Lord Arkan, Victim of Time

Aran Westfeld, born during the height of the Holy Empire Aslynthar, was an energetic farmer boy living in the small town Splitfern. Fascinated by the legends and gods of the elves, Aran was particularly intrigued with the story of Queen Adulion and her legendary quests to try to reunite elfkind. With only a rudimentary education, Aran only believed in these stories (and the elves) as mere myths until, one day, he had a dream of Queen Adulion calling him forth to free her from her shackles. Only a teen with a wild imagination, he was astonished and amazed, but quickly resolved to help her given his selfless and naïve personality. On his journey, slipping out in the night due to his parent's disapproval, Aran began to pick up bits of magic, and upon his arrival at Adulion's supposed prison, he met eight other young men and women who had been called.    Upon working together to apparently free Adulion, she thanked them and promptly trapped them their with her magic, charming and persuading them to stay with her. She bred them for years into powerful mages, instilling in them a fascination with magic and a thirst for new knowledge and power, and at their adulthood presented lichdom as another stepping stone. Aran, now called Arkan, had grown much during this time, and he eagerly accepted it, Adulion hiding its less savory effects. Arkan's form entirely twisted as his mind broke from the transformation, and by the end of her process, Adulion claimed nine liches under her command, with which she planned to shatter Aslynthar and achieve godhood. However, before her plan could be properly enacted, the high priests of Aslynthar and the high elves of Loslirian destroyed her and her liches, only Lord Arkan able to escape their wrath.    For decades he lamented and cursed Adulion, but the Vampire Lord Exrehl of Soulvale imprisoned him when he attempted to overthrow the vampire and locked him in the depths of Soulvale. From there he furthered his plans through the followers he had gained. Eventually, he managed to escape, and while breeding hatred for Lord Exrehl, Arkan fled from the vampire's reach to the Crumbling Pass in the Crystal Mountains, where he was able to lure adventurers to feed his phylactery for several years. Before he could gain enough influence and power to establish himself, however, he was ousted by a group of clerics, monks, and paladins from Asdera and forced to retreat to an abandoned castle at the source of the Delvinstream. There, he plans to resurrect Adulion prematurely and kill her as revenge for her abandonment.

Not receiving any formal education while a farmboy from his parents, nearly all of Arkan's education came from Adulion after his imprisonment (and charming). As such, having been taught by Adulion for most of his young life, his magical knowledge is amazing, coupled with an in-depth understanding of the elven sunderings that Adulion had researched for so much of her life.

Probably his most acute failure lies in his imprisonment by Lord Exhrel in Soulvale; not only was his coup wildly unsuccessful, but the vampire lord stripped him of much of his power by reducing him to a demilich. Ultimately, he was only able to escape due to the efforts of his loyal followers, his own powers being effective but not the immediate cause of his escape.    His other important defeats were the second destruction of Adulion, prior to the imprisonment at Soulvale, and his ousting from the Crystal Range by Asderan holy forces, post-Soulvale. Granted, there wasn't much that Arkan would have been able to accomplish to stop Adulion's second defeat, but it still left a lasting impact on the lich. His defeat in the Crumbling Pass left a much stronger impact, though; being relatively soon after his escape from Soulvale, the lich's pride was delivered a crushing blow, amplified by the perceived weakness of Asdera's holy monks and warriors.