Kayal's history (updated)

Born and raised in Hassaleh, Kayal lived a fairly normal life, growing up to be a Caplin herder as well as an occasional beast-tamer of the local wildlife outside of the village. It wasn't until he was eighteen that imperial troops arrived to capture Hassalite men into forced servitude. Although Kayal was among them, he managed to escape capture, stealing one of their ships and flying off. Unfortunately, due to being a villager in a backwater with no technological experience, he ended up getting caught in a mysterious blizzard, unexpectedly crashing into the Ice Lands of Wazn.

As he had no way to battle the cold winds or the snow creatures that wandered, Kayal would have been left to die in the snow, if not for the sudden vision the Ice Queen had, sending her knights to rescue this outsider. Taken to the castle, he recovered after only a few days thanks to the magic wielded by the witch-guardians, the likes of which he thought were only the stuff of legends. Upon his recovery, he made an audience with the leaders of the Ice Lands; the wise and kind Queen Nadia, and her prince consort at the time (name to be decided), a man as cold as Wazn itself. Whereas the prince was distrustful of the beast-tamer, unbelieving that his arrival was accidental as well as viewing him as a 'Taintblood', Nadia was much more understanding and sympathetic, hearing him out and allowing the young man a place in the castle, much to her husband's chagrin.

Despite the wariness on him from some of the castle staff, mostly perpetrated by the prince, it would only take a couple of weeks before Kayal would earn their trust, thanks to an event that nearly sent everyone into a panic. The White Dragon, Wazn's protector and symbol, had gone into a sudden frenzy, snapping at knights that were otherwise trusted and making the prince consider "putting the beast down", despite everyone's protest. However, in spite of the prince's orders for him to stay out of this, Kayal brought his expertise in beast-taming to the fore, not only standing against the dragon's wrath without fear, but actually making her back down and calm down, allowing him to pinpoint the source of her trouble. This not only won the trust and respect of the castle staff and the knights (sans the prince), but would also lead to Kayal and Nadia to interact more, as people rather than a queen and her subject, developing an attraction and genuine feelings for each other over time.

Seven years would pass, the beast-tamer going from a guest of the castle to a member of the Wazn knights, acting as a rider for the White Dragon thanks to their bond of trust. Throughout the years, Kayal and Nadia had fallen in love, in spite of the latter's arranged marriage to someone else. Though this affair was kept secret within the castle; even the prince putting up with it, thinly veiled disdain notwithstanding; things took a turn when it was discovered that Nadia was pregnant, not with her husband's child, but Kayal's. Not only did this shake things up among the castle staff, worries over a potential scandal breaking out, but the prince, out of spite, decided to reveal the truth to Kayal.

Supposedly in private, the prince revealed that the Ice Queen's role was to either give up her life to release the Ocean into a newly restored world, or give it up to pass that burden on to her daughter, gloating that Kayal had inadvertently doomed Nadia and their child no matter what. He also revealed his true scheme: letting the Ice Queen die so that, as her prince consort, he would take her place and take over the throne. Though Kayal threw a wrench in the plan with his affair, the prince was undeterred, further gloating that either Nadia passes her role to her daughter and thus letting her die, or Nadia dies in her role and her daughter lives as the current queen until an 'accident' strikes, he would get what he wants either way; the only thing that stood in his way was Kayal himself. The attempted usurper left the beast-tamer with an ultimatum: either he leaves Wazn and never shows his face again, or he faces possible execution when word spreads that he 'forced himself' on the queen.

Unfortunately for the prince, Kayal wouldn't have to make the decision; one of the witches not only overheard the monologue, but had captured the whole conversation within a Magnus. With this, the knights, the witches, and even Nadia had intervened before the threat would take place, the humiliated prince stripped of his title and banished to the harsh lands below the Taintclouds. And after a few days, with word indeed getting out on the Queen and the beast-tamer's affair, the shock was set aside with the news that a stronger union was to come in place of this, with Kayal soon to become Nadia's prince consort instead, a union that brought celebratory cheers among the people.

However, this would turn out to be far from a happily ever after. Not only did the pressure of becoming a prince get to Kayal, but he was still plagued by the knowledge that his soon-to-be wife and child were fated to die. Though Nadia reassured that no matter what happens, they would always be together, it did little to calm him. Unable to endure this fact, he took off on the White Dragon, leaving behind his second home and the love of his life, who already knew of this thanks to another vision, but let him leave anyway. The dragon would only return without her rider, nearly causing another uproar before Nadia herself calmed them, standing strong even with her broken heart and continuing her role until it's passed on to her daughter, Xelha.

Kayal, meanwhile, became a lone wanderer and hermit, living away from civilization and finding company in the wildlife. Living with the regret of leaving behind a magnificent country and the woman he loved, he closed himself off for the past 18 years, vowing to never get close with anyone ever again. However, this would change when the event known as the Great Convergence would send him to another world, which would eventually lead to a chance meeting with his daughter and the chance to start over...