Ajax Magnus, Victor of the 14th Hunger Games

## Background

Ajax Magnus (Bristly) was born into one of the most prosperous families in District 2. With his grandfather having
served as an admiral during the Dark Days and his father Nero being the head of District 2’s training academy, Ajax
lived a relatively comfortable life within his home district. Having begun training at the academy with his father at 8
years old; a younger age than most other careers, Ajax quickly mastered using a variety of different weapons.
However, it wasn’t until he was 15 and learned how to properly wield a gladius that he decided to focus on training
with swords. Following the advice of his father, Ajax avoided befriending his male peers, as he knew he would
eventually need to compete against them in order to earn his place as tribute when he was of age. Hence, Ajax was
often seen socializing with his female peers at the academy, and became quickly known as a flirt. It was during this
time that Ajax grew particularly fond of a girl named Livia. Although she was only one year older than him, the pair
quickly became inseparable. While it was rumored that the pair had engaged in a romantic relationship with one
another, those rumors were quickly shut down by Ajax’s father; who was already under pressure for failing to produce
a victor since taking the position. Unfortunately for the pair, their friendship ended once Livia was reaped for the 13th
Annual Hunger Games. Despite her being the runner up, she was overpowered by Mariel Pentier of District 4 and
suffered a violent end by being repeatedly stabbed to death. Following the events of the 13th games, Ajax’s father
received a lot of backlash from the citizens of District 2. While in previous years the District 2 tributes were
guaranteed to place in the Top 5, this was the first year in which a District 2 tribute had become runner up to a game.
Hence, the loss of the 13th games severely weakened the district's sense of pride. As a last ditch effort to please the
citizens of 2, Mayor Ares gave Ajax’s father an ultimatum. If he failed to provide a victor for the 14th Annual Hunger
Games, he would be replaced as head of District 2’s prestigious training academy.

During the year leading up to the 14th games, Ajax had recently turned 18 and was ready to represent District 2.
Overcome with pressure to save his father's job and avenge Livia’s death, Ajax would often be seen fueled by anger
while training at the academy. On one such occasion, he even broke the arm of one of his male peers, Carus
(aged 16) during a sparring session. Normally, such actions would result in a permanent ban from the training
academy. However the circumstances surrounding Nero’s employment caused him to turn a blind eye and ignore the
situation entirely. While Carus’s parents were not pleased by the situation, they eventually agreed to keep quiet if
Nero had Carus represent District 2 the games he turned 18. Not being left much of a choice, Nero agreed.
Unfortunately for the parents of Carus, they sealed their son's fate then and there as he would be killed by flaming
mutts during the 16th games.

As the month of the reaping for the 14th Annual Hunger Games approached, Mayor Ares announced that they would
be hosting a competition scored by judges to determine who would represent District 2 that year. Unlike in the past,
this year had less eligible tributes participate due to the lack of tributes who were of age. Instead of finding himself
competing against 5 other male tributes as was the normal tradition, Ajax only found himself trying to prove himself
more worthy than 2 other males; Jasper and Marcus. For this year's competition, the males had to show a skill of their
choice in the main square as the citizens of D2 watched. While Marcus had been able to show an impressive display
of spearman-ship, Jasper was not so lucky and twisted his ankle while displaying his knife throwing ability. Hence, he
was disqualified and Ajax was only left needing to outperform Marcus. When it was time for him to present, Ajax
beheaded a series of Mannequins with the number 4 written across their chests to display his hatred towards District
4. As he beheaded the last mannequin, the audience was shocked to see that he had labeled it “Mayor Ares”. While
his actions were seen as rebellious and Ares was by no means pleased by what Ajax had pulled off, he won the
contest by a very narrow margin. During his victor's interview, Ajax admitted that he had performed the stunt on
purpose. By embarrassing the mayor in public, he had given him a reason to hate him enough to send him into an
murderous arena. After being officially reaped as the male tribute to represent District 2, he was joined by Aquila; a
17 year old female who had impressed the mayor with her ability to smash mannequin heads using a sledgehammer.

