Description
Name: Zed Stryker
Zed is 34 years old, though he appears to be far younger. His age is reflected in his one remaining eye. He stands at a normal height of 5'11" and weighs a good 197 pounds. Most of his weight is in his muscles. He has a light bone structure and well defined facial traits. His eye changes color with mood, reflecting his empathy for others. He covers his empty eye socket with an eye patch with a polished sapphire he "found" set into it. His hair is black with some white that has been brought on by stress and reaches the base of his neck. He is usually seen wearing a ragged and faded black cloak to show some humility. Underneath he wears a white tunic and black breeches. He also refuses to wear shoes of any sort.
Personality
Zed is a strange one. Some would say he has some issues with his mind, but he knows what it really is. When he is feeling himself, which isn't very often, he is fun loving and spontaneous. He doesn't like routine, and the only thing that doesn't usually change about him is his style of clothing. His personality is also ever changing due to his empathic abilities. One moment he could be having a great time, laughing, telling jokes, and sharing a drink with friends. The next, he may be in a corner by himself, not wanting to speak to anyone. It all depends on who he is with and how they are feeling. There could be one person nearby that is sad and the rest could be the happiest they have ever been and he will feel sad because that emotion stands out. Over time, he has learned to control his abilities, but even when he can control how he feels, he always has that tiny feeling in the back of his mind. Of course, this all depends on how the people around him are feeling.
Equipment
Powers: Zed's powers are a little different from most. He is an empath. He can feel other's emotions. He has learned to not reflect them on his own mood, but it is still difficult and stressful for him. Unfortunately, he doesn't only feel other's emotion, he also feels others physical pain and their general life energy. He can feel it when something dies and hen something is born. The tradeoff for all of this is that he has stopped aging.
Zed wears no armor, for the simple reason that it slows him down. He carries a kriegsmesser that he had forged for him by an Exiled blacksmith in the city. He also keeps throwing knives and two throwing axes hidden beneath his cloak.
History
Zed grew up without a mother. She had died giving birth to him. His father didn't have much trouble raising him in the forest, because he was a very successful hunter. Growing up, Zed would run around and play with the other children. Around the time of his seventeenth birthday, his powers revealed themselves and he changed completely. Any time he had a disagreement, it would escalate because he would feel his own anger and frustration as well as theirs. Since he would feel every bit of pain he would inflict on any living creature, he had a hard time fighting. Eventually he learned to harness this pain and turn it into a strength. He used his pain to fuel his blood lust in combat, however, he also learned to block it out. As he grew older, he came to realize that he hadn't been aging since he had attained his powers.
When Zed was about twenty three, his father was killed by soldiers of the king's army. Since then, he has sworn vengeance against the king himself, realizing that it was he who had given the orders to exterminate his kind and the soldier's were simply following orders. After that incident, he began training relentlessly, focusing on agility and strength. He also began training his abilities in hand to hand combat in case he was ever without his blade. In his late twenties, Zed began to travel to learn from other societies. He has only recently made it back, hoping that others still wanted to fight back and take their freedom by force.
