Mage Hunter

A man sent to hunt mages... yet a mage himself...

Extra Junk:

Sexuality: Bisexual, female preference

Hobbies: Walking in the woods or wilderness areas, baking (rarely), sewing (often to mend his clothes), swimming.

Phobia: Fear of needles and medical procedures, squeamish of scalpels in general, even the sight of one in a shop.

Food: Would eat only meat if able, a side-effect of his shapeshift form. Mages might be a little tasty too.

Personality

Learned - Inquisitive - Self Reliant - Determined Absent Minded - Lazy - Skeptical

Alder is a man taught many skills, while not book smart he knows how to fight and use his abilities to a deadly result. He can be inquisitive on the nature of his profession and who hired him and for what purpose, but beyond these internalized thoughts he hardly asks questions. He just does what needs to be done, even if that’s not the case for the target in question. Innocent or guilty has no meaning, he simply hunts. When tasked he continues until results, and hardly gives up. He is determined to please the unknown hands that guide him in bloodshed and he trusts his own abilities to get the work done.

He is determined to improve his abilities and seeks to be free of his contract, this is not stemming from moral quandaries about being a mage himself. He’s just tired and would rather spend his nights stretching the truth for a good story. Or better yet, climbing into a warm bed after a bath and staying there.

To non-mages he is kind and can be gentle, but he harbors a strong distrust when first meeting people of magic inclination. Despite his dislike for his own kind, he does not indiscriminately attack mages, as that is foolish and he is far outnumbered, however a contract may well break any friendship and semblance of loyalty he holds towards another, as the unspoken agreement he has with both the Benefactor and his employer are far stronger of a bond. In terms of morals about killing, he’s got the tiniest speck of it, any mage would best prepare for the blood-thirsty fiend to track them, blade drawn and any means necessary in his hand. There is hardly a record of him swaying from his contracts, but it may not be entirely off the table for the right kind of person.

Commoners are coddled a bit and Alder holds some discrimination towards non-mages as well, they are often the fodder for monsters or rogue mages and he feels most anyone without magic potential should stay put in towns and civilized areas, otherwise death or injury is their own doing. Why roam around like a helpless child when you can hide in your house and let the guards or protectors do the work. That’s what they train for.

Due to the nature of his magic he can be absent minded, missing hints, jokes or other things unless plainly told to him. He might not even bother guessing if he doesn’t catch on in the first place. When not working or hunting he can be considered a lazy person, all he wants to do is sleep, socializing is too much effort and keeping his place tidy? Not a plan for today or the upcoming week, the mushrooms from the ceiling can't grow much bigger, and the dust in the corners may one day form a formidable foe for him later. He can be skeptical of the powers that be or the reasons of anything that goes on, such as why mages exist and why people like him exist as well, but often these thoughts are only spoken to the Patrons which may or may not hear him. They’re just ideas are they not?

He’s never had the power over his own destiny, the blessings of grace, nor the smile of fortune. He lived his life as a pawn, a small speck of an ant in a meaningless world of suffering and unhappiness, and he might just stick with doing just that. It sounds like so much effort.

History

Born between the adultery of a noble man and a consort, the wife of the noble shunning the bastard child and sending him and his mother away to a small unremarkable village. There Alder lived with his mother, not loved by her as she only loved his father, seeing her son as a burden that stole her wealth and luxury. His mother fell to drink and substance to dull her mind of the woes and young Alder was left to his devices, sneaking around town to snatch food or scavenge in local farmer’s fields. He even learned to fish by watching a few fishers and ‘borrowing’ their lines when they’d gone to check traps nearby. Despite being left alone and with no love he did like the townspeople, considering some local kids a sort of found family with an older teen leading them about.

His life remained this way up until he’d reached his teen years, local bandits had occasionally attacked on the outskirts of town, any travelers and goods falling into their hands. The village tried to dissuade this activity from their area by offering up some of the town orphans as tributes to the bandit leader. Most of them were not from the town anyways, so they’d hardly batted an eye as they traded off the orphan kids to the bandits. In exchange for getting more able bodies to train and commit their dirty work, the bandits left the town and everything Alder knew behind. He stayed with them for many years, and while it was hard work, new bruises and cuts every evening, and taxing on him, he learned how to wield a sword, how to fight with his body and fists, and how depraved bandits could be. The acts they committed, robbery, murder, pilfering, it never sat well with him and he sought any way out of such a situation. That’s when he’d noticed his curious ability to hamper the magic of others. He’d ruined a few ‘well planned’ attacks, the mages of the groups unable to effectively wield their magics. On the last time they'd run with Alder, they grew suspicious, he was a common factor to these screw ups. In short time he was found out to be some manner of mage, and one that would hinder them more than any, and without having control, it was no use to them in their short sightedness. Instead they set their sights on gold.

Alder was swiftly bartered and sold off to a rich man he’d nicknamed the ‘benefactor’, who honed his magic abilities and trained him in ways that didn’t involve spilling blood. While he wasn’t free to leave as he hoped, he was given adequate shelter, food and attention. Alder would learn through rumors that this man was part of some ‘Order’ but he’d never see such a thing, only working off of the words of the man. Yet, there were hardly any fanciful libraries or schools that he’d heard words of, instead, there was years more of hard work, despair and fatigue. It was a respite in a way, having to not kill or hurt others, something he longed for and would yet again never see. The fatigue never left, no matter the young man trying to sleep some entire days, but the mere fact it was peaceful disillusioned him from the true purpose. Every night was restless and it dulled his mind in the process. He was trained as a tool, for what intent he wouldn’t know til years later.

At 18 years he was contracted to a wealthy noble in a large foreign city of Faline. He’d never seen anything like the place but he knew it was rife with mages, and that’s exactly why he’d been placed there. His employer wanted to keep peace, and Alder was the dog to do it. Stationed in a plain ap[artment in the city, he’d find wax sealed letters placed on the sole dusty table of the room. He’d never see anyone deliver them, and such letters wouldn’t come from any messengers like the rest of the posts, but the purpose was clear. He would hunt his kind, he would not ask questions. His brute strength and his ability were trained for this, he would hunt mages, not just those monsters that came of them.

And thus, at the age of 28, he continued, having killed numerous just for being told to. Alder was sure his employer had gotten some manner of significant commission for such bloodshed, for which Alder would be reimbursed with but a few warm meals and some meager coin. One day this nonsense would end, maybe he could see the cold eyes of the benefactor again, the man who gave him some sort of purpose, twisted as it was..

Nullify