The Ares Family

The Ares Family, more commonly known as House Ares is a Kandarin-based family known for their crafting, magical prowess, and Invention expertise. As well as their general scholarly aptitude. Predominantly the House is currently human with Elven heritage.

The First Ares
The exact origins of the Ares family are unknown up until the later Second Age, when the first known Ares began to make a name for himself in the Kharidian-Zarosian War. He was an expert battlemage and one of the few humans who had the respect to earn a higher rank in the Zarosian Empire. Septimus Ares was his name, and little is known other than these details. It is mostly theorized through a tablet written by the Mahjarrat Varshi that described some of his exploits after the war.

The tablet has the following information on Septimus:

''“... and of course my prize battlemage, Septimus Ares, whom I met towards the tail-end of the Kharidian war. He is one of the most accomplished humans I have ever had the fortune to meet. He excels at magic that even some of the vampyres struggle with. I remember how we met, one of the Menaphite Mahjarrat stood over me with his dagger stuck in my chest. He had been preparing to strike me down with a large spike of ice, when Septimus struck him down by filling him full of solid blood projectiles from behind. He healed me and dragged me away from the fighting. I mourn his death terribly, but not so much as Kivara.”''

Kivara’s identity is unknown at this time, but from what is known of Septimus’ son it is possible they were a female Mahjarrat whom Septimus had a relationship of sorts with. For Septimus’ son, Raxxus, was a powerful spellsword, who came to serve alongside Varshi like his father did.

Evidence of Raxxus Ares’ personal life is as slim as his father’s, and his combat exploits even less so. This is because he served with Varshi during his time in the Senntisten secret police under Sliske. What he did for the secret police is not well-known, just that it was these operations are what led to his eventual death at the hands of Icyene in Hallowvale. The only reason we know of this is again, by an official report from Varshi to Sliske. Uncovered from the Senntisten Dig Site by Malcolm Ares.

Raxxus’ did not die without an heir, however, as his triplet sons became the most important Ares in the family’s history. It is evident that Raxxus fell for a werewolf woman, though no record of her name exists. All that is clear is that while Raxxus was possibly of Mahjarrat heritage, his children were half-breed werewolves who exhibited a surprising amount of magical talent for the race. The three children were named Lycaon, Tybalt, and Dexter.

The Rule of Three
Dexter Ares was the cunning, ruthless battlemage. He displayed skill beyond many of his peers and a deadly lust for knowledge. He was the firstborn of the three, and the only one who survived the Battle of Sansa. Tybalt was an alchemist and a skilled crossbowman. He often mixed poisons into his bolt-tips and would run special ops missions. He was killed almost immediately by magical artillery in the Battle of Sansa. Lycaon was a strong, brutal warrior who embraced his wolf side more than his brothers. He was rarely seen without his massive demonic blade. He died taking three Icyene and a lion with him in the Battle of Sansa.

The three of them were barely a part of the Zarosian empire, however, as they entered the imperial military just years before Zamorak’s overthrow of the Empty Lord. During the overthrow they were confronted by a Chthonian who had them pinned down with his powerful magic, but another Chthonian by the name of Bartimaeus betrayed his own race to survive. He ran the Chthonian through with a crimson cutlass and left him to die, leading the Ares triplets out of Senntisten with the rest of Zamorak’s forces. This was beginning of the Cutlass Brigade, a small but strong strike force that was led by this traitor Chthonian and the three brothers. It was so named due to Bartimaeus’ new alias as the Crimson Cutlass, after his now signature blade. The Cutlass Brigade’s fall came about in a small Hallowvale village known as Sansa. It had been captured close to the beginning of the war, and was being used as a small forward camp for the Cutlass Brigade’s operations in Hallowvale. The village had been a gift from the Saradominists to offer the Cutlass Brigade better access to Zarosian encampments in Hallowvale.

One fateful evening, however, Camp Sansa was attacked in the late evening by the Temple Knights while celebrating the last of the Zarosian encampments being destroyed. It is theorized but not confirmed that Saradomin wished for the cooperation between himself and this Zamorakian force to be erased from history. The only survivors at the end of the day were Bartimaeus and Dexter, standing in the ashes of the village. They went their own ways following this, Bartimaeus staying to fight in the God Wars a bit longer, and Dexter leaving to start a family out in the west.

