Athelon Keranas

''"It is a fun game. The best cheater wins." ''~ Athelon to Gaelbor Starcrest about war.

Athelon Keranas is the second born son of lord Thelian Keranas and his beloved wife Eyndiel. He is an accomplished ranger aswell as the current leader of the Ashen Accord tasked with the unification of all the high elves under a single banner.

Background
Five years after having their first son, Aellios, lord Thelian was about to be blessed with another son. Despair filled him instead of joy as the pregnancy was very difficult for his wife and if the healers were to be believed, she might not make it through it.

Lady Eyndiel remained joyful despite the news always next to her dejected husband and giving birth to her son, Athelon at the cost of her own life.

The young boy grew up without a mother and with the increasing hostility of his older brother who loathed loathed him for her death.

In time Aellios revealed himself as a gifted individual in the art of magic, an art he chose to learn much to his father's dismay. Many viewed the boy as extremely talented which led to his betrothal to the daughter of one of the magisters who was already infatuated with him and her father was more than willing to add his blood to his own family. Aellios was no stranger to the girl though, he knew her as the one his younger brother fancied yet he himself did not care for her despite not having a problem with the betrothal.

Athelon did not take kindly on the news and attempted to gain the girl's favor in response by working to become a mage aswell. But it was clear he did not have the gift nor the talent of his older brother. The instructors would repeatedly scold him for his lack of focus and especially his slow mind, yet the actual blow came from the girl herself who was bewildered by his persistence and scorned him stating that he can never be a mage.

Disheartened, the young Athelon ran home seeking to gain some relief inside the empty house. But when he barged in, his teary eyes were met by those of his father, an embarassing encounter that left him speechless for the longest of time until he finally gave in and explained to him the situation.

Not surprised in the slightest by what he is hearing, Thelian grabbed his son's shoulder firmly revealing that he knew he would fail all along because he was stronger than his older brother. He promptly told him that the farstriders are the ones protecting Quel'Thalas not the perfumed fools from Silvermoon and that should tragedy ever befall them, the mages would be the first to succumb. His words have made an impression on the young kid who chose a new path in his heart.

Second War
The years have tempered Athelon who, under his father's guidance has become a farstrider in his own regard and rose to the rank of lieutenant. He and Thelian often visited Eyndiel's grave while Aellios distanced himself from the family, now wed to the magister's daughter and part of the world his father despised so much.

As the tensions continued to grow in the south, the threat represented by the Horde was becoming more and more apparent. As Anduin Lothar was boosting his forces, he contacted king Anasterian of Quel'Thalas making use of an ancient oath to his ancestor, king Thoradin during the Troll Wars. King Anasterian however was reluctant to help sending only a small, token fleet to aid the humans in their war much to Athelon's dismay who viewed the savages who brought Stormwind to ruins as a serious threat and did not stand by the king's decision.

The young ranger was not the only one with such thoughts as other high elves seemed to disobey the king and offer aid to the humans which only strenghtened Athelon's resolve. Thelian shared his son's discontent yet refused to go south stating that someone has to take care of the estate and did not want to incur the king's wrath losing his land but that all kids rebel against their parents and whatever Athelon chooses to do, the family wouldn't be held accountable, thus subtly giving his blessing.

With no regrets in mind, Athelon joined the group of high elves led by the famed ranger Alleria Windrunner in their fight against the invading horde. Among these elves were also fellow rangers and a fellow officer, Ylwae Summersent, one he would see for the first time.

As the war raged, the balance turning in the favor of the Alliance even if only slightly, the Horde reached out to the amani trolls who promised they will join them in their struggles if they help destroy Quel'Thalas once and for all. This alliance proved to be devastating as the trolls and their new allies ravaged the country side and destroyed the high kingdom's defences until the Alliance forces led by Turalyon arrived to face the Horde. Athelon would refuse to be overtaken by fatigue, instead relentlessly fighting against the invading force.

By the end of the Second War, Athelon was among the few elves on the right side of the Dark Portal coming back to a devastated homeland, he is informed of his father's death during the invasion of Quel'Thalas and his will which had him as his sole heir to all his lands. Unlike his old self, Athelon's eyes did not host tears, only a sorrowful gaze he would maintain for his first months as lord of Spring's Rest and deep inside hatred for the person he blamed above everyone else. The foolish king who refused to see the threat, the foolish king who would claim the Alliance abandoned them when they came to help despite his refusal to help them first...

