Brandt Greystark
Ala Mhigan Champion
Past:
Brandt's story has always been one of sacrifice, as a child of Duncan Greystark and Athelys Syele, he was born with enhancements due to both parents being experimented on by the Empire's secret project, Project Yggsdrasil. Brandt even from a young age felt different. This was not just because he lost his mother at age eight and had to live with kin of his mother's or that Duncan made him swear to not let his younger sister know he was their father.
Duncan visited sometimes as kin other times in secret to see Brandt and Emayn. Duncan often trained Brandt himself as he grew into a young man. Brandt's sister Emayn idolized him growing up, and when he joined the Ala Mhigan Resistance, he too started training her how to fight to defend the small family they lived with. Their cousins they saw as siblings and Brandt though knowing otherwise did not spoil this fact for anyone. Under Duncan's tutelage in secret and his own Abilities Brandt would end up joining an elite unit of the Resistance, The Gray Ghosts. Brandt got more involved with missions striking dangerous bases, and his work later required he cut family ties for the danger the missions brought. He faked his own death and was considered deceased for 10 years as he and the Gray Ghosts infiltrated Illsebard sabotaging Imperial factories and secret projects. Then Ala Mhigo gained independence and Brandt thought he was safe to rejoin his family, but then the Telaphoroi happened and his last missions sent him deep into Garlemald till the Telaphori fell. There he rescued a subjects from a research facility. And now goes to help his father in Ishgard
Present
Brandt has decided to return to his family with Aki Sato by his side, though the complications of returning from the dead will make ripples. Secretly, he works for his father and is on the Payroll of the Order of The Dragon Free Company. He also now has a Captain's commission in the Ala Mhigan's Gray Ghosts. He has reunited with his sister and discovered more half siblings in the Greystark family. Now he watchs over Uldah. Most recently he has settled down with Aki and with his father ended the threat of the remains of project Yggsdrassil. Now his family can breathe a bit easier and do their job of protecting people from monsters across the star a little easier.
"I have fought long and hard to see my people free..."-Brandt Greystark
Notes on Project Yggsdrasil:
To outsiders, Duncan Greystark, Valerus Volsung and Galen Dragonbourne appears to be well-travelled adventurers and knights originally of Ishgard but this is only part of Their story. Duncan and his comrades are but part of a more complicated history. All three were enhanced by the Garleans as a secret project counter to the Ascian controlled Projects of the emperors. The source of this was a scientist of Garlemand of mixed Hyur and Garlean ancestry, one Ruprecht Rem Goethe, himself part of a breeding program coined Yggdrasil is the key to a past Duncan hides and is shared among some of his closest friends only.The Doctor, a product of his own father’s experiments was blessed with enhanced intellect and longevity and an urge to push mortals to their limits in order to make a strong alternative to meet the Eikon’s threat to the world at large. Dr. Goethe inherited a massive program of selective breeding via direct intervention or to monitor small groups of people’s bloodlines made hearty due to environment.
