overhear her name, which he recognizes from his association with the de Rune children.

### In the Shadow of Ramparts

When Amicia and Mélie arrive in town, the de Rune girl goes to steal the Sanguinis Itinera from the University while Mélie sneaks into the Bastion to free Arthur, whereupon he mentions his discovery after they escape.

### Alive

Having spent some time on the run, Mélie returns to the Chateau with Arthur in tow, having him relay Béatrice's survival to Amicia. Although it is agreed to keep the truth from Hugo, the boy, in fact, overheard them. Arthur remains in the castle with the others while Amicia and Lucas return to the de Rune estate to make a cure for Hugo.

### All That Remains

While keeping watch from one of the castle towers with Rodric, who has fallen asleep on the smaller boy's shoulder, Arthur sees Amicia and Lucas returning with the elixir and greets them on the bridge.

### Penance

Amicia awakens to the sound of Arthur and Rodric arguing over the results of a slinging match, which Arthur lost. Although he claims Rodric cheated, the older boy scoffs, saying he is "just rubbish" and not to lecture him about rules. When it is discovered that Hugo is missing, he, along with the others, fans out to try and find him. It takes him and his sister three days to find Amicia lying unconscious in the forest and bring her back to the castle.

### Death

By January 1349, Arthur is heard arguing with Mélie over whether or not to stay in the hideout. While she desires to settle down with their friends, he instead wants to continue living on the run. While helping Amicia and Rodric set up the hideout defenses, they are overwhelmed by a swarm of rats so massive it overflows the pit traps. The horde is commanded by Hugo who in turn is directed by Nicholas. When the Inquisitor decides to kill Amicia himself, Arthur attempts to block him but is easily knocked aside, rendered unconscious.

When Nicholas catches up to Amicia again in the castle courtyard, Arthur surprises him with a trap, dropping blocks of masonry on him and seemingly killing him; however, when the boy is not looking, Nicholas stands up behind him. Grabbing the boy, he runs him through with his sword killing him instantly.

Arthur is soon thereafter avenged by Amicia's efforts and Hugo's rats, but Mélie is utterly devastated and the group mourns him. In their fallen comrade's name, they set forth to wipe out the Inquisition for good.

### For Each Other

Likely due to her grieving Arthur, as well as having become afraid of Hugo because of his abilities, Mélie sets out on her own rather than accompany the de Runes.

## Physical Appearance

Arthur is every inch Mélie's twin brother. Both are slender young people with bright red hair, pale skin, and blue eyes. Both don roughed-up, dark green or blue clothing with shawls and cowls to hide their faces while in the act of stealing or otherwise not wanting to be seen. They also wear a thin leather circlet around their brow.

Arthur's most noticeable difference is the hood he wears that makes his hair not as visible as Mélie's.

## Personality

Like his sister, Arthur was a survivalist who was not above stealing what he needed to live, even going so far as looting from the corpses of a recent battle. As any good thief must be, he is clever, quick on his feet, and very observant. Even in the midst of torture and in great pain, he overheard Béatrice's capture.

Despite his occupation, Arthur has good intentions and does his best to do right by those who do right by him. Above all, however, he is very protective of his sister, and their survival takes precedence.

Arthur seems to enjoy the use of explosives and fire, but also can be incredibly subtle in his means of diverting attention.

## Abilities and Skills

* **Stealth**: Arthur, like Mélie, is skilled at sneaking and moving quietly.
* **Pyrotechnics**: Arthur is skilled in the use of explosives and fire, especially when it comes to using them as distractions.

## Relationships

### Mélie

Mélie was Arthur's twin sister. The two were very close and have been working together as thieves ever since they left home. The two rarely got into disagreements, but got into an argument over whether to leave their group's home base or not hours before Arthur is killed. To Arthur, protecting Mélie came first over the group's protection.

### Amicia de Rune

*We need people like you ...*[src]
Amicia tries to find the better purpose for Arthur's skills

Amicia and Arthur were friends, but weren't particularly close. Arthur cared about Amicia's safety and was concerned when the latter fell unconscious for three days, but put Mélie's safety over Amicia's. Arthur and Amicia worked together to light fires in the castle's pit every day.

### Rodric

Arthur and Rodric argued frequently, but seemed to have a friendly relationship other than this. Mélie and Lucas both complain that the two argue too much. They also seemed to be quite competitive with each other, with Arthur telling Rodric that he cheated after the latter beat him at a slingshot competition.

### Hugo de Rune

Arthur and Hugo had very little interaction. Amicia states that Hugo would have liked Arthur while Hugo is away with the Inquisition.

### Lucas

Arthur and Lucas didn’t interact much during the game.

## References

1. ↑ *"I'm currently writing a fanfiction based on A Plague Tale: Innocence. I know the ages of Hugo and Amica but how old are the other characters? Specifically Mélie and Lucas."* Posted on June 2, 2019 on *Twitter*.