Duke Volarian Redfist - The Loving Father
Duke Redfist is, without any doubt, the best parental figure in all of Arkain. He is loving, caring,
patient, proud of his children, joyful and the perfect image of a father in all ages.
Okay, joking aside, I am sure everyone in this forum, even the Redfist fans who think he did
nothing wrong, knows that he is not that person - not anymore that is, we will never know
what kind of father he would have been if Rangul had not raided that mansion. I will tell you,
however, that he really was what he told Rangul before he killed him: Redfist was a better man,
a good man. The day he lost is family was the day that broke him. He never found the same
love and happiness he had with Stephanie and Vanessa with his new family and was consumed
by his pure anger. Orie is the only child that he actually doesn't dislike and actually treats relatively
well.
So, he used to have the ability to become a great father and lost it when Rangul took his first
family from him and became a bad father instead.
1/5
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Gardon Bloodclaw - The Ca'laer
Despite him not really giving the impression of a good father during the war, Gardon turned out
to be a caring and loving father. His own childhood has taught him many hard-learned lessons
and he tries to be a better father than his own was, this is shown especially in his treatment
of Velina, I think that made it very apparent how he felt about her and Parlea.
You can also say that his children (along with many other factors during and after the war)
had an impact on his personality - he is still Gardon, don't worry. After the war, he also had
time to think about things and, as
@Kasrkin already said, it was both good and bad for him.
There's some hints regarding this in the existing short stories about the time after the war.
At the same time, he is still in charge of a large human nation and has almost no time for anything.
He still makes the time.
In my opinion, Gardon is doing as good as he can. He may not be the best example from a moral
standpoint, I think we can all see that given how he deals with problems, but he is caring.
And goddamnit, his children managed to make him smile, Birram was actually worried about them
and even Thanok, that cold-hearted and hot-tempered dragon, felt pride.
5/5
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King Dorten - The old King
His son's disappearanace hit Dorten very hard, so he definitely cared a great deal for him.
So he does for his daughter (and now heir) Felicia. He became older and weaker as time went
by and later left most matters to his daughters, having absolute trust in her persona and abilities.
Dorten loves both his son and his daughter and still silently hopes that he will see his son again
one day though he feels that it is a foolish thing to believe in and therefore keeps his hope to himself.
5/5
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Merlon Seabright - The single Admiral
There is not much to be said about Merlon's qualifications as a parent. He was with her mother and left her.
He never had the chance to be a father. If he had survived the events of the war, he would have tried
to meet with his daughter to try and make up with her - it would have been hard but he would have tried.
0/5
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Renald van Durce - The High Lord Inquisitor
I did not really show much interaction between the Lord Inquisitor and his daughter. However, given
that his daughter took it upon her to travel all the way over to Arkain to find the murderer of her father
(and of her husband too) shows that she either cared for the High Lord or at the very least feels obliged
to do that - meaning that she did not
openly hate him. Knowing Renald's character, it goes without
saying that she may not have "loved" him but he still was her father and, despite his character flaws,
he was not a bad man. He could have lived in peace and luxury and instead took up his armor and weapon
to fight.
However, since we cannot talk that much about his daughter, let us talk about him and his step-son.
It is pretty easy to see that the two disliked each other. Gardon hated van Durce's arrogance and
his open dislike of the "bastard" Gardon. Van Durce on the other hand did not trust Gardon and did not
hesitate when he was ordered to send Gardon into a trap - at the same time he did not personally deal
with Gardon to give the latter a chance to prove himself. When he finally realized that he had been wrong,
he felt nothing but guilt and wanted to give Gardon a chance to leave, to stop the conflict. But at that
point, it had been too late, neither faction was willing to give the other an inch and so the battle was inevitable.
And van Durce lost that battle yet Gardon did not feel satisfied and instead, deep in his heart, felt sorrow.
Many years later, Gardon would even wish that there had been a better way to solve the situation.
