Background

Victor was born small. An innocent little thing, finding it difficult to take its first breaths in the world. The doctors had told his parents that it would be a miracle if he survived the first month. Days of waiting with bated breath turned to weeks, and then to months - and then to years. Victor had survived, and his parents couldn't be happier - but, this anxiety shaped their outlook on raising their son. In the picturesque city of Interlaken, Switzerland, Victor never really got to spread his wings. His attempts at swimming in the lakes were often thwarted by the overbearing figures watching his every move. Finding that he simply couldn't get away with doing activities the other kids were, Victor found himself getting increasingly interested in animals. Watching birds fly in the sky, deer in the forests, and even fish swim in the waters, he found them all so interesting. With this growing passion, he found himself discovering his love for agriculture. Growing flowers, and crops - the way seeds blossomed into life amazed Victor. His parents were just thankful he found a less dangerous hobby. As Victor started growing up, he soon realised he was much taller than the rest of his class. When taken to a doctor, and then poked and prodded more times than grains of rice in a bag, it was discovered that he had a tumour in his brain - or, more accurately, on his pituitary gland. A high level of growth hormones, not controlled due to the fault in his head, caused Victor to become a giant. By the time he was eighteen, he was standing at 6'11. His parents, forever horrified, ensured he took all the appropriate medication. Things for his heart, his sleep, his many, many health risks. Victor, however, did not let his gigantism get to him. Looking like a collection of gangly limbs on stilts, he found that his stature allowed him to see the world in a way no others could. As his interests developed, and his love for food was realised; he soon began eating his fill - or, more than that. He began working in fields, or doing manual labour - and soon found himself looking less like a twig, and more like a tree. Life continued on, as it tends to do, and Victor became his own man when his parents died of natural causes. The last remaining Hohenheim, he elected to go by that name to honour their memory and finally made the move to begin exploring the world outside of his parent's protective field. Visiting far-off lands to research the fauna and flora, he found himself enjoying his time as a trailblazer. His presence was grandiose, and he took any chance he got to work out, ensuring his massive size stayed somewhat consistent. He carved the way through undergrowths, led the way for his small groups, and found himself constantly wanting to see more. He organised a boat and planned to circumnavigate the globe, electing to use an older vessel to honour the ways of the past. Once the boat was on its journey, the world left behind crumpled. The parasite had begun its attack, and Hohenheim was blissfully unaware. Researching fish - and then cooking them, kept him sane through the almost year-long journey, and the crew was kept in high spirits by the jovial man. One fateful night, a storm blindsided them all - and the last thing Hohenheim remembered seeing was a huge military naval ship aiming a weapon in their direction. He awakes on Braddock's shore, dazed and confused - lacking his medicine, and seeing that the option to not fight may not exist in this new world.