Kellen Argos

* Spellslinger
* Shadowblack
* Charmcaster
* Soulbinder
* Queenslayer
* Crownbreaker

The Argosi

The Ebony Abbey (formerly)

The Queen of Darome (formerly)

Shalla (sister)

Abydos (uncle)†

Seren'tia (grandmother)†

Shadowblack

Magizier

Castradazi

Royal Tutor of Cards (formerly)

Kid (by Ferius Parfax)

Skinbag (by Reichis)

Kel (by [[Panahsi]])

Teysan Kellen fal Ke

Shadow (sparked)

This article is about **Jan'Tep Argosi spellslinger**. You may be looking for **the charmcaster who also used the name, or the actor who impersonated him.**.
Kellen Argos is an Argosi, spellslinger, *castradazi* and Shadowblack enigmatist, and former Jan'Tep initiate. He acts as the primary protagonist and narrator of the series.

## Biography

Born and raised as the eldest child and only son of the influential House of Ke, Kellen was banded in shadow by his grandmother, Seren'tia, when he was a child. Believing that the Shadowblack drew upon magical ability, his mother and father repeatedly cast evocations in order to weaken his connection to the six forms of magic, in an attempt to weaken the affects of the Shadowblack, although this simply had the effect of disguising his symptoms.

At the age of 16, after being called out for winning a mage's duel through trickery by his sister Shalla, Kellen was attacked and almost killed, only being saved by the arrival of an Argosi wanderer who he formed a close friendship with.

Kellen and his sister were later attacked by members of the Sha'Tep conspiracy and Kellen was saved by the arrival of a nekhek, who was captured by Jan'Tep mages.

### Spellslinger

By the time of his sixteenth birthday, Kellen's power had diminished to the extent that he was unable to cast basic spells while within the Oasis, which forced him to use trickery and cunning to win a mage's duel. He challenged Tennat, a powerful initiate from the opposing House of Ra, to a duel using Iron magic. Having distracted Tennat by claiming to have a power animal, his opponent lost control of his magic and was forced to yield.

Despite having won the duel, Kellen's sister Shalla accused him of cheating and attacked him with iron magic, stopping his heart. Although the mages around him attempted to save him, he was resuscitated by Ferius Parfax, a travelling Argosi.

While returning to his house with Ke'heops, Shalla, and Ferius, they were accosted by Ra'meth, leader of the House of Ra, and his sons. They inform the group that the Clan Prince had died and elections are being held.

Having returned home, Ferius teaches Kellen some card games, and gives him the basics of throwing cards. Later that day, Kellen was summoned to meet the Dowager Magus, to discuss the appearance of Ferius Parfax.The Dowager Magus then tells Kellen to spy on Ferius Parfax to see why she showed up.

Kellen goes to return the playing cards to Ferius (as instructed to by his father) when he finds her bound and about to be attacked by Tennant, Panahsi and tennant’s brothers. Kellen helps Ferius escape.

### The Ebony Worms

The Ebony Worms are a vile species which Dexan Videris discovered near a volcano. He used these to trick people into thinking they had the shadowblack as the effects on the victim are similar. The Ebony Worms enter the victim through the eye and take residence in there, growing stronger the longer they stay. In Shadowblack, Kellen Argos was able to rid the victims of this creature using breath magic and metal, although the extraction process is painful.

### The Mechanical Bird

After meeting other Argosi who give Ferius a new discordance card, it is up Ferius, Nephenia and Kellen to discover it's true meaning and what the impact of a mechanical bird that seems to truly be alive might have on the rest of the continent.

### Search For The Ebony Abbey

Kellen has left to be on his path, separated from Ferius and Nephenia, he searches for a place known as the Ebony abbey, where he believes a cure for his shadowblack may be found. Instead, he finds that the Ebony abbey is home to the shadowcasters, a group of teenage shadow blacks, and others bearing shadow black marks who do not have a cure and instead are simply doing their best to peacefully survive while controlling their shadow black marks.

### Tutor of Cards

Kellen Argos becomes Darome's 11 year old queen's tutor of cards. He goes on adventures, kills people and discovers a conspiracy theory. He also beds with the beautiful Mariadne and nearly defiles a girl will being mind controlled by a white binder, a special Darome mage who specializes in controlling shadow black afflicted.

## Magical Ability

As a banded Jan'Tep initiate, Kellen had access to the six fundamental magics used by Jan'Tep mages, although due to his parents' use of evocations, his ability became significantly weaker as he grew up.

After freeing and being bitten by Reichis in *Spellslinger*, Kellen sparked his breath band, giving him access to significantly more powerful forms of breath magic. Kellen eventually combined the *Carath* breath evocation with some of Ferius' reactive painting powders to direct explosions.

After being revealed to have shadowblack, however, his mother and father counterbanded the majority of his bands, preventing him from using all but the breath branches of magic before he escaped.

His experimentation in *Soulbinder* showed that, had he not been counterbanded, he would have had access to ember magic. In an attempt to rebuild their relationship and persuade Kellen to assist him, Ke'heops broke one of the counterbands on Kellen's ember band, promising to continue research into means of breaking the remaining counterbands.

