Ukko (Hyoscyamus)

Nestling
In a richly decorated nursery room in Uptown Baraahn, two brothers emerged into the world from their eggs. The first one to break his shell was large and loud, demanding and devouring all the delicious foods the family’s nanny cooked. The second brother hatched a few days later, in the dead of night. There was no peeping, no demanding, no ravenous appetite. The new parents Bloodroot and Alstroemeria were beside themselves with worry, but every physician who was ordered to do a total checkover simply assured them that he was a quiet child. Multiple herbalists, healers and all-around headshrinkers were thrown out the mighty gates that barred the estate and told to never come back, both parents insisting there simply must have been something wrong. Afterall, compared to the bold and puffy Xyris, the small cowering lint-ball hardly seemed like a son to such a noble house as theirs. Finally, after weeks of just silent starting from the bottom of the nest, the parents decided more unconventional means were called for. Hyoscyamus, as the smaller hatchling was named, was constantly poked and prodded by different soothsayers and picked up by weirdly scented strangers. Their constantly changing prescriptions of ointments and powders had an effect, though. Hyos began to cry and crawl around, all in an effort to get away from the constantly harassing talons. He also began to fall ill more often, though it was assumed it was because of his naturally weak constitution. Hyos' poor health continued throughout his childhood, often making him too tired to play outside with his brother and his little friends. When he did venture out, he mostly stuck by Xyris' side. His brother was always kind to him and suggested only gentle games when he was around to make sure he could join in too. This earned him much praise from the adults, which Hyos did envy a little. He wished his parents or nannies would compliment him on something other than his new rabbit's foot necklaces all the time.

Fledgeling
As the brothers began growing in their flight feathers, Alstroemeria’s connections in the spice-guild assured them both spots at any of the finest private schools in Baraahn. The one they were sheparded into was a large, gray stone building, seeming all together barren of hiding-places to little Hyoscyamus. He was still lagging sorely behind his brother, who seemed to only be accelerating in his growth both physically and mentally. The other children were keen to take notice of this. The taunting words that followed him around behind his back drove him to tears many times, but at least Xyris was always there to comfort him. Sticking to his side also brought a faint relief from the staring eyes, as all attention seemed to naturally focus on the larger, brilliantly white-pelted roo instead of his constantly hovering brown-mottled shadow. Hyos enjoyed learning the new things their teachers laid in front of the class every day. Applying the knowledge he’d absorbed from his parent’s trades, he quickly began to excel in plant identification and preparation as well as the basics of farming. In other subjects though, he lacked the drive to excel and in his parent's eyes, that was no better than slacking off. Xyris tried to help him with studying and memorization at their parents’ request. He was proving to thrive in a learning environment, always getting scores at the higher end of their class and earning praise from the tutors. On top of that, where Hyos was always shoved to the side during battle training ‘so he wouldn’t be hurt’, Xyris’s long claws and large size made him an extremely effective fighter. It was all starting to seem unfair. Around this time, Hyoscyamus was assigned another new healer, an old crotchety hen called Karu. She gave him tea to drink and trinkets to hang around his neck, but most of all what made her stand out from the rest of his carers was her honesty. She told him that despite all these efforts, he was never going to grow larger than he already was. It was a fool’s errand trying to stretch too little pelt over a huge drying rack. Soon after, Alstroemeria and Bloodroot caught wind of her attitude and she was promptly fired. Hyos never agreed to try a new ‘treatment’ again.

