~ Eirwen Aster Archila ~
The Ruthless

'Be like snow: beautiful but cold. Dangerous, if one is reckless...'

ROLE
High Lord of the Winter Court

NAME
Eirwen Aster Archila

Eirwen
It literally means 'white as snow', and Eira got the name from his grandfather. He met his grandfather a handful of times when he was little and never particularly liked him, preferring the company of his mother. Eirwen the elder always smelt of gunpowder and steel, and Eira had never found it pleasant.

Aster
It means 'star'. In all honestly, Eira finds the whole name thing a little ridiculous. Why hide secret messages in the meaning of names? Why not just pick what sounds pretty? He doesn't know the origin of his middle name. He reckons it was an old family name or something similar.

Archila
This name means 'waterfall' and is a name he carries with pride. He is the high Lord of the Winter court, and with that comes not only responsibility but respect. When you are as old as he is, you learn not to take bullshit.

NICKNAMES

Eira
Despite traditionally being a girl's name, Eirwen prefers to go by Eira when it comes to his advisors and such. He doesn't really have fiends per se, but if he did, this is what they'd call him. He doesn't really care about the gender that is associated with the nickname. He is a high lord, why should he fuss over something as stupid as that?

TITLES*

High Lord of the Winter Court
His title. The words that accompany his right to rule and control over his people. Despite just being words, they feel heavy, as if they were a golden crown around his forehead rather than a mere title. With power comes the burden of responsibility and decisions, and Eira feels both keenly.

AGE
1894
His birthday falls upon the 13th of November

GENDER
Male

COURT
Winter

SPECIES
Fae

POWERS*
Eira's powers are of course to do with the snow and ice that coat his lands. He is able to summon ice to his fingers tips in a single gesture and create as much as he wants with a single sweep of his arm. He can also manipulate existing ice. He has to use his hands to do both of these things, since he's not able to control it with his mind. These powers are derived from his home land and they are what ties him to his court. He also is resistant to the cold, which is always useful when you live in a land of perpetual winter.

SEXUALITY
Closeted Bisexual
Yeah, he's so good at staying in the closet that he hasn't even come out to himself yet lol

APPEARANCE
Henry Cavill the Witcher

Eira is a menacing creature, and always has been. Standing at a solid 6ft2in, he is tall enough to hold his own, and believe me when I say he can handle himself in a fight. His white locks are often held back at the top to keep them out of his eyes, and are more often than not tousled with lack of effort. He doesn't need to look smart to gain respect. His intense eyes and constant frown do that for him. He also prefers to wear clothes in shades of dark grey and black. He has no desire to blend into the snow.

PERSONALITY
Eirwen Aster Archila is not the kind of person you want to cross. He is not a sadist, he doesn't find joy in making people suffer and watching them scream, but he is ruthless. Like natural selection determines between the strong and the weak, Eira weeds out the dangers to his court and his reign, and he disposes of them. He is a Lord and he has a responsibility to his court, but also to himself. In his mind, he is the one thing standing between the fragile peace they have and chaos. There was a time a long time ago when he maybe felt guilt, even regret over the lives he had to take, but not anymore. He has a truly brilliant mind, the kind of intelligence that comes with strategy and results. Very few battles he has lost, and very few people match him when it comes to planning. However, his intelligence can occasionally lack in other areas. For example, emotionally.

Yes, if there is one thing Eira truly sucks at it is showing emotion. He is considered by many to be emotionless, a ruthless husk of a fae with few feelings left, if that. When people meet him, they get a cold, ever so slightly snippy shell of a person. He'll keep things short, sometimes embellishing with his darker sense of humour, but never lets anyone get deeper than that. His head is his and his alone. What people do seem to forget is that he's over 1800 years old and Christ, that is a long time to live. Time is a cruel master and over the years it has slowly but surely worn him down. Where he once felt emotions keenly and life coursed through his veins, he now feels a little... dull. Numb. The things that used to bring him joy he no longer has time for, and the horrors he has seen have destroyed any appreciation for the world he had left. Now, he just survives. He rules, and he does it well. And if people don't agree? Well, they can face the consequences.

Yet, there are a few select thing which re-light a small flicker of passion in his soul. For example, wars. It is definitely not a healthy way to thrill seek considering the loss of life that always comes with war, and Eira is never reckless with life, but there is something about the way his mind sharpens when he's standing over those maps. It's like he's waking up, becoming conscience again. So, although he'll never deliberately start a war, he can't say he doesn't enjoy them, just a little. Another thing is sex. Yes, this may seem a little shallow, but there is something about the lips on lips, lips on skin, hands roaming free and panted breaths that make him feel alive again. In this domain, he is not High Lord, he is just a body, and it feels good. Although he has slept with fae of both genders, he has convinced himself that he is in fact into women, and the men, well, they were just what he had to make do with at the time. This is, in fact, complete bullshit.

