Nighthelm Weekly/Nobles/Alden

Alden Clarke

Syri shai jholi shia si mys eisi vololaendraer sai pai shia saes. Shi shai jholi shia si pandraes eisi pystaer sai pai shia si eizi.

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Alden, like his cousin, is an outcast. His family doesn't truly accept him for his impure blood. His mother was a Clarke, his father an Elf from Sirion. Well at least he is half Clarke. The only one who treated him normal was his half brother, Paxton. When his brother decided to se4t out into the world Alden followed him. They were supposed to travel to Atamara together, funny how thing never work out as planned.

A day away from port the ship got caught in a vicious storm, during which Alden was thrown overboard. He was saved by a fisherman in Norland. He was brought up in the Viking army during the war with Barony of Makar. He fought with the army for a few months and saw true heroes emerge. When Eston intervened in the fight Alden went south to meet up with his half-brother in Minas Ithil.

He brought with him the Viking fighting skills he had learned and put together a group of men that rivaled any other. Well over one-hundred battle hardened men whose power was measured in thousands. They fought with the same ferocity as there Viking leader and had many victories. In the most defining of all those battles Alden and his men stood alone defending Minas Ithil's ally, Falasan, from a Darken taskforce. Alden and his men repelled against the combined might of four other troop leaders.

After the fighting was over and peace settled in Alden said goodbye to his brother and set sail for Old Rancagua. Alden simply went to fight. He never went out of his way to meet anyone. He helped bring about the fall of Rancagua, the fall of Avamar. He became an infiltrator to replace those who had been lost during those battles but he was forced to put down the dagger and take up the sword again. He led his troops to helped reclaim Old Rancagua after it was lost in a rebellion to former Avamar loyalists, and helped bring Oligarch to it’s knees. It was then time to rebuild so he led his men across the countryside rebuilding towns and slaying monsters. When the army was to prepare to move out he didn't have the will to.

It was one thing to see a man killed, it was another to see a man you knew and trusted killing. That’s the problem with leading men into battle, somewhere along the way you meet them. He told his men to go home to their families. There he was sitting upon a cliff holding a letter from his cousin in his hand, unsure of what to do. His family’s home realm was calling to him. He wanted to go home. But going home meant going to war, it meant leading more men to their deaths. Alden then stood, drew his sword, and threw it into the sea. He would not watch anyone else die fighting for him.

He then drew his dagger. Clearly eleven made, it seemed to flow like it was part of his hand. Among the fine etchings there was an eleven inscription that read:

Syri shai jholi shia si mys eisi vololaendraer sai pai shia saes.
Shi shai jholi shia si pandraes eisi pystaer sai pai shia si eizi.

Which in the common tounge meant:
Those who live by the sword are privileged to die by them.
We who live by the dagger are doomed to die by the axe.

Falling to his knees he began to pray to Loki for blessing in the life he was about to take up. Not waiting for an answer he then rose and broke in a run for the city, stopping first at the tax offices for some "funding", and made his way to the docks. He chartered a ship to take him to Nighthelm, Alden was finally going home.