Post by Duran Aeducan on Jun 24, 2016 19:38:57 GMT -5
| duran aeducan | |||
| PLAYED BY richard armitage as thorin oakenshield | |||
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[attr="class","cafbox"] FIFTY-TWO [attr="class","cafbox"] MALE [attr="class","cafbox"] DWARF [attr="class","cafbox"] BERSERKER [attr="class","cafbox"] ORZAMMAR | |||
| [PTabbedContent][PTab=History] [attr="class","cafh2"]The birth of Duran Aeducan 03 Guardian 9:05 Dragon The second son of King Endrin of House Aeducan, Duran was born into a life of luxury. He lived in the royal palace in the Diamond Quarter, servants tending to his needs. It was an existence of privilege, of prestige, and power. Like any dwarf of a caste, Duran was educated by the Shaperate in reading, writing, politics, history, mathematics, tactics, and other subjects which might be necessary when he assumed his future command. He took especially to history. Duran was utterly fascinated with the ancient dwarves, but saddened as well. He knew very little of the Empire that had come before, as there was little left. He sought to reclaim what was lost. He wanted to lead expeditions into forgotten thaigs, purge them of darkspawn, and then claim them for his people. But he knew that this was idealistic. Everyone kept shooting down his thoughts, saying that Orzammar, as it was, was dying. Duran wanted to be the one to save it. It was also necessary he be trained in combat and tactics, and in his combat training he showed great promise, particularly with swords. He did not take well at the time to a shield or a two-handed weapon, preferring instead a single longsword, and eventually taking with it, a shortsword. Duran moved on to using the mace and the shortsword. Clearly, Duran was well on a path to becoming a skilled commander, or at the very least, a fighter with great talent. All throughout his life—no matter what he did—his older brother always looked down upon him. Duran was closer with his younger brother, Bhelen. There were whispers of how disliked Trian was, and how Duran was the favoured one. The young dwarf, however, doubted that anything would come of it. Politics were something he knew that he would, inevitably, be unable to avoid. They were terrifying and were probably the number one catalyst for the death of dwarven nobles. Duran preferred a more direct approach to the cutthroat politics, even though he did what he had to. Provings were his thing, and he was quite a fan of them—both participating, and watching, though preferred the former to the latter. Gorim of House Sealac was assigned as his Second, and the two became close. They were like brothers, and were inseparable. Gorim was one of the few people who saw past the cool and confident demeanor of the Aeducan child; Duran could confide in him any time. His Second could tease Duran without fear. He treated him more like an equal. He met a Noble Hunter by the name of Eirwen. Aeducan could have used more sword-arms, so he agreed to “spend time” with her. It took time, but he never gave up on her. He had developed feelings for her, and bid she stay. He had to keep her away from Trian, lest his brother kick her out (or worse). Nevertheless, he made sure that she was treated well. He finally impregnated her, but when it turned out to be a girl, Trian had them both booted from the palace and back to Dust Town. He went back to visit her, giving her money and what assistance he could. He told her how beautiful Sive was, and that he loved the girl and wished he could do more for them both. He had grown loving towards her; he cared about her, despite the fact that she was Casteless. Finally, she became pregnant once more. Despite being a boy, the child was miscarried, however. Regretfully, he had to bid her farewell. 8 Justinian 9:30 Dragon His first military commission. What could go wrong? But before he could go out into the Deep Roads to lead the expedition which would retrieve the shield, Duran had to suffer through a feast. At least there would be food, and plenty of it. He complained about the politics, but deep down, he somewhat enjoyed them. He fought in the Provings himself, and as the crowds cheered, he took down all opposition, up to Frandlin Ivo. After his defeat of the reigning champion, Duran had won the helmet, but bestowed it upon Ivo. It was a move that was both political and honourable, and he was sure it would win him favour from many. He met two noble hunters; Mardy and Teli, and accepted their offer. Why would he say no? They were pretty. Then he returned to the palace in time for the feast. His father sent him to find Trian. He found him in Trian’s quarters, with Bhelen. Upon Trian’s departure, Bhelen told him he was plotting against him. If only Duran had noticed how interested Bhelen was in hearing his thoughts on this, perhaps things would have turned out differently. But he isn’t one to dwell upon past regrets. He believed Bhelen. That night was spent with Mardy, and then Teli. Duran slept well. [attr="class","cafh2"]The Shield & the Betrayal 9 Justinian 9:30 Dragon Things seemed to be going well, at first. Then he encountered the mercenaries. It wasn’t difficult to get the answers as to why they had the Aeducan signet ring, from the mercenary leader. In fact, it was a bit too easy. That, of course, was what he thought when he reflected on it. Normally, he was good at seeing things. Why didn’t