Aarflaith

## Aarflaith the Hectorian

**Aarflaith** (25 October 3751 - 30 April 4227) was the Hectorian Chief of Iaaverntofh from 3882 until his death at the Battle of Arfare Gate.

## Early life

Aarflaith was born son of Midregur, the previous Hectorian chief. He ascended the Iaaverntofh throne at the age of 131 by defeating his father on top of Mount Hilgaria and was immediately surrounded by a group of advisors and protective fire sorcerers led by Finkar - the main priest of the Hilgar Temple.

## First battle against Oxway

In 4005, provoked by the new documents signed by Conaire IX, Aarflaith led the Hectorian army on a battle to regain independence of his lands.

In 28 September 4005, Aarflaith with full force of over 4,000 Hectorian soldiers marched out of Hectorian Tunnels to meet Conaire's army at Hilgar's Valley. The *Hestary af Oxway Wurs und Buttlos* from 4178 claims, that *"The royal army of Oxway led by over a hundred professional generals including king Conaire IX and the providence of Lorfea herself consisted of an impressive number of 12,000 soldiers".*

Despite much larger forces of Humans, the Hectorians ultimately were victorious. According to *Hestary af Oxway Wurs und Buttlos*, Hectorians broke all Oxwayan defenses in the narrow canyon in Hilgar's Valley. Upon seeing the fire magic being used in battle, Conaire ordered the entire army to retreat towards the town of Boshclark, but he was stopped by a fire wall summoned by the sorcerers. Half of the army was burned alive, while badly injured Conaire was taken through the woods to Town of Oxway.

After the battle, the town of Boshclark was captured. Many of its inhabitants fled to Maineford and Beaver Creek, but others attempted to defend the town, however were unsuccessful. Hectorians terrorized the streets of Boshclark by killing adults and devouring children alive. When Aarflaith arrived, he ordered to burn the city down to ashes and collect all of the remaining corpses for starving Hectorian people to eat. Aarflaith then gained a temporary control over the region of Filroy.

## Second battle against Oxway

In 4074, Aarflaith with the Hectorian army has approached a small town of Loghammer located on the foothills of the mountains of Iaaverntofh Canyon. After crossing the Lorfea river, Hectorian scouts reported, that Oxway cavalry had been spotted. When Aarflaith attacked them, the Oxway cavalry attempted to flee, but some were taken prisoner or fed to famished Hectorian soldiers. The prisoners claimed, that the army of Knaforth XII, Conaire's great-grandson, was not far away, with his encampment near Loghammer.

In December 4074, Aarflaith commanded Hectorian forces from Hectorian Tunnels, Iaaverntofh Canyon and Mount Hilgaria. His forces numbered 6,000 infantry and 2,000 fire sorcerers. Knaforth's forces numbered over 4,000 heavy infantry and 2,000 cavalry, as well as 1,000 mercenaries from Maystone with additional 2,000 light consisting mainly of arbalists.

The Hectorian infantry first attacked the center of the enemy line in January 4075. During the battle Aarflaith ran all the way to the right flank and drew Oxway cavalry to the flanks, where the sorcerers casted a spell and trapped the cavalry inside a ring of fire. The same has been done with the left flanks leaving the attacked center line wide open. Aarflaith then formed his units into a wedge formation with him leading the charge. The Oxway infantry was still fighting the Hectorian soldiers obstructing attempts to counter Aarflaith's charge. The wedge then smashed into the weakened Oxwayan center, taking out Knaforth's royal guards and the Maystone mercenaries. The injured king now broke and ran towards the north-east, with the rest of his army following him.

Aarflaith along with a large group of Hectorian infantry soon pursued Knaforth and murdered him in Trevon in 13 January 4075. After the victory, Aarflaith ordered to destroy the town of Loghammer as a warning towards the Oxway royal family. On that day, Hectorians made a great slaughter on Humans fleeing from Loghammer.

## Third battle against Oxway

Following the death of the king Cydwig III in 4227, his successor, Fergraald II, turned out to be a terrible ruler. Upon hearing the news about Oxway army being led by a king, who never cared about war strategy, Aarflaith marched out with his biggest army to date, consisting of 10,00 infantry, over 5,000 fire sorcerers and even 200 Hilgar priests. Before heading north, Aarflaith visited the Hilgar Temple, where he sacrificed his only son for Hilgar's power to raise his chances of winning. Aarflaith's bodyguard stated *"Chief knew Hilgar's power is too strong for a mortal creature to handle, but he wanted to make his final battle legendary".* The advisors suggested capturing Town of Oxway, to which Aarflaith agreed.

### Battle of Arfare Gate

On 24 April 4227, Hectorians encamped on Arfare Gate After hearing, that Aarflaith is heading towards the Town of Oxway, Fergraald without any preparations gathered a small army consisting of 2,000 infantry and just 500 cavalry. Oxway's divine hero, Almertonoff joined the battle ignoring the king, who refused to get any help. He then gathered mercenaries from all across Oxway, a royal army of Fingunques and Kimika's group of potion brewers led by Erreg II and monks from Gudrun monasteries. Soon, many of Oxway's priests and sorcerers were enlisted to summon the supportive powers of Lorfea and The Four Creators freed by Almertonoff a decade earlier.

With an army of Humans, Fingunques, Gudruns and divine support, Almertonoff, Fergraald and Erreg arrived at Arfare Gate at 6:13 in the afternoon, 30 April 4227. After many motivational speeches by Almertonoff and applying a gargantuan supply of Kimika's fire resistance ointment, united Oxway forces attacked. Aarflaith attempted to harass Oxway army into breaking its formation in order to defeat it in detail. Almertonoff maintained his army's defensive formation, however, until the Humans and Gudruns broke ranks to charge the right wing of Aarflaith's forces. Erreg then ordered the Fingunque army a general counterattack, which weakened the Hectorian army. Upon seeing many losses in infantry, Aarflaith with help of priests summoned Hilgar, which possessed the chief and transformed him into an extremally deformed giant creature. One Human soldier decribes what happens to Aarflaith:

*"The Hectorian chief's soul got replaced by an ancient deity of darkness. Through the fire of the battle, I noticed a disturbing scene, where Aarflaith's bowels expand inside his abdomen and his skin gets covered in disgusting growths, which grew mostly on his back. The pile of flesh soon drastically expanded in size and stood on two legs."*

### Hilgar Beast form and death

   Aarflaith, now as a Hilgar Beast had a massive destructive impact on the nearby surroundings. The powers of Hilgar turned day into night and sucked out life from grass, which resulted in withering of a large chunk of land in eastern Arfare. Suffering in agony, Aarflaith lost his mind and attacked everything he came across, even his own troops, which were seen fleeing from the battlefield. The Hectorian sorcerers formed a ring of fire, where they trapped Hilgar Beast Aarflaith along with a part of Oxway troops, including Almertonoff himself, Erreg and a small army of Human light infantry consisting of archers, swordsmen and arbalists, and Fingunque royal guards.

Lorfea and The Four Creators circulated around the giant attempting to free Hilgar from Aarflaith's body, while Oxway's archers and arbalists tried to aim for the giant's forehead. In the meantime, a formation of swordsmen and Fingunque troops led by Almertonoff attacked the feet. After many hours of battle, Aarflaith collapsed and his corpse fell apart releasing lingering odour, that resulted in faints of many soldiers. When Hilgar was free from Aarflaith's body, Lorfea sealed the deity inside Mount Hilgaria never to be released again.

Almertonoff was elected King of Oxway, which had control over all lands in the kingdom, including Iaaverntofh, meaning that Aarflaith was the last Hectorian chief in history.