Daethen I Arana

* Lord of the White City
* Protector of the Isles

**Daethen I Arana**, known as **the Wicked**, was the King of the Summerset Isles and the second monarch to sit the Marble Throne. He was the son of King Aerel I Arana and his younger sister-wife, Queen Alyssare Arana. He had a younger brother, Viseriel I Arana.

Daethen inherited a kingdom rife with uncertainty, and his dishonourable behaviour boiled over into a civil war in 1E 440 during which he was stabbed to death in the streets of Shimmerene, leaving a broken kingdom to his young son, Anumaril I Arana.

## Appearance and Character

Daethen was tall, broad-shouldered, and a strong man, larger than his father, Aerel I Arana. Though he was a tall, well-built man, he did not spill over into being heavy or fat. He had angry-looking eyes and was said to rarely smile.

Daethen was a born warrior whose skill with weapons was unmatched. He lived for war, tourneys, and battle, and rose to become one of the youngest and finest knights of the realm. However, he was also a hard man who craved absolute mastery over all he deemed his. His savagery in the field and his harshness towards defeated enemies was frequently remarked upon.

Daethen was quarrelsome, quick to take offense, slow to forgive, and fearsome in his wroth. Although he had many companions throughout his youth, he had no true friends, and even as an adult Daethen trusted no one. His inability to create meaningful connections made it difficult to forge lasting alliances with the high lords of the realm, bringing degrees of uneasiness into the realm and facilitating the emergence of the Church Uprising of 1E 440.

## History

### Early Life

Like this parents, Daethen was born on the Stepstone Isles, the domain of his great grandfather Faelian Errinorne. As he became a young man some believed he might marry an Errinorne cousin for lack of a better match, but no betrothal or marriage was arranged, even as he came to be 15 years of age. He resided in the Steps until the day came when his paternal grandfather and great grandfather were killed by the command of King Faldan I Camoran of Valenwood.

His father left with his gryphon Nereon for a fortnight, returning only to make clear his plans to invade the Summerset Archipelago to the west. The eager Daethen supported this endeavour, though he would only ever see battle upon a few occasions, spending most of the Auridon campaign in the Gryphonhold.

### Aerel's Invasion

Daethen fought alongside his father and Sir Maeron Errinorne in Aerel's First Blood, the first battle of the war, though was thereafter directed to remain and defend the Gryphonhold. He later marched alongside his aunt Rhaethen to defend from an advance upon the wooden fort from the south by Lady Elisen Phidan and a handful of lesser lords. After the Arana's initial victory against Lady Elisen, Daethen withdrew to the Gryphonhold once more to keep the fort in his father's name.

Following the kneeling of King Sandur III Rilis in the north, Aerel organised an invasion of the Kingdom of Summer and Sea to the west across the Auridon Strait. When the Arana forces were split in half Daethen joined his father and mother on their march upon Shimmerene, and was present during the submission of the city by Lord Castien Liaren, as well as his father's subsequent coronation by the Church.

Daethen would remain in Shimmerene with a detatchment of his father's force while his parents departed towards Cloudrest, fighting several battles along the way. While in the city he kept order in his father's name, aiding Lord Castien in what duties were required. It was only after the battle of the Passing Storm that letters were exchanged and Daethen left to rejoin with his father's army. His considerably smaller force caught up quickly to that of Aerel, and the two joined shortly before the razing of the Aerie, when Lord Saleth Harlore and all his family burned alive within the stony prison of his own castle.

Daethen insisted upon marching alongside his father, as he would not be denied the chance to face the risk and glory of battle. Aerel accepted his request, and Daethen would go on to fight alongside his father's forces in the Battle of Blue Fields. Following the devastating battle, the Aranas marched westwards into the Norlands, where upon reaching Lillandril they met their match and accepted a parley with Lady Erandel Andorin. During the private parley, a marriage pact was agreed to by both parties, matching Daethen with Linaarie Andorin, Lady Erandel's daughter. Erandel bent the knee to Aerel and the marriage ceremony took place the following day in the Andorin military encampment.