Subadult
As the brothers passed their first birthday, Xyris was proving ever popular, making friends and socializing even outside the upper circles of the Northern Kingdom. Hyos still followed him around, but didn’t have much desire to engage in any conversations he overheard. He was known to most as ‘Xyris’ brother’, nothing more. When he wasn’t available to be shadowed, Hyos dedicated himself to studying the various aspects of mysticism he’d grown up surrounded by. It had started as a desire to find a way to prove that hag Karu had been wrong, that she’d misread the signs, but quickly developed into a real fascination. There was so much to learn, rituals to memorize and chants to mutter under one's breath. And it was one thing that Xyris' could never do better than him! He was scroll-smart, but Hyos found that magic required thinking outside of the box. There wasn't anyone to tell you how to do it, and the few willing to teach at all encouraged him to find an independent approach. Hyoscyamus was especially fascinated by the art of calling on the dead. That seemed to him the most logical use of this power, because who else could reveal all the forgotten secrets of the world other than the ones that were themselves forgotten. The young roo spent hours and hours collecting dead birds and other small animals, but the rituals he did provided only very tentative answers. After some frustration, he reasoned that a small mind could only hold small answers. A mouse couldn't tell him what the weather was going to be like tomorrow, because it didn't know. What he needed was to find a way to contact an avetherian. When it came time to take an official apprenticeship, there turned out to be an issue. Apparently magic wasn’t deemed a suitable basis for him to build his life around. His parents insisted he take after Alstroemeria and get into the spice-trade, since Xyris wanted to become a Council Member and would need his help to look after the family business. Hyos absolutely hated the idea of putting aside his bones and on top of that, he could see that the guild was filled to the brim with no-good weasels. He couldn’t understand why Alstroemeria didn’t listen to him when he explained how terrible the whole thing was and how much it was twisting her to act like a fool herself. A big chunk of their profit was just thrown away at frivolous parties and status-symbols. Meanwhile, Xyris seemed content enough to succumb to double-think, making friends with the poorer avus of the streets while upholding a tradition that kept them in the gutters. He wanted nothing whatsoever to do with it. So, he concocted a plan. It turned out to be very easy. Having spent his entire life watching Xyris, Hyos knew exactly what chords to pluck. As soon as he began taking on the responsibilities of the trade, the household began hemorrhaging money. A careful word slipped into a sales pitch, a slight tangy odor on the product, an impurity in the mill… Soon, it became obvious that bad luck just followed the brother’s every transaction. To avoid the embarrassment of just taking back control of the finances outright, their parents suggested Xyris enlist in the army. He came from wealth and was quite accomplished in his battle-training, those things practically guaranteed a great career. Hyos was more than happy to let him go, the big dummy even seemed excited about the idea. That was, until Bloodroot insisted that he take a physician’s apprenticeship and follow his brother as a medic. He couldn’t rightly refuse, and he did enjoy learning herbs and their uses to and extent, so Hyos agreed.

Young Adult
After what felt like an altogether too brief apprenticeship under a roo called Silence, Hyoscyamus joined his brother in the army, serving as the Crown’s pawns. Once more, Xyris proved to be polite but down-to-earth, gaining friends and allies among the foot-soldiers as well as the high-ranks. This time though, Hyos got his share of attention. Compared to his brother, their flight-mates called him shrewd and grumpy, one called Vala even nicknaming him “Ukko”, meaning ‘old man’ in some old language. He didn’t fight it, it seemed much easier for avus to say than his original name. In secret, he loved the fact that he had gotten a nickname bestowed on him. It meant that he wasn’t just ‘Xyris’s brother’ anymore. He realized how much that had bothered him in the past. To make this new trend stick, he began distancing himself from his brother and his influence. This seemed to make him a little snappier towards him, but Ukko didn’t pay it any mind. While in the army, Ukko and Xyris received word that they had a new baby sister called Norna. They both took time between assignments to go see her, but Ukko didn’t return nearly as often as Xyris did. He would rather have spent time around the camp, watching and listening to the goings on than humoring the senseless babble of a hatchling. It also meant that his brother wasn’t around being pissy as often, so he got more time to get to know the other soldiers. Out of his flightmates, one stood out as his favorite. He was called Honeywort, a spot-furred roo on the smaller side of their company, but deadly in a fight and one of the kindest avus Ukko had ever met. He was popular with everyone, but Ukko couldn’t help but feel he treated him a little more special than them. He endeavored to return the favor, often passing them extra treats or making sure his bandages were especially neatly tied. They spent a lot of time together, talking into the night in their tent. Ukko never told him of the budding feelings in his chest, unsure if anything would actually come of them. It didn’t make it any less soul-crushing when he noticed Xyris was starting to sniff around Honeywort as well. Of course he humored his advances, he was just too nice to tell him to go suck sap. That must have been what it was. He kept up their meetings and gossip-nights, undeterred by the dirty looks his brother threw at him every so often.

