Personality

Astoron, like many elves, is rarely swayed from the steadfastness of his own judgment. Many long years have given way to a willfulness rivaled only by the most stubborn of men, though he has the wisdom and experience to assure him of his path. As there is ancestry in his blood of elves quick to anger and quicker to draw swords, he is not ashamed to admit that he is of the same ilk. Headstrong, ambitious, vain: every Noldorin vice he is accused of, he views as his Vanyarin virtues. If someone stands in his way, he will move them out of it.

Despite all of his wiles and desires for things to go according to his plan, Astoron learned a long time ago that it is much easier to trap flies with honey rather than vinegar. He holds his temper on a tight leash, choosing instead to soothe others’ sensibilities with pretty words and pragmatic reasoning--even if that pragmatic reasoning is often skewed in his favor. Occasionally he lets go of the leash on his anger, and it has been described--not as the fire-hot wrath of his brother, or of the sun to which he is oft compared--but as the cold chill of ice. His voice never wavers, and his tongue never lashes, but it is the very lack of traditional expressions of his displeasure that frightens others the very same.

Above all else, above all of his shortcomings, Astoron is one simple thing. Loyal. He is loyal to himself, his friends, his family, and his cause. Once Astoron has found someone, or something, to be loyal to, there is nothing that can tear him away from that. He will see it all the way through, unto his own failing if he must. There is little that can dissuade him from his support of those who have earned it, and it would take nothing short of a kinslaying for him to turn his back on his allies.

History

Astoron was born too late to see the glory of Valinor and the two trees, too early to be nurtured during the period of the height of Nargothrond, and just in time to see the decline of the First Age as it turned into the exodus of his kindred from Beleriand. Born to a half-Vanya, half-Noldo mother and a half-Noldo, half-Sinda father in Nargothrond, he was raised both in scholarly pursuits and in swordplay, for his anxious parents had witnessed the trials of Beleriand and the struggles against Melkor across the land. 

Born in the year 470 of the First Age, he was only twenty-five when Nargothrond fell; his brother, Arassamon, was even younger. It was only due to their uncle Mallosson’s clever thinking that the two boys were saved and carefully swept out of the falling city. Their parents were not so lucky. Astoron’s mother was taken away during the Sack of Nargothrond, and his father fell in a desperate attempt to save her. He never found out what happened to her--and if Mallosson ever knew, he never divulged that information with the young boys. Under Mallosson’s care, the pair grew up to be naturals at the art of stealth warfare, and by extension, hunting and tracking, as their uncle was one of the many Nargothrond warriors who dealt in guerrilla warfare against Morgoth’s forces.

Astoron was no less a youth in the eyes of his kin during the time of the Third Kinslaying, where he tearfully and angrily parted ways with his uncle. He took his younger brother with him, and the pair set off on their own during the War of Wrath. Using the skills they were taught, they survived off of the wilderness alone until the Fall of Beleriand, where they then-after joined with elves heading eastwards across Arda.

Throughout the Second and Third Age, Astoron settled among the Sylvan elves of Eryn Galen. They fought alongside their woodland kin during the War of the Last Alliance, and both he and his brother came out as survivors on the other side of the war. In fact, they owed much of their shared luck and life to their uncle’s teachings and, in their minds, to the favor of the Valar. It was not until the encroachment of the shadow of Dol Guldur were they sundered; Astoron was kept captive inside the fortress for many years, and all presumed him dead. When he did return, the healing was long, and he never was the same elf.

As of 3019, Astoron is expected to remain at guard inside the Mirkwood, though he makes many travels to Imladris as an emissary to his waning High kin.