In short, Eirwen is a creature of ice and ambition. Cross him and you'll regret it, try and get close to him and all you'll see is the walls he puts up. Despite his many many flaws, he has no intention of changing. All he needs is his next fix, whether it be a fling or something to exercise his mind, just something. He is an Adrenalin junkie in a rather unconventional sort of way, and only people who are smart enough to realise that understand why he does what he does.

BACKGROUND*

Part I
~The Origin~
Eirwen was born as the eldest son to the previous High Lord of Winter, Raskvin Archila, who was notorious for being a tyrannous ruler. He was reckless, not just with his power but with the lives of those he was sworn to protect. He liked wars and executions and watching people bed for their lives. A cruel man on the throne is always a recipe for disaster, and Raskvin was no exception. He pulled on strings and had his fun, always ignoring the greater good. He was High Lord! What could any of these weaklings do to stop him? With no one to stand up to him, he was free to do as he pleased, and within years he had taken his court from a position of power to a pit of fear and terror. This chaos was, unfortunately, also spread to his son, Eirwen. Eira had two younger brothers and a younger sister, but even from a young age he did his best to keep them safe. At first he'd simply made sure all the attention was on him, both positive and negative, but as soon as he was old enough he had his brothers sent off to relatives in a different city, and his sister shipped off to a different court as an ambassador. All he'd wanted was to keep them safe. He couldn't have known how badly that would've turned out.

Part II
~The Preparations~
As Eira grew older, he started to get restless. For years he'd kept his head down, blindly accepting orders that hurt his court, and spent all of his time placating his father to avoid complete destruction. But he was angry now. His siblings were seemingly safe and his mother was long dead, so he finally decided to do something about his ruined court. Gradually at first, he started talking to soldiers, lords, captains. Anyone with power that would listen to him was bestowed with his vision. The Winter Court, free of its tyrant and ultimately saved from damnation. It was a promising vision, filled with riches and peace, both of which were sparse in the court. Slowly but surely, he built up support. He'd always had a mind for military, and knew exactly what he needed to do to kill his father and ascend to the throne without there being complete chaos. Everything was in place, now all he had to do was wait for the right moment to pounce.

Part III
~The Showdown~
Unfortunately for Eirwen, he never got the chance to use his plan. No. Whilst Eira had been spinning his web and preparing for his big moment, Raskvin had been doing some plotting of his own. After hearing of his eldest son's treachery, he'd been enraged. His first plan had been to have Eira dragged to the throne room and beheaded immediately, but then he started thinking. With the help of his most loyal advisors, he too put a plan in motion, the most cruel and harsh punishment he could think of for his traitor son, and he couldn't wait for the moment Eira would finally realise what a mistake he'd made in crossing his father. So, one day, he had Eirwen dragged to the throne room in chains. Eira was terrified, more scared than he cared to admit. He'd seen his father's fury before and experienced it too, and it was no joke. But to his surprise, no anger came. Instead, his father... laughed. A bloodcurdling laugh that stained Eira's heart with fear. Before any words were exchanged, Raskvin gestured to the guards and brought in, with chains around their ankles, were Eira's siblings. All were dishevelled and scared, and Eira can still remember the way his youngest brother had whimpered when he'd been pushed to the floor. So Eira broke. He confessed and spilt all his secrets and begged and begged and begged until his throat was raw, but he should've known that his father didn't care what he had to say. Raskvin could just find a new wife, father more children, and continue with his life once his troublesome children were dead. And so, before Eirwen even had a chance to process what was happening, his father got off his throne and killed his siblings. It only took one gesture, and three icicles as sharp as swords flew through the air like spears, piercing each of his siblings' hearts. It would've been the perfect punishment, the ultimate way to break his eldest son before killing him as well. But the one thing Raskvin forgot to take into account was Eira's grief. So, with anger untamed, Eirwen ripped through his chains and sent his own icicle hurtling towards his father. It killed him instantly. There was no satisfying last words, no definite conclusion. Just death. And so Eirwen took the throne, the soles of his feet still stained with his family's blood. It was this moment where he cut off his emotions. He became a better ruler than his father was, rebuilding his court from the ground up, but he never made the mistake of having a weakness again. He always learnt from his mistakes.

SKILLS
•Strategy
•Using his powers for combat
•Being ruthless
•Dealing with other people's bullshit
•Actually decent with a sword

AESTHETIC
lonely cold piano music, icicles slowly melting in the late afternoon sun, the sharp edge of a knife as it slices through skin, smiles that are a little too menacing to be friendly, silence, hair unwashed and studded with snow, internal anguish masked by indifference, tears frozen on pinched skin, breath steaming on cold glass

QUOTES
'Stars, hide your fires,
Let not light see my black and deep desires'

'Don't put me in a position where I gotta show you how cold my heart can get'

'Darkness. When everything you know and love is taken away from you, so harshly, all you can think about is anger, hatred and even revenge. And no one can save you.'

OTHER
—> Knows a lot more about the coming darkness then he cares to admit
—> Despite having no long term partners, he does like to indulge in the occasional one night stand or fling, as long as the person he's doing it with understands that it doesn't mean anything. Not to him.
—> Theme Song : Welcome to the Fire by Willyecho