Axilmeus S. Steel

Name: Axilmeus Sheer Steel
Gender: Male
Age: 18
Birthday: 08/08
Sexuality: Heterosexual
Special Characteristics: Heterochromatic, he has a "silent heartbeat" as a result of being half bladesworn. It's not actually silent, just quieter than a normal human.

Personality: Axilmeus Steel has grown accustomed to life as a secret criminal. Axil in everyday life sets out to be a kind and enigmatic figure, going from town to town, helping people, but generally refraining from sharing his name or any other details about himself. The reason he does this is primarily so he can gather information without being hindered by any of his criminal actions that he might do on his own time. Although Axil is a sort of person who just generally wants to be in the know, he specifically wants information on the other Bladesworn. The Bladesworn are a mysterious group of former humans turned into sword wielding demons, and Axil's father was one of them. Due to his and his mother's mistreatment at their hands, Steel seeks out revenge against their whole kind. Sheer was his mother's name, and he adopted it in her memory. His attachment to the name leads him to be pretty defensive when someone makes fun of his initials, which is quite easy to do, and so he prefers to only share his first name with others. When he's not in disguise (mentioned more below in appearance), he almost always refuses to show his sword to anyone and prefers not to use magic either, so he doesn't give himself away. Overall, Axil prefers to act as a gentle and mysterious wanderer in public, generally avoiding anything that would distinguish him from a normal person in public. Of course, this is not always the case. He is, after all, half Bladesworn, and his true personality reflects that.

Although Axil is generally compassionate and doesn't necessarily  want anyone to get hurt, his status as a half Bladesworn and his traumatic past deny him any true sense of humanity. Like all Bladesworn, Axil is drawn to engage in conflict unless he keeps himself consciously in check. He also has a tendency to sleepwalk, and thus, sleepfight. During his sleepwalk sessions, his fighting style is lazy, unfocused, and generally poor. He doesn't really think and mostly has the habit of, if it moves, he swings at it. Because of this however, he tends to take precautions to barricade himself in some place pretty heavily at night, both to avoid danger to himself and others who might be around him. Even while he's awake, however, he has a penchant for conflict. Because of his upbringing, he views non-magic humans as pitiful and weak creatures and tends to look down even on those with magic, although his mouth stays shut about most of that. It usually only comes out when a human taunts him or otherwise upsets him. Touching humans also makes him uncomfortable. In his own words, he has a natural tendency to see animals the same way he would any wild medium sized mammal, as that's basically what they are to Bladesworn. He's grown accustomed to hunting humans in disguise in order to manage his murderous Bladesworn instinct. Although he prefers to hunt humans who are morally impure, since it makes him feel better about himself, he's not picky, and tends to refuse to give up a hunt without shedding some blood.

Axil likes to view battles as "hunts" and treats them as such. He believes that there is always a hunter and a hunted, a predator and prey, but he also believes that when it comes to magicians, either one stands a chance. He fights based on what he learned from the Bladesworn. Always try to start with the upper hand, know your opponent, use the art of surprise and deception. Although humans consider this dishonorable, the Bladesworn belief is that it's all a part of combat, and if a person is a strong enough fighter, none of that will matter. Beyond that Axil prefers to work with others on a "hunt," and is willing to work with pretty much anyone in a combat setting if they share a goal.

At one time, however, in the past, Axil came face to face with his twin brother, a full Bladesworn. After a tough battle, Axil nearly died, and would have, were it not for a series of events which led to his narrow escape. After this experience, he begged and prayed for some form of strength, some form of salvation to help him grow stronger so he could enact his revenge. The prayer was answered when he was given the chance to make a pact with Eris.

Axil felt as thought it was in his best interest to join the guild "Grim Heresy." As a naturally furtive fellow he felt as though he would not be an impediment to the guild's secrecy. As a naturally bloody fellow he felt as though he would be a good fit to help the guild's mission. In the same way, the guild's freedom would allow him to pursue the goal of revenge, while being in a guild satisfied his need for hunting partners. To top it all off, the guild's master seemed more than human, and the abundance of undead appealed to Axil's rejection of his own humanity. Thus he saw no issues with handing his soul over to the guild. As such the result was his undeath. His particular sort, due to his immense hatred for the Bladesworn, is known as a Revenant. A walking deadman who devotes his or herself to the killing of someone from their living years.

