ALABASTROS

Alabastros does not know the names of their forebearers, nor of their mother and father. As far back as they can remember, it’s only ever been them and their surrogate father; an old hound by the name of Pythius. As his rather cruel name suggests, Pythius was, too, a child scorned. Cast from his family as an adult for his refusal to apply to the path of the Order as his father did, and his father before him; instead finding solace and peace within worshipping Caryatis of The Hunt. Despite never regretting his decision, Pythius has always felt the ache of loneliness deep within his heart.

Feeling kinship with a small kitten he had discovered- wrapped in a worn and dirty deerskin and left on the side of a footpath- Pythius had decided to take the child in and raise it, hoping to ease the isolation he had endured for many years now.

Pythius was, admittedly, not very good at being a father. He had never cared for another- much less a child- before Alabastros, and as a result he struggled to care for the child; whether it be leaving them alone for too long, or making too much noise during the night, or struggling to balance their care and tending to his farm duties. Still, Pythius persevered, eventually begging for the help of a woman named Maea- an older mother of two from the village near his farmstead- to help teach him how to raise his young charge. The old dog, now too old to bear children and longing to care for another, was all too happy to oblige.

With Maea’s help, Pythius was able to raise the child while still tending to his duties on his farmstead, and now having someone to care for, Alabastros gave Pythius a new meaning to his life that he had never had before.

As Alabastros aged, they began to take interest in Pythius’ worship of Caryatis, and while Pythius made it clear that Alba didn’t need to follow in his footsteps should their beliefs differ from his, Alba had always felt more at home in the wild fields and forests of their home, and within the worship of Caryatis. They would often help around the farm, even as a young child. Having no other children their age around meant there was not much else for them to do either way.. They didn’t mind this, though, and instead Alba took pride in being able to help their father, and pay tribute to Caryatis in doing so. Alba would constantly be begging their father to teach them to hunt, and while it took a few years- mostly due to the young kittens age- Pythius finally agreed to teach them. Learning the ways of hunting were, at first, fairly difficult for the young kitten; whether that be for their age, or for their initial aversion to finishing their kill when an arrow just wasn’t enough. It took some time for Alabastros to become the hunter they are today… Time that was no stranger to harsh lessons and changes in perspective.

It had been particularly tense that night- a wolf pack that had been living here for many years had recently been attacked by a larger pack, migrating down from the north following the war closer to the Polis. It was hard for everyone within the small village to rest- fearful of the constant howling of the wolves within the woods surrounding them. Not little Alba, though. Alabastros had been doing somewhat poorly with his hunting training before that night- with some of the older women of the village whispering under their breath about them, about how a ‘scrawny little cat like them could never be as good a hunter as the men of their village’. Embarrassed by this, Alba- in their child mind- came to the conclusion that if they were to prove themself, they needed to hunt something nobody else would have the guts to do. In this case, it was to be the wolves terrorizing their village.

Alba left late, when his father retired for the night. Armed with only a bow, a quiver of arrows, and a small hunting dagger. It didn’t take long for them to find the beasts… Well, more like it didn’t take too long for one of the beasts to find him. As soon as they realized two wolves- having split off from their pack during the night- had seen them, they knew this was a mistake. They drew their knife, trying desperately to scare them back, but it was no use. One of the wolves, curious and hungry, became impatient, lunged, and- Was stopped by a hulking figure. Alabastros’ father, who had come to protect them from harm after noticing the child missing from their bed, along with a handful of other men from the village.

Pythius and the other men fought back against the wolf while Alba watched on, hidden in the undergrowth nearby. It was long and exhausting, but eventually, the search party had managed to fend off the wolves, which fled once they realized that it wasn’t worth the effort. Pythius frantically returned to his child to make sure they were okay, despite his own missing eye and multiple wounds. Alabastros, seeing his father in such a state due to his actions, but still so worried about him, had the little cat sobbing into his father’s blood-stained fur, promising never to do something so reckless again.

Pythius never admonished Alabastros for running away in the middle of the night, but thankfully their aunt Maea was more than happy to let Alba know how badly their little stunt could’ve gone, as well as sob into their shoulder and squeeze them half to death after all her scolding. Since that day, Alba has improved exponentially in the way of The Hunt- now that their father had been half-blinded and could no longer make his arrow fly straight, Alabastros worked night and day to improve their own skills to take on the mantle of hunter for himself and his father.

For the rest of Alabastros’ life, those northern wolves never did come back to the forest, something that, while they were initially worried about due to the balance the forest would need to thrive being thrown off for some time [at least until the old pack came back], they are eternally grateful to Caryatis for.

As of now, Alabastros has lived an exceedingly peaceful life. Now the main provider for themself and their father, they’ve never had a reason or desire to leave the forest they call home. But, as they are now of age- their father insisted that they travel to the Polis of Arete to make Alba an official member of The Hunt. While Alba would much rather just stay home and continue as they always have, they understand the significance of officially being in the path that their father, aunt Maea, and Caryatis herself place stock into, and so, they agreed, and became an official follower of The Hunt.