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โ APPEARANCE: Lean, muscular. Long-time warrior's build and fitness. He carries a host of battle scars, with visible ones around his face and head both from fighting and his father's assault: just off the corner of his eyebrow by his left temple, above his left ear in the shaved portion of his hair, and another curling from the top of his neck along the back of his head.
โ DEMEANOR: He's heard every possible joke about bastards being no good greedy, duplicitous, wanton backstabbers growing up, none of you are creative, you're not going to catch him on those charges, officer!!! He's modelled himself as the picture of a measured, cool cucumber, valuing self-discipline and emotional control to come at things with a clear head. The small dog in the room exuding big dog energy without having to raise his voice. A practitioner of "kill them with kindness" striving to be fair-minded to everyone (maybe even doling out a few too many second chances to people he shouldn't, if you ask some people ๐ฉ), who believes in diplomacy, justice, and courtesy, all the while sitting on a quietly smoldering grenade of unprocessed feelings that he'll take to the nearest bath to Lady Macbeth at himself about later, ty.
Although erring on the side of Big Heart Guy Fixes Your Problems more often than not, it's apparent exile has made him isolated and mistrustful, and his struggles letting people get close to him hampers his ability to take effective counsel and vice versa take people into his confidence.
โ VOICE: I | II
The bastard son of High King Uther Pendragon in the kingdom Dumnonia, part of a fractured Britain riddled with in-fighting between its many rulers and tribes, while facing the outside threat of a Saxon invasion. In battle, Arthur survives an enemy ambush that the trueborn prince, Mordred, does not. In a fit of rage and grief, Uther savagely beats him in front of the court and publicly strips him of his paternal claim, exiling him as Arthur ap Neb ("son of no one").
Eight years pass before Dumnonia produces another male heir, an infant once again named Mordred born on Uther's death bed. Arthur, having built himself up as a successful warlord in foreign lands, is summoned back as a stopgap to fill the power vacuum before enemies seize the throne. To supporters he stands as the best candidate to take the kingship in earnest and stabilize a dire situation; to detractors he's the bastard who would try to be a king above kings. Arthur agrees to rule insofar as protecting his baby half-brother's claim until he comes of age, in spite of Merlin's foretellings Mordred will bring destruction if allowed to take the throne.
EARLY LIFE
Welcome to the 5th century, baby, where magic and the gods are kinda sorta real depending how big a skeptic you are! Arthur is the bastard son of High King Uther Pendragon with his three bastard sistersโMorgan, Anna, and Morgauseโfathered by Uther with his mistress, the blacksmith Igraine of Gwynedd.
The youngest of the batch, Uther's attentions waned in light of Arthur's birth and consequently the family of five were sent away from Caer Cadarn, Dumnonia's seat, for a time. Igraine never forgave Arthur for this, for according to her "kings dote on their bastard daughters but fear their bastard sons." He remembers their mother being kinder to him than she actually was, telling him stories about Excaliburโthese stories, in fact, came from Morgan, the eldest. She remembers their childhood differently, with Arthur often being afraid of Igraine, constantly trying and failing to please her.
After Igraine's passing from fever, the four return to Caer Cadarn and are raised alongside their half-brother, the edling prince Mordred, so the girls can be used for marriage pacts. With a gift for augury, Morgan apprentices under Merlin, the most influential druid in Britain. As the only unwed sister left at court, Morgan remains chief of protective older sister operations and calling Arthur out when he's an idiot. She beats him at board games, that's how you know she's a witch.
Being pretty much the epitome of a loveless boy with perfectionist "pick me" energy oozing out of his pores, Arthur sought affection by excelling at everything he could, proving a triple threat: a warrior, a savvy political operator, and liked by the people (and if you believe Merlin, the gods). This really just ends up earning him the brunt of aspersions from both Uther and Mordred for "shining too brightly," compounded by Merlin blatantly favoring him as the one who should rule, born with all the forward-thinking intelligence and potential Mordred lacked.
EARLY-MID 20S | THE BANISHMENT YEARS
As the Saxons press their borders, Uther needlessly sends Mordred into battle and Mordred, not wanting his bastard brother to take the laurels for a successful campaign, makes a hasty miscalculation that results in his death. Arthur takes responsibility for the incident, but the whole of court basically knows it was dumbassery in action, and Uther is too headstrong to rescind his order of exile.
