Gungnir Alabus

✦ Backstory

In his childhood, Gungnir Alabus was born to a small village in Northern Nohr. Raised in a long line of siblings as one of the few young, able-bodied folk there, he learned that it was essential to contribute whatever he could to the village's local militia. At this time in Nohr's history, the more rural villages on the outskirts of Nohr weren't as fully developed in magical practices, and had to rely on brute force to fend off monsters. As such, Gungnir put himself to work and worked tirelessly to protect his village. Their praises had left an impression on the overall quiet and unassuming young Gungnir, and he made friends as time went on. As time went on, his village developed even more, becoming a critical point for exporting and importing goods. Travelers frequently passed by the village, and Gungnir was content with his position in life. However, this contentment wouldn't last long. A traveling swordswoman named Sanguine had appeared in the village on account of business for her guild. She became talk of the town for her deft skill, and Gungnir's name was brought up in passing around her almost always in conversation. Meeting her to sate his curiosities, Gungnir challenged her to a friendly spar. On that unusually temperate afternoon out in the nearby forest, Gungnir found himself enamored by her skill. It felt like he wasn't even fighting her, but her afterimages. The degree of skill easily trumped his amount of frank strength, and Gungnir was awestruck and immediately in love. He didn't know how to make sense of it, and assumed that he had been descending into hysterics; the only cure was defeating her in battle. In her few months that Sanguine was in the region, Gungnir eagerly took what opportunities he could to go out to the forest and train alongside the woman. In truth, Sanguine herself entertained and impressed at his persistence. She had not particularly found a foe as enduring and flat-out strong as Gungnir. Together, Sanguine would form a familiarity with the town and Gungnir, sharing many a meal alongside him and the townsfolk and growing warmer by the day. After a few months, the end of Sanguine's stay in northern Nohr had drawn near. Gungnir had yet to break through Sanguine's technique, and was desperate to have a reprieve from these emotions that held his heart in a chokehold. On the night before Sanguine left, Gungnir shirked his typical scouting and sentry duties for the village and asked to duel Sanguine one last time. Going out to the tranquil forest, it wouldn't be long before Gungnir got his victory; at a severe cost. The village had been left unattended, and the village had been upheaved by a manner of monster Gungnir had never seen before; violet, near-ephemeral, soldiers had wreaked havoc across his village, leaving it in burning ruins. The once-peaceful village was left in tatters, and neither Gungnir nor Sanguine could defeat the monsters that had destroyed the village. The pair, driven by fate, escaped to a distant roadside inn. Guilt-stricken and enduring an even worse feeling than the one he felt before, Gungnir was too overwhelmed by emotion to even bring himself to mourn. It wasn't like Sanguine knew what to do, either. Combat was all that she knew, and this man had entered into her life and brought emotions that she had otherwise no experience with; and yet, here is yet another feeling she did not know how to acknowledge. The pair found that they couldn't afford to consider these feelings, but to simply stay together and find work in the capital. Sanguine advocated for Gungnir's stay amongst the guild, and Gungnir solemnly proved himself, growing colder and more regretful. He fought without relent, his power reaching new heights; he fought as if he didn't care if he lived or died.

One day, the guild took an especially curious request. The fortune was immense, and it was simply to subjugate a group of bandits that had been going village to village destroying land. Gungnir and Sanguine almost immediately recognized just what manner of beast they would be suppressing, and advocated with alacrity to take it on. They hoped that not one more tragedy like theirs would occur ever again, and ventured out with the guild leader and fellow guild members to undertake the endeavor. However, Sanguine and Gungnir were as overconfident as they were justice-seeking. They had been overpowered by what seemed like infinite numbers. Just as they had grown stronger, so too did this faceless and unfathomable threat. The group suffered severe casualties, the biggest of which being guild leader, left splayed and dead where he stood. The few had survived, but the remains advocated for Gungnir as the new leader thanks to his courage and merciless fighting style. And from that, the Lanceitt guild was born; the ashes of a bloodstained legacy, left to the hands of a man that should have died years ago.