Marty Toto

Marty Toto (マーティ・トト) is a Western/Southern Sergal born in 79 RC, son of the renowned Shin Toto—supposedly one of, if not the last remaining purebred Western Sergals living on Tal, and grandson of the Vetla refugee Tori Toto.

Like father and grandfather, Marty spent much of his youth as an advocate for the movement group known in Gold Ring as the “Ring of Rust”, a progressive group to see Urban Nevreans gain more rights amongst Sergals and Agudners, thanks to his and his family’s intrinsic connection to the Nevrean people in the past.

However, spurred by tales and losses of the past, Marty grew into a hardline, radical supporter, engaging in harassment and assault against Northern and Eastern sergals within Gold Ring. This escalated in 90 RC, where a protest against conditions Nevrean faced spilled into violence in Out-Ring’s north-western city in an event now known as the Blaze of Sailzane. Here, Marty lost not just his mother, but his right arm, and in the ten years that followed from the emotional turmoil of the event Marty has since renounced his past and previous affiliations to work, presently, as a Zuvo restaurant as a cashier.

Appearance
Marty is a Western Sergal and Southern Sergal hybrid; his father was one of the last pureblood Westerns, whilst his mother was a pureblood Southern. Because of this, Marty shares characteristics of both these different people. Unlike his father's more striking emerald green fur and his grandfather's navy fur, Marty has since mellowed to the union of mint and brown to have a strange, unique pigmentation that is uncommon to the people of Gold Ring.

Due to his upbringing, Marty's attire and hairstyle have been more or less afflicted by every culture on Tal. Though he used to wear stolen GRVC armor which was adorned with old Shigu pieces back when he was 10, now a days he has loosened up his youthful 'fashion' choices for more sleek ones. Thanks to the heat of Gold Ring, he's usually seen wearing a tank top and some baggy trousers, but more often than not seen wearing a poncho to cover his arm.

Poignantly, this hybrid appears a little self-conscious of the most noticeable thing about him—his right arm, or more appropriately, lack thereof. Lost ten years past to the mistakes he made as a youth, Marty usually conceals his stub of a right arm underneath a poncho with his other arm so nobody can judge or identify him as weak because he is a cripple. Regardless, it appears that he lost his arm halfway down the bicep, and so moving his right stub is hardly ever seen.

Personality
Although Marty grew up in a peaceful time with no wars waging, time had not yet settled all racial bigotry in the land—nor had the scars from the past been fully healed. Due to the fact he was raised by his grandfather, Tori, a teacher in his prime, he grew up on stories of the past. This upbringing led him to feel budding anger and hatred towards Northern Sergals, who in his eyes had - for the most part - were not chased for reparations for the utter annihilation of his ancestors.

Thanks to youthful anger in him, and the despondent and agreeing attitude of his father, Marty grew up hateful of Northern Sergals and committed crimes in his youth against Shigu supporters and members of the Dukedom visiting Gold Ring. He stole from the Vigilance Committee, assaulted, and robbed rich Easterners. This only stopped at the age of 10 in 89 RC when a chaotic and violent protest led to the deaths of his mother, his friend Ruby's father, and the loss of his right arm.

These events traumatized Marty Toto in the years to come: his thoughts often drifted back to the violence of the Blaze of Sailzane. Common conversations and interactions with reasonable people in day-to-day life were plagued by spurs of hate and stress drawn to the Eastern Sergal who took his arm years past, causing him to lash out at members of the Eastern species. For as much as Marty tried to keep these thoughts drawn to the back of his head, his inability and unwillingness to confront his grief and anger eventually spawned a prolific disdain and distrust towards Easterners as a whole thanks to their general boisterous, brutish demeanor bearing hint and reminder at his assailant who maimed him for life.

Distraught by the loss of so many people thanks to his brashness, Marty became a recluse. Years other sergals used to grow and forge into a better individual were wasted spent taking narcotics, drinking, and selling himself out to brothels for easy money—regardless of the fact he got little customers thanks to his arm. He eventually slumped out of this introvert-born depression when he was 16, lulled by a budding desire to better himself. Alas, despite his best efforts, he has since been unable to forge friendships since, gluing him to this lonely personality. In the present day of 100 RC, he wears a poncho almost always to conceal his right arm so no one can see the daily reminder he has of the mistakes he made in the past.

The only positive side to the trauma he faces is the effect they had on his past-times. Swamped by stress, Marty eventually became a budding songwriter, and in the present-day dabbles in making songs and playing instruments to release his pent-up energy. Marty likes to mouth off lyrics that he writes and (on occasion) turns into songs. Humming tunes and singing to himself, quite possibly a trait inherited from his friend Ruby, had always helped to calm his nerves and anxiety. Although a brilliant lyricist and, once in his younger years creating songs that had an underground hit with the Sabi No Wa, by the time he is 20, Marty no longer holds the same interest and vigor as he does for music as he once did.

History
Marty Toto was born in 79 RC in the western portion of Gold Ring to his father, Shin Toto, and a Southern sergal named Yuria. Thanks to the greater Nevrean population on this side of the city, Marty grew up and was raised primarily in a 'daycare' which was run by his grandfather, Tori. Aside from being fond of his grandfather, throughout his early years of life, he was taught music and, perhaps most importantly to him, history.

