Arao

Arao is the founder of the Order of the Evergreen, and an inhabitant of the Evergreen Grove. He lives with his wife Sigarni, his slave Abid, and their wolfhound, the most honorable Dagonet .

## Life Before the Portal

Arao grew up as an illiterate peasant, the fourteenth of fifteen children (eight of whom survived to adulthood). His parents died when he was very young, not long after his younger sister Zoa was born, and they were taken in by their eldest brother and his wife, and raised alongside their own children.

Arao and Zoa were not treated kindly by their guardians, and Arao especially was picked upon often because of his small stature and sensitive nature. Zoa proved to be his only friend, and when they were not separated by doing their various chores, she would tell him stories she had overheard while spinning and weaving, and he would pretend to be a brave *kern*, defending her from bandits, dragons, or other beasts.

As they grew older, Zoa fell in love with the son of the Lord who oversaw that portion of the land for their Baron, and was convinced that he would marry her when he discovered that she had been blessed with child. Alas, her hopes were dashed when he chose the blacksmith's daughter instead. Shamed by her family, the distraught girl fled from their home with only Arao by her side. Arao was determined to take her far away from there to start a new life for them all, but Zoa, demoralized by the loss of her dreams as well as everything she had known, took her life, and it was Arao who found her in the winter snow.

Arao took her to a small cave with the intention of making it the grave for both of them. Though he was determined enough to seal the entrance with stones, his resolve crumbled afterward, and he instead fled to a tunnel in the back of the cave. This eventually led him up through a hole in the ground to a warm, sunny forest. He would not realize it for some time, but in doing so he had crossed through a magical portal into a new world.

## Career as a Fighter

For some time after his arrival at his new home, Arao worked at the Dragonsbane Inn, sleeping in the hayloft in exchange for performing various odd jobs around the place. One day, while running an errand for a patron there, he was attacked by bandits. He was rescued by a half-Drow archer, who proceeded to teach him the basics of self-defense before sending him on to study at the Fighters Guild. Arao embraced the training he received there, finding it a good outlet for all the untapped anger inside of him, though he also genuinely enjoyed his growing competence in fighting with swords, knives, and spears, and in the friendships he found there. He was taught magic by a fae named Merit, to whom he was also bonded for a time, and undertook many adventures and undertakings for both the Guild and for the City nearby. Over time, he rose to the highest possible rank in the Guild, that of Praefectus, attaining that position in December of 177. He served in this position until August 179.

## Transition to the Grove

> *Siga ain't like other girls. I mean, she is beautiful, but, like -- I always find m'self spinnin', in m' head, t' try an' find th' right thing t' say. They are like birds in a cage -- they are pretty, an' fetchin', an' I may fancy them a lot, but in the end I cannot ken their mind, nor they know mine. Siga, though, she do. I can talk to her, an' even when we are silent, there's shit we jus' -know-. Or at least ain't afraid to ask, an' find out.*
>
>

Not long after having achieved the rank of Praefectus, Arao met a woman named Sigarni, who like many joined the Guild seeking fellowship and further training. They mainly crossed paths in a friendly yet respectful manner for several months after that, but one night, Arao encountered her at the Dragonsbane Inn, where he still went to partake of some dinner and a pint every now and then. As they talked, they began to discover that while the worlds they had come from were quite different, they still had many things in common. Arao began to visit her more and more often, and over time, they declared love for each other. When Sigarni had completed the construction of her cabin in the Northern Forest, Arao went to live with her. Together with his slave Abid and her hound Dagonet, they proceeded to form a cozy family.

On June 15th, 179, Arao asked for her hand in marriage, and Sigarni became his Betrothed. On November 25, they were married, and Arao took on the name Tallach, which means 'Hearth' in his own tongue.

## Keeping a Dagger Sharp

For some months, reports had come to the Guild of a group of bandits who not only waylaid travelers, but who also assaulted people in their homes, committing many terrible acts against them, often before killing their victims. They were lead in these acts by a psychopathic brute known only as The Beast. They were moving northward, but taking care to remain outside of the bounds of the City as they committed their crimes, so that the City Watch could not pursue them. When Arao discovered that they were moving into the Northern Forest, and had even been seen holding court at the Dragonsbane, he could have gone to the Guild to try to capture them or drive them off. Instead, he chose to send Abid, who sometimes referred to himself as Arao's Dagger, to use his skills as an assassin to kill The Beast. Abid was told to make the man suffer if he could, for all the crimes he had already committed, and the slave chose to use a poison that would cause great mental distress and delirium, as well as physical pain. The Beast lingered for nearly a week in such agony before he died, and Abid noted that toward the end, he called often for his mother.

