ARDYN IZUNIA.
i'm a man of no consequence
i'm a man of no consequence
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NAME: ARDYN IZUNIA (NÉE LUCIS CAELUM)
ALIAS: N/A
AGE: 2000+
PRONOUNS: HE, IT
DOB: N/A
OCCUPATION: CHANCELLOR OF NIFLHEIM (PRESENT), HEALER (FORMER)
SPECIES: STARSCOURGE INCARNATE (PRESENT) HUMAN (FORMERLY)
HEIGHT: 7'2'' / 218CM
EYES: YELLOW
HAIR: RED (SHADE VARIES)
OTHER: HAS STUBBLE
FACECLAIM: N/A
Born Ardyn Lucis Caelum, the older brother to Somnus Lucis Caelum, Ardyn and his brother were both candidates to become the first Chosen King of Lucis. As a scourge ravaged the world of Eos, and every healer across the lands failed to aid the sick, Ardyn alone found himself bestowed upon the ability to heal the people of the scourge, by taking it from them into his own body. Once the crystal chose it’s two candidates to be king, Ardyn and his brother started showing great differences in how they wished to save the world. Ardyn, seeking to heal the people of their illness, believed that any life saved was worth it, whereas his brother, Somnus, who had not the ability to heal, believed his brother’s attempts futile, as Ardyn was one man alone, and for any person that Ardyn healed, several more would become sick elsewhere. And so, Somnus believed that those sick with the scourge was a lost cause; being no more than daemons that needed to be dealt with, and swiftly. And so, he set out to capture and burn anyone ill with the scourge.
Furthermore, knowing that the majority of the people favored Ardyn over him as their king, Somnus plotted out to have his brother killed, and sent his own men after Ardyn to carry out the deed, thus forcing Ardyn on the run. Ardyn, hiding from his brothers, not to save his own life, but because his life could save others’, continued to travel from town to town to heal as many as he could, though the more people he healed, the more pain he would find himself in, as the scourge began to taint his body.
Somus, fearing that the crystal would choose his brother to become the Chosen King, then started plotting out a way to take the throne regardless of the crystal’s decision. Seeking out the oracle, Aera, (Ardyn’s fiancee), Somnus made Aera tell him who the crystal had chosen. It was ardyn. And so, he sent out men to tell Ardyn he had been chosen. However, as Ardyn returned home, Somnus quickly interrupted and put on a display, falsely claiming in front of everyone that the crystal had chosen Somnus. Knowing Aera would interfere, as she alone was the other person who knew the truth, Somnus raised arms at his brother, and as predicted, Aera leapt in between the attack to save the Chosen King, leaving Somnus killing Aera in front of Ardyn, a single word escaping her; ‘why?’
Ardyn, reaching out to the crystal, unable to believe that the crystal could favor someone like Somnus, who would massacre innocent lives to “save” everyone else, pleaded for the crystal to reveal the truth, only to be thrust back once his hand neared the crystal. Rejected, as his body had become “too tainted” by the scourge. That was the last Ardyn remembered, before waking up, imprisoned, alone, in darkness. His brother having taken the throne for himself, and erased Ardyn’s name from history while Ardyn rotted away in Angelgard’s prison.
For two millenia, Ardyn remained there, alone with naught but hallucinations, sleep, dreams and nightmares to keep him company, and the scourge, twisting his mind and making a burning hatred fester in his heart, towards his brother, towards the crystal, and even towards the very people he had once sworn to protect. Until two millenia after his imprisonment, at last, a man named Verstael, who was obsessed with researching daemons and the scourge, found him, and released him from his chains. As someone attempted to stop Verstael from releasing Ardyn, Ardyn learned during the fight that ensued that he now could daemonify people rather than heal them, and in turn, gain their memories. Escaping from Angelgard with Verstael’s help, Ardyn allowed Verstael to research him for some time.
Until one day, Verstael revealed they had managed to capture one of the Astrals, and convinced Ardyn to attempt to daemonify the Infernian, suggesting that gaining the knowledge he possessed might be interesting, as well as it would prove beneficial to have an Astral fighting for him if he were to gain revenge on the line of Lucis. And so, Ardyn daemonified the Astral; gaining Ifrit’s memories, and also gaining control over the deity. Together with Verstael, Ardyn sought further alliance with Iedolas Aldercapt, the emperor of Niflheim, who had recently lost his beloved wife, and they offered Iedolas the promise of a way to gain immortality if he in return funded their research and manufacturing of weapons.