he see this? On their way back, as expected, they were accosted by Trian, who thought Duran was the one ambushing him. He demanded Duran’s surrender. When Duran tried to explain, he attacked, and the younger prince was forced to slay his own brother. Bhelen led Endrin to the scene. What they saw was Duran standing over his brother’s corpse, Trian’s blood upon his axe. Duran tried to tell them what he knew to be the truth. He showed them the ring, but it wasn’t enough. The scout and Frandlin lied. It seemed someone had it in for them; someone alive. His guess was Bhelen—who else, after all, could it be? He was thrown into prison. The Assembly was to call on him, but they never did. Bhelen had taken Trian’s place, and Endrin had taken sick. He had been planning this coup for a long time, it turned out. The crafty blighter. [attr="class","cafh2"]The Exile & the Blight Gorim’s knighthood was stripped and his name was torn from his family records. He was exiled to the surface, and Harrowmont tried to get the same for Duran, but the best he could do was getting him sealed in the Deep Roads, his name and caste stripped. Harrowmont had sent Gorim to pass along some information–that the Grey Wardens (who had visited earlier) were in the Deep Roads, and where they were. It was suggested he seek them out and join them. At the time of his exile, Harrowmont gave Duran a well-crafted dwarven longsword. “May the Stone accept you when you fall.” Waves upon waves of Darkspawn. He fought with purpose; he did not want these creatures to claim him as they had his people’s great history. He had hope and reason to live yet, even if it was to be as a Grey Warden. Duncan would certainly be impressed and surprised when he saw Duran emerging in nothing but clothes and covered in darkspawn gore. Luckily he hadn’t contracted the Blight, either. It was from there, then through the Hinterlands, and to Ostagar. He met many people at Ostagar, though the one that stood out the most was his mentor, Alistair. Along with his fellow Warden recruits, including two humans: Ser Jory and Daveth. The group were sent into the Korcari Wilds to gather darkspawn blood and retrieve the Grey Warden treaties. Following the strange turn of events, and the Joining which Duran survived but Daveth and Jory did not. The final battle upon them, Duran and Alistair were tasked with lighting the signal fire at the top of the Tower of Ishal to signal Loghain’s men. A signal that would go unheeded. They woke in Flemeth’s hut, their wounds tended to. They learned of Loghain’s desertion, and the death of Duncan and Cailan. But they still had the treaties, and Morrigan joined them as they made their way to Lothering. An unlikely friend came to Duran’s side–a mabari hound he had helped treat back at Ostagar. Perhaps by Alistair’s suggestion it was that Duran named him ‘Barkspawn’. The mabari would prove to be a faithful companion. They recruited Leliana and the Sten at Lothering, and activated Shale at the village of Honnleath. From there they made for Redcliffe, where they helped the village prepare and fight. Duran judged that, when presented with their options on how to deal with the demon, they did not have time to go to the Circle. Jowan used Isolde as the sacrifice and one of the mages in Duran’s party ventured into Fade. Duran presumed they destroyed the demon, for the boy woke up not possessed. From there, it was ‘a wild goose chase’ to get to the Urn of Sacred Ashes, something Duran doubted would be of much fruition. Constantly they were dogged by assassins and soldiers sent by Loghain. Including some Antivan Crows who tried, and failed. The lone survivor of these assassins was an elf, Zevran. Something in Duran's gut told him he was true to his word and the dwarven man accepted him into his camp. A detour was made to Kinloch Hold, where they along with Enchanter Wynne purged the Circle Tower of Abominations. Duran was sent into the Fade for the first time; being a dwarf he did not experience dreams. It was unnerving for him, navigating the unknown landscape. The mages were saved, and Duran recruited them as well as convincing Knight-Commander Greagoir to send his knights along with them. After all, someone had to watch after the mages. He made for Denerim following a lead afterwards. There he would also do odd jobs while pursuing what scant information there was about the location of the temple. Denerim was dangerous ground, and the Wardens had to conceal themselves whenever they went there. He also reunited with Gorim, who helped them out where he could. From there they went to the town of Haven. A town which turned out to be full of dragon-worshipping lunatics. Duran found Brother Genitivi imprisoned and--after making sure it was safe. They cut through more reavers in the temple, more cultists. Duran did not dare to make a deal with the insane cultist. He killed him and took his horn. He was eager to take out this dragon and stop whatever its strange influence was on this town. It was a long and hard fight against the High Dragon ("practise, for when we fight the Archdemon," Duran had said upon replies to his suggestion). After passing the tests of the Gauntlet, he was allowed to take a pinch of the Ashes, which he had sent to Redcliffe. In Orzammar, there was a reconciliation, of sorts, with his brother Bhelen. Certain problems with Orzammar had come to light and Duran saw