The Vagrant

“That’s it! Go for the legs!”

Full Name
Steve Arnette

Nicknames
Stevie

Age:
24

Gender:
Male

Sexual Orientation:
Heterosexual

Marking|Tattoos|Piercings:
Steve could never afford tattoos or piercings, but he definitely has plenty of scars. His skin is adorned with old knife wounds gained long before the city was taken by nature all the way to scabbed slash marks given to him by a feral lion. Occasionally Trajan bites the shit out of him so he’s got the marks for that too.

Height:
6’4

Weight
160

Physical Condition:
Steve isn’t looking too great. His life in the Overgrowth has been half a year of non-stop skin-of-the-teeth survival and he certainly looks the part. Sure, everyone who’s managed to survive in the city looks like hell, but Steve looks a bit...rougher. His eyes are a little sharper and more wild, he’s a bit thinner than the average survivor, and he looks almost as feral as his dog. Steve, for whatever reason, hasn’t yet succumbed to the infection, despite being bitten and scratched by zombies multiple times. This might have something to do with his deteriorating mental state, however.

Psychological Condition:
Steve’s gone nuts. Not your average shell-shock that so many survivors have, but a raw need to live that carries over from before the disaster. He’s always been at the bottom of the pile, fighting for scraps and living day-to-day in complete desperation, and now that he’s also at the bottom of the food chain it’s only gotten worse. His days are tense, often simply wandering among the trees and vines erupting from the ground, punctuated by brutal fights with horrors beyond imagining. Steve’s been doing things he didn’t know he was capable of in a world that he didn’t know was possible. As such, he’s incredibly dangerous, as anyone he perceives as threatening becomes a mangled heap of splintered bone and pulped organs before they know what’s going on. Indeed, many a bandit’s last sight as been that nail-bat coming down on their heads, struggling to breath as a mangy hound clamps down on their throat. Despite his struggles with human interaction, Steve has always had savant-like capabilities with dogs. They just seem to like him, and even the most mindless cur will follow his commands to some degree. Steve loves them all, as a result, although he’ll still kill them if he has no choice. Such is life in the Green.

Friends/Comrades:
Steve’s only companion is Trajan, his dog. Trajan is a large mutt that seems to be mostly German Shepard. Steve came into possession of Trajan before the apocalypse, after waking up to find him gnawing on one of his tuna cans. The very first thing they attempted to do was kill each other for it, but quickly grew to become a team after they realized they could do things the other couldn’t. Trajan protected Steve in his sleep, alerted him to danger, hunted for urban game, and helped him fight off thugs and angry teens. Steve offered equal protection, companionship, and his ability to acquire food and shelter. They soon became inseparable, forging a strong if somewhat unstable relationship. Trajan is still very much feral, but Steve speculates he came from some sort of military or police background. He follows orders, navigates urban landscapes with ease, has some kind of chip in his ear, and seems to focus on disabling enemies in ways reminiscent of K9 tactics. Whether he was abandoned by his trainer to save him from euthanasia or if he simply fled isn’t known, but Steve is glad to have him around all the same. Even if he occasionally bites him.

Enemies/Rivals
Steve had tons of enemies before the apocalypse, but most of them died or turned. The homeless population died quickly, having no access to shelter or equipment. Most perished in the first few days before the Green Fever started to spread, and the rest were consumed by the horde. As a result, the only real enemies he has are the infected, feral animals, and other survivors. Those are more than enough to occupy his time, however. The infected are terrifying in a fight and the ferals always roam in packs, but the humans are smart and very desperate. Steve has beaten more ‘innocent’ people to death than he can count, but who is really innocent in this new world?

Organizations/Tribes/Clans:
There are rumors circulating among the survivors of the city that there’s a man living in the heart of the city. He’s savage, violent, and extremely good in a fight. But, they say, he always has a dog with him, sometimes many. These dogs follow his orders like a hive mind, descending on the unwary in a tide of teeth and claws. Everything from mastiffs to pomeranians have been spotted bursting from the undergrowth, led from the back by a man wielding a homemade mace. These rumors are true, and those unlucky survivors have a had a run-in with The Pack. The Pack is more of a phenomenon that an actual ally, as Steve has little to no control over its formation. He simply attracts dogs. Either sensing his ability to get them food or cowed by Trajan, Steve has found himself stalked by packs of dogs numbering in the hundreds, all eager to either follow or murder him. After physically coercing the ferals into obedience, he then gives them orders. Mostly they involve rushing his enemies and holding them down so he can crush their skulls, but there have been reports of Steve executing what seems scarily similar to actual tactics with his canines. Feints, ambushes, flanking maneuvers, even leaping attacks from low windows and overhangs have allegedly spelled the doom of many a bandit. The Pack is unstable, however, and it normally splits apart and recedes back into the foliage as quickly as it was formed. When in use, however, Steve becomes a warlord in his own right, heralded by the howls of a thousand dogs.