## Pre-Games

Following the reaping, Ajax barely had any time to say goodbye to his family. While he was able to quickly manage a
goodbye to his younger siblings Thelona and Leonel, he was rushed into the train by peacekeepers before being able
to board the train with his father. While it bothered Ajax that he and his father didn’t board the train together, he didn’t
think much of it as he knew he would see him later on. As Ajax had become more acquainted with Aquila on the train
ride to the Capitol, he was surprised to learn that his father wouldn’t be accompanying them as a mentor that year.
Since District 2 had yet to produce a victor, his father was responsible for mentoring District 2’s tributes. Instead of
discussing strategies with his father like they had agreed to prior to the reaping, Aquila and Ajax were introduced to
Mars; a weapons specialist from the Capitol. When asking about his father's whereabouts, Ajax quickly learned that
he was prohibited from mentoring his son. While the Capitol had primarily done this to prevent their personal
relationship disrupting the games, they had made a huge mistake when assigning them Mars. As a weapons
specialist who had helped design the weapons for this year's games, Mars provided Aquila and Ajax with insider info
that ultimately aided both tributes in deciding what weapons to train with at the Capitol’s training center. By knowing
what weapons would be available in this year's arena, both tributes avoided training with the weapons they knew
wouldn't be present. For this year's games, Head Gamemaker Elexa Tharn omitted Tridents and large battle axes
following their controversial use during the 11th, 12th and 13th Annual Games.

Upon arriving at the Capitol, Ajax and Aquila were introduced to Aelia, who would serve as their stylist for this year's
games. It was during this introduction that Aelia had decided to dress up both tributes as Mason workers. Despite
both Aquila and Ajax hating the outfits, they stopped complaining once Aelia revealed to them that their outfits would
be sexualised as a means for them to gain sponsors. Although Aquila felt uncomfortable with revealing too much of
her body to prying eyes, Ajax was able to comfort her by reminding her that the parade would only last a few minutes.
As their chariots left the parade tunnels to reveal the pair to citizens of the Capitol, both tributes waved to the
onlookers and flexed their muscles like Aelia had instructed them to. Unfortunately for the already nauseous and
anxious Aquila, this flexing of muscles caused her to vomit just as their chariot reached the halfway point. Almost
immediately after throwing up, the Capitol citizens erupted in laughter. Not wanting to deal with the second hand
embarrassment, Ajax pushed Aquila off the chariot, causing even more humorous hysteria among the Capitolites.
While this action ultimately led to rules being reformed in regards to what tributes could and couldn’t do during the
parade, Ajax became an instant favorite among the wealthy elite. Finding himself alone on his chariot and arriving at
president Dianna Rolltide’s speech on time, Ajax couldn't help but feel guilty for what he did to Aquila. Nonetheless,
he rationalized his actions by making himself believe that Aquila had made them look weak.

Before training began the following day, Mars introduced Aquila and Ajax to the tributes from District 1, Garnet and
Castia. In addition, they were also introduced to the male tribute from District 4, Aecor. Although Aquila had been
frustrated with Ajax for his actions, she talked to the tributes as if what Ajax had done to her hadn't happened at all.
Not interested in being in an alliance with a tribute from District 4, Ajax excused himself from their conversation,
leaving Aquila to converse with the tributes herself. During his victor's interview, Ajax revealed that he regretted
making this decision as it allowed Aquila to plot against him with the other careers while he wasn't in earshot. Luckily
for Ajax, his paranoia caused him to not join this year's career pack as means to avoid being betrayed. Whilst Ajax
was breaking tradition yet again by not joining the careers, he was still a Capitol favorite due to being trained as one
back home. At the training center, Ajax was often seen working at the survival station with the 16 year old male
tribute from District 7, Ramulus. Although the two initially avoided making contact with one another, they worked
together to teach each other skills they would need in the arena. In exchange for teaching Ajax which plants were safe
to consume, Ajax taught Ramulus how to properly wield a longsword. By the time training had ended, the two agreed
to form an alliance with one another. During his victor's interview, Ajax revealed that Ramulus was the only tribute he
trusted. Especially since he later found out Aquila was plotting to kill him during the bloodbath.