Kellen is unique in that he was banded in shadow around his eye by his grandmother, causing him to become shadowblack. After visiting the Ebony Abbey, he discovered he was an enigmatist, which would, with practice, allow him to reveal secrets by looking at people.

Kellen is also one of the few people with a knack to using *castragenzia* as a 'coin-dancer'. He therefore has access to a number of magical abilities through his coins, such as unlocking bindings, dowsing for water, and detecting if people are lying.

## Personality

Raised as a privileged child of an influential Jan'Tep family, Kellen was mostly blind to the injustices of Jan'Tep society until he began to lose his power. Despite this self-centred view of the world, after some time journeying alongside the Argosi Ferius Parfax, he gradually changed into a more accepting person.

Raised believing the Jan'Tep propaganda of the Mahdek, even after the revelation of the truth by the Dowager Magus, he often became defensive of the Jan'Tep when talking with Ferius, although introspectively he often criticised the Jan'Tep society as unfair.

## Relationships

### Ferius Parfax

Ferius is both a mentor figure for Kellen, and one of his closest friends. Travelling together for a long time, Ferius appeared to be acting as Kellen's *maetri* or instructor in the ways of the Argosi, although she denied teaching him any 'Argosi secrets'. After Kellen left Ferius and Nephenia, Ferius was heartbroken, despite the Argosi learning to put aside sentimentality.

### Reichis

Despite apparently having a very antagonistic and impartial 'business arrangement', Reichis is clearly Kellen's closest friend. Although squirrel cats are supposedly unsentimental and willing to leave at the first hint of trouble, Reichis is shown to support Kellen even in difficult situations, and the two of them have a very close relationship, despite Reichis' many insults, threats, and tendency to steal from Kellen.

### Nephenia

Kellen's crush from a young age, Nephenia seemed to not pay him much attention until he challenged Tennat to a mage's duel. Since then, Nephenia has shown reciprocated feelings for Kellen, helping him unearth the Sha'Tep conspiracy, and kissing him on the last day of their trials. After they meet again in *Charmcaster*, Nephenia had changed significantly, both physically and emotionally, leading to a slightly uncertain re-introduction, although the relationship soon bloomed again. Even after Kellen left Ferius and Nephenia at the end of *Charmcaster*, she continued to search for him, eventually catching up with him and rescuing him from the Ebony Abbey with Reichis. At the end of the battle of the Ebony Abbey she ends up leaving, stating that although she thinks she loves Kellen, she isn't yet sure if she is actually in love with him or with whom she believes he could become in the future if he finally decides to grow up. After one final kiss, she bids Kellen goodbye and tells him she wishes to travel and see more of the world. She re-appears in *Crownbreaker*.

### Diadera

One of the members of the shadowcasters, a group of shadow black teenagers that hunt shadow blacks that succumb to their demons. She is revealed to be a Mahdek like Ferius Parfax and hates Kellen initially for being a Jan'Tep. Described as being similar to Ferius, with both her looks and attitude, she was a strong-willed young woman who frequently didn't shy away from being flirtatious with those around her. Although it was never fully said, Diadera seems to have been in love, or at least had some affection for Kellen due to their shadow marks somehow being part or close to the same plane of mystical shadow realm that all the shadow black marks are somehow connected too. Kellen is the first person she has met whose marks are so close to hers and they were both able to speak telepathically with each other by touching the other's marks. They could also share memories and emotions through their connection. Kellen, for his part, also seems to share some affection towards her as well but it is unknown if it was because he genuinely liked her or he felt a special connection due to their shadow black marks. Unfortunately, Diadera falls in the battle of Ebony Abbey after a Jan'Tep mage uses iron magic to crush her brain, but not before infecting Reichis with his own shadow black mark, allowing Kellen and Reichis to be able to communicate again after having initially lost their bond due to events that occured earlier in *Soulbinder*. Her shadowblack ability was that of a soulbinder. Her shadow black marks looked like freckles that could come off her face like fireflies to attack her enemies, but they could also be used to take control of others.

### Mariadne

Introduced in *Queenslayer*, Countess Mariadne is the 23 year old cousin to the child queen of Darome. She had been previously married but due to background political maneuvering by another who wanted to wed her, her husband was brutally killed and she mourned him for approximately five years at the end of which she met Kellen. Initially disliking Kellen, she and him and end up slowly growing closer together throughout the events involving her maid, whom she considers a dear friend. Due to a series of mishaps, Kellen ends up dueling, and ultimately killing, a Darome Major who had for years been trying to force Mariadne into a marriage with him to increase his political influence and this is where their romance actually blossoms. In a state of complete honesty with each other, Mariadne and Kellen admit to each other that they are tired of having others having unrealistic expectations of them or who want to wait for who they will become and that they simply want to be who they are in the moment and love each other as is. Mariadne is the first sexual experience Kellen has that is mentioned in the series although it is not known if he has had prior experience. She is later distraught when she catches Kellen nearly violating a tavern girl while he is being forcefully controlled by the white binder under the order of the leader of the Marshalls, and in an attempt to find answers, ends up getting involved with the conspirators for a coup against the young Darome queen. Unfortunately, she ends up siding with the conspirators and tries to become the new queen, offering Kellen the chance to be with her and promising to not harm the young queen. In what seems to be a sad running gag in the series when it comes to Kellen and women, he shares one final goodbye with Mariadne and attempts to convince her to leave but after her refusal he ultimately ends up killing her with his spellslinger spell and leaves her corpse outside the palace. Although Kellen admits to Mariadne about his relationship with Nephenia and how much he loves her, Kellen seems to have also cared and fallen slightly in love with Mariadne as she offered him a path where he could be loved, shadow marks and all, just for being who he was in that moment as opposed to someone he might become in the future.

