Ari Lancaster

“Some of my favorite activities begin with ‘F’ — fighting and fucking. Unfortunately, I’m not doing much of either in the Trade Division. Guess this is what the elders mean by ‘being responsible.’”

Arilemyss Solvitae Lancaster
Alternate Names	Ari
Pronouns	He/Him
Species	Elvaari
Division	Trade
Role	Treasurer
Height	5’11” / 180cm
Age	136
Birth Date	Reaping 7, 1094
Zodiac	Jealous Unicorn
Aspect	Ice (born)
Family	Perdyss (Father) Annatess (Mother) Cynthia (Sister) Tristan (Brother) Nevidess (Brother)

Arilemyss Lancaster is an Elvaari man and guild employee begrudgingly working in the Trade Division’s treasury department. He takes nothing too seriously and is known to be quite the playboy.

Appearance

Ari can be described as many things, yet “handsome” is typically the most commonly heard adjective no matter one’s opinion of his actions. Just a hair shy of six feet tall, he appears as if in his mid- to late twenties, is slender and muscular and takes pride in maintaining his statuesque physique. He wears his hair in its natural golden curls, occasionally held back from his face by a thin headband, and has green eyes, a straight nose, and high cheekbones. His clothes range from flashy and lavish to simple and fitted depending on his mood; he is not afraid of dressing immodestly.

Personality

Ari is here for a good time, not a long time. While he detests the strict formalities of his privileged upbringing, he is more than willing to take advantage of the situation and use his connections to gain whatever — and whomever — he wants. His silver tongue brought him further success within the Trade Division, though he ultimately finds the business painfully boring. Still, he feels he is compensated well enough to continue, but primarily stays with the division so his family will not pester him about maintaining steady employment. Outside of business settings, he enjoys flirting with anyone in his vicinity, but also has a quick temper and will often speak before considering the consequences of his next statement. Though he has been described as selfish and two-faced by some, most are more likely to comment on his abundant charisma and good looks.

Ari is not without his own standard of morals, however skewed they may be. If his advances are clearly and genuinely turned down, he will never suggest the idea of intimacy again. It has also been noted that Ari is particularly kind and patient with children, perhaps due to a history of helping raise his own younger brother.

Biography

Coming from a long line of successful businessmen and women, Ari was born with a silver spoon and high hopes from his parents. He had other plans for himself, however, and rebelled against the societal expectations looming over him since his youth. While his mother would reprimand his undesirable behavior in violent outbursts, his father always maintained his composure, assuring the family that Ari would one day recognize the error of his ways. Since his older siblings, twins Cynthia and Tristan, volunteered to work directly under their father, he grasped this chance at freedom and struck out on his own, applying to the guild merely as a front to assure his parents that he is being a productive member of society while in actuality doing whatever he pleased. Some of this behavior was curbed following the birth of his younger brother, at which point Ari vowed to spare Nevidess from the same restrictive upbringing he experienced. Still, he is ultimately a creature of habit, letting his whims and impulses guide his actions as he has always done.

Abilities

With an Elvaari’s natural affinity for Aether combined with direction from the finest instructors money could hire, Ari is able to harness his ice aspect to a high level of expertise. To this end, he can manifest and utilize a variety of weapons out of pure ice, most commonly in the forms of a halberd of varying length, chakrams as unique as snowflakes, and his favorite frozen longbow. Because his fighting style is so heavily reliant on aether, Ari has the potential to quickly over exert himself — but until then, he is a stubborn, lethal foe.

Thanks to his noble upbringing, Ari developed a talent for both singing and dancing from a young age. He regularly utilizes these skills in order to attract a new companion for the night.

Relationships

Keldwyn Flannery

“My dear Kelly, one of my favorite drinking buddies and duet partners. What was that…? No, you don’t get to call her Kelly. First time I did, she threw me overboard.”

(Drinking & singing buddies who have absolutely hooked up in a few bathhouses. Ari’s jealous she gets to travel and do cool pirate shit.)

Bellona Salvia

“Bel and I don’t exactly go way back, but — have you ever met someone you just clicked with? That’s how our friendship started… and then we fucked, naturally.”

Back when the Salvia family first began their foray into vinification, the Lancasters were amongst their primary investors. Despite this, Ari and Bellona did not become acquainted until their time at the guild, which began as playful teasing accompanied by the occasional dalliance. As time went on, the pair discovered they had more in common than not and developed an unlikely friendship that surpassed their families’ business dealings. Bellona is well versed in pushing Ari’s buttons, both to enrage and arouse him, and she is one of the few people whom he feels comfortable enough around to do away with his usual cocky facade.

Tia Alequin

“Tia’s all the things a great bartender should be: beautiful, a bit of a tease, great at listening, and a heavy-handed pourer. I can gladly spend all night with her, any way she’ll let me.”

Flirtatious, suggestive, and unashamed — just one of the pair is likely to overwhelm a more conservative person, but no one shy is safe when Ari and Tia are together. It is questionable whether or not anything has ever actually happened between them, since they both seem to be having too much fun with the chase. In actuality, Tia has been known to show concern when it comes to Ari’s patterns of selfish deceit, hoping to educate the man on the difference between passion and mere pleasure. He has yet to take her words to heart.

Dez Méliès

“My favorite tailor — Morganite wants me to ‘act proper’ and ‘respect her garments.’ Dez, I can pay him off in chocolates.”