With the strength of the Norlands on side the Aranas marched back where they came to the Crownlands, after some weeks eventually reaching the city of Alinor, the capitol of the Kingdom of Summer and Sea. It was there that the Battle Before the Gates took place, where Daethen shared command of the ground forces with Lady Syllia Heleyn and Lady Erandel Andorin. During the battle both King Coreriil III and his son and heir perished. Daethen liked to claim that he had dealt the finishing blow against King Coreriil, though none have been able to corroborate the claim and historians still cast doubt upon it to this day.

Following the battle, a small search was organised to find the King Coreriil's last remaining child, Arannelya Arana, who had vanished without a trace. A coronation ceremony was later organised in Eldarhall and Daethen's father was crowned jointly by the sapiarchs and the Church as King Aerel Arana the First of His Name, King of the Summerset Isles, Lord of the White City, and Protector of the Isles.

### Reign of Aerel

Daethen did not accompany his father on his many royal progresses, instead remaining at court and learning what it took to rule from his mother Alyssare, who often ruled in her husband's absence. Over the years Daethen grew a cold and hard reputation, which was established during the years of Aerel's Invasion. Daethen became known as a stern man, and overzealous in his punishments. Despite this, he fostered valuable relationships with many high lords throughout the realm, particularly the Andorins through his wife Linaarie Andorin, under the tutelage of his mother and aunt with whom Aerel often left the kingdom's reins while on progress or visiting Gryphonrock.

While in the capitol the young prince was often left to his own devices, where he would often neglect his wife in favour of bedding comely women at court, whether they were married themselves or not. His infidelity was not a well-kept secret and many knew of Daethen Arana's "Black Ladies", as they would come to be known. Some of the women he took into his bed came willingly, though many were pressured into it by Daethen himself. No matter how they became his Black Ladies, they all remained so until his eventual death, or until he set them aside once they grew older and less beautiful. Some of the women even died by Daethen's own hand or by his command, as infighting among the Black Ladies was common in order for them to keep their heads. At Shimmerene the High Aldarch loudly denounced "*the abomination and his whores"*, while Linaarie continued to insist that she was Daethen's only lawful lady wife.

There are several tales of the Black Ladies and the abuse they endured at Daethen's hand, including a case when one of his Ladies, Sarya Luris, fell pregnant with Daethen's child. Seeing the bastard child as a threat to what his family had built, he ordered the baby boy's death. When the mother protested he had his guards slay the child in front of her eyes so that she might remember her place as one of his Black Ladies. Another case tells of when Darina Elarie, who had spurned her husband by allowing Prince Daethen to take her to bed, eventually felt guilt for her infidelity and attempted to leave, though Daethen had little intention of letting go of her. When she told her husband, he defended his wife by confronting Daethen, who had the man castrated so he would have no more use for Darina.

A trueborn son was born to Daethen and Linaarie near the end of his father's reign in 1E 434, whom he named Anumaril in honour of Daethen's great grandfather Anumaril Arana of Abagarlas. Anumaril was born while Daethen was on progress in his father's name, with whom he brought his wife. Linaarie fell pregnant during the long progress and gave birth in Gryphonrock, as Daethen had issued a halt to oversee the continued construction of the vast castle. Upon hearing of the boy's birth, the High Aldarch refused to bless the young prince, commenting that Daethen's "tainted blood" ran through his veins.

### Early Reign

Upon hearing of his father's death, Daethen departed Gryphonrock and left the great castle under the care of his castellan, Sir Aywin Datris. It took the prince a couple days to arrive at the capital, where he met with his mother and together began to work at reassuring the assembled lords and ladies of the realm that the stability that Aerel had brought would continue uninterrupted. Daethen's coronation took place shortly thereafter, though the celebratory day was tainted by the mourning for the late king, as well as by fear over what might befall the realm now that Aerel's stable tenure had ended.

Daethen accompanied the funeral procession which took his father's body from Alinor to the Monastery of Shimmerene where he was to be entered. He was joined by his mother Alyssare and his aunt Rhaethen, as well as hundreds of courtiers and dozens of lords, high and low alike. The Aranas all took the opportunity to express the strength of their dynasty to the nobles and commoners, even taking their gryphons in order that they might project both fear and grandeur.

