The Wedding of Alisha and Hastur the Lame. In the foreground, Alisha to the left, and Hastur to the Right
Hastur the Lame Firemane, (Al'Jathis, Antor, 2303 a.a.H. - ? ) was a Wild elf from the village of Al'Jathis in Antor, Zarhuy. He was an angry young hunter who came to suffer multiple tragedies in his life. He became a hero in both violence and in seeking salvation for his lost people, and ultimately, even the orcs he had long hated.
Attributes[]
- A strong, wiry wild elf hunter
- Courageous and Bold
- Anger Management Issues
- Renowned Hero of Al'Jathis
- Leg injury
- Lethal with a cane
- Impetuous
- Long overshadowed by tragedy
- Unrelenting
- Named for an elder god
- Has red hair, so is also called "Firemane"
History[]
The White Hermit[]
Hastur's early life is not well known. He was a skilled and fleet Wild elf hunter and capable warrior to the village of Al'Jathis.
Hastur's chronological first appearance was in 2343 when he and his beloved Naemae journeyed into the nearby Saahdons swamp to seek out the so called "White Hermit" Belád Bonceduil on his swamp island. At forty years old, he was still quite a young man at this time by elven standards. The two thought that they could purchase weapons from White Hermit, although it is likely that they had little which would have been commensurate with the value of the White Hermit's weapons. Also, the hermit didn't want to supply weapons to local elves that might be misused, particularly as Hastur proved to be a young hot head.
In any case, the White Hermit refused to sell any weapons to the two wild elves despite their somewhat arduous journey into the swamp. Hastur would prove to be rude to the White Hermit and angry at what he perceived to be the arrogance of the White Hermit in particular and High elves in general. Especially in that they look down upon their cousin elves on the plains, humbled refugees from fallen High elf colonies from the Age of Invasions. In truth, he largely revealed his own prejudice and arrogance.
Speculation: At this time, the White Hermit had inhabited the Saadons for about 21 years. It may have become a bit of a youthful exercise for young hunters to seek him out as exercise and informal rite of passage to navigate the swamp and to trade barbs with the High elf hermit.
Speculation: It is believed that the White Hermit moved his home to another island after the first proved unstable, his forge and home sinking into the ground. This may have been the first island, he might have moved his home to an island more stable, but more difficult to get to? In part, due to unwanted visitations by the local wild elves of Al'Jathis? On the other hand, he would maintain nominally friendly relations with the people of Al'Jathis, and indeed, would become a savior of theirs.
Quest of Vengeance[]
In 2363 a.a.H., an unexpected attack by Antorian Orcs in the woods, probably near a river or the outskirts of the Saahdons resulted in the deaths of at least two elves of Al'Jathis. One was Hastur's betrothed Naemae. This tragedy would cause Hastur to seek vengeance, ignoring counsel of patience from the village elder Akhara, but using a weapon given to him by her, he set out on his quest. Over a period of some months Hastur would kill many orcs and goblins in his quest, which would culminate in sneaking into an orc village and killing the orc responsible for the death of Naemae, and reclaiming her head, which had been taken as a trophy.
Negative Consequences[]
In claiming vengeance against those orcs who had wronged him, Hastur also claimed the lives of other orcs as well. He would face a realization that he had left orphans behind in his vengeance and need to escape the orc village. The thought that he might have created more vengeance seekers amongst the orcs chilled him.
Unfortunately, Hastur also suffered a crushing injury of a broken leg. He did not have the luxury in the field to set it well, so it would heal imperfectly. He would never be a fast runner again, and would become known as "Hastur the Lame" rather than "Hastur Firemane". This change is not an insult, but a celebration of Hastur's great deeds and an acknowledgement of having become a hero.
A Traditionalist[]
Perhaps because of his tragic loss of his beloved-which he could not bring himself to set aside-Hastur's natural propensity towards anger had turned to a morose bitterness. His heroic status, yet loss of speed that kept him close to the village, made him a sort of guardian of the village despite his relative youth. He would espouse the wild elf life , and would disapprove of his younger sister Luthien Firemane leaving the village in 2378 a.a.H. to live with and work for the High elves in Thilien, a land to the south east where the high elves of Vanilion had estates.
Luthien Firemane was still quite young at this time, it should be pointed out.
Family[]
Luthien Firemane is the only known family that Hastur has, although having parents is not unlikely as he is still relatively young at 125 years old as of 2428 a.a.H. and his sister was born decades later than him.
Speculation: As they have never been mentioned, Hastur's anger, and Luthien's abandonment of Al'Jathis might suggest that Hastur's parents are deceased?
Hastur came to live with the sister of his betrothed Naemae, who had become a widow when her husband, a hunter, had been killed. She had a little girl also named Naemae after the child's deceased aunt. (Fluffy the Pet Elf).
Apparently Hastur had a non sexual relation with the sister of his deceased lover. While not having actually married Naemae, Hastur acted as an in-law and thought of Naemae the younger as being his niece.
Destruction of Al'Jathis[]
Perhaps because of his bloody vengeance, orcs did not attack Al'Jathis for many years. Despite Hastur's strenuous protests, village defenses were partially disassembled.
Speculation: Despite his deeds, it might be that Hastur was largely discounted by the chief hunter and elders of the village as he was still quite youthful at less than a century old? He might have been a bit a nuisance with his role of 'guardian'?
In any case, in 2398 a.a.H. the village of Al'Jathis was attacked and destroyed by a large raid of Antorian Orcs. They had achieved a great surprise and the belated defense of the village was no match at all for the scale of the attack. Only those elves that ran away or otherwise were overlooked escaped the orcs. Many of those killed were eaten, and healthy survivors were hauled off into enslavement, which is typically an eventual death sentence when owned by Antorian orcs. Fortunately, Hastur was able to walk sufficiently without aid to follow the horde as a captive and not be killed for his disability, which is not an insurmountable problem for Hastur's walking.
