Arnako

Arnako was a near-legendary figure among the Assanese Taklama, who was believed to have been killed in a raid upon the Sultanate some seventy years before the events of Brother, Son, Shadow. However, despite his wishes, he was taken prisoner after his last stand.

As perhaps the only taklama in the lowlands, Arnako was uniquely situated to feel the sorcerous 'ripples' of the death of Handor, Breaker of Chains. He broke the chains that held him and walked north, falling in with a group of soldiers and sorcerers seeking the resolution of that same godhood.

Early Life
Arnako was raised among the Assanese tribe in the southwestern edge of the Plateau, the only child of Sarma Inglot.

Adulthood
Arnako rose to prominence in his ninth year of life, where he was already taller than a human adult. At this age, he singlehandedly killed a Niruyan Bear that sought to scavenge the tribe's sacrifice to Sarangerel. This feat of strength earned him respect, and he continued to prove his valor among ritualistic raids among the other tribes of the Taklama.

He led the only great raid into the lowlands in hundreds of years in 640, and made it nearly to the gates of Umbara before he ran full tilt into a Sultanic army. Since this army contained the Resolute, Arnako pushed his men into retreat, and held the entire army at the crossing which humans named Drifter's Ford. He held the Resolute there for two days and two nights, long enough for his warriors to escape back to the foothills of the Plateau. He is honored as a hero in Assan, and believed to be dead.

Captivity
However, fate was not so kind to Arnako. He was taken prisoner in chains to the capital, where he was paraded in front of Sultan Kavie Othalian. To hear his captors tell the tale, the massive, battered Arnako pronounced a curse upon the king, telling him that he would live to see the end of his dynasty.

Viewing his imprisonment as a penance for his not dying heroically as would befit his people, Arnako submitted solemnly to his part in circuses, plays, and grunt labor, simply waiting.

Description
"Skin as gray as stone, old and leathery, bulging strangely around two sets of shoulders stacked one atop another. A startlingly human face, but one that looked... heavier, for lack of a better word in Patyal’s vocabulary. Pronounced brow ridges and a far bigger jaw, whose smile was more unnerving than any of the human gaolers had been, for all their iron, smoke, and drink."