Halia'et

Halia’et is a lone executioner and assassin of Clan Shigu under General Rain Silves' direct control.

The Arkes tribe lived in the north-western mountains. The clan was relatively popular among nearby tribes, including Clan Shigu, for their purified ore and weaponsmiths. Clan Shigu, envious of their resources and skill, eventually moved to assimilate the Arkas Tribe, and when the tribe adamantly refused, they were crushed under the might of the Shigu military, leaving Halia’et as the only survivor. Afterwards, Halia’et was recruited by Rain to fight for Clan Shigu, where he gained a reputation of being a cold and merciless killer and assassin.

The Physique
Halia’et is known for several features in his outward appearance. Years of malnutrition in his youth has made him a small and lanky sergal. With a size of 1.62m and weight of 60kg, Halia’et's build more resembles that of a southern sergal than a northern. Halia’et isn’t very strong, but he is fast and has very good stamina.

His eyes and eye patch
Perhaps the most important feature is Halia’et’s eye and his eye patch. While his left eye has a normal grey undertone with some blue-green hue in it, his right eye shows the same golden colour Rain’s eyes have. Normally Halia’et wears the eye patch to hide this eye in order to be seen as a normal northern sergal.

His Collar and Adornments
Halia’et wears a metal collar, not meant to protect his neck but to show his loyalty to General Rain by having “Shigu” being engraved into it. The collar is inscribed with a message, “Don’t worry about the past, this head belongs to Shigu, now!”

Normally Halia’et is also wearing some ear rings, bangles and bandages. These are simply for deception, to avoid suspicion of being an assassin. Often, smaller weapons are hidden under his bandages.

Coloration
Halia’et’s fur is typical for his race. His underside is coloured white while his topside is coloured in a light grey. His head pattern shows some remarkable features like the “jagged” pattern on his muzzle and around his eye or the lighter “ear lobes.”

His Weapon
Halia’et is known for his strange weapon, which appears to be a mix of a scythe and a halberd. His particular weapon is a family heirloom of the Arkas Tribe, given to him by General Rain as a sign of inferiority and as a perpetual warning to her enemies. Though the weapon is impractical for an assassin, it is effective for performing executions and inspiring fear in his enemies. The weapon is difficult to use but efficient when mastered.

His Psyche
Halia’et is nearly always in a calm and tired mood. His eyes rarely show aggression or anger but sadness and apathy. Halia’et blames himself for his family’s death and the murder of so many innocents, and it's said he escaped into a corner of his own mind in order to make him cope with serving his new master. While this sounds a bit selfless he “uses” the General as a hold point of life. By far, Halia’et’s greatest problem is his believing in his guilt and in an unchangeable future/destiny, which, along with his poor social skills owing to years of exile, is one reason why he avoids contact with any sergals except the General. Like most sergals, he is illiterate.

History
Ever since he was born, a shadow has been over Halia’et’s life. When everyone of his original family found out about his right and golden eye they saw in Halia’et a cursed one (like in every sergal society). Halia’et had to learn to live an isolated life because other children were told not to play with him and even his family held a noticeable distance from him.

In this time many accidents happened that finally cumulated in a disaster that led to poor Halia’et’s exile. A long and arid period followed by a thunderstorm caused a catastrophe where masses of water and mud washed down from the mountains. Little Halia’et found himself in life-threatening danger when a large mudslide ripped apart part of the clans temporary village. Halia’et’s father bravely managed to rescue him but was hit by a falling boulder and killed. Rumors went through the crowd of survivors, while Halia’et cried by his dead father’s side. Fearing the mudslide was the work of the curse, and with his father dead, the terrified clan members superstitiously decided to kill Halia'et. One older female clan mate pulled out a dagger while the other made a narrow circle around kneeling Halia’et and his dead father. Another sergal grabbed Halia’et and pushed him down to the muddy ground. He saw the sharp edge coming closer until he got panicked and struggled himself free in the only direction he could move – daggers direction. This was the moment where he got his scar. He ran to the edge of the mudslide and turned around in fear, seeing his clanmates pursuing him. Surrounded on all sides, he had nowhere to run when the ground under his feet collapsed. With nobody to rescue him, he fell into the mudslide and was swept away. The Arkes took this as a divine sign that the curse was no longer upon them.

Halia’et was age four when this happened and he managed to survive. After he returned to consciousness he was on his own. He couldn’t ever return to his tribe, so he began a a new life as “ghost of the Arkes”. He hid from his own family but never lost complete contact from them. Halia’et survived four hard years in the mountainous desert until he found many tracks leading to his clan. Shocked, Halia’et ran to warn the Arkes-clan, but he came too late. An enemy force had already attacked his clan. Although many of the enemies and the Arkes were killed and lied motionless, he did not hesitate and picked up a bloody, recently used spear. Then Halia’et began to fight for his own family. It was futile. More and more of the Arkes fell. Beneath burning shelters Halia’et, injured in many places, stands ready for his final opponents. A loud and strong voice broke through the tense silence, and none other than General Rain appeared. The last of the Arkes should be her opponent, her victim, she said. She charged at him and with his last ounce of strength Halia’et lifted his spear, but after one swift move from the general and Halia’et was disarmed and on his knees. General Rain Silves raised her sword to decapitate him but at the very last moment before she swung, she noticed Halia’et’s one golden eye and turned her dangerous blade to the side, knocking him unconscious with the flat part of the blade rather than the edge. Halia’et awakened a few days later in a large, dark building, as he was roughly grabbed and pulled to his feet before being led into a large hall with a throne in its centre. General Rain Silves was sitting there and Halia’et’s life as a member of Clan Shigu began…

Name
Halia’et Arkes is pronounced [ha|li|æt ɐr|kɛs].

Halia’et means “the fading haze” and is implying something negative.

Arkes is a developed form of Arkues, which is pronounced [ɐr|qʊɛʃə], and means “from green river”. It’s a river in the north-western mountains which get his special colour from tobernite and represents a holy object for the Arkes.

Trivia
The song that could be considered Halia’et’s theme song is “Nothing and everything” from RED.