Thael

Thael is a former member of the Lekapos family, a direct descendant of Metsis Lekapos, and current Lord Kastairn of the South. He holds a place in the Southern Concord alongside his wife Dunaetha, and is the brother-in-law of Avandias.

Appearance
Shorter than his wife, Thael sports a stocky frame, soft around the middle with limbs unused to any kind of labor. His hands and arms are scarred from his past as an avid blood mage - he usually wears sleeves long enough to hide the marks. He prefers subdued colors for his robes, muted blues and reds and dark grays, and the only adornment he chooses is a simple royal circlet and his wedding band. While the second of the pair of Kastairn amulets should have been passed to him upon his marriage to Dunaetha, he chose to let Avandias keep it to remember his father by. His complexion is somewhat pale for a Southerner, and his skin freckles easily in the sun, evident across his face and shoulders. His receding hair is a blend of the Lekapos red and gray, and his eyes are the icy Lekapos blue. Due to some arthritis in his hip, Thael has taken to using a cane when he walks.

Background
Thael married into the Lekapos' rival family nine years ago and inherited the title of Lord Kastairn from Avandias with their union. His family made several threats on his life if he went through with it, and ended up disowning him entirely, though they were never able to lay a hand on him and could not stop him from sharing his knowledge of blood magic with the Kastairns for their phylactery research. Though saddened by the loss of the only family he had known, Thael was warmly welcomed by Avandias into his new one and soon forgot the cruel ways of the Lekapos. There was a brief time when the three of them felt invincible against the world and the future of the South looked bright. Of course it came crashing down with the murder of Anthias. While Thael recognized that Avandias could not be held completely responsible for the tragedy, he did not fight Dunaetha's decision to banish him, finding it hard to look his brother in the eye after seeing him drenched in his son's blood.

In the following years, Thael continued to be the quiet listener to his wife's commanding voice, supporting her through all her decisions and pacifying her when her temper threatened irrational action. When Dunaetha grew distant after their daughter's birth, he took the role of main caregiver, though much of the child's tending is still left to servants and occasionally Dunaetha's mother. He does not hate Avandias for what transpired, but it hurts him nonetheless and he believes the best way to move past it is without him in the picture, even after his intervention with their allies that saved the South.

Observer
Always known for being softspoken even among the Lekapos, Thael has a trained ear for information and picks up on the slightest clues. While he leaves most of the talking to Dunaetha when possible, he reads the room during conversation and files every spoken word into his mental library. He is always thinking of how knowledge might be used for gain, even if that knowledge is ill-gotten.

Blood Magic
Like nearly all living members of the Lekapos family, Thael has carried the benediction of blood from Bal-Sunar since he was a young man. His many years practicing the art has led him to be quite adept in all the major sigil spells. Though blood phylactery creation remained a secret he was not privy to while in his first family, he uncovered the secret to their creation shortly after Avandias left, and shared it with Dunaetha. They both determined that such knowledge could not be used or shared; the research was all destroyed, and after the tragedy blood magic had caused in their family, Thael ceased use of his benediction entirely.

Language
As a noble, Thael is well versed in most of the Southern dialect's variants in addition to Kalon's common tongue, though he has not mastered all of them. He is passable in a few Eastern tongues as well.

Extra

 * As all Lekapos are, Thael was a strict follower of Bal-sunar before coming into the Kastairn family. He picked up the ways of Dhanir soon after, but these days he is not especially religious or devoted to either Celestial.