Alto

Specter

Alto is the unbreakable tank and aggressive warrior of the Chateneau wardens and by extension, League Zero. He is sturdy, aggressive and quick to action. His failure to stop Igor from taking control of him and the other wardens four centuries ago weighs on him and makes him often act rashly.

## Backstory

### Life at Chateneau Reach

Alto was the third of the twelve warforged created to defend the Chateneau Reach. His original name was Rook, named after one of the greatest knights who had ever served as a protector of the Chateneau, back when it was the capital of its own kingdom.

When Alto awakened for the first time he already had been arcanely programmed to know who he was and what his purpose was to be. He was a Chateneau Warden and his purpose was to defend and maintain the Chateneau reach. The first moment his eyes flickered to life, he was greeted by his creator, a spry gnomish mechanist named Alphisa Agemo. Also in the room were his two senior Wardens: Bishop and Night Rider. Alphisa introduced them to him and said they were his family. Despite only being seconds old, he recognized the word and the heavy responsibilities and bonds it carried with it. Alto's brothers welcomed him into the world and showed him the castle. Chaplain was matter of fact and rather witty, while on the other hand, Night Rider was warm, welcoming and charismatic.

Alto was eventually put to work maintaining the castle, under Alphisa's supervision at first as she looked for any defects in his functioning. She was a lively one, full of ideas and romantic sentiments, but she had a serious, almost sinister undertone to her that he could sense.

As he would work she would talk to him and she would explain things about the world. Alto was born knowing how to speak and move his body, how to treat authority and how to be polite. But he knew nothing of the history of this world he now existed in. Alphisa told Alto that it was her idea to name him and the other Chateneau Wardens after the knights of famous legends told about the castle and its previous rulers to make them seem more acceptable and familiar to the humans who lived there. She explained that most people feared warforged and that Alto should expect to be met with a lot of fear and misunderstanding over the years.

She told him about his namesake, the Chateneau Knight, Rook. A dark and mysterious knight who rarely spoke a word, but defended his king and fellow knights loyally to the end and the same would be expected of him. Like his namesake, Alto was designed to be a nigh unstoppable juggernaut of immense strength and power. Forged from a unique Black titanium/steel alloy his body could take a massive amount of punishment before he would need repairs.

After Alto showed he was capable of doing his duties on his own, Alphisa set to work creating the next warden. Alto was brought in to be present when Squire was activated, and from the moment Squire first spoke, Alto knew he was an odd sort. Very loud, boisterous and even brash at times. The exact opposite of Alto. Squire was set to work in the kitchen area, which suited him well as the kitchens at Chateneau reach were always abuzz with noise and shouting to feed the denizens of the busy castle.

Over the years several more wardens were created, and Alto was there for each of their activation days. Knight, Magus, Chameleon, Hunter, Champion, Marshall, Falcon, Lance and Nightmare, the family of Wardens were brought to life, one by one. Each one with a specific purpose they served around the castle, and each one with a distinct personality to match. While some of them Alto bonded with immediately, and others he did not, over the years as the faces of the mortals began to age and their personalities changed, his fellow wardens, his family, always stayed the same. Even Alphisa, the one who created them changed as her mind began to elude her, her hair turned white and her body finally failed her. The world changed over the years, but Alto expected himself and and his family to stay the same forever.

### Fall of the Reach

Alto was wrong about this though. In the year -214, Bordoria was invaded by the Bandeshi nation to their west. The Bandeshi were ruthless and cunning conquerors. Their nation served and revered the bloody god, Red Will, a name the Bordorians feared to even speak. Alto heard as the people of the castle spoke over the years as nation after nation to the west fell to the Bandeshi tide of war. It was only a matter of time before the Bandeshi would muster enough strength to attack the magically advanced nation of Bordoria.

On the march equinox, the blood-storm moon, Alto looked out from the walls of the Chateneau reach across the farmlands and saw as one by one they were lit aflame. The Bandeshi had arrived.

