Spending most of his free time with his father, the boy was trained from his earliest days in the rigorous methods of the Romulan intelligence agency. While combat training was included in the regimen, it was deception and tactics that interested his father more - and that is the course that Aerv ended up taking. The mind was the primary source of all victory, all glory - Tal understood this and instilled his idea into his son's very soul. Know the enemy, learn from him, think how he thinks and you will have won. Strength and speed, power and agility are simply tools - good to have but useless on their own.
As a result of his isolation from his peers (even though Aerv still went to school and participated in the regular pattern of a Romulan's life) and lack of playmates made him yearn for outside contact. His father supplied this in abundance through material things. Fine clothes, fine weaponry, fine transportation - anything that Aerv's heart desired - except play and fun and frolic. There would be time for that later. The only close 'human' relationship that the boy had was with his sister Sharien for she was quick to understand his loneliness and often spurned her own free time to watch Aerv practice or hear him be taught. Perhaps this was not so surprising given the nature of Aerv's fourth and secret name: Sienovan - the Swordsman or Swordmaster and the blades for which the girl was named. Ael, the youngest child of the family, is also now developing close ties to her brother - although she is too young to serve as a friend and confidant as Sharien does.
Aerv had a particular fondness for things alien to Romulus. He loved to read Shakespeare and Surak. He collected Deltan books, Klingon weapons and scents from Risa. This strange, xenophile nature of his struck many as particularly un-Romulan and it became well known that the youngest son of the Ahalaen family was particularly well versed in the ways and arts of other cultures - something decidedly odd.
The eldest son and heir of the family, Maec, was assassinated by an unknown foe. A mere year later, Arya was killed during the destruction of the Akhssar during a military conflict. All of a sudden the duties of the heir fell upon the apparently reclusive Aerv (who had been held back from both society and school for two years due to some mysterious, unnamed - and largely fictional - disease by his father). He was up to the task. People thought that his lack of exposure to high society would make him naive - but he was anything but - after all, since his early childhood he was trained to think of enemies before friends, to understand the nature of deception. In fact, because his classical training in the mannerisms of the genteel nobility and powerful elite, these things came naturally to him. While the masks of others were visible, his was not. Since he had not seen the vulgarity that others saw, he knew only how to behave impeccably. This lent him an air of sincerity that endeared him to many immediately. Once he began to see more of the world, he gained experience and learned that the illusion of innocence was worth keeping.
The Ahalaen family colors are a deep midnight blue and a dark gray. The house takes the tail of the Aanikh symbol, which is shaped like a spearhead as its own identifying mark. The current structure of the family is as follows:
hru'hfirh (Head of the House): Tal Vriha tr'Ahalaen [140 Yrs.]
eri'hfirh (Heir of the House): Aerv Laehval tr'Ahalaen [29 Yrs.]
auethnen and ri'nanov (Advisor and Mother): Aehnne t'Ahalaen [100 Yrs.]
ira'dianvm (Oldest Brother): Maec tr'Ahalaen [deceased @ 65 Yrs.]
dianvm (Brother): Arya tr'Ahalaen [deceased @ 47 Yrs.]
ia'rinam (Oldest Sister): Sharien Verelan t'Ahalaen [18 Yrs]
rinam (Sister): Ael Arrenhe t'Ahalaen [8 Yrs.]
Aerv began attending the Military Academy at the age of fifteen - his father simply wanted him to get his compulsory ten year service out of way as quickly as possible so that he could become the protector of the family. Once his brothers died, however, and the name of the house came to rest upon his accomplishments and reputations, his future in the military was cemented. His brilliant tactical mind and affinity for art was supplemented with further training. Due to his excellent performance - and the influence of his family - he was able to get a coveted post as a tactical officer aboard the Aylhr.
The next four years saw a slow and steady rise in his rank. Aerv chafed under the strict discipline of the Galae. It was not that his father had not taught him how to obey orders or that Aerv was incapable of setting his own desires aside in order to follow the dictates of duty - that is the very nature of being a Romulan. However, Aerv had never learned to suffer fools...and he did not have very high opinions of some of the officers that commanded him. Worse, Aerv was quite miserable in the uncomfortable and - in his opinion - quite unattractive uniforms of the Galae. He did his duty, however, and did not complain. It was, after all, mnhei'sahe.
