Nagor Ardeyi

“I was never afraid of being ruled. I was afraid of being needed in ways I could not refuse.”

-Nagor to Emperor Vierros Alzari.

GENERAL Name: Nagor Ardeyi Race: Traxei Born: 249 AE, Moon’s Sepulcher, Fang’s Hold, Thospeiros Dynasty: Ardeyi House: Ardeyi of Rughavar Imperial Alzari (by marriage) Patron Deity: Ehanfi

TITLES Lord of Whistlewind Prince of Phyrozes Halcord of the Order of Helmeras Chancellor to Imperial Court of Vierros Alzari (claimant) Imperial Consort ALIASES Tutor-King Brothel Prince

FAMILY Father: King Sohan II Ardeyi Mother: Queen Merivo Arderinei Sibling: Prince Rakai Ardeyi Spouse: Imperial Princess Avaras Alzari Lovers: Thira of the Jade Seas Lady of Anguish Issue: Imperial Prince Aelirros Alzari Imperial Princess Nadheras Alzari Imperial Princess Daevaras Alzari Imperial Prince Rakairros Alzari Rugha: Dune

Nagor Ardeyi is the prince of Phyrozes and a halcord of the Order of Helmeras, and later the Imperial Consort to Avaras Alzari. He was the second and youngest child of King Sohan II Ardeyi. He became a rugha rider at the six, mounting his rugha, Dune, to Whistlewind and back. He was then known as the youngest rugha rider in Phyrozes.

Nagor became a prominent member in the imperial court of Vierros Alzari and was entrusted to oversee the education of Imperial Princess Avaras Alzari shortly after. Right after his imprisonment by the princess, he was swiftly married to the princess and became an imperial consort.

Appearance

Nagor bears the white hair common to the old Traxei bloodlines, worn long in waves and loosely kept, often escaping formal bindings. His eyes are striking blue, downturned, and frequently noted by contemporaries as ‘attentive and unsettlingly gentle for a man raised among courts and laws’.

Unlike many rugha riders, Nagor does not possess a martial physique. His posture is described as soft with clumsy movements, particularly when he is not astride his rugha. Nagor is round-shouldered and pot-bellied due to his excessive indulgence in mead and sweets, with thin legs and short stature common to the Traxei. He has bronze-colored skin.

Nagor always dresses in gold. Just like his father, he favors black and red to highlight his Varkrys descent. Nagor keeps his kahfi around his neck and there are always rings on his fingers, which he would turn compulsively around his fingers whenever he is anxious or bored.

Personality and Character

Nagor is intelligent, awkward, and a rather clumsy individual. He is soft-spoken and lacks the physical confidence expected of a rugha rider, yet compensates with exceptional aptitude in mathematics, economics, and logistical negotiation. Even so, he is equally known for his lack of political instinct. Nagor is loyal to a fault, deeply uncomfortable with conflict, and prone to allowing others to define the boundaries of his role.

Despite his titles and responsibilities, Nagor retained a markedly boyish demeanor well into adulthood. This is often attributed to his upbringing under King Sohan II Ardeyi and Queen Merivo Arderinei, both of whom were known to indulge him openly. As the younger son, Nagor was spared many of the harsher expectations imposed upon heirs and rulers. Nagor, by all accounts, was raised by his father as ‘the son he loves, not one he needed for the throne’. This caused Nagor to have a softness of manner and an emotional openness, along with considerable personal wealth derived from the King of Phyrozes himself.

Nagor was widely known for his frequent patronage of brothels, a habit that earned him the unflattering sobriquet ‘the brothel prince’ among courtiers. During his tenure as a halcord, Nagor took a Varkrys courtesan by the alias Lady of Anguish as a lover and private companion, and her presence was an open secret within the imperial court. Following the imprisonment and subsequent forced marriage to Avaras Alzari, Nagor abruptly ceased all patronage of brothels and formally ended his association with the Lady of Anguish, stating that he had no further need of such places as he had witnessed ‘Vaherdal’s grace and beyond’ within Avaras’ bed.

