Daran dan Ashur

(a.k.a. The Lightning General)

Accomplished general and cavalier-lord of the IXth Crimson Legion and patriarch of the Ashur family.

Personal History

Born in the year 20 BA, Daran is the son of Arishkal dan Ashur, who also served the Dominion as the IXth Legion's top commanding officer and cavalier-lord. The Ashur family has a long and storied history of service in the Crimson Legions. Their name is practically legendary, primarily for their fierce loyalty to Nasir, but their politics have also made them notorious at the king's court. Daran's personal political views are no different than his father's and forefathers'. He has always been a staunch proponent of systemic reforms that would combat rampent racism against chimeras, as well as overhauling the Crimson Legions' current deployment system, including adding entire new legions to the ranks.
Since he was three years old, Daran was groomed by his father to be a legionnaire and carry on the family legacy. One of house Ashur's endentured chimeras, Ren, a felimera boy that served as a pawn of General Arishkal dan Ashur, was paired with Daran as his combatives instructor. Ren was already an accomplished martialist, well-versed with polearms and the pawns' unique twin-dagger fighting style known as ravaging. Ren taught Daran proficiency with spears and halberds and by Daran's twelvth nameday, he was skilled enough to overcome twenty opponents at the Royal Martial Tournmanent in Rytaia in the year 8 BA. His prize was the Spear of Thunder: a weapon forged in the hinterlands of Orjan that contained the awesome power of lightning. When its true name is called, the weapon becomes a flash of white hot light that vaporizes its foes and deafens anyone nearby with a booming clap of thunder.

Military Career

The beginning of Daran's career in the legions started as well as any other young officer's, only his advancement through the ranks in both his cohort and, later, the IXth at large was accelerated primarily because of his status as a noble. Even though the Crimson Legions have strict policies that prevent nepotism, general favoritism toward upper class legionnaires is prevalent, and it's an unfair advantage that Daran indirectly (though knowingly) benefited from. In order to overcome any resentment his fellow officers had toward him because of his status, the young man worked twice as hard to prove he was worthy of his promotions.

The Siege of Buthra

In 3 BA, the opportunity to prove himself came. House Khodana attempted to secede their lands from the Dominion. In response, the king ordered the IXth to mobilize and lay siege to the city of Bhuthra in the northern reaches of Nasir, beyond the Mehrian mountains. While Daran's father sailed north to stage their siege, Daran detached and took his cohort on land. With his father's permission, he was to approach the city from the south, passing through the Mehrians. His goal was to sneak men into the city and weaken their defenses through a combination of sabotage and undermining morale by spreading rumors while disguised as civilians. The plan started to work... until Ren was discovered and captured and several others were killed. Daran and the rest of his cohort managed to escape the city, but he was stricken with guilt and a sense of failure when he rejoined his father's legion.
Eventually, the garrison at Bhuthra broke from the city to meet the IXth in a frontal assault. It was a last-ditch effort to defeat the Dominion forces after their supplies dwindled from the siege. By then, after nearly two months, Daran believed Ren dead. He steeled himself for the battle and commanded his cohort on the legion's defensive line. When the rebel Khodana forces clashed with the legionnaires, it was all-out bloodshed and chaos. While the Dominion had put down rebellions before, it had been nearly two hundred years since any war of secession. Neither side was fully prepared to pit brother against brother, so tactics gave way to chaos and confusion. Early in the skirmish, Arishkal dan Ashur took an arrow to the eye and fell from his horse. Battlefield communications were breaking down and, to the legion's surprise, the rebels appeared to be winning.
Daran withdrew and regrouped his cohort and then assembled with his fellow commanders to reform the IXth's ranks. To stimy the chaos and restore a chain of command, several senior cohort commanders thrust the burden of generalship on Daran's shoulders.

Your father is dead... But the ninth belongs to an Ashur. Now give us your orders.

Falling back on the Dominion's proven mounted tactics, Daran ordered the heavy cavalry to ride around the enemy and encircle them, using their spears to corral sections of troops into multiple clusters, cutting them off from one another. He used the chimera pawns to break ranks and close in on the archers, using their speed and agility to overwhelm them. He used the human infantry to reform the guard and then marched them back into the fray to support the cavalry as the horses simultaenously moved to form rotating bottlenecks that would act as windows for legionnaires to shoot arrows though.
With the Khodana forces that had taken to the field now firmly under control and dwindling rapidly, Daran was free to begin allocating men to resume the siege against Bhuthra. As catapaults relentlessly tore down the city's walls, legionnaires stormed inside and massacred the small garrison that remained. The city was practically razed in a matter of hours, rebel leaders that surrendered were captured, and anyone that still resisted was swiftly cut down. But the inner keep remained standing, guarded by a moat and well-manned walls.
While the enemy's last fortification stood strong, the IXth began to occupy the outer city and took over several garrison outposts and lesser fortifications. Later that night, Daran fell to knees in relief upon seeing Ren safely escorted to him by legionnaires that had found him with other prisoners. The felimera pawn had been locked in a cell. But even though the boy was alive, marks of torture and heinous abuse were evident all over his body. Enraged, Daran took up his treasured Spear of Thunder and marched to the top of the city's outer battlements. As he raised the weapon and took bold aim at the castle, the onyx shaft of his spear glistened in the moonlight. Tiny bolts of violet static danced in the air around it.

For the Dominion. For myself. This day and never again, I invoke my fury with personal privilege. I give my enemy no right to yield and deny them mercy. For they spared a child none. ... VOL!

Daran's Spear of Thunder cracked through the heart of the enemy-occupied castle, sundering its supports within and without. It crumbled violently to the ground and those trapped inside had no time to escape, let alone realize what happened. It was the first time Daran had used the spear against an enemy, and though it would not be the last, he has never since used it out of hatred.

Fast Facts

_{Remember that ages for Adaran characters should be multiplied by 1.48 to get their Tellan (Earth) age!}

Species

Humans

Eyes

Dark Brown

Hair

Black

Skin Tone/Pigmentation

Tanned

Height

1.85m

Weight

95.25 kg