Aerv's rise to fame became rapid after the Romulan Senate awarded him 'The Blade of the Declared'. Near the end of the Dominion War, Aerv was serving as the tactical officer at the time and was quite taken with a young woman serving aboard the ship - one of the most beautiful creatures he had ever seen. While on a routine patrol mission, the Jihmn was hailed by a small Romulan colony being attacked by three Jem Hadar ships. The Jihmn responded - but it was only one ship against three and the Jihmn was badly damaged in the battle that ensued. The warbird lost most of its bridge crew before being boarded. Aerv found himself in command - and while he was able to save his ship, the young woman he thought so beautiful, was killed. In a rare display of rage and anger, with a ship being held together with spit and prayer, tr'Ahalaen ordered led a desperate, mad charge against the Jem Hadar.
Of a crew of hundreds, only seventeen Jihmn officers survived. It was an ugly and wild battle. It was a glorious sight. It was mnhei'sahe come to life. The colony's News Nets managed to use a few surviving relays to capture, and then later transmit it through the alliance. An entire world watched in awe, shock and fear as a single wounded vessel engaged and disabled ship after ship in what they believed was an attempt to save their lives. By the time the Jihmn returned to dock, most of her disruptor batteries were exhausted and she only had three torpedoes left. The media was fascinated by the young tactical officer who had led commanded the Jihmn. All they got out of an exhausted Aerv, however, was a single, cryptic comment: "Those who would destroy beauty cannot be allowed to live."
The great love of Aerv's life, however, came a couple of years later and brought with it rumors of disgrace and folly. The details are sketchy and no one quite knows exactly what happened. It appears that the woman was a Vulcan - naturally, that was not the kind of relationship a young man so recently a hero recognized by the Senate could enter. At any rate, no official action was taken. Aerv was promoted and transferred to the IRW Thrai. He served with quiet distinction but made no more headlines. When he retired after ten years of service, he had the rank of erei'Riov and was the Thrai's First Officer.
Now that Aerv entered the social and political arena, the Senate that had honored him six years ago began to fear his charm and popular appeal. Aerv was "requested" to join the diplomatic core. He was trained for two years, after which he served briefly as an aide to the prominent, though irritable, Ambassador Hrini Kaleh t'Khnialmnae. He was then assigned to serve as the Romulan ambassador on the USS Galaxy.
And yet his handsome looks and presence make such accusations impossible to believe - or at the very least rather difficult to spread. People like him upon seeing and more often than not like him even more by the time he has left them. Aerv truly burns with a "hard gem-like flame". The thought that he is secretly dangerous only serves to add to the allure of his personality. His decadence is also worthy of note. With a tremendous family fortune at his disposal, Laehval (the Shadow), certainly knows how to live the high life. He wears only the best clothes, drinks only the finest beverages and dines much the same way. In fact, under his stewardship, the image of his family has suddenly soared to new heights for their name has begun to catch people's eyes.
One of the first things that one notices about him is his splendid wit. Saying things he does not believe with an air of perfect seriousness to amuse others is a hobby of his which makes him the life of many a party - people pretend to be shocked, awed or angry but everyone realizes that he intends nothing more than to have fun.
He lives life to the fullest and appreciates beauty in all things - women, art, music and combat. Grace, above all, is the important thing - appearance and form is vital for him. In fact, he considers his own self a way of expressing art and so maintains rigorous exercise programs and never goes out into public unless he is well dressed. It is this aestheticism that is the source of his genius - even in tactics. He sees complex patterns instantly, drawn by either their sublimity or grotesque nature - he understands his enemies by the art they produce, and if they are worthy defeats them with grace to do them honor. He is a gifted lover for his women never forget him, a fast friend for he never forgets them, the standard for a gentleman for he never forgets himself and a deadly enemy because everyone forgets those who cross him - for they do not very often survive.
Aerv's greatest strength - his pride and sense of beauty - can also be a weakness. He is tempted with beautiful things and is often willing to pay a steep price to get exactly what he desires. His excessive refinement has made him lose touch with the common man and his contempt for those without taste or a sense of beauty sometimes causes him to overlook other qualities that people might have.
Like all of the Ahalaen family, his Romulan brow is quite subdued, though it is still not entirely smooth.
