The Last Soldier
The Last Soldier is a Volin myth originating from Austro-Caldera. He is said to be an adult male of Volin origin with black hair in all accounts. His only superhuman trait reported in myths is his incredibly long life, although the mystery surrounding his existence is also considered a superhuman trait occasionally.
Mythical History
The Last Soldier was first reported shortly after the first Levantine immigrants arrived to Caldera in in the late 16th century. He was a soldier for Volinia, defending Volins in Caldera from the Levantine farmers trying to encroach on traditionally indigenous land. He would fight alongside groups as low as 5 and as high as 50. Taking hundreds of Levantine lives in rapid raids, razing crops and killing any non-Volin witnesses.
His next appearance is in the 1620s, when witnesses reported seeing a man dressed in Volinian garb harassing anyone who tried to disturb an old Volin hut near the modern day border of Bavogia. There was plenty of space elsewhere, so the hut went undisturbed for quite some time.
In 1658, a Gothic man tried to settle the land, only to find himself ran out by The Last Soldier. The man gathered others to help him claim the land from the barbarian, only The Last Soldier was no where to be found. Over the course of the next week, the Gothic man was eventually driven from his home when he discovered all his belongings had been relocated to a nearby river.
Sometime in the 1680s, a mother and her two children would try to stay in the hut, and did so successfully, but they would tell others about feeling watched and occasionally seeing a Volin soldier passing by. In 1699, she finally moved out after she discovered all of the windows open and the door broken off its hinges in the middle of the night.
In 1721, an order by the Lord of Sanweich led to police attempting to burn the hut to make room for a modern house. The first 2 policemen sent to burn the hut disappeared, and when the lord sent 4 more, 3 were brutally killed by The Last Soldier, and 1 escaped to tell the lord about the hostile native. The lord gathered up militiamen with muskets and sent them to hunt down this native, only for all militiamen to disappear.
Reports still came about The Last Soldier guarding the hut, until the late 1700s. In 1812, Bavogian historians came to investigate the hut to determine if it was a genuine Volin artifact. They agreed it was, and carefully deconstructed the building to bring it to a museum in eastern Bavogia. During the trip, one historian commented on thinking he saw a barbarian following them.
In 1847, 3 Gothic nationalists raided the museum that the hut was being held, and burnt many other artifacts, but when it came to burn the hut, 2 were killed by The Last Soldier, who let the last one free.
In 1891, The Last Soldier was reported to be sleeping inside the hut, but when museum guards went to check, nobody was there.
In 1899, a criminal hid inside the museum during a police chase, and tried to hide in the hut, but found his entrance blocked by The Last Soldier who shook his head but didn't say a word. The police later caught the criminal hiding in hollowed out reeds.
During the later half of the First Great War, The Last Soldier had lots of reports of wandering the halls of the museum with his spear at hand. Any attempts to remove him were met with failure, and once the war ended, he disappeared.
During the Daxian Invasion of Austro-Caldera during the Second Great War, the museum that the hut was in was bombed, and the hut caught fire. Some say they saw The Last Soldier trying to put out the fire, but once the fire was extinguished, the entire building had already collapsed and the hut was in ruins. Pieces of the hut were later found outside of the museum, seeming as though someone had tried to carry the hut out in pieces but failed.
Since the destruction of the hut, there have been no more sightings of The Last Soldier.
Disputed Historical Accuracy
Despite the immediate claim that The Last Solder killed hundreds of Levantine immigrants, contemporary reports don't corroborate this, as only a few dozen Levantine lives were lost to hostile natives.
The next sighting in the 1620s is simply folktale, and there's no evidence to suggest that a man dressed as an Indigeno-Calderan actually prevented people from trying to live in the hut, and if there was a man, it wouldn't be odd for him to have been a soldier during Volinia, so there's no reason to suggest he may be immortal.
In 1658, the Gothic man who got chased away from his home could have been chased by any native, not necessarily the same one from previous sightings. Other reports seem to suggest there was a hostile tribe of Indigeno-Calderans passing through the area trying to prevent Levantines from taking over the land, so it's likely that it was this tribe that vandalized the man's belongings, and it's also likely that it's the same tribe raided the mom's home and killed the Lord of Sanweich's men. Very little evidence proves that there was only 1 man.
Other reports past this were likely mistakes or simply made up, until the deaths of the 3 Gothic nationalists in 1721. By this time, The Last Soldier would have to be an impossible 141 years old, so if the killer really was a native as the survivor claimed, it wouldn't have been the same man. It should be noted that as a Gothic nationalist, the survivor likely lied about the killer to try to make Volins seem barbaric even in the face of defeat.
The next sightings simply seem fake, and possibly were claimed by the museum as a way to garner more visitors.
The Last Soldier's final sighting during the Second Great War may have been a misunderstanding by onlookers, as museum workers really were trying to put out the fire, and it was possible that a museum worker tried to save bits of the hut. It would be impossible for the same man to have been protecting the hut all this time, as at this point he would be at least 363 years old.
Myth Creation
The myth of The Last Soldier was first actually brought up as being mythical in the late 1800s, as reports of The Last Soldier around the museum were becoming popular. He is considered by many Volins to be the last soldier protecting Volinia, hence his title. There are 2 main theories to how the myth was created.
- The myth was created by the museum to try to interest locals in the museum and to explore it's Volinia exhibits.
- The myth was created by Volin soldiers who wanted a heroic figure to look up to during their struggle with the Gothic government.
In any case, the myth is almost certainly fake, and has been stated to be so by the Volkspartei, although the Calderan Armed Forces supports the myth and retells it to many new recruits as a tale of how far they should go to protect their country.