Third War
Years after he became the lord of Spring's Rest and rebuilt his home, Athelon rose to the rank of Ranger-Captain within the Farstriders, no longer a low-ranking officer, but it looked like the dark clouds were returning. Word has spread of a dreaded plague spreading across the kingdom of Lordaeron, a new threat to which king Anasterian once again would not react no matter how much a small noble such as himself would have pushed for it.

Athelon took matters into his own hands, making contact with other nobles from Lordaeron and sending aid, something that did not make much of a difference given his low status in the elven society.

Not long after that, rumor has spread of the death of Terenas Menethil at hand of his own son, once again the ranger feared for the safety of his home, the home he has been struggling to protect for over a hundred years and as soon as the army of the dead gathered at the gates of Quel'Thalas, he knew his fear was justified. The ranger-captain answered the call to arms without question joining the fight against the undead evoking the very same relentless determination as before until the very last moment when the scourge destroyed the Sunwell and the war was lost.

The withdrawal affected Athelon to a lesser degree than it did others, but he did feel the effects deeply, he could not even feel satisfaction after the death of king Anasterian, who's foolishness finally proved to be his downfall... and the downfall of Quel'Thalas.

In the aftermath, Athelon witnessed the fall of the elven society, the words of his father invading his mind after all this time. Everything happened as predicted, the magisters were the first to succumb to temptation and after them others followed suit exiling him alongside all those that still held onto their values from their own homes for refusing to drain magic from living beings.

Loneliness finally gripped the ranger's heart as he now lost his family, his home and could not even be a farstrider anymore, he became a wanderer with no friends and no allies.

War Against The Lich King
The adversities he faced did not make the former farstrider give up on his ideals, he remained a high elf and over time has settled in the rebuilt city of Dalaran where others such as him called "home." This new safe haven did not remain untouched for long as the blood elves were admitted inside the city, the "Sunreavers" as they called themselves. In response, none other than Vereesa Windrunner has created the Silver Covenant ready to interfere with any vile plans these new denizens would have and Athelon was among the first to join the cause being reinstated as a Ranger-Captain.

As circumstances led Dalaran to Northrend, the young elf was sent to Windrunner's Overlook to help recover a highborne artifact from somewhere within the Crystalson Forest. To his surprise, it is there where he found a familiar face. Ylwae Summersent, the farstrider lost beyond the dark portal, now part of the Silver Covenant.

The two worked together to locate the supposed artifact, sending several scouts in a particular location they deemed useless to search so as to try and distract the Sunreavers who were also attempting to find it. The plan worked up to a point. A scouting team located the artifact, the sunreavers were being led astray but the outrunner the two sent to lady Vereesa was intercepted and now their enemies took the lead.

It was clear to Athelon that there was no time to wait for reinforcements and had to proceed despite the setback, but when they set up camp near the location of the artifact, a very deep and treacherous cave, it looked like the Sunreavers did not only arrive faster but they also brought more men, complicating things further.

With little time to waste Athelon rushes in with a small team arriving more or less at the same time with Orthanel Morningflame and his more numerous troops who attack the Silver Covenant forces on the spot, but instead of staying to fight, Athelon and his team retreat in the cave trying to secure the artifact. Orthanel immediately gives chase and tries to discourage the ranger-captain from continuing his journey as he would never leave the cave alive, but Athelon refuses to give in, instead taunting the mage at every turn.

Eventually Orthanel's stronger force is the one to emerge from the cave with the artifact, winning this race and leaving the silver covenant troops behind. However, once he arrives back at the camp with his men, they find themselves in the middle of an ambush with hundreds of arrows released from all directions. One belonging to Ylwae pierces Orthanel's shoulder interrupting his casting and causing him to fall on his back, just in time to see Athelon and his team coming in from behind effectively surrounding the sunreaver troops and locking them in a barrage of arrows. The whole ordeal was now being revealed for what it truly was: An elaborate death trap.

The later stages of the war found Athelon leading a small army comprised mainly of Silver Covenant rangers through a ravine in Icecrown hoping to meet with the rest of the Alliance forces. He found himself in a rather dire situation as the two paths he could possibly take were occupied, to the east by the scourge army and to the west by a horde army which's encampment blocked their exit.

The two factions have clashed many times after Wrathgate and the captain knew knew there was no diplomacy to be had. Gaelbor Starcrest, one of the men under his command at that time pointed out that they would not have much time to waste as the horde could discover a passage that leads straight to the back of their camp.