Sometime after Aerel's interment in the Monastery, Daethen tamed his father's gryphon Nereon, which had remained in the Arana gryphonpens in Eldarhall since Aerel's death.

Upon an occasion back in Eldarhall, Grandsapiarch Arlen once compared the king to his brother Viseriel, thinking that Daethen could learn from how his brother holds himself in order to help pacify unruly lords. In a rage Daethen commanded Arlen be taken to the dungeons, where he was later tortured until death. His broken body was sent back to the College along with a letter requesting they send a new sapiarch that knew the difference between insolence and counsel.

In 1E 439, Daethen saw Gryphonrock completed. In celebration Daethen threw a feast for those who had taken part in the construction, engorging the workers with wines and sweetmeats as well as whores from Alinor's finest brothels. But after three days of revelry, Daethen had them all put to death in order to protect the secrets of the castle. Their bones were interred beneath the castle they had built. The castle complex was a web of interconnecting corridors, secret passages, and elegant rooms. It was said by artisans at the time that the castle was fit enough in size and scope to be the seat of a kingdom, not merely the seat of the king's heir.

It was during the king's brief time at the castle that the nobility got a true glimpse at the kind of ruler Daethen was. His harsh sense of duty and fairness placed many lords on edge, though others reaped the rewards by remaining faithful to the king. His blunt style of rulership was in stark contrast with that of his father, who spent many of his years attempting to soothe and calm the high lords rather than enforce a rigid sense of duty and allegiance. To Daethen life was a constant struggle for survival and dominance over others, a lesson sharply learned early in his life when his family were mere exiles with few prospects. In Daethen's world of 'might makes right', what threatened the position of his family, particularly his own position, was akin to treason. Upon one occasion a bard was brought before the prince while he was tending to courtly duties. The bard admitted to having made japes about his parents' incestuous relationship before an audience at an inn. Daethen had the bard's tongue ripped out, but rather than killing the man to end his suffering, he was released, condemned to wander the realm robbed of what once defined him most.

### Tyranny

Daethen's reign stood in stark contrast with that of his father, primarily in that he cared little for the cruel reputation that he was growing. He cared only about the other high lords of the realm insofar as they did not threaten his rule, but virtually no attempts were made to secure their lasting loyalty. Even Lord Mulvarion Andorin once voiced his displeasure with how Daethen had neglected his sister in favour of his various paramours. However, after a threatening remark by Daethen regarding what he might do to Linaarie, Mulvarion relented.

In 1E 440 the Church rose in rebellion against Daethen's tyrannical ways, labelling him 'King Abomination' due to the sinful incestuous relationship that spawned him. The High Aldarch denounced the Aranas and their vile ways, making clear that the tenuous peace between the Church and Crown would exist no more. The Divine Prosecution were rallied, and all the lords of the realm were called upon to take up arms against their sovereign.

## Legacy

Daethen had but one child, Anumaril I, who succeeded him and ruled from the Marble Throne throughout the majority of the Church Uprising. Anumaril too would come to die prematurely, a short investigation finding that he was poisoned by one of his bodyguards while in Eldarhall. Anumaril was later succeeded by his uncle and Daethen's brother, Viseriel I.

Daethen was remembered by history as one of the mad Arana kings, his cruelty and harsh methods colouring his reign. His body was never entered in the Monastery of Serene Harmony, and none know exactly what became of it. Some claim it was thrown into the Auridon Strait so that his sins might sink him, others claim he was torn to pieces in the streets of Shimmerene. Not even his brother, Viseriel I, arranged to have his bones brought back to Alinor. The name 'Daethen the Wicked' was posthumously given to Daethen for his actions during the Church Uprising, contrasting sharply with the epithet taken by his brother: 'Viseriel the Virtuous'.

## Quotes by Daethen

>
> Of what use is a wife to a cockless man? I'm of a mind that Darina will be far better served in my bed than in yours.
>
>
> —Daethen to Cyran Tiadil after having him castrated
>