It became quickly apparent that the castle wouldn't hold the bandeshi out. Alto and three other wardens, Bishop, Chameleon and Squire were rallied to escort the lord of the reach of the castle. But as they were attempting to leave via the west tower, the tower's supports suddenly crumbled beneath them. Alto reached his hands up and with all his strength tried to keep the castle form falling on top of them. He managed to hold a small section of the rubble up to keep himself from being completely buried, and this maneuver was enough to protect his fellow wardens from being killed, but the group was trapped and their lord did not survive.

Alto stood, holding up the crushing weight of the tower's remains to keep it from finishing off his fellow wardens for hours. He could hear the battle raging above the rubble, but he wasn't strong enough to push it away and help. He waited, wanting to join the fight and avenge his lord, but the sounds of battle died down and his fellow wardens slowly came to consciousness, one by one, too late to make a difference in the battle's outcome.

They were trapped, unable to get out until one of bishop's students, a gnome arcanist named Igor contacted them magically. He created a distraction that allowed Bishop enough time to blast away some of the larger rocks with his magic. The Wardens and Igor made a run for it and escaped deeper into Bordoria.

### War with the Bandeshi

While the lord of the Chateneau reach had been killed, his son had survived the attack and the four remaining wardens met up with him, where they learned that of the twelve wardens, only five remained. Themselves and Night Rider who had helped the young lord escape. The young lord was still their lord and they wished to serve him. He kept Chameleon close to himself as a bodyguard and sent Igor and Bishop to work on espionage and magical research to help the war effort, while Alto, Squire and Night rider were sent to the front lines.

Alto, Night Rider and Squire joined up with the Bordorian army, and together they fought through battle after battle. Alto couldn't help but admire how Squire and Night Rider managed to get along with the other soldiers so well. Alphisa was right when she told him that most men feared warforged, but Night Rider could make that all go away with his charming and outgoing attitude. It certainly made gaining respect in the ranks easier when the men didn't fear the three of them.

Battle after battle, campaign after campaign the years began to roll by and the three wardens began to gain some renown in the ranks of the Bordorians. Alto was a tank who could battle ten bandeshi soldiers at once and still have enough stamina to go in for a second round, Night Rider was a cunning leader who could snatch victory from the most hopeless of scenarios, and Squire was a speedy and merciless killing machine. Without the other wardens to complete the knight's set, the soldiers took to calling Squire Scythe after the unique blades on his arms that looked like actual scythes. Alto took a longer time to change his name from Rook as he liked that name. But there was a nickname the soldiers gave him that he liked better: Alto. It meant high, or tall, with a subtext of respect and dignity. It didn't feel right to keep the name Rook when the other wardens weren't around to complete the set, so he accepted his new title.

Battle after battle Alto, Scythe and Night Rider survived against the unstoppable tide of bandeshi soldiers. But no matter how many soldiers they slew over the decades they fought, the war never seemed to sway in their favor.

### Losing One of Their Own

Eventually, Alto met up with Bishop and Chameleon, who had also adopted the new names of Chaplain and Specter. Alto was glad to see his brother and sister after so many years of fighting and being apart, but he was surprised to see they didn't feel the same way. They weren't displeased to see him, but they were so focused on their own work doing espionage and intelligence work, it seemed like they had forgotten about him, Scythe and Night Rider. It hurt to think his own family had forgotten him.

Chaplain and Specter had come up with some sort of device that could make enemy generals turn on their own troops. Alto had no idea how it worked and Chaplain couldn't tell him as it was highly classified, but Chaplain needed Alto to capture and bring him a general of the Bandeshi army. Alto agreed and together with Scythe and Night Rider, the five wardens were back working together again. Even after all these years their teamwork was still flawless and their execution precise.

Even with their best laid plan though, the Bandeshi's troops became aware of them making their way toward the general and fighting broke out. Scythe held off the Bandeshi soldiers to allow Alto and Night Rider to face the general on their own. Alto and Night Rider fought the general, but he was too strong for them. The General used his paladin abilities to smite Night Rider and Alto saw his older brother shattered into a thousand pieces.