From here, Ares history split into three parts. The brothers all had children during their time in the God Wars, and they all went on to lead very different lives.

The Aren
Tybalt’s daughter, Titania, went on to become an adventurer of her own. She dodged wars and decided that if the world survived what was happening, it needed to be recorded. It is said that her records of the God Wars are some of the best written but they are lost to history. She would eventually marry an unknown member of the Aren family, and this branch of the Ares family disappeared into what is now known as the Aren.

The Feral
Lycaon’s descendants continued to fight for Zamorak in Hallowvale, unaware of how their father died. They began to disagree with the inhuman treatment of the people by the Zamorakian forces, and they eventually defected. They joined Rexotic Silversmith’s 64th Winged Cavalry Unit, eventually forsaking a god entirely and becoming a force trying to fight for the freedom of Hallowvale. The last member of the Feral lineage, Lysander Ares, died out and became a spiritual warrior in Rex’s army. The Ferals were known for their vicious behavior and ruthless combat tactics.

The Cunning
Dexter’s lineage is the only surviving line of Ares to this day. The main traits that are prevalent throughout this line of Ares is their, as the name suggests, cunning. They are frequently smart individuals who wish to push the limits of their knowledge and challenge the very nature of reality with their ideas.

The Contract
The mad mage Dexter went west after the Battle of Sansa and set up a laboratory. He began to run tests with his magic, seeing how far he could push himself and what his limits were. Once he found those, he began trying to find ways to bypass them. In addition, he began using his newfound power to raid God Wars camps with small armies of skeletons for knowledge. Eventually he came across a tome full of the names of demons in Zamorak’s military. He immediately recognized one, and called forth an old friend to help him in his quest for power. Bartimaeus was actually thrilled to be summoned away from the God Wars, having long since grown tired of fighting for a god he didn’t care about. He willingly accepted a contract with Dexter to serve him and any progeny of him. Dexter now continued his raids on the god camps for help, now accompanied by a powerful Chthonian.

Construction of House Ares
Dexter began to use his newfound power to attract similar beings who wished to escape the God Wars and search for power themselves. He and Bartimaeus created a huge manor south of Ardougne, nestled into the Galarpos mountains. It included a main house for living, as well as a massive keep for the amount of people they were attracting. Despite Dexter’s division from the God Wars, he still claimed to follow the ideals of Zamorak and hung banners of the god from his ramparts. This also marked the beginning of House Ares as a family, as Dexter now had many children of his own with a harem of wives.

Meeting the Elves
The location of Ares Manor led eventually to several encounters with elves who were crossing the Galarpos to trade with outside civilizations or trying to get home after being stuck on the other side of the mountains. Dexter found the elves’ anatomy to be fascinating, and began kidnapping elves that passed through to keep them as prisoners. He often would dissect or even cruelly vivisect them to try and understand why only some of them could sing crystal into existence. This began Dexter’s descent into becoming known as the mad mage.

Dexter's Laboratory
Dexter’s obsession with kidnapping and dissecting elves led to him even running campaigns to try and break into Tirannwn and steal crystal and elves for experiments. It is said that Dexter eventually cracked the code on crystal singing and learned how to alter his own body with magic to allow himself to do so like the elves did. However, his obsession did not stop there. Like all things in his life, the powerful dark wizard began pushing his limits. He began trying to sing crystals into living beings, a power that he did not know was beyond him. However, more information on these experiments are unknown, as Bartimaeus refused to let him continue this line of study. However, Bartimaeus believes that Dexter continued his work in another one of his laboratories that were hidden all over Kandarin.

One such laboratory that Bartimaeus did know about was one focused solely on the old Mahjarrat ally of the Ares family, Varshi. Bartimaeus had known Varshi as well, and when the Mahjarrat came to Dexter seeking refuge from the God Wars, Dexter obliged. However, his obsession with experimentation got the better of him, and he betrayed Varshi. He put the Mahjarrat into an enchanted sleep to begin dissecting him while he was still technically alive. He created many horrific artifacts using the Mahjarrat’s blood, skin, and even bones. Varshi was always routinely healed with body and blood magic. He was kept alive but unconscious while parts of him were harvested repeatedly to satisfy Dexter’s thirst for knowledge. Many of the artifacts’ locations are unaccounted for, but there is one that has resurfaced recently.

