Oros

Status
 Class
 Wing type

Elyos daeva, a white haired Assassin with wings of a gyrefalcon and such huge black eyes that are unheard of on an Elyos. Son of Ourobouros Stalks-by-Night and Daiyu. The name Oros is a short usename from Ourobouros, he was named after his father and has spent about last twenty years pretending to be his father, against his own will.

Personality

Oros is very secretive and curios, always full of questions and always hiding his motives, never trusting anyone easily. He is also clever and manipulative, best shown with the way he manages to manipulate Jaya into abandoning suicidal thoughts in favour of hatred and rivalry towards him. One of his most noticable features is pride, which he often uses as a mask to hide his true thoughts and feelings. As Jaya guesses later, he is bitter about having to pretend to be Ourobouros Stalks-by-Night, never being appreciated for who he is and having all he has done ascribed to someone else. Oros has a lot of stubborness and quite a temper, but he's a master of self-control, often effectively using his cool attitude to unbalance his rivals. As an excellent swordsman he's ferocious and deadly on the battlefield. To his comrades and friends he is loyal and dedicated, willing to sacrifice himself for them if needed.

Story

He was born to an Asmodian woman masked as an Elyos, thus making him a half-blood. He was never told about his mother's true origins, but he was a quiet and attentive child and figured it out himself. While it is unknown what kind of relationship he had with his father, his mother loved him more than anything in the world. His upbringing involved Sara-shi, who apparently acted as his nanny as well as the swordmistress who trained him.

After his father's death Ariel requested Oros to take his place, pretend to be him - something made possible by the fact that he looked almost exactly like him. Oros was ready to refuse, but Ariel threatened to dishonour his mother by revealing to everyone who she really was. Oros loves his mother dearly and treasures her name, therefore he agreed. He inheritef his father's sword: The Last Word and started playing the role.

He is one of the first to join the Furiae, along with Kit, and though he serves Taion Helios, their relationship is more like that of brothers, than a lord and his servant.

When the Furiae go on the task in Asmodae following Taion's prophetic dream, Oros is the one who hears Jaya's voice, the latter singing the ballad The Lay of a Broken Winged Sparrow. He's the first among the Furiae to communicate with her, revealing his knowledge of Asmoth.

After the Furiae returning from Asmodae, bringing Jaya as their prisoner, Oros interrogates her every day, tasked with observing her for any unique knowledge she might have. Since Jaya has made her suicidal mood very obvious from the monent they met, he manipulates her with her own temper, alternatingly infuriating her with his arrogance and baiting with small displays of kindnesses, effectively making her hang on hatred towards him. When he realises, that Jaya is well versed in Asmodian Lore and not only has learnt the Carcaresse ballad The Lay of a Broken Winged Sparrow, but is native Carcaresse herself, he reports it. After that Kit steps in, bargaining with Jaya and starting their work together, which temporarily removes the gyre from the picture.

He isn't seen again until one rainy day, where in the garden, standing alone at the Green Raven topiary, he is unpleasantly surprised to see Kit and Nico

accompanied by Jaya (disguised) out on a stroll there. He recognizes her almost immediately and unleashes all his rage on her. He is stopped short, however, by an Asmodian daeva appearing in the sky above Sanctum, carrying a wounded man and dropping him. Oros manages to catch him in time. The man is Pentarus Lockstep, Avarran Carcarron's spymaster, and as it turns out, much to Jaya's horror, Oros' informant. During another conflict (involving shouting at and insulting each other in showering rain) with her, after he stops her attempt to kill Pentarus on the spot, he makes an unwilling bargain with her. He professes to have guessed that she's hiding her true heritage and threatens to find out and use it against her, unless she helps with interrogation of Pentarus (the latter refusing to communicate with any Elyos).

When Jaya announces her wish to defect, after learning how she was falsely blamed for treason and ordered to be killed on sight, Oros is at first as surprised as everyone else, but he's also the first to understand her motives and stops Taion from questioning her decision. When she comes on the verge of tears he provokes her into an argument so she concentrates on countering his petty insults with her own, instead of crying out of misery in front of him, Taion and Kit.

When someone tries to assassinate Jaya in the middle of the night, Oros along with Kit comes to the spot immediately, finding her in front of the door of her room locked with the intruder inside and blocked. trying to save gravely wounded Sathas from bleeding to death. The assailant, though still alive when they arrive, commits suicide by the time Oros enters the room. Decidedly not showing his true reaction to the fact that Jaya is gallivanting in rather revealing underwear, only asking her if she has a robe, he takes the stranger's dagger, seals the room and they all leave to Terekai's tower, where Sathas' wound is treated by Kiert and The Furiae discuss the difficulty of their situation and a possible solution. During this discussion it becomes noticeable that Oros takes an issue with Terekai. Oros is the only person not surprised when Taion and Terekai propose inform the rest of them about the illusion enchantment they want to put on Jaya, which will mask her as an Elyos.

After performing the ritual Oros meets Jaya, Kit and Nico outside in Sanctum, where the three have been forced to chat with Liath Beltaine. Oros cuts it short by informing Jaya, that she is asked for by Ariel herself and asking her in a petfect gentlemanly manner to accompany him to the chambers of the Lady of Light.

At the audience with Ariel Oros somehow aids Jaya in withstanding the influence from her, but seems rendered powerless as a result, almost carried out by Taion in the end.