Leaderless, the rest of the criminals either turned on each other or dispersed, and the threat of The Beast was put to rest. Pleased with having destroyed a potential threat to his own family while enabling Abid to utilize his skills, Arao put the matter to rest in his mind.

Unfortunately for those within the Grove, not all who knew of this matter could forget it so easily.

## Forming the Order of the Evergreen

The use of poison returned to haunt Arao and Abid some months later, when Abid intercepted a bottle of poisoned wine destined for Arao. Whoever had sent it had been quite thorough, putting the poison even on the label of the bottle, so that no one who handled it would escape the agonies of the poison. Abid identified the poison as the same he had used to kill The Beast; and while there was a cure, it required a component that seemed impossibly rare.

Luckily for Abid, Arao and Sigarni were able to seek out the component and bring it back to make the cure. Abid was cured of the poison, and safety restored to the Grove.

For now, at least.

As a result of this adventure, Arao impulsively formed a group which he named the Order of the Evergreen, and inducted those who he believed were his friends into it. Thus the Order was formed, on May 27th, 179.

The further tale of this adventure can be found in the Quest for the Phoenix.

## Glossary of Terms

Arao can be a bit of a hard one to follow at times, both for his hyperactive, labyrinthine thought patterns and a brogue that isn't quite like anything found on any of the Earths. He also likes to pepper his speech with various words, the most common of which can be found below.

* *an* - 'the' or 'of'; determining such often depends on the context of the conversation, which can be difficult for non-native speakers (i.e. anyone besides Arao) to discern. It is easier to distinguish in writing; when punctuated with a dash, it means 'the', i.e. the term *an-tallach* can mean 'the hearth'. When punctuated with an apostrophe, it means 'of, from, or belonging to'; i.e. *an'Sigarni* means 'belongs to Sigarni'.
* *Ao -* the name of God, as Arao knows Him.
* *Caolgim* - 'I bite'. The name of one of Arao's daggers.
* *devh* - 'small' or 'little' or 'inconsequential'. A *devlach* is a pebble; a *devmaollae* a trifling person unworthy of attention. It is also used, particularly when referring to animals, to indicate that one is a female; so that while *naeth* is a stag, *devneth* is a doe.
* *Devneth* - 'little doe'; a nickname Arao has for Sigarni.
* *doar* - treasure. Arao refers to Abid as 'Mo Doar'.
* *Eotlim* - 'I fly'. The name of Arao's throwing knife.
* *fortnight* - a measurement of time, similiar to an English fortnight, only this lasts fifteen days. A month in Arao's time consisted of two fortnights; one spanning the time that the moon took to go from being full to a new moon, and then one that measured the growing of the new moon back to a full one.
* *fuck*- an all-encompassing term that can be used as a noun, a verb, an adjective, a possessive, an exclamation, a statement, an imperative, and an interrogative sentence, among other things. It is possible for one to be a fucking fucker who fucks things up all the fucking time, for fuck's sake.
* *Hells* - There are nine Hells, each of them more grotesque in punishment than those preceding them, where souls are sent to atone for their sins after they die. The worst and blackest of souls go to Ninth Hell. To wish someone there, then, is to wish the most unimaginable of torments on them.
* *Ionsaim* - 'I strike'. The name of the sword given to Arao when he became Praefectus.
* *ken* - to comprehend, know, understand.
* *kern* - a warrior, akin to the concept of a knight.
* *kirk* - a large building used for important meetings and celebrations, as well as worship, akin to a church.
* *lach -* stone.
* *Maereth* - Blessed be her name forever. The only person to ever possess a pure heart, she was chosen as the vessel for God's mortal form when He came to guide and judge humankind, and when He ascended back to Paradise, He took her with Him to sit at His right hand. She is capable of seeing into the hearts and souls of all men, and is the only one who can intercede with God to alter His judgement, even unto plucking a soul out of the Nine Hells to grant it succor at last in paradise.
* *Maoraim -* 'I kill'. The name of Arao's trusty sword.
* *mo* - my or mine. 'Mo Doar', therefore, means, 'my treasure'. One does not simply walk into Mo Doar and expect not to suffer consequences.
* *molly* - a treacherous person with loose or no morals. While usually applied to women, with the connotation that they are whores, it is possible for anyone to be a fucking molly.
* *moonth* - a measurement of time signifying a month. In Arao's world, the moon took thirty days to finish its cycle, so months literally were measured by the fullness of the moon.
* *naeth* - a deer.
* *runsearc -* beloved.
* *sheppie* - a measure of distance that literally means 'somewhere over there', signifying the horizon. However, Arao commonly uses it to mean a distance of a couple of miles or so.
* *span* - a unit of measurement; the span of a person's arm, i.e. approximately two feet.
* *taella* - home.