The Robes of Varshi were a set of clothing that were woven out of the Mahjarrat’s skin but layered over with cloth. They were a hateful, mad set of robes that would actively seek out members of the Ares family thanks to Dexter accidentally infusing it with his blood. When worn, the robes are a parasitic life form of their own that change the victim’s personality to that of a deranged psychotic killer. They feed on the souls of the dead, and therefore require constant death to be sustained. They were destroyed by Crast Ares in the Fifth Age after he was forced to suffer the effects of the robes.

So much is known about the Varshi Experiments due to a recent expedition that saw the unearthing of many of Dexter Ares’ research notes. Dexter’s experiments went far beyond what is known in the current Ares records and files, but the specifics would not be known unless those laboratories are discovered. Dexter was very organized with his notes, keeping them near whatever experiment he was running. His dark nature towards elves, however, only continued as the God Wars drew to a close.

The Elven Enslavement
Towards the end of Dexter’s life, when Tirannwn suddenly became more open for him to enter, he began kidnapping masses of elves in earnest. He suddenly had a slave force made entirely of Elves, and more unwilling subjects for his experimentation. This was the beginning of a harsh inner turmoil within the Ares ranks. Half the family thought the sudden descent to slavery was despicable, while the others sided with Dexter and firmly believed that the Elves belonged to them as slaves.

Reasoning was widespread, some stuck with keeping the elves for more perverse reasons, while others feared the power that Dexter held and didn’t dare disobey his commands for fear of being turned into the latest experiment. However, when the mad mage finally passed away from what many consider was foul play, there was suddenly for the first time in the budding House’s history an opening for someone to claim Lordship of the House.

Bloody Ronnie, the Elf Slayer
One member of the family stuck out more than others, Dexter’s eldest living daughter Veronica Ares. She was known for her silver tongue and surprisingly strong skill with the blade, but also for the sick thrill she claimed to get from ending the lives of House Ares’ Elven slaves. She was known to often kill slaves for the sheer joy it brought her to watch the life fade from them on the end of her runite weapons. This earned her the name “Bloody Ronnie” in the circles of the Ares who disagreed with her methods. These same members of the family were made even more infuriated when she grabbed the Lordship under claim of next of kin. In addition to her deep racism and seemingly inhuman lust for violence, Veronica was also known for her obsession with the ancient Dragonkin and their experiments. She would often disappear on expeditions for months at a time, delving into ancient dungeons to try and find information on them or their active laboratories. It is heavily theorized, as well, that her obsession got her killed. She disappeared on one of her expeditions, and never returned. Due to what followed, it is clear that she upset one dragonkin in particular.

Caldor Ares, the Half-Elf Lord
After the sixth month of Veronica’s disappearance, the first half-elf Ares, named Caldor, took over the Lordship to try and repair the damage done by Bloody Ronnie’s reign. Caldor was met by resistance from those who had supported Veronica, but support from those who had opposed her. This just led to more turmoil, the House having become a powder keg. However, while they began to fight amongst themselves the manor was attacked by a lone dragonkin named Sillith. Not much is known about Sillith save for his attack on the manor, which was met by the entirety of the House coming together to try and fight off his assault. Many of the family members were killed in the attack, however, and the Ares were run out of their home by the dragonkin. Caldor bravely remained behind, perishing to kinfire almost immediately in his combat. The elven slaves cowered as Sillith utterly destroyed the Ares Keep, leaving them trapped below tons of rubble.

The First Hero, Victoria Ares
Victoria Ares, Caldor’s daughter, quickly leapt to action and led the remaining family members to the Ares Keep. She commanded Bartimaeus to try and remove the rubble from above the presumably trapped elves. Sillith had left, but was still occasionally sending experiments at House Ares. With some even being metallic dragons, they were difficult to kill and it truly cut down the Ares population as only the strongest Ares were able to survive the onslaught before Bartimaeus finally pulled apart the rubble and freed the elves. Eventually the dragons stopped coming, the exact reasoning never found out but it had something to do with Victoria Ares. During the combat, Victoria discovered that she had a strange influence with the dragons, empowered by her banemetal blades that she had stolen from Bloody Ronnie’s personal armory. In a major battle against several green and blue dragons led by a black dragon, Victoria killed all but the black dragon, whom she somehow managed to talk to telepathically. She sent it back to Sillith with a deal, the details of which are still not known to this day, but afterwards the dragonkin never bothered them again.

