View source for Melnoch Latharn

[[image: Latharn.jpg|thumb|450px|right]]

==Basic Information==
'''Name:''' Melnoch Latharn
<br/>'''Type:''' Heroic Mortal
<br/>'''Player:''' NPC
<br/>'''Age:''' 29
<br/>'''Archetype:''' Savant: Craftmason
<br/>'''Concept:''' Miner, inventor
<br/>'''Motivation:''' Protect his family and the city of Covenant, economically or otherwise.
<br/>'''Political Affiliation:''' New Covenant
<br/>'''Likes:''' Technology, animals, spending time with family, music (particularly brass orchestra), whiskey, local government
<br/>'''Dislikes:''' The Realm, insistence upon "the old ways" , wind, tea, far-reaching governments

==Background==
The son of [[Melnoch Tohogo]] did not know the circumstances of his father's death.  He suspected (incorrectly, in fact) that the Realm was responsible, and blames them for his father's demise.  After Tohogo's death, Latharn gradually became increasingly involved in Covenant's mining community.  He was a miner during his father's lifetime, but was only cursorily involved, instead putting most of his efforts into spending time with this family.  Latharn is married to Camryn Alma, who, before becoming a mother, spent a short time following in the footsteps of her father as a locksmith.  Together, they have two daughters, Evelyn, who is eight years old, and Fiona, who is five years old.  

As the revolution in Covenant gained increasing amounts of momentum, Latharn felt obligated to take the reigns his father had previously held and tried to keep the mining business stable throughout the turmoil - Covenant was not a wealthy city, and would still need to eat during and after the revolution.  To do that, they needed to sell feathersteel.  He had mixed success; many old miners were too stubborn or unwilling to take orders from the comparatively amateur Latharn, and others flat-out disagreed with his policies.  Latharn, in his free, had become fascinated with machinery.  This fascination was sparked by Alma, who explained to him the inner workings of a pin-tumbler lock.  From there, Latharn began to brainstorm.  Although he was hardly an engineering genius, he did have a knack for clever solutions to problems, and drafted up several devices which would help to automate and expedite the mining process.

This was the issue that would spark controversy with the some of the city's other miners - not fully understanding the nature of the devices he'd designed, they feared being replaced by them.  Tensions began to mount as factions emerged within Covenant's close-knit community of miners, but they were extinguished by a far greater threat before anything came of them - the Realm attacked Covenant with nearly a thousand troops.  It was during the defense of Covenant that Latharn established himself as a hero among the people of Covenant.

During the battle, Haraku and his men focused primarily on keeping the walls of the city intact - rightfully so, but this did little to protect the shanties and transient shops that had found their way to Feathertown, an area prized culturally and professionally by the city's miners.  Working closely with the troops who had been ordered to the district, Latharn used to his intimate familiarity with the area to efficiently evacuate priceless possessions, items of cultural significance, and civilians.  A small cadre of miners decided to stay and defend Feathertown even as Haraku's troops had been drawn to more critical locations on the battlefield.  Latharn was at their forefront, and used some of the mining devices he'd designed to great effect against the Imperial forces.  Although Feathertown was eventually destroyed, it was largely thanks to Latharn that few irreplaceable things (including lives) were lost there. 

As the new government of Covenant is established, Latharn is faced with a difficult decision.  Although he wishes to avoid the spotlight and focus on providing for and raising his children, he knows that he is, perhaps better than any other mortal in the city, equipped to handle the difficult business of running a profitable mining operation in such a remote, harsh climate.  He has also demonstrated a knack for quickly understanding, improving, and building complicated devices, and it isn't a stretch to imagine he could contribute to the maintenance of the First Age artifacts beginning to flow into the city as a part of General Haraku's relocation there.  Knowing that his services may be valuable, he plans to approach Severnaya and offer his assistance where it may be needed.

==Defining Quote==
"I don't know much, but I know three things to be universal truths.  One: Nothing is truly broken until it can't be further adjusted with a hammer.  Two: Men drink whiskey.  Three: A good plan today is better than a perfect plan tomorrow."