Conscious of being at a big disadvantage in the games due to having one ally, Ajax was less than pleased to hear
that he had scored a 10 for his training evaluation. While this score only cemented him as the favorite to win this
year's games, it also made him the biggest target by the career pack. Interestingly enough, the only other tribute to
score a 10 that year was Aecor, from District 4. While Aquila scored an 8 as both Garnet and Castia scored 9's, the
rest of the tributes that year scored between a 3 and a 7, with the lowest score belonging to Azure from District 5 and
the 7 being awarded to Ramulus. To limit his disadvantage, Ajax tried a last minute effort to form new alliances
through the help of his mentor Mars. Unfortunately for Ajax, his stunt with Aquila during the parade caused the
tributes from the outlying districts to not want to form an alliance with him. Not only did they fear him, but they also
saw him as being untrustworthy. Offended by these remarks, Ajax made a note to kill the tributes who rejected his
alliance. Although he still aimed to murder the pair from District 4 to avenge Livia, he now had his eyes set on
Granum from 9, Ceva from 10 and Carbo from 12.

## Games

Prior to entering the arena, tributes were dressed in a relatively standard jacket and trousers, however as the
podiums were raised into the arena, many tributes including Ajax immediately noticed the scorching heat. While
looking at his surroundings, Ajax was disheartened to see that apart from the oasis in the cornucopia, they were
surrounded by a desert for as far as the eye could see. Not only this, but he also noticed the cornucopia was in an
island perfectly centered around the podiums. Surrounding the island was a lake, meaning he would have to swim in
order to reach the cornucopia. As he looked at the tributes beside him, he was surprised to see Aecor from 4 on the
podium to his right and Azure from 3 to his left. Making a mental note of Aecors presence, Ajax decided he would kill
him if he had the chance to during the bloodbath. By this point, the timer had reached 30 seconds and Ajax decided
to shift his focus towards a pyramid of neatly stacked water bottles and machetes in the back wall of the cornucopia.
Knowing his odds of survival would be slim without water, Ajax decided to aim for them as he wasn’t sure if the water
within the oasis was the only source of water in the arena.

Immediately after the gong sounded, Ajax dove headfirst into the lake and swam as fast as he could towards the
cornucopia. Although Ajax was one of the first tributes to have arrived, Aecor, who had the advantage of growing up
in District 4 and having swam his entire life, reached the back wall first. Realizing he wouldn’t be able to grab a sword
like he had initially planned without fighting Aecor unarmed, Ajax opted for grabbing whatever weapon he could find
and a few water bottles from the stacked pyramid. As he grabbed a combat knife and a few bottles of water, Ajax
decided to slash the remaining bottles he couldn’t carry and proceeded to run away from the cornucopia. However,
just as he was about to escape, Ajax was tackled fiercely into the ground by Aecor. As both tributes wrestled with one
another, Ramulus, who had witnessed the pair fight, stabbed Aecor's arm with a spear, successfully getting Aecor off
Ajax. Unfortunately for Ramulus, Quintus from 10 brutally sliced at Ramuluses neck with a scythe immediately after,
killing him instantaneously. Just as Quintus was about to engage in a fight with Ajax, he was impaled in the heart by a
knife thrown at him by Garnet. Realizing now would be the perfect time to finish off Aecor, Ajax grabbed his combat
knife and was about to stab Aecor's neck. Just as he was about to do so however, Ajax noticed Garnet preparing
another knife to throw in his direction. Rather than risk being impaled by a knife like Quintus had been earlier, he
decided to run in the opposite direction and build distance between the two. As Ajax swam off the island and ran into
the desolate surrounding desert, he quickly paused to stare down Garnet, who was still at the cornucopia. As he did
so, he noticed the careers regroup with one another except for Aecor, who was screaming out in pain from the wound
Ramulus had inflicted on him earlier.