The Elven Liberation
When Bartimaeus finished removing the rubble and freed the remaining elves from their stone prison. Victoria, now named Lady of House Ares, immediately freed all of the elves from their slavery and offered them a place to stay in the manor. Those that remained of House Ares bowed to them and begged forgiveness, offering so much in response that some of the elves actually stayed. Victoria led House Ares to begin reparations with the Elves, sending most of their crystal equipment back. It was at this time that House Ares began to change almost completely from the age of Dexter, even renouncing their Zamorakian ways in favor of Guthix. However, the demons that Dexter had summoned started to disagree with this problem. Victoria and Bartimaeus came to an agreement that he would keep the demons under control, and Victoria led the family away from their ancient home. They split apart mostly, Victoria dissolving the Lordship title and their House status, leaving to supposedly fulfill her end of the bargain with Sillith and explore the world.

Age of Serenity
Victoria’s actions led to an age of serenity in the Ares family, with most of them fading into obscurity and hiding. Most of the Ares history became lost as the world’s wheels turned without them. Victoria’s actions and resting place are unknown, but it is theorized that she left Gielinor entirely at some points. It is even theorized that the heroine might still be alive somewhere, though that has never been proven and is widely discredited. Years passed without anything of note happening in the Ares family, that is until a man named Sebastian Ares and his cousin Jynnifer decided to marry.

The Cult of Jabor
Sebastian was a man obsessed with his family’s history, and converted back to Zamorakianism early in his life. Though he hid this religious belief from his family for years, fathering many children with Jynnifer. In secret, however, he happened upon one of Dexter’s laboratories. One containing most of his knowledge on demons and the God Wars, Sebastian found, amongst Dexter’s personal notes, a recollection of one of the last Infernals, who had been summoned as an attempt by some Zamorakians to quickly take down a Saradominist fortress. When they had finished, however, the infernal turned on them and they banished him. Sebastian was in awe of how powerful the demon was wrote to be and began studying this single demon, named Jabor in the story, and began luring others to his new cult. It grew in the slums of Ardougne, and when his oldest sons came of age he lured them to his cult as well. Eventually Jynnifer grew suspicious, especially after Andrew and Zakhar were lured into the cult with Sebastian.

The Birth of a Legend
Jynnifer’s curiosity eventually got the better of her and she followed Sebastian and her eldest sons on one of their daily travels, she discovered the Cult of Jabor. Sebastian saw her, and she ran. Jynnifer attempted to run with the other children, terrified of what her husband was doing behind closed doors. However, she was too late and Sebastian returned home. Life after that got difficult for the remaining children: Crast, Malcolm, Carter, Katalyn, Heather, and Tris. Andrew and Zakhar tried to convert them by beating on them with their powerful magical abilities they had learned from the cult. Sebastian tried to use his words, while Jynnifer now lived in fear of her own husband. One day, however, things changed. Sebastian and the twins (Zakhar and Andrew), took them to their cult’s headquarters. Jynnifer was brought forward in a summoning ritual, and then Sebastian slit her throat. Bleeding her out onto the stones of the ritual. Crast was the first to act, throwing his ten year old self against his older brothers and stabbing Andrew through the eye with a kitchen knife he had brought with him. Malcolm used the distraction to take the infants Heather and Tris from their carriage while Carter, the oldest non-cult sibling, used what little magic he had been studying to also fight the cultists, while Katalyn bit and punched and kicked her way to an escape. These Ares children escaping with their lives as Crast led them to safety.