The thing that Gardon did not know, that van Durce kept to himself even in his final hours, is that Renald,
below his arrogance, his pride and his massive ego, CARED for the bastard prince which was the true reason
why he had hesitated to fight against Gardon himself. When Gardon was still young, Renald had been
hard on the boy because he had wanted him to be the very best, feeling that Gardon could be exactly that:
the best of them all. Since Gardon's true father had pretty much ignored Gardon apart from letting him rise
through the ranks, Renald was the only one who really gave Gardon a reason to train (before Gardon had fully
embraced the dark arts taught by Brian). The hatred Gardon had felt for van Durce was what kept him going
for a long time. Renald was the one who truly encouraged Gardon to be more than just a bastard.
Does this make him a good father? Not really but it shows that there is more than meets the eye.
In the end, you could say, that Renald cared more about Gardon than the old Emperor.
3/5
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Zarin Hammerfall - The High King of the Dwarves
Zarin did not give the best impression as a caring parent in his short story. He cut his daughter short and
was rather repellent, however, this is to blame more on his troubled mind and the tradionalist ways of his
people than being a bad father.
The Dwarves are traditionalist people. While family is important in their society, first and foremost Zarin
was their high king. That meant that he was not supposed to be apporoached just like that - and dwarven
visitors were expected only to speak when asked to, even if they are kin. In public, children were also
not to interrupt their parents.
Apart from this, Zarin loved his children. However, it has also hardened him that now his daughter is all
that remains within the Dwarven lands that he can consider close kin. His wife died giving childbirth to
his daughter. Zarin is not a bad father, but he certainly is not the best.
2/5
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Rangul - Warchief of the Deathbreeze
The future of both his family and his people has always been the most important thing to Rangul. He took
care of his children and raised them - he also raised Vanessa as his own daughter although she was not
only not his own child but also of another race - a race his people were at war with. He also would have
accepted Amari if he hadn't been forced to send her away when the rest of the clan found out about her
tendencies. While he loved his son, he was well aware of Sasrogarn's shortcomings.
When Vanessa was caught, he had been worried about her and when she returned to him, he couldn't help
but feel that the Humans had corrupted her somehow to make her suggest things that he considered
impossible - like peace with the Humans. He even threatened her - even though he did not believe in his
own threats. He never really saw the two races living together and turned out to be rather conservative
despite his attempts to change his people. Only when his original plan fell apart, he started to realize that
he had been wrong in so many ways and did not have the gut to apologize Vanessa. He died by the hands
of the man he stole Vanessa from before he could fully change.
We are all aware of Rangul's mistakes, but keep this in mind: He must have made some things right at least
when it came to treating his children right as both Amari, whom he had exiled, Vanessa, whom he had threatened,
and Sasrogarn mourned his death.
The irony here is that Rangul could have become a better father if he had lived longer. At the same time,
the man who killed him, Redfist, too would have been a good father if Rangul had never raied his mansion.
These two ruined each other's life, preventing each other from becoming the person they should have been.
2/5
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Queen Renova - Queen of the Elves
Renova did not really have much of a chance to be a mother. On one hand she brought her baby children
to safety and gave them to an undead, the very man who had killed her mother (she hated her though)
to protect them. On the other hand, she was not fully herself and she gave her children to an UNDEAD.
Still, the Ironfist would most likely have killed the babies to avoid further civil war among the Elves so
she chose the option that was more likely to bring her children into safety.
1/5
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Queen Keera - Fallen Queen of the Elves
When Renova was still a child who did as she was told, even if begrudgingly at times, Keera was proud
of her daughter and raised her in the same luxury and wealth she had been raised in. At the same time,
she actually spent only very little time with her daughter. When Renova became an adult and did not want
to continue being the girl that was kept inside the palace, Keera imprisoned her for not respecting her wishes
as soon as she had found out about her daughter leaving the palace whenever she managed to sneak out of it.
At the same time, she also was afraid that something could happen to her daughter - the two never talked again
after Renova was imprisoned inside her chamber. Renova felt that Keera had never cared for her and started to
hate her. Keera did not realize her mistakes until her death - far too late of course.
She was a poor ruler, a bad role model for her daughter and her people and, finally, a bad mother.
0/5
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Queen Kasraazs - Queen of the Black Dragons
These lips are sealed.
0/0
