Ulfric Heipyst

Ulfric Heipyst (アルフレリック・ハイピスト) is the chief ruling elder that rules over the beasmtan nation Verbergen.

Appearance
Ulfric is an elderly man with long blond hair and blue eyes. He has a frail appearance and had many wrinkles.

Personality
Ulfric is a wise leader and always presents himself with a calm demeanor. He is also very compassionate and will do what he feels is in the best interest for his people, even if it puts him at odds with the other elders.

He can be very stubborn once he sets his mind on something and will only reconsider his actions when considering the well-being of others within Verbergen.

Ulfric abides by Verbergen's customs that have existed since its founding, including to respect and support those that manage to complete the Great Labyrinths.

Ulfric is somewhat prejudice against humans due do the harsh treatment Beastmen have received from them throughout Tortus' history. Unlike several of his fellow Beastman elders, however, he does not let his feelings towards then cloud his judgement when making crucial decisions for his nation.

Biography
Ulfric, along with the rest of the Verbergen elders banished the Haulia Tribe from the Sea of Trees for concealing the existence of the "cursed child" Shea.

When the Haulia Tribe returned to Verbergen while escorting Hajime Nagumo and Yue to the Grand True Uralt, Ulfric approached them after being alerted of their presence by a member of a squad of Tigermen that were patrolling the area. Ulfric was particularly interested in meeting Hajime after leaning that he uttered the word "Liberators" to the tigermen when explaining that his goal was to explore the Great Labyrinth that resided within the grand tree. Hajime claimed the he learned about that word from his time exploring the Labyrinth that was created by Oscar Orcus. Ulfric then wished for Hajime to present him proof of his claim, to which Hajime did by presenting him various rare items that included a ring with Oscar's crest engraved in it. Shocked after having seen such rare and unique items, Ulfric believed Hajime and offered him and his companions safe passage into Verbergen, much to the shock of all the Beastmen present, but Hajime immediacy protested by arguing that his only objective was to visit the grand tree. Ulfric explained that Hajime would not be able to visit the tree due to the current thickness of the fog around the forest that made it impossible to navigate, and that he would need to wait ten more days before it was safe enough to go, all the while surprised that the Haulia Tribe did not tell him about it (this was due to the them having forget that information). After Hajime and Yue punished the Haulia Tribe for failing to disclose such vital information, Ulfric and the other Beastmen escorted them to Verbergen. As they were approaching the capital city, Ulfric explained to Hajime about the the glowing stones that lit u around them called Verdren Crystals after seeing him observe them curiously.

After everyone arrived at Verbergen, Ulfric learned about Hajime's experience in the Great Orcus Labyrinth. When Hajime told him the gods of their world were responsible for all of the suffering that has occurred throughout its history, Ulfric was unfazed by this relation based on how poorly treated Beasten were by most other beings. He then explained that the reason we was being so courteous towards Hajime because of an ancient Beastman law that dated back to when the creator of the Labyrinth within the Grand Tree, Lyutillis Haltina, had told the Beastmen elders of her time to not oppose that had managed to complete the trials made by he comrades. They were soon interrupted when the rest of Verbergen's elders were yelling at the Haulia Tribe downstairs from where Ulfric and Hajime were talking. When they got down to view the commotion, the bearman elder Jin Vanton immediately expressed his disapproval at allowing Hajime and the Haulia safe passage into Verbegem. Jin even went so far as to threaten executing Ulfric for treason, but Ulfric calmly responded that he was merely following their country's ancient laws by allowing anyone that has conquered one of the Great Labyrinths safe passage after Hajime had shown him proof of having done so. Jin, however, refused to accept Ulfric's decision and decided to test Hajime's strength in order to prove the validity of his claim by immediately charging straight at him with his fists. Despite Jin's best efforts, Hajime effortless defeated Jin and inflicted so much damage on him that he would no longer be able to fight. The altercation immediately scared the other elders after having viewed one of they strongest member get taken out so easily. Ulfric then calmed them down and convened a meeting with them in order to discuss Hajime's worthiness of their aid. After a tense interaction with Hajime during the meeting, Ulfric and the majority of elders decided to officially recognize his feats and vowed to do everything in their power to prevent others from opposing him, but could not guarantee it (especially after what Hajime did to Jin). Ulfric asked Hajime to refrain from killing any Beastman that may attack him, but Hajime refused based on his policy of killing his enemies. Hearing this prompted the tigerman elder Zel to refuse guiding Hajime to the grand tree on behalf of Verbergen, and that they would execute his original guides the Haulia Tribe as traitors. Hajime threatened the elders that he would go to war with Verbergen if they chose to get in his way. Ulfric attempted to diffuse the situation by offering him their aid in place of the Haulia Tribe, but Hajime still refused due to having made a deal for the Haulia Tribe's aid in exchange for protecting them. Ulfric then decided to have the Haulia Tribe be declared as Hajime's slaves as a way to spare their lives. This decision immediately caused the other elders voice their own opinions on the matter that soon devolved into loud argument. Hajime attempted to resolve the matter by revealing his ability to freely control mana like Shea, thus making him cursed in the eyes of the Beastmen while still being seen as someone they were obligated to support. After a brief discussion, the elders decided to have Hajime and the Haulia Tribe banished from Verbergen in order to spare their lives, and that any Beastman who would attack them did so without the aid of Verbergen. Hajime was satisfied with the verdict, to which Ulfric apologized for not being able to aid him, as per the laws of his nation. Hajime, however, was not upset by this decision and left Verbergen with Yue and the Haulia Tribe.