### Pan'erath

Close friends throughout initiation, Kellen's relationship with Pan'erath was quickly strained due to Pan's unwavering loyalty towards the Jan'Tep and his belief in the arcanocracy. With Kellen apparently destined to a Sha'Tep and his public defence of an accused Daroman spy, Pan'erath chose loyalty to the Jan'Tep over his friendship and became one of Kellen's bitterest enemies. Later in the series we find out that Pan is gay and likes Kellen.

### Family

#### Ke'heops

Kellen's relationship with his father is undoubtedly one of the most complicated and strained relationships he holds. Raised in a culture that taught absolute support of the family, and unquestioning obedience towards the head of the household, Kellen grew up with extreme respect for his father, a powerful mage, although this respect and his love were likely strained as Kellen's powers began to diminish. As his magical weakness worsened, Kellen's search for alternative means of power and influence infuriated his traditionalist father, who, at least apparently, considered his son's weakness a demonstration of moral weakness. Ke'heops' counterbanding of Kellen, permanently cutting him off from the majority of magical forms, completely overturns Kellen's world-view and leads to him announcing his hatred of his family and the Jan'Tep.

#### Shalla

Kellen's sister with whom he shares an extremely complicated relationship with. She is described as being very narcissistic, manipulative and conceited. Later in the series as she grows up, she is also described as a very beautiful woman who likes using her sensuality to control others. She is everything Kellen wished he was, with her sparking most, if not all, of her magic bands and she is believed likely to become one of the most powerful mages in the existence of the Jan'Tep, after Ke'heops. She frequently ends up offering her help to Kellen after he is banished, although, she also uses him or betrays him every time for the "good of the family and the Jan'Tep". Shalla seems to genuinely love Kellen as her brother and in a weird sort of way, looks up to him as her older brother. However, that love is usually shown in her own twisted way in that although she does help, it also ends up manipulating Kellen into doing something against his will or helping the Jan'Tep without realizing it. In the beginning, she believed that Kellen just needed to believe more in himself to be able to use magic instead of using despicable tricks. However, as time goes on, she seems to acknowledge his cleverness and ability to resolve his different misfortunes. Kellen frequently mentions that he hates her but that he also loves her. At the end of the series, Shalla ultimately chooses Kellen over Ke'heops and becomes the new mage sovereign of the Jan'Tep, hopefully a sign that she is willing to be kinder and more open-minded in comparison to their father.

### The House of Ra

#### Tennat

Kellen's long-standing feud with Tennat of House Ra was likely caused by a combination of factors. Firstly, the enmity between the patriarchs of their Houses, coupled with the Jan'Tep loyalty to family likely led to an already antagonistic relationship that was only worsened by Tennat's bullying nature and belittling of Kellen as a Sha'Tep, and Kellen's humiliation of Tennat in their mages duel. After the events of the Sha'Tep Conspiracy, Tennat undoubtedly hated Kellen, both due to Kellen's rescue of Reichis from the Jan'Tep Oasis, and his defeat and humiliation of Tennat's father, Ra'meth. Despite this, Tennat remains at least partially civil to Kellen when he returns to the Jan'Tep city for his mother's funeral, showing his loyalty to the Jan'Tep and respect for Ke'heops' diktats.

#### Ra'meth

Even prior to *Spellslinger*, Kellen likely participated in the family enmity between Ke'heops' and Ra'meth's Houses, although he was at least grudgingly respectful towards the Lord Magus. After Ra'meth's murder of the Sha'Tep conspirators, including Kellen's uncle Abydos, and the massacre of Reichis' clan, however, Kellen considered Ra'meth a personal enemy that personified everything wrong with the Jan'Tep. Although convinced not to execute an unconscious Ra'meth by Ferius, Kellen delivered Lord Ra'meth to face judgement by the Jan'Tep.

### Seven Sands

#### Seneira Thrane

Kellen meets Seneira in *Shadowblack* and although she despises him at first, their relationship begins to bloom after learning that Seneira also has the Shadowblack. They share their first kiss and Seneira is prepared to go with him to stay safe from the mages who are trying to cause war in the continent. However, after resolving the truth about the shadowblack afflicting Seneira, she bids Kellen farewell since their paths lead to different directions. After speaking with her and her father, Kellen disappears at dawn, with Reichis and Ferius.