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Astolfo Hayk's Backstory

By Alpha Wolfio

In the nation of Triyrus, there was a village called Emelle. In Emelle, there lived a

clan of anthropomorphic fennec foxes. The clan's duties consisted of trading to other areas in the nation. They were well-known throughout the trading network and became very wealthy due to their connections with royalty. However, due to their known generosity, they became a target of bandits and hired assassins. Eventually, an assassin clan was able to hunt down the trader group on a trek through the Thessa Woodlands. Unfortunately, the traders could not hold off the skilled attackers. They were trying to prevent them from getting into their travel wagon, which contained the children, women, and valuables. However, they did not make it out before they were sprayed with poison darts, resulting in their deaths. Within minutes, the trader clan was no more. The assassins took the wagon and the items within it. They also took the clothes and used them as disguises so as not to arouse suspicion. They thought they got away with everything, but they left one witness behind. When the traders saw the unfamiliar group approaching, one of the women told her child to run far away. He quickly ran into the bushes but hid instead of running. He was frightened as he heard the screams of his mother. His entire clan suffered at the hands of those vicious criminals.

After the assassins left, he went to see if anyone was alive. He went up to where his mother laid. Blood was flowing from her body and was drying up

in the hot sun. In the final moments before running to Emelle, the child grasped his lifeless mother's hand and wept. But when he went to hold her hand, a folded-up piece of paper fell out. Curious, he opened it up, and it read:

"To whoever reads this,

An enemy has struck us dead. The Hayk trader clan is no longer. Please take our belongings and sell them, and give the money to charity. If my son, Astolfo, is still alive, please forward him this message; Gungir is yours."

The child that read the message turned out to be Astolfo. His eyes widened, and he knew what his mother meant by that last message. Still sobbing, he kissed his mother's hand and got up, walking back to Emelle. When he returned home, he got a shovel and started digging outside of the farm that his clan owned. His shovel finally struck something hard. It was a chest. Inside was heavy armor and a sword with two golden handles. That was Gungir, a specially designed weapon that was more valuable than any item that the trader clan had sold. Few people knew what this sword was worth, and a thirteen-year-old fennec fox now possessed it. Astolfo took it out from the chest and held it in his paws. He knew that his responsibilities would take years to come. Suddenly, as he was admiring the sword, a scroll carried by the wind hit his face. It read, "The Triyrus Royal Army needs recruits! Please come to Strisas for recruitment." At that moment, he realized the necessity of Gungir and decided to honor his family by joining the armed forces and serving his country.

Three years after joining the army, he fought against Cermana, an enemy country that

invaded Triyrus. The leader of that country thought only about himself, wanted resources, but denied his people those resources. The leader was a rat named Grathus. As he lacked leadership skills, he decided to take the aggressive route and invade a thriving nation. Despite the Triyrus government offering assistance to Grathus, he declined as he thought he was fit to take care of his nation. As was ordered by Grathus, the Cermanan army looted nearby villages out of desperation. Triyrus sent an army to defend the border, but it was not as large as Cermana's army.

He formed the Sierra-Paw unit, a guard unit located in the north of the country. As

he approached the border, he saw and heard the terrified women trying to get away from the rat army. Astolfo directed his soldiers to lead the women to safety. As one of the arrows flew toward one of the women, Isvir, a handsome, short rabbit soldier, picked the woman up to save her life. Selni, a fox, was immensely grateful to Isvir minutes ago when she was on the verge of death. Selni was about to be escorted by Isvir when he interrupted and told her to stay with him until it was safe to leave. Selni began to cry when she felt stressed about staying in a combat zone. To calm her nerves, Isvir hugs her, but then he starts to rub his hands up and down her body. Selni tries to back away, feeling that Isvir was using her for pleasure. She yells at him to leave her alone.

The disturbance was heard by Astolfo while instructing his lieutenant in providing cover

for the paladins in the unit. Afterward, he marched to Isvir, who was grabbing at Selni. He took Isvir by the scruff and shoved him against a ruined wall. Astolfo lectured to Isvir that he should not be sexually deviant and force himself on others when they were at war. After that, Astolfo stripped Isvir of his ranks and told him he no longer qualified as a soldier. Isvir looked down in guilt and walked off, tearing up. Selni gave Astolfo thanks for preventing her from being assaulted by Isvir. Astolfo began preparing for battle after telling her to run to safety. He sharpened Gungir with a rock and then separated the swords with the golden handles off of it and ran into the fight. He was able to slay several Cermanan rat soldiers as they tried to shoot him with arrows and spears. The last soldier to finish off was a giant rat, who was two feet taller than Astolfo. The giant rat used an ax to hurt Astolfo, but he was not able to stop him. Despite the brute strength of the giant rat, Astolfo was better trained and had more skills than him. As he went at the giant rat for a final killing blow, he felt a pain in his tail. When he looked down behind him, he was shocked. Seeing his significantly severed tail, he fell back and passed out. The giant rat got up to finish off Astolfo but was ambushed by the rest of the Sierra-Paw unit and perished. Upon visiting a healer to seek treatment for his tail, he learned he would be required to take some time off from his duties. He was disappointed that he had lost so much of it, which used to be three times his height. Now it was only slightly larger than him. In rehabilitation, he stated that he had served enough time in the army and was ready to get out.

In the aftermath of the war, when Triyrus declared victory, Astolfo took his belongings

and set off to travel abroad to the island country of Dreona, located near Triyrus. As he made his way to a ferry that would take him to Dreona, he stumbled upon a run-down church with a stone statue in the front. The sculpture was an elegant cheetah lady holding two gold-chained objects, one scale, and one sword. A golden blindfold covered the eyes of the statue as well. Following several moments of staring at the figure, a member from the church came outside to Astolfo and explained that the statue represented Ceartas, the goddess of justice. Intrigued, Astolfo told the follower he wanted to join and serve the church and praise Ceartas. He felt that his beliefs aligned perfectly. Astolfo explained what he had gone through in life, from the war to the tragedy that struck him and his family when he was a child. Having been moved by his story, the follower gave him a warm welcome. The priest of the church made Astolfo an officially recognized "son" of Ceartas the same day. An aura surrounded Astolfo as the light shone through the windows, immunizing him from death. All of the followers of Ceartas were immune and could not die. However, the only way he could die was by having his head severed. He felt that he would have this power to live and serve Ceartas for the rest of his life.

Astolfo, who is twenty-one years old now, has done a great deal of good for countless people in Triyrus and other countries by serving justice. He even came

across Isvir, who had begged for forgiveness from Astolfo. In any case, Astolfo informed him that he would have to face Ceartas, which he did. Having been forgiven by Ceartas, Isvir became a follower and found refuge with Astolfo, now a leading priest in the Ceartas church.