In spite of this, Athelon did not seem phased, but rather intrigued. He requested a volunteer for a dangerous mission then sent him with a group of rangers to harass the horde army. Most of them remained alive as they retreated only the ranger in question being captured, he eventually revealed the existence of the passage to the horde which gave their commanader the needed incentive to act.

After the horde started their advance, another group of rangers was sent to harass the scourge forces only to swiftly retreat allowing the few undead that pursued to find their hidden camp inside the ravine. In the end Athelon ordered his troops to march taking the main path towards the horde camp and attacking it outright. Only half of the enemy force was present allowing them to plunder the camp and free their captured brother aswell as finally pass through.

The captain's small force finally merged with the Alliance's main army while the remaining horde troops found an empty camp with undead marching towards them. Ironically enough, the very same passage allowed them to retreat in time to the plundered camp.

A New Home
The victory against the Lich King came at a great cost, many lives were lost on both sides, after the war Athelon was promoted to the rank of Ranger-Lord by Vereesa Windrunner due to his tactical ability and was put in charge of the unification of the remaining high elves.

The elven ranger employs the very same tactics in Hinterlands as he did in Northrend, ordering the rangers to lay low while paying mercenaries to attack a Revantusk Camp gibing them Vilebranch weapons to use on them and leave behind leading to a war between the two troll tribes

The very same mercenaries are used many times over slowly becoming hated enemies of the vilebranch thus clearing the rangers of suspicions and making the trolls focus on them instead. Of all the outcomes he predicted this was obviously the most beneficial and less likely to happen, yet the mercenaries proved to be more than mere freelancers, they were deadly warriors and he made sure to use them as such.

Personality
Athelon does not usually display much emotion, maintaining a neutral or stoic expression most of the time, but whether he does so intentionally or not remains to be seen. This is not always the case though as he seems to express more when in company of friends, even going as far as joking around when talking to Ylwae.

He carries himself with dignity and usually speaks in a formal and respectful manner and tends to be unusually calm in most situations as seen when he and Ylwae were facing a plagued bear. He seemed more concerned that he missed the shot rather than the bear was charging at them and proceeded to try again.

Athelon has developed a tactical mind over the years, carefully analyzing the situations aswell as all the possible paths to victory. While he understands that one must take some risks in order to win, he is not keen on doing so if it is not absolutely necessary as seen during the clash with the Sunreavers where regardless of what Orthanel chose to do, the outcome would have been the same in the end.

Both during his childhood aswell as during his adulthood Athelon seems to take his time whenever he is thinking and patiently consider what he should do, this might be due to his calm nature or it is perhaps related to the instructors' remarks of him being a slow thinker. He tends to be pragmatic in his decisions however and thinks of himself as someone who would equally repay a friend and an enemy according to their deeds as he told Ylwae upon finding out about Nathanos Marris' attack on Quel'Lithien, however his actions tell a different story as he gave Lyrene a much more lenient punishment than she deserved which hints at his more forgiving nature.

Some could see Athelon as being particularly manipulative which is shown in several occasions in Northrend where he is willing to make things happen rather than wait for the right moment. However his struggle to reach the artifact as well as him taunting Orthanel suggests his manipulation skills extend to people aswell and not just events.

Relationships
Ylwae Summersent is a fellow ranger he first saw during the Second War although a mere acquaintance at the time, when they met again in Northrend he slowly started to regard the ranger-captain as a friend, a word he only uses selectively. Athelon views Ylwae as everything a ranger should aspire to be, a great melee fighter aswell as a deadly shooter, highly disciplined and dutiful which is why he placed Lyrene under her care after the troubles she has created. While he may pride himself as a tactician, he knows he is not the best at exercising authority which is part of the reason he was glad that Ylwae was part of this mission aswell as this seemed to be a particular skill of hers.

Gaelbor Starcrest is one of the soldiers assigned to Athelon during the campaign in Northrend, he sees him as a good warrior aswell as a good soldier he can count on regardless of the circumstances.

Quotes
"You are as stubborn as a mule, quel'dorei, but you are outnumbered."

''"Outnumbered but not outmatched." ''~ Orthanel and Athelon in their race for the artifact.

''"A good tactician exploits the enemy's weakness. A great tactician exploits his own." ''~ Athelon to Gaelbor during the Northrend campaign.

"You think you have some sort of advantage. I do not believe you've been paying attention." ~ Athelon to Morta'gya while gesturing at her chains.