On his way out of the kingdom, Arthur saves the life of a young Saxon boy captured as a slave who had miraculously survived being impaled in a pit of spikes. He takes the boy to heal in Avalon, a sanctuary for misfits and outcasts, for Merlin to care for alongside Nimue as one of his foundlings. Derfel grows up among the Britons wishing to serve as one of Arthur's men-at-arms.
Arthur takes his skills honed in Dumnonia and further makes a name for himself fighting under King Ban in the Benoic kingdom, home to Lancelot and Galahad. He grows his war band from loyal, disciplined warriors, discouraging his followers from spouses and families, as well as banning the use of slaves for service or pleasure with the expectation they be entirely self-sufficient. Stories of the warlord without a single defeat follow him over the years.
EARLY 30S | THE BASTARD'S BACK IN TOWN
In his decline, Uther makes a pact with the treacherous Gundleus, king of the plundering and pillaging Silurians, in an effort to staunch the volatility between their kingdoms and ensure protection for Mordred. In exchange for safeguarding his son until he is ready to rule, Gundleus will marry the widowed Queen Norwenna and stand as regent over Dumnonia. However, upon Uther's death, the Silurians immediately raid Avalon in search of the queen and the newborn recuperating there after a traumatic birth. Gundleus proceeds to rape Nimue and murder both Queen Norwenna and Mordred's infant body double. Arthur returns with his men in time to prevent him killing the real Mordred.
He makes the contentious decision to start unclogging the political toilet by sparing the captive Gundleus, instead leveraging him against his benefactor and uncle, King Gorfydd of Powys, Dumnonia's longest-standing enemy. Arthur is one of the few who recognizes the future calamity that will be a full-scale Saxon incursion if the many kingdoms are busy doing their work for them killing each other.
Throughout, Merlin maintains his weirdly durable sword he rescued from his mother's old forge is in actuality the divine-forged Excalibur/Caledfwlch secretly placed there by Merlin for the time he would no longer be under Uther's shadow, and the more he works to restore it to its former glory the more in tune he becomes with it, but Merlin also says shit like "hurry up and throw that baby off a cliff" and "buck up, getting jettisoned by friends and family into exile is an exciting character-building experience!!!" so whO REALLY KNOWS. ๐คท
Stands as prince Tristan of Kernow's champion in trial by combat against his own childhood best friend and the champion of Dumnonia when Owain refuses to own up to crimes against Tristan's people. However, having begun training in Owain's service, Derfel admits the Dumnonians' guilt to Arthur as he was present to witness them slaughter an innocent family. After Owain's death, Arthur is formally pronounced Dumnonia's defender, protector, and de facto ruler. Derfel grows into one of Arthur's most trusted men.
With the aim of weakening the axis of Manson family evil between Siluria and Powys by forging a new alliance through betrothal to Gorfydd's daughter, Arthur sets out to marry princess Ceinwyn and secure peace. He returns eloped with Guinevere of Henis Wyren, and must reckon with having had an overwhelmingly head empty anxiety attack at the reality of an arranged marriage, fallen in love, pulled a runaway groom, pissed directly in Gorfydd's eye, put himself in the debt of the zealot Sansum who agreed to perform a lawful Christian marriage for their elopement, kicked over every jenga tower, and single-handedly helped instigate civil war.
Morgan and Guinevere might be eyeing each other like two wary cats introduced to the same house, but it's okay, three childless adults are fully capable of finding common ground looking clueless at each other interpreting baby gurgles. He burped, is this anything, is that normal.
Isca joins other regions in rebellion. Arthur is forced to kill the perpetual malcontent King Cadwys of Isca in single combat because fuck that Pendragon bastard. Hits a low point freaking out he spurred on the war he wanted to avoid thanks to marrying Guinevere, falling back into NO, FUCK YOU, FUCKERS until his big brain kicks back on.