At last, Ardyn traveled to Insomnia and attempted to kill King Regis. Ending up fighting his brother, Somnus, at long last, who was long since dead but become a protector of the current King, Ardyn felt no more satisfied after his victory, and returned to the passed out Regis to kill him, only to be stopped by Bahamut, the draconian Astral. Bahamut then revealed to Ardyn that his true calling was to bring darkness upon the world, only to be killed at the hands of Noctis, the Chosen King of Light, who in turn, would die as well. Realizing that he had been chosen to be nothing but a sacrificial lamb and naught but a chess piece in the Astrals’ games, Ardyn refused to accept his destiny, and decided he would destroy the crystal, the Astrals, the line of Lucis and cast the whole world into eternal darkness.
MAGIC: Ardyn has been shown to have a few various magical abilities aside from the regular “fire” “ice” “lightning”. Among other abilities, he’s been shown being able to stop time, shapeshift, use magic to cast illusions, switch shape and places with someone, use some kind of “dark” magic that to the eye appears very similar to the scourge’s purple-black cloud/mist. More on his magic tba as I'm sure I've missed some things.
DAEMONIC POWERS: Ardyn has the ability to inflict the scourge upon people and turn them into daemons. Once they’re turned into daemons, he also has the ability to control them. However, if he daemonifies a stronger being such as a deity (e.g. Like how he daemonified Ifrit), they have some sense of control left over themselves, but not much.
MEMORY ABSORPTION: Connected to his daemonification ability, Ardyn will also absorb the person’s memories once he’s daemonified them.
SHADOWSTEP: Ardyn can turn into a shadow-like form and quickly move around as a purple-blackish cloud like form.
IMMORTALITY: Due to being the scourge’s host, Ardyn is immortal and cannot die. No matter how grave the injury, the scourge will make his wounds heal and his body be restored to it’s physical peak in a short manner of time.
ROYAL ARMS: Also known as the Glaive of Kings, are special weapons that only those of the royal bloodline can brandish. They are the weapons of the previous monarchs of Lucis. There have been 113 kings, but there are only thirteen known royal arms that have survived till present day. The power of kings is to wield all of their collected royal arms simultaneously, an ability known as Armiger. Ardyn, who was supposed to be the first Chosen King, has access to these weapons, and is the reason behind why most of the royal arms are lost, as he has ensured that only he has access to them all, meaning he possesses all 113 royal arms.
Long before most of the nine worlds we know today had come into existence, Asgard was one of the first worlds created, sprung to life from the tree Yggdrasil, back in a time when Yggdrasil was still sentient and had a will of its own. The people that inhabited this world came to be known as the æsir, and would later come to be known as gods, for their might and strength, their long life spans, their wisdom and powers. However, during this time so long ago, the æsir themselves viewed Yggdrasil as their god, and would seek the tree’s wisdom and guidance. And with the tree’s help, life flourished in Asgard. People created homes for themselves, used lands to farm, hunted in the woods for food. As their populace grew, a city was made.
It was around this time that an illness was discovered in the world of the gods. Animals known to be peaceful would suddenly be found acting aggressive and wild, and a purple-black liquid would start to form on their bodies, slowly transforming them into beasts. The concern would only grow as the illness spread from the animals in the wilderness to the people themselves; friends and family afflicted by this malady would be found in terrible pain and rapidly losing their minds as the sickness took over, turning them into beasts of darkness that sucked away the light in their path.
It was then that Yggdrasil called upon the people of Asgard through one of the seers that was able to understand and converse with Yggdrasil, a seer named Aera (Ardyn’s fiancee,) proclaiming that a king would soon be chosen to lead them. A king that would deal with this malady that was infecting not only the living beings in Asgard, but that had taken root in the tree of life itself, threatening to spread until all light would be extinguished across the worlds.
Two were chosen as candidates; Ardyn, and his brother, Somnus. Having grown up side by side, close as they could get, the two brothers had been inseparable. However, as the responsibility was placed upon them that soon, one would become king, and help their people rid off the scourge ravaging their lands, differences started to show between the brothers.
Ardyn, discovering that he had been bestowed upon the ability to heal the people from the illness, decided to use his powers to start healing however many he could possibly manage all by himself from the scourge, taking the illness out of their bodies and into his own. In Ardyn’s eyes, the people were simply sick, not monsters, as evident by how they returned to their former self once he had healed them. And every life saved was worth the effort.
