Tiy Xhadouk ra Garet Rangar

Tiy Xhadouk ra Garet Rangar (NS 1031 - 1085, age 56) was the last Sovereign of the Modern Sovereignty Era. He ruled over the Western Peaks, led followers of Hazhrahael through the war of the gods, and survived underground with her remnant. Xhadouk rebuilt on the land of his ancestors after the war of the gods and reestablished a Sovereignty.

## Appearance

Thirty-one-year old Xhadouk is a head taller than most individuals, lanky, lean, and fit, with somewhat broad shoulders for an otherwise thin but sturdy frame. He has a thick mop of dark brown hair which tickles the nape of his neck in the back. He also has a short-cropped scruffy beard covering an angular, somewhat chiseled chin and high cheekbones. He is moderately hairy elsewhere on his body. Haddock's eyes are orange-brown. His hair is a deep reddish bronze, though face is covered in a number of blotches and freckled marks that range from cream in color to dark brown. Despite the blotches on his face, he is considered extremely good looking.

Xhadouk wears fine clothing fit for his status, with the feathered headband of the Sovereign forever on his brow, and covering himself with many fine scarves knit in with cockatrice feathers and various furs. He tends to wear a number of long wood beaded necklaces around his neck beneath his scarf. He often wears long, knee-length leather jackets and mid-thigh length loose shirts. He wear thick, tall, fur-tipped leather boots, a thick leather belt, and tight pants. Invariably, the Sovereign will carry his sword at his right hip. His wife has even complained he would wear the sword in his sleep without her intervention.

Xhadouk walks straight-backed but with a slight limp, a limp caused from an old war injury on his left leg during the time he served as Captain of the Western Peak Guard. He also receives an injury to his right leg after being attacked by Faraset ra Zhokur.

After meeting in person with Donaz ra Sarkaf, Xhadouk is branded with the Slavemark on his right jaw, which he attempts to hide by pulling up his scarves.

During the last ten years of his life, Xhadouk grows his hair down to his shoulders and thickens his beard. Xhadouk's hair begins graying early in his late thirties, starting first with his beard and the front of his head. By the age of fifty, he has far more gray than brown, and when he dies at fifty-six, his head is almost completely gray.

Unbeknownst to most individuals, the Sovereign has a small monochromatic tattoo of a raven in flight on the back of his right shoulder. The raven has its wings unfurled and is pointing its beak toward the right.

## Personality

Xhadouk is formal, stoic, easily angered, impulsive, and extraordinarily protective. The younger he is, the more fiery, temperamental, and unrestrained he acts. After the age of thirty-four, Haddock begins mellowing out and relaxing, although his proud, defiant core remains the same.

Xhadouk finds nothing more important than living by personal honor. He acts with the utmost dignity, quelling his personal emotions and interacting with others as formally as possible, believing that keeping this demeanor amplifies a respectable authoritative presence. Thus, Xhadouk's diction can at times be rather stiff and traditional, rarely if ever straying into the vernacular. He tends not to interact in lighthearted events, but rather finds great distaste with simple recreation. He is most likely to respond indignantly to practical jokes or joyful singing rather than join the fun; indeed, it seems as though the only off-time activities he can enjoy and participate in are sparring and spending time with family.

Xhadouk's desire to be honorable arises from an internal insecurity which first budded in his childhood. His father's constant disappointment in his son - and especially his banishment of Garet when he was eighteen years old - has led Xhadouk to believe that he will always fall short of his father's greatness. He takes his duties as Sovereign extraordinarily seriously in hopes he can measure up to even a fracture of his father's regal disposition. This desire to be honorable also makes him act rather stiffly and pretentiously, even towards his own friends in private.

Closely correlated to Xhadouk's honor-centric goals, the young Sovereign holds to an incredibly strict code of morals. Highly utilitarian in practice, Haddock will do anything - everything from extreme, highly questionable acts like torture to humble self-sacrifice - in order to reach what he considers the proper moral end. Nevertheless, Xhadouk's fervent moral code frequently collides with others, igniting his infamously short, passionate, and impulsive temper. Xhadouk frequently makes brash and dangerous decisions when angered. The most common reason his temper is ignited is when a subject under his care is threatened.

