Taras Arath



 Name  : Taras Arath

 Age  : 24

 Occupation  : Stable master, now Commander of Rough Riders

 Likes  : Animals, especially horses, being in control

 Dislikes  : Talking about his parents, being emotional, alcohol, being surrounded by many people

Taras is the seventh son of farmer Artem Arath. In addition to the family having 7sons, they have 4 daughters. The child count would be even higher, but two of Taras’ brothers died at birth and the last one of his sisters passed away of smallpox when she was only two along with their mother Ilona.

The death of the adorable lastborn together with the loving and caring mother tore the family to pieces, driving the already distant father even further away from his children and to the brink of insanity. As the father fell into deep depression, the children had to start running the huge farm, which was nothing new to them since they had always taken part in all the chores ever since they could walk. It became Taras’ job to take care of the horses, feed them, train them and breed more to be sold. He loved being around the horses, always had. They had been there for him since a child, calmly listening to the little boy’s worries and secret dreams.

As said the family’s father was extremely strict. One could argue that with as many children as he had you had to have a firm control, but his controlling nature and upbringing methods were perhaps a bit too extreme. Still there was no keeping the army of young boys away from mischief. Inside the farm fences they were little angels, behaving well and calling dad Sir and mom Ma’am, but as soon as they exited the front gate, their true wild nature broke free. The boys scuffled together, bullied and hazed each other and constantly competed who was the toughest, bravest or the best in this and that. Still they loved each other dearly, sharing a strong bond of brotherhood. When one of the brothers was bullied by a group of outsiders or done wrong in some other way, the rest of the brothers would always stand up for one of their own, making sure they got a payback.

When the orcs and raiding bandits first began their attacks, Taras started going for nightly scouting rides. Whenever he discovered a band of orcs or bandits, he would gather up some of the other brothers and their friends from the nearby farms and ride out to drive them away. However as the unrest in the kingdom grew and the orc attacks got worse and more organized, the remaining family decided it was too dangerous to keep running the large farm with no big nearby settlements to offer protection. The sisters and the now very ill father, accompanied by 4 of the brothers packed their most valuable belongings and started towards Dewport to take the first ship and look for a new home. Taras together with his brothers Ivar and Aron and their best childhood friend Mihal decided to stay behind. They were fighters and they loved the land and there was enough of brothers already escorting the sisters and the father to safety. This was what they had become, reckless, fearless, relentless hunters of orcs, the Rough Riders. 