At the first Court meeting Jaya attends he comes to her aid again, when she's overwhelmed by influence of all the Elysean aether present, he leads her out and takes her to her new teacher - a Mau swordmistress called Sara-ship, whom Oros himself suggested (and was rewarded by Taion with being ordered to become an overseer of their lessons). It comes as a surprise to him when Sara-shi, asked by Taion to give Jaya dance lessons as well, appoints him as her dance partner. Initially he expresses distaste, Jaya compares his attitude to a man holding something disgusting and rotten and, feeling humiliated she storms out. Oros goes after her and although he doesn't say "I'm sorry", his apologetic tone, a more humble attitude and actual polite gesture asking her back is the closest the proud gyre has ever come to apologies. He keeps asking for permission in the same respectful manner every time Sara-shi decides to dedicate the lesson to dancing.

This new course of development in their relationship is interrupted when a scout brings information to Sanctum about a new daeva in Carcarron raising an army. Oros, Kit and Trist are sent to Asmodae, after a while they return without Kit, who is captured by Asmodians. Taion requests all of The Furiae and Oros finds Nico and Jaya in the library, in front of his father's portrait precisely when Jaya realises the man in the painting is not Oros and says so aloud. This makes him infuriated with her more than he's ever been, seemingly shatters the "tenuous alliance" they had as he quite violently drags her off to the meeting room, where Taion tells Jaya the truth about the real Ourobouros, except for leaving it to Oros to tell who he really is. Before he even speaks, he's interrupted by Terekai's arrival and the matter of Kit's fate taking precedence.

Jaya declares that Kit must be rescued and volunteers at the same time. Oros quite venomously rejects the last bit, saying mortals are not welcome. He has Taion's and Kiert's agreement on this but Terekai reminds them that Jaya, made Kit's heir is currently the head of House Delainne, and can't be forbidden to go. Further infuriated, Oros leaves.

When Jaya meets him again, it is outside, the Furiae making preparations for carrying Kit back home by Trist, using a harness they craft with straps and buckles. Oros gets a little revenge, when Jaya declares they can't rely on a theory, forgetting she's the best subject for testing the harness in practice.

After some flight it's time to go to Asmodae. Terekai's portal brings them out in a small cave on a hill. Oros orders Nico and Kiert to play distraction, while he and Trist fly to the keep where Kit must be held, Jaya stays to guard the gate.

The operation takes an unexpected turn. It appears The Dragon had been waiting for them, an entire army emerges from hiding under snow, Trist and Oros reappear, trist carrying Kit. Strangely enough, Oros' wings give out when the Dragon calls for arms.  and he falls, but survives and reaches the portal, currently defended by Jaya and Nico. All of the Furiae reach the portal, Oros them all to go and tells Jaya, who hangs behind, to go with the rest of them, he himself staying to defend the gate and give Terekai enough time to close it, while dying in the battle himself. But she stays and fights alongside him as the hill is swarmed by Asmodian soldiers. During the fierce battle an Asmodian daeva throws a spear at Jaya, it hits her in the guts and throws her back in the ground, fatally wounded. The gyre, stricken by her fate - continues defending the portal alone with even more deadly rage, until all unexpectedly Jaya finds strength to get on her feet, approach the portal and bring down the cave wall around it, destroying the portal and triggering her own ascension, flames of aether spreading all around. The Dragon's army is scattered, Oros uses The Last Word to shield himself from the deadly fire.

When the ascension is finalized, he has a brief burst of temper at Jaya's reckless actions, but calms down as they need to get away before The Dragon reassembles his troops and returns. They head to Rivenstone, Oros going on foot and leaving Jaya to figure out the whole flight thing on her own.

In Rivenstone they weigh their (rather slim) options. Jaya comes up with an idea. She tells Oros about her twin brother, who is a very talented mage, and proposes they fly to Synedel to him and ask his help. Oros finds the idea insane, but they don't have any alternatives. Next morning they hastily leave, escaping Asmodian patrol and take to the mountains.

The journey takes days and the two learn to trust each other. During one of the breaks they make a new bargain which supercedes the one they made on that rainy day: a question for a question. This bargain leads them both to learning the truth about each others heritage. He reacts quite strangely to the revelation of Jaya's mother's identity, but doesn't say anything other than short condolences.

When they finally reach Synedel and sneak in and find Jareth, Oros treats him with just as much suspicion and hostility as he did Jaya at first, though, As Jaya notices, he has no such concerns about her anymore. His attitude isn't improved, when the mage says his plan of their escape requires one more person's help.

Against his worst expectations, Jareth neither gives them away nor fails in his plan. With the help from a female mage called Vee he summons a Rift to Elysea. Oros thanks them both very respectfully and is rewarded by by Jareth whispering something to him only he can hear. Having said the final goodbyes, Oros and Jaya step into the Rift.

They emerge in Heiron. After a small reconnaissance Oros comes up with a plan how to reach Sanctum, and shows her how to absorb aether from other living things in order to mask her own Asmodian Aetheric signature.

Trivia

* Ourobouros the name comes from a symbol used in alchemy and philosophy: a dragon holding its tail in its mouth. It symbolizes the endless cycle, where the end is a new beginning. In that it is quite similar to the life cycle of Phoenix.
* Since an Ourobouros is a dragon, and Oros, save for his eyes is rather white, it is curios that he himself is a white dragon in a way.

* Oros the name could be a variation on Horus - in Egyptian mythology a falcon headed god, son of Osiris. This holds a lot of significance in relation to The Lay (Ballad) since the stories of Osiris and Arkain Carcarron follow a very similar pattern in terms of sibling relationship.

* Shadow Prince - is what Sara-shi calls Oros. The part "Shadow" can refer to both his half-Asmodian heritage and his class (Assassin). "Prince" is the most interesting part, since the heritage of both his parents is unknown. Curiously enough, his mother lived in the palace of Asphel himself, she might have been anything from a palace scribe to Asphels heir.

* Gyrefalcon (gyrfalcon, gerfalcon) lives in colder parts of the Earth. It is a national symbol o Iceland.