Likes:

• Combat: As a Bladesworn, he is naturally drawn to physical confrontation. In public it's a lust that he has to consciously keep under control, but when he's in disguise he indulges himself fully, taking any opportunity to "fight" civilians, animals, mages, basically anything with a pulse.
  
  
• Knowledge: Axil is a total epistemophile. He will go out of his way to learn things, and as such has built up quite a knowledge base about all sort of things. It has also added to his reclusive nature, as he will often disappear to read a book or two. It also leads to him snooping on conversations often, which can get him trouble from time to time.
  
  
• Having the Upper Hand: Having existed in a situation where he felt helpless and alone for most of his life, Axil has been denied the ability to feel in control of anything until recently. While he respects authority, he receives a sort of ecstatic pleasure when he knows he has the upper hand, be it in combat, conversation, or any other competition. This is to the point where a situation like that can cause him to lose his cool composure, and begin to act more aggressive.
  

Dislikes:

• Bladesworn: Above all else Axil absolutely despises his fellow Bladesworn for the mistreatment of himself and his mother, who he considered one of the few "non-worthless" humans based on her strong willpower and innate, yet undeveloped, magic potential. For this reason, when he initiates a hunt on a Bladesworn, he will refuse to rest until he has their head.
  
  
• Weakness: Axil despises weakness. When an enemy grovels or tries to bargain for their survival it infuriates him, and most likely leads to a poor ending for them. Often times, he refuses to help peers with their personal missions, as his beliefs as a Bladesworn would imply that he thought they were weak or incompetent. This does not include missions to help the guild. This also applies to himself. When he fails, it reminds him of his pathetic days as a slave to the Bladesworn, which drives him to never fail.
  
  
• Slugs: This doesn't really have a great explanation. Axil just hates slugs. He doesn't necessarily fear them, but he refuses to let any slug he sees live. Snails are fine, but in his own words, "Slugs are the most vile, base, and pathetic of creatures. By whatever means they were brought on this earth, by God, I must remove them."
  

Motivations:

• Returning a Favor: In return for the benefits of the guild, Axil is devoted to the mission of Grim Heresy. Of course, this is kind of a given, but still, it's one of his main motivations.
  
  
• Killing all the Bladesworn: There are not many of them, but Axil knows every single one by name. He knows everything about their abilities, considering he was their training dummy. He also has a terrible vendetta against them for his suffering at their hands. As such, he naturally strives to end them all. Especially his father.
  
  
• Reclaim the Dignity of His Mother: Due to his mother's untimely and cruel death, Axil feels as though her dignity has been entirely lost in death. Because of this Axil wants to hold a proper Bladesworn funeral for her... which involves the sacrificing of her murderer, his father. This ties into his goal of killing the Bladesworn, but it puts an extra special pin on the goal of killing his father, the leader of the clan.
  

Fears:

• Powerlessness: Axil has had enough of this in his lifetime. Whenever he's put in a situation where there's nothing he can do, he tends to have a nervous breakdown, which furthers his plight. After that he tends to go into panic mode and just assault everything around him with whatever he's got, even if it's just his fists.
  
  
• His Father: Although yes, Axil desperately wants his head on a platter, he recognizes that he has a long way to go before he'll even ben strong enough to contend with him in a fight. As such he greatly fears his father, and many of the other Bladesworn, and desperately hopes they don't hunt him down before he's ready to defend himself.
  
  
• Failing His Guild: He's aware of the consequences that come when you can't meet the needs of any dark guild, let alone Grim Heresy. Thusly, Axil strives to be stronger not only for personal reasons but to uphold his usefulness to his Guild.
  

General Appearance


Height: 6'2''
Weight: 183 lbs
Hair: White, spiked to the back
Eyes: Red/Green
Skin Tone: Fair
Appearance: Typically Axil dons his red jacket and loose black pants, as well as his belt which is designed to help him carry items and weapons. From time to time he opts to go shirtless and wear a simpler pair of red shorts, although this usually only happens on days off. He's well toned, but couldn't be called "overly-muscular." Axil tends to hunch over when he's standing still. When performing "unsavory" tasks in public, he likes to wear a brown cloth cloak and mask to conceal himself.

Cloak:

Mask:

Guild/Council

Guild: Grim Heresy
Tattoo: The Pact Mark of GH is within his body and can be manifested when he wishes it.  Though sensed by others with the same Pact.
Rank: D

credit to Lady Eris for the Tattoo description

Here's photographic evidence that Lady Eris has cleared me for access to GH.