There is nothing I can do to redeem myself, but I will continue down my path even if it never ends.



Name:
He simply calls himself Ash and gives no other name to those he meets.

Nickname: : Black Axe was the name given to him when he first joined the Bandits and he took it as his name for the 45 years he ran the Black Axe raiders.

Age: Visually 35 but he is actually 75.

Sexuality: Straight

Species: Half-Giant. As with all half-giants he his tall compared to a human reaching just under nine feet in height and he is strong, far stronger than a human.

Occupation: He was a Bandit leader but now he is a Blacksmith

Likes:
1. Smoking his pipe is a one of the few things Ash likes to do. The smoke calms him.

2. Smithery is the only thing he knows how to do besides killing and Ash loves it and it consumes almost all of his time. His creations can help people and protect them from people like him.

3. Part of Ash still misses the feel of a weapon in hand the adrenaline rush of or facing down death and the contest between two beings for a right to live.

4. Ash likes very few living things and most of them are dead but he loves his horse Lightning and takes good care of the animal.

5. Drinking takes away the pain he feels and gives him a short break from hating himself.

Dislikes:
1. Ash is a man who is full of self-loathing he hates what he was.

2.Ingrained in Ash is a dislike of guardsmen from his time as bandit he avoids them and doesn’t got along well with them when he has to.

3. Ash hates bandits because of what he was.

4. He dislikes the cold he prefers the heat of his forge and when he is not by his forge he feels cold.

5. Ash doesn’t like questions about his past he doesn’t want to bring up his past with people at all and will often completely ignore those who ask about it.

Hobbies:
1. Ash has few hobbies but one is whittling shapes out of wood. The shapes range from the nonsensical to intricate carvings of animals detailing everything even individual feather or scale.

2. His other hobby is playing a set of panpipes he picked up from a caravan he attacked. He doesn’t know why he kept them, but he often plays to calm himself.

Fears:
1. Part of Ash is still the blood thirsty bandit who killed with the same ease as one would breath. While Ash keeps it contained he fears that one day he will lose control and the blood thirsty murder will be in control again.

2. Ash fears he will be found out and have to face the people he once hurt.

3. Ash fears silence, it is the sound of the dead, the sound of city of the dead, it is a sound he left in his wake as he killed. He fears the memories it brings back.




Skills and abilities:
Giant’s strength: As a half giant he has a considerable amount of strength far more than a normal humans. Combined with his axe he is a force to be reckoned with.

Bandit Lord’s skill: To survive long time as bandit you have be a good fighter to become a Bandit lord means you should be feared for your prowess at dealing death.

A little bit of everything: Ash is smart man and despite not having a formal education. He has picked up a lot of information in his life and while he is no expert, he will almost always know something about a given subject.

Bandit’s art: While Ash does not know how to command armies he is an expert raider. With a small group of men ash can defeat far larger opponents quickly and will few losses. As a Bandit lord he was well known as a brutal and efficient commander, who’ s strategies never failed him.

Giants Body: Ash’s body is stronger and more resilient than human’s. Smaller wounds do not even faze Ash and he can keep fighting even with more serious wounds.

Giant’s Blood: His blood give him a small resistance to magic nothing like a full giant’s but enough to give him a small edge against weak mages.

Influence of the Bandit Lord’s: Fifteen years ago Ash was one of four powerful Bandits Lords who controlled a large portion of the raiding in the Kingdom of Halcion. His name may carry influence among criminals or at least strike fear into the heart of those who know him.

Skill of a Smith: Ash is a Black Smith not the best but skilled enough to gain some notoriety in the capital city of Ingotstone for good solid metal work at fair prices.

Rough living: A bandits life isn’t the most glamorous life and often you have to avoid main roads and spend a lot of time in the wilds. This life style has given Ash a number of survival skills that can help him survive in the wilds.

Weaknesses:

1. Ash suffers from vivid nightmares. As a result he suffers insomnia, incapable of resting well because the horrors he dreams of.

2. A pale scar on his right hand is all that remain of a terrible wound that damaged the tendons in his right hand. While it functions normally most of the time, sometimes it acts up and he is incapable of using his hand.

3. Ash cannot read or write he never learned since it wasn’t important to his survival as a bandit. So in situations involving those particular skills he is at a disadvantage.

Equipment:

Ash should have thrown away his weapons after his time as a bandit he found it uncomfortable to be without them so he kept then well hidden in the back of the smithy. But he has taken them out again to travel to Farendell.

