Arnel

Arnel(41 Calariah's Boon 1056 1E-19 Caltali's Retreat 19 2A) was the founder of the Arnellia Clan, the precursor to the modern nation of Arnellia. He is also known as being the first Paladin in the world.

Early Life
Arnel was born into the Winoc Clan, to Per, the brother of the chief, Perig. Arnel was not a particularly strong, or skill young man, but he found himself generally smarter than his peers. For this reason, and his heritage, he believed himself to be superior to his peers. The Winoc Clan did not acknowledge any relations to the Chief except for heir, a title which belonged to Arnel's father, and so he was not given any preferential treatment.

The lack of acknowledgement of his perceived superiority infuriated Arnel, who became angry and violent as a result. For a while, he isolated himself in his anger, but soon a scheme occurred to him, and he changed his ways. In 1075 he decided to change his ways, and began to befriend the youth of the tribe, working his way into being a hero to them all.

After a year of work winning them over, Arnel sprung his plan, and on the 1st of Calariah's Boon in 1076 he led them in an open rebellion against Perig. Perig led his warriors against the rebellion, and through superior numbers and skill easily subjugated the young rebels. He offered all participants a full pardon if they would repent. Everyone except Arnel accepted. As a punishment, Arnel was exiled from the Winoc Clan.

Exile
In his exile, Arnel wandered, first to the east, and then to the west, seeking a new tribe to call home. Ultimately however, he was rejected by all of them, and after a year of trying, he gave up, and wandered north. Early in 1077, Arnel stumbled upon a beautiful bay, hidden among the hills, with a huge cliff overlooking the ocean. Something about this place compelled him to stop, and he set up camp there for several weeks. On the fifth week, he awoke to find a beautiful woman sitting beside his camp.

The woman asked him how he had come to be here, and they spoke at length about his life, and the trials he had faced. Arnel vented his anger and bitterness at what had befallen him, and the woman simply listened. Once he had spent his energy, she offered to help him gain all the power he had desired, and more. Arnel agreed readily, and so the woman set about teaching him. She taught him to meditate, and reflect upon the world. She taught him to see the goodness in all things. And most importantly, she taught him to take responsibility for what he had done, and how it had shaped his life.

Rebirth
When Arnel had finished learning his faults from the woman, she revealed herself to him as Calariah, the Lady of Light. She gave him the power to channel the light, with power equal to any other Priest that walked the world. She told him to return to his home, and repent to those who mattered. Arnel did so, returning to the Winoc Clan. He arrived to find that in his absence Perig had fallen ill without an heir. The Clan was fearful of how succession would follow, and the arrival of Arnel gave them hope he would lead them.

Instead however, Arnel made his way to Perig's tent immediately upon hearing the news. He used his new found power to heal the sick man, and apologize for questioning him. As a reward for his humility, Perig adopted Arnel as his son, and appointed him chief adviser of the clan. Arnel's first advice was to return to the bay he had trained under Calariah in, which he now named Lightsnest. There he hoped he would find her again, to train more of his people in her ways. The clan packed up, and headed north to the bay, but Calariah was not there when they arrived.

Foundation of Arnellia
The Winoc Clan spent only three weeks alone at the bay before they were joined by another clan. The Yannic Clan heard of Arnel's power to heal, and had followed the Winoc Clan north to seek him out. The Yannic Clan also wished to adopt Arnel into their clan, and name him their adviser. In acknowledgement of this desire, Arnel renounced his position within the Winoc Clan, and instead became an Ambassador to the two Clans, healing members of both who needed it, and keeping the peace within them both. Curious students emerged, and he began to preach to them the same lessons he had learned from Calariah. As he gave them lessons for life, he also taught them the basics of Holy Magic.

