Prince Ankari of Stilmyst

Enkast is the elven word for the world. Ankari was born at a time of strife, but that is not extraordinary. The many empires of the world have been at war for untold centuries, constantly vying for power, control, and resources. These lands breed many varieties of men and beast. The line between can be a blurry one, such as creatures like the worg being wolfmen of great stature and ferocity. The worg of Theros and the elves of Stilmyst have been tearing one another apart for generations.

Ankari's kingly father, Renart, was always a cruel man and warmonger. Renart cared little for his own people beyond how they could enrich his reign. His queen was not much better; Sylest had ambitions of grandeur, wishing to go down in history as the finest and fairest of all Stilmyst's queens. Both were undercut by failure and tragedy. Renart was never a keen strategist and lacked concern for his troop movements, lashing out recklessly and losing battle after battle. Soon enough, the country would be in a vulnerable state, prone to invasion due to his failing leadership. The worg of Theros loomed and snapped at the heels of Stilmyst, seizing on the weakness wherever they could.

Stilmyst elves can live seven or more centuries if they remain in good health. It is expected of a queen to bear as many heirs to her line as is possible throughout her life, to create a long royal line of succession. On her fourth child, she gave birth prematurely to Ankari. The difficulty she had with him nearly took both of their lives, but child and mother narrowly survived, if in rough states. Her royal duty ended there and her womb was unable to ever carry child again. Four heirs was a pitiful number. Resentful towards her own youngest, she suggested he be sacrificed to the elder god of destruction, Nadir, who had blessed their first born son with great gifts of might. That eldest son was tasked with killing Ankari, while Caldera was still only a child himself. However, it was discovered he could not do it even if he wished. The sickly baby was blessed by the counterpart god, Hyveska, who is the goddess of creation. The otherwise destructive and deceitful crown prince would loyally protect his new younger brother at any cost.

So, it was decided that Ankari would live. He was given full-time care by healers and nursemaids in the castle, who feared he could slip away at any moment. The queen wanted nothing to do with her last child, blaming the infant for her infertility. Ankari would grow up knowing this and internalizing this as his own fault, fearing the hurt he could do to others unintentionally. He came to fear many things, in due time.

Due to illness and the disdain of his parents, Ankari was barred from ever leaving the walled city of Stilmyst's capitol. He would spend most of his life confined to the castle. Only once was he ever taken to walk in the forests just outside the city limits, only ever seeing the fields and shores at a distance. The library and stories from visitors were his way to visit the outside world and only in his mind. To say he lived a sheltered life would be an understatement. His parents forbade him from many things, including sexual or romantic relationships.

With his rare blessing, born once a century at most, Ankari was considered a valuable asset to offer as a marriage partner. It was decreed that he would remain chaste until he could be arranged to a proper match, one of which would be politically beneficial to his father or the country. Ankari's thoughts or desires didn't matter; if he dared to step out of line, he could always be further isolated. That, or any lover he might grow attached to could end up killed because of him. Any daring enough to try to get close to him were quickly cut off; though, that was much fewer than those who were simply afraid of being near him.

So, Ankari grew as a distant yet obedient prince. He spent much time trying to make use of himself and not burden those around him. Due to his chronic health troubles, this was not always possible. Many of those in the castle were kind to him, aiding him purely from kindness and generosity, rather than sheer obligation. That was always difficult for Ankari to accept, not seeing himself as worthy of all the support he needed. Other elves could tell at a glance he was unwell. This was because, in bloom, his right eye is orange, which is a sickly color for elves. Better than bloodshot red and blind, which is how that eye is when Ankari is in his withered form. Much of the time he could not stay bloomed like his fellow elves, exhausted into a form that lessened his already lacking strength and made him appear older than his own father, who was several centuries his elder.

Royal sibling lines are usually a battlefield in and of themselves. An heir is decided less by birth order and more by the current King's preference, so there can be much competition for favor. The four children of Renalt were strange in that they did not often fight between themselves, as they settled into their pecking order young and with little conflict. The crown prince was the eldest, Caldera, who was blessed of Nadir, was a natural born warrior and leader. The sister, being a skilled mage and keen diplomat, put her next in line. The second son was a lush and a leech, unwilling to perform any duty, and simply wished to live in luxury. Ankari was at the bottom rung, with even his laziest brother being preferentially treated. There was no complaining of this, as Ankari would learn early that any attempt to elevate himself would quickly be kicked down. He kept his head low and did the royal clerking duty for the lot of them. Taking care of the tedious day-to-day operations of treaty review, missive writing, and supply management over the country became Ankari’s routine. Over the years, this taught Ankari much about how to actually run his country, making him wise to the various political tactics and strategies of both Stilmyst and the rest of the world's kingdoms.

Though Ankari would be arranged for marriage twice in his life, both of his arranged husbands would die in combat. It was appropriate for him to be matched with a blessed of Nadir. While Hyveska's blessing was once in a century or less, Nadir's was closer to thrice. Caldera was one and he grew so enraged with Ankari's first suitor he killed the man in a duel. The second died on the battlefield, bled dry by invading worg that encroached ever closer on the capitol. Ankari's sister died in that same battle, when the worg broke through the countries' best regimen. Within the season, they had their jaws on the throat of Stilmyst's capitol.

Theros troops broke down the castle walls, overwhelming the city that they could not starve out. Caldera died on the battlefield in the morning. By midday, the King had secretly fled on a flying steed, the flying steed being a marriage of hawk and horse. Ankari had crafted the beast with his magic, a skill which was one of the few gifts his father ever appreciated. Both the animal and the king were shot from the sky and slain. Seeing their end in sight, Ankari's remaining family fled the same way the king had. It was cruel to the steed, Ankari thought, to face the same death, shot from the sky. He stayed, the last and only royal to do so. Some lesser lords and servants rallied to him; they took heed of his orders to open the castle in welcome.

The last prince stood before the worg as their council of elders strode into the empty throne room. A younger worg led them, snarling at the elven prince waiting for them. They knew nothing about Ankari and he used that to his advantage, wherein he weaved a tale of how much like honeybees the elves of Stilmyst were. How they would scatter to the winds or swarm, stinging intruders, if they did not have a queen to lead them. He offered himself to be married to the invading prince of the worg leading them, who was being granted Stilmyst as his prize for service to Theros. The offer was accepted with bitterness and on impulse, taking Ankari to stand as prince consort, advising the new king... or being his pretty puppet. Ankari wouldn’t yet know.

By evening, there was to be a wedding. A wedding that Ankari would have attended and gone through with, for the sake of his people.