Hunter’s Name: Ser Leon Oakenfield
Age: 41
Appearance:
Underneath all of this he is tall, well built man with dark hair and brown eyes, with the barest traces of gray in his hair. He keeps a messy stubble instead of a full beard.
Weapon of choice: Longsword. He also carries a dagger. Very rarely a Lance, or a crossbow.
Armor of choice: A customized knightly full-plate, with dents and wear from a hundred struggles (damage is mostly aesthetic, though). A shield. The neck guards of the armor have been modified to ward off monster bites. The shield edges have been sharpened and they have been applied silver to it.
Strengths/Abilities:
- Master Knight: Leon has been recognized by the kingdom as a master-at-arms, which means he has prowess on the knightly weapons, such as swords, lances, etc that few can match. Even he can use practically most weapons with good skill, it's in the sword where he truly shines at.
- Tactician: Even though a lot of people can swing the sword really good, only few can read a battlefield correctly and get praised for it. Leon did not only survive by hacking enemies to pieces, he also knew how to move the troops he eventually came to have under his care.
- Soothing Voice: Leon's deep bass rumble is a reassuring presence, no matter how dire the situation seems to be.
- Iron Will: Leon's willpower is such that he can surpass his body or his mind's limits, shattering attempts at warping his mind or making him incredibly difficult to put down permanently when he is bent in doing something.
Weaknesses/Hindrances:
- Code of Honor: He still fights in a chivalrous manner, even if his opponents are monsters. This can be used against him.
- Shell shock: The wars never truly ended in Leon's head, and probably never will.
- Bulky: His size and the amount of armor he usually carries make mobility...tricky at times, specially in really small spaces.
- Shy: He isn't the most socially able or truly outspoken in private.
Personality: Leon has always been big on the Noblesse Obligue. A noble is born to lead and protect with the example all those who are beneath him, and as such he strives to be corteous, generous, courageous and just. It's just that the world's situation makes it too damn hard, so he has embittered significantly. Seemingly struck by melancholia, some say that the true reason why he throws himself at the monsters than bump in the night is the self-perceiving feeling that he has to atone for something. He rarely speaks of his true feelings, and he has a sort of awkwardness with strangers whenever he is not acting like the knight he thinks he should be, so prying things from him is difficult.
What is know though, is that for all the patience and understanding he shows towards people, he struggles to contain himself to abide to his chivalry in the presence of monsters. The hatred for these creatures runs deep, as if it was a personal vendetta.
History: The Oakenfield were a moderatedly recognized noble family of Augsburg, so it is safe to say that Leon comes from old blue blood stock. He, however, had little illusion in inheriting anything for being a Fourth son, so he took one of the routes that people in his position had. Enlist as squire to a knight in the King's Army, and hope for the best to gain fame and fortune.
Leon was lucky. He wasn't killed by an stray arrow, and he didn't skip his training, so the fact that was knighted was not surprising. It was a sombre ceremony, amidst a battlefield of blood and gore, with still open wounds that spewed red, where he knelt as a boy. And rise as Ser. And life went on without him, letters being the only meager way of knowing people were sound and safe. The wars ended eventually, and Ser Leon returned home as a young war hero, soon after being knighted.
Politics, society and marriage soon followed. Leon's approach to the whole situation was tepid at best, and dismissive as the worst. Years following the coarse life in the army had jagged any kind of tact he used to have. Still, he did not dare go against the wishes of his family in a arranged marriage. Isabella was her name, and she was a noble from a reputed family (she was the elder sister of Ivette Ligart). She made a good impression on Leon, enough that the aloof knight relented in raising a family together.
But fighting never truly ends... Leon was recalled no soon he left his wife with child. The king needed his knights once more. This time not to conquer, but to maintain peace. He gathered the men under his command and raised his banner once more. He never truly expected the sheer inhumanity of his opponents. He had expected brigands and highwaymen...deserters turned into banditry. Not...monsters. Still his will not faltered, despite the fact that misinformation cost him a lot of men. Turns out, the rest of the knights and even the Royal Guard were often as clueless as he was. But he endured. He eventually learned to deploy the right tactics, but at a grim price, as the faces of comrades in arms had been replaced by barely trained youths.
He tried to be a good father, but he failed in that regard. He was mostly a stranger out in the fields, fighting monsters, barely able to see his wife and child. But they did not resent him, at least openly. In the brief rests in between the fights, he saw how his son, Daniel, grew to an honest young boy, looking up to his father as he dreamed of being a knight himself. If only he knew... With Isabella, he also had a daughter named Gracia, which he often felt compelled to spoil rotten whenever he had the scarce time to stop by at home.
It happened after a particularly nasty campaign against Wendigos that left him stranded in the forests for far too long. When he managed to return home, it had been far too late. The corruption had taken root deep inside the Oakenfield estate.
Vampires. His house had been turned gradually into a nest of vampires, all while he was fighting elsewhere. And his wife and children were the last ones to go. He met his wife and daughter at the gates, being cut down by a maddened servant. Her wife died in front of his eyes, trying to shield Gracia with the last gasps of her breath. But in the end, she smiled, as Gracia ran to scurry behind Leon's feet.
"...I knew you would come." She said, as she closed her eyes for the last time, knowing that her precious daughter would be safe with the father. Leon barely reacted, grabbing his child with care and running away from the maddened vampiric servants. But he knew he wouldn't be able to outrun a vampire. He instructed Gracia to hide until the fighting cease, then go seek the nearest estate for shelter and help.
The sword practically flew out of his scabbard. He barely remembers the details of what happened afterwards, it was a foggy blur. One thing he does remember, though, was the corpse of his son, Daniel, pinned to a wall after he had fought fiercely so that his mother and sister could escape. The boy never stood a chance. Burning in rage and tears, he killed everyone else without a shred of remorse or mercy. First the servants. Then his kin. His brothers... parents, even mother...all those who had turned into vampires. He wondered at some point who was the true monster in this kind of situation, as his footprints and hands left all shades of red- which weren't his own blood.
When the deed was done, the full weight crushed Leon. In grief, he sent Gracia back to her still living grandparents, fully knowing that they would turn Gracia against him eventually, but she deserved a better family, even if that family was her grandparents and the Ligarts. He also, once the incident dust cleared, pass the Oakenfield's possessions to Gracia (as they were now his by default, as everyone else had become a vampire and be killed), and decided to find a place to die honorably while he atoned for his sins. The Royal Hunting Guild offered an option like no other.
She is waifish, and barely 4 feet tall.
