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The Barows Family



The Barows Family has been a prominent political player within the Queendom of Falena for a very long time. History says that it has been customary for a Barows member and a Godwin member to take turns in wedding into the Felena royal family. The relatively stable political tension between the Barows and Godwin families is jeopardized after Ferid wins the tournament of arms, winning the hand of Arshtat Falenas when it should have been the Godwins' turn to wed into the royal family. The carnage that ensued after the passing of Olhazeta Falenas (the murder of Kauss Barows, Rosalind Godwin, Mardas Godwin, and Shahrewar Falenas) made things worse, making Marscal Godwin and his son Gizel seriously consider taking over the country instead of trying to work with the system. The Barows family also had their own plans, as we will see through their own legacies.

Salum Barows has been a major political player within Falena politics for decades. He was a critical component in disrupting the balance of power between the Godwins and Barows. After the death of Queen Olhazeta, Salum campaigned furiously for the coronation of Falzrahm (who was wedded to Kauss Barows) despite her being a younger sister of Shahrewar. He tried to legitimize her claim to the throne through the fact that her daughter Arshtat was already married, and thus was thus the only legitimate bloodline. Along with the corrupt and greedy Falzrahm, he was likely involved in hiring the Nether Gate to assassinate Mardas Godwin, Rosalind Godwin, and even Princess Shahrewar. He loses his son, Hiram, in the process and Kauss Barows is also assassinated, but he does manage to achieve his goal of having a queen with Barows blood (Arshtat) crowned as sovereign. However, contrary to his expectations, Arshtat ended up being no puppet for Salum. This likely resulted in his ambition of establishing a separate nation for himself, prompting the Lordlake Incident and the resultant theft of the Twilight Rune. With this act he has set the course for the eventual death of Arshtat and Ferid, but his many plots ends up costing his political career and even his life.

In a way, Salum Barows was a competent politician as he was able to gather the aid of various factions including Estrise, Sable, and even New Armes to achieve his goal -- and all that without threatening these factions by force. However, his greed for personal power and covert treachery ended up costing him not only all of his allies, but his family as well. Salum did not show much remorse for the death of his family, such as Kauss and Hiram, and probably used their deaths to further his political goals. When her daughter died of illness and and his wife ended up secluding herself in grief as a result, Salum showed no concern -- instead ignoring the whole situation. His other children were merely tools to further his ambition. Euram was merely a puppet he can use as a male family member he can marry off into the royal family, and Luserina was valued only for her skill as in handling business, and he also did not hesitate to use her as a bargaining chip against Prince Freyjadour. One has to wonder whether he felt any remorse at all, even until the moment he was killed by Sialeeds.

Kauss Barows is a Barows, but is not directly related to Salum Barows. He is a closer relative to Alison Barows, Salum's wife. However, Kauss became the husband of Falzrahm Falenas due to the plotting of Salum; Kauss himself was not particularly active in the political arena. Although he was a Captain of the Queen's Knights for a short while during the reign of Falzrahm, he has been described as being being a mere shadow of his wife, and showed very little interest in running the queendom or being involved with the management of his knights. Of course, he is assassinated by the Nether Gate only a year into Falzrahm's reign, so perhaps he just didn't have enough time to realize his true potential.

Alison Barows married Salum, which may have been the beginning of her bad fortune. She had four children with him, whom she loved very much. Unfortunately, her eldest daughter died due to an illness, followed shortly by the assassination of her son, Hiram. The passing of her two elder children devastated her, resulting in her mental breakdown and isolation within her room. Her husband, Salum, didn't provide any mental support, and thus she remained in this condition for years until after her husband is killed.

Following Salum's death, Alison helps Euram understand what he needs to do to redeem himself, and finally emerges from her isolation to help rebuild Falena with her two remaining children.

Hiram Barows was the eldest son of Salum and Alison. He was intelligent and well-liked, but was determined to be too dangerous, resulting in his assassination by the hands of the Nether Gate. His death resulted in his mother isolating herself from the world. It is said that Kyle the Queen's Knight is a splitting image of Hiram Barows.

