If one word was used to describe Arden’s appearance, that word would be “unremarkable”.  One feature he has going for him is his relative height; at 6 feet he towers over roughly half of the people he meets, although none of them would find him imposing.  Arden is outwardly very outgoing, and his attempts to be accommodating are often viewed as a bit much by people around him.  He is generally viewed as a polite and helpful, if zealous, young man. 

This is somewhat of a misconception.

Arden grew up the son of a duke in a little-known backwater duchy called Ventwith.  His father, Morden Ventwith, was a short-tempered and disagreeable man, keenly aware of the great divide between the power that he wanted and the power that he actually wielded.  Many in Gaia see violence as a solution to the problems that beset them; Arden’s father was too narrow-minded to see any solution except violence.  He was expert at finding pretenses to battle, and would often come against those local leaders unlucky enough to share a border with him.  Above all else, he wanted land, power, and respect, and fought for it in vain until he grew too old to campaign and battle.  But the man was also dedicated, and saw his only son as the means to achieve what he no longer could.

Arden had been trained since youth to be like his father.  He was set before the head of his duchy’s conscripted army, which unfortunately would require something on the scale of divine assistance to put a dent in the neighboring territories.  He was trained in the use of shield and broadsword, in strategy and tactics.  He was even trained in the distasteful art of what father’s called the “last resort”, diplomacy. But none of it really took.  His skill, while adequate, would never be extraordinary, but unlike his father, Arden did not realize this.

What Arden did inherit was his father’s ambition, his obsession, his stupidity, and his utter lack of ability to attain what he wanted in life.  One cloudless summer night, Arden led his troops deep into the camp of an opposing army.  His father had heard tell of a magical artifact that gave their troops instant telepathic contact with each other, which was as good an explanation as any for the way they constantly outflanked and outmaneuvered Arden’s own men.  Arden decided that he himself would lead a small group of men to retrieve the artifact, mostly to honor his father’s wishes, but also in some small dark way to empower himself.  Even Arden’s own thoughts were alien to him, having been so ingrained into the spirit, if not exactly the letter, of his father’s teachings.

Arden’s small army never found the truth of the artifact.  It was a bad plan, poorly implemented, indicative of Arden’s desire to act without understanding the cost.  His small band was routed; with Arden himself only able to escape through the luck afforded only the most foolish.  He returned to his home country, disgraced.  His father, who only in the best of times saw Arden as a means to an end, now finally realized he had put his eggs in the wrong basket.  In his fury, he stripped Arden of his titles; his wealth; and finally, his family name.

Arden was an outcast.  Unaccustomed to the life of a commoner, let alone a peasant, his first few years are best left unremarked upon.  It suffices to say that the experiences left Arden more determined and cynical, if not more able to function in this new world he found himself in.  Eventually he found that one with his weapon skill could find some merit as an adventurer, although he found the work itself unpleasant, so at odds with his previous life it was.