Ari the Anxious

Ari was the only child of Arion The Adventurous from Knagel and Ariana of Marlhaven (not much is known about her). Arion being an adventurous soul as his name implies, and despite the isolation ideology of his homeland, traveled quite a lot across the Accord Lands during his youth. Gathering knowledge and experience as well as making contacts with foreign folk he inevitably fell for a local beauty and a lady who was also known as a natural healer - Ariana. Their union was blessed locally by the priests in Marlia, and Arion wishing to strengthen their connection further adopted Ariana's religion, pledging allegiance to Toulou.

The couple settled in Ariana's home area in Marlhaven and lived happily for a couple of years until Arion started longing for his homeland and wished to visit it to see how the folk there was doing. His initial objective was to return and see if he could share the knowledge and experiences he'd gathered travelling and meeting other nations with his home folk, hoping to enlighten the locals and promote positive change within the strongly authoritarian and isolated kingdom. Although reluctant to go at first, Ariana eventually agreed and they traveled back to his home town in the Arester area.

Arion stirred a lot of disagreement trying to open a local school to teach young and old what he had learned, causing a lot of resentment from the conservative folk. As the union between Arion and Ariana was viewed as an unfavorable one by the authorities of Knagel where the family resided, although never openly attacked, they were subjected to many random visits and raids. After Ari was born the family moved back to Marlia for a couple of years. As the time passed Arion's desire to go back to Knagel and help change the society grew ever stronger, and the family decided shift countries - living a year in one and the next in the other. As Arion started gathering some followers in Knagel, it drew fresh government attention to their family, which resulted in frequent arrests.

When Ari had his 10th birthday, his parents agreed that the atmosphere in the kingdom became very hostile towards foreigners and especially 'half breeds' (the officially adopted term in Knagel) like Ari, and they made the decision to move away permanently. The move had to be made in secret, at night. However while travelling through a secret passage in the woods the family was unexpectedly captured by the border patrol. Arion recognized straight away that there was no room for negotiation and he decided to sacrifice himself by distracting the guards hoping that his wife and son would be able to escape. Unfortunately both Arion and Ariana were killed during this attempt. Lucky for him, Ari was able to make his escape - although he was not able to make it across the border - all safe ways led back to their family home in Arester. After spending a week in a secret library room in their house, dreading a visit from the authorities, Ari found a note left by his father directing him to an underground passage that led from the library to a remotely located hidden chamber, right near the border in the mountains. In the chamber the boy was able to find enough sustenance and discovered countless books containing magic spells, as well as some gold that his parents were able to accumulate over the years. Ari spent the following 7 years as a kind of a hermit, having only limited contact with society. The authorities never came for him, and it seems never really cared to find him. Ari spent his years secluded in the chamber, reading and learning everything he could. He never lost his resentment towards the government, but maintained his love for his home land.

After integrating himself back into society, Ari attended several public school classes and observed the overall atmosphere and situation in Knagel. He decided to learn enough to be able to earn a living by teaching village kids. Over the years Ari became tired of the isolation and obvious poverty, especially poverty of knowledge in the society of Knagel. At the same time, being anxious about the authorities caching up and finding out who he really was, he continued his mundane existence, teaching local children by day, and teaching himself by night. Ari seeked to continue his learning and improve as a wizard, eventually gaining acknowledgement as a wise and powerful man. As the resources in Knagel were not enough, Ari knew that he needed to explore other kingdoms. After the word about a newly discovered entrance to the Imperial Dungeons reached Knagel, being 31 years old Ari decided that it was now or never - it's his chance to get his hands on ancient artefacts, become a great wizard, bring new teachings to his folk and help lift the harsh order that is currently in place in Knagel.

Due to being self-taught and having spent a significant part of his life in hiding, Ari is constantly accompanied by self-doubt and anxiety in his professional aspirations. The name 'The Anxious' is self-given, as a reminder that there is still a long way to go and to grow.

Ari recently retired from adventuring to return to his homeland in Knagel in an attempt to use the magical knowledge he had gathered in the dungeon to his homeland's benefit.