Bat Yolcotl

 Bat Yolcotl, is a bat from far beyond the known regions of Eldham.

He is a small, fuzzy, strange little fellow. Those who have met him would describe him as dense in most ways, but surprisingly intelligent in oddly specific fields. He tends to refer to himself in the third person,

Early Life
Bat had as normal of a childhood as anyone could have. Parents who loved him, a solid group of friends, warm household. The dream, as some could say. Until one day, his life came crashing down around him. Suddenly there were strange folk roaming the once bustling streets. The Bats lived in fear and isolation, the strange folk would threaten anyone who opposed them, sometimes harming them. And it would only get worse and worse. Bat was too young to truly understand what was happening, but he could sense something was very, very wrong.

Bat doesn't remember much of what happened that day. He hasn't seen anyone he once knew since. When he got older he realized that he might even be the only one who survived the tragedy. He spent his days wandering the world, alone, and scared. A nomad in a world he never got to be prepared for.

Many Aroforn
The day Bat wandered into the capital city of Aroforn, the first face he saw was a strange Vul Lycan called Mr. J. He was much taller than him, fluffier, much more intimidating, but something about this character made him want to keep following Mr. J. everywhere he went.

Mr. J just could not help but feel sorry for the little guy, though he wouldn’t admit that to himself quite yet. The more Bat spent time around him, the more he reminded Mr. J of someone he once knew, a long time ago. Someone he tried to forget, but now the past had come back to haunt him once more. He knew this must have been pre-destined for him and Bat to meet. After some time, after warming up to his new companion, he took it upon himself to become a sort of father figure to him, until he could officially adopt him.

He took Bat to meet his soon to be siblings, Kioka and Zan, and their mother, Ixtab. Though Bat wasn’t their child by blood, he truly fit right into the family, as though he had always been there. Kioka especially, loved her new adorable little brother. It wouldn’t be long before he would officially become one of the Yolcotls.

Death of Tet
Over the years, Bat became a trusted and well known part of the Vulperium. He had helped rebuild the capital city of Batu, and oversaw many political decisions made in the entire nation. Not only this, but he had become a beloved member of the royal Yolcotl family, getting to know some of the previous Valar, town leaders, aristocrats, but one member stood out to Bat the most. Tet Yolcotl-Durradayne, son of the previous Grand Valar, Brock Yolcotl, Prince of the Vulperium, Khan of Batu, Bat’s cousin. Despite all the fancy titles, Tet was just like any other ordinary citizen, well, aside from his strange appearance. Greyish-brownish fur, lopsided eyes, short stature. Most people would look at Tet, and turn their cheek, but Bat was different. From the moment those two met, they became fast friends, even turning into best friends. It would be rare to see one of them out and about without the other. They were truly inseparable, two peas in a pod, you get it.

They worked together to rebuild the city of Lazodi from the ground up, turning it into the Jewel of the North it was always meant to be. They were almost finished too, until the accident. Tet, as was typical of him, was drinking one night, surrounded by his friends, having a blast. More drinks led to more dangerous shenanagins, backflips, sword swallowing, sword swallowing while doing a kickflip, etc. Somehow, Tet managed to survive it all. All was well, until his final, fatal mistake. He tripped and fell neck first onto a table, killing him instantly. Bat saw it all.

Tet died as he had lived, trying to make others happy, but this time, he only caused horrible trauma for those who were there to see his demise. Losing his best friend was the worst pain Bat had ever felt, a hole was left in his soul, and he didn’t know how to deal with it. In fact, he became a recluse for the next decade, in order to privately grieve. His friends and family wouldn’t see him at all during this time, they feared the Bat they loved was slipping away from them, but there was nothing they could do to prevent it.

Reunion with Mr. J
It had been ten years since Mr. J had seen his beloved son. Ten long long years, full of pain, guilt, and resent. Ever since his nephew Tet had died in that freak accident, everyone became distant from each other, especially Bat. He had been the closest to Tet after all, one of the people who had seen him die. Mr. J. had tried all he could to keep in contact with him, but to no avail, Bat had shut himself away from the world in his grief. Until one particular day.

Unexpectedly, Bat had shown up on his father’s front door step, soaking wet in the rain which had just begun to poor. They looked at each other for some time, Mr. J too shocked to speak, Bat unaware of how to break the awkwardness. “So how have you been?” Bat said, sheepishly. Without another moment, his father rushed forward to embrace his son, still silent, but no words were necessary. Mr. J already forgave him.

The next several hours were spent talking about the things they had missed in each other's lives, birthdays, meetings, parties, getting older. Though it had been ten years, it only felt like it had been just moments when they finally reunited.

Tragedy on the SS Phantasm
It was a gloomy, storm raught night. Bat had been working hard for hours, he was exhausted, but the ship was far from its destination still. It was a routine night of carrying passengers to the Vulperium on the SS Phantasm. Some were travelling for business, some for save haven, some just wanted to get back home. Just like any other night. Perhaps the exhaustion Bat felt led him to be a bit more lax in his usual routine of checking to make sure things were working correctly. Or perhaps it was all coincidence, all that can be known, is that *something* was wrong, and that something would turn fatal very quickly.

He had been told that one of the boilers on the port side of the ship had been making alarming sounds. He had checked out the boiler once and twice before but considered that it was still safe enough to run properly, at least for the rest of the journey home. The storm worsened and the sound of waves crashing against the hull increased, an order from the bridge to slow the engines down was handed to Bat. He began giving orders when the ship lurched suddenly to starboard, and an explosion rocked the ship. Before Bat even knew what had happen, the crew had already begun evacuating. The sounds of frantic yelling could be heard down the halls as the sudden inflow of water caused the emergency watertight doors to close. Bat began making his way into the damaged compartment when a larger explosion knocked him back, the explosion blew the watertight door of its rails and Bat was hit directly in the face by superheated pressurized steam. The burn stung with terrible pain for a brief moment before the nerves themselves were boiled away. There wasn’t time to process what had happened, while he was now blind in his left eye, the adrenaline was too strong for him to notice in the moment, this was a matter of survival. He knew that this was beyond saving, he had to get out alive, and help the other passengers.

He made his way into the halls of the ship, limping from a sprained ankle he had gained in the explosion. A swarm of panicked passengers and crewmates crowded around him, nearly trampling him. The rocking of the ship was steadily getting worse, a quarter of the ship was already underwater. He eventually reached the top deck, keeping his balance as the waves buffeted the ship violently. He knew their best chance for survival was to get orders from the Captain, however, as he got to the Captain’s quarters, he realized that that entire half of the ship was completely gone. Dread welled up in his throat, though he pushed it down, he had to hold on to the last hope that was left.

Bat stumbled back to the droves of panicked passengers, doing his best to sound confident as he barked orders, not wanting to betray his panic. The passengers were loaded onto the lifeboats that were left intact, including the last crewmates left alive. The water was washing up faster and faster, it wasn’t certain whether everyone would be able to get out in time. Just as it seemed like things might be okay after all, the most gargantuan wave of them all crushed all surviving hope. It swallowed everyone, sending them deep deep under the waves. Those who were unfortunate enough to not be able to swim did not survive, those who could, were scattered across the sea. Bat managed to find and maintain a strong grip on a piece of debris, the only reason he was able to survive that day. He screamed out for help, but the sounds of torrential rain and the eerie silence of the night drowned him out. In the distance, through the thick curtains of rain, he could just barely make out the outline of the ship sinking below the waves, lit by the lightning.

(special thanks to AwesoomeJ for helping with this part of my wiki :D)