Several of Arnel's students wished to follow in his footsteps, and they went on pilgrimages to other Clans, bringing with them their healing powers. They healed the sick and wounded, and spoke of Arnel's teachings, before leaving and returning to their Clans. Most of them encountered success, but a few traveled to warlike Clans, who upon seeing their power, enslaved them to help with their aggression against the rival Clans.

The Clans that heard of Arnel's powers sent representatives to ascertain the truth of this great man. They came baring gifts for him, and when they saw the power he wielded, they returned to their Clans to confirm his existence. Upon receiving the news, many Clans opted to re-locate to join the Winoc and Yannic Clans. Ultimately, the Yezekael, Elouan, Nolwenn, Paol, Maelle and Rozenn Clans all moved to the bay. The sheer volume of Clans gathered naturally lead to disputes, and by mid 1078, it looked as though things would fall apart. Finally, the Chiefs called for a meeting to resolve their issues once and for all. They agreed that while each Clan needed to retain it's identity, they also needed to become properly unified. As such, they decided to vote for a Chief of Chiefs. Arnel was unanimously named Chief of Chiefs. Arnel accepted, though rejected the notion of naming the new Clan just after himself. Instead he chose to name it the Arnellia Clan, in acknowledgement of Calariah's part in shaping him, and thus the Clan.

The First Conflict
Word of Arnel's students that had been enslaved reached him shortly after the foundation of the Arnellia Clan. This cruelty infuriated Arnel, and he asked the Clans to grant him a warband to march against the clans that had taken his students as slaves. The Clans each agreed to provide him with a Company of warriors, providing him with an army of around 900. With this army he marched to the closest Clan, the Loic Clan. When his army assembled outside of their village, and Arnel announced himself, the leader of the clan, a woman by the name of Katell Loic rode out to meet him. They negotiated for several hours, and by the end of their discussion, Katell agreed to release his student, and march with him. While enslaved, Arnel's student had continued to preach of his power, and the Loic Clan had grown respectful of him. Seeing Arnel lead an army to the Clan to retrieve his student served as final proof he was worthy of their fealty.

With the Loic Clan under the Arnellian banner, the army marched further East, until they reached the lands of the Oanez Clan. The Oanez was a large Clan, with many other Clans forced into joining their numbers. On the 3rd of Maeve's Blessing in the first year of the second age, the Oanez Clan attacked Arnel's Army in the Oanez foothills. The fighting was intense, however ultimately Arnel emerged victorious. The Oanez people fled following this, however the people they had enslaved or subjugated remained, and joined with the Arnellia Clan.

The Grand Temple
With peace secured, Arnel turned his attention back to teaching. The number of people who wished to learn from him had grown, and the number of Priests he had trained grown too numerous for him to personally manage. As such he had them build atop the cliff a large temple. The temple he staffed with the Priests he had trained, naming one of their number, Brion, as the leader of the temple. Arnel continued to teach and assist in training, however he delegated much of the training to the Priest Order.

It was during this time that Arnel began to form his own company. Taken from the ranks of the temple, as well as the other companies that showed an inclination towards the teachings of the temple, he trained his company in the art of both war and healing. The combination was difficult at first, but within the year, Arnel had trained up the first Paladins.

Expanding Territory
In 3 2A Arnel decreed that his people needed to expand. Living so close in the bay alone was proving to be difficult, and so he called for them to expand out and settle further afield. The Winoc, Yannic and Loic Clan remained in Lightsnest, while the Yezekael and Elouan Clans headed north, to settle alongside the forests there. The Nolwenn and Maelle Clans headed out into the plains to the east, where their horses could roam free, and the remaining Clans, the Paol and Rozenn headed south, settling in the mountains that overlooked Lightsnest.

Further Conflicts
The Clans expansions upset other Clans in the area, and Arnel was forced to raise a permanent army. The Clans had grown larger in the years since, and so each provided him with two companies, leaving him with an army of almost 2000. In addition to the companies that were given to him, Arnel took his Paladins into battle for the first time.