Tool of the Trade: Ash was reluctant to leave his forge behind so he decided to take his smith’s hammer with him. His hammer is more like a war hammer in size than a regular smith’s hammer but it fits him perfectly.

Ash’s Crossbow: Unlike most things he own his crossbow was built for a human with only few modifications so that he can fire it. While the crossbow is more of a backup weapon for Ash it still bares the trace of the bandit lord he once was, the bolts it fires are barbed meaning whoever he shoots is going to have a hell of a time removing the bolt.

The Black Axe: The reason for his nickname, it was his weapon of choice as a bandit. Being a Half giant his axe is actually a single bladed battle-axe, his strength and size let him wield the large axe in one hand. Other than an abnormally long shaft that lets him use the axe from horse back the axe is simple it is a well-made axe with a black colored steel blade and shaft.

Black Axe’s claw: While Ash’s axe is the reason for his name his most recognizable weapon is his claw. It is a custom built gauntlet for his left hand that covers his forearm and hand. The fingers of the gauntlet end in long razor sharp claws capable of cutting leather armor and flesh. But the claw is not solely for attack the forearm of the gauntlet is covered in a piece of metal thicker than an average shield and it can be used to block a blow like a shield. Ash keeps his claw wrapped in cloth and hidden among his things while he travels he does not want to be recognized as The Bandit Lord he once was but the claw is to useful of a weapon to not bring with him.

Black axe’s mask: When Ash was bandit lord he hid his face behind a black leather half mask that covered the right side of his face from view. With this he remained anonymous, it helped that he left few survivors in his attacks. Ash doesn’t know why he brought the mask with him but he keeps it hidden in a saddle bag.

Lightning: Being a half giant most horses are not capable of carrying his weight but Lightning is no ordinary horse. Lightning is a horse from the land of giants while the full giants can’t ride the horses half giants can comfortably ride the large vicious horses in to battle. Ash forayed into giant territory to collect one of these horses for himself twenty years ago five years before he left the life of a bandit behind. Lightning is a massive horse 15 feet at shoulder height and massive. His coat is a solid black color except for the white lines on his hide that looks like lightning splitting the night sky.

Ash’s Armor: For combat Ash wears a chain mail shirt with a chain skirt the goes over his greaves. Over the chainmail shirt he wears a custom made set of armor consisting of a chest piece and greaves. The unique pieces are made so that they are both unconstricting and protective. The armor consists of multiple layers of hardened leather with steel plates sewn in between the layers of leather to provide more protection for his vital organs. While the metal plate would make leather armor too heavy for most to move quickly in, with his strength the armor barely slows Ash down.

Traveling cloths: To protect himself from the elements he carries a large dark green cloak and for his feet he wears a pair of hobnail boots.

Supplies: Basic supplies including food, water, a tent, a tinder box, some booze, a length of rope, some horse feed ,his pipe and some other supplies.

Coin: From his days as a bandit Ash has a large amount of coin in various currency as well as some gems for emergencies where his coin is no good. It is no longer the vast collection it once was but it is enough for a man to live comfortably for a number of years.

Flaws:
1. Ash has no manners in a social setting since he was raised by bandits. Where eating is done with ones hands and taking piss is just done by a tree. While he has learned most of them in the last fifteen years, a few of the nuances of manners are out of his grasp.





Personality:
To the casual observer Ash would seem a cold man and gruff man who seems to completely ignore those around him focus on the work at his forge. Causal observers would see Ash completely ignore his neighbors whenever they try to interact with him and he never accepts the invitations to events held by his neighbors. Even the people Ash does business with barely know him. He talks only enough to fill out their requests and ignores them completely afterwards.

While he is cold and gruff, that is only a part of Ash, those who watch him for a long enough see that he truly is a kind man who goes out his way to help those around him. Many in the city will tell you that often much of the new metal work in the poorer parts of the city was done by Ash at no cost. Children smile at the mention of Ashs name for when he walk through the city he often brings small wooden gifts and gives them to children he see’s playing in the streets. Many a carved wooden animal has proved a friend to the poorest children who have no other toys. Now the observer might ask why such a man who clearly cares for those around him can be so cold and downright rude to those around him them.

The answer is twofold the first being Ash does not believe he has the right to live a normal life, not after what he has done. He destroyed the lives of so many people, their hopes and dreams, he is not like those around him he is a pariah. He was a monster and he can’t just live a life like everyone else. He refuses to settle down and get close to others; to him it would be akin to saying he is no longer guilty of what he did and Ash is guilty of his crimes. So he will continue to live always trying to redeem himself know there is nothing he can do to truly make up for he has done.

