Terron Aravell

[Terron Aravell]

Terron Aravell

Captain of the Earth, Lord of House Aravell

Name: Terron Aravell
Age: 95
Gender: Male

Nationality: Saldaean (hints of Seanchan heritage)
Place of Birth: Alirycas, Saldaea
Place of Residence: Black Tower, Caralain or along the Blightborder
Affiliation: Black Tower
Rank/Title: Captain of the Earth Legion, Lord of House Aravell

One Power Level: 7
Air: 3 | Earth: 12 | Fire: 9 | Spirit: 6 | Water: 5
# of Years as Soldier: 5
# of Years as Dedicated: 5
# of Years as Asha'man: 61
# of Years as Captain: 2

Talents: N/A
Weaves: Earth Crafting/Rending, Create/Manipulate Lava

Weapon Skills:
Martial: 7 | Hand-Held: 6 | Stave: 0 | Thrown: 0 | Ranged: 3 | Mounted: 6

APPEARANCE

Height: 1.82m/6’1”
Weight: 70kg/154lbs
Build/Complexion: Muscular/Dark
Eye/Hair Color: Dark Brown/Black

Distinguishing Features:

• Tilted Saldaean eyes and prominent nose
• Uncommonly dark skin from his Seanchan mother
• His head is shaved half-bald

Though his main line is Saldaean, there are hints of something … other, in Terron’s branch of the Aravell family. His father, Deshion, was a ladies’ man to the core, and though he eventually settled down and raised a family in truth, he had several bastards from his many travels that he eventually adopted alongside those who were legitimate. Born with the dark skin of his mother that contrasted greatly from the rest of his Saldaean peers, the heritage of Seanchan runs skin deep indeed, and ever since the Great Seanchan war is something that has given him and his mother a certain amount of grief from the matriarch of Aravell, and he has rarely returned to his family in Saldaea because of it.

Brought up in the martial culture of the Borderlands when the threat of the Shadow had just been renewed in the eyes of all, and as an Asha’man of the Earth Legion that focuses on war, that Terron’s body and attire speaks of one who was born to fight. Muscled and toned, the scars of battle have largely been healed, though sometimes his wounds were left too long and scarred. His attire also veers towards the practical, and though the black cloaks of the Asha'man have become standard fare over the last century since the inception of the Black Tower, there are many times were Terron prefers to wear more practical and less conspicuous pieces. The black coat screams his identity, and sometimes may even paint a target at his back when in battle - certainly the Dreadlords of the Blight are on the lookout for easy targets to eliminate.

Despite being over ninety years old, Terron looks to be no older than in his early thirties.

PERSONALITY

There once existed a time, a very many years ago, that the anger that burns deep in Terron’s heart was filled with light and love. Time and prejudice have worn away the light and diminished the love, and now anger and frustration predominates. The influence of the Dark One on his soul has worn at him throughout the years since the bore was reopened, and though he doesn’t quite realise it, his heart is dark and ripe for the picking. Nonetheless, the anger that burns within him lies quiet and hidden, masked by a stony calm that unnerves most who speak with him. Only his younger sister Sana has ever managed to crack that mask, and now even she finds it harder and harder to reach through the walls that he has put up about his heart. Terron still can feel love, but the years of prejudice against him from being Seanchan from his family and from channellers who still remember when damane were a common occurrence among Seanchan society have buried it deep. He feels betrayed by those whom should have embraced him and loved him, and the warm memories of his youth before the Great Seanchan War only serve to isolate him further.

To most, Terron is a quiet, if reliable individual that harbours a surprising affinity for the arts of war and has proven himself many times on the battlefield against the Shadow. He rarely speaks except to a few “close” friends, and when he does it usually is either a sarcastic comment, or something that he feels truly passionate about. Furthermore, Terron is also something of a lone-wolf among the Captains of the Earth. Though appointed to the position, he would rather go his own way most of the time despite the objections of his fellow Captains and the Captain-Generals, which does not always put him in good standing with them. The only thing that has allowed him to keep his position so far is his dedication and skill in fighting the forces of the Shadow, and by removing Terron from his position the standing of the entire Legion is weakened as a result.

Side Note: Terron prefers the company of men.

