Arrivals and Departures
Arriving in The Sol System, Ardwynn was awed by the footage brought back by Uldren. It stoked a fire in him, and his friends, whom shared similar ideas to him. The situation was worse than they could've imagined. Esila's exclamation was exactly what they were thinking.
"What are we waiting for?" she calls. "That's everything we came to find! They need us, and that's where we belong! ... We have to go to them! Our ships, our technology—we could make all the difference."
It was exactly how Ardwynn felt, perhaps even more deeply than the historian speaking up to Mara. It was exactly why Ardwynn's ire for the Sov sister festered and burned when she said no. What were they there for if not that? Isn't this their entire purpose?
When the riot happened, Ardwynn and his friends (Johannes, Tian Yu, and Yulia) were among them. Kieran intercepted, attempting to stop them, but was talked down by a smiling Ardwynn, left with a promise.
"I promise I won't die on that pretty little rock. Wouldn't be very heroic of me to die, now would it?"
The four Awoken would crash land on Earth and be immediately beset by danger and doubts. Ardwynn had the delusion that the Sovs would split. Mara remaining in The Reef, and Uldren, who had seen everything first hand, would join them on Earth. He also noted that many of their compatriots also agreed with the sentiment to leave. There had to be so many of them down there now! It'd only be a matter of time. They'd meet up, and everything would be fine.
Everything would be fine.
It would be a few weeks of dodging Fallen patrols, hunting, and scraping by before they'd wander into a fortress settlement. By sheer dumb luck, they wandered into the territory of Warlord Shaxx. They were met with gawking eyes and confusion. They looked human, but... not. After a lengthy discussion with the locals, and the Warlord himself, they agreed to stay and aid them in return for shelter. In time, they would grow antsy, especially when they heard tales of refugees falling prey to bandits and Fallen alike out in the wilds.
They would decide to go and act as escorts for these people, help ensure they got to safety. Yulia was well trained, and despite the unfamiliar terrain, was still an expert tracker. Johannes was handy and a skilled scavenger, he'd at least help them stay alive and fed out there. They had plenty of firepower between both Ardwynn and Tian Yu. They had a few successful missions, generally escorting people back to Shaxx's own territory, as they were warned to be leery of other Warlords. Not all of them were as understanding and fair as Shaxx. Their lucky streak hit a hitch when they passed through an area marked as "The Cosmodrome". Hidden, but surrounded down by Fallen, they had to make a choice. Run and potentially lead them back to camp, or stand their ground, and most likely die valiantly.
It was at this time that Ardwynn earned what is now in modern day his most notable feature -- the scar running down his face. He made the split second decision to bolt out and act as bait to lead the Fallen on a merry goosechase, away from the scouting party and the camp. He got the scar in the fight that followed when a spear wielding dreg slashed his face. He doesn't recall fully the events that followed, other than the high of adrenaline that fueled him during the encounter, and the act of nearly being shot the night he caught up with the rest of the caravan.
Her Name Was Grace
Upon returning home, a woman that had taken a shine to Ardwynn promptly pulled him aside and asked him to marry her when she saw the bandages on his face. "Since you seem to keen on dyin' out there, I better snatch you up now before I lose the opportunity."
She was a human woman named "Grace". She had arrived as a child, and was largely raised by those that lived in the fortress territory of Shaxx. She grew into a strong woman with hard, but kind dark eyes and a whip sharp mind. She ran the tavern that had been the site of the rounds of questions people had for the four Awoken when they arrived. Ardwynn had wasted no time in tossing compliments her way, an act his friends admonished him for. Grace was used to it, though she heard it a touch less now that gray hair was starting to show in her brown hair.
Though... none of the men that hit on her were 6'3 with blue skin and hair, and glowing orange eyes, or from outer space. Those were all fairly novel.
Over time, she was moved by his unwavering sense of humor and bright demeanor. He was like sunshine, ever unyielding in his hopeful smile. She didn't mind that he seemed to be a little bit of a naive airhead. His hope and love and wonder and tenacity were all a lovely breath of fresh air amidst the misery of the situation of the world.
Ardwynn happily said yes to marriage, rather taken by her, too.
The pack remained for a while, returning to simply living and guarding the fortress, as Ardwynn settled into married life.
But again, they got antsy.
Ardwynn was surprised when Grace did not, in fact, try to stop him. The opposite happened: she encouraged him. She knew well enough by now that his compass strongly pointed towards helping people, and holing up there, helping her run a tavern, wasn't going to satisfy him.
She'd be there when he returned. Her only mission for him was to do exactly that, return to her.
Little did she realize she'd need to be his guiding light, his shelter to keep his fire of hope burning.
And Then There Was One
The hiccup of a mission would've been a turning point in the missions of the pack, as after that, things became rocky. Fallen ambushes, bandit ambushes, getting lost... They had one where they had to learn how to dodge and deal with Lightbearers that did not have their best intentions in mind. (They learned that they could bury or trap Ghosts to delay them reviving their respective Risen.)
Then they started to drop like flies.
Johannes was the first. They were ambushed by Fallen and forced into a shoot out. Johannes and Ardwynn were pinned behind a ruined bit of building. They didn't see the Vandal that had flanked them.
"I still remember the crackling sound, and the smell of burnt flesh after it hit him."
Ardwynn would bear witness a moment too late to Johannes being headshot.
The rest of them made it out, but at what cost. Ardwynn would be reluctant to return out beyond the safety of the fortress. It was Grace that talked him into it. She soon regretted it.
The answered a radio transmission. There were some people fleeing another territory of a tyrannical Warlord and needed safe passage. It wasn't entirely untrue. There were people in need of help.
