Hastios Valfir
Duke Hastios Valfir was born a century after Evergrove was founded in Nivasa. Born to parents who had witnessed, fought in, and survived the Underwood Wars, Hastios' upbringing focused on a peaceful lifestyle that balances one's needs and wants with the needs of the wilderness.
As the centuries passed, Hastios became acquainted with several humans that had journeyed from Marka. He saw their zeal for life, their benevolence for the things and people they enjoyed and their arrogant dismissiveness to those things they didn't. Hastios felt the need to teach them a more balanced approach to life, choosing to ignore the difficulty in shaping the mind of a species that seldom experienced more than half a century of life.
His zeal in unifying the Nivasa and Marka city-states through teachings and, at the very least feigned, understanding led to his inevitable involvement in regional politics. Just before reaching his 400th birthday, he and his wife, Malara, had a son - Aeldrindel Valfir - as he was appointed Lord of Nivasa.
Hastios' and Malara's parenting style largely reflected that of their own parents'. For better or for worse, Aeldrindel was exposed to the tenacious and considerably shorter-lived Humans from a young age and he didn't take as deeply to the messages of peace and balance. This was further expounded when the Astagua-Vescania War began.
Aeldrindel was just old enough to join the military and, displaying an aptitude for sailing and archery, was quickly selected for clandestine operations throughout the war. To his father's dismay, he participated in the very violence he was told to abstain from.
During the War, as Duke Valfir continually approved The Unified Council's deforestation of Evergrove Forest, he also engaged in peace talks with the aristocrats of Vescania. For many of the wealthy in Vescania, the war was pointless and didn't make sense -- it seemed driven entirely by the whim of King Stagsworn XIV.
Someone, somewhere, somehow learned of Hastios' efforts to put an end to the war. After receiving anonymous messages to cease the talks, which he ignored, Malara was assassinated in the middle of Evergrove.
The assassin was never found.
After the war had ended, the divide between the Ilaen and Haki slowly began taking hold over the region of Nivasa. At first Hastios tried to quell the generational divide, but as time went on his leanings - either personal or from his affiliates - began to lean in favor of the Haki. This lead to the eventual outlawing of Floranecromancy, which drove a wedge deeper between generations.
In the weeks before his death, Hastios received word that his son Aeldrindel was adventuring far to the south in Jaswa. He sent word for his son to reunite, but ended up having him arrested once he arrived in Astagua to be tried for war crimes he was reported to have comitted.
In the trial that followed, Aeldrindel was able to prove his innocence, though Hastios never had much of an opportunity to discuss the matter one on one with his son; he died hours after the trial concluded from Vescania's surpise attack on Highburg.
Relationships
Alignment
Lawful Neutral
Species
Other Ethnicities/Cultures
Date of Birth
36 Alturiak 297 2E
Date of Death
13 Ches 864 2E
Circumstances of Death
Killed in a surprise attack by Vescania on the Astaguan Capitol of Highburg
Birthplace
Place of Death
Outside the High Keep in Highburg
Spouses
Malara
(Wife)
Siblings
Children
Sex
Male
Gender
Man
Presentation
Masculine
Eyes
Hazel
Hair
Long, brown
Skin Tone/Pigmentation
Tanned
Height
5' 10"
Weight
153 lbs
Comments