Mature Adult
One day, when they were 7 years old, the tension that had been building between Ukko and Xyris for all their five years of service finally boiled over. Ukko spat his worst and his brother attacked him, ripping off the tip of his tail in the process. Obviously, the whole incident earned both of them a severe talking to by their Sergeant. It wasn’t the worst of it though. Honeywort withdrew from the pair and started becoming more distant, disappointed in Xyris’ brutishness and upset by Ukko’s attempts to spin the situation to his advantage. He demanded that the two either make up or he would request to be moved to the mixed Mountain Kingdom flight they’d worked with in the past. Ukko took this threat to heart. He could see that fighting with his brother might cost him the one avus he cared most about in this world. But, he also knew that the moment the rift between them was mended, Xyris would swoop in to woo him from under Ukko’s beak. He was just better at it. Like he was better at everything else they’d done. Except magic. So, to get an answer to finally beating his brother, Ukko turned to the bones once more. He’d learned a lot in the years he’d been surrounded by death in the army. He knew where to get bones that knew the answers. Before the next battle their flight engaged in that was set to be fought on a gloomy, overcast evening on the border of Breakwing Bush, Ukko knew the answers. He came to Xyris and he groveled for forgiveness. He had been wrong, and his brother was right. Though he deeply cared for Honeywort, he wanted to do whatever it took to make him happy. He would never say the kinds of things he had said in that fit of anger, if only his brother forgave him. And it worked. Honeywort was glad. Xyris promised to forgive him and never to lay a claw on him again. All three went into the battle with hearts free of burden. Only, just two of them ever returned. Xyris’s breastplate-strap broke mid-battle and while attempting to pull it back up, he was run through by a harpy’s spear. The piece of wood pierced all the way through his chest, there was simply nothing to be done. With Xyris’s death, Honeywort froze up, unable to hold his attention on the enemy. The two most effective fighters of the wing out of the game, the hippus began to advance. All around Ukko, his friends and flightmates were forced to retreat. Vala hit the ground and was trampled to death instantly. Honeywort got caught in the antlers of a gigantic roo, who tossed him aside like a wet hide. Ukko could only stare in horror. Planted flat into the ground, he dared not even pant. The hippus wall was upon him and he was sure he’d be next, but they simply… passed right over him, not taking any note. How could this happen? Why had he thought this was the best way? Tears streaming down his face, he was hit with a realization. He had read the bones of a hippus soldier. He’d been blind and foolish. Of course the advice from them had been poisoned. He hadn’t asked the right questions. He hadn't been critical. As the forces battled on behind him and the gryphus called a retreat, Ukko remained in the dirt, weeping. After that, Ukko never returned to the army. He was declared missing-in-action, presumed dead along with his brother. For years, he let that be the official story. He just wanted to disappear into the woods, where his horrible decisions and aura of bad luck couldn’t hurt anyone else. While in this self-imposed exile, he continued to study magic. There had to be a way to do it right, to master and direct it, without letting it manipulate you. If he could only discover how, he could bring it to avuskind and actually, finally be worth something. Years later, as he once again transversed the bushland alone, he bumped into a lone hunter. Nothing very special, he met avus like this all the time and dismissed them just as easily. This one though, was all too familiar. In a teary reunion, Ukko hurled himself at Honeywort. Turned out, he had survived the battle, but suffered a bad break in his paw and been forced to take an honorary discharge. The two spoke at length about old times and new happenings. Ukko learned that his father had passed away some years ago and that his sister had grown up into a fine hen. She was even an advisor to Royalty now, and all the talk predicted she’d marry the King’s son in a few years. After this, Ukko and Honeywort kept in close contact, meeting as many times a week as they could. Deciding that the time had come to return to his family, Ukko traveled back to Baraahn. The first meeting between him and his mother was… messy, to say the least. But Norna seemed to warm up to him quickly and seemed sympathetic to his status as a deserter being unearned. She presented the matter to the King and Prince, and after some statements of regret, Ukko’s status as a legal citizen was returned. Despite this, Ukko found it hard to shake old habits. He’d grown accustomed to living by himself in the wilderness and studying rituals, though he did make ‘physician’ his official title once more and began seeing patients more regularly. Norna did indeed end up marrying the Prince, and they had two children, named Sylvestris and Inula. Ukko tried his best to visit them and wish good-tidings upon them, but he still had an aversion to young children. Over the years, he’d drop in whenever he felt up to it, talking to his sister and gifting little charms to the growing youths. Eventually, the King fell ill and died, soon after followed by the Crown-Prince and his niece Inula took the throne. The declaration of Peace years later had hardly any palpable effect on Ukko’s life. He still went where he wanted and studied magic, but now the number of potential collaborators had increased. During the Peace-years, he traveled the continent and collected knowledge from all kinds of practitioners of the Art. He even managed to find a young gryphus to take as a proper apprentice! Not long after the Treaty was called off and War began anew, Honeywort began complaining of pains he hadn’t had before. They were both getting on in years, so it was hardly surprising, but Ukko took the matter very seriously. Though they had never officially gone through the ceremony, the two had considered themselves mates for a long time. Ukko threw himself into a new line of study, to come up with a cure for his beloved’s spreading illness. No matter what he tried though, the old roo just would not show signs of improvement. The physician’s travels became more widespread and frenzied as he searched for someone who would know how to treat an illness like this, even asking for the burial-places of legendary healers of the past, but it was all in vain. On one of his trips, he was delayed in his return. It was simply… bad luck. When he reached the campsite marked by softly jingling bone-chimes, all he found was the hunter’s young ward missing and a shallow, poorly filled grave. He could not take it. Digging through the loose soil, he cradled the cold fur of his beloved in his claws. He stayed in the hole for the entire night, crying fitfully. When the morning broke, he re-filled the dirt and placed stones over it, drawing sigils of protection on each one. What did he have left now? His work, of course, but that seemed to have lost its luster. He still wanted to make Honeywort happy, to protect his memory. He had been a kind avus, a friend to those in need. He’d loved his family. Now Ukko needed to become like him. It might take time and a lot of learning, but he wanted to try. Tossing the bones once more, he headed in the direction his beloved pointed out.

Elder
tba