To understand Ulfgar, one must understand Ulfgar’s grandfather, Stilgard Tillman III along with his father, Tugar and his uncle Hektor. Stilgard, Ulfgar’s grandfather, was a renowned soldier and personal guard to his king. Stilgard was a master of the greatsword, trained by the grand master swordsman Captain Earl McClaine, just as was his father before him. Stilgard had two sons, Hektor and Tugar. Both sons followed suit initially in the footsteps of their father. The younger, Tugar, showed natural prowess and aptitude for battle, leadership, and combat. The older, Hektor, (by 2 years) always felt outshined by the younger. This was stoked by their father Stilgard, in a hope that mutual competitiveness would result in stronger men because the boys would push each other harder. This was in fact the case, and they both grew nearly equal in prowess. Hektor, the older, was naturally a bit more brutal, and so was clever and creative in hand-to-hand combat – more so than his younger brother. Tugar, the younger, however, was unbelievably strong and could often overwhelm his older brother in their sparring sessions with mighty blows that would ring throughout the castle walls. As such, the brothers Tugar and Hektor were considered by most as equals.
One fateful December night, the castle was raided by an organized group of men, half-orcs, and orcs. This dark army had been trained by a defector from the king – and knew the defenses and routines of the castle guards and their military tactics/defenses. As such, the battle raged throughout the breached castle. Tugar & Hektor’s mother was able to escape, but their younger sister, Heidie, was brutalized as she’d been out riding that evening and was caught in the maelstrom of battle. She thought getting into the castle would be the safest place when she heard the signs of war. She did not realize that the castle had been completely breached. The abusers left her youthful and broken body in the courtyard, almost as an odiferous and macabre insult to the king and his people. Hektor burned with rage at the sight of his violated sister and her empty eyes staring upward the stare of death. He went into a berzerk rage letting his dark nature drive him to a frenzy like never before. Hektor killed every single one of the 50 enemy soldiers in the courtyard. He lept, hacked, screeched, growled, grunted and hacked until the flowerbeds were soaked in blood and the fountains ran red, defiled by freshly hewn flesh. By the end of it, he was unrecognizable covered in the icor and entrails of the slain…saturated with the crimson life of his foes and bleeding the burgundy of his own wounds. Near death he slumped over the corpse of his sister and wept with the last of his strength, cradling her limp body, rocking back and forth.
Meanwhile, Tugar and his father, Stilgard were protecting their king, Ferguson. The traitor who’d trained this dark army was hunting the king, and because he was formerly a captain in the king’s army, he knew the escape plan. Stilgard “played a hunch” and commanded his younger son Tugar to stand with him and “protect the king at all costs.” During their departure, as they weaved their way through the tunnels, alternating through secret passageways, and sneaking out of hidden doors, the king’s “true colors” began to show through. The pretense of regality and nobility was quickly stripped away before Tugar’s eyes as the king whimpered, complained, and cowared at every turn. The “last straw” was the king’s duplicit nature surfacing when the “traitor” (Captain Earl McClaine) confronted them with three other warriors – the biggest half-orcs Tugar had ever seen. As it turned out, the king’s corrupt 24-year-old son (Rychard) had gotten Captain Earl’s 15-year-old daughter Josie pregnant. The king then took it upon himself to make arrangements for her to have a fatal accident. This is because for a noble to sire a child would require her to be a concubine, and Earl and his family were never of royal blood. Such a scandalous union would tarnish the bloodline. This lapse of judgment would cast doubt on Rychard, the crown prince, should it ever be made public – and another potential heir would create further turmoil. So the king authorized staging her death via a horseback accident. However, one of the soldiers the king paid handsomely to kill the aged Captain Earl’s daughter was filled with remorse. In his grief, he hung himself from the watchtower beam while on duty with Captain Earl, leaving the chest of gold and a somber note confessing the heinous deed & begging forgiveness. All this came to light for Tugar in the dialogue between the king and his former Captain as they stood, swords bared, in the secret passageway.
