Command and Succession
Daryas is the king of Soltheris after Aurion abdicates. Before taking the throne, he is Commander Daryas, Aurion's close Soltheris officer and practical administrator in Zeydrith and the Luminary Halls. He coordinates defenses, prepares records, directs mages and soldiers, and often keeps Soltheris functioning while Aurion builds orreries, opens the eastern mountain route, and sends expeditions into the Land of Darkness.
Personality and Skills
Daryas is direct, pragmatic, and hard to impress. He challenges Aurion's riskier ideas, questions the cost of overwhelming magic, and focuses on concrete needs such as evacuations, supplies, housing, farming, troop readiness, paperwork, and rebuilding. His authority rests on organization and judgment; before the crown, Aurion leans on him inside Soltheris, Daryas sends council updates to Aldar, and Daryas and Kaelric manage council rooms, armies, records, and logistics.
Daryas is compact and thick-armed, with hazel eyes. He wears armor during military duty and later wears the crown as king.
History
During Aurion's reign, Daryas defends Soltheris against the Land of Darkness. At Dravemir and when darkness creatures attack Soltheris's southern villages, he tracks harbinger activity, coordinates mages and soldiers, warns about the political and human cost of Aurion's essence use, and prepares armies when the darkness returns. He also supervises Aurion's project to carve a passage through the eastern Soltheris mountains; the work later hits an obsidian mine and becomes the route toward Thundermarch.
When Aurion publicly abdicates in Irrathis, he names Daryas as his successor. Daryas accepts the crown, formalizes the transition through records and a crowning, and immediately turns Soltheris toward reconstruction: houses, supplies, farming, outside help from Feryon, and completion of the mountain tunnel. Soltheris accepts him quickly because he had already been doing much of the work from behind the throne.
As king, Daryas governs from Zeydrith, hosts visiting allies, handles diplomacy, and coordinates military and council intelligence with Aldar, Orin, Feryon, and Xarion. He sends Soltheris's reports and requests to Xalmyrra's council.
Relationships
Daryas is Aurion's old friend and most trusted check on his ambition. In the Soltheris court, he shares command and advisory work with Kaelric, Astheron, and Seralyth, and Kaelric remains loyal to him after the succession. He also maintains a friendly council partnership with Aldar, who values his competence in council and wartime coordination.
Significant Events
At Aurion's request, Daryas preserves Seralyth's body beneath the Luminary Halls. When Aurion later returns with the spiral shard, Daryas leads him to the preserved body before Aurion restores Seralyth.