But there were more that were using them as bait.
Tian Yu perished in the ensuing skirmish, sacrificing himself with a grenade, as the three of them were otherwise far too outnumbered. The surprised blast would wipe out a good number of the bandits, and buy Yulia and Ardwynn time to flee with those that were innocent.
Ardwynn and Yulia would settle in to life guarding the fortress and helping Grace run the bar after that. It would be at least five years before they headed out again. This time, Grace protested. She could see the light starting to go out in her husband's eyes. The hopeful boy she married was losing that hope. They rarely encountered other Awoken, and if they did, they were just as ramshackle as them. The Awoken tech they came to Earth with had long since broken and been repaired multiple times to the point of being kitbashed. They were rough. Beaten down.
"We could make all the difference."
They weren't making a difference. They were just dying out there.
But... they were making a difference there, in that fortress, and the area surrounding it. Sometimes people smiled, children played. People felt safe here. It... was something. It was a small hope. And Ardwynn still had Yulia, too. She was like a sister to him.
Grace was afraid of him losing what he had left, and losing hope. She wanted him to be happy with what he had.
His stubborn inner voice telling him he wasn't doing enough won out. Yulia wasn't a fan of the idea of trying this business again, either. Not when it was just the two of them. Ardwynn and his hard head wouldn't listen. They could still accomplish something, even if it's just the two of them.
He eventually wore Yulia down, and a few months later they set out. They found a caravan that already had some folk that were armed. They were happy for the assistance, given that they already had a destination in mind. A settlement elsewhere, not Shaxx's territory, but further northeast. Yulia and Ardwynn weren't actually familiar with the area, but they agreed all the same.
Scouting ahead, they encountered a small detachment of bandits. Four total. It was Ardwynn's idea to dispatch them rather than avoid them. Better yet, take their guns and munitions, and whatever else they had from their corpses. Yulia wasn't sure she liked this newly developed side of Ardwynn, the side he'd been hiding from Grace, but she couldn't argue with the pragmatism. The caravan was running low on supplies and bullets as it was when they joined up with them. They could use a leg up, and the bandits wouldn't be missed.
So they ambushed them.
Dispatching them in such a manner proved fruitful as they rifled through their corpses. Ardwynn finished up and started to head onwards as Yulia called back that she was almost done. Ardwynn was only clued into something being wrong when he heard Yulia shrieking in pain as a Solar grenade was thrust into her chest by the Risen as she turned back around when she heard a noise behind her. The man's Ghost had been smart enough to wait until they were leaving to revive him.
Ardwynn's fight or flight senses kicked in upon realizing the very real danger he was in as Yulia went down in smoldering Solar Light, and he bolted. He learned that day just how badly Solar Light burns as the Risen nailed him in the back with something burning bright with Solar Light, burning through his clothing, the bit of armor he had, and melting skin.
Through the haze of shock and pain, he eventually registered the the gunshot that took the Risen out, and the woman that approached him, her armor bearing the decorations of trees and leaves, as did the cape that billowed out behind her. She would ultimately carry him back to the caravan, and successfully guide them to their destination.
She would insist he stay there, as he was badly wounded, not to mention what got burned the worst was his dominant side. He could barely use his right arm, let alone aim a gun. During the six months he was laid up, he'd learn this woman was an Iron Lord. She would reappear on occasion, checking in on the settlement, and him. On one of these visits he would get her name, in exchange for why he was so eager to leave, despite being unable to protect himself now.
Her name was Lady Efrideet.
Ardwynn eventually made it back to Shaxx's fortress, and to Grace, via Efrideet, though she herself didn't approach. She only made sure he got back safely. He never went on any more outings, not while Grace was alive. Instead he spent the time helping her, especially as the years wore on, and learning to make his left hand his dominant hand for everything. He at least had the luck of being able to (mostly) peacefully live out the remaining years of Grace's life with her, doing his best to put on a smile for her, even if his heart hurt, even if deep down, he'd lost hope. She ultimately succumbed to a combination of illness and old age. Due to her condition prior to her passing, he failed to notice the visits of another Iron Lord to see his lord.
The Wanderer
When Shaxx led his people away to join the rest under The Traveler, Ardwynn declined to follow, going his own way. He wanted no part of taking refuge under something that seemed to hinder more than help, in his eyes.
With a bitter and lonely heart, he became a wanderer -- a very lucky wanderer. No matter the scrape, he managed to live through the ordeal. Physically, anyway. Mentally... that was a different story.
Sometimes, Ardwynn was a source of aid to people. He still tried to help people where he could, bouncing from settlement to settlement, though they started drying up as more and more people journeyed to take shelter beneath The Traveler.
When push came to shove, however, when his stomach rumbled and he felt exhaustion tug at him, sometimes... Ardwynn was also a knife in the back.
Hope. Justice. Heroes. What good were they now? His friends were dead. His people refused to help, dragged here by a lie, and his hero, his inspiration, ended up being a sycophant to the one that told the lie, as he eventually learned in a chance meeting with Uldren. He spent a great many years mentally wrestling with bitterness and a growing sense of nihilism.
And regret. If he hadn't fallen for those words, those false hopes, he would still be in The Distributary, with his friends no less. They'd all be there. Happy.
Too late now.
A decades later run in with his old lord in the beginnings of The Last City, and the tail end of the Dark Ages, resulted in a change of perspective. Shaxx had a way with words, and it seemed to have some effect on Ardwynn. While The Speaker's words fell on deaf ears, Shaxx's didn't. Still, Ardwynn did not join him there. He only aided the peoples of the burgeoning city before doing as always, wandering elsewhere.