History

Early life

Nagor was born in 249 AE in Moon’s Sepulcher, a high mountain ridge bordering the cavern approaches of Fang’s Hold in Thospeiros and Derin’s Blessed. During her pregnancy, Queen Merivo experienced recurring dreams of standing upon a mountain peak beneath the moon, with a single bright star burning beside it. Interpreting these dreams as omen, she mounted her rugha, Amethyst, and flew to Moon’s sepulcher, where she gave birth to Nagor at the summit. His name, Nagor, was derived from the Eihanfi Atonagorei, meaning mountain peak.

Sohan II chose a rugha egg with the color of ‘golden sunrise’ and placed it on Nagor’s cradle when he was a newborn. The egg hatched while Nagor was still an infant in his cradle, and Nagor named it Dune when he was three years old. In 253 AE, rumors circulated questioning whether Nagor, rather than his elder brother Rakai, should be named heir, as Rakai had yet to bond with a rugha at the time. Though no formal challenge was raised, the whisper never fully faded until Rakai claimed his own rugha, Hurricane.

At six years old, Nagor successfully rode Dune, flying from Rughavar to Whistlewind and back. He became the youngest recorded rugha rider in Phyrozes’ history. Whether this distinction predates the liberation of the Traxei remains uncertain, as records from the colonial period are incomplete or politically revised.

The Order of Helmeras

Nagor’s aptitude for numbers emerged early. Tutors reported exceptional ability in economic theory, market prediction, and resource distribution. He was expected to pursue a future as a merchant-prince, a respected role within Phyrozesathur tradition. This path ended abruptly with the enactment of Emperor Vierros Alzari’s Equilibrium Utopia, which forbade nobles directly participating in commerce. Thus, at sixteen, Nagor entered the Order of Helmeras.

Nagor’s advancement within the Order was notably swift. While his clumsiness and lack of historical rigor were frequently criticized, his negotiating ability and financial insight proved invaluable. It is widely believed that his rise was accelerated by his father’s status as King of Phyrozes, though the Order has never officially acknowledge (nor deny) this.

At eighteen, Nagor finished his time as a scrollhand in the order and served as a verdant in the court of the Clan Mother Lembayung of the Jade Seas in the Great Crescent Isles. During this period, Nagor courted Thira, the Clan Mother’s daughter, and gifted the courting gift of three shu’uvu that he hunted with Dune. However, Thira decided to end the courtship shortly after the end of Nagor’s service in the Great Crescent Isles, believing that she won’t get any Aqsha children from ‘Traxei’s land-loving blood’. Afterwards, Nagor continued his verdantship in Isles of Helmeras, Aschatava.

At twenty-one, Nagor was appointed Halcord of the Imperial Court of Vierros Alzari. During this period, Nagor was also assigned as the overseer of Imperial Princess Avaras Alzari’s tutors, where he was entrusted to manage her education and teach her diplomacy, laws, and political conduct. His influence over her formative years would later become a subject of significant controversy in the empire.

Somewhere in 271 AE, Nagor took a Varkrys courtesan as a private companion, known publicly only by her alias, the Lady of Anguish. Nagor brought Lady of Anguish to court and while it was not necessarily accepted by everyone, no one publicly ostracized Nagor due to his position in court, his lineage, and the lack of critic or disagreement from the emperor himself. Nagor even brought Lady of Anguish as a companion in 273 AE’s Imperial Summit and dressed her in the colors of his house.

Despite Nagor’s patronage to the Lady of Anguish, he was still frequenting brothels, often bringing prince Arezei Aegrei and General Kael Vakveldir with him. Nobles of Aschatava then called him the Brothel Prince due to the frequency of time he would spend there.

When Nagor was twenty-four years old, he was named among the seven contenders to succeed the Former Emperor Icairros Alzari as the imperial chancellor. Emperor Vierros put his name on a pedestal and had already signed twelve laws written by Nagor at this point. However, despite his qualifications, his candidacy was quietly withdrawn, largely due to the disfavor of The Pretender Empress, who openly opposed his elevation due to his ‘promiscuity’.