(Ari loves volunteering to model Dez’s latest creations, making himself well known about the man’s office and always sure to visit with a box of candies.)

Eisen Grimm

“Oh… Professor Grimes, huh? Well, the heart always wants what it can’t have, doesn’t it?”

When Ari first joined the class of the new professor with a familiar family’s name, he clearly was only there as an attempt to seduce Grimes. However, the longer he attended lectures, the less issues Trade seemed to be having processing paperwork, and Ari realized he had been subconsciously taking the lessons to heart. Slowly, with the occasional encouraging statement from Grimes, Ari came to admire the man for more than just his physical appearance. The plan to draw the professor’s attention came to a head during Saint Morgan’s Recital, where Ari presented him with chocolate wings and an uncharacteristically heartfelt confession. Though not a total rejection, Grimes did discourage the infatuation, wounding Ari’s ego in the process. He no longer attends classes and will not acknowledge the situation whatsoever — until by some strange miracle he manages to receive an apology from the usually cold professor (though many suspect this was only a ploy to maintain enrollment numbers in Grimes’ class.)

Selena Idris

“She’s draining my savings a handful of gold at a time, but to get manhandled by that fiery beauty every week? Worth it.”

Part of working in the treasury department involves keeping track of debts and loans — and since Selena owes the guild a hefty amount in reparations from her fall, Ari is one of the employees tasked with making the collection. To this end, he has struck a deal with her: should Selena take the time to spar with him at the training yard and win their match, he will personally pay off a small percentage of her debt. Though this plan primarily serves as another excuse to get him out of his office, he has requested a rematch on more than one occasion, ready to pay up and let off more steam. Rumor has it that one sparring session may have ended with a kiss, followed by Selena shoving Ari’s face into the dirt. He smiled for the rest of the day and put triple his usual amount towards her account.

Leo Eridanus

“Sweet, precious Leo, that darling angel. Great work ethic. Lot of repression going on in that one, though.”

(Ari helps Leo deal with their ‘urges.’ Low key kind of a wholesome, judgement-free safe space for kink exploration and personal self discovery.)

Korin

“They’re smart, both of them, and crafty, too. When the guild finally finds out about their little reconstruction effort, I just hope I’m around to witness the chaos of the fallout. Well, maybe I should say, if the guild finds out. They’ve got someone on the inside cooking their books, you know.”

Ari finds him very good looking. Korin finds him very annoying. When the Valhalla Project was first beginning, Ari was one of the first to approach Korin and Odin about the rumors, offering his assistance and connections simply for the thrill of operating behind the guild’s back. His overtly forward nature, however, quickly soured the deal, as both siblings ultimately decided he was not worth dealing with. He has kept the project a secret, as promised, and still makes monetary donations from time to time with the primary goal of regaining the pair’s attention.

Monica Holst

“She’s a unique one, I’ll give her that, but there’s no one else I’d rather have by my side in a fight.”

(Met at the bar, Ari rizzed this oblivious catgirl until he finally just had to ask if she wanted to have sex with him, which she turned down. Though she is impervious to his romantic advances, the two are a fearsome team in combat, utilizing one another’s skills with deadly precision. It’s sick as hell.)

Hanzekihel Oulieus

“Vriella and Hanze and I go way back. Who do you think gave sweet Kihel his first taste of alcohol?”

As a friend of the Oulieus family, Ari has loved to tease the younger Elvaari for years, partially to see him become flustered and eventually partially to rile up Korin should he be nearby. There is a rumor of some incident concerning the trio and a bottle of wine, but its veracity has yet to be confirmed (and likely never will be.)

Ocellus

“Ocellus is sweet — but he gets attached too easily. I’m afraid I may have broken the poor guy’s heart. Then again, if I hadn’t, someone else would have, right?”

(Happened once. Neither of them like to talk about it now.)

Hyalt Keylen

“Heh, my favorite little coworker when she still stayed in the offices. Creative Commons’ budget sheets weren’t the only things that came on my desk.”

(Office hookup)

Nine

“Oh, him. No, we used to be together constantly. I don’t know who he is anymore.”

When he first joined the guild and throughout his time with the Outerworld Division, Nine and Ari were thick as thieves. Ari, with his easy access to upper class people, events, and alcohol, got along famously with Nine, who reciprocated through his familiarity with the city’s underbelly. They shared their vices until Nine returned from his last deployment corrupted, at which point he cut off nearly all contact with the man. Nine’s newly cautious demeanor drove a wedge between the two friends, and Ari to this day will still make comments lamenting how much more enjoyable he used to find the other’s company.

Trivia

• Voice Claim: Jonathan Bailey [Listen Here!]
• It is safe to assume Ari has at least attempted to seduce most everyone he shares a past with, even if it was nothing more than a drunken kiss.
• For as superficial as he seems, Ari is surprisingly knowledgeable in terms of art and culture. He enjoys browsing galleries as well as working on his own sketches in his spare time.
• Ari’s traits are heavily inspired by sirens and mermaids; the idea of a beautiful face and voice that leads one to misfortune.
• He is left handed, likes spicy food, and his favorite color is orange.
• Ari is represented in shorthand by the “🍌” emoji. This was chosen to represent his interest in bananas, as well as other phallic objects.