Zhestack Urkaichikhu

Zhestack Urkaichikhu is a middle-aged man at the age of 20. He has been in the world of rathnir for 20 years canonically and 5 months actually, this is his story

Early life

Zhestak Urkaichikhu (Zest-ahk Erk-I-Chikoo) was born in the Arxellan frontier approximately 19 years before the formation of the Kartek Diarchy. At this time, the only inhabitants of the northeastern regions were hunters and miners, looking to make a fortune in the fur or ore trade. Zhestak’s father, Tomarhkuu was a prospector who built a wooden cabin on the cliffs of the Northern Peninsula. Zhestak’s mother was an Arxellan noblewoman, who was unable to marry her love and was forced to remain in the capital Vosokograd. Zhestak’s one goal from the time he was a boy was to be an honored warrior. Each morning, Zhestak and Tomarhkuu would wake up at daybreak and begin training. For hours, father and son would trek through the frigid forests and soggy wetlands. They hunted deer, bears….anything that gave them a challenge, and food. By the time he was 16, Zhestak had more experience in killing than any city-raised noble boy.

Young adulthood

In the coming years, the chaos of the Arxellan-Gertek conflict would do little to effect the Urkaichikhu homestead. Only when the reformation came, and new settlers traveled to the peninsula, would Zhestak’s life change. As more and more Karteks migrated to the cliff villages of Buktenbyen and Portusburg, Zhestak’s father made the decision to move the family. The two walked the 13 miles from their cabin to Portusburg in the dead of winter, and although Tomarhkuu was strong, he was also old. The father of Zhestak Urkaichikhu caught an illness known as frost flu, and died soon after making it to Portusburg. There, 19 year old Zhestak was left with nothing but a knife, a bow, and the clothes on his back. The young man had crude weapons, simple and primitive compared to the elegant swords and longbows of the city guard. However, Zhestak Urkaichikhu had one thing the Chief of the Guard had never seen in his men: experience.

Zhestak, or as he was later known Fleefo, was immediately named a City Guard. In the coming months, his skill and excellence would prove valuable. By his third year as a Guard, he was named the new Captain of the Portusburg Guard. Around this time, trouble was stirring in the streets of the city. Behind closed doors, hushed voices whispered of a rebel….a revolutionary…..Wrog. This aspiring and ambitious man had one objective: to overthrow the ruler of Portusburg and take the title of lord for himself. Eventually, Wrog and some devoted followers launched a coup. One of the first to defend the citizens of Portusberg against the new tyrant was Fleefo. As soon as he heard the bells of Tsinski Tower ringing, the captain donned his gleaming armor and rushed to protect his people. Valiantly striking down the attackers, Urkaichikhu was able to keep the terrorists at bay until the National Army of Kartek could arrive.

After the multiple Portusburg Conlflicts, also known as the Wrog Wars, Fleefo’s life would change once again. Despite his valor and bravery during the battles, the Captain of the Guard would soon be banished from the city. Rumors had spread that Fleefo was a collaborator, and many citizens of Portusberg believed the lies, insulting the once honored man. As a result of this wrongful hatred, Urkaichikhu left the city and headed to the eastern port of Buktenbyen. Here, Zhestak’s experience would once again see him on the city guard, this time serving the Duke of Buktenbyen. In the following years, Fleefo/Zhestak would protect the people of the city well, and form a friendship with the Duke. In many occasions the leader of the city turned to Fleefo for advice, assistance, and council.

However, this is not where Zhestak Urkaichikhu’s story ends...

The middle-aged life of Zhestack

Later into his service as Captain of the Buktenbyen Guard, Urkaichikhu decided he wanted a new adventure. Missing the true thrill of the hunt from his childhood, the man became a mercenary. After joining the Viesten Order, Fleefo decided to pursue one last quest. The quest for revenge. His mistreatment by the people of Portusberg had implanted a need for justice and closure in the mind of Fleefo. Urkaichikhu dedicated the next few months to training. He took any bounty he could. He ran through the forests of Kartek armed with only a knife, killing any bandit or bear that confronted him. By the next winter solstice, Fleefo was prepared to complete his final task. The man approached the gates of Portusburg. A storm of snow and ice flooded the skies. A few guards stood on the walls of the city, watching for travelers….and intruders. Zhestak Urkaichikhu, better known as Fleefo the Hunter, called up to the men protecting the city. “You and your people have wronged me. I have come to right this injustice.” The guards laughed at the young man, standing stoic in the snow. But by the time they looked back, Fleefo had already scaled the walls. The seasoned warrior had challenged the established order, and he would not stop until it was destroyed.

