Orthos

Orthos
General information
Path	Path of Black Flame
Rank	Underlord
Faction	House Arelius- Blackflame Branch
First Appearance	Blackflame
Species	Sacred Beasts—Magestic Turtle
Family
Home	Blackflame Empire

There are only a very few sacred artists alive today who still practice the Path of Black Flame. One is a magestic turtle, Orthos, a descendant of black dragons.

Descriptions

• A sacred beast
• Ancient, almost 300 years old. Born during the rule of the Imperial Blackflame Clan (see Ashwind Continent History)

“Bid welcome,” Eithan announced, “to the last great descendant of Serpent's Grave.” A massive black shape shouldered its way through the tunnel like a man pushing through a tight doorway. It turned blazing eyes on Lindon: they were inky pools of darkness, those eyes, with a circle of furious red where the iris should be. The skin of the creature’s reptilian head was cracked and leathery, pure black, and clusters of blazing embers burned on its back. (Blackflame ch 10)

• A magestic turtle. Six feet.

  Orthos was a massive black turtle, the peak of his shell rising as high as Lindon's head. He was as long as a horse but thrice as wide, and his squat body looked heavy enough to sink a ship. The facets of his shell glowed sullen red around the edges, and black smoke rose from him in hazy waves. (Blackflame, chapter 10)

• The derogatory gold dragon Ekeri calls him “dragon-spawn” in book 5, but he is actually her better, the evolutionary descendant of a long-extinct (as far as we know) line of very powerful black dragons:

"The black dragons were the kings of this continent. In their day, their power dwarfed the Akura family. The gold dragons were just a servant family beneath them, scraping and clawing for every scrap.” (Ghostwater, chapter 8)

Path

When first introduced in book 3, Orthos is a TrueGold on The Path of Black Flame. As of book 9, he is an Underlord on The Path of Black Flame. Skilled at techniques like The Dragon Advances. Etc.

His Allies

Orthos is allied with House Arelius. He is soul-bonded with Wei Shi Lindon Arelius. They are like brothers. After a rocky start, he gained trust and loyal friendship from Yerin. The nature spirit Little Blue is his big helper and good friend. He respects and trusts Eithan Arelius. He thinks Dross talks too much. He cares about Akura Mercy, warning Lindon when she was unconscious too long (Reaper). As for Ziel, Orthos gave him the highest praise, comparing him to a black dragon (in Ghostwater).

Orthos shook himself like a dog, spraying yet more blood everywhere, and laughed freely. “You hit with the strength of a dragon! What is your name, human?” The green-horned man stopped. He wiped blood from his eyes with a thumb, though he didn't bother cleaning the rest of his face. “Ziel,” he said. Then he kept walking. “Ziel,” Orthos said to his back. “I will remember you.” He continued chuckling as he walked past the body of the Diamondscale Sea Drake, taking a bite of its meat as he passed. (Ghostwater chapter 11)

His Backstory

When the former imperial Blackflame Clan ruled, Orthos was liaison to House Arelius — the branch in the Blackflame Empire. About ten years ago, he got burnt out, protecting Arelius family members from “a rogue Blackflame” (Blackflame ch 16):

Eithan spoke with a wistful sadness. “Long before my time as Patriarch, Orthos served as a liaison between the Arelius and the imperial Blackflame family. Only ten years ago, he overused his power defending us from attack.. .Orthos’ own madra overwhelmed his mind. He gave too much of himself for the sake of protecting my family. The branch heads spent a fortune trying to restore him, to their credit” (Blackflame chapter 10)

Bonding and Healing

Eithan Arelius wanted to help Orthos, while helping Wei Shi Lindon-Arelius. So Orthos bonded with Lindon and taught him the Path of Black Flame. Lindon helped Orthos clear his channels of harmful madra buildups. With the help of Lindon and Little Blue he was able to regain some measure of sanity. This was further helped by his time spent in Ghostwater (Pocket World), where he accessed the Dream Well, the Spirit Well, and the Life Well, plus he ate Silverfang Carp and other divine food.

Sacred Valley

In Underlord, Orthos temporarily leaves Lindon and the others, saying that Sacred Beasts do not have to undergo a revelation to reach Underlord. Instead, they chose what they wished to become (ex: Orthos could remain a turtle, become a dragon, or even become human, as seen by Seshethkunaaz, the boy King of the Dragons). For this reason, Orthos leaves and is later seen in Sacred Valley alongside Lindon's sister, Wei Shi Kelsa. He helps her and teaches her. He also gets Jai Long and Jai Chen to help free her mother.