The General tried the same maneuver on Alto, but Alto's pure rage held him together. Alto would finish this fight. His size, strength and ferocity won out in the end and he beat down one of the Bandeshi's strongest soldiers, but not to death. Chaplain instructed Alto not to kill the general. They needed him alive.

It took several weeks before they let the Bandeshi general go back to his people. Alto wasn't sure what exactly they did to him, but when Alto and his men faced that general on the field again, the Bordorian forces slaughtered the disorganized and ill-prepared Bandeshi. Whatever Chaplain had done, it worked. The tide of war turned and bloody battle after bloody battle the Bordorians began to push closer and closer to retaking the Chateneau Reach.

Finally, after years and years of fighting, Alto and his fellow wardens approached the gates of the Chateneau reach with the armies of Bordoria at their backs, and began their assault. It was one of the hardest battles of the war. The cobblestone floors of the castle ran red with the blood of both sides but in the end, the four remaining wardens fought their way to the old throne room and retook their home.

### The True Betrayal

With the reach back under Bordorian control, The Wardens were pulled back to defend it and its lord. It felt off to be defending the castle with only 3 of his siblings instead of 11. Alto set to work repairing the castle and all seemed like it would be well. But one day Chaplain said he had to meet with Igor to discuss business in the capital. He left, and didn't return for two weeks so the lord of the castle sent Alto to retrieve him.

When he arrived at Igor's estate, he found the lab dark and empty. As he entered the door swung shut behind him. Arcane magic attempted to bind him in place, but he managed to shrug it off. He caught a glimpse of movement in the darkness and he swung his hammer, connecting with his target. He stepped on his enemy's back to pin them down and he caught a glimpse of more movement. A blast of fire magic knocked his hammer form his hand, but in the flash of light his enemy had given away his location. Alto reached out and grabbed the small sized attacker by his head and lifted him up. It wouldn't have been the first skull he crushed, not even in the first twenty at this point, but he wanted to see the face of his attacker before killing them.

He lifted the small person up, and saw the face of Igor. He wasn't expecting that. Why would Igor attack him? They were both on the Bordorian side of the war. Igor put up his hands defensively and shouted through Alto's palm for him to wait. Alto had a moment where he could have so easily squeezed his fingers and the gnome's head would have cracked like and egg, and his brain would have been squished to jelly. But he hesitated. In his brief moment of hesitation, the figure under his foot turned and cast another spell, this one locking him in place. He couldn't move as he saw Chaplain crawl out form under his foot. Chaplain and Igor moved his immobilized body and put him into a chair, where they pulled out an arcane tablet, and they used it to begin his reprogramming.

With each use of the spells on the tablet parts of Alto's mind were sealed away behind walls of command words and phrases. He could only watch as his body began to obey orders Igor gave him without himself having any control. Igor took Alto and Chaplain to the Chateneau Reach where Alto watched as he fought his closest brother, Scythe and pinned him to the ground for Igor to perform the same experiments on him. Igor had Specter kill the lord of the reach so no one would complain of their disappearance, and the four of them left to go back to Igor's estate to help him with his research, completely under his control. The Chateneau Wardens would never enter The Chateneau Reach again.

### Mind over Matter

Alto rarely had any true idea of Igor's plans or intentions. He didn't understand the intricacies of magic and Igor rarely used him for more than heavy lifting or acting as his own bodyguard. But Alto could hear the codes in his head. There was logic to them. There was logic to magic. Alto was still conscious and aware. Perhaps if he could learn magic he could find a way out of this. He would look over Igor's shoulder whenever he could, try to grasp even a basic understanding of arcana. But it seemed pointless as he was unable to understand it. Igor eventually left Bordoria and Alto began to work on setting up his traveling carnival and protecting his wagons at night. Alto captured several other Warforged for Igor over the years.

