Roth Durns

"*Dammit... Out'a wine again. Astra! Astra, where the hell are you!? Phff... Whatever... Someone get me more wine. I don't care where it comes from. And find me another woman, Dammit!*"

— Roth's Priorities.

**Roth Durns** is a Human from New World and lord of the city state Hashigin. While the Durns family is largely inconsequential among the nobility of Lazuli Roth’s marriage to Astra Arbias has elevated their status greatly. Though he himself could not care less for his wife. He cares only for his own carnal desirers, ad very little else. So long as he is kept happy, the rest of the world can burn.

## Appearance

Roth is a smaller than average man for his age with a slender build. He stands a little under five-foot eight inches, but possesses rather handsome features and flawless skin. He has straight, bright blond hair that he usually keeps short in a bob cut, and bright green eyes. After an encounter with Rob Zombie's Beard, his right arm had to be amputated at the shoulder, and he slowly grew gaunt and emaciated.

Being of noble birth, Roth dresses himself as such. While he owns various outfits of many styles, he does have a preferred look he dons in his day-to-day. He dons a light blue, almost white tunic with blue folded lining and short sleaves and a pair if light brown denim pants that end part way down his shins in stitched cuffs. He usually wears a pair of black flats on the few occasions when he venters outside, but otherwise goes barefoot. He also dons several gold accessories to flaunt his wealth. Gold earrings, wrist cuffs, thin gold necklaces, and rings on all eight fingers of every size are a common sight on him. Lastly, he wears an emerald green stole with a gold lining and weaving pattern throughout, and a dull orange sash around his waist to tie the outfit together.

## Personality

While Roth carries himself as a noble, acting and speaking as one would expect of someone of noble birth, the truth is Roth generally hates most people he interacts with. He acts calm and plicated only as long as he needs to. As soon as he is able, he will drop the act; becoming a selfish, vein, ant petty man that only cares for his own interests. If it isn’t a fine wine, decadent food, loose woman, or any number of other low risk vices, Roth will give it very little thought.

He regards people as nothing more than servants, even thoughts of higher political standing. He is smart enough to know when to keep his mouth shut, but is notoriously demanding to his subordinates, and very quick to anger should they not get him what he wants. He largely sees other people as disposable, no matter their roll in his life. He frequently sends guards on mundane errands, or utilize them as his personal attack dogs, and sees citizens on the same level as cattle.

While respect isn’t really in his vocabulary, fear very much is. By and large the only person he truly fears is Xerius Arbius, the king of Lazuli. The one thing his parents where able to impart on him was the danger that came with crossing the century’s old king. This was his reason for wishing ot be as far from the capital as possible. By extension, he is also highly weary of Astra. He finds her creepy, her perpetual smile in the face of any hardship a reminder of her inhuman heritage. By and large however, he cares very little about what she does. So long as she leaves him to his vices, he allows her to do whatever she wishes.

After the attempted sacking of Hashigen, he learned to fear one more person. The mysterious merchant that went by Rob thwarted his plans, and revealed himself to be some sort of demon in collusion with Astra. His nights have since been plagued by nightmares, and his days spent shut away in his family manor jumping at shadows.

## Background

Roth was born into the Durns family, one of the lower-class noble families of Lazuli. As the sole heir to the family, he was offered any and all opportunities to make himself into a business mogul, noble knight, or even scholar. However, even as a child Roth was more interested in his own carnal desires. Though the focus of said desires may have changed over the years, his penchant for vice remained the same throughout his life. The only think that can distract him where the infrequent visits to the royal palace, where from an early age he learned to fear the presence of the king, Xerius Arbius. His unhuman nature and terrifying powers made it clear even to the outlandishly selfish Roth that he was not one to be crossed.

As such, it became Roth’s lifelong goal to put as much distance between himself and the king as he could, while at the same time enjoying all the luxuries that came with being of noble birth. To this end, his family scouted out a distant trading hub called Hashigin, far enough out of the way to not be under the eye of the king or his influence, but still under the protection of the kingdom as a whole. Most importantly however, the town was a successful trading hub, meaning that he could effectively sit back and collect taxes, while allowing the city to largely run itself.

However, his family came upon hard times by the time he turned twenty. He, being the sole heir, was still expected to fulfill the barest minimum in terms of family duties. As such, he was asked to take a wife, and was arranged to marry. While Roth initially didn’t care, being a man who frequently enjoyed the company of many women of the night, he was distressed to learn he was engaged to one of the king’s many children, Astra Arbias.

The two met and went through a token wedding ceremony, but it was clear that Astra had no interest in carrying the relationship past its political merits. Not that he minded. Her quiet disposition and perpetual smile unnerved him, but it quickly became apparent that so long as he left her alone, she would do the same. He was happy to do just that. Controlling a majority of the city’s finance himself, Roth saw no way for Astra to interfere in his easy life.

However, as time went on, Roth became more and more paranoid. Astra took on a bodyguard, Tyr Ryugu, who answered only to her. being both a spy and assassin, Roth feared Astra was going to have him killed, though months went on, and nothing came of it. He tried banishing Tyr from their manor, but was curtly told she didn’t take orders from him. This small act of defiance was Roth’s last straw. Fearing that Astra was going to cause an uprising, Roth slowly built up a repour with Hashigin’s town guard, promising the less reputable members a place with him when he flees for a private family villa. However, spending the rest of his days surrounded by nothing bot bodyguards was an ill-appealing prospect. As such, he decided to abduct a majority of the city’s young women, and keep them as his own personal haram. However, only weeks before he was set to abandon the city, a dark cathedral appeared on the horizon, and Roth’s plans fell to pieces.

On the night he tried to abandon the city, a then unknown to him party intervened and decimated the town guard. Just as he himself was set to flee, he was confronted by Rob Zombine's Beard in disguise, who chased him out after maiming one of his arms with a rutting cursed. His plans in tatters and with no more allies, Roth returned to the capital to seek help from his family. But even with the best healer’s money could buy, the curse continued to ravage his body, reducing him to not but a withered husk before his family finally brought him before the king for help. He however, remained just as powerless against the curse, and decided to amputate Roth’s arm before the curse could spread further. From there, he was passed off to one of the Kingdome’s four generals, Rewt Arbius, who has since began nursing him back to health with a combination of herbology and dark magic.

Since then, he has taken on a new vice. A thirst for revenge. Convinced that Beard was some demon Astra had summoned to usurp him, he demanded power to take his revenge. Rewt, ever seeking new subjects for her experiments, agreed, and began using her dark rituals to grant Roth demonic powers. While she warned him the powers that’d been thrust upon him would be the death of him, Roth didn’t care. He continued his life of vice, but this time with a new focus, to retake the city and utterly destroy Astra and the demon she’d apparently summoned.