that Bhelen was what was best for the kingdom. It was surprising that the one he’d betrayed, the one who’d killed Duran’s other brother and had it pinned on him, was the one he would support. It did break his heart to turn on Harrowmont, but he did what he had to for what he needed. His son with Mardy was in Orzammar as well, a boy born Casteless thanks to his father’s exile. After Bhelen became king, he would convince his brother to accept him back into the Aeducan family, so that he would have a home and a future. He named him Duncan, in honour of the Grey Warden-Commander who’d given his life. They took Oghren with them to the Deep Roads to go after Branka. By the time they met her, Duran judged her too unstable and dangerous to side with; choosing instead to align with Caridin. He wasn’t about to turn fellow dwarves into golems, so the secret of the Anvil died with Caridin after the Paragon forged for Bhelen a great crown. Their final stops before the Landsmeet were Redcliffe to meet with Arl Eamon, and then the Brecilian Forest where a Dalish Clan was camped. Duran brokered peace between the werewolves and the Dalish after hearing the Spirit of the Forest out. Zathrian released them from the curse, ending his own prolonged life. Then they were off to Denerim again, gaining proof that Loghain was a traitor. They found plenty of it in the Alienage and in Howe's dungeons, and gained enough allies against Loghain. He challenged Duran to a duel, which Duran himself accepted. The Hero of the River Dane fought the exiled dwarven prince, and lost. Alistair demanded his death, but Riordan intervened. Both Duran and Alistair refused to have Loghain made a Warden, but instead suggested--rather than wasting his life and experience by killing him--they use him in the battles ahead. Loghain had proven himself a worthy opponent and Duran doubted that he would turn on him. They could use his tactics in the battle ahead. "Death would be a mercy," the Warden had said. "No, we can use him against the Darkspawn." The Landsmeet had agreed to have Alistair as King of Ferelden. Duran had not allied with Anora; he did not trust her as far as he could spit. But he did not want her executed either; what happened was up to Alistair, of course. From Riordan, he and Alistair learned the secret of how Archdemons were taken down--one of them would have to make the sacrifice. Morrigan knew of this, and had a ritual that could mean their survival...along with the Old God's. Duran was uncertain, considering that Morrigan would be leaving with the child, but he agreed to perform the ritual with her. And so, it was he who took down the Archdemon atop Fort Drakon. It was a victory...but it would be short-lived. The king offered Duran a boon, but the dwarven man declined, only requesting that he heed the requests of the companions who'd fought at their side. Duran himself wanted to continue what a Warden did best, and that was combatting the Darkspawn. The hold of Amaranthine was gifted to the Wardens, and some time after, Duran was called there to find it under attack. With the darkspawn dealt with, they went through with the Joining of the new Wardens, including Mhairi, Oghren, and the apostate Anders. Soon joining them would be Nathaniel, a Howe. They would go on to recruit Justice, Sigrun, and Velanna, and would uncover the intricacies of the darkspawn civil war. Amaranthine and Vigil's Keep were both saved thanks to their efforts and preparations, and they killed the Mother in her Lair, with the help of the Architect whom Duran had spared. The Order continued to build under the direction of Duran Aeducan. This would include another venture into the Deep Roads, where–unbeknownst to him–the Golems of Amgarrak Thaig were unleashed. The Warden eventually left one of his men in command at Amaranthine and went to hunt down Morrigan. [attr="class","cafh2"]The Calling & the Aftermath The Warden was absent much of the time; this time was not spent pursuing frivolous tasks. He was a Warden and a dwarf, and as such, he wanted to figure out a way to deal with the darkspawn. Even if for thousands of years nothing had been uncovered, Duran had a tendency to beat the odds. He disappeared from the public face, but he did not travel alone; taking a few Wardens with him, or perhaps promising recruits. His adventures were his own at this time.He began to feel the pull of the Calling, but the Wardens with him did as well. Rather than venture into the Deep Roads, he began to search for a cure. And to this day, he still does–even if this Calling was false and had subsided. [/PTab={height: 250px; overflow: auto;}][PTab=Miscellaneous] As the Assembly voted him in as a Paragon, Duran is the patriarch of a new house – Duran. Has two sons – Kieran (Old God child, with Morrigan) and Duncan of House Duran, his son with Mardy. Duncan Duran lives in Orzammar in the Duran Manor with his mother. He also had a daughter, Sieve, who lives on the surface. Duran, by specialisation, is a berserker. He may have learned the skill from Oghren, or from Ash Warriors that had joined the Warden’s army. He has a dislike/distaste for the Maker, though it's something he keeps quiet in the company of the Chantry faithful. He feels that people should forge their own path, but he can understand the need for faith to give one sustenance. [/PTab={height: 250px; overflow: auto;}][/PTabbedContent] | |||
