Altruis Hedeby

Altruis Hedeby is the founder of Hedeby Gunworks, a weapons manufacturer.

Early life
Founder Altruis Hedeby was born in 2884 in Tram, Ferron, as the oldest of five siblings in a poor family that struggled to keep the family fed. At a relatively young age he was forced to abandon his studies to support his siblings and got a job at a collection foundry, melting scrap into cheap items that can be sold. It was during his time as furnace operator that a strange weapon landed n his hands. He was fascinated by its elegant old design. Hedeby wanted to keep it but that would cost him his wages. So he melted it to keep supporting his family.

Despite this, Hedeby had the design printed into his mind and couldn't let it go. After some research he was referred to Chae Ekstrom, a local smith in the outskirts of Tram. He was impressed by the teenager's enthusiasm and offered him an apprenticeship. Combining his foundry job with metalworking at Ekstrom, Hedeby learned much over the next decade. Ekstrom was raised in Banu space and studied a variety of techniques not commonly used in the UEE. This also inspired Hedeby to incorporate bolder designs into his work, recreating weapons of the past. So after six years, he crafted his first working double-barreled pistol, inspired by the one he found in the scrapyard many years ago.

Hedeby kept on learning and crafting, eventually offering gunsmithing services at Ekstrom's shop as well. Some of Hedeby's weapon modifications became quite popular. However, experiments with some unsafe mods caused injury of a patron, and Ekstrom demanded that Hedeby stop due to the liability it placed on his business. This is when he decided to start his own forge.

Starting the company
It began as a small backyard forge in 2921, that Hedeby had scavenged from Tram's abandoned factories. Initially he combined gun repair work with experimental weapons modifications, but started creating his own weapons using new designs and old techniques. After an initial growth, he moved his forge to a larger location and started training apprentices to ease his workload.

His traditional pistols and rifles became popular with locals, but Hedeby wanted to put his mark on the field by crafting his very own style. Taking designs from Banu style learned from Ekstrom, he created the Salvo Frag Pistol. It initially started as a normal pistol, but when Hedeby added a freezing primer to mitigate overheating, he realized he could create a supercooled casing that could be shattered into a spray of deadly fragments. When he first fired the gun, the boom nearly knocked him off his feet. He sent one to Ekstrom and gave the rest to his most loyal customers.

After this, orders came in and the gun became an instant hit, and investors wanted to fund the company's expansion. The brand became popular amongst collectors and gun enthusiasts. Hedeby made sure the company's expansion kept its signature style and unique production techniques, that to this day blends hand-forging and machining together.

Years after, Hedeby still hadn't heard from Ekstrom after sending him one of his Salvo pistols. But one day, Ekstrom came to Hedeby with the very same weapon he had melted down many years ago. He discovered this weapon is the Doussiant, a failed prototype with both ballistic and energy fire modes. The design was abandoned due to high chances of explosion during testing, leaving only a few left in the universe. Ekstrom and Hedeby refurbished the weapon and now prominently display it near Hedeby's workbench as a reminder of his inspiration and origins.