Acting on a suspicion Nimue killed some of Sansum's followers after he had already intervened to prevent her killing Gundleus, he imprisons her on the Isle of the Dead, not realizing Uther had completely abandoned the old Roman caverns converted into a prison years before his death, which had devolved into the prisoners living entombed in cannibalistic nightmare fuel. Finding evidence Arthur may have been mistaken as to her guilt, Derfel angrily defies his orders to leave the matter and sets out to free her. Upon accepting his hasty judgement and following to assist Derfel, Arthur has an ugly (figurative) come to Jesus moment seeing with his own eyes the tangible consequences of rulers' neglect. He recognizes the need to grapple with the old wounds that have habitually led him to go it alone and rely more on his allies when he starts going off the rails, and that doing the same for Britain must be a group effort, not a one man authoritarian shit show in order to avoid heading down the same heavy-handed road as Uther. He renews his resolve to end the war he contributed to.
After Ceinwyn alerts them her vengeful father intends to ally with the Saxons to take the high throne, and with Tristan's aid for the friendship shown to Kernow, they get ahead of Powys in cutting their own deal with the Saxons. Despite Arthur's extreme reservations allowing the Saxons to take any more land, Guinevereโthe realist holding the sawed off shotgun in this marriageโis able to secure a temporary stay of aggression for Dumnonia in exchange for a hidden way behind Gorfydd's defensive line, sacrificing some of Powys' territory for time to win one war before fighting another.
This version of Arthur is from the The Winter King TV adaptation! I am not yet familiar with The Warlord Chronicles book series so content will be primarily showverse. ๐
At the moment I'm likely to default to anywhere pre-1.07 (weddinggate) as I get my feet wet. I'm also very down for exploring a younger Arthur in his 20s during his years away, maybe riffing off his travels as a convenient way to cobble up a thread premise together.
โ BACKTAGGING: This is where I live. Happy to truck along until the heat death of the universe.
โ THREADJACKING: Generally a green light with a heads up.
โ FOURTHWALLING: That he's that King Arthur, go ahead.
โ OFFENSIVE SUBJECTS: As a warning for his canon, it falls into standard issue triggery grimdark fantasy fare including but not limited to sexism, sexual assault, infanticide, and crucifixion, among uncomfy realities in war time. Just give me a heads up if there's anything you'd like to discuss or avoid.
โ AFFECTION: Fire away. He won't shy away from the touchy feely, but whether he'll invite/initiate more personal bubble-invasion outside your usual small, polite gestures like arm touches and shoulder pats is dependent on their relationship and the mood. He's at his most relaxed and goofy with his men, followed by his sister, and the people who have made it into his inner circle who he's comfortable letting loose that side of himself.
โ ROMANCE/FLIRTING: Yes. Have you ever seen a smart person be incredibly unsmooth in one area of life? Yeah.
โ VIOLENCE/FIGHTING: OOCly, go for it. ICly, Arthur is stated to be an accomplished swordsman who proves able to defeat Dumnonia's own champion. Same goes for tactics and strategy, though as he puts it, he's good at war but doesn't love it with the same passion as some. He'll typically resort to trying to defuse a situation before resorting to a fight, but he won't shy away from it if it comes to it.
โ INJURIES: Yes, let's plot.
โ KILLING: Let's plot it out first.
โ TELEPATHY/MIND READING ABILITIES: Knock yourself out, he's just a dude with no defences against this.
โ SHIPPING:
• Open to pretty much all manner of cross canon and canon, m/f and m/m.
• Slight pref for m/m being that Arthur "why get a girlfriend when I can share all my emotional intimacies with my boys" Pendragon is truly a vibe, lmaoooo. Pretty sure that's a Spice Girls lyric, if you want to be my lover, you better be nice to Lanval and Sagramor. :(
• Sorry to Arthuriana, I'm not terribly interested in shipping iterations of Arthur/Guinevere beyond the ramifications of their relationship within Winter King context (we stan Ceinwyn in this house, tbh, get you a cute, sweet princess who rolls up her sleeves and saves everyone from themselves). That said, totally here for playing around with similarly themed arranged marriages, disasterships, infatuations screwing up carefully laid plans aaaaaaaah, making a repressed dweeb go to the mat with head vs. the heart conflicts, etc.
• If playing from his current day canon point, I'm open to 18+ with discussion or a pitch on how that dynamic might go. Arthur leans toward partners closer in age at 25+.