As Ajax ran further and further into the desert, he counted a total of 9 cannons being shot out in the distance. While
he was grateful that one of the cannons wasn't his own, he had wished one was due to him not wanting to deal with
the scorching heat that continuously became hotter. Once Ajax believed he had covered a considerable amount of
distance between himself and cornucopia, he took a generous sip from one of the three water bottles he grabbed
during the bloodbath. Just as he had finished taking a sip, he noticed Acacia; the 13 year old female tribute from
District 12. While at first he was alarmed by her presence, Ajax quickly realized that she was passed out from heat
exhaustion on a nearby sand dune. Wanting to capitalize on this opportunity, Ajax walked up to her and snapped her
neck whilst she laid in a bed of sand. As the cannon marking her death sounded, he quickly looted her dead
corpse. Even though the only items she had on her were bits of rope and some dried up fruit, Ajax took the fruit as he
failed to grab anything that was edible during the bloodbath.

For the rest of the first day, Ajax traveled throughout the arena, walking from sand dune to sand dune before taking
momentary rests and carrying on. As he walked and studied his surroundings, Ajax realized the only things in his
surroundings were dunes and dead bushes. While the dunes provided him with excellent cover from other tributes, he
walked around them cautiously not knowing what to expect when passing them. Just like he had predicted earlier, the
only source of water in the arena seemed to come from the cornucopia. For this reason, he began to ration the
remainder of his two water bottles more strategically as he didn’t know when he’d have access to water again. As
nighttime approached, the temperatures within the arena began to drop and Ajax found himself shivering from his
own sweat, which moments before was warm from the heat. Realizing that he could suffer from hypothermia if he
didn’t monitor his situation carefully, Ajax decided to risk starting a fire using a stick twist motion he learned from the
survival station in the training center. By the time the fallen had begun playing, Ajax was warmed up by one of the
dunes eating the remainder of the dried up fruit, being cautious of nearby tributes. By the end of the day, 10 tributes
had fallen. Those tributes being Castia from 1, Azure from 3, Aquaria from 4, Ramulus from 7, Verpa from 8, Nera
from 9, Quintus and Ceva from 10 and finally Carbo and Acacia from 12. Luckily for Ajax, he slept peacefully and
uninterrupted that night as most tributes didn’t feel like hunting one another in the below zero temperatures.

On the second day, Ajax was awoken by the blood-curdling screams of Vectura from District 5. As he quickly packed
his gear and headed his way towards the screams, he was surprised to find Vectura surrounded by a swarm of
snakes. While Vectura acknowledged his presence and begged for Ajax to help, Ajax just calmly watched from atop
the dune. Within minutes, the snakes had completely devoured her corpse and disappeared within the sand.
Unbeknownst to Ajax, Vecturas district partner Elatio had also been watching the commotion from only a few meters
away from where Ajax had watched Vectura die. Hence as Ajax was making his way down to retrieve whatever gear
Vectura may have had, Elatio pounced on Ajax with a snake in his hand, hoping it would bite his neck. However, Ajax
was able to easily overpower Elatio. As Ajax instinctively went for his combat knife to cut Elatio's neck wide open, he
was surprised to find his knife was missing from his pocket. It was at that point that Ajax realized he must have
dropped it during the commotion at the bloodbath. So, Ajax did the first thing that came to mind. Instead of cutting his
neck open, Ajax grabbed the snake from Elatio’s hand and shoved it down his throat. As the snake traveled into
Elatio's stomach, Ajax left him to convulse on his own before his cannon sounded from the snake eating him inside
out. This death would later be seen as one of the most iconic in the history of the games, making him one of the
Capitols favorite victors. As Ajax desperately looked for a weapon from one of their dead bodies, he was disappointed
to find both tributes had nothing. He figured that this was probably because both tributes didn’t even bother running
towards the cornucopia at the start of the games. However, his disappointment was short-lived. Shortly after he had
left the bodies for the hovercraft to pick up, he was sponsored an array of gifts from capitolites impressed by his
performance. The most notable of these gifts being a gladius, which Ajax would later use to win the games.