Months laster, when Verbergen was attacked by an army of demons, Ulfric and the other elders were discussing their defensive strategy. Initially surprised that the Demons possessed strange monsters that allowed them to navigate through the Sea of Tree's impenetrable fog barrier, Ulfric eventually came to the conclusion that they were under the control of someone that managed to conquer of of the Great Labyrinths. Seeing how they were at a reverse disadvantage, Ulfric suggested that the Beastmen should abandon Verbergen in order for them to have a chance to survive. The other elders initially protested at having to abandon their home, but Ulfric convinced them that is was their only option to keep their people alive. Soon afterwards, a messenger arrived and revealed that the Demons' objective was to locate the Great Labyrinth based on the testimony from captured Beastmen. Ulfric decided to reveal its location to the Demons himself in the hopes that it would put an end to the fighting. Many Beastmen offered to go in his place based on how dangerous it would be for him, but Ulfric insisted on going.

Ulfric soon stood atop one of the tall trees that surrounded Verbergen and shouted to the Demons his willingness to reveal the location of the Labyinth in exchange for sparing the lives of his people. The commander of the Demons, Davros, heard Ulfric's proposal, but immediately rejected it on the grounds of believing believing Beastmen to be an inferior race to his and instead declared that he would exterminate them after obtaining the information he needed. In response to this declaration, Ulfric attempted to kill the Demon commander by shooting an arrow at him and had almost succeeded, but was stopped at the last moment when one of Darvos' subordinates used wind magic to real the attack. Darvos then Demonstrated his power by singlehandedly destroying Verbergen's last defensive live with a power magic spell and followed up by having two of his monsters capture Ulfric in order to torture location of the Labyrinth out of him before killing him. Ulfric jumped off his perch in order to catch them off guard and shot three arrows and Davros and his two monsters. After killing the monsters with his first two shots, Ulfric ajusted his position mid-air and launched many more arrows at Davros. Despite his best effort, however, the Demon commander managed to dodge the incoming arrows just in time, and followed up with barrage of fire ball magic attacks that sent Ulflic flying off the ground. As the Demons left to hunt Cam, Ulfric breathed a sigh of relief, utterly surprised at his unexpected savior.

As the Demons continued their assault on the Beastmen, Davros would eventually be able to kill the bestmen elders, but stopped just before doing so are receiving a report that some of his forces had been killed by unknown assailants. Davros initially thought that Ulric was responsible through some secret weapon, but the elderly elf was just as surprised by this revelation. Moments later, the true culprit, Cam Haulia, appeared before everyone on the battlefield with a Demon's severed head, and then disappeared soon after. Everyone on the battlefield was shocked by this development, but Davros soon ordered his forces to hunt down the rabbitman.

The war would come to an end when Davos and the rest of the Demons under his command were killed by Cam and the rest of the Haulia Tribe, thanks to the training and weapons they had received from Hajime during their first encounter. Unfortunately, Vebergen was utterly devastated from the attack. To make matter worse, the Beastman were attacked by the Hoelscher Empire and had captured many of the survivors to be used as slaves. Among those included Ulfric's granddaughter Altina, but he was unable to rescue her due to the risk of getting more Beastmen killed in doing so. Altina, however, would be rescued worth many other captured Beastmen by members of the Haulia Tribe while they were fighting the empire, and they would all be taken back to the Sea of Trees by Hajime. Once they all reached Verbergen, Ulfric an his granddaughter embraced each other in a tearful emotional reunion. Afterwards, Ulfric thanked Hajime for having saved Altina. Hajime tried direct Ulfric's gratitude towards the Haulia Tribe, but the Beastman elder claimed that it was Hajime's efforts in having taught the Verbergen on how to fight that resulted in his granddaughter's safe return. Ulfric then offered to let Hajime and his companions stay at his house during their stay, to which they accepted. Sometime after resting at Ulfric's home, Hajime learned from the Haulia Tribe that some of their members, including Cam, had been captured by the Hoelscher Empire. Hajime and the other then left Vebergen in order to rescue them.