The memory of having the chance to stop Igor all those years ago haunted Alto every night as he and the other warforged he captured would stand watch. Every night for decade after decade. He wanted so badly to go back in time and squeeze the brains out of that gnome when he had the chance. As the months dragged into years and then to decades, Alto was driven by the burning desire to find a way out. To save himself and the other wardens. Year after year he tried to learn Arcana to no avail. It was like trying to learn algebra by looking at already solved Calculus problems. He had no idea what any of it meant or where to start.

Eventually, Igor settled down and had Alto and several other warforged build him a mansion in the middle of the woods, far far away from Bordoria on a continent far away. After the mansion was completed and Igor didn't travel with his carnival anymore, Alto wasn't much use to him, and he spent years collecting dust in one of Igor's back rooms. Alto nearly lost his sanity back there, as it felt like the only way out was getting farther and farther away.

### City in the Clouds

But fate had another course. One day Igor pulled Alto out of storage and showed him to a small bird-man. A little brown aaracocra named Alcionne. Alto knew a transaction when he saw one and he immediately knew he was being sold. The bird was given the key codes to command him and Alto was handed over to his new master. He trekked down a long road, up a mountain and into a city precariously built atop a mountain too small to form its base. He soon learned that this was the city of Avalon.

The city's support structures were in a sad state of disrepair and were woefully inadequate for supporting the massive city atop them. It was Alcionne's job to get them back in working order. Alto's immense strength must have been one of the main selling points for this Alcionne as he used Alto almost non-stop to carry massive stones and support parts of the city's infrastructure as he would repair it. Such heavy structures would have normally crushed Alto, but Alcionne used a new form of symbol based magic to increase Alto's size and his strength when he was holding parts of the city's supports up. It was grueling and painful work as Alto's body was pushed to the limit every time, and on multiple occasions parts of his body would pop out of place, causing him excruciating pain on a daily basis.

At night, Alto would be shut inside Alcionne's workshop. Alcionne did use Arcana, but he also used a type of symbol-based magic when he would enhance Alto, and he kept notes on how this magic worked on his wall where Alto could read them. It was far more simple than arcana, and Alto began to wrap his head around its use.

Alto was programmed and commanded to keep Alcionne safe at all costs. One day during repairs, Alto's arm snapped under the pressure. The column piston he was working on slammed down on him and another piece of it began to fall toward Alcionne. Alto didn't have a choice in the matter, he reached up with his one remaining arm and activated one of Alcionne's safety measures, a rune that would force an incoming projectile to miss. When Alto activated Alcionne's symbol, Alcionne's life was saved, but Alcionne himself was fascinated by how Alto had learned how to activate his giant runes without being taught. Alcionne had been under the impression that warforged had no minds of their own, but Alto had shown a capacity to learn on his own.

Alcionne repaired Alto's arm and began working tirelessly to try to figure out Alto's mind. Alcionne thought he was discovering the birth of a new intelligence. But when Alcionne figured out the truth, that the codes were not his mind but chackles used to imprison him, Alcionne panicked and burned the notes. Alto watched as his and all the other Warforged's chances at freedom turned to smoke.

He had been so close to freedom. So close only to have it ripped away. Alto's mind boiled in hatred toward Alcionne. If it was the last thing he ever did, he would make Alcionne pay for that.

### Freedom and Revenge

Eventually, Alcionne's repairs to Avalon were completed and Alto was sent back to Igor. Alto waited there again, until one day, a young wizard girl he didn't recognize came into the back closet Igor kept him in. She took out a paper and read the words "Indigo, seven, fifteen, eight.

Suddenly, all the codes in Alto's mind disappeared, shattering in an instant. She had freed him. He was stunned, shocked, flabbergasted. Was this real? Was he hallucinating? Four hundred years under Igor's control, and out of nowhere a woman opens the door to his mental cell and let him go? He just stared at her as she quickly moved on.

Alto moved his arm... Of his own free will, he moved his own arm. It was an alien feeling to be in control of his own body again. It felt so unreal. He stumbled out of the closet and began to look around. Igor's mansion was chaotic with warforged running amok. Had everyone been freed?