??? Barows is the unnamed eldest daughter of Salum and Alison. All that is known is that she died due to an illness shortly before the assassination of Hiram Barows.

Euram Barows is the younger son of Salum and Alison. Having been the younger son, he lived a life without troubles as he grew up, getting along with his younger sister Luserina. However, his world is flipped upside down with the death of his older sister and brother, thrusting him into the position of being the "Barows heir." Influenced by his politically devious father, he tries to be clever but clearly lacked the skill to be a true schemer. Jealous of the intellect and physical prowess of the Godwin heir Gizel, he tries to impress others through superficial means, instead of trying to truly improve himself. His attempt to win the hand of Lymsleia Falenas at the Sacred Games was one such dispaly, where he employed the aid of the gladioator slave, Zegai.

His numerous attempts to get in the way of Prince Freyjadour Falenas was also derived from jealousy and envy, due to how he saw the Prince has having stolen the limelight from him following his acquisition of the Twilight Rune. He wished for himself to be the "hero" instead, as seen by how he portrayed himself at Sable. However, all his plots are foiled, only exposing him as an idiot that he is. In fact, despite all of his efforts to disrupt the Prince's progress, he is more or less considered to be a laughing stock by most of the Prince's associates.

Following the fall of Rainwall to Godwin's forces, he witnesses his father being murdered by Sialeeds. When the Prince visits Rainwall following its liberation, he discoveres a nearly insane Euram who blames the Prince for everything that has gone wrong for him. Although his words show that he blames himself for none of his wrongs, it is also clear that deep down he understands his own incompetence (such as how he ended up attacking the citizens of Lordlake out of fear). He seeks final refuge with his mother, who convinces him that he needs to restart his life and get on a path of redemption. Although his initial efforts at asking for forgiveness is met with resistance, he is gradually accepted -- and helps rebuild Falena with Luserina and their mother.

Luserina Barows is the younger daughter of Salum and Alison Barows. Having grown up watching two of her older siblings pass away, Luserina's response was a start contrast to that of Euram. Instead of caving into pressure like Euram, Luserina dedicated herself to hard work, quickly becoming the bureaucratic pillar within the Barows household. Although she detested her father's devious political schemes, she worked under him as a bureaucrat. Her thought was that she would be able to soften and even disrupt her father's plans through her efforts from within. However, her father proves to be far too devious for her to control, and her effrots are largely fruitless.

After Prince Freijadour seeks protection after the assassination of Queen Arshtat, various plots conceived by Salum is uncovered much to the horror of Luserina. During the prince's stay at Rainwall, Luserina shows her loyalty towards him, suggesting that he needs his own army, instead of the borrowed army belonging to her father. After the rune of twilight is discovered in the Barows manor basement, Luserina is sickened by her father's treachery. As a result, she bids farewell to her father and brother-- showing her strong resolve to do what is right.

Since then, she helps the prince's army in a minor capacity, often seen as apologetic for her family's wrongdoings. Later on after the death of Salum, she accepts Euram's apologies after he repents. After the war she helps rebuild Falena along with her mother and brother.

When Luserina is introduced in the game, she is presented as Salum's daughter who is far more capable than her brother, Euram. Throught the game she continues to project herself as competent and dedicated in a stark contrast to her brother. However, very few players would end up knowing that she was originally the youngest of four children. Her eldest brother was assassinated, and her older sister died early of an illness. These events were probably catastrophic for the family, forcing Euram to take the position of becoming the "oldest son" and Luserina to toughen up so she can keep the family functioning. Likely she was forced to grow up, and for that reason she saw the prince as her ideal image of an older brother. When everyone was relying on her young shoulders within the Barows family, it must have been very comforting for her to know that there was still somebody out there who can "save her."

She must have been very relieved when Euram snapped out of it and started to walk his own path towards redemption.