After getting his revenge, Zhestack returned to Buktenbyen, and settled down. He worked on renovations, travelling, trading, and only sometimes would his sword be tipped in blood, wether it was from a stray bandit, or a war. It was the middle of summer when Fleefo's life took a turn once again. Zhestack Urkaichikhu rode through the tents of Gortovar on his stallion, the breeze was refreshing, the kartek troll face above cast a comforting shadow onto him.. it seemed like the day could not get any better, his soul was at peace at last.. yet he still had his old warrior instict inside of him. All of a sudden the sky seems to tear, giant, grey thunder clouds cover the sky, lighting crashes, and a sound escapes the skies.. sounding like thousands of men shouting at once... the gods are speaking. Fleefo glances up, the rain already glazing his skin, "Mercenaries have caused too many problems!! From now on mercenaries shall not be hired to kill bounties! They can only be hired for warssss". The clouds split.. and the sun shines through once again, but Fleefo feels anything but comforted, he feels as if a chunk of him just got ripped out of his body, how, he thinks, what have mercenaries done to anger the gods enough to do this... Sadness fills Fleefo's heart, all the amazing times, the thrill of sprinting through a spruce forest, in the cold winter morning as the sun teases you with light shafts escaping through the branches of trees, the exhilaration of the hunt, the friends you make.. all gone. He steps off of Jorgen as the memories rush in. Hours pass, or perhaps mere minutes, Fleefo does not know, all he knows is the memories. Soft footsteps sound near him, and he jumps up, his hand at his dagger, warrior instincts buzzing, and sees his good friend Electross, standing to his right. Something is off with Electross though... he is wearing a mask, a variation of a mask used mostly by bandits actually, and Fleefo realizes his friend has been accepted by the bandits. Not much is known of what happened between them, as Zhestack preffered to keep it personal. All that is known is after his conversation with Electross, Fleefo became the duke of Buktenbyen, and shortly after was accepted as a bandit, using an expresionless mask, following his friends choice to do so too.

Fast forward 2 months...

Fleefo is admiring his city as a homing pigeon flops ungracefully at his feet, a letter tied to its back. He gently picks it up, and puts it on a soft flower bed, to untie the letter and give the poor thing some rest. Fleefo examines the letter, and notices it was sent from his mercenary friend Noodle. He feels a sad ping in his heart. The letter is mostly Noodle asking how Zhestack is doing, and congratulating him on being accepted by the bandits, but at the bottom is a cryptic message... Fleefo barks a laugh, noodle had used a cipher the two had engineered many years ago during their mercenary adventures! The secret message reads. "Hopefully you haven't forgotten this, old man, haha. What do you think of going out to bandit a town some time soon? It's a small one near Bardonia. Use this cipher when you respond, coordinates are below -Noodel thy Woodle". The memories flood in again, but this time there's a more hopeful feel about them, Zhestack's warrior instinct surges through his veins as he enters a sort of euphoria.. he can hunt again! Zhestack writes back immediately, grabs his gleaming dagger, battered rucksack, assasin armour, and some food. Fleefo and Noodle meet up near the town and exchange a greeting, their happy voices echoing inside the valley they are waiting in. You may think.. Zhestack is being purely bloodthirsty, I can't believe I thought him to be honourable, and if you do so you'll be gravely mistaken, this was a town which contained people who had murdered, hurt, and stolen from, Fleefo's and Noodle's closest friends. The two go in, no one stands a chance against their skill and they sweep their enemies and anyone who stood in their way.. no one else though, Noodle and Fleefo are honourable after all. They go to a bar and spend the rest of the day catching up, and in general just having fun, no governments, no wars, just adventures. Fleefo rides home under the cloke of night, and just as he's nearing gortovar he suddenly hears a baby crying. His heart jolts as this is a sound he has not heard much in his tough life. Zhestack veers off the path towards the sound, and sees a bundle laying there.. with a child. A sudden anger fills him. how dare someone leave a poor kid like this, in land where bandits roam, without food, and love. Without thinking Fleefo sweeps the bundle of blankits into his arms, and calms the child down, the kid looks up at the mask looming above him and starts crying again, scared of it, but Fleefo waves his hands and takes the mask off, revealing his roughly shaven face. The kid calms down, and in moments is asleep..

Fleefo returns to Buktenbyen, his citizens in shock that a man with as brutal past as his own chose to save this childs life, and immedieately goes to the Kartek senate to ask for the right to adopt the kid, to no ones surprise the senate agrees.. it is Fleefo after all, but everyone is still in confusion why he chose to adopt him. Fleefo spends many days thinking of a name for him, but eventually settles on Rubedo Urkaichikhu (ShatteredOverse in-game), a wonderful name if I say so myself...