Monty was raised in a secluded meadow as Monthello. He wrestled with his siblings, swam in the lake, jumped for apples on branches that were too high, and slept in the warm afternoon sunshine. His antlers started growing in during the spring when he was ten. That spring, a group of malicious hunters found their way into the meadow and a bloodbath ensued. They were relentless and took pleasure in torturing the herd. Half human, half animal breeds were extremely difficult to come by in the realm of humans and were considered prized bounty.

Monty had his antlers sawed off and suffered some heavy head trauma from being struck with the blunt of a hatchet in an attempt to quiet his screams. Eventually, his ears were torn off which was an unimaginable sort of pain. Somehow he managed to escape the clutches of his assailants and ran into the woods. Whichever of the kin he left behind that weren’t dead were badly beaten and shipped off to be sold on the underground market.

He didn’t know how far or long he ran into the woods. He ran on mind-numbing fear, disregarding the exhaustion and pain. After what seemed like hours, he came to a stop at a cottage, deep into the black of the forest. Monty clawed at the door in desperation and when an old woman opened it, she could see what a mess he was. He was crying hysterically, drenched in blood, and only traumatizing fear was keeping him from passing out.

The old woman turned out to be a sorceress named Malthetica. She dressed his wounds, listened to his story, and let him rest. Malthetica took Monty under her wing and made him her apprentice. They moved to a small village with a nearby town and spent the rest of their days there. She would have Monty go into town to collect supplies, disguised as a human boy through illusionary magic.

Years came and went, and before long, Monty turned sixteen. That summer, the old sorceress died and left a devastated Monty all alone. Determined to continue Malthetica’s legacy, he continued studying the magic he was taught through the years, accompanied by the old spellbooks the old woman had left behind.

Now Monty is eighteen. His cheerful disposition undeterred by his past (though he refuses to touch on it) and is very much into magic. Specifically, the kind of cheap magic that involves cards and pulling rabbits out of a hat. He likes to perform tricks and occasionally uses sorcery to cheat a little to make the illusions that much more real.

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