Arlen Colden

Creator: Lael
Roleplay: Sky Full of Æther
Nickname: Arlen

Name: Arlen Colden, Earl of Rahel

Age: 21

Gender: Male

Species: Human

Sexuality: Heterosexual

Allegiances: His earldom, Rahel. Arlen is factionless and isn't sure that he can trust others in the King's court.

Personality: It's hard to see what's really going on inside of his head. He is always the perfect gentleman, eloquent and courteous to all. However, Arlen faces a lot of pressure, inwardly and outwardly, to maintain his unthreatening, pleasant mask at all times and with his self-obligation to be perfect, especially since he is so young compared to other courtiers. His actions are always calculated and very cautious, even if they don't seem that way. He is aware that many people rely on him for security and provision in Rahel, so he does that to the best of his ability, but he prefers to stay in Kryn for most of the year, so he doesn't have to face his memories back home.

His true personality is tinged with a lot of loneliness (he isolates his heart from others), guilt, some fear, and a big sense of resigned responsibility. He has a lot of pent-up emotions he is afraid to show.

Physical Description: Tall and slender, with long fingers. Handsome with side swept, silvery-white hair (born that way), blue eyes, and fair skin. He usually wears fine clothing benefitting his status as a nobleman and a court alchemist. The only jewelry he wears is a gold ring with an engraved vine pattern on his right index finger, an heirloom of the Colden family passed down from each earl to the next.

Brief History: Arlen was the only son and heir to the earldom of Rahel. He was orphaned by a regional plague that claimed both his parents at the age of 10, and was forced to take on the title of Earl of Rahel. He was unaffected, but his younger sister, Gywneira, became blind. This was the first time he started feeling lots of guilt--for not being affected by the plague at all while his sister went blind and his parents died by it. The two Colden children were taken care of by their father's friend, Rhys Addison, Viscount of Devonte (a nobleman without an estate, as he wasn't firstborn), who helped Arlen run the estate and gave him a good schooling and skills that would prepare him to join the King's court, including alchemy, which the boy learned quickly. Rhys was practically the children's father from that point on.

When Arlen was 18, he traveled to Kryn to enter the King's service. He went alone because he believed that he was old enough and ready enough to be self-sufficient, so he had argued with Rhys, who had wanted to go with him to help him if necessary; needless to say, he departed on bad terms with his teacher. The King accepted him because of his talent for alchemy, high intelligence, and charisma (as well as his unusual white hair). However, when Arlen traveled back home to share the news with his sister and Rhys, he found that Rhys had gotten sick and died with only Gwyneira beside him. Guilt for what he believes was "abandoning" Rhys became a big part of who he was. So he threw himself into his work at Kryn, trying to avoid going home as much as possible so he wouldn't have to face things that reminded him of what happened. His training to act charming and pleasant yet distant became his armor/second skin, as he is unwilling to show anyone his weaker side and he also began to fully understand how dangerous and power-hungry other members of the court could be.