The second part of the answer is the madness he feels at the edge of his mind. He will look at his neighbors and see in his mind’s eye their bodies broken and destroyed by his hand and he will feel a sick longing to break the make those around him fear and revile him. Ash fears this madness will break out if he gets too comfortable with other and let down his guard. So he is a cold man never letting another get close to him lest the madness breaks out and ends up hurting those around him.

History:
Ash is a name he took fifteen years ago, his given name was Anakim. Ash doesn’t remember his parent because he was abandoned at birth in a small human village called Giantswell located in the west of the Halcion. Giantswell was an incredibly unremarkable town the most exciting thing to happen before Ash was left there was the birth of triplets. In official records you will find only one line about the village of Giantswell. It simply states that 60 years ago the village was razed to the ground by a group of bandits; this one line does not do the village justice.

Giantswell was named for the large stone well at its center built long ago by the giants. Most of the people in Giantswell carried a small amount giant blood in them from when giants and humans lived peacefully in the village working the quarry together. When Ash was left there as a baby the only evidence of giants was the abnormally tall and strong human beings living in the village. While none were as large and strong as Ash would be they accepted him as one of their own immediately. He was raised by the village, everyone loved the half giant child and he grew to love all of them as family.

By the age of eight Ash was far larger than the other children and he decided to apprentice himself to the village blacksmith whom had found him years those eight years ago by the Giant’s well. Ash was a quick learner and seemed to have a talent for the forge; at fifteen he was doing most of the work in the forge, happy to help the village.

But that same year his life was changed forever. The people of Giantswell were peaceful despite their heritage and weapons were not common in the village, the only one belonged to the black smith who had been a solider before settling down in the village. With their peaceful nature the villagers were unprepared for when the Bandits attacked and despite their strength the villagers quickly began to lose ground to the bandits.

Ash as watched the village burn something inside of him broke. His mind shattered to pieces, the good parts of his soul where hidden behind a wall of pain leaving only rage. Picking up the black smith’s axe from where the once powerful man lay dead, Ash began to kill the bandits. But one boy even with his giant strength was quickly overpowered and bound forced to watch as his village was burned to the ground. In three short house all that had been Giant’s well was destroyed leaving only the dead and dying.

Shortly after the raid Ash was brought to the bandit’s leader Victor, a cruel man who taunted Ash as he lay bound on the ground in front of Bandit leader. Ash’s anger burned white hot as he looked up at the man who had destroyed his life and breaking his bonds he attacked. But Victor was powerful man and just as Ash’s attack began it was stopped with one blow from Victor’s sword. As Ash lay dying on the ground he was surprised when Victor ordered his men help Ash. Ash couldn’t understand why until Victor bent over and whispered into Ash’s ear that the whole purpose of the raid was to collect Ash.

The words shattered Ash’s mind further, all he thought of as he lay healing from his wounds was that it was his fault that those had loved had died. Each day it was made worse by Victor as he came and told Ash in detail every kill he had made in the village. Soon Ash’s sanity retreated deep into his mind leaving madness and anger. When he healed Ash was not the same boy who had been taken from the village, his rage was barely contained within him. But Victor did not fear him instead he laughed and handed Ash back his axe unafraid of the young half-blood giant.

Two days after he had healed the bandits were attacked by soldiers who had been hunting them for weeks. Ash ran to the soldiers in an attempt to get away from the bandits but one of the soldiers shot him with an arrow. The pain released Ash hold on his anger and he lashed out with his axe killing a nearby soldier. It was at that moment that Ash changed forever he had killed an innocent man and the guilt swept through him, what little was left of the boy called Anakim died at that moment. All that remained was the rage, but the void left by the death of Anakim was not empty for long and in came the madness and with it the desire to kill. After that Ash joined the bandits in the slaughter of the soldiers.

After that battle Victor came to him and smiling he gave Ash the name Black Axe and Ash smiled for he had needed a new name he was no longer Anakim the Apprentice, he was Black Axe the bandit.

He stay with the Bandits as they travelled back to their camp raiding villages and hunting merchants the whole way. Ash found the more he killed the more alive he felt. It was back at the camp That Ash met the reason he had been collected from Giantswell. Victor had collected Ash to appease the Witch Greyfeather. She was a beautiful and mysterious creature that awoke lust within the Ash in a way he had never felt before; she was also Victor’s lover. Three years later she was Ash’s first mere hours after he killed Victor for control of the bandits, he made love to the witch, Victor’s blood still on his hands. But his relationship with the Witch did not last long. Only a month after the killing Victor, Ash killed the witch for trying to assassinate him, after she found out Ash would not be as easily control as Victor had been.

