KARRHEI VAL’MERAOMEL
Details
Full Name: Karrhei Val'Méraomel
Race: Hytori
Sex: Male
Age: 28
Height: 6’1”
Weight: 180
Birthdate: 13th of Sun’s Zenith, 95 Steel
Birthplace: Aerion, Sol’Valen
Profession: Priest of Suion, Sculptor
Housing: Temple of Suion Melaenis in Silfanore, a room in the rectory and use of common spaces.
Partners: None
Titles: Eros of Suion
Factions: The Court of Erotes
Fluencies: Mythrasi, Vallenor
Conversationals: Common
Ineptitudes: None
Appearance
Karrhei is a beautiful elven man with skin that has been gently kissed by the sun, and long platinum hair that reaches the center of his back. When dressed in his formal priestly robes his figure appears more delicate, but he possesses a more defined musculature than is noticeable at first glance. However, his warm golden-honey eyes are often considered his most notable feature.
Personality
There is a dance to his movements and song to his words that radiate a warmth many reserve only for those they keep close. These traits would seem almost out of place in the decorum of noble society, if he were not a priest of Suion. Karrhei’s sunny disposition is sometimes tempered by the gravity of a situation or setting, but he is generally described as having a warm personality and kind nature. He is an artist at heart and in addition to his duties, he honors Suion with his talent for sculpture.
History
Karrhei’s entire childhood was dictated by his mother Artethe. He was the fourth of her five children and always a bit different from the others. He was always finding ways to create things. He would sit for hours and draw elaborate stories he had imagined. Eventually he began to craft small toys to perform these stories. He was barely seven when he began carving more actualized figures out of wooden blocks and Artethe recognized how his eyes lit up with a passion as he worked; he wanted to do more.
She arranged for Karrhei to be mentored by a cousin of hers, and so Karrhei was sent off to the Val’Kor court. He had grown up in a noble house in Aerion, his family hosted members of the Val’Kor court often, but it was vastly different to the court itself. It was there that he met Prince Rhydian Val’Kor, and the trajectory of his life would change.
His tutors were not as patient and accepting as Karrhei’s mother had been. They were technical in a way that took Karrhei longer to grasp, cold and exact. He was often compared to Prince Rhydian as the two were not far in age. While his instructors intended for these comparisons to make him try harder, instead Karrhei could not help but admire and compliment his prince at every turn. Instead of kindling rivalry between the boys, the two became close friends. Rhydian was Karrhei’s first friend.
His mentor hated to admit that this friendship inspired Karrhei to commit to his studies more than any previously tried methods. He wanted to keep up with the older boy, he wanted to create things to share with him. Karrhei was vibrant, perhaps still a bit unruly, but he was teachable and no longer the bane of his tutors.
When Karrhei was almost thirteen his mother decided that he could visit the royal court in Silfanore, alongside Prince Rhydian. It was supposed to be a fun trip, but the only thing he remembered from it was being torn away from his best friend. The news that Rhydian was to remain in Silfanore devastated him. When he returned, Aerion no longer felt like home. He didn’t want to remain at the Val’Kor court and his mentor was becoming increasingly frustrated with his despondent pupil.
It was Artethe’s decision to bring Karrhei to the main temple of Suion in Aerion, shortly after his thirteenth birthday. He had just received his rune of Semblance from her and gotten through what had been a fairly rough threshold sickness for it. Perhaps it had not been the best decision to put her depressed son through initiation, even of a relatively safe rune. From what Artethe could tell Karrhei's hallucinations were mainly of Rhydian and strange imagery that made it necessary to keep Karrhei restrained so he would not accidentally hurt himself. The delusions made it clear that Karrhei would do anything to be at Rhydian's side again. As soon as his faculties returned she brought him to the temple.
His mother told him plainly that ignoring his studies would earn him at best the life of a talented artist and he would be lucky to find himself in Prince Rhydian’s sphere ever again. She knew her son was not a fighter, but there were avenues he could study that would allow him to one day join his friend in the Royal Court of Silfanore. The path she steered him down was one of devotion and duty to Suion, one that others in their family had walked before. The promise of being able to one day be able to join Rhydian in Silfanore was all the motivation he needed. He had come out of his threshold sickness, not remembering the specifics of what he had experienced, but with a certainty that his feelings for Rhydian were a love gifted to him by Suion. If the Goddess could bestow him such a perfect first love, then the least he could do in return was devote himself to her service. And if he did that, he would be able to see Rhydian again.
The temple picked up where his education with his tutors left off but with more of a focus on philosophy than he had received prior. Another notable difference was this time he was learning beside other students of various backgrounds. Karrhei had spent his life around other nobles and even royalty, and now found himself in the company of the lower classes; even orphans with no family name behind them. They were all equal in Suion's service and in her loving arms. His early days were very humbling but he was grateful for it. Some of his peers decided not to join the Court Erotes after their education, or perhaps the elders decided they were not suited to begin training to be an Eros of Suion, but after about two years in the temple Karrhei began his own training.
There was a shift in his studies and duties. Sexual health education was expanded upon to include how to help (or at least not cause further harm to) those who had been previously abused. Such actions were an affront to Suion and one of the services the Court of Erotes provided was counseling and therapy for victims of these crimes. He was of course trained in the more widely recognized services; providing companionship, performing rites of the temple, acting as vessels of Suion's love, inspiring passions, but helping to heal others was a path he found most fulfilling.
By the time he was nineteen Karrhei began working as a military chaplain in Aerion. It was one of the positions the temple steered many of the younger members of the church towards. It was no surprise as Aerion's military was not only their pride, but the might of Sol'Valen. It was also an avenue for clerics to serve their kingdom, and Karrhei was happy to do his part. Ultimately it was this position that had him return to the capital for the first time in almost eight years.
While visiting the capital with an elder chaplain and a few other military personnel, he met his mentor, the master of the Temple of Suion Melaenis in Silfanore, Pater Themis. A transfer was arranged and Karrhei was allowed to finish his appointment as a military chaplain in Silfanore while studying psychology and sex therapy under Pater Themis. It was also during this time that he began counseling Rhydian Val'Kor as a military chaplain.
Being reunited with his first love and best friend made Karrhei very happy, and while it became apparent to some of the others in the temple that the situation was perhaps not the healthiest, no one interfered. Even after Karrhei stopped serving as a military chaplain and began to see clients and worshippers privately, Rhydian was still foremost among them. Everything he had done was to end up here and be at Rhydian's side.
Almost everything. His sculpting was for Suion and himself, and his devotion to his other clients was in service of Suion. It was in the interest of better pursuing that service that he asked Pater Themis to initiate him with the rune of Mesmer. Suion had guided him back to the love she gave him and in return Karrhei took his duties and oaths seriously. Helping those who were suffering from trauma was the best way he could do that, and Mesmer would aid him in doing so. As part of his oaths to Suion he would only be able to use his Mesmer with the express consent of any parties involved, and so Pater Themis agreed and after initiation began training him to use the rune responsibly.
Now most of Karrhei's days are spent seeing to his clients, Rhydian still being paramount among them, or at the temple, usually sculpting something in the courtyard where his make shift workshop was set up. Occasionally he would be commissioned for pieces, the majority of the fees being donated to the temple, but even when he didn't have a commission he could usually be found working on something during his free time. Even if it was another sculpture of Rhydian.