Fiction Character Origins: Ardaris

The bright summer day upon which Ardaris, as she became to be known, for she was born under a different name, was born was taken as a good sign, symbolizing luck. If her parents had known what she would one day become, they would have strangled her at birth. However, prophecy is a rare gift, and they would have worried about other things if they had indeed possessed it.

The small, but stable kingdom was far enough away from Nehekhara that they had little to fear from Nagash, but his wrath reached them eventually, however indirectly it came. In the form of a stranger from Nehekhara, who claimed he had tired of the politics of Lahmia, and had come to live the rest of his days in peace. As a foreigner, the curious youths of the small farming town were drawn to him, asking questions about the lands outside their small home. Except one, who had decided that the wilderness around the village were far more interesting than the tall tales of some strange man.

This of course made the Ex-Lord curious about her.
As is typical of less well off citizens Ardaris was married at a young age, and not much later had her first child, but this didn’t put him off, he remained curious, and followed her, unnoticed into the woods.
An unhealthy prospect for her, considering that the man was a Vampire, despite the fact that it saved her from numerous packs of wolves, and hungry bears.
Although he didn’t go anywhere near the lone orc which came crashing into the clearing she was in. She survived, but was badly hurt, she had stabbed the orc in the stomach, and clubbed it to death with a rock.

The Ex-Lord Imhonse decided that it would be a waste to let this woman die after such a feat, and turned her, a decision he would later regret with all his being. And so they left that small village behind, under the guise of a married couple, travelling to find a place to live, moving ever closer to the capital. Eventually, she tired of his company, and left him, setting out for the capital alone. There she drew the attention of many lords, and used this to gain herself power, eventually she did get married, but not to any of the minor lords who had originally courted her, she married the crown prince, and using her position, gained information to prepare for when she seized power.

In one short evening, nearly every member of the royal family lay dead, there were only a few survivors of the massacre, The current, elderly, Queen, the Prince’s youngest brother, who had recently taken sick, and of course, the new Crown Princess, Ardaris, who was chosen as the Princess Regent until the young Prince came of age.

He died from his illness a long time before then.

And so the kingdom fell into Ardaris’ hands, and an emissary came from a much larger nearby state, demanding that she surrender all her lands to them.

She sent their heads and a declaration of war home in boxes of Scorpions.

As was to be expected, this larger state believed that it would be able to take them, and they would have been right, if they had been facing humans. However, every Noble and High ranking military officer had been turned, personally, by Ardaris, and so, it didn’t go as planned.

Entire armies were butchered like cattle. The worst part for them, was the manner in which Ardaris displayed her victories.

Every citizen or soldier who was caught by her army was skinned, dead or alive, covered in salt, so that any who were alive felt like they were on fire until they died, and tied to the trees with their own intestines.

Crows followed her army constantly for the carrion left in their wake, eventually, she reached their capital, where, instead of besieging, she called peace negotiations with their king, and, as one would expect from any king under this kind of assault, he lept at the chance to end the war. And so Ardaris met him inside his palace, unarmed and alone.

She then summoned a Daemon into him, causing him to be possessed, and destroy his own city, followed after by the rest of his country.

Fortunately, this dynasty not going to last, for soon after this victory, most of the human citizens of the kingdom left, and the Vampiric nobles were forced to leave or starve, and of course, when they journeyed to the same location, they would fight for their territory, and their food.

So most perished and their memory passed from the annals of history.

Until Ardaris’ bloody reign was naught but a distant memory, even to her.

For countless years she roamed, fighting only when necessary, the only true bloodshed she encountered after that was in Mordheim, which she ventured to in order to put one of her Daemons to rest, literally, for the Possessed king of the nation she had conquered had survived, and was now slaughtering hundreds in the City of the Damned, and so she eventually aligned herself with a young Clan Eshin assassin named Scetto to destroy it.

Eventually she journeyed to the lands of Nehekhara to find the Tomb King who had bested her sire, and the rest is known.

 

The rest is continued in New Friends, Old Enemies and Strange Alliances

Also, just to give you a head ache: Why was Ardaris so psychotic at the end of Strange Alliances?

 

Oops, I have edited the post with the proper name, I was tired okay!

But you haven't answered my question: Why was Ardaris so psychotic at the end of Strange Alliances.

 

She was starving herself, drank a little bit too much blood when she needed to and got very very choppy. She probably also got frustrated that Axelbren, the daemon she had summoned all those years ago (and her biggest regret), had reappeared, and rather than her being able to put a permanent end to him she just had to watch him dissipate.

Fix my other headache by backgrounding Scetto.

 

I liked the intro to the background, it drwas you in, creating anticipation for the character. Ardaris's story didn't dissapoint either.

"The rest is known...Kahleesi".

