Readers of The Great Legend Chronicles are familiar with Arayan Leonston as the Stone Guardian of Siraden, a powerful spirit who has bonded his life force and magic to Siraden’s Spirit Stone, an obelisk of magic created during the early Second Age to combat the spirit plague by rapidly delivering a magical cure to all the spirits on a planet or moon. However, prior to his role as the Stone Guardian of Siraden, Arayan was a Krazarian immigrant to Shun and a decorated general of the Raytar Wars.

Arayan was born in Krazar and spent his early years in the desert country. As a youth Arayan trained as a warrior and when he came of age he joined the ranks of men and women that defended his home. After spending several years protecting his home from monster attacks, Arayan began to want a less dangerous occupation, so he immigrated to Shun to start a life as a merchant. Only a few years after Arayan moved to Shun, but before the spirit plague, a large number of Krazarian Snakemen tribes banded together to form an army and attempted to invade Shun. The following series of battles fought to prevent the Snakemen from entering Shun came to be known as the Raytar Wars.

Despite multiple conflicts in its past, Shun has no standing army. Instead, whenever the island country is threatened it forms a militia composed of volunteers. Shun’s response to the gathering Snakemen tribes was no different. Arayan was one of the many warriors who volunteered to join the militia, and due to his familiarity with Krazar and experience fighting Snakemen, he was chosen to lead Shun’s forces in the war.

Arayan proved to be an excellent leader and led the eclectic forces of Shun to many victories during the Raytar Wars. Arayan’s success during the war brought him recognition amongst Krazarians and Shunites. When the Raytar Wars ended, Arayan and his forces were the second-most recognized army after Nartin Shaas’vir and his Krazarian forces.

After the Raytar Wars, Arayan returned to his life as a merchant until the spirit plague hit Siraden several years later. When the Spirit Stones were created as a way to cure the plague, Arayan was invited as a decorated hero to attend the bonding ceremony that would activate Siraden’s Stone. During the ceremony when Nartin, who had been chosen as to be the Stone Guardian of Siraden, turned to dark magic and attempted to bond to the Stone, Arayan managed to tackle him to the ground and prevent him from bonding to it. Following this incident, Arayan was selected to be the Stone Guardian of Siraden’s Stone instead.

Since then Arayan has worked alongside a council of lords and merchants from Siraden’s five countries to help governor them. To form a stronger alliance and to be with the woman he’s fallen in love with, Arayan has become engaged to marry fellow Stone Guardian Naria Ilm’wyn. Read on in City of Torches to learn what else lies in store for Arayan and his home world!

— Duncan