My name is Ton Hood, I began my life many years ago in the city-state of Altene. My father was a general in the Altene army
and was the commander of the White Sharks company. My mother was from Tuchea, she was the third daughter of a poor
shop owner. My only brother was a Tuchean swordsman, his name was Danus Caesar. At an early age my father taught me
how to make my own fangstaves to use while training and fighting. My father being a general in the army taught me well with the
fangstave, I quickly started to become a good stavesman. At the age of eight I went on a voyage overseas with my father to a
city called Harmony, the city was horrible, the people were mean and I had to keep a firm grip on my fangstave at all times. My
father and I were going to stay in this city for about a year on a diplomatic mission. This city was surrounded by a vast forest, it
is in these forests that I met a friend, his name was Carctus. Carctus was around my age and somehow knew the Altene
language. He lived in the forest alone, he was a skilled outdoorsman and very poor fighter. During the time I was in Harmony I
spent most of my time in the forests with my friend, he taught me many things about living in the forest, he taught me many parts
of his skill and in return I taught him how to use the fangstave. Later on in that year on a calm sunny day I walked through the
forests on my way to Carctusís lean-to, in the distance I could hear men yelling in some strange language. As I got within sight
of the lean-to I noticed ten Cineran heavy soldiers and a Cineran general. The Cinerans had tied up Carctus and were
questioning him. I tried to move in closer to get a better view but as I moved in one of the soldiers spotted me, in a split second
the general slit Carctusís throat and ordered the soldiers after me. I ran as fast as I could through the forest back to the town
with the soldiers gaining on me slowly.
When I arrived back at the town I went straight to my father who then summoned the
guards. The twenty Iridine soldiers quickly cut down the Cinerans and took the general in for questioning. Later I explained to
my father what had happened. Later on that month we sailed back home. When I arrived back in Altene all my friends were
happy to see me. Being nine at the time I had one more year before I went into the army. I trained as hard as I could with my
outdoors skills during that year. About a week before my 10th birthday my brother who was now 15 had completed his service
in the army and left for the city of Iridine to help fight the Cinerans. On my 10th birthday I was brought into the Altene army as
a scout. During those four years I learned everything I could. I trained hard with my staves and outdoors skills, I read about the
history, laws, cultures, geography, and religions of every nation I could. After my four years in the army I decided to join the
Black Wolves company, and enlisted in an elite division that specialized in covert operations such as spying and scouting deep
into enemy territory. During the time while I was in the Black Wolves company all the time I spent studying helped me rise to
the rank of commander of the company. It was my job to direct all the covert operations for the Altene military. In the 3rd year
of my service in the Black Wolves company, I received word that my father and mother were killed by a spy from the nation of
Cinera. I quickly remembered my friend Carctus who had been murdered by the Cinerans. Now being 17 and the youngest
commander in the army, for fear I would be next I decided to leave Altene and become a mercenary for another country, any
country, except for Cinera. The next day I resigned and by the end of the week I was on my way to the city of Sostaeran. My
arrival in Sostaeran was unknown by all except for the highest ranking members of the Sostaeran government for diplomatic
reasons. I was given a house on the east side of a road called the Processional Way and a personal translator till I learned the
Sostaeran language. Even though I was a very good leader the Sostaerans started me out with only 100 warriors but I did
eventually work my way up the ranks enough to command 1,000. When I arrived at my command post I immediately noticed
how organized everything was, not a single thing was taken for granted, not a single soldier had as much as a piece of armor out
of place, and everyone trained as hard as possible.
I fought in many small battles with the Gadaene during the time I was there,
losing only one battle. After about a year I was fed up with the slow progress of the war due to the stupidity of my
commanders. I then resigned and set off to the city of Iridine to locate and help my brother Danus. Upon arrival in Iridine I was
overwhelmed at the size of the city and knew Iíd have a hard time finding my brother, I searched for two years till I found a
man named Balthasar who was a very good friend of my brother, he informed me that my brother was killed by bandits a week
earlier. Being completely devastated I decided to go live in the forest. I trained in the forest for a year developing some peaceful
habits and quickly became one of the best outdoorsmen in Iridine which was very hard at the time due to the lack of people
who could teach the skills. A few years later I decided I had enough of being alone in the forest and asked to join the Blackvine
Militia. I then started working with my stave again trying to reclaim my fighting skills that I had lost since I had left Altene. And
thatís where I am today.