Sarin Sarkans

Sarin Sarkans was an Ekosian companion of The Eternal Knight, whom many viewed as being his closest ally. His betrayal of Stein and eventual death was the event that drove Stein to abandon Tempus.

History
Sarin and his older brother Marin grew up as servant orphans of a band of criminals and bandits in the eastern fringe of the Ekios desert. Marin was a brilliant blacksmith from a young age and taught his younger brother as well. Their mother had died during the birth of Sarin. While he had never met their father, Marin told him he was a good person whom was killed by the leader of the group that held them prisoner though he avoided the topic as much as possible.

While just a child, Sarin had discovered a magical ability he possessed, which was to manipulate Sanguinem with his thoughts. This proved to be very useful in the forging of weapons and armors with special traits, and kept the two brothers as important prisoners for the bandits, whom used the items themselves and sold some off for profit.

Shortly after Sarins tenth birthday, Marin had revealed a plan to escape using a magical item that would allow him to overpower and defeat their masters. He needed Sarin's ability to manipulate Sanguinem to feed it Red Sanguinem to a degree that it would imbue the wearer with its energy.

Over a few months, they sneaked the supplies and material needed to craft the item, in the form of a ring. Once completed, the two broke out. Marin was able to defeat and over power their captors with little effort, and burnt their prison to the ground. However, the large amounts of Sanguinem that were released into Marin's body were too much for him to handle, and it quickly burned him alive to ash. Marin was seventeen years old at his death.

Sarin, unsure of what to do or where to go took the only thing left of his brother, the ring, and wandered off into the night. He would later be found by a traveling merchant named Sansa Sarkans who took him in and raised him as her own child.

From then on Sarin lived and traveled with the merchant, until he encountered The Eternal Knight at age twenty three. He was convinced to come and live in Merkin, viewing his talents as a blacksmith as valuable to Tempus and the city of Merkin as a whole.

Sarin lived in Merkin for many years, growing a friendship with Stein The Eternal Knight and eventually becoming his closest friend, while also finding a friend in the Tethian Tulu Ultrr. During these years however a dark presence made itself known in Merkin, Mel the Insatiable, who was drawn by rumours of a Blacksmith without peer. It was during this time he met and bonded with Sarin.

However, he would reveal the origin of Sarin's power and peculiar eyes to him and forever set Sarin down a path he would not recover from. Mel was infact his father, who had conceived a child with a slave whom he sold to a group of bandits once he grew bored of her and her first child from a previous lover. This truth destroyed everything he had believed about his brother who was until then, his model to whom he aspired to be.

Sarin would kill Mel's physical body, banishing him back to shadow form for a time, and left Merkin with Stein and Tulu on an expedition, hoping to find some new purpose or goal in life.

On this expedition, Stein would succeed in tracking down Rut'sah. The mask called to Sarin, who became obsessed with learning more of it and its craftsman ship. Stein, fearing to lose another friend to the mask, denied Sarin any chance to examine or even hold the mask. It was returned to Merkin and placed into their most secure hold.

Sarin would eventually with time, manage to steal the mask and flee Merkin. While he never wore it, he did study its physical form and began theorizing on how to build his own.