Basic Information
Race : Human
Sex : Male
Height : 5'11
Age : 27
Equipment / Possessions
Decorative Snaphances x2- Spoiler:
Fine Steel Shortsword- Spoiler:
Long coat-of-plates.- Spoiler:
Lead BulletsNon-brittle Iron BulletsBackstory
Alfons Eichel -
Alfons Eichel was born the son of Aljech Eichel, a well respected enforcer inside the Vinberg Order. Due to the nature of Aljech's work, Alfons was always planned to be raised as a soldier with the caliber to succeed the position of himself. Most of Alfons' childhood resided at his family's estate, and although they did not outright own this estate, his father was granted the use of this land due to his loyalty to the order. The early years of his childhood were rather uneventful, and spent with his mother in the estate due to his father leaving for lengthy periods of time under orders of from the Vinberg Order. It was drawing close to his eighth birthday when his father decided he was old enough to begin training, and thus began the makings of "Vinberg's best soldier", as his father put it.
For the next few years Alfons was trained in the ways of sword play and taught the basic techniques learned by every soldier in the Vinberg Order. Despite being trained by some of the most competent men to ever wield any kind of blade, the only affinity for blades Alfons ever had was for short-swords, and even with this natural affinity, his only expertise were with defensive technique, only learning performing basic and intermediate offensive techniques well. It wasn't until his early teenage years that Alfons took to a weapon he particularly loved as much as a short-sword.
It was the idea of one of Aljech's acquaintances, and was something his father never thought of due to the fact that he himself never properly used one in battle. Two matchlock pistols and a matchlock rifle were brought by his father's acquaintance, whom agreed to see if Alfons took a liking to firearms. For the next few training sessions Alfons was taught the basics of a matchlock firearm, how to properly wield, prep, and fire the weapons. After those few training sessions Alfons was finally permitted fire these weapons and load them himself, and for the first time in the last three years the boy had seemed to of had an affinity to a weapon, much like he did with the short-sword.
As the next year progressed, Alfons continued to grow ever more in skill with the short-sword and the matchlock rifle and pistol, although it seemed Alfons preferred the feel and weight of the pistol over the rifle. A few days after the anniversary of Alfons introduction to firearms, his father's acquaintance, and Alfons' newest teacher, decided to take a chance on a technique used by few in the Vinberg Order, but one that, if used correctly, produced deadly and effective result. On this day Alfons' trainer brought two snaphance pistols purchased by Aljech, who agreed that this technique could work for his son. The trainer showed Alfons the difference between the matchlock and snaphance firearms, and although some differences were more substantial than others, Alfons easily took a liking to these newer designs, and began training in the technique known as Schießpulver und kleiner Stahl, or "Gunpowder and small steel", an offensive use of two pistols mixed with offensive and defensive capabilities of a short-sword or dagger.
Alfons, now fifthteen, trained exclusively in this technique, eventually incorporating the standard used armor of this technique, a long coat-of-plates, a simple lighter armor designed to deflect and protect the user from slashes and hacks of lesser power, without resorting to the risk and hindrance of using heavier armors. For the next three years Alfons honed his skills with his pistols and short-sword, awaiting the day where he was required to join the Vinberg Order.
When the day finally arrived where he was required to make his departure to join the Order, he was met happily by his mother and father. His mother seemed saddened by his departure, but it was also considered a great day when he was to join. His father, whom seemed the proudest of any parent in Vinberg, decided to accompany his son to the Vinberg Order grounds in Ostmurk Keep, and through great boasting of his son's abilities, favors and friends called upon by Aljech on Alfons' behalf, and vassals whom have seen demonstrations of Alfons skill who agreed to vouch for him, Alfons was able to show his capabilities and skills directly to Hochmeister Jurgen Derangus, a rare opportunity only granted to well respected vassals and enforcers of the Vinberg Order.
Alfons easily impressed Hochmeister Derangus with his skill in the mock battles, and was rewarded by being one of the chosen whom directly report to Derangus's council, a position generally only given to those who are sons and daughters of well respected vassals and enforcers. Alfons position made him above a standard soldier in almost every way. In fact, with this position, Alfons would most likely never participate in a battle between armies, but with orders consisting of killing a specific target or targets.