### Interests

**Fencing** Xhadouk finds great intrigue in the art of the sabre. He spends a significant amount of time practicing forms and sparring. While it does feel like recreation to him, it also has a very useful purpose, as he is a warrior.

**Music** Xhadouk typically does not share his musical interests, especially since he hates singing, chanting, and anything that reminds him of his aunt. However, in private, he does enjoy playing sweet, relaxing music on his instruments, especially the flute.

**History** Xhadouk was uninterested in scholarship as a young man, but by his twenties found it deeply engaging and important. Xhadouk typically reads materials on war strategy and history, focusing on history of the Taran people. It is apparent he is a highly educated and well-read individual due to his high vocabulary and extensive knowledge of various kinds.

**Fashion** A very particular dresser, Xhadouk has a strong sense of fashion and wears the finest clothing, always tailor-made specifically to him. He likes furs, feathers, and layers of various textures. His clothing tends to be a bit brighter and more colorful than traditional Taran clothing. For that matter, Xhadouk likes fine material of any kind - vases, tapestries, pillows, idols.

**Tea** Xhadouk has an interest in exotic teas procured from the far reaches of the Western Peaks and neighboring countries. He does, however, refuse to drink anything with cultural heritage to the Shenwarii.

### Abilities

**Leadership** Despite being an impulsive, temperamental individual, Xhadouk contains a strong passion and fervor that draws followers to trust him deeply. His subjects, especially his rebels, contain a very deep loyalty to him because of their belief in his abilities to lead them through anything. An incredibly dedicated leader, Haddock focuses enormous efforts on ruling keenly, demonstrating kindness to his subjects, and giving his people something to which to aspire. Xhadouk can speak very inspirationally, and though he has made more than his fair share of hot-tempered mistakes to land him many enemies, the Sovereign's dedication to his cause overall makes him a very strong, charismatic, and respected monarch.

**Fencing** Xhadouk is an enormously capable sabre fighter, one of the single best Taran fencers nation-wide and onward. He can quickly gauge an opponent's weaknesses and use those to his advantage to quickly disarm and best the other fighter. His movements are full of flourish, extravagance, but simultaneous precision and nuance, making him appear more like a dancer than a warrior in engagements. Only when hard-pressed by a strong opponent does Xhadouk's fighting style louse its flourish. Sabre is his weapon of choice; while Xhadouk does know archery, wrestling, and the basics of fighting with most other Taran weapons, it is on the sabre alone that he truly demonstrates his fighting abilities.

**Music** While Xhadouk loathes either participating in or listening to singing, he is somewhat musically adept in instrumental performance. Growing up, Xhadouk was taught how to play the flute, ocarina, and viol. He is the most proficient at the flute, though he will never admit he actually enjoys playing it, and consequently will only demonstrate his musical aptitude after great cajolement. When he does play, though, it is beautiful, quiet, delicate melodies he prefers.

**Speaking** Communication is both a major strength and a major weakness for the Sovereign. Xhadouk has strong verbal speaking abilities, containing a large vocabulary which he uses without pause in either private or public situations. However, while Xhadouk is very well spoken, he has a weakness of not expressing his own positive thoughts. He is able to speak out his anger, give motivation and advice to others, and express formal gratitude; however, he never speaks aloud his tender emotions or insecurities. This means his speech is usually a strength in public speeches or diplomatic relations, but a weakness in interpersonal relationship when he closes up.

### Weaknesses

**Psychopathy** Xhadouk is fiercely temperamental and reacts on impulse with a lowered inhibition of causing harm to others. He may, in many respects, be considered a psychopath.

**Pride** Xhadouk's great sense of self-pride often leads to stubbornness, a refusal to interact with people who do not provide him proper respect, and terseness. He can be overly stiff and formal, and is very easily offended.

### Fears

**Frozen Heart** Faraset ra Zhokur's assassination attempt on Xhadouk almost froze the Sovereign's heart. Ever since then, the Sovereign has displayed symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. He is hyperattentive and easily agitated, and whenever his life is in danger, he will subconsciously reach either for his sword or move one hand toward his chest. He can be prone to flashbacks and even believe his heart is chilling during cases of extreme danger.

**Magic** Haddock is incredibly leery around magic, in part due to poor past experiences with the art. These past experiences include seeing his aunt Xhadouk da Xhelirah use it for ill ends, as well as almost being killed by Faraset ra Zhokul's ice. Consequently, Xhadouk does not know much about magic's nature at all, and will be very quick to leave an area when it is in heavy use.

