Description

Personality

Though he can be cheerful, he always under a shadow of deep calm from serious thoughts of what his life has been and will be. He is kind and generous with others and helpful when possible. When engaged in training, exercise, or combat, he is aggressively focused and determinedly unyielding. While he views life as precious and does not enjoy taking life, he will kill without hesitation when the circumstances dictate it as necessary. Ultimately he follows the path that is before him and sets all other responsibilities or loyalties subordinate to his original task.

Equipment

He always wears a light brown cloak made of a material resembling burlap but more comfortable and durable. His pants and tunic are made from the same material, but woven much more tightly making their sturdiness increased over that of the cloak. His shoes are very similar to moccasins and his belt is a 1 inch thick rope made of a white thread that is wound twice around his waist. He wears a white cloth shirt underneath his tunic. His pants have pockets but he usually carries any other goods in a small leather pack on his back.


Abilities
Because of his mixed blood, the following abilities are possessed innately and can be used at will with limited restrictions.

* Meditative body control - By entering into a state of pseudo-meditation, since it is does not involve ascending to another plane, near complete body control can be achieved. This state requires complete focus and generally takes 10 minutes to enter before any alterations can be made. The most direct impact of this ability is the rate at which healing can occur, several times faster than normal. It is also possible to aid the body in destroying poison and toxins that have entered the system through this method. Disease however, is not curable solely by this method although the effects can be reduced to a minimum. While limbs can not be regrown, all other physical damage that was created by other than magic means can be healed.


* Combat affinity - Much like the ability with linguistics, this allows for the learning of new fighting styles as well as fighting with new weapons, the primary difference being that the rate at which this new information is learned is exponentially greater than that of learning a language. Given exposure to the proper usage of a weapon, or proper form of a fighting style, the basics can be understood within a single encounter in most cases. While mastery of a weapon can not be learned through this type of osmosis and must be developed with discipline over time, this ability does allow a dangerous level of proficiency to be achieved in no more than three encounters.
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History

Erdu was born as Wilhelm Gerins many decades prior. While serving in the military of Vado as a Captain in their Holy Army, he lead a unit in a large scale attack against a Dragon believed to live in the mountains nearby. When the army took the field many of the men were overcome by waves of confusion and soon began attacking one another. Although he was not succeptible to the magic effect, Wilhelm was struck repeatedly by arrows from his own archers. Although he ran to the front of the army and tried to sound a retreat, he was helpless as he watched his fellow soldiers slaughter one another. As he was pleading tearfully for his men to stop and turn back, he was struck in the heart by a thrown spear ending his life. When the fog of confusion lifted, those that remained fled the field, believing that a devil had bewitched them. Wilhelm's body lay on the field for some time, decomposing ingloriously.

When he awoke in a small cabin deep in the mountains, the man had no memories of who he was or where he had been. An old man with white hair and a long beard helped him stand to his feet as he explained that he had struck his head a little too hard in their training, causing him to lapse into unconsciousness. As the two shared tea, Erdu's memories began to return to him.

He had been chosen as a child to come and train with Myrtoc, a master of virtually every fighting style that existed. The hand-print burn on his chest was the mark that all who followed the order that Myrtoc himself once undertook as an initiate. Erdu trained with Myrtoc for another few weeks, continuing his monastic existence until he was told that it was time for him to depart. Myrtoc explained that it was the way of the Blood Hand order: a master takes a student near the end of his life and makes his training his last accomplishment. It was now time for him to travel the world as he increased in skill, and helping others until the time came for him to train an initiate. The next day, Erdu placed Myrtoc's cold body in a stone tomb and set out into the world.

When Erdu had been traveling for a few years, he encountered a Sky Captain and young woman in the city of Northwall promptly joining them to ensure the woman reached her destination safely. Though he did not know it at the time, his part in protecting the woman, Eria, would be part of something much larger than he ever would have dreamed. Shortly after he had joined up with the group, he was confronted by a large man with the power to heal himself by absorbing the blood of others. The man seemed intent on murder, and it was after a vicious strike to the chest which stopped his heart that Erdu began to change into the man he is now.

Though the fight ended in a stalemate, with the large man fleeing, the effects lingered on. Slowly Erdu's mind returned to him. The man Myrtoc was in fact a True Dragon who had retrieved his body from the foothills at the mountains of Vado so many decades ago. The True Dragon Myrtoc had named him "Erdu" which, loosely translated into human speech from the True Dragon tongue meant "emissary". However, when a True Dragon names something a sliver of its power is invested into the thing. This was much more the case with Erdu who had been infused with a measure of Myrtoc's own blood through a secret process which was the only event of his double life that he could not recall. The process, which left the burned handprint on his chest, gave Erdu a measure of power to accomplish a specific mission.

Now that he has accomplished that mission, and Dzerig rests in eternal slumber, some of that power has faded, though a significant amount remains leaving Erdu forever changed in ways he has not yet realized. A second meeting with his former Master, Myrtoc, sealed this final change in him and set him on his path towards his final fate.