Tori taught the children - including Marty - of Tal’s tumultuous history and, due to people's constant queries about the old Sergal, he was also told of Tori's past. From his youth, he learned of the Great War, of Rain Silves, the genocide of their people and the flight from Vetla to Gold Ring. He had learned alongside the younger Ruby, a Nevrean friend of his, of both their grandfather's exploits; Tori's loss of his first love, Parsha, a Native Nevrean who had "feathers as blue as the sky at night,'' his father, Shin, to whom Marty's own father is named after, and the destruction of their town, Jechi, at the hands of the Shigu.

He was even told about Tori's struggles in Gold Ring - and, perhaps most importantly, the death of Ruby's grandfather Rukh, who was another one of Tori's closest friends at the hands of Shigu fanatics. Regardless of the fact that his grandfather had overcome these struggles over time and had forgiven the Northern for their actions, Marty did not. He felt an anger swell in his chest at the trauma his father and grandfather had gone through. He had languished to the hate of being a half-breed. At the age of seven, triggered by a Northern Sergal bully, Marty was fixated on this consuming hatred to the point he abandoned his schooling to aid radical Sabi no Wa members.

For the next three years, Marty spent his youth smuggling, stealing and mugging Northern sergals, but his exploits did not simply center on citizens of the Dukedom. He stole from the Gold Ring Vigilance Committee and took their uniforms to wear as his own, and eventually trained himself to use a spear against dondokos in the desert. Although he was intervened by his father - who kept Marty's dangerous path hidden from his grandfather - to stop this, Marty did not.

His refusal would eventually be the undoing of the entire Toto lineage.

At the age of ten, Marty had managed to coerce his friend Ruby, who himself had his own reservations about the Shigu and Sabi no Wa, where he preferred to view himself as a Native and denounce that Urbanization of their people had led to their current predicament, and more importantly his father to 'protest' against wartime Shigu supporters who reveled in the idea of being great like they did in the past. Their demonstration soon turned to violence in the north-west part of Gold Ring, consuming a portion of the city in fire and damages, and the deaths of several civilians in a chaotic scene between all different Eltus races.

This protest - known now as the Blaze of Sailzane - took the life of Ruby's father, who was stabbed through the side of the neck by (much to Marty's confusion) an Eastern mercenary's halberd. After fleeing with Ruby but being pursued by the remaining Shigu supporters, and this Eastern mercenary, back to their house, Marty's mother, Yuria, came to the door to deal with them. She was swiftly impaled through the chest and killed at her own home.

Although Marty put up a good fight, he was beaten by this mercenary. After a few hits and cuts, he was beaten to the ground, and in his vain to grab his weapon with his right arm was struck down by the sellsword with his halberd; in one firm swing, his right arm had been cut off.

It would have been the end of Marty and Ruby if not for the interruption of the Vigilance Committee, who soon fought off the anti-protestors. Although Marty and Ruby's parent's killer was never found, Marty wished after recovering that he would one day find him and kill him himself—but that day never came. After being rushed to the nearest hospital facility, even though the slice to his arm was an almost clean cut through the elbow, the stitches and sutures applied during initial treatment did not hold proper. Some nurses suggested cauterizing it immediately but were advised against it in order to potentially prevent Marty from going into shock or worse, outright suffer heart failure.

The bandages were not enough to stop the bleeding thoroughly, causing Marty to pass in and out of consciousness intermittently as he lost blood and nearly died. If not for the valued assistance of a Talyxian-Rooter Doctor, the injury may very well have killed him. The wound eventually got severely infected and the last recourse option was to amputate further, thus reaching halfway down the bicep length.

Although ten years have passed, Marty has not fully recovered emotionally from the trauma of the day. His right arm is a daily reminder of his mistakes and the life he pursued, and the guilt he feels for inadvertently killing his own mother. The grief of his adopted, and his best friend's son dying on the same day, as well as the loss of Marty's right arm consumed Tori in the months to follow. After suffering a heart attack, the old Western sergal spent the next few months of his life in solitude in his home. He never left and was never seen, until he died in bed in the early months of 91 RC.

Marty spent the next few years in agony. He discarded care for his own life and on multiple occasions tried to commit suicide, but could not bring himself to do it. He drunk excessively, took drugs, and soon sold himself for sex for money, despite the fact little of his customers enjoyed him unless he hid his arm underneath his poncho. Although it took many years, Marty has since lost his friendship with Ruby, eventually got out of his slump and got a proper job disposing waste. By 100 RC, and now, he lives a better life as a cashier at a restaurant, but the memories of the past still, unfortunately, scar not only his body but his mind as well.

Sayings, Quotes, and Snippets
In his own eyes, there was nothing ostensibly gorgeous about his body. He teetered from one leg to the other to incline his weight and let a nervous, supple smile crease across his lips, but the flattery was going straight over his head. "You even look cute now, Marty." He added to his fruity words.

He couldn't stop himself. It was strange, and he was unsure whether the words were true or fake; he gently drifted his hand through his light green hair and shifted it off of his shoulder, and his body wanted to do the same with the other arm. It would have complied, too, if all the stub did was gently bend up a bit.

"Downright gorgeous, actually, I'd say."