His brother, Somnus, however, saw Ardyn’s attempts to save the people a futile attempt. With Ardyn being the only one with the means to heal them, Somnus believed that for each life Ardyn saved, several more would become infected elsewhere. And so, Somnus saw the only means to deal with this scourge was to capture all those infected by the scourge, or even those just assumed to be infected, and burn them all. He viewed them as naught but monsters to be dealt with.
Ardyn and Somnus would argue over this often while they waited for Yggdrasil’s decision. Meanwhile, the people started to show their support for Ardyn, believing him to be their true leader, and Ardyn, while not yet chosen by Yggdrasil, was already chosen as a king in most people’s eyes. Somnus, fearing that the people were blinded by Ardyn’s foolish hopes and “faulty” rule, then decided to send out his own men that supported him after Ardyn in attempts to have his brother killed, thus leaving Somnus the only option left for the throne, having convinced himself that his way was the only way to save everyone.
Ardyn was forced on the run. Not to save his own life, as he cared little for it, but because he alone could heal the people from this scourge. For nearly a year, he was in hiding from his brother’s men, travelling from village to village, continuing to heal people who needed it, gaining help and support to hide from his brother’s army, and occasionally meeting with his beloved Aera, who was still awaiting Yggdrasil’s decision.
Somnus, becoming frustrated with his brother still on the run and the people still seeing Ardyn as their true king, started to then plot out a way to take the throne, regardless of Yggdrasil’s decision. After the decision had been made, Somnus sought her out immediately, and manipulated her into trusting him with Yggdrasil’s decision. Aera, informing Somnus that the tree of life had chosen Ardyn to be king, Somnus then told his men to send the message to his brother that he had been chosen in an attempt to get him out of hiding.
And Somnus’s plan worked. Ardyn came back to the city, and as the people cheered for him, Somnus immediately halted them, before saying that Ardyn had stooped to a new low, having cowered in the shadows, only to stride back as if he was a hero, asking Ardyn if he truly desired the throne so desperately, only to inform Ardyn that the tree of life had chosen Somnus as the king.
Seeing Aera pull herself out of the guards’ grip, Somnus then summoned his weapons and struck at his brother, knowing fully well that Aera, knowing the truth, would jump in between to save the true chosen king’s life. The blade went straight through her. Right in front of Ardyn’s eyes, his beloved’s life faded, a simple word whispered to Somnus; why? Shocked, all Ardyn could feel was cold, dark, pain. In a desperate, last attempt, he reached out towards one of Yggdrasil’s roots there by the throne made for the chosen king, pleading for help. Surely, Yggdrasil would not stand for this injustice? But as his hand neared the root, he was flung back, and the last thing he heard before it all went black was his brother’s voice mocking him, saying that Ardyn truly had become a monster.
The next thing Ardyn remembered was being chained up somewhere in total darkness, cold and alone. Unable to move even as much as a finger. Chains and weapons piercing through his body, pinning him in place. And yet, he would not die. Had he really become the monster his brother claimed he was? Decades, centuries, millenia... It was impossible to tell how long he had spent there, imprisoned, alone with naught but his thoughts and the scourge within him, tainting his mind further with each passing day; hatred festering within his heart, towards his brother, towards the æsir, towards Yggdrasil itself. Sleep, hallucinations and darkness, and a longing for someone to come to end his suffering was all Ardyn knew for the longest time.
And finally, it seemed as his pleas were heard when at last, a man and his warriors came to break his chains and release him from his eternal prison. Though as they were leaving, the æsir appeared, attempting to force Ardyn back to his prison. A fight ensued, and when Ardyn finally managed to will his body to fight, he ended up infecting one of the æsir with the scourge in his body, in turn consuming the æsir’s memories of the present day, which was so far away from his own time. Shocked by his own hands that had once healed people of this illness, now capable of forcing the scourge upon them, Ardyn fainted, and was rescued by the man who had saved him who had stood back to watch the fight from afar.
Having learned that his brother had passed the throne on to his son, and his son again passing the throne to his children and them to their children for generations until now, when Odin seats the throne and is the protector of the nine worlds, Ardyn is now seeking out revenge against his family’s bloodline (Odin, Thor, etc,) the æsir, and against Yggdrasil for allowing his brother to take the throne so many ages ago. After Ardyn’s release, a prophecy was made known, first to Odin, then spread across the realms, of Ragnarok, a coming time when the sun would be extinguished and the æsir would meet their end. The prophecy would not mention how or when this would come to pass, and none would know that the cause would be Ardyn, a long forgotten to-be-king.
VERSE.
VERSE.
VERSE.
TOMMY. 1994. HE / THEY. NORWAY.