Aikar Rynlyy

Aikar Rynlyy is a keitan warrior of low nobility origin. Being the 13th son of a Lyoru in the barony of Hasule in the County of Useri, Anoshphey, Aikar was not expected to have any inheritance from his noble parents. As such, he had a simple upbringing and faced scarcity in comparison to his older brothers. However, Aikar would focus his efforts in learning the way of the bow and the arikari, becoming a knight-errant in Useri and Eirini, earning his livelihood fighting bandits or dealing with squatters in the northern Anoshphey and later working as a guard for a Escharian noble, which led to his participation in the start of the Escharian Rebellion. His work and spoils would lead to him owning a house in Erissardé, in the County of Eirini. Aikar is also a skilled survivalist and is able to live off the lands by himself, rarely needing the comfort of towns.

Barely Nobility
Aikar was the youngest son of a big family, and was often neglected in comparison to his older brothers, who had inheritances and wealth awaiting their maturity. The Rynlyy family, historically known for having origins in the daughter the hero Ryn had with the Nuown family who guarded the First Flame, and with that fame, came wealth and nobility to their descendants. Their branch of the family, however, was not the main one that still resides in Hiroka'Lani, and as such, that wealth had been dilluted to the point where the Rynlyys of Hasule had to carefully plan out their crops and harvests. While the older kids would be taught etiquette and the necessary stewardship and diplomacy skills necessary to be a succesful noble, Aikar would be neglected and would spend his time in the streets, playing with the peasant kids and stealing bread from the peasants in order to have enough for a full day's meal. During his upbringing, he was many times reminded of his nobility and that his actions were not appropriate for his position, but nobody ever explained to him how this fancy blood was supposed to change the fact that he lived in scarcity. His wrongdoings as a child would lead him to receive the epithet of "The Dim", as a mockery about how he didn't have the noble traits of the other Rynlyy (Lost Light in Caeda) and associated more with peasants than nobility.

Scars of Scarcity
Aikar was not liked by the peasants of the central villages because of his actions. That led to many confrontations where Aikar would end up beaten up by the traders from whom he would have tried to steal from. Being just a kid and of noble blood, however, no legal consequences would have fallen upon him, and eventually he'd grow up with a group of delinquents. These delinquents lived different central villages and would use times of turmoil or infighting to steal from the peasants and, when they were lucky to find badly defended carriages, even nobles. During his early teenage years, he would learn how to fight dirty and would even kill his first man, an elder guard who was protecting a lower noble from the delinquents. After that day, his friends started referring to him as Dimmy, and that became his street name. One day, however, his family and the villagers of Hasule would have had enough of his wrongdoings and Aikar was exhiled from his village, sent off to the woods at the age of 12, abandoned even by his band of friends, who feared being executed by the nobles as well.

From the Woods to Knighthood
Having no person to steal from and no house to return to, Aikar had to venture through the Woods of Useri, going days without eating. As time went on and the hunger motivated him, Aikar learned how to hunt birds by throwing stones and, eventually, made a primitive slingshot. With it, Aikar would be able to survive off bird meat and occasional berries and edible roots found throughout the forest. And so he survived for one whole year, until a veteran Caedan knight found him all dirty and weak, fighting a fever he had gotten from drinking the swamp waters.

The veteran, named Kharnal, cared for Aikar until he was of good health, sharing with him his bread and hunts. They would develop a father-son relationship, and not long after, the soldier was training Aikar with the arikari and longbow. Surprisingly, the teen's aim was sharp, and after reaching 16 years old, he would be knighted by his adoptive father. Without a landed noble to whom swear fealty and work for, Aikar would pack up his belongings and would part ways with his father in the search for his own success as a knight-errant in the North of Anoshphey.

Warmth in the North
The cold mountains of the North were harsh on Aikar, and he would lose his left ear to frostbite while travelling through them during the winter. His quest there was not for nothing, however. He had heard that the northern baronies were in need of help removing a large wave of squatter that had settled in the farmlands. After talking with the Barons and understanding the situation, he would use his foreign look to join the settlement of Aslama and spy on them from the inside. He quickly learned that the group was not well organised, and had a big problem with communication, so he started intercepting letters and changing the messages that were sent. Soon, a large unsatisfied group of peasants would march towards the house of their self-entitled king and dethrone him. Without a head to command the mob, Aikar would take control of the village and, during the night, he'd infiltrate the knights of the north and confiscate all their belongings and kick them out of the Baron's lands.