**Medicine** Xhadouk does not trust medicines, herbs, or healers. He tends to balk whenever an injury of his needs to be treated by a professional, and will completely, indignantly rebel if someone with lesser experience sees to him.

## History

### Family

Xhadouk is the single child of Xhadouk ra Sarut Qabaal. His father spent very little time with him during the boy's childhood, and those instances in which the two interacted were limited to stiff dinner conversations and terse meetings in the throne room. Xhadouk grew up mostly under the care of his mother, who is much younger than her husband Sarut.

Xhadouk is the latest Sovereign in the unbroken Dynasty of a Thousand Years of the Vahim Regaad. He succeeded his father despite the fact his father disowned him for a period of time, which would have caused the Sovereignty to pass to Xhadouk's aunt Xhelirah. His paternal grandfather is Sovereign Kan Xhadouk ra Garet Rangar, who had three children: his eldest Xhelirah, and then twins Sarut Qabaal and Raentak Ratuq. However, Haddock's uncle Raentaq died in battle at the age of twenty-four.

Xhadouk's Aunt Xhelirah lives. She married the chief of one of the Western Peaks tribes, but he died at a mysteriously young age and for no good explicable reason. Xhelirah did, however, have a daughter from him, a girl as weedy thin as she, but with a sweet - almost too sweet - temperament. Her name is Xhaelin. She is three and a half years younger than her cousin. Xhadouk does not enjoy the company of either Xhelirah or Xhaelin - particularly Xhelirah, a sorceress who practices magic for purposes of questionable morality.

Haddock married a Khantou peasant innkeeper's daughter named Vilot Mera, a young woman who is the second eldest of four children. Garet and Mera have four children total. During the times of the Grounded Dungeon Rebellion, two of his children have been born; his eldest son Rezhiq Sataar is six years old, and his daughter Saagny Xhemi is fourteen months. After the rebellion, Mera gives birth to twin boys Sindri Sengur and Sonaaq Haerin. They also adopt another child, their eldest: Shaa Xhadouk Saa da Saany.

### Childhood

Xhadouk grew up in the Taranvor Palace, the only offspring of Sovereign Sarut Qabaal. From a young age, Garet was tutored by royal teachers in a number of subjects including reading, writing, arithmetic, fencing, wrestling, history, government, dance, and music. However, he tended to be incredibly rebellious, balking at the instructions, and in his free time getting into enormous trouble with his best friend Saa ra Safaar. The two of them managed to thoroughly embarrass the Sovereign on many occasions, such as the time when the two teenagers, drunk, "freed the animals" and led an entire parade of goats through the formal dining hall - running themselves on top of the table - during an important diplomatic meeting between the Wilder West and Khantou.

Even from a young age, Garet demonstrated impulsivity and a terrible temper. As a boy, he frequently fought others, but never felt any shame from it and instead boasted about how he always won. As an eleven-year-old he tried to hijack one of his father's ships and sail away on an adventure to prove himself a battle-fighting Hero. Then, when he was fourteen, he almost cut off fellow Taran Serabaaq's head with an axe because he had been "antagonizing" the boy. As a seventeen year old in battle between the Western Peaks and Shenvwarii, Garet murdered two men named General Toran and Prince Watir. General Toran had come to Xhadouk to surrender, but Garet instead plunged his sabre into the man's face. Watir stepped up demanding his people be protected by the surrender; Xhadouk killed him, too.

Garet's short temper led to great dangers in the Western Peaks when he, the eighteen-year-old Captain of the Western Peaks Guard, whose job it was to protect the Northern Border near Shenwarii, led his regiment in a slaughter against unarmed foreigners. The guard had been undergoing a routine inspection of migrants when a group of Shenwarii merchants refused to let their cargo be searched. Gareth claimed they directly disobeyed the order of the prince and attacked them, killing six, wounding ten, and capturing twenty of the weaponless fruit sellers. The Sovereign Sarut revoked Garet's title as Captain of the Guard and cast him out of the military entirely. Xhadouk refused to give up his sword, and when Sturgeon told the guards to take it from him, Haddock pulled out the weapon and impulsively killed one of his own men, someone he had grown up with named Raqaat. Garet was placed in prison, but later escaped with the assistance of his best friend. He was banished by his father that year, NS 1049.