The following four days were relatively uneventful for Ajax. Although both Granum from 9 and Maya from 11 had died
of natural causes during this time period, Ajax stopped receiving frequent sponsorships and sensed he would need to
kill someone soon in order to maintain his sponsors pleased with his performance. Hence, Ajax began traversing his
way back to the cornucopia in hopes of killing unsuspecting tributes. Upon arriving at the cornucopia, Ajax was
surprised to find Aecor being the only career guarding the supplies. While he suspected Garnet and Aquila were
hunting tributes without him, he hid behind a dune and formulated a plan to attack Aecor. However, just as he had
finished formulating his plan, he saw the remaining District 3 tribute, Ignis, jump out into the lake towards the
cornucopia as he was being chased by Aquila and Garnet in the opposite direction. Unfortunately for Ignis, he was
unaware that Aecor was guarding the careers supplies at the cornucopia. Hence, Ignis was brutally impaled by a
javelin Aecor had thrown at him the minute he reached the miniature island. As Ajax watched Aquila and Garnet
catch up to Aecor, he saw that Aquila had been badly injured in the leg. While Ajax initially thought that Ignis had
inflicted the injury on her during a scuffle between the three, he later learned that it was Castia who had caused her
the injury. After watching footage of those years' games, Ajax learned that Castia attempted betraying the careers
shortly after the bloodbath had ended, resulting in her being killed by her own district partner, Garnet. Just as Ajax
thought things were beginning to calm down, he witnessed Aquila and Aecor get into a heated argument regarding
Aecor stealing Aquila’s kill. However, before the argument could elapse any further, Aecor pulled out the javelin out of
Ignis’s body and thrust it into Aquila's eye, killing her instantaneously. Unfortunately for Aecor, he did this after Aquila
severely cut both of his knees, making it difficult for Aecor to walk after. As Aecor begged Garnet for help, Garnet
ignored his pleas and ran towards the dunes in the direction he had just come from minutes before with Aquila.

Coming upon the realization he could eliminate District 4 from the games, Ajax charged towards the cornucopia to
find himself in front of a weakened and disarmed Aecor. As Aecor eyed Ajax in fear, Ajax would go on to carry out
one of the bloodiest and most gruesome murders of the games for years to follow. Rather than stab Aecor then and
there through the stomach, Ajax ripped off Aecor's clothing and engraved Livia's name on his skin several times using
his combat knife. Before working up to his forehead, Ajax had engraved her name throughout his stomach, chest,
legs and arms. As Aecor's blood-curdling screams could be heard throughout the arena, Ajax proceeded to create a
noose using the rope he got from killing Acacia. After attaching the noose to the tail tip end of the cornucopia, he
carried Aecor's blood covered corpse and proceeded to hang him from the neck. Although this death was seen as
controversial due to the official cause of death being debated among spectators, a study conducted by gamemakers
in later years revealed that Aecor had died of blood loss following the engravings Ajax had inflicted on his skin. About
an hour after Ajax had left Aecor's body dangling from the cornucopia, a loud cannon signalling his death finally went
off. While Ajax was a bit surprised to only hear his cannon go off about an hour after hanging him, he figured it was
because he had piqued the gamemakers' curiosity as to what he would do next. Pleased with his performance and
confident that his murder would be replayed on all screens throughout Panem, Ajax then rummaged through the
remainder of careers supplies. As he did this, he received a sponsorship from his mentor, Mars. Figuring it would be
food, he was surprised to find a vest which he later learned to be some type of body armor. Since this had never
been sponsored in the games before, Ajax couldn't imagine how much it must have cost him. Thanking him for the
gift, Ajax then hid himself on top of the cornucopia and waited for the remaining tributes.

That night as Ajax slept, he was awoken by the sound of 3 cannons going off in the distance, followed by the sound
of three hovercrafts whizzing by him in the air. Hoping that Garnet's death was the cause of one of those cannons,
Ajax went back to sleep. Despite initially wanting to go investigate the death scenes, he decided against it after
seeing that the hovercrafts were nowhere near his location. Later on during his victor's interview, Ajax learned that
the cannons belonged to Gaia and Aurelius from 6, along with Vector from 8. Apparently, the pair both simultaneously
walked into the forcefield, dying instantly. Vector who was nearby the death site then looted the corpses. Unluckily for
Vector, he drank an unopened poisoned water bottle he had taken from Aurelius. Unknown to him and Aurelius
however, it had been poisoned using snake venom the day before by Elissa, the remaining tribute from District 7. At
around the same time of Vectors passing, Ajax decided to sleep in intervals of two hours. While he doubted head
gamemaker Elexa Tharn would send mutts after him given his performance that day, he was still wary of the
remaining tributes. More notably, he kept an eye for Garnet, as by this point he was his only threat.