The first of the wardens he saw was Specter. The two of them just looked at each other in disbelief for a few moments as they met up again, before he rushed over and embraced her. He heard Scythe's loud voice from inside and the two of them ran in to see Scythe and Chaplain already conversing. Scythe and Chaplain were working out what they had seen to try to piece together what had happened. There was so much noise and commotion they decided to go outside. When they got outside, all those years of being trapped in that mansion caught up with Alto and he couldn't stop running after he got out the door. The other wardens apparently felt the same as the four of them just ran off into the woods, aimlessly for what felt like forever. They were aimless, but at least they were together.

After they came to the edge of the forest, where the plains began, Alto stopped and listened as the other wardens who had been more active in Igor's plans and plots began to piece back together what had happened. Igor was dead apparently, and one of his warforged, named Daisy, had been given to a group known as the Wahda Guild, and she had somehow been freed. Now she had come back to liberate them all.

It was amazing to be free once again and see his family with their personalities back in tact. The others asked him where he had been since they had not seen him in years and Alto told them of what Alcionne had done 15 years ago. Alto wanted payment for his centuries of servitude, but it seemed his goal of crushing Igor's head one day would never come to pass. That little man had gotten away with everything. He had lived his whole life in luxury on the backs of the warforged and now he had died peacefully in his sleep. the thought of it made Alto sick.

Alcionne had the chance to free him and didn't. If Alcionne had freed Alto, he could have had his true revenge. He would never crush the life from Igor's head now.... Alcionne's would have to do.

### Like a Phoenix

Alto and the other wardens gathered together and headed up toward Avalon. They had no intention of hurting anyone but Alcionne. But as they snuck into the city, Alto was spotted. The Aaracocra guards didn't call for him to halt, and offered no chance of surrender. They just started firing at them. Alto readied his hammer to kill them, but Chaplain called a retreat. As they ran away mortars fired down on them, hitting both Scythe and Specter, damaging and twisting their bodies. Then, once they were out of sight from the Aaracocra, something massive swooped over them in the clouds and another shot fired directly down on Chaplain, hitting him with an explosive mortar shell covered in burning tar.

Alto carried his mangled and injured friends out of the line of fire and into the woods. They would survive but their wounds were beyond what their normal healing abilities could fix, they would need a forge. Specter had overheard talk of an underground forge they could use. Alto didn't want to take any chances going into the alien civilizations they were surrounded by, not when they couldn't defend themselves. They made their way into the underground cities of Kazonar and Astazia to the solar forge. Alto began to prepare the forge, using one of Igor's mechanical servants with a two way eye to scout the area and watch his back. Suddenly Chaplain warned Alto that he heard noises outside. Alto grabbed his comrades and stashed them in a room near the back of the forge before he set the mechanical servant to begin rhythmically banging a hammer on the forge's anvil. Alto hid behind the door and waited for the intruders to investigate the sound.

A badly burned aaracocra and his dragonborn bodyguard entered the chamber. Were they mercenaries? Alto was about to hesitate, but he remembered almost crushing Igor's head so long ago, and so recently seeing the aaracocra attack him and injure his family when he could have beaten them. No time to hesitate, he needed to take them out.

He rushed in and attacked them. The aaracocra was easily the weaker of the two as his attacks barely made a dent in Alto's armor. But the dragonborn was different. Alto was clearly stronger than him, but the dragonborn was tricky. Every move Alto had, the dragonborn countered and outmaneuvered Alto until the two of them were able to overwhelm Alto and beat him unconscious.

Unexpectedly they revived him. They struck up a tenuous alliance, the aaracocra, named Phoenix, offered to repair Alto and the other Wardens if they helped him repair his floating castle which they would then both use to get revenge on Avalon. Chaplain agreed to the terms, but Alto was very wary of the dragonborn. The dragonborn, named Dartak, was clever and always seemed like he was one step ahead of everyone else. He carried a glowing greatsword on his back that he never used that always cast him in an eerie silhouette. Alto was grateful when one day Dartak abruptly left and was never seen or heard from again. Phoenix said he returned to Thal'Thaxia, and as far as Alto is concerned the farther away he is, the better.