For the next ten years Arnel marched his army up and down his territory, repelling the invasions of other Clans, or moving out to subjugate them. The smaller Clans that raided him were subsumed into the most similar Clan within Arnellia, while the larger ones were simply driven back. As smaller Clans were subsumed, the territory of the Clans they were added to grew, and the enemies that Arnellia made grew stronger too.

The Gael War
In 17 2A the Gael Clan invaded the lands of the the Rozenn Clan. They were abnormally barbaric, murdering and enslaving civilians above and beyond the raids of the other Clans. Arnel was furious at this, and led his army down south to engage them. He chased the army deep into the Gael territory, and engaged them. The battle was fierce, and at first it seemed as if Arnel would emerge victorious, however he was soon outflanked by a second Gael army, and forced to retreat back to his territory.

Arnel replenished his forces over the next year, and remained camped by the Rozenn Clan, waiting for the Gael return. In 18 2A, they attacked again. This time Arnel was prepared for them, and he drove them back properly. He gave pursuit again, forcing them back into their land, before retreating back to his lands. Arnel spent another year waiting in the Rozenn lands, until in 19 2A, his army was attacked again.

Death
After driving back to Gael one last time, Arnel decided to strike for a death blow. His army pushed deep into the Gael territory, and once again engaged them. This time however, Arnel had been vigilante for other Gael armies. The scouts from his Nolwenn Companies reported a second army approaching to completely encircle his army. Arnel left command of the army to his son, and took his personal company to meet the army. Standing with just 126 men at his side, Arnel faced the Gael army of 4000. For the rest of the day, Arnel and his men held out against the Gael army. They fought fiercely, and by the end of the battle, the Gael army had lost over 1000 men. Seven of Arnel's men survived, and they attested that Arnel had personally killed 100 men including 16 of the Gael's most elite troops, before being felled by the 17th. Even as he died, Arnel managed to lash out one last time to kill the man who had wounded him.

The sacrifice made by Arnel and his men bought his army time, and they successfully defeated the first army. The next day they engaged, and defeated the second Gael army, bringing an end to the Gael Clan.

Family
On the 17th of Kalwudi's Passing in 2 2A, Arnel married the Clan Leader of the Loic Clan, Katell Loic. She became Katell Arnel, and her Clan, while still formally existing, became the first Clan to be entirely under the leadership of Arnel. He had his first son, Pierrick Arnel on the 42nd of Koralia's Gift in 2 2A. On the 38th of Caltali's Retreat in 4 2A he had his second and third child, twin daughters, named Gwenaelle Arnel and Mari Arnel.

Pierrick inherited his position as Chief of the Arnellia Clan. He was well versed in both the nature of the Light and War. At the age of 17 he successfully led the Clan Army to victory against the Gael Clan, and proved himself to be a powerful Paladin. Gwenaelle became a Priest, and became the second leader of the Church. Mari married the leader of the Maelle Clan.

Nation
The Arnellia Clan that Arnel founded eventually turned into the nation of Arnellia, which is still ruled by his direct descendants.

Teachings
The teachings of Arnel have become essential to the world. His insights into the Light were invaluable in leading Priests to understand the will of Calariah, who's power they channel. He is also soley responsible for the creation of Paladins, a very common type of Hero that exists in the world.

Arnel's Hammer
Arnel's Hammer is a powerful artifact, currently kept in Lightsnest. It is sometimes taken from it's resting place in the Grand Temple and wielded by either the Grand Crusader, the Grand Protector, or the Prophet. Throughout history Arnel's Hammer has been lost several times, and rumours abound suggesting the hammer located in Lightsnest is a forgery.

Mechanics
Arnel's Hammer is a +5 Light-Forged Greatclub. When wielded by a Good aligned character it provides immunity to Fear, Stun, Blind and Root effects. All spells cast with the [HOLY] tag that heal may target up to three times the regular targets. Area of effect healing spells instead have their area tripled.