The Ascent of House Ares
Following the horrific death of their mother, Crast and his siblings were left to fend for themselves in the big world. Hiding from their father’s cult and living on the run, they never really had a chance to do anything other than explore the world and take care of each other. They all began to specialize in certain tracks, teaching tricks they picked up to each other. Crast eventually set off on his own, however, looking for a life more full of adventure. Carter left to pursue knowledge and would occasionally bring back books and artifacts for Malcolm, due to his interest in such things. Crast began to gather connections while out doing mercenary work, but one faithful day he was hunted down by the Robes of Varshi. They enveloped his personality and sent him on a psychotic killing spree, then one day Crast got in a fight that left him mortally wounded, and caused the robes to abandon him. He was found by Malcolm who brought him back to where the Ares family was based now, an orphanage in Misthalin. Crast began hatching a plan, calling together his mercenary connections and convincing his family to return to Kandarin. They joined him for this mission, as he began to build a mercenary army and revealed he had found the location of the old Ares Manor. Crast spent several months continuing to build his army, his efforts helped by Malcolm discovering a troll in his workshop. Within a few months of being discovered and raised by the Ares, he was big enough to pose a very real threat to the demons in the Ares Manor. With his mercenary army and full family support, Crast launched a successful campaign. He reclaimed Ares Manor and left it under Malcolm’s control. The mercenary army stuck around, now used as guards against the eventuality that Sebastian would attack. Crast went west, now keeping in touch with his family back at the manor. He began doing more mercenary work in Morytania, but was soon tracked down by the family cult.

Ares Civil War
Zakhar arrived in Morytania to find that Crast had been turned into a vampyre, a fact he had not been prepared for. The smoke mage was utterly destroyed by Crast’s newfound abilities, and limped away defeated. He honed his magical skills and watched from a distance, changing up his tactics. He went back to Kandarin and kidnapped one of Malcolm’s orphans, using her for bait and luring Crast to Paterdomus. When he got there to save the orphan, Zakhar appeared and took the vampyre off-guard as he was now weakened across the salve. He then cut off his brother’s hand, and if it wasn’t for the timely intervention of one of Crast’s friends. Crast soon after tried his luck with a Guthix balance potion and managed to cure himself of his vampyrism. Crast’s adventures in Morytania continued for many years, before he finally went back west and married. His son Cade grew up quickly, while Crast and his family army focused on beating away the Cult of Jabor.

Crast began to make deals with the Daes, the royalty at the time, and his son entered into an arranged marriage. This led to the first time House Ares was officially nobility, a fact that angered Sebastian to no end when he heard of it. And he began to escalate his plans to bring Jabor back to Gielinor. The Ares Civil War, so named due to the frequent conflicts now arising between the Cult of Jabor and the Ares family. It came to a head when Zakhar and Andrew were both killed within the same week in attempts to fight allies of Crast. Furious that he was unable to make a move against Crast, Sebastian resorted to something drastic.

The Massacre of House Ares
Sebastian awoke the Sliskean Mahjarrat, Varshi. Varshi was horrified when he now awoke and discovered what Dexter had done to him and was instantly filled with a hatred for the Ares. He was filled with a rage that he had never felt before, and Sebastian deceived him into believing that Sebastian was not, in fact, an Ares. Coupled with the Ares fall from nobility following the fall of the Daes from royalty, Sebastian also decided to try and complete his ritual and summon Jabor. Aided now by the fact he had a powerful spellcaster to help him he found that Jabor could in fact never return to Gielinor. Sebastian was stuck with just his weapon, the Hammer of Jabor. Though Jabor was able to pass on energy through the partial summoning to power up his weapon. With this newfound power, Sebastian and Varshi marched on Ares Manor. The Hammer of Jabor proved instrumental in almost entirely destroying Crast’s mercenary army. Even most of the Ares who remained were unable to stand against the Hammer’s might or the Mahjarrat’s magic. However, Crast had an ace that Sebastian did not know about. He unleashed Bartimaeus, whom Crast had rediscovered when he conquered the manor, on Sebastian while Crast himself fought Varshi. Bartimaeus was severely injured by the Hammer, but managed to get it away from Sebastian. Crast managed to pick it up and use it to kill Varshi once and for all. The tragic Sliskean’s life ending due to one last Ares trick.

Rise from the Ashes
After the massacre, House Ares took a few years to bounce back. The new generation of youth had grown up now, with the remaining previous generation now having nothing to fear in the world. Crast decided to focus on his legacy, with his son retired and happily married he ended up handing down lordship of the house to his nephew Booker and went off on his own. Malcolm left to gain more knowledge on his own, and try to learn about the family history. Now the family seems to be on the rise again, with nothing to beat them back down.