Around this time, the discussion of the Imperial Princess Avaras Alzari taking a betrothed and a future consort were raised at court. Nagor raised the name of his kin, the young Lord Therros Aleran, as the princess’ potential betrothed. He lost to the majority voice, who endorsed Lord Fenarros Aluneides instead. Lord Fenarros Aluneides openly disliked that the imperial princess seemed to ‘follow the halcord’s suggestions and thoughts like a little pup’ and was often at each other’s throats with Nagor. However, in 276 AE, Nagor anonymously reported inappropriate conduct between Lord Fenarros and the princess, causing the betrothal to be ended swiftly by the emperor. The princess, grieving of her failed betrothal, refused to be betrothed to anyone for a grace period of ‘seven years, after the seven gods of our realm’.

Imprisonment

In the early year of 278 AE, Nagor found out that The Pretender Empress is, in fact, not Cianantiras Alzefeni through mismatch in her medical records, where it was said that Cianantiras had become barren after Avaras’ birth. He kept his silence but raised the question to General Kael Vakveldir, who eventually confessed that it was him who found a woman who resembled Cianantiras Alzefeni and that she had been dead a long time ago.

Nagor kept the records and the testaments about The Pretender Empress with him, safekeeping it in Emperor Vierros’ old cache as he knows that no one, not even Vierros himself, open the old cache anymore. What Nagor did not know was that the same old cache is where Avaras also kept her diary, and she stumbled upon the medical records, testaments, and notes about her mother and found out that The Pretender Empress is not actually her mother.

Avaras brought the records to Vierros, demanding answers and explanations. Finding out that even her uncle, King Jaerros Alzari, knows of it yet kept it from her, Avaras confronted Nagor of whether he knew about her mother or if he was ‘just another man who thought a daughter does not deserve to know whatever happened to her mother’ as well. Nagor lied and convinced Avaras that he did not know and he only just learned about it from Avaras herself.

Hurt by her father’s lies, Avaras fled to Crimson Sanctuary and demanded Nagor to chaperone her. Vierros, not able to deny his daughter, agreed and wrote them a leave. As Nagor prepared Dune to saddle two, Avaras dismissed the Lady of Anguish, saying that her ‘service has been strung for too long, and it is her time to serve others’. It is unknown of what happened to Lady of Anguish after she left court.

After their arrival in Crimson Sanctuary, Avaras argued with Jaerros, leading her deeper into psychotic state. Enraged and believing that no one could be trusted but Nagor, Avaras proposed a marriage between herself and Nagor. Nagor refused, arguing that he had raised Avaras and saw her more as a sister or a daughter. This led to Avaras imprisoning him, promising only to let Nagor out when Nagor accepts her proposal.

Imperial Consort

During his imprisonment in Crimson Sanctuary, Avaras would frequently argued with Nagor, which led to her ordering the guards to starve him. After thirteen days, Nagor was moved to Eran the Traxei‘s old cage, where he saw visions of Eran. Twenty days later, he was moved to the old breeding pens in the Hall of Gratification, where his cousin, Tavelan Arethuzi, resides.

Nagor tried to appeal to Tavelan to persuade Jaerros to let him out, but Tavelan showed little sympathy, telling him to ‘rape the princess, and she will not wish to wed you after’, which angered Nagor and resulted in him and Tavelan having a physical fight. Jaerros removed Nagor from the Hall of Gratification and back to Eran’s old cage.

In his forty-seventh day of imprisonment, Nagor dreamt of Phyrozes and appealed for Avaras to bring him home, or at least let him see Dune. Avaras raised her proposal once more and was met with rejection. She then ordered her guards to bring a dead rugha’s talon and cut one clawed finger out, presenting it to Nagor on the fifty-eight day of his imprisonment and said that she will bring Dune ‘pieces by pieces’ until Nagor said yes. Nagor, believing that it was indeed Dune’s claw, finally said yes.