But one year after he had taken control of the bandits and culling those who resisted his rule, he and his Black Axe Raiders became a fearsome force indeed. He was recognized as one of the most powerful bandit leaders in the country. He even gained the interest of the Bandit Lord Blood Hawk. Blood Hawk offered Ash a position as his lieutenant and Ash responded by taking off Blood Hawk’s head with his axe and killing almost all but the most skilled of Blood Hawks men whom he absorbed into his group. For this he was given the title Bandit lord.

Bandit Lords are no doubt some of the most powerful bandit leaders in the country but no bandit can take the title he must be given the title by the people. A bandit lord is feared throughout the land as a brutal and cruel killer. Unlike most bandits, Bandit lords are not in it for the coin they are richer than many kings they kill for the pleasure of it. Fear is like a fine wine to them and death is their coin. All Bandit Lords strike fear into the hearts of those around them for they have no rules and morals at all. They are a force upon themselves and no one is safe from their gaze for they are not motivated by coin but something unique to each lord. The only ones they respect are other Bandit Lords for they recognize one like themselves. There is no truce between Bandit and they will occasional attack one another but often they focus on easier targets.

For forty-one years Ash ruled the bandits in the west of Halcion. His name struck fear into the hearts of many within the kingdom and soon people began to fear traveling though the west unless accompanied by a full company of soldiers. He began to actively participate in other activities not common for a bandit lord one such activity was the acquisition and selling of slaves. He would collect women and men from his raiders and sell them to slaves from other countries for a good price. He even attracted the ire of the Night Court by brazenly attacking their shipments and taking the goods, only to sell them back to the Night Court at a higher price. In the later years of his rule Ash and his company of bandits even took mercenary work and travelled outside the kingdom of Halcion to help the less scrupulous nobles of surrounding countries kill each other.


It was on such a raid that Ash’s life changed for the third time. He was attacking a small village on who had refused to pay their lords heavy taxes. The village had been an easy take, no guards and few men as most had gone to join the army. Ash walked through enjoying the sight of death and destruction he and his men had wrought. He was at the edge of the village when he happened across a small house inside was women who lay dying. She was older than most but still beautiful and he could see the traces of his men’s affection on her. He bent over to get a closer look at her face for it had caught his interest behind the bruises and bleeding lip she seemed familiar to him. It was at that moment her eye’s opened her eye’s met his and she held them for a long moment before opening her mouth and saying “I forgive you Anakim.” as she died.

As those four words tore through Ash’s mind he recognized her face change by age but not enough that she he could not recognize her. The woman before him was Emma she had been like a little sister to him as he had grown up. He had often carried her around the village high up on his shoulders as she looked down upon the world imagining she was a giant. He remembered the rock she had given him, telling him it held all her secrets and that it was important because it meant she trusted only him with the secrets. Hundreds of other memories went through Ash’s head in short moments after she spoke.

Then the full weight of what she had said hit Ash. She had forgiven him, he had destroyed her home and hurt her but she forgave him. Those word caused Rage to flair in Ash but it was not the sick and twisted anger he was used to it was the righteous anger Ash had felt all those years ago watching his village burn. Saw this village as he had once seen his, the hopes and dreams of all those who lived in the village burning and dying with the people who had once called it home. So he picked up his axe and spent the next three days hunting down his own men ending their lives for what they had done over the years.

At the end of the three days he picked up his Axe up to take his own life but found that his rage had burned to down to the Ashes there was no anger left inside of himself only guilt. He knew that taking his own life would only serve as an escape from what he had done so picked himself up and decided he would live out his days seeking a redemption that would never come, because even though Emma had forgiven him that was not enough. He would never be redeemed.

Taking the name Ash in reminder of the only thing left inside of him he travelled to Ingotstone and became a Smith and began his hopeless quest of redemption. For the last fifteen years that is where Ash lived helping those around him. He was in the village when the dragon attacked and he watched as those around died in droves from the dragon’s attacks. He help rebuild but the city had lost so many people, many of whom had lived near him in the poorly built poor sections of town. Afterwards when the king spoke of the quest he decided he would give his life to find the queen and bring hope back to peoples of Halcion. So he travels again set on somehow finding and killing a dragon, to bring hope back to a defeated people and its king.