Asfar

Asfar is one of the few Somoñi men who are one of the Shia esþíċ. The Shia esþíċ are legendary riders who can ride upon the backs of the shialfraċ, a sacred white deer that stands 8ft tall, it is said that they are the reincarnated spirits of the ancestors, it is considered extremely taboo to hunt one and the last person to hunt one paid a heavy price. Only the rare few who have one foot in this world and one foot in the other can ride a shialfraċ, and Asfar was one of them. From a young age he exhibited unearthly behaviour. When he was a child his father caught him sitting under a tree making croaking sounds that no man could make, Asfar told his father that he was talking to the crows in the branches above and that they were chatting about a dead Hjarômamo (a bison the size of small elephant) and how it lay under the second tree by the third stream. When Asfar and his father looked there sure enough they found it and ate well that night. It was this and other such events that his family knew that with each step he took in this world he took a step in the other.

When Asfar reached the age of choice at 16 years old he parted with his family with warm goodbyes and set out alone into Sobanoma, a tundra which is the most desolate and coldest region of Malomanan. There he met spirits who told him the origins of life the world, who the spirits actually were as opposed to the gods and spirits of man's religions across the world, but he was sworn to keep such information secret, they also taught him the divine language of the spirits which only a spirit or shia esþíċ can bear to hear for any normal man would be killed or driven insane by its words. Though only from a spirits mouth would it have this effect, from Asfar the language would only puzzle a man as if it were some foreign tongue.

It was in this snowy isolation that he met the shialfraċ that he would ride. As he washed his face in a pure and freezing pond the shialfraċ approached him from behind, when he saw the reflection of the sacred deer's and majestic antlers in the water he could hardly believe it. It beckoned him to climb upon its back, when he did it bolted up a large mountain during a snowstorm. When they reached the top the sky cleared and a beam of light shone across the east, towards Moicha territory. The shialfraċ then spoke in the divine tongue

Layo Moichataha lorque queye yo yona quelodīsë woyë wë,

fanalonanúl salaraso salaso yotër narë.

Which translates as:

"There the Moicha think they are kings of this land,

Return to them their humble life"

His task as a shia esþíċ was to make sure that humans didn't disrupt the natural order of things within reason. The Sumric people themselves live in a way that compliments the land. Though the Moicha were getting bigger and more urbanised like the other peoples of the world so it up to Asfar to try and halt their growth. He did this by indirectly aiding the Foranía, in particular an individual called Duígí, in their raids against the Moicha. He did this by using his foresight to warn of Moicha attacks and on very rare occasion summoning herds of the massive Hjarômamo to charge through Moicha garrisons. Though the Moicha kept on attacking the Foranía so one day Asfar marched into the Moicha city Ỳrjému on the back of his shialfraċ. He made an incredible sight, a man clothed in hide sitting upon the most sacred symbol in Sumric culture. He rode right up to the leader of the Moicha people in broad daylight on the streets for all to see. Asfar told him to stop the expansion and urbanisation and to put down the claim that the Foranía belong to the Moicha. The whole city held its breath the entire time he was there, for he reminded them that beyond the safe civilised city walls an ancient power still exists. After he left a powerful rainstorm battered the city for 3 days. This event shook the confidence of the Moicha army though the leader was still adamant and waved off the event. This caused people to doubt the man's ability to lead them.

Asfar wasn't always pressing against the Moicha. His interactions with them were few but powerful. He soent most of his time roaming Malomanan on the back of his shialfraċ which he named Ocal meaning 'revealer'. He would come to aid and offer guidance when needed shared his wisdom and knowledge.