Darien de Dorisia

Darien de Dorisia is a main character featured in The Archaia Chronicles. He is a suave and infamous thief bearing illusive magic. After he is coerced into helping Capalis in exchange for a pardon, Darien becomes a valuable partner.

As charming of a person as Darien appears to be, deep down he is a man running from a lifelong collection of pain. From the death of his only sister, to the occupation of his home by the Inquises, he is a vulnerable soul behind his facade of a rebellious outlaw, though he wishes he could correct it all. Darien doesn't just practice illusion, he is the living definition of it.

Background
Growing up an orphan, Darien had to adapt to the outside world if he wished to survive. His parents had perished in the Dorisian Rebellion, leaving him and his sickly sister behind in their hometown under tyrannical occupation. Together, they had survived as street paupers, begging for food, money, and clothes.

When ends began to get harder and harder to meet, Darien and his younger sister took it into their own hands to ensure they stayed alive by stealing. It came particularly easy to Darien, as his charisma charmed many of his victims. He also developed the ability to be incredibly inconspicuous, donning himself the "Fantasma" because he could seemingly steal in plain sight with little trouble.

Eventually Darien's shifty deeds caught up to him. One fateful day, he and his sisters were on their usual run in the Dorisian capital. Their target was a traveling caravan of food. With that stock of food, they would have had plenty to eat for months. However, in a surprising twist, the caravan turned out to be a disguised convoy of stolen relics belonging to the Ebon Order. Both he and his sister were pursued by the revealed cultists, and only Darien escaped after accidentally activating the powers of mysterious necklace, the Phantom Pendant. Unfortunately, his sister was tragically abducted.

A guilty Darien spent months looking for his lost younger sister, and it eventually led him to a dungeon. There, the worst was confirmed to him. His sickly sister did not survive in the horrid conditions of the dungeon, and died to her illness. The news shattered Darien and spiraled him into immense grief.

All of the pain endured by Darien up to this point had destroyed his ability to function as a person, driving him almost to suicide. To mask his suffering and carry on, Darien had developed an alter ego (with the help of the Phantom Pendant, which he still had in his possession) of a suave and extroverted outlaw which would eventually become part of his layered personality. Donning his old nickname, "El Fantasma" he went on to become one of the most infamous thieves in Visilion.