Hastur would be traded amongst the orcs and in the village he ended up in, he would meet Alisha, a fellow wild elf captive. Although she was a wild elf ranger from Nortolon, far to the north east from Al'Jathis. The two would become friends and would become romantically connected.
The two would work for the orcs for some months as slaves on a short list as 'emergency food reserves' for the orcs. They and a little elf girl would be freed by the White Hermit, Belád Bonceduil, who was posing as a human trader. Despite being rescued from slavery and likely an eventual death sentence, these circumstances were much to Hastur's chagrin, as he had never gotten over his early disagreement with the hermit. His pride led him to work for the White Hermit as an assistant rather than accept his freedom as a gift.
Despite this long, bad beginning, the two would become friends, eventually.
Savior[]
The White Hermit had saved many elves over the months he posed as a trader of enslaved elves. But he failed to find Naemae's sister or her little girl, Naemae the younger. This was a compounding tragedy upon the loss of Naemae so many years ago. Indeed, it was perhaps a good thing that Hastur had come to work for the hermit, as it gave him something to do and he might have been lost with Al'Jathis destroyed and the family of Naemae gone.
Despite being told that it was a hopeless task, Hastur would spend many years looking for the two people he wanted to rescue the most. He worked with Alisha's Nortolon Rangers organization and among human traders, and himself, trading goods for any elf captive he could free. His anger and stubbornness made him an irritant for both Nortolon rangers and human traders whom he would work with, which contributed to him working alone. He became regarded as a sad, Quixotic and doomed figure in his search for Al'Jathis captives. Particularly the missing girl and her mother.
Even so, he would find the occasional living Al'Jathis captive over the years, and save many more elves from other tribes. He would become as big a hero than ever due to his dangerous and unrelenting search to the refugees of Al'Jathis who had been resettled in Thilien, but amongst other wild elves as well.
Speculation: it would seem that Hastur was operating alone in some of his later searches. It would seem that he had learned to interact and negotiate with tribal orcs much as humans and dwarves sometimes do. This is dangerous for humans and dwarves to do, but would be much more so for elves operating alone. Hastur might well have established a reputation and rapport amongst the orcs of various villages that allowed him to come and go for trading and remain free himself, and alive?
Such a relationship might have helped explain his eventual act to aid a tiny orc village beset by vengeful and murderous elves known as Orc Killers.
Reuniting with Naemae the Younger[]
As the years passed, Hastur had divided his time as being the assistant of the White Hermit, getting supplies for him down the river, and continuing his romance with Alisha, while Hastur continued his dangerous activity of searching for captive Al'Jathis elves. In particular Naemae the Younger and her mother.
In 2428 a.a.H., thirty years after the destruction of Al'Jathis, Hastur would hear from Alisha rumors (rumors probably propagated by The Immortal Shaman) that the Nortolon Rangers had learned of the rise of a new "Orc Queen", an elf maiden supposedly raised by childhood to war against other elves. While Hastur found this story fanciful, he would follow through on it using the intelligence that Alisha had learned.
With this information, he would find a tiny orc village that was part of the Brukkuthuz Antorian Orc tribe, being attacked by Orc Killers, the Orc Killers being largely Wild elf outlaws or murderers but brought together to conduct raids and fight dirty missions against orcs on the plains. They had been brought to this orc village by the same rumor of the new "Orc Queen" that had attracted Hastur's interest. Faced with this dilemma, Hastur would choose to fight the orc killers and rescue what orcs he could.
Hastur found with some irony that he had fought and killed fellow Wild elfs who may have had their own vendettas against orcs in order to defend those orcs. In a dangerous moment of further extreme irony and near tragedy, he would nearly kill Fluffy the Pet Elf--the former little girl he had searched for thirty years--mistaking her for one of the Orc Killers. In this way he would discover his lost 'niece' Naemae, Fluffy the Pet Elf, now grown to a woman, and married to an orc sub-chieftain named Mataelfo.
Hastur gathered the orc survivors together so as to tend to the wounded, he would capture some Orc Killer scouts so as to keep the secret of the fate of the destroyed orc village a secret and also the fate of Fluffy, the supposed new 'Orc Queen'. He would then move the remaining villagers to the White Hermit's refuge in the Saahdons swamp, much to the chagrin of the White Hermit. So much so, that the White Hermit, Belád Bonceduil, would choose to leave his island to Hastur in the hopes that he would resolve the issues with the orcs as he would return the Drow Trio back to their home of Negeémiliel in southern Aels, a trip that would take no small amount of time.
Marriage[]
This event would end his quest, and would put at least some of his demons to rest. Meeting Alisha later, they would decide to finally marry. The two would take a canoe trip from the Saahdons swamp island home of the White Hermit, along with Naemae (Fluffy) and two orc children stowaways, and journey to Thilien. The orc girl Tajadora being interested in 'hunting' orc children for her own little elf pet, and testing Hastur's newfound enlightenment and patience.
There, in Thilien, Hastur and Alisha would marry amidst Hastur's people, the refugees of Al'Jathis.
Current Status[]
It is not known how marital bliss will change the lives of Alisha and Hastur. Alisha may return to the Saahdons island with Hastur, whether she will continue as a member of the Nortolon Rangers is unknown.
Likewise, Hastur himself needs to resettle the orcs and reconcile himself with Fluffy's orc family. A continuing problem might revolve around the Orc Killers and their unnamed leader, who would seem to be connected with the Nortolon Rangers.
Creators[]
Hastur the Lame is a character personality created by the deviantart user Jathis. http://jathis.deviantart.com/ The art design was a 'random' wild elf male captive created by Shabazik.