Alden "Kardian" Laeril

Alden Laeril is one of the protagonists in Quintessence - The Blighted Venom. He is an Aerian, previously Arch-Alchemist of Aeria, at the start of the story he is living at Korbin Village with his sister. As his life story unfolds, he becomes of great help to the main protagonists, mainly with his wisdom and knowledge of Quintessence.

Family and early life
Alden lived apart from his parents since he was young. His parents were busy and always travelling, and they couldn't afford to take him with them, so they left him under the care of hired people, ocassionally getting in contact via letters. (We don't get to know anything else about them through the story.) He lived mostly alone until later, when his sister came along to live with him. They continued living together until Petal died. It is later revealed that the girl who joins him was not really his sister but his sister's friend while the real Petal died before Alden got to know her, but Alden lives almost his whole life oblivious to this fact and loving the girl (whose real name we never get to know so she is referred to as "Kaire") as his true sister.

Career
Kaire wasn't a healthy girl, she fell ill often, and since Alden cared for her really much, this motivated him to become an alchemist so he could cure each of her illnesses. He studies day and night, and he becomes so good in alchemy that he is chosen to be Aeria's Arch-Alchemist, and is dedicated to the task of extracting the Quintessence. However, this soon proves to be the most dangerous task Alden had ever gotten, because of the conspiracies in the background, and, fearing for his sister's and his own life, he decides to flee from Aeria. Kaire, who meanwhile fell in love with her so-called brother, decides to go with him, not minding the hardships they might encounter on their way. They flee together from Aeria, and with the help of Quintessence, they put up a permanent disguise as casual people from Prion.

Meeting with the main characters
Alden, now called "Kardian", and Kaire arrive at the forest close to Korbin Village in wintertime. However, before they can reach safety, a snowstorm hits them, and Kaire falls unconscious. As Kardian cannot just leave her there, he can't do anything else than wait there and pray somebody finds them. This somebody, as it is revealed in the main plotline, is Reivier, who takes them to shelter, and along with the folks of Korbin, gives them home, but by the time he finds them in the snow it is already too late: Kaire's legs are frozen, and since they used Quintessence in a way that doesn't allow them to shift back to their original shapes, she can't heal herself and thus is confined to a wheelchair from then on until the end of her life.

Role in main plotline
Alden is a major supportive character throughout the plot of Quintessence - The Blighted Venom. He discovers Lunair's real identity, and after he proves himself to be the real Alden Laeril whom she had known well back when they lived in Aeria, he decides to help them in their quest of saving Serai from Aeria and finding a cure for Quintessence, which both Lunair and Kaire need. He travels to the lands across the sea with Vikon and Salory to find the remedy (while Reivier and Lunair travel to Aeria), and there they meet Eshe, who decides to help them despite their language barrier which seems to be a problem at first. She and Ailah return with Alden and the others to Prion with two cures, but by the time they get back, Kaire dies, so they can give the extra remedy to Reivier, who had taken Quintessence too without Alden knowing. However, Serai, who was forced to take Quintessence while being in prison in Aeria, steals Lunair's remedy to change herself back, and thus only she and Reivier can heal while Lunair stays in her dangerous state. A couple of weeks later, despite Lunair having told him not to do so, Reivier tells Kardian Kaire's true story which she had told him and Lunair on her deathbed, her death wish being that they tell it to Kardian. Lunair thinks it is a bad idea, but Reivier tells him nevertheless, and although Alden finds this heartbreaking, he is still grateful for being told the truth. After Shanti wakes up in Lunair, and she falls unconscious for months, she wakes up in a foreign village. After she is healed, they start heading back to Korbin, but on their way Duke Rayne (who turns out to be Agatha) finds them, and a battle ensues, in which Vikon nearly dies, and Alden gets severely injured as well. After they return to Gaurav, a friendly town Nothreast of Korbin, Kardian takes his time to heal, along with Vikon, while Eshe, Serai, Reivier and Lunair continue their quest of the Quintessence. After Kardian heals, saying that there is only one more thing he wants to do, he disappears.