Tepet Arakasi

Tepet Arakasi

Description:

A stocky built man of middle height with a piercing almost supernatural gaze, and an unnerving aura of power radiating around him. Despite his average apperance, he is not a man many forget meeting. He favors a black uniform with brown and red trim with long straight sword at his belt. When in combat he wears black laquored lamellar and a full helm with a scarlet cape. His trademark spear is never far from his hand, always alight with fire if danger looms near. He keeps a Flame Piece holstered at his belt and a Firewand near to hand. Arakasi is legendary among the Legion for being invulnerable, and many of the newer soliders hold him in near awe. He has never sustained a major injury in combat, and shrugged off many wounds that would cripple or maim a lesser man. Like the element he embodies, Arakasi strides on and forward, directing troops, advising Ajilon, and throwing terrible magic at all who get in the way of the Burning Legion.

History:

Tepet Arakasi is the oldest child of Tepet Armant of the Berel Family of Lord’s Crossing. Arakasi was a naturally gifted child who began dabbling in Sorcery at a very young age. A quiet, aloof child, Arakasi had a powerful intimidating aura around him that unnerved his guardians, siblings and even his parents. Arakasi spent much of his childhood alone, studying with private tutors. At nine he was sent to the Academy of the Prestige Arts, a scholarly primary school in Sion, far from his home and family holdings.

He was enrolled in the Heptagram as soon as he finished primary school. Always perusing more power and knowledge, Arakasi began to draw undo notice to himself through his constant questioning of his Sidereal teachers about the order and nature of the world, the Anathema, and the magic they practiced. Alarmed by his inquisitive mind, and worried that he lay close to revealing more than they wanted known, they notified the Immaculate Order, who began a quiet investigation into the nature of the young man. Although innocent of any wrong-doing, Arakasi began to find himself denied admission to the more senior Sorcery classes with little explanation from his instructors given.

He finished his schooling a year later, more aloof and reserved than before, trusting few of his thoughts to anyone. He began serving his house in a variety of mundane ways, primarily repairing and creating various artifacts for family use. His access both at the Heptagram and his own family libraries of magic or history was limited. Feeling stifled by his family and the Blessed Isle both, Arakasi was reaching a crossroads. He began to spend more and more time in his manse, Terrane Searing. Although fond of the manse, it also became Arakasi his prison, as he was rarely invited outside its bounds by his family, and instead a steady supply of servants arrived almost daily at the cottage with a host of chores from his family.

Quietly, Arakasi began studying all he could of the lands and nations outside the Blessed Isle. He also became a scholar of military history, studying tactics and battle in many of the only tomes left to him. His keen mind and sharp wits quickly turned him into one of the foremost scholars of recent Legion conflicts. Arakasi came to know The Thousand Correct Actions of the Upright Solider, and read the book several times. His family was unlikely to let him leave, as he was a resource to be exploited, and so he had little choice but to flee.

At a party thrown by his sister Pellor, Arakasi met a young Fire aspect named Ajilon while playing Gateway. The girl seemed quite fixated on Arakasi, and in weeks after the party, went out of her way to encounter him whenever possible. Arakasi was baffled, but flattered by the attentions of the attractive woman. Her seeming immunity to his daunting presence, and her utter lack of fear in dealing with him did much to endear Ajilon to him. Their shared love of military history and tactics gave them the ability to talk for hours, and both came to appreciate the keen strategic mind of the other. They grew to be friends and occasional lovers, Arakasi thought little of the situation.

This changed when his family approached him with the prospect of marriage. In an abstract way, he had always assumed he would be married by his family, but the fact that a young attractive and intelligent woman had it in her mind to be his wife quite surprised the Sorcerer. This did even more to win both his trust and his ardor for the fiery girl chasing him. He also saw opportunity in the relationship, as the girl was destined for the Legion with her own sharp grasp of tactics, martial nature and House of Bells training. Arakasi agreed to the relationship, and began to prepare for a situation that would let him escape his prison if his bride to be was ever stationed away from the Blessed Isle. From there the courtship and marriage proceeded relatively quickly, and within three years of the first meeting, the two were wed. Now more than slightly fond of one another, the two made a good match, each respecting and appreciating the drive and intellect they found in their spouse. His thirst for knowledge nearly matched her own innate passions, a fact she could appreciate, and her nimble agile mind never ceased to amaze him anew.

In the winter of 763 Ajilon and the 51st Legion were assigned to the far South. Arakasi at first despaired, for an assignment that far south, and obviously covert, would provide no opportunities for him to join his wife in the field. Again he waited patiently, still covertly making plans for a long term departure from the Realm.

Just a year later in the fall of 764, the Realm shook at the destruction of the Tepet Legions. The family went into shock, and Arakasi garnered much greater freedom from this time, and arranged the purchase of a small townhouse in Nexus. He also began regular contact with Ajilon, bribing the military courtier to take small notes for him, under the guise of love notes, which informed his young wife of his own plans.

765 saw the Realm undergo massive changes, including the dissolution of a large portion of the army, the 51st among them. Outraged at the dishonor shown her troops, and the abandonment of their mission, Ajilon rebelled. Tipped off by a note from his wife, Arakasi made his own move, and escaped the Isle itself on a hired cutter. He made his way to Chiruasco, and then on to Paragon, where he met agents of his wife, and joined her at the Hollow Mountain Fortress.

Although not trained in formal military discipline, Arakasi proved an adept solider, and his own magic did much to bolster the newly formed mercenary company. Taking a cue from his wife’s fiery temper and nature both, the 51st renamed itself the Burning Legion. In tribute to the name, Arakasi began to produce Flaming Spears for use with the heavy infantry, even as Ajilon began to arm her lighter troops with Firedust weapons. To further enhance this image, Arakasi began to summon a giant effigy he would use to issue battlefield orders, a solider of tower flames that quickly burned the name of the Legion into the hearts of soldiers in the South.

Soldiers flocked to the Burning Legion banner, and Arakasi became unofficial second in command of the unit. He was a key factor in deciding the Legion should return to the Scavenger Lands and Nexus as well. Although Tepet would greatly like to bring Arakasi home, at this time it is not prudent, as he has a loyal company of soldiers around him, and enough personal power to make the matter difficult. The family does not wish to see him hurt, but sees this as a rather juvenile act of rebellion and wants their stray Sorcerer back at their beck and call, a situation Arakasi would die before allowing come to pass.