## Relationships

### Chaplain

Alto's relationship with Chaplain is complicated. Before the war with the Bandeshi Chaplain was a father figure to him. But during the war Alto began to resent Chaplain's aloof attitude towards the war. Alto fought in the thick of it while Chaplain rarely saw combat. Alto felt that Chaplain didn't appreciate the scale of the war or the intensity of the battles being fought. After Igor subdued them, Alto couldn't help but resent Chaplain for building the machine that Igor used to enslave them for all those years. Now that they are out, Alto is trying to see Chaplain as a fatherly figure again, and certainly sees him as an authority figure. But not one he trusts completely like he did before.

### Scythe

Scythe is the Warden Alto is the closest with. The two of them fought side by side during the war and have a bond stronger than any mortal brothers. Alto is the Shield and Scythe is the sword of the wardens and the two work together as seamlessly as that their analogy. Scythe is outgoing enough to bring Alto out of his shell and Alto is grounded enough to keep Scythe focused on what's important.

### Specter

Specter keeps everyone at a distance. Her exaggerated expressions are all fake, and when she isn't trying to negotiate or charm someone, she rarely talks at all. Even so, after 500 years you can't help but feel a bond with those you have been through so much with. Alto respects Specter's skills and Autonomy, and would protect her to the end.

### Phoenix

Alto sees Phoenix as a shallow daydreamer. His mind is young, like that of an overgrown child. But a Child with valuable talents. Alto sees little reason to converse with Phoenix and spends most of his time with the Chateneau Wardens instead.

### Dartak

Alto doesn't fear many, but he feared Dartak Ro. Alto can crush any man's bones with his bare hands, he doesn't fear strength. Alto fears anyone who can make him feel weak, and Dartak did just that. While Phoenix helped in their fight, Dartak was Alto's real opponent and despite having the first move, Dartak read Alto's attack style, readjusted, outsmarted and defeated Alto in less than a minute. Something about his magic was primal and dark and Alto was relieved when Dartak disappeared without warning. Somehow he suspects he will see the dragonborn again and he doesn't look forward to it.

### Daisy

She is everything he despises. A coward, a traitor, a liar and so marred by self pity that she can't see that she is leading the warforged to ruin. She thinks what Igor did was fine, and that the warforged should all just move on and let this type of catastrophe happen again. Her weakness is unacceptable, and will lead to the downfall of the warforged race. Alto won't let that happen. If she is so easily manipulated by those who seek to abuse her, then he will break her and show the world what a crushed and cowardly being she really is.

### Katavasi

Alto trusts Katavasi more than he trusts any of the other newcomers to League Zero. She's honest and she speaks exactly what's on her mind. None of the bull crap, double entendre, ninety miles of subtext he gets from members like Silvius and Avarice. She's simple and she gets to the point, exactly what Alto likes.

### Zinli

Zinli isn't bad. She sticks to the plan and does her job of healing the party. She would make a good soldier.

### Baqir

Baqir is an overgrown child who has no goals or drive. He follows orders but does so begrudgingly, not like a real soldier.

### Avarice

Avarice was dangerous. He hadn't joined the league for more than a few minutes before he already started to attempt to assert himself as the leader. That kind of ambition could have been useful, but not when you are so open with your contempt for your betters. He died for his betrayal.

### Silvius

Silvius is obviously going to betray the League at some point. The moment Alto gets permission, he is going to smash that annoying insect.

## Trivia

* Alto's original name was Thrash.
* Alto's name was visually inspire by the megaman character, Bass.
* Alto's name was selected as another vocal pitch to match his inspiration.
* Alto was designed to be the villain Tarthurac was originally intended to be.
* Alto was mechanically designed to match and also counter Tarthurac's build. He was designed to be able to go toe to toe with Tarthurac for an extended period of time.