Former Affiliations:
None. Everyone Steve knew before is either dead or undead.

Disabilities:
Steve isn’t very smart. He never went to school and generally missed out on a lot of chances to learn. He’s definitely street-smart, yes, but most academic subjects totally elude him, particularly the sciences. The only thing he’s good at is tactics, having read the entirety of the Art of War in the ruins of an old library.

Personality:
Steve’s been stuck in ‘war mode’ ever since the apocalypse. He’s a survivor through and through, and can and will do unspeakable things to keep himself alive. Outside of his relationship with Trajan and The Pack, he’s psychopathically violent. He takes what he needs and kills anyone he sees as a threat as brutally as possible. However, while he is effectively a monster for the time being, Steve has not always been like this. He was, at one point, a very loyal and friendly individual. He never judged anybody or intentionally screwed anyone over, refusing to forsake his humanity. This part of him is still in there, and maybe some decent human contact would bring it back, but every person he’s met has tried to kill him and take his gear. Time will tell if he can redeem himself.

Likes:
Trajan/Dogs in general. (And he likes him)
Chinese Food. (Cheap and filling)
Nice beds. (A rarity, especially now)
Good-bad movies. (The worse the better)
Frogs (They go silent when the infected are around)

Dislikes:
Bandits (No mercy!)
Pigeons (Little thieves started it all and taste awful)
Flooding (Turned the metro into a deathtrap)
Lions and the other big cats from the Zoo (Reliably kill his dogs in combat)
Zombies (Obviously)

Alignment:
Current: Neutral Evil (He will survive!)
Former: Chaotic Good

Attire:
Steve wears practical, if ugly clothes. The clothes he wore before the apocalypse got ruined almost instantly, so he’s resorted to either looting the dead or scavenging in whatever apparel shops are still standing. He’s managed to find a surplus army jacket and a hooded surplus rain poncho, boots he took off a dead construction worker, thick jeans from the remnants of a Old Navy, and a basic white T-shirt. He’s still got his maroon knit cap from before and his fingerless leather gloves (They had fingers but they fell off).

Protection
The soldiers left behind a ton of gas masks and other breathing equipment when they were overrun, so he’s got a industrial-grade respirator that protects him from the mold and other hazards he encounters when looting. This also keeps blood and other messes out of his eyes when he’s fighting. He’s also managed to loot a stab-vest off off a dead SWAT operative (He assumes they died breaching an infected building). His limbs are protected by a mismatched collection of sports padding and police armor. Steve has rigged up a crude set of armor for Trajan, made from the remains of damaged ballistic vests and a chainmail arm-glove taken from a butchery.

Weapon(s)
Steve’s main weapon is his nail-bat. It’s an old Louisville Slugger that’s been augmented with roofing nails and barbed wire. It’s very heavy but incredibly damaging, puncturing flesh as much as it breaks bones. A sturdy grip made of duct tape and leather lets him keep a hold of it even when it’s slick with gore, and it’s got a lanyard made of metal wire that clips onto Steve’s belt so he doesn’t lose it when he’s climbing or running. He wields it with remarkable skill, at one time killing a trained HEMA swordsman in single combat.
He also carries a hunting knife for utility and very close-range fights.
Steve hates using firearms, because it’s basically like firing off a flare to every bandit and monster in the city, but he does have a WW2-era .45 he ripped from the hands of dead veteran. It’s got five shots in it, and he really doesn’t want to waste any more.

Accessories/Misc
Steve carries an assortment of useful assorted junk and bartering materials in his backpack in case he ever actually has the opportunity to trade instead of murdering people for their stuff. In addition, he’s got a metal dog bowl for Trajan and some stale treats. Trajan’s favorite toy is a an old shopping cart tire that Steve gave him.