Desolas Arterius III

Desolas Arterius III, named after his great-grandfather Desolas Arterius II, is the son of Sairus Arterius and Selena Quentius. Due to his mother's infertility, Desolas was conceived in-vitro using genetic material from both his father and maternal uncle, Solaeus Quentius, before being implanted into his mother's womb as an embryo. Selena gave birth to him eleven months later, while seeking political asylum in the Arterius family's ancestral crypt.

In his father's absence, Desolas would forge a career as a soldier of the Hierarchy, earning a reputation for being somewhat of a maverick.

Parentage and birth
Prior to his birth, Desolas' father had been the last living Arterius left in the Milky Way, after his maternal family had fled to Andromeda as political refugees following Antraxes Partinax's coup d'état. As such, Sairus had for the majority of his life been under immense pressure to continue his family line, lest House Arterius go extinct forever. When he turned fifteen, his father, Fidellion Victus, negotiated a secret betrothal between him and Selena Quentius, the daughter of a prominent family which had been loyal to Sairus' grandfathers. Fidellion's goal was to ensure his son could continue his endangered bloodline while also giving him as chance for freedom with a powerful military family who could protect him from Antraxes, who was now the boy's step-father.

However, on the day of his sixteenth birthday, before Sairus could be wed to his intended, he was forbidden from taking his Arterius markings by his step-father. This denial of his rights lead to an explosive argument, which resulted in Sairus escaping his political confinement. He sought refuge with Selena, who hid him from Antraxes as best she could. When Antraxes' men finally tracked him down, Sairus had no choice but to go underground to avoid capture. Before he left her household, Sairus entrusted Selena with a frozen vial of his genetic material; in the eventuality that he be captured and killed by Antraxes, Selena was to use it to continue Sairus' Arterius bloodline.

Selena complied with Sairus' request, although soon discovered that she was in fact infertile, making it impossible for her to conceive a child of Sairus' blood. She confided in her brother, Solaeus, who provided her with a sample of his own genetic material. Using his and Sairus' samples, along with an anonymous donor's egg cell, they artificially conceived an embryo in-vitro, which was then implanted into Selena's uterus. In biological terms, this made Selena the child's aunt, rather than its mother.

Selena herself was forced to flee Antraxes' wrath after Sairus killed his daughter, Erinya, in cold blood. She sought asylum in the vault of House Arterius, located within the sacred grounds of the Cipritine Necropolis. She remained there for over a year, hiding amongst the tombs of Sairus' forebears and relying on the charity of the spirit priests to keep her alive. It was here that she gave birth to Sairus' only child; Desolas Arterius III, whom she named in honour of his exiled great-grandfather. Desolas spent the first months of his life living in darkness amongst his paternal family's honoured dead. Only when his grandfather had slain Antraxes in a lawful duel to the death did he and his mother safely emerge from their hiding place. Selena then presented Sairus with his newborn son, heralding the rebirth of House Arterius.

To protect his grandson from any sociopolitical backlash, Fidellion established the fiction that Sairus and Selena had been wed in a secret ceremony before Desolas' birth. In secret, he also signed an executive order regarding Desolas' parentage, elevating the boy from the position of bastard to legitimised bastard, in light of the difficult decisions his father had been forced to make regarding the future of his bloodline. In the same order he also stated that Selena was the biological mother of Desolas, when in actuality she was his aunt and surrogate mother. Any mention of Solaeus as one of Desolas' biological fathers was also removed from the records. Desolas was raised to believe he was as legitimate as any other Turian child, and that he was the biological offspring of both his parents. It was only later in his adult life that he was told the truth by Selena. In spite of this, he would continue to call her his mother and would remain extremely close to her for the rest of his life. To the same extent, he would continue to call Solaeus his uncle rather than his father, though in moments of anger towards Sairus he would often say that Solaeus had been more of a father to him than Sairus could ever hope to be.

Fidellion
Due to his father's emotional instability and penchant for falling off the grid, Desolas was raised by his mother and paternal grandfather. Fidellion was a much needed source of stability for the young turian, who would grow to become extremely close with him in his father's absence. This caused friction between Fidellion and Sairus, who misinterpreted his father's influence on Desolas as a calculated plot to turn his son against him.

Despite his demanding responsibilities as Primarch of Palaven, Fidellion always strived to make time for his grandson. He taught Desolas how to duel in the Bostran style - a House Victus family tradition - how shoot, drive land vehicles and pilot skycars. Another core component of their relationship was the teaching of Desolas' own storied lineage. He would often speak of the triumphs of Desolas' namesake during the Reaper War, as well as House Arterius' history as loyal servants of the empire.

In Fidellion, Desolas found a role model and confidant; someone who would never abandon him or place personal vengeance before familial duty. Angry and resentful towards his own father, he found himself wishing that he had instead been born the son of his grandfather. He would eventually come to ask his grandfather to formally adopt him as his son, a request which Fidellion gently declined out of love for Sairus. While initially deeply hurt by this rejection, Desolas come to understand the reasoning behind it in later life.

When his grandfather passed away at the age of 151, Desolas was distraught. As per his grandfather's request, Desolas walked behind his byre while holding aloft the flag of Palaven. He walked alongside his half-uncle, Keirix, who carried the flag of Bostra. He publicly wept at the foot Fidellion's tomb following his interment, inconsolable in his grief. Desolas remained close with his grandfather's family following his death. Keirix in particular was a source of comfort, the pair mourning Fidellion together as if they were brothers.