 

DAMNIT

 

So do we find out her former name, and what significance does the name "Ardaris" hold for it to replace it? Or have I missed this in one of the other chapters? :/

Her baby

I liked this.
I like Ardaris as a character - she's Machiavellian and unremittingly evil.

 

Overall, this is a pretty strong piece of history - I like.

I cautiously hit the Bob-edit button. These days it mostly seems to untangle long sentences and makes sure the subject of each sentence / paragraph is clear. I added a couple of short phrases, and pointed out some spellings (not very many) It would be good if you re-did your paragraph spacing.

The usual Bob disclaimers apply - use or learn from what seems useful to you. Ignore the rest.

Spoiler: boring edit

The girl who was to become Adaris was born under a different name on a The bright summer day. The bright weather was a symbol of a lucky future, but if her parents had known what she would one day become, they would have strangled her on that same dayat birth. However, prophecy is a rare gift, and they would have worried about other things if they had indeed possessed it.which symbolized a lucky future upon which Ardaris, as she became to be known, for she was born under a different name, was born was taken as a good sign, symbolizing luck.

The small, but stable kingdom was far enough away from Nehekhara that they had little to fear from Nagash, but his wrath reached them indirectly eventually, however indirectly it came. in the form of a stranger from Nehekhara, who claimed he had tired of the politics of Lahmia, and had come to live the rest of his days in peace. As a foreigner, the curious youths of the small farming town were drawn to him, asking questions about the lands outside their small home. Except for the girl one, who had decided that the wilderness around the village were far more interesting than the tall tales of some strange man.

This comma of course comma made the Ex-Lord curious about her.
As is typical of less well off citizens comma Ardaris was married at a young age, and not much later had her first child, but this didn’t put him off, he remained curious, and followed her, unnoticed into the woods.
An unhealthy prospect for her, considering that the man was a Vampire, despite the fact that it saved her from numerous packs of wolves, and hungry bears.
Although he didn’t go anywhere near Somehow the lone orc slipped past him. It came crashing into the clearing the girl she was in. There she had stabbed the orc in the stomach, and clubbed it to death with a rock. She survived, but was badly hurt,

The Ex-Lord Imhonse decided that it would be a waste to let this woman die after such a feat, and turned her, a decision he would later regret with all his being. And so they left that small village behind, under the guise of a married couple, travelling to find a place to live, moving ever closer to the capital. Eventually, she tired of his company, and left him, setting out for the capital alone. There she drew the attention of many lords, and used this to gain herself power, eventually she did get married, but not to any of the minor lords who had originally courted her period She married the crown prince, and using her position, gained information to prepare for when she seized power.

In one short evening, nearly every member of the royal family lay dead and there were only a few survivors of the massacre, period They were the current, elderly, Queen, the Prince’s youngest brother, who had recently taken sick, and of course, the new Crown Princess, who had taken the name Ardaris at the royal wedding period She, who was chosen as the Princess Regent until the young Prince came of age.


He died from his illness a long time before then.


And so the kingdom fell into Ardaris’ hands, and an emissaries came from a much larger nearby state, demanding that she surrender all her lands to them.

She sent their heads and a declaration of war home in boxes of Scorpions.


As was to be expected, this larger state believed that it would be able to take them, and they would have been right, if they had been facing humans. However, every Noble and High ranking military officer had been turned, personally, by Ardaris, and so, it didn’t go as planned.


Entire armies were butchered like cattle. The worst part for them, was the manner in which Ardaris displayed her victories.


Every citizen or soldier who was caught by her army was skinned, dead or alive, covered in salt, so that any who were alive felt like they were on fire until they died, and Then they were tied to the trees with their own intestines.


Crows followed her army constantly for the carrion left in their wake, eventually, she reached their capital, where, instead of besieging, she called peace negotiations with their king, and, as one would expect from any king under this kind of assault, he leapt at the chance to end the war. And so Ardaris met him inside his palace, unarmed and alone.


She then summoned a Daemon into him, causing him to be possessed, and destroy his own city. He didn't stop there: The entire nation was laid waste., followed after by the rest of his country.


Fortunately, this dynasty not going to last, for soon after this victory, most of the human citizens of the kingdom left, and the Vampiric nobles were forced to leave or starve, and of course, when they journeyed to the same location, they would fight for their territory, and their food.


So most perished and their memory passed from the annals of history.

Until Ardaris’ bloody reign was naught but a distant memory, even to her.


For countless years she roamed, fighting only when necessary, the only true bloodshed she encountered after that was in Mordheim, which she ventured to in order to put one of her Daemons to rest, literally, for The Possessed king of the nation she had conquered had survived, and was now slaughtering hundreds in the City of the Damned, and so she eventually aligned herself with a young Clan Eshin assassin named Scetto to destroy it. and together they destroyed (? banished ?) it.


Eventually she journeyed to the lands of Nehekhara to find the Tomb King who had bested her sire, and the rest is known.