The battle ensued…iron clashed, swords slashed, and blood was spilled. Tugar fiercely dispatched two of the three Half-Orcs, and disarmed the third. Stilgard battled his former colleague, trying to reason with him, spouting the moral high-ground of revenge being weighed as the duty of God alone. Stilgard would not relent and would neither kill Earl nor permit him to quench his thirst for vengeance. Earl whispered something under his breath in a strange language. The language was “Undercommon” and the word was “wojudya”, meaning “now!” Two dark elves (Drow) stepped out of the shadows, drew their 1-handed crossbows, and shot at the king. Instinctively, Stigard jumped in front of the king…two sickening “thuds” followed as the bolts found their marks. Now it was Tugar who was filled with fury! Tugar shoulder-slammed the Drow on his right, pushing hard with his left leg, crushing the drow’s head on the rough stone wall with all his might. He then pushed hard off his right leg as the drow on his right slumped to the floor. In this same motion he brought his greatsword’s blade down on the upraised buckler of the drow on his left. The blade cut through the buckler, the arm, and through the skull cap of the drow. “YOU!” Tugar said, as he placed his foot on the fallen drow’s shoulder, using the leverage to pull the greatsword one-handed out of the head of the fallen Drow. He took a look at his father Stigard with the two crossbow bolts in his chest, gasping, bleeding…suffering…he could smell the foul poison’s ozone-like scent.
“YOU…YOU…TRAITOR!” The words were guttatorial, primal, growls through clenched teeth…Tugar could not process anything except his father was dying. Earl McClaine took a moment to reflect, running his left hand through his silver hair. He then realized that his actions had just murdered the boy he helped train. He looked at his feet and saw his friend of 20 years agonizingly dying from the poisoned bolts of the very assassins he’d hired. Earl hesitated, realizing that for all the satisfaction he expected in revenge…there was only emptiness, darkness and a gut-wrenching remorse. It dawned on Earl that he’d now created the very situation for Turag that spurred him to revenge now. These were his last thoughts, as while he hesitated, an angry boy was lashing out taking his revenge at that very instant. “WHOOOSH-SCHPLUT-KATHUNK…” Captain Earl’s head hit the wall and then tumbled to the floor – separated cleanly from the jawline up. “FATHER!!!!” Tugar wailed…dropping to his knees and letting his greatsword fall to the ground. “SILENCE BOY!” quipped the king…”We are not yet s-s-safe! We need to get out of here!” The king tried to convince Tugar to leave the side of his dying father. When Tugar refused to leave his father in his last moments…the King said contemptuously, “commoners…” and then headed into the night with two other loyal guards who’d just come in from the stable-side of the secret passageway.
Stilgard motioned with his left arm weakly…Tugar leaned in to hear his father’s words. “I… would have… d-done… the ss’ame fo’for you… look aahf’after your brother…protect…Heidi… honor your k…king.” It would be years before Tugar would know the meaning of these last words. He remembered his father’s intense gaze…that stare…as the life left him and his eyes faded into lifelessness. This was at this moment that Tugar decided to leave the warrior profession. He was formally dismissed, stripped of all rank, and given nothing by the King. The rumor was that he’d deserted the battle and failed to protect his father and the king adequately. Tugar left his homeland only telling his mother where he planned to go – Daphene Bay. His mother gave him a share of his father’s estate and he used it to buy farmland. Tugar married a common but very kind woman of Daphene, Zarai, and they had three children, two girls (twins) and one boy. For a time Tugar trained his son, in honor of the boy’s grandfather, Stilgard. Like his father, Tugar’s son Ulfgar, was talented with the blade, insightful in combat, and unbelievably strong. Tugar fell more and more in love with the peace and simplicity of farming, bringing life and cultivating it, instead of taking it. He put this love for farming into his son Ulfgard, although his son would still do the military drills, consistent swordsman exercises, and necessary weapons and armor upkeep regarding the family greatsword techniques.
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