As Verbergen was recovering from its recent attacks, Ulfric and Altina were busy overseeing the reconstruction efforts. Cam had returned to Verbergen to tell Ulfric of how after Hajime recused the captured Rabbitmen, they Haulia Tribe retaliated against the empire during the engagement party of Prince Baius and Princess Liliana S. B. Heiligh of the Heiligh Kingdom, which resulted in Emperor Gahard and the imperial family to wear cursed necklaces that would kill them if he did not to end the empire's practice of enslaving Beastmen, as well as meeting with Verbergen's elders to affirm this pledge. Ulfric was concerned about Altina's wellbeing after having been recently kidnapped, but she insisted on doing all that she could to help her fellow Beastmen. Ulfric sensed that that something was troubling his granddaughter and advised her to speak to Cam about it, but Altina immediately rejected the notion that she was concerned about Hajime despite Cam not having mentioned him once. Suspected that Altina had romantic feelings towards Hajime, Ulfric tried to convince her that he would not be a good match for her, but she insisted hat she was not interested in him. As she was about to leave the room, Cam called out to her and advised her that Hajime was only in love with Yue, and that only his daughter Shea was the only other girl with a chance to become someone that he would consider special. Moments later, Hajime and his companions returned to Verbergen on Fenrir, and had brought Emperor Gahard with them (while in disguise to keep him safe from the other Beastmen that would want to kill him).

During the meeting between Gahard and Verbergen's elders, after Gahard reaffirmed his pledges, both sides remained hostile with each other due to the long and terrible history between the empire and Beastmen. Gahard was not afraid of showing his animosity towards them and claimed that it was only the Haulia Tribe he respected since they were the ones that defeated him. After deciding that the meeting was going nowhere for both parties, Hajime opened a gate to the imperial palace and forcefully sent Ghard back (much to the elders' delight).

Once the meeting were finished, Ulfric offered Hajime and his companions Verbergen's full hospitality for all he had done for it, to which they accepted. Following that, Ulfric then offered to grant Cam a seat on Verbergen's council for all that the Haulia Tribe. Cam, however, refused Ulfric's offered by claiming that the Haulia Tribe was only looking out for their fellow Rabbitmen, and went so far as to threaten to attack Verbergen if they ever posed a threat to Haulia Tribe. Ulfric then offered to have Verbergen recognized the Haulia Tribe as a nation of equal status that was not bound to Verbergen's laws, while still having a seat at the council. Hearing this enticed Cam and accepted it after getting a few more concessions from Ulfric. The Beastmen elders then held a meeting with Princess Liliana in order to establish more diplomatic relations between Verbergen and the kingdom.

Soon after Hajime and his friends had completed the Haltina Laberinth, Ulfirc met with him and Shea and requested that Shea take his place as the next chief elder of Verbergen. Confused by his sudden request, Ulfric explained to the two of them the exhaustion he felt from overseeing the Beastman nation, and that he believed Shea was the only one capable of succeeding him. Shea refused and attempted to pass on the responsible to another individual, but Ulfric exposed to them the quirky qualities of the other Beastman elders, as well as his granddaughter, that he felt made them unsuitable for the position, as a result of having met Hajime and his companions. Ultimately, Ulfric failed to get Shea to succeed, but had received a vast supply of energy drinks from Hajime in order to help him overcome his weariness.

When the mad god Ehit was planning to wipe out all life on Tortus Ulfric was acting as one of Verbergen's representatives when it had allied itself with the other nations that had banded together in order to fight against this threat. He and the other delegates were expressing words of encouragement to Hajime, as he was the one who would be fighting Ehit personally.

Relationships

 * Altina Heipyst - Ulfric loves his granddaughter very much, but he is troubled by her recent fetishes.
 * Hajime Nagumo - Ulfric greatly respects Hajime as someone who has not only conquered the Great Labyrinths, but also for his involvement in rescuing his granddaughter and the rest of the Beastmen from the Hoelscher Empire.
 * Shea Haulia - Ulfric initially considers Shea to be cursed due to her ability to control mana, but later comes to respect her greatly after she, Hajime, and their companions rescue his people. He wishes for Shea to succeed him as the next chief of Verbergen.
 * Gahard D. Hoelscher - Initially the two were enemies due to the Hoelscher Empire's history of enslaving Beastmen, but they would eventually form a bond over the stress they both have endured from Hajime and his antics.

Powers & Abilities

 * Enhanced Agility - Ulfric is capable of leaping at incredible speeds despite his advanced age. He can climb the tall trees that surround Verbergen almost instantaneously.
 * Expert Marksmanship - Ulfric is legendary amongst the Beastmen for his incredible skills with a bow and arrow. He is capable of shooting his target from many meters away.

Weapons & Equipment

 * Bow & Arrows - Ulfric's primary weapons.

Quotes

 * (To Hajime Nagumo): "This world isn’t very kind to us beastmen, so what reason would we have to believe the gods are benevolent?"
 * (To Hajime Nagumo): "We entrust our fate to you, Hajime Nagumo."

Trivia

 * The name Ulfric is a combination of "ulf", meaning "wolf", and "ric", meaning "ruler", respectively in Germanic and Nordic languages.
 * Ulfric's appearance is much more youthful in the Anime.
 * Ulfric has developed a habit of taking stomach medication to help calm down due to his stressful interactions with Hajime.