While this job wouldn't have earned him much wealth, he had gotten enough from the peasants and from the grateful barons to live reasonably well for a few months. From the Count of Eirini, Siyoi Orne'Valerin, he had received a humble house in Erissardé, a warm and humid hilly region, of great contrast with the frigid temperatures around it. Soon he would call his adoptive father, Kharnal, to share it with him and move out of the cabin in which they lived in for 3 years. With his family together and with a place to live, he would go on working on the neighbouring regions.

Needed in Nieden
Aikar's adulthood would flourish while he travelled across the vast Nieden continent. Much more experienced than before, living off the land was now as easy for Aikar as it had been to live in the city. He was now able to hunt when he was hungry, and easily fall the prey with his Caedan longbow. He would use this to sell pelts and leftover food he would gather in the villages scattered around the western Nieden region. This simple trade and his offer of work to the local nobles would lead him to meeting the Akesor Amir Arrevoii. Amir was in need of an extra knight to work on protecting him and other necessary knightly jobs. Seeing Aikar's skill with the bow and his expertise with the use of the foreign arikari, Aikar seemed fit for the job.

Bel, The Rebel
For 6 months Aikar would work for the Akesor, until the day of the First Aksemesai Trial. On that day, his job with Amir would be different than the usual routine. At first, they would escort him to Lostesrei where the trial was being held. However, as the Dazoqan quickly showed signs of delusion and started to exert their power tyrannically, the plans changed. Amir had no plans on allowing the royal family member to die, and Aikar, seeing the opportunity to earn a generous extra payment, and with all the financial trouble that he had experienced throughout his life, was unable to refuse the offer given by Amir for the actions they would do on the following hours. On the rooftops of Lostesrei, Amir, Aikar and the other knights would wait until Auria Aesperii was on the chopping block, waiting to be beheaded. Then, they jumped down, freed her and hacked their way through the guards to find the exit. They ran, at the start, through the mainroad, eventually going through dirt paths and groves to avoid being found by the Crown's soldiers, until they finally reached Karannatia.

With the start of the Escharian Noble rebellion and the rallying of the Escharian Crown army, the stakes of working there had become much higher, and with the Duchy of Anoshphey calling all of their soldiers and knights back home to protect their borders from the chaos that would ensue, Aikar had to return. After all, his father and his home was now in the border of both states, and he was still an Anoshphite through and through. Seeing as the Crown army was in the way to his home, Aikar paid two peasant fishermen to sail him across the Neriele Lake back to Eirini, where he would return to Erissardé and prepare for rallying in Thera with the remaining knights across the County.

Promotion amidst Commotion
The rallying in Thera worked out well, besides in one area: there was no leadership to organize the knights. With the northern knights, man at arms and militia rallied in one city, and the leadership still in the process of moving to the north, the lack of organization was starting to hurt the army. Seeing the need to solve the issue before her arrival, the Duchess Ahrín sent a letter to the Count of Eirini, Siyoi Orne'Valerin, and gave him permission to choose a knight. While there were other older and more experienced knights overall, Siyoi chose Aikar, for the reason that Aikar had knowledge of the terrain in the Escharian lands.

Having travelled and worked in Escharia, Aikar was as at ease in the forests and mountains of the Niedene's homeland as he was in his own, and his survivalist skills would be useful for scouting the region for any armies that might be going in the direction of Eirini. Another reason might have been that, in case of a battle, Aikar was definitely more expendable than the older knights who also held more important titles, like barons, viscounts and counts. He was only a knight, and a knight-errant, so if he was to die in battle, while it would have been a sad occurrence given the circumstances, there wouldn't be any hierarchical changes necessary in Anoshphey besides appointing a new captain. Even though Aikar knew of this situation, he accepted the promotion, for it gave him a chance to prove himself, and maybe even allow him to raise more in the ranks in case of success.