RHYDIAN - STRÝCHNOS - VAL’KOR
Details
Full Name: Rhydian Strýchnos Val’Kor
Race: Hytori
Sex: Male
Age: 29
Height: 5’11”
Weight: 155
Birthdate: 17th of Solace, 94 Steel
Birthplace: Aerion, Sol’Valen
Profession: Knight Enchanter of the Phoenix Guard
Housing: Apartments at Royal Court of Silfanore
Partners: None
Titles: Prince Rhydian of Koiláda ton Spathión, “Strýchnos tou Val’Kor”
Factions: House Val’Kor
Fluencies: Mythrasi, Vallenor
Conversationals: Common
Ineptitudes:
Appearance
Graceful, smooth fair-skinned elven features framed by bright red hair. His frame is slight, his features fair and his voice soft enough to give the appearance of a fragile thing that might be toppled by a strong gust of wind. Those who know him or his reputation tend to strain to hear what quiet utterances to which the prince might give his sweet breath.
Personality
Rhydian’s public reservedness is interpreted differently by different observers. Those who don’t know him often interpret his fragile features as childlike and take his demeanour for bashfulness. Many in Sol’Valen know his knightly reputation and take it for aloofness. Some believe the influence of his Dreamwalking liege-lord has altered him in some way, rendering him ineffable and otherworldly- touched by a memory of Erosya. Those who know him well, are aware that his private persona is something altogether different and a struggle he works diligently to uphold. In his mind, his public persona must project a stalwart, unerring avatar of House Val’Kor. Away from the public eye, he can’t always keep the cracks from showing. It is a delicate balance and a difficult endeavour ensuring he never shatters at an inopportune moment.
History
The first son of Achiröe Val’Kor, Rhydian was born and raised to the age of 14 at the Val’Kor court in Aerion. After a fateful adolescent trip to Silfanore, Rhydian impressed the royal court and was personally selected by The Phoenix King Ailuin to serve as his cupbearer and later squire.
When he was knighted at the age of 20, King Ailuin gave him the choice of returning to join the ranks of his own family’s hosts at Aerion, or to remain at Silfanore to serve in the king’s personal guard. Throughout most of his twenties he was a Knight Enchanter dedicated to protecting his sovereign, and was recently promoted to the role of advisor on the privy council.
The mild-mannered youth was quietly awed by the grandeur of the court of Silfanore and he around whom all of it orbited— the Phoenix King himself: Ailuin Vasiliás. From those early days, the monarch held many roles in Rhydian’s young life, apart from being merely his liege lord. He was a mentor, a confidante, a friend, a disciplinarian and, eventually, a lover. Ailuin said he was a beautiful dangerous thing and took to calling him “Rhydian Strýchnos” (Rhydian Nightshade), a nickname he holds to this day though few know its intimate origins. Although these days of wine and roses were fraught, Rhydian recalls them now with an appropriately rosy tint. His love for his king runs far deeper than mere fealty though, despite of the plaudits and promotions, the princely passions seem to have cooled toward him. He quietly hopes that they will one day reignite, though he suffers largely in silence to all but a very few close confidantes and even they typically need to read between the sharp lines he tends to draw.