HISTORY

Terron's father Deshion was an adventurer, Asha'man and a lady's man to the core. Though eventually he settled down with a Saldaean wife several decades after Terron was born after great pressure from Eshara after the Great Seanchan War, Terron himself was a product of his irresponsibility and neglect during his early days. Handed off to Tarla (Deshion's sister) to raise, Terron grew up largely without his father in attendance, whilst standing out from his peers due to the dark skin on his mother's side, who hailed from the Seanchan empire. Though in his early years his heritage passed without much comment, in the aftermath of the Great Seanchan War, things began to change, and not for the better.

The Great Seanchan War ravaged Saldaea worst of all the Borderlands. Great plains scarred into ruins of boulders, cities and towns destroyed and broken, women chained into damane while their families were slaughtered by the armies of the Seanchan. The people of Saldaea, broken and fleeing as their armies were decimated, folding back into the main Borderland armies who stalled the advance until the Aes Sedai and Asha'man could gather their forces to push the invaders back into the Aryth Ocean. But the effects of the War rippled far beyond just the physical. Where once Terron's skin had been given no more than a passing glance, the dark skin that marked him as an outsider - of Seanchan descent especially (even if it was Tai'Seanchan) - now painted a target on his back as he grew into his teenage years. Mothers kept their children away from him, and even the Matriarch of Aravell herself kept her distance at times. Though he knew she loved him in her own way, there was also no question about whether others were favoured more over he

It was almost a relief when he developed the spark inborn and went to the Black Tower to become an Asha'man.

There, for the first time since the end of the Great Seanchan War, Terron could walk freely without fear of being judged, of being shunned for simply having Seanchan heritage. Though as an acknowledged member of nobility back in his city Terron did not need to fear physical violence, there were other methods by which people could display their displeasure at simply his presence. None of that was apparent in the Black Tower, where Seanchan men were not an unheard of sight anymore, by the decree of Fortuana of the Empire. But still the bitterness remained, dark in his heart, and anger drove him during much of his time as a Soldier and an Asha'man. A slow and smouldering anger, held closely in check but running deep throughout his veins, that drove him to become a weapon, as the Dragon Reborn had once moulded the Asha'man to become. An anger that found great satisfaction in dealing out death and judgement, held closely and tightly to him to prevent it from consuming him, only to burn ever more brightly in the darkness of isolation.

Certainly it did not earn him many friends while at the Black Tower. Though his anger was locked tight, Terron soon became known as an Asha'man for his hard and stern nature, in the manner of the Asha'man in the days of the Last Battle. The soldiers and Dedicated who trained under him learned to be wary of his anger and strove to meet his high standards, while those of his peers kept their distance due to his sharp tongue and otherwise reticent nature. Confident in his own strength and occasionally as arrogant as any Aes Sedai, Terron often expected obedience and no arguments when he spoke, and mostly got obedience and no arguments. Of course, there were also others who refused to roll over and play dead, and he struck sparks with them often.

Chief among them was Rahlin Dovreh. Terron had no care for him, despite his charisma. Rahlin had always been misogynistic, viewing the Aes Sedai with suspicion, and to a lesser extent anyone connected with them. As someone who had many extended family members who had at least trained in the White Tower, let alone become Aes Sedai, Terron bore much of the brunt of Rahlin's criticism. It was of course no surprise that when Rahlin was raised as M'Hael, Terron settled more or less permanently along the Borderlands away from Rahlin's eyes in a self-imposed exile. He stayed out of the Tower Wars, and spent most of his efforts along the Blightborder. Though slaking out his anger and frustration on shadowspawn gave him relief, his efforts to reach back out to his family in Alirycas only bore chilly welcome and a bitter fruit, and he became further embittered against both sides of his heritage, the Seanchan for being the cause of discrimination against him, and the Saldaean for their inability to see past the dark skin he possessed.

It was during this time that he came to know Jadin Al'vyon and his companion, Julian Damodred. Though Jadin was of the Earth Legion, Terron's stern and severe nature had never made him any friends. Though they came to respect each other during their times along the Blightborder, their relationship was never anything more than strained professionalism, and in the case of Julian, barely-concealed animosity. Terron had no appreciation of the airs of the latter, and made no efforts to hide it. Though the end of the Tower Wars had brought an elevation to the prestige of both Julian and Jadin, Terron cared little for the politics that ensued. However, when Julian was promoted to Captain of the Spirit Legion, Terron still made no efforts to hide his disdain, something that he paid for dearly, embittering him.

Combined with everything else, it would be a bitterness that would eventually drive him into the darkness. Even his promotion to the Captain of the Earth Legion was unable to save the wounds in his soul.

He would have his revenge against the world that had wronged him so, with or without the aid of the Light.