Arutaika

Venerable Word-Keeper of the Pimaca Scriptorium

Word-Keeper Khaldun Arutaika (a.k.a. Wise Grandfather)

Khaldun Arutaika served as chancellor under three Pimacan kings. He curtailed the power of the old Inquisition and became the founding Word-Keeper of the Great Scriptorium. Pimaca's "Wise Grandfather" might be the oldest man living in Eldenterra and he's definitely the most well-read. Imagine the things he's seen. I'd like to sit down with him and a bottle of quince wine and just listen to him speak. Failing that I'd pay real silver just to spend some time in his library.

— Alakai of Texidium

Mental characteristics

Personal history

During his youth, Khaldun Arutaika was brought to Pimaca's Pyramid of Two Suns to serve as a temple acolyte. His parents had been killed when their village was razed during one of the unfortunate peasant massacres of the Heretic's Revolt. During the attack that purged his family, Arutaika came under the protection of a sympathetic solar priest named Tennifi, who spared the boy from the Inquisitors' wrath by taking him as an apprentice.
Naturally gifted in letters and learning, Arutaika excelled in the priesthood and found honour and accolades he never dreampt of achieving from his humble peasant origins. His mentor was well placed in the hierarchy of the Two Sun priesthood and Tennifi made sure that Arutaika had every opportunity to advance his career as far as his talent and ambition could take him.
By age 30 Arutaika had achieved the rank of Ka-bakaa, a kind of junior high priest in the church hierarchy. It was during this time that Arutaika sought a position as officiating cleric within the court of King Tirak. Many regarded this as a career-ending decision, for in those days everyone knew that the real policy decisions in Pimacan statecraft were made by the Council of Advisors, a theocratic conclave of high priests who were required to ratify all state action through reference to religious law and divine portents. Within this system of rule, King Tirak operated as little more than a figurehead serving at the whim of the priesthood.
Arutaika, recognizing Tirak's capacity for greatness, sought to overturn the existing governing order. He was motivated by his perception of the Two Sun priesthood's corruption, an inescapable byproduct of any system of political absolutism. As cleric of the royal court he leveraged his network of reform-minded allies within the temple pyramid and steadily championed the independence of King Tirak's reign. This campaign of reform culminated in the king's act to abolish the Bastuta Inquisition.
The capstone of Tirak's reign came when he named his son as royal heir, an act which established his family, the Jendaya Clan, as a hereditary dynasty. This move overturned decades of custom by which the priesthood selected Pimaca's kings through a mysterious process of sacred divination.
Having secured the future of the Jendaya dynasty, Arutaika resigned from the Two Sun clergy to assume the post of Rabiah, Royal Chancellor. He served King Takiah and his descendants for over 40 years and exerted such influence over royal policy that he is sometimes jokingly referred " to as "the first Jendayan king."
After retiring from his royal post in 980 PCE, Arutaika founded a library and academy known as the School of Jendaya. Today this school is often referref to as "The Great Scriptorium." His purpose in founding the Scriptorium was to create an institution dedicated to the collection, preservation, and circulation of written materials. Arutaika believed the Zoner's of Eldenterra had to recover and share their collective past in order to forge a unified identity. Moreover, he believed the survival of Pimaca's new secular regime relied upon the talent and dedication of an educated civil service. The Scriptorium served to train a new class of literate clerks capable of effectively supporting the reign of the Jendaya.

Intellectual Characteristics

Arutaika is a shrewd man who possesses great wit and intelligence. Though his vigour has waned with old age he retains a curious mind and a keen sense of logic.

Morality & Philosophy

In spite of his clerical training, Arutaika never took much interest in theology. He has always taken a greater interest in humanist values, such as free will, education, and rational thought.

Year of Birth

913 PCE 87 Years old

Eyes

Dark hazel

Hair

Long grey streaked with silver highlights

Skin Tone/Pigmentation

Light brown

Height

5'9''

Weight

110 lbs.