By the seventh day of the games, Ajax was awoken by Elexa Tharn, who announced that the final four tributes had to
report back to the cornucopia. Within 5 minutes, Elexa had promised the tributes that the temperatures outside the
cornucopia would heat up past livable temperatures. Hence, any tribute found outside the cornucopia once these 5
minutes were up would be roasted alive by the scorching sun of the arena. As Ajax prepared himself for what he
believed would be the final showdown of this year's games, he noticed that the gamemakers had completely drained
the lake surrounding the cornucopia. However, just as he had gotten down from the cornucopia to step on the new
drained terrain, he heard a loud thump followed by a shrilling scream as Garnet repeatedly stabbed the throat of Rex;
the remaining District 11 tribute. Upon making eye contact with Garnet, Garnet was quick to react and threw a flying
knife aimed towards Ajax’s heart. Managing to dodge the knife, it hit his right shoulder and Ajax immediately fell to the
ground in intense pain. Just as he got up, Ajax was able to dodge an attack from Garnet, who had charged at him
with dual wielding knives. Realizing he wouldn't be able to use his dominant arm, Ajax defensively parried Garnet's
attacks wielding his gladius using his left. Although Garnet managed to pierce Ajax’s body armor and stab him again
in the stomach, Ajax quickly retaliated by dismembering both of Garnet’s hands. As Garnet cried out in pain, he
plunged his gladius down his throat, silencing his screams. Horrified by the brutesque fight she had witnessed
between Ajax and Garnet, Elissa decided to make a run for it in the opposite direction. Using all of his remaining
strength, Ajax pulled out his gladius from Garnet’s throat and threw it towards Elissa’s spine. While it initially seemed
as if he was going to miss his target, the gladius went through Elissa’s rib-cage, killing her within a few seconds. As
the final cannon went off, Ajax was officially declared victor of the 14th Annual Hunger Games.

## Life as a Victor

The festivities following the games were relatively standard. Apart from being formally crowned by President Rolltide
and becoming nicknamed “The Viper,” he was congratulated by Mars and Aelia; who both claimed he had satisfied
Capitol audiences by reviving the spirit of the games. It was at this point however, that Ajax grew to dislike the idea of
being famous. While he respectfully signed the autographs of capitol children and fans he had amassed from his
performance in the games, he became fed up with the elitist culture of capitol. Unlike the elite in D2, the elite in the
capitol were vastly different. For one, they were much wealthier. However, it was the personalities of these
capitolites that surprised Ajax the most. While in D2 the elite were more genuine and often gave back to the less
fortunate, he found the capitolites to be sociopaths; incapable of feeling remorse or pity.

Upon returning to his home district, Ajax retired his father from District 2’s prestigious training academy. With his
newfound wealth, he established a private training center within his own home. Here, he would brutally train both of
his siblings along with his cousin, Thaddeus. While his training methods were often seen as brutesque, Ajax’s training
paid off when his brother Leonel won the 19th games and his sister, Thelona won the 23rd.

Following his sibling's victories, Ajax began developing new ways to increase his wealth, one of which was by starting
a ranch with his younger sister, Thelona. Together, both of them began selling some of the finest horses in Panem.
However, he didn’t strike gold until their business began capturing the attention of the Capitol. By being able to
become the sole provider of horses the Capitol used for the tribute parades, the pair were able to grow their families
net worth substantially. As an avid watcher and fan of the games, Ajax also grew his own personal wealth by betting
on tributes he believed would win the games. In fact, he became so skilled at betting on tributes that the Capitol was
forced to place restrictions. More notably, the Capitol capped the maximum amount to bet on a tribute at 5000 after Ajax had amassed a profit of 46,000 credits from one of his bets.

Whenever he's not training tributes, Ajax can be frequently seen making trips to the Capitol, attending social
gatherings and often engaging himself in drinking competitions with fans.