Arnethius

Not much is known about Arnethius before his time as a soldier. He was born in the year 497 in a small Amthali village. Life wasn't easy during this period; most resources went into the god-wars and soldiers of Arkun were constantly on the look-out for youngsters to enlist in their army. There was no choice once chosen, the child would be taken and the parents would be given one gold piece of their trouble. Arnethius was a mage, and therefore the minimal emrollment age of 14 did not apply to him. He was only 7 years old when was taken to Arkalon for military training.

More details of Arnethius's life before the military, can be seen in the article below.

...and so came the fifth involuntary enrollment of fresh soldiers for the never ending war effort in the east. Those capable of magic were, naturally, most desired as they had a far greater effect on the battlefield.   Two times the couple had managed to evade the arkalonian scouts, but there wouldn't be a third. You see, the mother had once been spotted by a spy while going to the market, which they knew meant that they were in fact on the list. It would only be a matter of time before they got caught.   Their son however, barely two years old, was not. To spare him from spending his youth in the military, they trusted him to the mothers sister before turning themselves in. They would never see each other again.   Although only being 15 years old, the sister did a great job keeping the boy safe for the years to come, raising him like one of her own. The boy was healthy, smart, and was said to have had a good heart.   However, also being a mage, the boy had trouble hiding his abilities, and at this time, the enrollments had made the Amthali people very weary of each other, and so the aunt had to keep the boy away from anybody she did not know or trust. As a result, this isolation made him a bit socially awkward towards other other children.   One particular day, the boy was playing by the creek, and got spotted by a group of other children. The children knew him, and due to his awkwardness saw an easy target to pick on. Insults and laughter was what followed. The boy tried to run, but the others wouldn't let him. Fear turned into sorrow, sorrow turned into anger, and anger led to retalliation.   In one quick sway of his right arm, they boy threw a ball of fire towards one of the bullies, grazing the side of his neck. Where normal fire would have caused minor burns, the flame sticked to the bullies neck, burning bright white and growing bigger as if feeding on the flesh. While the young mage ran away, the group of bullies tried to douse the fire with the water of the creek. Nothing seemed to work, and the victim died a few moments later. At 7 years old, the boy had commited his first murder. Nobody back then would have known this accident would lead to the murder of tens of thousands more.   With the village now turning on her and her nephew, the aunt now had nowhere to go. Even if she managed to flee with him, she now realized the boy was dangerous and needed guidance with his potent magic. Not after long, the soldiers came, and she had no other choice than to turn the boy in.   Abandonned by his parents, and betrayed by his aunt, the boy which was already socially challenged now had nobody to trust anymore. Him turning into the monster that he did become, was predictable, if not logical.  

_{~From the book "God of fire"
~By Delian Ses, Archive inspector}

Death of Kartan, the navigator