Haddock's actions nevertheless prompted the beginning of a war between the Western Peaks and Shenwarii.

### Exile

Eighteen-year-old Xhadouk traveled as far away from his home as possible, now formally exiled by his own father. He headed into Khantou, where at one small village inn he met a pestersome young woman named Vilot Mera, fourteen years old at the time. She badgered a great deal of information out of him, indeed learning far more than she was supposed to. Xhadouk felt obliged to stay in the village to make sure she kept her mouth shut and did not report him to Shenvah, Shenwarii, or the Vahim Regaad governments after he left.

During this time of exile in Khantou, Haddock fell in love with Mera, a young commoner about five years his junior. The two of them began courting when Xhadouk was nineteen. However, it was not much later that Xhadouk had to flee because someone, realizing he was the banished prince, sought to kill him. Mera decided to flee with him, and thus began a long series of escapades and harrowing adventures. In one event, the two of them were kidnapped, and while tied up together in the back of a cart, Xhadouk proposed to Mera and asked if she would marry him. She said "Yes." When the two of them were rescued, they immediately entered the nearest town and asked to be married by the village elder in NS 1052. Xhadouk was twenty-one and Mera barely sixteen years of age. They moved further north and lived in the sparsely populated northeastern mountains north of Port Karum.

Xhadouk learned that there was a danger brewing for his old homeland when he was twenty-three. The Western Peaks were going to be attacked by Shenwarii. Because Xhadouk and Mera were currently occupied in a village somewhat close to the Shenwarii border, he heard about this news far sooner than he believed anyone in the Western Peaks could have heard. Haddock tried sending warnings to Sturgeon via small messenger cockatrices, but because he never received a response, he had to assume that Sarut Qabaal either was not receiving the messages, or that his father refused to read the messages once he realized it was his son’s handwriting.

Xhadouk, after being prompted by Mera, thus decided to take upon the matters of the invasion himself and assemble his own army. Mera organized men and women from her home country to fight for the Western Peaks. Their haphazardly assemble militia marched swiftly to the west, hoping to intercept the northern invaders before Xhadouk's enemies caught Sarut by surprise.

During this journey, Xhadouk and Mera needed to step deep into Taran territory. In order to disguise himself, Xhadouk borrowed some of Mera's clothing and pretended to be her grandmother. Somehow, despite his horrible disguise, the incident passed uneventfully.

Xhadouk's militia collided with an army near the border, and only after fire began exchanging between the troops did he realize he had run into his father's own men. Sarut had apparently heard the news and moved his own forces to engage the northern enemy, too. There was a moment of confusion and a brief exchange of arrow fire before they realized they were all fighting for the same cause. Yet while Xhadouk had halted his fighters as quickly as possible, he realized to his horror that Sarut had been felled by an arrow. It pierced his chest near the heart.Xhadouk rushed to his father’s side, but Sarut had already died. The doctors at the late Sovereign’s side had to relay Xhadouk ra Sarut Qabaal’s final words to Garet Rangar.

Most of those words were personal. A portion of his message was far more official and soon proclaimed throughout the Western Peaks: though Garet had been exiled several years before, his valor abroad made him a fit Sovereign of the Vahim Regaad. He was to succeed Xhadouk ra Sarut Qabaal as the next monarch of the empire.

The truth of the matter was, Sarut had received Xhadouk’s messages sent by cockatrice. But Sarut’s response messages had been intercepted and never made it to Xhadouk. So Sarut knew what his son had done and what honor he had intended with the northern forces. His last words stated that, while his son still had to grow much more, he was very proud of who Xhadouk had become.

### Reign

Xhadouk became Sovereign over the Western Peaks at the age of twenty-three in NS 1037. He and his wife gave birth to their first son, Rezhiq Sataar, the following year, and adopted near-fifteen year old Saa da Saany.

Due to unrest in Shenvah, Xhadouk began allowing slaves freedom, refuge, and shelter in his borders. Increased tensions between the Vahim Regaad and Shenvah led to skirmishes. Xhadouk began small armed attacks against Shenvah in NS 1061, but was captured before he could build a large force. He was imprisoned by the Shenvaans alongside many of his fellow warriors.