Alfons' orders started with simple kills such as that of local bandits or known 'wrongdoers' as an initiation to see if Alfons could kill under the orders of the Order. He completed these tasks with ease as he assumed that the men he was told to kill deserved death for their treachery or betrayal. After this initiation was complete and Alfons showed himself capable of doing what was needed of him, he was outfitted with two decorative snaphance pistols only supplied to those Hochmeister and his council deem fit to wield, along with a fine steel short-sword, and a moonlight colored coat-of-plates bearing Vinbergs symbol, which could be removed if necessary. Alfons was ready to begin his service as a direct asset of the Hochmeister himself.
For the next five years Alfons carried out the orders of the Hochmeister's council, traveling to and from all provinces in Occitan with his three assigned partners, all with specific skills and fighting techniques that would benefit the group with whatever orders they were assigned. Eventually many of the missions began taking them even out of Occitan and to places such as Pycheko, Vale, Sanctimonia, although if they ever traveled outside of Vinberg or Ruetten they were required to remove Vinberg symbols from clothing or weapons, which is the main reason why none of the weapons outfitted to them bore any symbols. Some of these operations were simply to simply scout, others to kill individuals who have harmed Vinberg in some degree, although the reason was never asked because none of the four ever questioned.
During an operation in Ruetten, near the border of Weissboede, the four were assigned to eliminate an ex-Vinberg commander whom had led a revolt against a vassal in Ruetten. The man had been defeated and managed to escape with his life, and was fleeing towards Weissboede. He suspected himself safe but did not realized Alfons and his group were tracking him.
Whilst in a tavern in Liel, a town on the border of Ruetten and Weissboede, Alfons' group guarded the back entrance along with the front as Alfons entered and easily spotted the man, whom was trying too hard to be unnoticeable, not realizing most individuals didn't cover all features of their body with their hood and clothing whilst in a tavern. Alfons simply unholstered one of his pistols and aimed it towards the man back, pulling back the cock as he lifts it. Alfons plainly asks the man to stand up, and as he does so, he begins to speak. The man tells Alfons how they are both pawns of the Order, following what they say without question and how most of what he does is simply because the Order deems these people dead, and uses us to will it. Alfons allows him to go on with this, not quite sure why is allowing him to do so. As he continues to speak, he asks Alfons why most of these people die, as most of them weren't violent people, or didn't deserve to be hunted down, he states how is "simply a difference in what we believe", and how the Vinberg Order kills those who don't worship the Saints and have the power to show people other ways. After a moment Alfons pulls the trigger on his snaphance, firing the round directly into his heart. Although Alfons killed the traitor, the words of the man seemed to plague him, the more and more he thought of what he said, the more it made sense.
Three more years passed, and with each order and operation in those three years, the more faith Alfons lost in the Order and the saints, and as a result after three years of this path, he simply lost all faith in the Vinberg Order, and no longer believed in the Saints, he didn't know what to believe in anymore. He continued doing as they asked, knowing he would be hunted if he left, most likely by the three men he had spent so much time with. It wasn't until a single botched operation where he saw an opportunity to leave.
During a standard operation in Buchloe, Alfons volunteered to guard the entrance to tavern inside the town, whilst the other three were to go inside and locate the target. A few minutes after the three went inside, Alfons had heard a commotion erupt from inside. As he quickly moved inside, he realized that his three comrades had been ambushed by the target and several other men. Alfons simply gazed at the spectacle of his men attempting to fight off the men, quickly becoming overwhelmed by the sheer force of the ambush, and it was then that Alfons turned and walked outside of the tavern, seeing this as an opportunity to leave without being hunted.
Immediately after the incident in Buchloe Alfons decided it would be best to leave Occitan, and so he did, removing all symbols of Vinberg from his attire and on himself. He traveled across the border to Vale, continued through the country, making his way to Sanctimonia after two months. After making his way to Sanctimonia, Alfons decided his best bet to throw off anyone who may be pursuing him would be to pay off a mage Leynara to teleport him into the city under siege, Surna, in order to leave a complete dead end for Vinberg, and force them to report Alfons as missing, considered to be killed along with his three group members. In order to further throw off the trail, Alfons decided to refer to himself simply as 'Waidmann', not wanting tip off anyone who may of known the name Alfons Eichel.