One such group was a small enclave of Hyur who survived in relative isolation in the mountains of Ishgard. Another matter of interest was the bloodline of Azure Dragoons of Ishgard. These early interests where the basis for the program which when done with the “Yggsdrasil” phase would be renamed “Einherjar”. This allowed for the abduction and forced training of the best candidates at a hidden Garlean facility nestled in the mountains of Ilsabard. The different candidates were grabbed at different stages of life.Duncan Sorensen himself was grabbed at Age 20, Valerus Volsung at Age 13, and Galen Dragonbourne at age 30, and these are just those Duncan knows of, two being his closest personal friends. There were others, many others and once all were incarcerated many evenings passed hearing the cries of the others who were being used for purposes that were unknown to Duncan. Luckily Val Duncan and Galen were in the same cell block. Galen talked most for Valerus at his young age was often sullen and silent. Galen using his Duskwight hearing to get snippets of information. For the next 5 years all three would be rigorously trained in fighting beyond normal limits and given injections of serums that often led to pain but made the three stronger and stronger.During this time another person was introduced to their cell clock, one Aetherys Syele an Ala Mhigan who intended to be used for genetic pairings and in time told the other’s tales of Ala Mhigo to help pass the time.Duncan, advanced first in the program and was being trained to bond with Allagan weapons the project owned. These weapons were old despite not looking it and seemed to have some sort of bonding needed to live to their full potential. Valerus and Galen were on his heels though in progress, Duncan being the one experimented on first. Oddly, he was initially screened to have the least potential; but he was the subject who led to breakthroughs. Val and Galen benefiting greatly from what Duncan endured. Due to his youth, Val was focused on greatly. He was not bound with any weapons but the conditioning was more perfected with him. From Galen they wrested secrets of the dragon’s blood, and the genetic legacies of Ishgard.Via Athelys they learned clones of these three were being grown as well and potential crossbreeds being made from male and female clones. Athelys' knowledges led to learn much more horrifying details about the experiments.The project was maturing to the “Holmganga” stage with a series of pitted fights against many other races and other test subjects to determine the “Survival of the fittest” In Duncan’s cell block of the dozen there only the three friends remained. Val, Galen, and Duncan were expected to fight each other soon in a battle royal.Dr. Goethe though did not know a secret, of all his experiments the mental conditioning failed, and Duncan, Val, Athelys and Galen pretended to be under the influence though they had broken free in the first 6 months of said conditioning.This failure gave them not only success in the pits but was also allowing them to plan their escape. Galen using his hearing was learning more and more about the operations in the facility for years, and he also learned that they would be slated for termination, save one depending on the battle royal’s outcome. All three had been subjected to memory wipes early on of their previous lives. But those had only worked upon arrival. Subsequent ones had secretly failed, and some memories like Galen’s had come back entirely.
As had Athelys' memories as they had expected her to be expendable. Athelys vowed the Garleans would pay for that mistake. Duncan did not have many of his memories but his personality remained intact. Val was the only one who his life before capture was a complete blank as he was so young and most believed it was due to the trauma on a young mind. But most of the last 5 years he did know and knew the bonds formed with Duncan and Galen, and all three had hate for the empire that grew with each passing year.
Time was shortening for them and through communication via hand signals and secret codes, the four had a plan. They had learned via Galen all the codes and code key bearing guards they knew of other projects as well.Also, the four knew their code name designations and came to learn in the last five years the layout of the facility. It would seem that Dr. Goethe in his arrogance did not foresee the intellects of his subjects, perhaps the Garlean conceit of seeing Eorzean’s as savages was part of it, or the fact his own series of painful enhancements to maintain his life were taking their toll. As for him they were painful and made him perhaps a little madder with each experiment.Duncan, Val and Galen awaited their fated day for the Holmganga and when they walked into the pits they were resolved to work together, not as the killing machines they had been conditioned to be. The escape was a blur of blood, for the spectators were horrified to learn that the trio had their own free will, and that they knew just who to kill and strike, they had of course managed to disable their control collars and save Dr. Goethe there were few survivors at the pits. The alarms did sound but the three subjects knew where to go, the armory where the Allegan weapons were stored as well as the gear they had used outside the pits. Then surgically they attacked the different cell blocks releasing and arming prisoners as they went. Duncan went back for Athelys himself as the cell block started to self-destruct. The breakout was beginning to get difficult though too many prisoners that were untrained, and many injured led to a decision made by the trio, to divide and distract the guards and separate in three directions to give the mass of prisoners a fighting chance. One such prisoner, rescued from her cell block followed Duncan. The girl was enhanced genetically like Duncan and was named Kira, merely 13 and she had nowhere else to go, and seemed to bond with her rescuer and see her as her best chance for survival. Duncan and Kira stuck with Athelys and made way to Doma as a place to lay low.When they exited the facility in the night of blood they were in the snowy mountains at night, with little idea where they were; save what they knew from guards. Duncan, Kira, Val, Athelys and Galen would now branch off on their own.
